Neither of football’s great petrocarbon empires have won the Champions League and now they stand in each other’s waySo what takes precedence here: the football stuff, or the other stuff? Obviously you know about the other stuff. Paris Saint-Germain v Manchester City in the Champions League semi-final has already more than its fair share of alternative monikers. El Gasico. El Cashico. The Sportswashing Derby. Gulf War Three. A proxy battle on hybrid grass; a clash of new money and even newer money; Qatar v Abu Dhabi; the diseased nadir of the modern game; a big night for Kyle Walker.It is, of course, all of these things and less. The meeting of European football’s two great petrocarbon empires feels ostensibly like...
Champions League clash could be described as sportswashing derby with rich royal family owners going head to headSometimes sport can be a stage for the most beautiful dramas. It can thrill, it can inspire, it can move. It can offer the most plangent insights into life, showcase the full potential of the human brain, the human heart, the human body. Who does not feel the lump in the throat, the warm glow of shared experience, the great sense of human potential when they remember Bob Champion winning the National on Aldaniti, Dennis Taylor outlasting Steve Davis, or Ben Stokes at Headingley? Sport is a fairytale land where dreams can be made flesh.Once upon a time there was a football club...
Should Mauricio Pochettino indulge the mercurial Brazilian in the perennial chokers’ quarter-final against Bayern Munich?The same procedure as last year? The same procedure as every year. But for how long? At some point, Paris Saint-Germain will win the Champions League and the world will be able to stop wondering if this could finally be their season. And so we go through the familiar rigmarole and ask, could this be it? Could the stars have aligned at last? Could PSG finally have found the right balance of coach and stellar players?Certainly the 4-1 victory at Barcelona in the last 16, arguably their best performance in the Champions League, suggested they could. At which point the caveats immediately kick in. This is...
The irresistible bloom of this wonderful, maddening footballer fired PSG towards an emphatic victory at Old TraffordOh, Ole. As the second half kicked off at Old Trafford there were three possible outcomes confronting Ole Gunnar Solskjær as he surveyed his midfield.First, Fred would be sent off almost immediately for a second yellow card. Second, Fred would be sent off almost immediately for a straight red card. And third, Fred would be sent off a bit later for any combination of the above. Related: PSG cut Manchester United down to size with Neymar double and Fred's red card Related: I thought about replacing Fred at half-time, admits Ole Gunnar Solskjær Continue reading...
United’s captain enjoyed a far happier game, while PSG’s star was booked for dissent on a dim night for the home sideHow Manchester United must wish they could play Paris Saint-Germain every week. Of course, given the current mood within the game, one imagines the Glazers are probably sitting down with the relevant European stakeholders to make that prospect an imminent reality. Yet at a deserted Parc des Princes, United conjured up a triumph that in many ways more impressive than their great heist of 2019.Nineteen months have passed since the remarkable 3-1 comeback victory that put United into the last eight and sealed Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s ascent to the permanent job. Nineteen months in which a good deal of...