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Walker wants City to leave final ‘with a beer in our hands’
Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester, Kyle Walker has reiterated his desire to match the United side which overcame Bayern Munich at the Camp Nou 24 years ago to secure an unprecedented Treble. “I think when we won the Premier League we didn’t want to talk about the Treble because you’ve still got a game at Wembley against your arch rivals,” he said.
“Now, when that win came, you can’t beat about the bush – it’s there. If us players want to go and be associated with the team of Manchester United [in 1999] we need to take this opportunity. Hopefully we can do it, walk out from Istanbul with a beer in our hands celebrating and be Treble winners.”
You can never have too much Jonathan Wilson, can you? Here he is with the tactical lowdown on Inter, whose front two, back three, attacking wing-backs and muscular midfield could all cause problems for City.
Back to the Champions League final, then. City fans have started to arrive in Istanbul and they’ve brought their giant banners with them.
Here’s a little reminder of Foster’s heroics as Wrexham clinched the National League title, thanks in no small part to his penalty save to deny Cedwyn Scott as the Welsh side won 3-2 against their nearest rivals, Notts County, at the Racecourse Ground.
Let’s take our tatty old Champions League hat off for a second, and replace it with the shimmering tiara of League Two. In news that will come as sweet music to the ears of Wrexham fans, Ben Foster has signed a one-year contract extension and will stick with the newly promoted side for their first season in the Football League for 15 years. “At the end of last season it was obvious that I enjoyed being at the club, I loved being part of the team and everything that Wrexham stands for,” he said. “I’d decided before the end of last season I wanted to do it, because it feels like home. I’ve never joined a football club and felt at ease so quickly.”
More transfer news? Oh, go on then. Over in the WSL, Chelsea have signed Catarina Macario from Lyon on a three-year contract. “I can’t wait to get started here,” the USA forward told the club website. “I’m really happy to sign for Chelsea and I hope to represent the jersey well over the next few years.”
Some transfer news for you now. Having moved to France last September, Ross Barkley has been released by Nice and is now a free agent. Nicolas Pépé and Joe Bryan will also depart the club, having spent the season on loan from Arsenal and Fulham respectively.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live before making the trip to Turkey, Erling Haaland has raised the terrifying prospect of getting better at football. “I am still young and can improve a lot,” he said. “There are a lot of things I can do as there is a lot to improve.
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“But I am in the perfect place, working with the best coach and the best players in the world. Pep is a details freak and all about developing them.”
Here’s one more to be going on with: John Stones on his standout season and how he has turned things around under Guardiola’s guidance.
Phil Mongredien isn’t as impressed by City’s relentless onwards march. “Many football fans actively loathe the way that City’s financial muscle has distorted the English game over the past 15 years,” he notes. “Having succeeded in making the Premier League so boringly predictable, extending that chokehold to Europe by beating Inter on Saturday would hardly be something to celebrate.
“And that’s before we even get to the more than 100 financial doping charges brought against the club by the Premier League earlier this year – which they vociferously deny. As long as this enormous question mark is hanging over whether they reached their position of dominance by effectively cheating, why would any neutral want them to (further) prosper?”
Karen Carney feels City’s success is symptomatic of the strength of the Premier League more broadly. “The competitive nature of the Premier League is helping its clubs in Europe,” she writes. “City rarely had an easy weekend this season and had to fight for their points, regardless of who they were playing. There is strength throughout the league, which means the best teams have to push themselves … the need to maintain standards benefits a club such as City when they face quality opposition in the Champions League.”
Jonathan Wilson has dipped into the 15th anniversary edition of Inverting the Pyramid, charting the rise of superclubs, mega-spending, celebrity players and modern managers. Contains added Guardiola.
Let’s kick off with some of our coverage from the past week, building up to the big game in Istanbul. First up, here’s what Kyle Walker had to say when asked about City’s ambition of emulating Manchester United’s 1999 Treble winners.
Preamble
The countdown to the Champions League final has begun, with Manchester City and Inter fans no doubt veering between excitement, anxiety and deep, gut-wrenching nausea. This is it: the Big One, the Grand Finale, the Golden Goblet, the Destroyer of Worlds. Pep Guardiola laid out what’s at stake earlier this week when he said: “We must accept that if we want to make a definitive step as a big club, we must win in Europe. We have to win the Champions [League] – that’s something you can’t avoid.” No pressure, then, lads. Not that pressure has been much of a problem this season, given City have already won the Double and utterly crushed all challengers to their imperial dominance.
