And there we have it. Manchester City won the Champions League on Saturday, completing an historic treble. We've got a complete breakdown of the match for you, plus what it means for soccer going forward, but don't think that means soccer is taking a break. Oh no my friends, I'm Mike Goodman, this is the Golazo Starting XI newsletter, and we've got a huge United States men's national team against Mexico in the Concacaf Nations League to prepare you for. That's coming your way Thursday, only on Paramount+. So let's get to it.
New to the Golazo Starting XI newsletter? Get yourself the best deal in soccer and subscribe now to ensure you receive updates three times a week.
📺 Footy fix
All times U.S./Eastern
Monday, June 12
🌎International Friendly: Germany vs. Ukraine, 12 p.m. ➡️ FS2
🇦🇷 Argentina: Banfield vs. River Plate, 6:15 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+
Tuesday, June 13
🇦🇷 Argentina: Colon vs. Estudiantes, 5 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+
🇦🇷 Argentina: Gimnasia vs. Huracan, 7:30 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+
⚽ The Forward Line
Manchester City wins, but it wasn't easy
The Champions League final win for Manchester City will be remembered for a handful of historic things. It is, of course, a treble for City, putting them alongside Manchester United as the only two teams to win the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in the same season. It will, inevitably, be the center of talk about the implications of spending in European football for years to come, as the United Arab Emirates, City's owners, hit the pinnacle of success in the same season that Qatar, owners of Paris Saint-Germain hosted the World Cup and Saudi Arabia, through its Public Investment Fund, not only buys Newcastle, but also brings Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, N'Golo Kante to their domestic league, while narrowly missing out on Lionel Messi. That story isn't going away anytime soon. And third, it will be remembered as the time City's manager, Pep Guardiola finally got over the hump, winning a Champions League over a decade after his first pair of European trophies with Barcelona. And that's what I want to look at.
Soccer really is a fickle game. This final was not a particularly good one for City all things considered. They came in as the biggest favorite in 15 years and were, in many ways, outplayed by Inter. In almost every stat except the one that matters Inter seemed like the better team. From shots, to expected goals, to big chances, it was Inter who piled on the pressure. Here's James Benge breaking down the match, and looking at how City invited pressure on themselves with the choices Guardiola made.
- Benge: "Inter's pressure forced mistakes from City, so did the nerves of the European champions. Guardiola certainly seemed to believe that was the case, continually urging his players to "relax" throughout the first half. And yet, perhaps the most convincing explanation for City's tough road to glory tonight was that, yet again, they or their manager made matters far more difficult than was necessary.
City had a complex plan that they've executed to perfection for months on end, one that involves Stones stepping out from defense to aid Rodri, an assertive double pivot that blocks out counter attacks and offers the playmakers ahead of them someone to dovetail with and bounce the ball off. What City's plan did not involve was a repurposed center back operating as something akin to a right-sided attacking midfielder, the free eight that was once David Silva now handed over to a man once labelled the next Bobby Moore. Having been pilloried for starting a one-man midfield without Rodri on this stage two years ago, Guardiola responded by starting a one-man midfield with Rodri."
This was the same sort of performance from Manchester City that we've seen in the past late in the Champions League: an over-thought, overly cautious approach that simply came off somewhat flat. It was the kind of performance that lost them the Champions League final to Chelsea in 2021, and the kind that saw them knocked out in the last second in the semifinals by Real Madrid last season. This time, however, it was enough to get the job done.
And really that's the lesson from this Champions League final. The best team doesn't always win. A sober analysis of Saturday's match would probably suggest that Inter played better than City for 90 minutes. But, what the best teams do is get there time after time. And that's what Guardiola has done. Since his last Champions League win with Barcelona, Guardiola has made it to the semifinals or finals of this tournament seven out of 11 seasons he has coached, including the last three with City. Eventually, even if you don't play at your best when you're there, that's going to be enough. On Saturday it was.
Sponsored by Paramount+
🔗 Midfield Link Play
Man City react to winning the treble
It's been a long time coming for a lot of players on Manchester City. Again, this is a team that's been in the final four of this competition for three years running now. After finally getting over the line a bunch of them talked to our CBS UEFA Champions League Today crew pitch-side after the match.
- Jack Grealish explained why he thought he was "crap" during the final.
- Erling Haaland asked Thierry Henry for some advice on how to get even better.
- Rodri explained everything that went into this moment.
- Could Thierry Henry beat Kyler Walker? "ALL DAY"
Now let's get to rest of the links:
🔗 Chuck Booth looks at the five biggest moments from Istanbul.
🔗 Jonathan Johnson and Roger Gonzalez have your player ratings.
🔗 Romelu Lukaku might have missed a chance or two, but the loss wasn't his fault, writes Johnson.
🔗 Kevin de Bruyne tore his hamstring in the first half of the match, he revealed.
🔗 Booth looks at how scary Erling Haaland might become now that the pressure of winning the UCL is off.
🔗 Could Neymar be the Saudi league's next target? Benge reports they were in Paris to start wooing him.
🔗 Booth takes a quick look at next year's top Champions League contenders.
🔗 We've got your transfer roundup news and needs from Fabrizio Romano.
🔗 We've got everything you need to know about Concacaf Nations League and the USMNT starting Thursday.
🔗 Former Italian Prime Minister and AC Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi died Monday at age 86.
🔗 Attacking Third: Sandra Herrera is again joined by Jordan Angeli to recap the weekend's action
💰 The Back Line
💵 Best bets
All odds courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook and all times U.S./Eastern. SportsLine has you covered with cup final bets..
- UCL futures: 2023-24 Champions League winners
💰 THE PICK: Manchester City (+190) -- Manchester City were +225 to win the final outright, and they're shorter odds than that to win the whole tournament next season. It's because they're just that good. While you'd obviously pick the field over them, those contenders are pretty evenly divided with Bayern Munich at +650, Paris Saint-Germain at +900, Barcelona at +1000 and Real Madrid at +1100 making up the primary chasing pack. It's not that somebody else can't win it's that the second best team in Europe right now is a wide open race, and we're going to be waiting all summer to see who emerges.
