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%.
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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.
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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…
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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
Erling Haaland dresses up as Santa and hands out Christmas presents in Greater Manchester
Danny Jones
Manchester City star Erling Haaland has doubled as Father Christmas in his latest YouTube stunt, dressing up as Santa and handing out presents to local kids in the new episode.
We’re starting to think he might be one of the most likeable footballers on the planet right now.
The Norwegian footballer recently surpassed Alan Shearer’s ‘fastest to 100 goals record’ in the Premier League and has been well and truly back to his best as Man City continue to rediscover their form, but the big blonde number nine has been delighting both on and off the pitch of late.
For starters, even before any of the season’s givings began, we got the giggle just from our first glimpse of the thumbnail.
Yes, Haaland definitely has a habit of leaning into the humorous side of his celebrity status, having already dressed up as the Joker for Halloween in one of the first episodes published on his still relatively new YouTube channel.
However, the 25-year-old got up to some more heartwarming activities this time around, swapping the face paint, green wig and stripey suit for a red coat, hat, some little glasses and a big white beard.
With the video itself showing him getting into character and loading his car with a sack full of presents, he then goes on to visit multiple houses to dish out the surprise gifts.
While the title and description state that he drove around the streets of 0161, it’s hard to tell where exactly he went, but we’d guess it was more around Alderley Edge and/or the Cheshire side of the Greater Manchester borders.
One particular interaction between the disguised Blue and a young Red certainly produced a harmless little bit of comedy…
Either way, on the whole, this particular instalment was more wholesome than it was funny, and it’s always nice to see sports personalities and famous people spreading kindness.
Obviously, not everyone can afford to be as generous as a Premier League and world-famous international athlete, but it’s nevertheless a nice touch.
Featured Images — Erling Haaland (screenshots via YouTube)
Sport
Kobbie Mainoo’s brother sends three-word message to Man United after Old Trafford stunt
Danny Jones
Kobbie Mainoo’s brother, Jordan Kwadwo Osei Mainoo-Hames, has caused quite a stir online after sending a simple but definitive three-word message to Manchester United and head coach Ruben Amorim, in the form of a publicity stunt.
In case you missed the blockbuster eight-goal thriller at Old Trafford on Monday night, the scoreline wasn’t the only headline on the night.
Man United managed to give up their one-nil lead right on two separate occasions, and despite clawing their way back to 4-3 with just over 10 minutes of regulation time left on the clock, ultimately went on to concede an equaliser in the 84th minute.
Despite Kobbie Mainoo’s receiving a rapturous round of cheers and applause when he was subbed on in the second half, not to mention adding some real dynamism in the middle of the park, any notion of his contribution has now been overshadowed by his sibling.
As you can see, Jordan Mainoo-Hames – who found fame after appearing on series five of reality TV show Love Island (2019) – took the opportunity to capitalise on the ongoing narrative regarding Kobbie and his relationship with the current United boss.
For months now, there has been much speculation around whether the Stockport-born youth product will stay at his boyhood club or leave in the next couple of transfer windows, given that he’s only been afforded limited minutes under the Portuguese manager.
Amorim, who has collected just 24 Premier League points since arriving last November, maintains that he recognises Mainoo’s but, crucially, sees him as competing for the same position as Bruno Fernandes.
Now a model for a number of big brands, he’s no stranger to posing in clothes, but in this case, it all centred around a simple black t-shirt simply reading ‘Free Kobbie Mainoo’ in plain white text, seemingly imitating Nike’s ‘Just Do It’ font.
Safe to say that despite catching the eye of plenty in and around the stadium, as well as countless more online, it hasn’t gone down particularly well with a good chunk of the supporters.
Even neutrals have hopped on social media to label the stunt everything from “embarrassing” and causing an “unnecessary” distraction to urging the 20-year-old to distance himself from the stunt and/or his half-brother.
Utter nonsense. His brother turning up at Old Trafford in a ‘Free Kobbie Mainoo’ tee is pure embarrassment. Clout-chasing disguised as support, when the player’s interests should be the priority. We’ve seen this playbook from families before… https://t.co/9p5uognVsX
For many fans, the incident was reminiscent of the Alejandro Garnacho situation: another promising youngster whose family’s outspoken nature on social media, along with his own, ultimately soured his relationship with Amorim to the point of leaving the club this past summer.
Rather notably, Garnacho ruffled even more feathers earlier this month after responding to a question about any potential regrets over how his time at the club ended…
As for his former fellow academy graduate, it is looking increasingly likely that he may at least leave on loan this January in search of more regular football, especially with the 2026 World Cup looming.
Whether you’re a Red or not, we’re interested to hear what you make of the whole mess. Let us know down in the comments.
You can see the highlights from the frankly bonkers game against Bournemouth down below.
Danny Jones -
18th May 2023 
