Dark hours for Manchester City. In particular as regards their sanction imposed by UEFA: the club is currently excluded from all European competitions for the next two years. Difficult to swallow for the English, who have already appealed this decision. Because if the sentence imposed is applied, the Skyblues may see their income from TV rights be greatly reduced, but also see their star players fly to other destinations, like the coach.
Regarding football, Pep Guardiola has already said goodbye to the championship. De Bruyne, Sterling, Aguero, and their teammates are 22 points from current leader Liverpool, poised to make history in the championship. What do they have left? Sections. And in particular this final against Aston Villa, which will be played this Sunday (5:30 p.m.) at Wembley. A duel where City leaves largely favorite.
City, national trophy expert
Thanks to its staff, well supplied and of high quality, the club can afford to play fully all the competitions it has left. With a priority for the Champions League. But also all the national cups, area in which he specialized.
Indeed, the sky blue club remains the double holder of the League Cup title. Better still, the Citizens have won the competition 4 times in the last 6 editions. Even stronger, they have won almost all national trophies in the past two years. The club has won seven of the last eight titles in play in England, including the Fa Cup, Community Shield, and championship.
This season, the club bought in 2008 by an Abu Dhabi investment fund is still involved in the FA Cup, which it will play the 5th round against Sheffield Wednesday, residents of Championship (English second division). And the English took a very good option in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, since they beat Real Madrid on their field 2-1 on February 26.
What weapons for Aston Villa?
But as everyone knows, football can sometimes hold some surprises, and a match is never played in advance. And there are chances that the desire will be on the side of Aston Villa, who has not gleaned from the trophy since 1996, and a… League Cup, won 3-0 against Leeds. For the Birmingham club, the number 1 asset will be their midfielder and top scorer Jack Grealish (7 Premier League goals). A sufficient weapon for the 17th in the classification, to contain the attack by City, which is the best across the Channel? nothing is less certain… Especially when you know that the defense of the Lions is the worst of PL. As a reminder, the Liverpool dolphins crushed the poorly ranked last January 12 at home, 6-1. And in the first leg, in October, at the Etihad Stadium, the locals won 3-0.
In addition, and although this will have no influence on the match, we imagine that Manchester United, Tottenham, Sheffield, Wolverhampton, even Arsenal, will all hope for a victory for the favorite. The Skyblues, if they win this title, would give a qualification place for the Europa League in addition to these clubs.
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