Real Madrid Magic And Drama In Manchester: What Was Out With Europe’s Top Clubs?

“When kings fall, they fall on top of us.” 

Those are the words of one of my favorite writers, the Jamaican author Marlon James, as he poignantly says in his fantasy novel Black Leopard, Red Wolf.

There is something so delicate about an empire. Its longevity very much depends on not just the health of the institution but of the stakeholders who make the decisions. 

And as we take a look around the world of global football, you can’t find a truer phrase when discussing Manchester City, which has become one of the biggest talking points in sports right now. But plenty of other top clubs are making news, so let’s dive into what’s sticking out. 

There is such a current alienated experience when discussing Manchester City because nothing that happens on the pitch for Enzo Maresca’s side will escape the gray cloud that hovers over the Etihad. I am, of course, talking about the verdict that was handed to them last month when an independent commission found Man City guilty of the vast majority of 115 charges for breaching the Premier League’s financial rules. The most damning of them being the creation of “sham” contracts, which were hidden funds through their own ownership (Abu Dhabi United Group) thus inflating revenue by more than a billion dollars over the course of 10 years. 

City basically invented external revenue and in the Premier League and European football, where the pyramid of club hierarchy is the core foundation of the game. When an owner does something like this and it doesn’t get regulated, it becomes a slippery slope for everyone else. Teams will take advantage of its own expenditure against everyone else, who may not have the means of a state-owned club. 

(Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)

This is a devastating but just outcome for City, one the club is appealing, which means the people, the fans, both inside and outside of the club, will have to wait until the beginning of 2027 to hear the punishment. But a punishment must be given because this is a historic breach that has shaken the game. 

And as I said, when the power crumbles, it is not the mighty who truly suffer, it is the community and until Man City deal with the consequences, Premier League fans of other clubs will treat them as villains, and rightly so. It will be the football equivalent of Cersei’s shameful walk of atonement in Game of Thrones where we, the people, scream ‘Shame!’ every time they touch the ball. 

That’s what you saw last weekend as City, quite happily playing the role of a theater villain, won convincingly 3-0 at Liverpool. As City fans celebrated after the final whistle, Anfield’s DJ played Fleetwood Mac’s “Little Lies,” which was the perfect way to describe the current state of things in the Premier League. 

But this week in the UEFA Champions League, back at their stadium, in front of Pep Guardiola who was sitting behind chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak and CEO Ferran Soriano, City suffered a 4-2 loss to the mighty PSG (also state owned who has dealt with similar breaches with UEFA in the past) in a performance that quite literally shook them. Luis Enrique’s defending champions were incredible, especially in the first half and City simply couldn’t escape the wrath of the French giants as the brilliant Desire Doué, Ousmane Dembélé and Vitinha scored in the space of 19 minutes. 

(Photo by Martin Rickett/PA Images via Getty Images)

City improved in the second half thanks to striker Erling Haaland’s brace, thus becoming the club’s highest goalscorer in the competition with 60 goals in 60 career appearances. No player has ever done that at such an age and at that pace. 

But in the end, it was the defending champion PSG who outclassed its opponent.

(Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

So what’s next? City host Ipswich Town this Saturday in what should be a better result (though the newly promoted side is showing some fight and currently in 10th place) but the gray cloud will continue to drift above the Etihad and it won’t end until we learn of the punishment. But as I said, don’t hold your breath. 

On the west side of Manchester, Manchester United lost to Atlético de Madrid this week in the Champions League in what was once again a flat, naive performance from the Red Devils. Michael Carrick’s side is now winless in its last five matches and the latest loss against Atletico Madrid gave us an interview from defender Lisandro Martínez for the ages where the Argentinian defender criticized the direction of the club, specifically highlighting the issues with the hierarchy. 

“…I expect more [investment]. 100%,” Martínez said to Prime Amazon in the UK during his post-match interview. “I expect more from our technical director. [Jason Wilcox]. To be honest, we have to do more as players, but it is also important to have a strong team ready for a night like this.”

(Photo by Alvaro Medranda/High Quality Images/Getty Images)

Some pockets of the media think that this monologue was spoken in the wrong environment, with club legend Wayne Rooney, while others want to suffer more consequences than a fine. But for me, this was a renewal of honesty from a player who enters the last year of his contract, knowing that he is not staying too long. And like Jerry Maguire’s mission statement, he spoke about what needed to change within the powerful organization.

And the right

(Photo by Maria Gracia Jimenez/Soccrates/Getty Images)

United, at this point, are not equipped to trigger football with home and Champions against strong opponents and much of that has to do with executive decision-making, which the right personnel failed to implement this summer. There is not enough cover for the left-back and No. The 9th position remains in desperate need for a 20+ goal scorer. He also has a middle ground. The problems continue for the club that enters the manager, for the first time ever as a head coach, a time when he has to manage domestic and European football.

But like Jerry – as he dramatically left the agency with the hippie and Renée Zellweger’s Dorothy Boyd – Martínez also said goodbye to United Man at some point, when in fact, many fans wish it was ownership.

There’s a big game coming up this weekend against Leeds United at Elland Road and if the Red Devils lose and do poorly, the temperature will rise at United and Carrick’s future will just be in jeopardy.

About another giant of European football in . let’s see Real Madrid. The incredible 4-3 comeback against Roma at the Olympic was a testament to Madrid’s enduring reputation. In October; Kylian Mbappé and Co. are the football equivalent of Halloween’s Michael Myers. Every time you think your opponent has fled or been overcome, it will always come back to you. You can’t kill yourself alone. And this is Real Madrid, even this version, which is still trying to reinvent itself under manager Jose Mourinho.

(Photo by Giuseppe Maffia/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The issue of the Spanish giant is that there is enough distance between Los Blancos and Barcelona and it has a unique way to help the most expensive club in the world to find its identity. It doesn’t help when you have a chaotic midfield and star like Vinicius Juniorwho continues to give subpar performances. He has also now been suspended for pulling an opponent’s hair in a previous home match, thus missing four matches, one of which was El Clásico on October 25.

(Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

But this may be a blessing in disguise, because the absence of Vini could just allow Madrid to breathe a little better going forward and prioritize a really important area: the midfield.

All I know is that Mourinho will sooner rather than later figure out the consistency of Madrid because, in the end, Jamie Lee Curtis has surpassed Michael Myers. Madrid can fall deeper and create a bigger gap between themselves and Barcelona who, next to PSG, are the best team in Europe right now.

Let me talk about Internazionale for a moment. The defending Italian champions lost 4-3 to Club Brugge in the Champions League this week and despite leading Serie A, things are tight at the top as the club only have an advantage on goal difference over Sabino. Rome was crawling from only two points, Carales three. If anything there are more misfortunes in the Nerazzurri It would see Cristian Chivu’s team lose their advantage at the top. What made the matter worse than its legendary striker and leader? Lautaro Martinez — who scored a brace against Brugge and is the team’s top scorer — suffered a hamstring injury after the match and will unfortunately miss a lot of time, including the Milan derby on October 31, which is, of course, Halloween.

(Photo by Nicolò Campo/LightRocket via Getty Images)

on which subject I may use another amusing analogy.

If there was a character in a horror movie, who would it be? At this very moment, he is undoubtedly the costumed serial killer from Wes Craven’s classic murders from 1996. I cry specifically the scene with the screaming Drew Barrymore. We know how dangerous it is, we know the threats and terrors of masked characters as they run up the stairs in pursuit of a desperate victim – but at any given opportunity to attack and execute, they just keep going.

And as ‘inscr. The attacking threat is very much to worry about, but for some reason, at this moment and as we saw in the Champions League, the Italian giants continue to stumble because of their loss.