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Hello! Manchester City are pushing their luck. Will it stretch?
On the way:
🧟 City’s European nightmare
🌟 Dreamy Bellingham assist
🇺🇸 The Celtic-USMNT connection
⚔️ World football’s oldest rivalry
City on the brink: PSG comeback sets up crunch game for Guardiola
The Champions League knockouts are where Manchester City and Pep Guardiola traditionally get out of bed. It’s a procession to that point, and then the fun begins.
Their consistency is indicative of how powerful a club they are. Yesterday, consultancy firm Deloitte published its annual Money League, ranking global revenues for the game’s biggest teams. City were second in 2023-24, behind Real Madrid and just ahead of Paris Saint-Germain. All three have designs on ruling the world.
How, then, did two entities as wealthy as City and PSG find themselves scraping the barrel last night in a frantic, mutual bid to avoid early elimination from the Champions League? And how, after a 4-2 defeat in Paris, are City at grave risk of crashing out next week?
PSG were the side on the hook before kick-off, more at risk of humiliation than City. That was an equally chastening reality for their Qatari owners. They didn’t buy PSG in 2011 for football alone (Qatar’s political interests were at play too) but they were there to win — specifically, to win the Champions League. They haven’t gone billions deep for the pleasure of making up the numbers.
By overhauling a 2-0 deficit yesterday, they live to fight another day. City, in contrast, trudge on through a season that is not far off a total write-off. They can’t defend (exhibit A: PSG’s third goal, above). They can’t retain a lead. Their shadow isn’t scaring anybody, aside from themselves.
Going into the tie, PSG feared their exit papers would arrive before the postcards sent by their new signing, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. Instead, City look like going the journey. Either they win their last league-stage match against Club Brugge on Wednesday or the new Champions League format has its first prime victim. Who’d have thought?
Real riches, Bellingham backheel brilliance
Real’s position at the top of the Deloitte Money League is rock solid. They raked in £884million ($1.09bn) from matchday, broadcast and commercial earnings last season, comfortably clear of City (£708m) and PSG (£681m). Their matchday revenue of £209m is extraordinary.
It hasn’t stopped them from experiencing turbulence of their own since they won the Champions League last June and it’s likely to be the play-offs for them, unless the final round of fixtures does them a favour.
They avoided any of City’s torment by annihilating Red Bull Salzburg last night and frankly, when they have tricks like Jude Bellingham’s gorgeous assist for Rodrygo up their sleeve (above), you never write them off.
The standings
So where does this leave us, with the league stage almost done? It’s a complicated picture and I won’t beat around the bush because the permutations are too broad and complex to outline in one TAFC.
Fortunately, our colleagues have been grafting to compile a definitive guide to how the table stands, how the play-offs are shaping up and what it all means for future rounds. The last 16 could genuinely end up like Antarctica — no City.
News round-up
American Bhoys: Defensive duo help Celtic to next stage of Champions League
Craig Foy/SNS Group via Getty Images
Fun and games at Celtic, where Kyogo scored three disallowed goals in the first half alone yesterday. The Bhoys got there in the end, beating Young Boys of Switzerland 1-0. A place in the Champions League knockout stage is theirs.
But The Athletic’s Michael Walker went north to Parkhead in pursuit of a different narrative. Celtic have two Americans in the centre of their defence, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Auston Trusty. They’re United States internationals. They’re in their prime years and they’re pushing Celtic towards a 55th Scottish title, while keeping them in Europe. It can’t be a bad sign that they’ve got their own song (American Bhoys to the tune of Estelle’s hit).
Could they be Mauricio Pochettino’s pairing for the 2026 World Cup? There’s something to be said for a partnership with a clear understanding at club level. Pochettino didn’t need either of them in the USMNT’s 3-0 friendly win over Costa Rica last night — but far bigger examinations lie ahead.
Brady vs Reynolds: Will Birmingham and Wrexham hit cash roadblock?
I constantly marvel at the sheer levels of exposure whenever Wrexham or Birmingham City are televised. They play each other tonight, and has ever an English League One fixture drawn so much attention across the globe?
There’s plenty to unpick here. Both clubs have their celebrity faces, with Tom Brady in Birmingham’s corner and Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney steering the good ship Wrexham. Both are up at the top end of League One, well in with a shout of promotion to the Championship. At this level, both have ridiculous financial might.
But the landscape would change in the Championship because, as Richard Sutcliffe explains, financial fair play rules differ when teams jump up from League One. Losses are restricted to £39m over three years. Hollywood’s finest can’t just spend whatever it takes to reach the Premier League. That’s not to say Wrexham and Birmingham won’t get there — but for Wrexham especially, next season is when we might discover if the sky is the limit.
Around The Athletic FC
Catch a match
(Selected games, ET/UK times)
Europa League (all Paramount+/TNT Sports unless stated): AZ vs Roma, 12.45pm/5.45pm; Hoffenheim vs Tottenham Hotspur, 12.45pm/5.45pm; Eintracht Frankfurt vs Ferencvaros, 3pm/8pm; Lazio vs Real Sociedad, 3pm/8pm — CBS, Paramount+, Fubo/TNT Sports; Manchester United vs Rangers, 3pm/8pm.
League One: Wrexham vs Birmingham City, 3pm/8pm — Paramount+/Sky Sports.
And finally…
The oldest derby in world football first took place in 1860. It wasn’t in Milan or Glasgow or Liverpool or Buenos Aires — but in the city of Sheffield, deep in mining country in the north of England.
Hallam versus Sheffield FC is that very rivalry, initiated on Boxing Day 165 years ago. Sheffield (an eighth-tier side) are also the oldest football club on the planet. Despite average crowds of 300, their fame has attracted 6,000 members from 54 countries, including Brazil and Kazakhstan.
Hostilities with Hallam were resumed this week after a 13-year hiatus. The Athletic went to watch — and found that the mantra of no pyro, no party applied, even this far off the beaten track.
(Top photo: David Ramos/UEFA via Getty Images)
