Tag Archives: champions league

Manchester City’s Success Came at a High Price

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Source: Statista

Manchester City, reigning Premier League champions and one of the 16 clubs still competing for the Champions League title this year, has been banned from European club competitions for the next two seasons for breaching UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations.

The independent Adjudicatory Chamber of the Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) found the club guilty of trying to circumvent 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.” Put simply, UEFA regulations implemented in 2011 forbid clubs from spending more money than they make. By overstating its sponsorship revenue, Manchester City was trying to justify its lavish transfer spending.

Since the Abu Dhabi United Investment Group acquired Manchester City in 2008, the club’s new leadership under chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has transformed the club from mid-table mediocracy to a global footballing powerhouse, winning four Premier League titles in the past eight years. City’s success has always been eyed with suspicion though as it wouldn’t have been possible without the financial muscle of its Emirati owners.

As the following chart shows, no club in world football has spent nearly as much money on transfers over the past 11 and a half years as City has under its new ownership. According to Transfermarkt.de, a German website specializing on football transfers, Manchester City’s transfer balance since 2008 is -$1.42 billion, outstripping even that of Qatari-owned Paris Saint-Germain by more than $500 million. Banning City from the Champions League is hitting the club where it really hurts, since it’s the one title that has eluded them so far in their (expensive) bid to join football’s elite circle.

The Champions League Is an Unequal Struggle

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Source: Statista

On Tuesday, the UEFA Champions League returns from the winter break, when Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain, Atlético Madrid and Liverpool FC kick off the knockout phase of the most prestigious competition in club football (soccer). Coming on the heels of the UEFA’s decision to ban Manchester City from European action for the next two seasons, the round of last 16 holds some intriguing storylines, as Dortmund faces former coach Thomas Tuchel, now in charge of PSG, Manchester City square off with record champions Real Madrid and dark horses Valencia and Atalanta play for a spot in the quarterfinals.

Apart from the latter two, Olympique Lyon and German upcomers RB Leipzig, the field of clubs still in the running for this year’s title reads like a who-is-who of European club football. Despite the UEFA’s ongoing efforts to level the playing field through its Financial Fairplay regulations implemented in 2011, the gap between Europe’s 10 to 15 richest clubs and the remainder of the footballing world is growing wider and wider. Since Porto’s win in 2004, no real outsider has triumphed in the Champions League, with Ajax’s surprise run to the semi-final in 2019 a refreshing exception to the rule.

As the following chart shows, even among the teams that made it out of the group stage, the Champions League is an uneven struggle. According to transfer tracking website Transfermarkt.de, Manchester City’s squad is more than four times as valuable as that of Atalanta, this year’s biggest underdog. With City, Liverpool, Madrid, Barcelona and PSG, five clubs now exceed €1 billion in total squad value and it wouldn’t come as a huge surprise if one of them ends up lifting the trophy in May.