Manchester City, under their manager Pep Guardiola, will host defending Champions League winners Real Madrid for their second leg encounter at Etihad Stadium. The scoreline is tied at 1-1, and Manchester City will be hoping to clinch the elusive trophy that has evaded the Premier League champions so far. Real Madrid, 14-time winners of the title, are known for their quality and might turn the game in their favour anytime, as per their manager Carlo Ancelotti.
Both teams are equipped with elite coaches who have tasted success at the continental level on more than one occasion. The aforementioned case of Ancelotti, who has won the trophy with more than one club, only augments the magnitude of the encounter between Manchester City and Real Madrid.
Guardiola has won the Champions League twice with his beloved Barcelona, but he has failed to replicate the feat with Bayern Munich in Germany and Manchester City in England. His loss to Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea in the final two years ago has been a thorn in his side. However, Don Hutchinson, a former Liverpool player, believes that Guardiola is a very adaptable coach and will correct his past record.
Hutchinson points out that Guardiola is a very intelligent coach who knows how to adapt to different situations. He cites Guardiola’s style at Barcelona and Bayern Munich as examples. However, with Manchester City, he adapted his team’s tactics to win Premier League trophies and has evolved this season, with the likes of Erling Haaland in his team, as seen in the match against Arsenal.
Hutchinson believes that Guardiola will finally win the Champions League this season and become one of the greatest managers of all time alongside legends such as Arrigo Sacchi, Johan Cruyff, and Sir Alex Ferguson. Guardiola seems to change the style of the game every two or three seasons, and that makes him an incredible coach for Hutchinson.
Middle East Ownership in England
Foreign ownership of Premier League assets has been a point of debate for quite some time now. Despite repeated claims of sportswashing, Middle Eastern and other countries’ investments have brought in a lot of money. Abu Dhabi has been successful with Manchester City so far, while Qatar is currently aiming to gain control of England’s most successful club outfit, Manchester United.
While there is a question of whether Qatar can remain idle if Manchester City wins the Champions League, Hutchinson believes that more investors would come to the Premier League because it is the most lucrative and best league in the world. Finally, Hutchinson concludes that he doesn’t think Manchester City winning the Champions League will have a bearing on investment in the Premier League.