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.
🗣 "Now the players can visualise it"
Pep Guardiola admits his Manchester City players are thinking about winning the treble 👀pic.twitter.com/XzGqOUmPdO
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 18, 2023
Even Pep can’t deny that Manchester City are now dreaming of a treble.
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.
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) May 17, 2023
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:
Man United's 99' season 🆚 Man City's 23' season
◾️ Man City wins ✅ ◾️ Man City points ✅ ◾️ Man City goals scored ✅ ◾️ Man City goals conceded ✅ ◾️ Man United longest unbeaten run ✅
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?
Featured Image — Man City (via Twitter)/Dave (via Flickr)
Sport
Bryan Mbuemo transfer saga looks to finally be over as Manchester United agree deal with Brentford
Danny Jones
In one of the biggest transfer sagas of the 2025 summer transfer window, it looks like Manchester United have got their man, as an agreement with Brentford FC is in place and a move for Bryan Mbuemo looks to be a done deal.
Following weeks and weeks of speculation, minor nudges back and forth in the market, it has now been reported that French-born Mbuemo is heading to Man United, having made it apparent that Old Trafford was his desired destination for some time.
Having initially entered a bid of around £45 million before bonuses last month, the west London club stuck to their guns and appear to have got their overall asking price for the player.
According to Ornstein, a trusted transfer source and ever-reliable journalist, United are expected to pay Brentford an estimated £65m for Mbeumo’s signature.
However, with add-ons of approximately £6m, the attacking midfielder’s total price comes out at more than £70m, making his a fee a sales record for a now established Premier League side who have become known as a ‘feeder/selling club’ with excellent recruitment.
It is also said that MUFC and INEOS have arranged for a payment structure that will see the transfer funded over the course of four-year instalments, with a contract valid until 2030 and the option to extend by a further 12 months.
Well-known for using the so-called ‘Moneyball‘ model to their success in recent years, Mbuemo was signed by the Bees back in 2019, when they were still in the Championship, and he cost just £5.8m from ES Troyes AC – also a club record signing at the time.
Fast forward just a few seasons, not to mention 121 goal contributions in all competitions (28 of those coming last season alone), and he’s been deemed worth about 12 times that amount.
Here are just a few reasons why they’ve been after him.
"He's a player who likes to attack space!" 🔥
With Bryan Mbuemo Manchester United-bound, what can we expect from the winger? 👀 pic.twitter.com/ebmG8scUBy
Still just 25 years old, it’s fair to say he fits the balance of age and experience that the club are looking to recruit, as well as boasting a profile that suits the system Ruben Amorim is looking to deploy with his ever-shifting squad.
At least on paper, anyway.
Meanwhile, outgoing deals are still expected to be completed before the end of the summer window, with key first-team players like homegrown Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho, and loanee Antony all still expected to depart.
Stockport school sees under 15s girls football team crowned national champions
Danny Jones
A local Stockport secondary has welcomed home their under-15s girls’ football team as national champions after winning the English Schools’ FA Cup.
Marple Hall School (MHS), located in the south-east part of the old Cheshire borough, is a high-performing educational institution known for its strong investment in youth sport.
Boasting a large sports hall, dedicated 3G footy pitches, MUGA (Multi-Use Games Area), gymnasium, netball and tennis courts, as well as other grass surfaces, many of the town’s nearby clubs make use of the facilities throughout the year.
However, it’s their homegrown talent that is having the spotlight rightfully shone on them this week, as a side of junior female footballers won the prestigious FA tournament for sporting youngsters.
The squad of Year 10 girls – consisting of Marple Hall players aged 14-15 – faced off against Kings Langley last week in the decisive fixture away at Sixways Stadium, home of Worcester City FC and the Worcester Warriors rugby union side.
Following their landmark victory this month, this most recent title has seen them crowned Stockport, Manchester and now National champions, thanks to their 2-1 win in the Development Cup Finals.
Writing in a proud and lengthy post on the school’s website, headteacher Joe Barker described the campaign as “a remarkable run for a remarkable team” and a “thoroughly deserved” trophy, despite coming up against a “really strong team” travelling from the Hertfordshire village.
Barker went on to add: “Team MHS were supported so well by the travelling family and friends, and of course by the 44 students who made their presence known in the stands. Outnumbered but certainly not outvoiced, the chants from team MHS were non-stop and so supportive.
“Not only that, but the whole school got behind the team with the tie live-streamed into every classroom and our halls over lunch.
“My colleagues tell me that they have never felt an atmosphere like it at MHS, the whole school site reverberating to the cheers when the teams came out, when Penny scored her two amazing goals, and at the final whistle.”
He even cited an anecdote of one young pupil telling fellow teacher Miss Gregory: “This is a really mint day for our school, isn’t it, miss? I’m really glad I come here!” He was responding to the moment the aforementioned Stopfordian star, Penny Hallos, scored an audacious backheel to make it a brace.
Unsurprisingly, she earned the player of the match award for her game-winning efforts.
To make things even sweeter, the incredible achievement was also recognised in the House of Commons, with Hazel Grove MP Lisa Smart motioning to toast their success among her fellow peers.
Celebrating not just the English championship but their Treble-winning year, Smart declared: “The whole of the town is incredibly proud of these girls for their achievements.
“My recent hundredth speech in Parliament was on ensuring that girls and young women were given the opportunities to participate in sport, and it is fantastic to be able to celebrate these young women who are doing just that.
“It’s great to be able to help celebrate their national success at Parliament, and I look forward to them achieving wonderful things going forward.”
Better still, nearly £1,500 was raised on top of the fund collected in order to help get the girls to the ground on matchday, and all that money is going directly towards further sports provision for the girls and young women’s sport, specifically.
You can watch the game in full down below, but we’ve highlighted that ingenious second strike from Hallos for you (rewind to around 41:45 to see her equaliser).
Congrats again to the SK, Greater Mancunian and now National champions – we hope we go on to see plenty of your names up in lights soon enough.
Danny Jones -
18th May 2023 
