Manchester City is in European Championship trouble while the US stars shine and the FIFA World Cup applauds
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Manchester City is in European Championship trouble while the US stars shine and the FIFA World Cup applauds

Posted on by Amelia Pressman

In danger: Man City has to fight for a place in the Champions League play-offs after the defeat against Juventus

That’s where TAFC was on Tuesday, pondering Paris Saint-Germain’s poor Champions League prospects, without foreseeing that Manchester City would come forward and say, “Hold my beer.”

Despite their poor recent form, there’s a tendency to leave City to fend for themselves, because that’s what they usually do. You are blessed with know-how. They are blessed with Pep Guardiola. The story goes that everything will be fine that night, with trophies at the end.

But make no mistake: it’s conceivable that UEFA’s all-encompassing Champions League overhaul could reach the knockout stages in February without City being among the 24 teams involved. A 2-0 defeat at Juventus last night puts them in trouble. Guardiola and his players seem incapable of maintaining their balance convincingly.

Little by little her behavior gets worse, although Pep in Turin tries to laugh it off.

I don’t say this lightly, but I’ve never seen a Guardiola team look so demoralized – probably because no Guardiola team has ever looked so demoralized.

Stars in stripes

At City we’re talking about the reigning Premier League champions, who are probably the best team in the history of the competition when it comes to achieving success. They won the Champions League in 2023 and would have won it again last season had they not been eliminated on penalties by Real Madrid in an epic quarter-final.

Yes, last night’s game was fairly even – but City routinely find themselves in a 50-50 situation these days. They don’t smash anyone. They were held off in the second half by Dusan Vlahovic and then an acrobatic volley from Weston McKennie (above), set up by fellow USMNT player Tim Weah. It’s the first time an American has supported an American in the Champions League.

City are in 22nd place in the Champions League table and have eight points with two league phase games still to be played. As one of the best eight teams, they do not automatically qualify for the round of 16 in March. PSG are a point behind them, even outside the 16 play-off places, and host City next.

One or other of the two legs will then be almost cooked. It’s hard to believe it could be City.

Lots of scope

We are now taking a break until the seventh matchday in mid-January, but the table is developing. Arsenal are in business after beating Monaco 3-0 and Barcelona following a 3-2 win at Borussia Dortmund. Lamine Yamal’s assist for Ferran Torres’ winner was another effortless gem (above).

A few things to note: Two French clubs, Brest and Lille, are on track to progress as top eight finishers. That wasn’t predictable. As skeptical as I was about the play-offs, the eight home and away games could feature City, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Atletico Madrid. Bring it on.

Investigations resumed: Police will again look into sexual harassment allegations made by the former Fulham Ladies captain

In October, The athletic one published two major investigations: one into alleged sexual offenses by Mohamed Al Fayed, the late former owner of Premier League club Fulham, and a second into criticism of a police investigation into sexual assault allegations against a former Fulham employee.

That employee, Gary Mulcahey, categorically denies any wrongdoing. The claims against him came from players who were once part of Fulham’s women’s team, including Ronnie Gibbons.

The investigation into Ronnie’s claims was initially closed with no action taken. However, London’s Metropolitan Police have now informed her that the investigation into her allegations will be reopened.

We will continue to cover this story as it develops.

News summary

World Cup clapping: Saudi Arabia receives approval from FIFA for 2034

I’m not saying the method of selecting hosts for the 2030 and 2034 World Cups was sycophantic, but rather than casting votes per se, FIFA members were asked to clap if they agreed.

Anyway, no surprises. The 2030 tournament goes to (deep breath) Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. I suspect the moon wasn’t available this time. And the year 2034 remained unopposed for Saudi Arabia. We’ve put together the whole generation for you, including how far both tournaments are from football meets and a look at the players who could be starring in Saudi Arabia in ten years.

Despite tensions over human rights issues, FIFA is unapologetically promoting Saudi Arabia. There were practically no objections from FIFA members either. The English Football Association backed the bid, saying it could be a “catalyst for positive change” – a cliché straight from the raffle and blind to events in Russia since hosting the 2018 tournament.

Slip service: Were the shoes responsible for Cucurella errors?

In 2017, I saw Mateusz Klich pay the price for wearing the wrong shoes (he chose cleats instead of studs or vice versa) in a rain-soaked Leeds United game. He slipped and allowed a goal, and he always assumed head coach Thomas Christiansen had angered him for the mistake.

This is what happened to Marc Cucurella during Chelsea’s win at Tottenham last weekend. You will most likely have seen him doing everything right in the build-up to both Spurs goals (Exhibit A: above), before frantically changing his boots on the touchline.

He then made a joke out of it by posting a photo online of the dumped cougars in a trash can (he then quickly deleted it – I assume the manufacturer got in touch). It turns out Cucurella had switched from his usual style of Puma boot to a different one – but both appeared to have the same length of metal studs. It’s not at all clear what it was about.

As he swapped the pairs, he seemed to suggest that one of Chelsea’s suppliers could be to blame. Good luck with that. In the words of Swindon Town equipment manager Steve Hooper: “It’s 100 per cent down to Cucurella. As a player, you decide which shoes you want to wear.” That’s what he said.

All about Athletic FC

  • Mexico’s Liga MX faces the start of the two-part final of its Apertura tournament tonight, Club America versus Monterrey (both culminating in the play-offs). There is some USMNT interest between Monterrey forward Brandon Vazquez and Club America player Alejandro Zendejas.
  • For such a big name in American circles, Gio Reyna is strangely anonymous in Europe. He made a rare start for Dortmund in the Champions League against Barca yesterday and it went pretty well. It had to.
  • On the topic of Dortmund, Tifo Football made a nice little video about their famous yellow wall – just behind the brick road in yellow circles.
  • The NFL train is heading to Berlin. The city’s Olympic Stadium – home of Bundesliga club Hertha and site of this summer’s European Championship final – will host a regular-season game in 2025, one of eight overseas games the NFL is planning for next year.
  • A bold call from James Horncastle: after watching Atalanta narrowly edge past visitors Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday, he believes they can win the Serie A title. I’m here for it.
  • Most clicked on yesterday’s TAFC: Wolves’ Mario Lemina takes on the world.

Catch a Match (Times ET/UK)

(Selected games)

Europa League (all Paramount+, Fubo/TNT Sports unless otherwise stated): Viktoria Pilsen vs. Manchester United, 12:45 p.m./5:45 p.m.; Ajax vs Lazio, 3:00 p.m./8:00 p.m. – CBS, Paramount+, Fubo/TNT Sports; Lyon vs. Eintracht Frankfurt, 3:00 p.m./8:00 p.m.; Rangers v Tottenham Hotspur, 3pm/8pm.

Conference League (all Paramount+, ViX/TNT Sports): Astana vs Chelsea, 10:30 a.m./3:30 p.m.; Fiorentina vs. LASK, 12.45/5.45 p.m.; Copenhagen vs. Hearts, 12:45/5:45 p.m.

League MX Apertura final, first leg: Club America vs. Monterrey, 9:00 p.m./2:00 a.m. – Fubo, ViX.

And finally…

There was once a time when there weren’t even standard coaches. Today they are such a thing – and especially at Arsenal – that their corner king Nicolas Jover now has his own mural on their north London turf.

How far can this go? Are credit managers destined for similar reverence? Does a club’s HR manager get a patio sing? All bets are void.

(Top photo: Sportinfoto/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)

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