Sport
So, let’s talk about Manchester City and the treble…
There are now just two teams that stand between them and going down as one of the greatest of all-time.
In case you didn’t hear, Manchester City didn’t just beat Real Madrid last night, they absolutely battered them, booking a place in their second Champions League final just two years on from their last.
Although many might have thought Wayne Rooney’s prediction that Man City would “blow Madrid away” was a bit bold, especially after a much more closely contested first leg, we don’t think anyone was quite expecting the result that Pep Guardiola‘s men delivered on Wednesday evening.
With Bernado Silva putting the Blues 2-0 up with a quickfire double inside 37 minutes before Manuel Akanji and Julián Álvarez rounded off an emphatic 4-0 win, the 13-time European champions looked like a completely different team and basically let the home side romp into the final against Inter Milan.
Moreover, sealing the trip to Istanbul also means that City are now within touching distance of winning a treble. In fact, it’s now so close that despite trying to remain as modest as possible throughout the season, even Pep and his players are starting to admit it’s on their minds.
With a first-ever Manchester derby FA Cup final at Wembley on 3 June and now the Champions League final a week later on 10 June, the Cityzens are effectively just two games away from potentially winning the hallowed treble, with the title essentially already theirs after Arsenal lost to Brighton last the weekend.
They only need three points from their remaining three games to lift their ninth league title and seventh Premier League in just over a decade, four of those have come under Pep. In fact, even if they only get two more points, they’d still win on goal difference, let alone if Arsenal drop any more themselves.
But what exactly are the chances that the Catalan coach not only lifts his fifth English league title, second FA Cup and third-ever Champions League? Well, if you ask Jamie Carragher, City’s chances were around 75% before the semi-final but are now at 90%.
Speaking after the game, Jack Grealish said he was too speechless to think about the likelihood but you get the feeling that everyone around the club is now starting to believe it’s going to happen.
There are seven teams that have won a ‘proper’ treble of the league title, main domestic cup and European cup in football history — Celtic, Ajax, PSV Eindhoven, Inter Milan; Bayern Munich and Barcelona (twice each) and, of course, Manchester United — and Pep has already done it once back in 2008/09.
Admittedly, Pep did it one of the greatest teams ever assembled, with Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets and countless other legends at his disposal. On the other hand, many have already described this current City squad in similar terms, boasting some of the most generational talents on the planet right now.
Furthermore, with them basically a dead cert to win the league as early as this weekend and 2/7 to beat United in the FA Cup final in a couple of week’s time by most bookies’ estimates, it really does just look like a question of whether or not they can go and win their first Champions League trophy.
Many are already calling it ‘their year’ and despite plenty of fans saying that for the last couple of seasons now, most teams that build towards it like City have, gradually progressing further and further each season, do tend to go on and win it. Especially with stats like this:
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They’re simply an incredible team, no one can deny that. The only thing you could argue is going against them at this late and seriously convincing stage is that Pep has never won the Champions League at any other club than Barcelona, despite coaching one of the best Bayern Munich teams ever.
City have also been an absolute fortress at home, winning every single home match in 2023 and not losing a single UCL game there for five years, but travelling away to another ground for a history-defining match against three-time European champions is an occasion that could get to anyone.
Furthermore, Inter clearly have a lot of experience in this tournament and, who knows, derby days really are a different beast and Erik ten Hag‘s side has already beaten them 2-1 once this year. Then again, the same team did also get spanked by Pep’s lot 6-3 too…
For many United fans, a lot of the sentiment seems to be that it’s pretty much inevitable now and they just have to start coming to terms with it; whether they like it or not, it’s now just them and Inter that stand in the way. What do you reckon, are City finally going to do it in Europe and maybe even match United’s sacred treble?
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Featured Image — Man City (via Twitter)/Dave (via Flickr)
Sport
Wigan unites in paying tribute to ‘much-loved’ local sports fan, Darren Orme, after body is found
Danny Jones
Wigan teams and the rest of the community have been paying tribute to local fan Darren Orme, whose body was sadly found earlier this week.
The passionate Wigan Athletic and Warriors supporter was a regular at both The Brick Community Stadium and the Latics’ former home, Spingfield Park. He was tragically found dead on Monday, 24 March, after being declared missing nearly three weeks ago.
As a “much-loved” personality among the regular footy and rugby crowds, his loss has hit both fan bases and the town as a whole hard, with countless locals sharing their condolences over the past few days.
Paying their respects to “a popular supporter” known to “thousands” for his “tireless efforts following the Latics“, the club shared a lengthy tribute to Orme on Tuesday.
The 54-year-old was last seen around 9pm on 5 March around the junction between Woodhouse Lane, Scot Lane and Beech Hill. Large-scale searches had been carried out by the local authorities and groups of volunteers following his disappearance.
His body was eventually located the body along a stretch of the River Douglas near Stadium Way just down from The Brick and Robin Park Arena.
Greater Manchester Police have since said they believe there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.
The Official Wigan Athletic Supporters Group – which Orme was a member of for the best part of four decades – said they have been left “devastated” by his passing, adding: “Darren was Wigan Athletic through and through, and he lived and breathed blue and white.
“We know that Darren will always be cheering Latics on in spirit.”
As for Wigan Warriors, who recognised him as an equally beloved character up in the stands, the team joined their footballing counterparts in paying a heartfelt tribute, with hundreds of fans laying flowers and wreaths outside the ground.
Writing as part of a joint statement on the club website, the rugby league side said: “We join in sending our sincerest condolences to Darren’s friends and family, and we ask supporters to respect their privacy during this extremely difficult time.
“As a Football Club, Wigan Athletic will pay tribute to Darren with a minute’s applause at the home fixture against Barnsley on Saturday, 29 March (3pm kick-off) whilst a minute’s applause will be held at Wigan Warriors’ game against Salford on Sunday.
“We would like to thank the Wigan community, including supporters of both Clubs, for coming together over the last few weeks in search of Darren. We encourage supporters to pay their respects and share their memories of Darren.
“Flowers, shirts, and scarfs can be laid at The Brick Community Stadium alongside Dave Whelan’s statue, while a Book of Condolences will be located in the Stadium Reception for fans to sign.”
Our thoughts go out to his family, friends, his fellow supporters and all those whose lives Darren Orme touched – rest in peace.
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Featured Image — Greater Manchester Police/Wigan Warriors
Sport
Two Greater Manchester-based Paralympians pick up MBEs following Paris 2024 heroics
Danny Jones
A pair of Paralympians born just down the road and honed two discipline-leading national performance centres here in Manchester have officially been awarded MBEs.
The Northerners doing the country proud – sounds about right.
First off, if the name Poppy Maskill doesn’t ring a bell, the promising Paralympic was Team GB’s best-performing para-athlete at Paris 2024 this past summer, contributing a total of five medals towards the nation’s joint-third-highest tally.
After her heroics at the Games, the teenager who turns 20 this weekend (Saturday, 29 March) was the recipient of an early and very prestigious birthday present, becoming one of the youngest individuals to be made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in history.
She was named on the New Year’s Honours list back in December but finally collected her latest medal in person this week following a ceremony at Windsor Castle, being honoured by King Charles III personally.
Hailing from Middlewich just less than an hour away from our city centre, Maskill might be a Cheshire girl by birth, but this young sporting gem is being polished right here at the state-of-the-art Manchester Aquatics Centre (MAC).
The youngster became the first Paralympian to pick up gold back in August after not only winning the 100m butterfly but smashing the world record in the process, too.
Competing in the S14 class – a category for athletes with intellectual impairments – she finished the heat with in just 1:03, surpassing the previous best by more than half a minute. But her impressive performance didn’t stop there.
MAC regular Maskill went on to win two more golds in the S14 100m backstroke and 4 x100m S14 freestyle relay, as well as a pair of silver medals in the 200m freestyle and 200m individual medley S14. Just incredible.
Poppy Maskill wasn’t the only Greater Manchester-based para-athlete who was recognised this month, though, as Stockport‘s very own two-time Paralympic champion Sophie Unwin was also presented with the accolade for her services to sport.
Named a member of the Order along with her co-pilot Jenny Holl, Unwin’s Paris 2024 medal haul included a double of golds in the women’s B 3000m individual pursuit and the road race tandem B, not to mention a silver in the road time trial and a bronze in the 1000m time trial at Paris 2024.
Following in the footsteps of fellow MBE and Stopfordian cycling legend, Dame Sarah Storey, who won her 19th gold medal to become Britain’s greatest Paralympian of all time – having made the most of MAC and the National Cycling Centre over in East Manchester during her career – the borough did us proud.
30-year-old Unwin has kicked on just as strong in the new year as well, notching a narrow victory to set an unofficial (unfortunately) world record of 4:36.737 in the women’s tandem at the 2025 Lloyds National Track Championships here in Manchester.
Just keep all the medals coming, if you ask us…
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Featured Images — Stuart Grout (via Flickr)/Pit-yacker/Albinfo (via Wikimedia Commons)/Poppy Maskill (via Instagram)
