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Transfer Diaries : #1

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Written by :Rohan Sharma Well as we have seen that Manchester City's lack of defensive options particularly not replacing Vincent Kompany was one of the main reasons they failed to defend their Premier League trophy for a third successful season. City's failure to replace the big Belgian was showcased when Aymeric Laporte was injured against Brighton and the central defensive duo of Nicolas Otamendi and John Stones failing to protect Ederson's goal forcing Pep Guardiola to deploy Fernandinho as a makeshift Center Back to provide stability at the back. City's defensive frailties against Norwich, Wolves, Newcastle were the reason Manchester City were 25 points behind Leaders Liverpool before the league shutdown because of Corona virus (COVID-19).  As a City fan it was tough to see that but if City go ahead and sign these players I am sure they can once again capture their domestic crown and also conquer Europe if their ban is reversed by CAS. Plus with FFP going

Manchester Endgame

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Written by Rohan Sharma Manchester City have been banned from competing in the Champions League for two years. UEFA handed down the punishment, which includes a €30 million fine (£25m/$33m), to the Premier League giants for breaching Financial Fair Play rules. Following an investigation, the Adjudicatory Chamber of UEFA's Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) found City guilty of "overstating its sponsorship revenue" between 2012 and 2016 UEFA's statement read: "The Adjudicatory Chamber, having considered all the evidence, has found that Manchester City Football Club committed serious breaches of the UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations by overstating its sponsorship revenue in its accounts and in the break-even information submitted to UEFA between 2012 and 2016. The investigation started after a series of allegations published by German magazine Der Spiegel in November 2018, which drew on documents purportedly obtained by whistleblo

Manchester Derby : United vs City

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Written by Rohan Sharma  Well the 182 nd Manchester Derby was played yesterday at Old Trafford and it was the Red Devils who walked away from the pitch with all three points with a 2-0 victory over their noisy neighbours from the blue half of Manchester. With the fight for a Champions League spot up for grabs, it was imperative that Manchester United had to win against Manchester City. With the likes of Wolves and Sheffield United winning earlier in the weekend piled pressure on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side to win against their fierce rivals on home turf. Let's take a look at how both these teams lined up for this match : Pep Guardiola stuck to his usual 4-3-3 formation while OGS stuck to his 3-4-1-2 formation. Let’s look at how these two teams were tactically set up & their game plan: 1)      Manchester United : Manchester United was playing with a high press which included a very disciplined man to man mark

Battle at the Bernabeu

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Written by: Rohan Sharma In my last blog, I had explained the build-up of this match between these two powerhouses of Europe and what a match it turned out to be!   Manchester City ran out 2-1 victors at the Bernabeu, but it was a tightly contested affair and a great tactical battle from both Pep Guardiola and Zinedine Zidane . But if there is anything we have learnt from Zidane’s Real it is that they should never be underestimated as they know this competition much better than their English counterparts and thus there still is plenty more to expect from in the return fixture from both sides in 3 weeks. Let’s look at how both the teams lined up for the match   When the line-ups were announced many were left surprised as Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho were starting this mega clash from the bench in a huge gamble from the Catalan. Meanwhile Zidane also made a huge call to drop Marcelo on the bench (presumably for the Clasico in the week

Manchester City vs Real Madrid : A Tale of Two Cities

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Written by: Rohan Sharma No one in the world would have even thought that Real Madrid would have been drawn against Manchester City at Nyon, Switzerland on 16th December. already billed as the blockbuster clash of the season, This fixture had already generated more buzz than expected as two of the biggest clubs with the best players and coaches of the world of the lock horns in a two-legged knockout fixture with the first leg at the Bernabeu and the second leg at the Etihad. When the draw took place there was a very different story for both the clubs:-  Pep Guardiola led City were not very far away from Liverpool in their quest to defend their Domestic Crown i.e Premier League. Jurgen Klopp's Reds were in the form of their lives as they were unbeaten at that time and only dropped 2 points at Old Trafford and City already lost to Norwich, Wolves, United and Liverpool not to mention draws against Tottenham, Newcastle. Already losing Leroy Sane to injury in