Manchester City can join the group of the biggest – 09/06/2023 – Marina Izidro

“Manchester Shitty?” joked an English friend when we talked about the Champions League final. I won’t translate the curse word out of courtesy to readers, but suffice it to say it’s a pun in English between the word “City” and something pretty bad. “My references for success when I think of Manchester are still United,” he told me, laughing. It’s pretty out of date but, until a few years ago, it would have been really impossible to think that City would become so dominant.

In 2008, when it was bought by Abu Dhabi billionaires, City had not won a major title for more than 30 years and had just finished the Premier League season in ninth place, an incredible 32 points behind champions United. The rest of the story everyone knows.

Now, the time has come for the club to join the list of the greatest in world football for good. Not that the titles since Pep Guardiola took over in 2016 – including five Premier League titles in six years and two FA Cups – are few, on the contrary. But the icing on the cake would be the unprecedented Champions League trophy. And they know it.

“We have to win the European title to be considered one of the best, like Manchester United or Liverpool,” said Guardiola. Confirmation can come out this Saturday (10), when the team faces Inter Milan in the final as favorites. You can also make history at home. The only English club to win the treble – Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League titles – was rivals United led by Alex Ferguson in 1999.

Some rivals complain that it is impossible to compete against a club where money is never an object. Debates about sportswashing – when governments or companies use sport to boost their reputations – will always include City. And then there is the ongoing investigation in which the club is accused of breaking Premier League financial rules more than 100 times.

In the Champions League, he was a steamroller against heavy rivals like Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. He goes into the final with an ultra-talented team with a genius coach who at times seems driven by a feeling of “everyone is against us, us against the world”. He will be so close to immortality and so far from many people’s hearts.

Ibra says goodbye

Any resemblance between Zava – the self-absorbed striker for the fictional AFC Richmond in the Ted Lasso series – and Zlatan Ibrahimovic is not mere coincidence. The actor has already said in an interview that the Swede served as an inspiration for the character. Even physically, the two look alike.

This week, the real Ibrahimovic announced his retirement at the age of 41. In 24 years as a professional, he scored hundreds of goals in the main European leagues and had spells at Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, ​​PSG, Manchester United, LA Galaxy and AC Milan. As he said goodbye on the San Siro stadium pitch, he said: “See you around – if you’re lucky.” Ibra being Ibra.

Bia’s pride

When they say that our sense of national identity is closely linked to sport, it’s absolutely true. So proud to be Brazilian to see what Beatriz Haddad Maia did at Roland Garros. She displayed impressive courage, talent and mental strength and only stopped in the semifinals to world number one Iga Swiatek. She could break into the top 10 of the world rankings next week, another impressive feat. Bring on Wimbledon!

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