Real Madrid Magic And Drama In Manchester: What Stood Out With Europe's Top Clubs

"When kings fall, they fall on top of us." 

Those are the words of one of my favorite writers, the Jamaican author Marlon James, as he poignantly says in his fantasy novel Black Leopard, Red Wolf.

There is something so delicate about an empire. Its longevity very much depends on not just the health of the institution but of the stakeholders who make the decisions. 

And as we take a look around the world of global football, you can’t find a truer phrase when discussing Manchester City, which has become one of the biggest talking points in sports right now. But plenty of other top clubs are making news, so let's dive into what's sticking out. 

There is such a current alienated experience when discussing Manchester City because nothing that happens on the pitch for Enzo Maresca’s side will escape the gray cloud that hovers over the Etihad. I am, of course, talking about the verdict that was handed to them last month when an independent commission found Man City guilty of the vast majority of 115 charges for breaching the Premier League’s financial rules. The most damning of them being the creation of "sham" contracts, which were hidden funds through their own ownership (Abu Dhabi United Group) thus inflating revenue by more than a billion dollars over the course of 10 years. 

City basically invented external revenue and in the Premier League and European football, where the pyramid of club hierarchy is the core foundation of the game. When an owner does something like this and it doesn’t get regulated, it becomes a slippery slope for everyone else. Teams will take advantage of its own expenditure against everyone else, who may not have the means of a state-owned club. 

This is a devastating but just outcome for City, one the club is appealing, which means the people, the fans, both inside and outside of the club, will have to wait until the beginning of 2027 to hear the punishment. But a punishment must be given because this is a historic breach that has shaken the game. 

And as I said, when the power crumbles, it is not the mighty who truly suffer, it is the community and until Man City deal with the consequences, Premier League fans of other clubs will treat them as villains, and rightly so. It will be the football equivalent of Cersei’s shameful walk of atonement in Game of Thrones where we, the people, scream ‘Shame!’ every time they touch the ball. 

That’s what you saw last weekend as City, quite happily playing the role of a theater villain, won convincingly 3-0 at Liverpool. As City fans celebrated after the final whistle, Anfield’s DJ played Fleetwood Mac’s "Little Lies," which was the perfect way to describe the current state of things in the Premier League. 

But this week in the UEFA Champions League, back at their stadium, in front of Pep Guardiola who was sitting behind chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak and CEO Ferran Soriano, City suffered a 4-2 loss to the mighty PSG (also state owned who has dealt with similar breaches with UEFA in the past) in a performance that quite literally shook them. Luis Enrique’s defending champions were incredible, especially in the first half and City simply couldn’t escape the wrath of the French giants as the brilliant Desire Doué, Ousmane Dembélé and Vitinha scored in the space of 19 minutes. 

City improved in the second half thanks to striker Erling Haaland’s brace, thus becoming the club’s highest goalscorer in the competition with 60 goals in 60 career appearances. No player has ever done that at such an age and at that pace. 

But in the end, it was the defending champion PSG who outclassed its opponent.

So what’s next? City host Ipswich Town this Saturday in what should be a better result (though the newly promoted side is showing some fight and currently in 10th place) but the gray cloud will continue to drift above the Etihad and it won’t end until we learn of the punishment. But as I said, don’t hold your breath. 

On the west side of Manchester, Manchester United lost to Atlético de Madrid this week in the Champions League in what was once again a flat, naive performance from the Red Devils. Michael Carrick’s side is now winless in its last five matches and the latest loss against Atletico Madrid gave us an interview from defender Lisandro Martínez for the ages where the Argentinian defender criticized the direction of the club, specifically highlighting the issues with the hierarchy. 

"…I expect more [investment]. 100%," said Martínez, speaking to Amazon Prime in the UK during his post-game interview. "I expect more from our technical director [Jason Wilcox]. I have to be honest, as players we have to do more, but it is also important when you make a strong squad to be ready for this kind of night."

Some pockets of the media think this was a monologue spoken in the wrong environment, including club legend Wayne Rooney, whilst others want him to suffer more consequences than simply a fine. But to me, this was a refreshing piece of honesty from a player who is entering his final year of his contract, knowing too well he is not staying. And just like Jerry Maguire’s mission statement, he spoke out on what needed to change within a powerful institution. 

And he’s right. 

United, at this point, are not equipped to deal with both domestic and Champions League football against strong opponents and a lot of that has to do with executive decision-making that failed to bring the right personnel this summer. There is not enough cover at the left-back role and the No. 9 position remains in desperate need for a 20+ goal scorer. The midfield is also in question. Problems continue for a club who has a manager entering, for the first time ever as a head coach, a season where he has to handle domestic and European football.

But just like Jerry — as he dramatically left the agency with a goldfish and Renée Zellweger’s Dorothy Boyd - Martínez will also say goodbye to Man United at some point when in reality, many fans wish it was the ownership.

There’s a massive match coming up this weekend against Leeds United at Elland Road and if the Red Devils lose and do it badly, the temperature at United will rise and Carrick’s future might just be in peril. 

Let’s discuss another giant of European football in Real Madrid. Its incredible 4-3 comeback against Roma at the Olimpico was a testament of Madrid’s undying reputation. In the spirit of October, Kylian Mbappé and Co. are the football equivalent of Halloween’s Michael Myers. No matter how many times you may think you have escaped or overcome the adversary, it will always come back to haunt you. You simply cannot kill it. And that’s Real Madrid, even this version, which is still trying to figure itself out under manager Jose Mourinho.

The issue for the Spanish giant is that there is quite a distance between Los Blancos and Barcelona and the special one has to find a way to help the most valuable club in the world find its identity. It doesn’t help when you have a chaotic midfield and a star like Vinícius Júnior, who continues to give subpar performances. He is also now suspended for pulling an opponent’s hair in the previous domestic match, thus missing four matches, one of them being El Clásico on October 25th. 

But this might be a blessing in disguise because Vini’s absence might just allow Real Madrid to breathe a little better going forward and prioritize the truly important area: midfield.

All I know is that Mourinho has to figure out Madrid’s consistency sooner rather than later because, in the end, Jamie Lee Curtis did overcome Michael Myers. Madrid can possibly fall deeper and create an even larger gap between themselves and Barcelona – who, alongside PSG, is currently the best team in Europe. 

Allow me to talk about Internazionale for a moment. The Italian defending champions lost 4-3 to Club Brugge in the Champions League this week and despite leading Serie A, things are very tight at the top as the club has an advantage only on goal difference over Lazio. Roma is also creeping behind by only two points and Cagliari by three. If there are any more mishaps for the Nerazzurri it could see Cristian Chivu’s team lose its advantage at the top. What’s made matters worse is that its legendary striker and leader Lautaro Martínez — who scored a brace against Brugge and is the team’s top scorer — suffered a hamstring injury after the match and will sadly miss a significant amount of time, including the Milan derby on October 31st, which is of course, Halloween. 

And to that point, allow me to use another fun analogy. 

If Inter was a horror movie character, who would it be? At this very moment, it is undoubtedly the costumed serial killer from Wes Craven’s slasher classic from 1996, Scream, specifically the scene when he is chasing a screaming Drew Barrymore. We know how dangerous it is, we know the threat and the terror of the masked character as they run up the stairs chasing the desperate victim — but at every given opportunity to attack and finish the job, they just continue to trip.  

And that’s Inter. It is a threatening opponent with much to worry about, but for some reason, at this moment and as we saw in the Champions League, the Italian giants continue to stumble due to their own undoing.