Goalkeeper could soon have competition from David Raya but he produced fine saves to thwart Manchester CityIt didn’t take long for Joe Hart to realise the writing was on the wall for him at Manchester City under Pep Guardiola. “He said: ‘Of course you’ll be given the opportunity, but …’ As soon as there are any buts at the end you know there’s a decision,” the former England goalkeeper recalled last year. “It was a two-hour conversation that kind of ended with him saying: ‘I can’t see this working.’”Hart is by no means alone. Yaya Touré, Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko are some of the big names jettisoned by the City manager in his pursuit of perfection since...
The first all-Manchester FA Cup final is framed by City’s pursuit of total supremacy and opponents’ quest to avenge humiliationIt was a small and inconsequential moment but one that said plenty about a mood and a rivalry. Manchester City were 6-2 up in the Premier League derby against United at the Etihad Stadium last October and we were into the 89th minute.Previously, after Phil Foden had made it 6-1 on 73 minutes to join Erling Haaland as the scorer of a hat-trick, the City fans had joked that they wanted 10. Or maybe they were not joking. Now, shortly after the United substitute Anthony Martial had pulled one back, City built in midfield only for João Cancelo to play a...
There is something magnificent about the Roma manager’s Europa Cup final date with Sevilla on WednesdayPerhaps it’s different if you live in Italy or if Serie A is the league you follow most closely. Perhaps, then, José Mourinho is still a cussed ball of fury, bearing ancient grudges, determined never to relinquish a slight, real or imagined, the Keyser Söze of the dugout, the Karla of the press conference, manipulating and plotting, radiating paranoia as he insists his club is the victim of a conspiracy by the referees, the media and the football authorities.But if not, there was something almost heartwarming about Roma’s 0-0 draw at Bayer Leverkusen in the second leg of their Europa League semi-final. He’s still doing...
Repeat of last season’s semi-final and the teams’ routes to the last four suggest Europe’s other big teams need to catch upI was looking forward to Bayern Munich against Manchester City. In April, when the best meet, you expect exciting matches. But I was disappointed. City managed the 3-0 advantage from the first leg. Bayern were not able to challenge their opponents.Now I’m looking forward to Real Madrid against City. It’s the semi-final from last year, and back then it was the highlight of the season, with a narrow winner at the last. Again, it’s the two strongest clubs in the Champions League, which says a lot about Europe’s football. The English and Spanish leagues are not producing a second...
Haaland’s direct play has edged the City manager away from pitfalls of purism – but will it be enough against Real Madrid? It is a little over nine years since Pep Guardiola first took on Carlo Ancelotti as a manager. Guardiola’s Bayern Munich had sealed the Bundesliga title almost a month earlier, often registering 1,000 passes in a game, and his football seemed unstoppable. For 18 minutes in the first leg at the Bernabéu, Bayern continued to seem imperious. Then Ancelotti’s Real Madrid countered and Fábio Coentrão squared for Karim Benzema to score. Bayern continued to dominate the ball; Madrid continued to look dangerous. It finished 1-0.In retrospect, before Guardiola and Ancelotti meet in another semi‑final at the Bernabéu on...