EL CASHICO: BATTLE OF THE BILLIONS

 Manchester City are through to just their second ever Champions League semi-final after a pair of 2-1 wins over a spirited young Borussia Dortmund side punched Pep Guardiola’s first ticket into the final four since his last season at Bayern Munich. Since their £210million takeover by Sheikh Mansour’s Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008, Manchester City have rapidly blossomed into one of European football’s most despised sides. Unlike Real Madrid in Spain or Bayern Munich in Germany, where nationwide resentment dates back years as a result of decades of domestic dominance, the blue half of Manchester seldom rattled any cages in England until Middle Eastern interference. City are on the brink of reaching their first ever European final, but standing in their way will be a familiar face. Mauricio Pochettino, the man in the Tottenham Hotspur dugout when the Lilywhites eliminated Guardiola’s side two years ago, has upgraded to Paris Saint-Germain boss. Guardiola’s side could theoretically clinch the Premier League title three days prior to hosting PSG on May 4^th, yet this would require a drastic Manchester United collapse of one point from a possible nine. Poch’s men on the other hand are far from home and hosed in Ligue 1, currently playing catch up on Lille, three points off the top with just six fixtures remaining.

Formed just fifty years ago, PSG’s recent success mirrors Manchester City’s meteoric rise in their respected domestic league. Up until another major Middle East investment (this time in 2011) PSG had just two titles to their name. Shortly after Qatar Sports Investments purchased the club in 2011, they began their mission to transfer the Parisians into a football powerhouse with eye-catching recruitments such as Zlatan Ibrahimovič, Thiago Silva, Thiago Motta and arguably the most recognisable face in football, David Beckham. In the last ten years (since 2010/11) Manchester City and PSG have combined for eleven domestic titles, in the 130 years prior to foreign investors the clubs accumulated just four league titles between them. Although the clubs have produced some remarkable football in the last decade or so, both have been met with their share of critics over their foundations of success. Their fanbases voice a fair argument that clubs throughout Europe splash cash at similar rates as their clubs, whilst both are in the top five spending clubs in the last decade, they are joined by five others to exceed the billion-pound expenditure mark (amongst them the other semi-finalists this year Chelsea and Real Madrid). Of course, we all know the difference between these recent giants and the others in the list of big spenders. Real Madrid, Manchester United, Bayern Munich etc have a rich history to thank for their worldwide image. Clubs like Manchester United, Liverpool and Barcelona particularly are historically renowned for nurturing their own youth academy in an effort to avoid large transfer expenses, however this policy has been difficult to sustain as football has developed over the years. Amongst this year’s Champions League semi-finalists, Chelsea have participated in 17 Champions League campaigns in total, PSG in 13, City in 10, whilst Real Madrid have won 13. You can’t argue their quality, but you’ve got to question the morality of their ascendancy.

In 1998 German football adopted a ‘50+1 rule’ stating that fifty shares plus one are to belong to the club’s members, their supporters. This law was created to fend off commercial investors and to maintain club tradition. Although the rule has been disparaged by some individuals, it’s partly due to this restriction that ticket prices in Germany have been able to remain so reasonably priced. The rule also limits excessive transfer fees, subsequently forcing clubs to turn to their academies, which ultimately benefits the national team. Any sense of tradition amongst this year’s Champions League semi-finalists lies solely in the Spanish champions Real Madrid, the celebrated kings of Europe who boast as many titles as all English clubs combined.

Fifteen years ago today, before Abu Dhabi intervened, a Manchester City side with the likes of Darius Vassell, Richard Dunne and Giorgios Samaras travelled to West Ham United. Stuart Pearce’s men suffered a 1-0 defeat that afternoon as they went on to finish 15^th in the Premier League. Meanwhile, fifteen years ago tomorrow, Guy Lacombe’s PSG were also involved in a 1-0 defeat themselves. Lyon overcame a PSG side captained by Portuguese forward Pauleta, the club from the French capital would go on to finish 9^th in the table, the same position they accomplished the previous year. Just fifteen years ago, and any form of European football looked bleak for either side let alone the Champions League, the premier continental cup competition.

Five years later, and progress had been made. 2010/11, City had seen a substantial cash injection years earlier, although PSG had a few months to wait for similar investments. Manchester City finished the campaign in 3^rd, their highest Premier League position at the time, whilst PSG climbed nine spots from the previous year, finishing 4^th.  During the campaign, the sides could have met one another in a European semi-final, having both fallen into the same side of the Europa League draw. However, the pair crashed out at the same stage, the Round of 16. Dynamo Kiev knocked out City, as Benfica dispatched of PSG. Had both sides progressed to the quarterfinals and successfully dismantled Braga and PSV Eindhoven respectively, the two would have locked horns in a Europa League semi-final.

In an investors race to the pinnacle of European football, Manchester City struck the first punch, reaching the Champions League semi-finals in 2015/16, and shrugging off PSG in the process. It wasn’t until last season that PSG went one further and reached their first ever Champions League final, a feat City are still to achieve thirteen years after Mansour’s takeover. One billionaire is guaranteed joy on May 4^th when the 2^nd leg of this semi-final tie is scheduled to take place and a finalist is determined.

Chelsea have been let off lightly during the discussions of tycoon fuelled football success stories. Granted the introduction of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich has played a pivotal role in the status of the club today, but in their defence, they’ve been a perpetual member of the Premier League since it’s creation in 1992 and even boasted European glory prior to the takeover, lifting the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in 1972 and 1998.

Football supporters out with the Real Madrid persuasion were just starting to recover from the Spanish champions’ onslaught of the Champions League, after Zidane navigated them to a three-peat winning the title in 2016, 2017 and 2018. Now, despite the monotony that came with Marid’s supremacy of late, supporters across the continent are praying Zidane’s men can go all the way and overcome the tainted success of the clubs on the opposite side of the draw.

Ironically, despite the billions of pounds flooded into Guardiola’s transfer budget since his tenure, it was homegrown talent that fired City into this year’s semi-final. The boy dubbed the ‘Stockport Iniesta’, Phil Foden, slammed home the winning goal in both fixtures with Borussia Dortmund to give his boyhood club a 4-2 aggregate win. 20-year-old Foden is single-handedly trying to change the narrative that City refuse to acknowledge their youth academy. Now a regular selection for Guardiola, Foden is a sign of what can happen when younger players are given an opportunity and marquee signings aren’t prioritised.