This week, for 24 hours, Manchester City were unquestionably the best club side in football, once again.
The Abu Dhabi brains trust and Pep Guardiola must be on the same page; Man City should be homing in on a third European title in a row. Forget capturing another Premier League title. Shelve the FA Cup. Ignore the growing treble talk.
There is only one objective from now until June 10th because another Champions League failure would enhance the old adage that money cannot buy you happiness.
Surely, nothing else matters. At their very best, in the last three years, they have proved unstoppable.
Certainly since Chelsea beat them in the 2021 final. That Porto night will always haunt Guardiola and City’s UAE backers if they fail to win the European Cup. At least twice.
How Real Madrid caught them in last year’s semi-final – Rodrygo’s late brace, Karim Benzema’s winner – still makes next to no sense. Nevertheless, Pep Guardiola appears to have reacted by altering the defensive shape of his team, playing four centre halves with John Stones stepping into midfield alongside Rodri in a 3-2-4-1 press. A ruthless, relentless press that allowed Stones control the 3-0 defeat of Bayern Munich on Tuesday night.
City dismantled Thomas Tuchel’s Bayern, as Bernardo Silva exposed Alphonso Davies on one flank and Jack Grealish tortured Upamecano and Pavard down the left. The Germans have never looked so brittle, but it was Guardiola’s City in all their glory.
This is how a club funded by Abu Dhabi wealth should perform; a dominant squad, with enough talent in reserve to manage Kevin De Bruyne’s minutes.
The lethargic, hypercritical Belgium midfielder we saw at the World Cup never returned from Qatar. Pep knew his creator-in-chief was burnt out, probably as far back as November. The Man City version of De Bruyne is still rehabilitating so when he began blowing around the hour mark on Tuesday, Julián Álvarez came off the bench.
World-class attacker replaces world-class midfielder.
City look irresistible now Grealish has grown into a £100 million player and Erling Haaland is chasing down Dixie Dean’s 60 league goals in 39 matches from the 1927/28 season.
Haaland has 45 goals from 39 appearances. Four shy of Clive Allen’s epic return for Spurs in 1986/87. Some may argue that Dixie got all his goals in the league but Haaland’s 11 in seven Champions League appearances is hardly stats padding.
Monumental stuff. And Haaland runs as hard as any player in City’s line-up. He works harder than Benzema, but does he play smarter?
Remember Benzema won the penalty that he subsequently buried to beat City in 2022.
The sky blue half of Manchester are understandably basking in Tuesday’s dismantling of a German institution. At 3-0, they are all but through to the semi-finals against Real Madrid or Chelsea.
How Frank Lampard’s side managed to keep the second leg at Stamford Bridge interesting, by only losing 2-0 at the Bernabeu, borders on a miracle. Individual quality had a lot to do with Chelsea avoiding a thumping as N’Golo Kanté was outstanding in midfield, while Enzo Fernandez kept Madrid honest with late glimpses of his sensational passing range.
But City fans will shudder at the sight of Real Madrid, the kings of European football, looking every inch the complete team while playing poorly. Right now, as an attacking force on the ball, Vinicius Jr only has Kylian Mbappé for company. Luka Modric and Toni Kroos refuse to grow old, although Carlo Ancellotti is managing their minutes like Pep does De Bruyne. Federico Valverde is a menace, covering so much ground, and Eduardo Camavinga – the French midfielder who dominated possession against Ireland in Dublin – slots in seamlessly at left back.
Sure, Álvarez can be launched from the City dugout but look who Ancelotti holds in reserve; Marco Asensio’s fantastic strike settled the first-leg and Antonio Rüdiger’s trademark block denied Mason Mount a valuable goal for Chelsea to take back to London. There was even a minor cameo from Aurélien Tchouaméni.
With enough investment and enough time under Guardiola, City will beat Real and capture their first Champions League title. But for it to happen this season Haaland probably needs to smash Dean’s record. Unless Lampard’s Chelsea do them a big favour this week.
Seriously though, Guardiola has changed up the City team in anticipation of what’s to come. Madrid under Ancelotti are a steely defensive unit, marshalled by Éder Militão, that appears to have forced Pep’s hand.
Napoli lost to Milan in the other quarter-final this week but Victor Osimhen is due back from injury for the second leg. The young Nigerian striker, who is wanted by Bayern and several Premier League clubs, can send the runaway Serie A leaders into a European decider. Or one of the Milans will be waiting, if Pep’s City make it.
When the final does roll around, City and Guardiola could find themselves in Man United territory under Alex Ferguson. On Wednesday week Arsenal must avoid defeat at The Etihad to keep clear in a sticky title race. Also, City are almost certain to secure an FA Cup final against Man United (or Evan Ferguson’s Brighton) seven days out from the Champions League decider in Istanbul.
This is how their European dream comes unstuck.
Predicting the run-in to any season is perilous, almost irresponsible behaviour by any self-respecting football columnist. But City could be three wins – Brentford away, United at Wembley and [Italian side] in Istanbul – from sending Pep’s Abu Dhabi Project to the very top.
At this stage, I’d say Sheikh Mansour would forego an English domestic double for the biggest prize of all. This looked a certainty on Tuesday night but 24 hours later Real Madrid reminded everyone that Barcelona are 13 points clear in La Liga so all they have to play for is a 15th European Cup.
