Planet soccer: the fall of the giant

BETTING À DAY

Manchester City are Premier League giants and their feet of clay are giving way under their weight. Explanations.

The legendary English club has been in the hot seat since Monday when the Premier League indicated that it would investigate suspicions of embezzlement.

It does not enough to make the sailors and even the captain think about leaving the ship.

Thursday, we learned that star player Erling Haaland was looking at his options. The Norwegian was acquired from Borussia Dortmund and is worth its weight in gold with 31 goals in 28 games this season in all competitions.

On the same day, The Sun hinted that world-renowned head coach Pep Guardiola could also leave before the sanctions are even known.

Wealthy club

To understand, you must first know that Man City is the richest team in the world according to the recent ranking established by Deloitte.

The club has been owned since 2008 by the City Group , a conglomerate from the United Arab Emirates.

Under the umbrella of the City Group, the Cityzens have become very powerful. In fact, since the 2009-10 season, they have never finished lower than 5th in the Premier League.

They have finished top six times and been second three times. They are in second place right now.

In short, it is a major club with resources to match. The powder blue team exerts a lot of magnetism, but the poles are reversing.

Violations

Back to the rule violations financial transactions that allegedly occurred between 2009 and 2018. In total, there are more than a hundred.

The club is also criticized for not having offered its full cooperation to the Premier League during the preliminary investigations .

It is an independent commission which will judge the cause and which will impose sanctions which could range from a simple fine to relegation to the second division.

This is not the first time that Manchester City finds itself under the limelight. In 2014, the club was fined 60 million euros (CA$86.7 million) for violating UEFA's financial fair play rules.

The club also came close to receiving a two-year ban from European competitions for this reason. The Court of Arbitration for Sport however invalidated the suspension in 2020.

Bad posture

The situation puts the Premier League in a very bad position since the government Britain is preparing to publish a white paper that would support the creation of an independent regulator in the world of soccer.

Obviously, the highest echelon of sport in the country opposes it and wants to prove that she is able to keep order in her ranks.

This is why the Manchester City situation is interesting. It is a flagship club in the most powerful league in the world and the league will have to sanction a prominent member in a substantial way.

The Premier League must send a clear message, but it must do it to one of his sacred cows.

This presents a very beautiful dilemma for the British phlegm.

Everything indicates that the resolution of the situation will be long since it will undoubtedly be necessary to make compromises. It is rather unthinkable to see Manchester City be relegated to the Championship.

The financial sanctions remain and perhaps this way the case will be settled. 

RONALDINHO'S SON AT BARÇA

After dad, it's around son to play for FC Barcelona. Indeed, Ronaldinho's son, Joao Mendes, will continue his career with the Catalan club where his father played from 2003 to 2008. During this stay, the Brazilian won his only career Ballon d'Or. It was in 2005, the year his son was born. It does not happen by chance.

FIFA ANNOUNCES FINALISTS

We are entering the time of year when FIFA hands out its trophies and the body that governs soccer on the world stage has begun to reveal the finalists. For the men's coach of the year, we note Carlos Ancelotti (Real Madrid), Pep Guardiola (Manchester City) and Lionel Scaloni (Argentina National Team. For women, there is Sonia Bompastor (Olympique Lyonnais), Pia Sundhage (Brazil National Team) and Sarina Wiegman (England National Team). 

THE BEST DOORMAN

We also unveiled the candidates for the best goalkeepers. Among the men, we find Montreal-born Yassine Bounou (Sevilla), Thibault Courtois (Real Madrid) and Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa). Among the women, the candidates are Ann-Katrin Berger (Chelsea), Mary Earps (Manchester United) and Christiane Endler (Olympique Lyonnais). In any case, the winners will be known on February 27.

CONFRONTATION OF TITANS

We also know the finalists for the titles of best player and best FIFA player. The fight will be interesting on the men's side with Karim Benzema from Real Madrid, as well as Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi from Paris Saint-Germain. 

Among the women, Beth Mead (Arsenal), Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride) and Alexia Putellas (Barcelona) are in the running. In the case of the Puskas prize, awarded to the most beautiful goal of the year, the fight will be between Marcin Oleksy, Dimitri Payet and Richarlison.

Matches to watch

PREMIER LEAGUE

• Manchester City vs Leeds United
• Sunday

This will be Leeds' first game since Jesse Marsch was fired earlier this week. Leeds' last Premier League victory dates back to November 5, the club are without a win in their last eight games (0-4-4).

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE< /p>

Tottenham Hotspur vs AC Milan

• Tuesday

< p>Bayern Munich vs Paris Saint-Germain

• Tuesday

Benfica vs Club Brugge

• Wednesday

Chelsea vs Borussia Dortmund

• Wednesday

It's an anthology of matches that we offers you since it is the start of the knockout stages of the Champions League with the presentation of the first first legs of this round. For the occasion, we will mainly watch the clash between Bayern Munich and PSG on Tuesday and that between Chelsea and Dortmund on Wednesday. Candy for football fans.