Sport

Man City haven’t lost a Champions League game at the Etihad for five years and have won every single home game in 2023

Madrid are kings of the UCL but this will make for quite the confidence booster.

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 17th May 2023

While Man City fans are no doubt nervous ahead of tonight’s massive game against Real Madrid, a couple of key stats will no doubt give them plenty of confidence, as not only have they won every home game in 2023, but they haven’t lost in the Champions League there in five whole years.

I mean, City have put up some seriously impressive statistics over the past few years but wow.

The Blues are back on top of the Premier League after Arsenal’s title charge seemingly came to an on Sunday and a big part of that recovery over the season is down to their home form, having won every single home game this year and only dropping points on two occasions all season.

The last result at home that wasn’t a win came on New Year’s Eve when they drew 1-1 with Everton and before that was a 2-1 loss to Brentford. Since then, they’ve been unstoppable at the Etihad and as if that wasn’t impressive enough, their performance at home in the Champions League is equally remarkable.

Yeah, Man City’s UCL record at home is pretty solid.

Rather unbelievably, Pep Guardiola‘s side haven’t lost a single home in the UCL since 2018 when they were beaten 2-1 by Lyon in their opening match of the group stages. That’s 25 home games unbeaten on the biggest stage in Europe. Crikey.

In the years following that blip, they’ve gone on to reach the round of 16, quarter-finals and semis three times each, as well as the final in the 2020/21 season when they narrowly missed out on the trophy after a 1-0 defeat to Chelsea.

It’s also worth noting that Real Madrid themselves have never won on any of their four visits to the Etihad Stadium — a stat that City fans will no doubt be pleased to hear, especially in such a rich vein of form overall, let alone when playing at home.

As for Pep, he knows not only how massive this game is for the club who are still chasing that first Champions League, but both him and City as they could potentially win the coveted treble which would put them up there as one of the greatest sides of all time. However, he does not believe these next few games with “define [their] legacy”.

Read more:

It might have been a close run affair away at the Bernabéu, with both sides taking just one goal into the decisive second leg, but City still have time to not only win but even live up to Wayne Rooney’s prediction and “blow Madrid away” in tonight’s home tie.

Stranger things have happened.

Pep has already promised he has no plans to ‘overthink’ this one or try any new tactics with this one either. His game plan, as far as he would let on, is simple: play “fluid” and “play a little better” than last time”.

What do you reckon, is this the year Man City final win the Champions League?

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Image — Manchester City (via Twitter)/UEFA

Sport

Streamer AngryGinge ‘arrested and banned’ from Silvestone at the British GP

Danny Jones Danny Jones AngryGinge arrested at F1 British GP

Popular Manc influencer, ‘AngryGinge’, was arrested, fined and ultimately banned from Silverstone at this year’s British GP.

The Salford-born Twitch streamer, YouTuber and social media personality (real name Morgan Burtwhistle) was detained at the circuit after being arrested on suspicion of criminal damage.

Ginge recently starred in Soccer Aid 2025 and is a well-known face both on the internet and in the sporting world, regularly working in and around football, and is an avid Manchester United – even featuring in the club’s third kit launch video last year.

The 23-year-old and two other fellow streamers, ‘Chazza’ and ‘Samham’, were accused of criminal damage after sitting in an F1 car whilst recording around the Silverstone complex.

According to reports, Ginge and his peers were alleged to have broken part of a display vehicle.

The local lad claimed they had been asked to pay £30,000 in compensation; national outlet talkSPORT has since confirmed the story with Northampton Police (NP) via an official statement.

“On Friday, July 4, NP received a report that a classic Formula 1 car on display at Silverstone Circuit during the British Grand Prix event had sustained several thousands of pounds worth of damage, which was alleged to have been caused by someone accessing the display stand and climbing into the vehicle.

“Officers carried out initial inquiries, and suspects were identified. Three men, aged 23, 25 and 27, were arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage to a vehicle and taken into police custody.

“Following a thorough investigation into the circumstances of the incident, all three men were released with no further action.”

He and his friends have at least seen the funny side, sharing snaps from outside Northampton Justice Centre; Ginge even played ‘Locked Up’ by Akon as he walked out on stream in an orange jumpsuit.

Burtwhistle went into more detail on the incident on socials, explaining that the trio were taken away in handcuffs and “locked up” for several hours – 15 hours, according to SamHam (Samuel Imie).

All three individuals deny causing any damage to the racecar, even despite users sharing clips from the livestream footage captured for the Red Bull online Content on the day that many argue incriminates them, or at least sounds like it – we’ll let you watch and decide for yourselves.

Ginge himself went on to detail that ridculousness of the situation, explaining how he was effectively detained for watching someone else climb into the vehicle.

He’ll be dining out in this one for some time, you can be sure of that.

Read more:

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Soccer Aid/angryginge13 (screenshot via Twitch)/Samham (via X)

Sport

Boxing legend Ricky Hatton is coming out of retirement after more than a decade

Danny Jones Danny Jones Ricky Hatton coming out of retirement for middleweight fight

Mancunian and British boxing legend Ricky Hatton MBE is coming out of retirement after more than a decade for his first competitive fight in 13 long years.

This is sure to be one to watch.

The Stockport-born and Hattersley-raised fighter first retired back in 2011, but did flirt with a comeback a year later in what turned out to be a one-off fight and defeat to 35-year-old Ukrainian welterweight, Vyacheslav Senchenko.

‘Hitman’ Hatton also got back in the ring for an exhibition match against Marco Antonio Barrera in 2022, enduring eight two-minute rounds after a decade away from fighting, but now he’ll be undertaking an official fight over in the United Arab Emirates.

Lacing up his gloves at 46 years old, Hatton will be facing fellow veteran Eisa Al Dah (same age), who was the first professional boxer in the UAE.

The ‘Pride of Hyde’ may have been out of the competitive sporting sphere for a while, but he’s still remained an active figure in the boxing world.

In addition to training his son, Campbell, who has followed in his father’s fighting footsteps, Hatton has continued to coach other young boxing talents from his gym in Tameside, including John Hedges and Chloe Watson.

Campbell, 24, has won 14 of his 16 fights, losing just twice since he began in 2021.

Meanwhile, his dad – who still boasts a record of 45 victories from 48 matches, 32 of which were by knockout – will be once again focusing on getting himself back in fighting shape for the Dubai bout.

The local athlete has done plenty to dispel the old jabs of ‘Ricky Fatton’ in recent times, mind you, having taken his talents as a once-promising young footballer to play in the Manchester Remembers charity match, as well as the aforementioned Barrera exhibition.

Set for this winter, Ricky Hatton will face fellow veteran Eisa Al Dah in a middleweight contest on Friday, 2 December, telling national media via video call in the recent press conference that confirmed he would be coming out of retirement: “What you’re trying to do there for boxing in Dubai is fantastic.”

Meanwhile, Al Dah added: “It will be a true fight, true action. And I will do my best, because everybody in the UAE and the Gulf, they will watch this fight. The place will be sold out, and it will be watched around the world.”

Will those Haymakers still hit like they used to? Well shall see before the end of the year.

Read more:

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Russell Harry Lee (via Flickr)/Eisa Al Dah (screenshot via Instagram)

More Sport

what position does Diego Leon Man United play?

Sport

Manchester United’s new signing Diego León has been labelled ‘like no other’ in his position

Oasis pay tribute to Diogo Jota in Cardiff

Audio

Gallagher brothers pay touching tribute to Diogo Jota on first night of Oasis reunion tour

family places showing 2025 women's euros in manchester city centre

Kids & Family

Family-friendly places to watch the 2025 Women’s Euros in Manchester

Audio

Clint Boon takes us around Manchester's iconic Deaf Institute

Eats

We go meatballs deep with Mira's traditional Neapolitan sandwiches