Man City is the best team in the world no matter how UCL ends
MANCHESTER, England – Manchester City are the best team in Europe and therefore automatically the best in the world and whatever happens on June 10 in the Champions League final against Inter Milan will not change that. Just ask real Madridthe reigning European champions who were dismantled 4-0 in the semi-final second leg at the Etihad Stadium.
But no one wants to be remembered as the best team never to win European competitions, so Inter had better brace themselves for the toughest game of their lives against City in Istanbul next month. Man City are on their way to sporting immortality under manager Pep Guardiola.
City has yet to appeal 115 charges of violations premier league History may have viewed this side’s performances from a different angle between 2009 and 2018, but for now, their football is the only barometer by which they can be measured. And after Manchester City dethroned Real with a brutal display of dominance and ruthless efficiency in Madrid last week, Manchester City have emerged as the new kings of Europe.
– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga & more (USA)
– Read on ESPN+: The Premier League’s no-stats all-stars
It was an escape, fitting real Madridis the biggest Champions League defeat ever at Anfield Liverpool in 2008-09. Every single City player dominated their Real Madrid opponents and if they were looking for revenge for last season’s dramatic semi-final defeat by coach Carlo Ancelotti’s side, they secured it.
It was like watching the world heavyweight champion punch aside a hopeless challenger. But Real Madrid isn’t a beacon of hope – it’s Real Madrid. This was a night when Kevin De Bruyne, John Stones, Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Rodri, Jack Grealish And Bernardo Silvathe two-goal hero in the first half, producing ten out of ten performances and making world-class opponents falter.
No team can live with City right now. They have won 19 of their last 23 games and lost none of them. Three wins in three competitions are now enough to secure the so-called triple.
Inter Milan could yet unleash one of their biggest upsets of all time by beating Man City at Istanbul’s Ataturk Stadium next month, but no one could argue that that would make Simone Inzaghi’s side any better than Guardiola’s. The Nerazzurri would simply have the small detail of a huge silver trophy as a reward for winning a single game.
Maybe that’s a bit too easy, but Guardiola has already done what he was asked to do Manchester Citywas the Abu Dhabi-based owner when he was appointed manager in 2016. former Barcelona And Bayern Munich The coach was hired to make City the best team in Europe and the world. He can tick that box but nobody at Etihad will really believe it or feel it until the European Cup is in the club’s trophy cabinet.
city lost against Chelsea in their only Champions League final to date in Porto in 2021, but this time there seems to be an unstoppable momentum in Guardiola’s team.
“To be honest, a final against an Italian team is not the best gift,” said Guardiola. “She [Inter] are competitive. This win will bring a lot of compliments, but we have time to prepare mentally. When you reach the final of the Champions League, you have to celebrate. Unfortunately we won’t have time because we can win on Sunday premier league. Tomorrow we will be with our families and then prepare for Sunday.”
For now, forget the talk about the heights. There is plenty of time to analyze City’s prospects of winning the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League before next month’s final.
The Premier League is practically in the bag and Guardiola’s players need just three points from three games to win the title for the third straight year Manchester United – the only English club to have previously achieved the treble in 1999 – sit between Man City and glory in the FA Cup final on June 3. If Manchester City When they arrive in Istanbul a week later and need to beat three-time European champions Inter to win their first Champions League, their success will be inevitable.
How good are Man City? Well, they’re going to get a fifth win premier league In the next 10 days we’ve won the title in six seasons and are heavy favorites to beat Man United in the FA Cup final at Wembley. The Champions League is out of their reach but that performance against Real was perhaps the most one-sided performance by a side at this level since Guardiola Barcelona destroyed United in the 2011 Champions League final.
Incidentally, the 2011 final was the time when Guardiola’s legendary Barca team reached its peak Lionel Messi, Xavi and Andres Iniesta brought United to what manager Sir Alex Ferguson described as a ‘passing carousel’. Barca were so good United couldn’t get the ball – and real Madrid There was a similar experience on Wednesday, with Man City dominating possession with 60%.
As Real Madrid winger Vinicius Junior tried to run past Kyle Walker In the first half it looked like there would be no game Brazil Internationally the favorite to win the race. But Walker somehow turned the tide in his favor and won Vinicius with his and strength. The “Real” star looked helpless and turned to Ancelotti as if to say, “What could I do?”
It was a theme that ran through the Real Madrid squad. As full-backs, they were all helpless to stop Man City’s waves of attacking and endless possession Dani Carvajal said: “We played against a rival in that game who were better than us – they pretty much overwhelmed us.”
goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was perhaps the only Real player to come off the pitch after beating City, with the former Chelsea No. 1 making a number of important saves, particularly against Erling Haalandas Real tried to weather the storm.
But that was emphatically City’s night, and it will be their season. It just depends on how many trophies they win.