One of the reasons to fall in love with football is how unpredictable it can be. Imagine a team featuring Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Neymar repeatedly failing to win the one trophy their club wanted: the UEFA Champions League. But as each player fell away and left that club PSG rose from the ashes, invested in the best youth and finally won the competition. Now Messi and Neymar have won the competition in the past but Mbappe famously has not. The French international left PSG for Real Madrid to go win it there. Such is football and its unpredictable nature Real went out to the 2nd best team in England in Arsenal. Of course PSG dealt with them before crushing Inter Milan 5-0 in the final. But to be a fly on the wall in the room Mbappe was sitting in whilst watching the final. On second thoughts scratch that you may have been splattered by the man himself. There is of course a parallel with Harry Kane. The main forward leaves and finally Tottenham win a trophy that Kane so utterly craved. Of course at least in Kane's case he did finally get some silverware with Bayern Munich wrestling the Bundesliga from Bayer Leverkusen. Leverkusen's manager has been the excellent Xabi Alonso, a former Real Madrid player who has naturally joined the club with Carlo Ancelotti heading for the Brazil national side.
One has to wonder despite his brilliance at times and how he burst onto the scene as a 17 year old winning the World Cup if Mbappe will be cursed in the Champions League? Given he is at serial winners Real Madrid it is easy to think he will win it but this could be a time of change for the club and Mbappe may be in a problem puzzle partly his fault too because while he scores goals he seems to have forgotten about his killer instinct. That instinct has abandoned Mbappe for a good 3 years now but time is on his side but there is a case that his best no pressure youthful years are already behind him.
It has been a season to forget for Manchester City and Pep Guardiola and an odd one given how successful both have been over the years. And yet even as the season has ended City can still claim something highly significant. The FIFA World Club Cup will begin this month featuring the best teams in the world and another English side will also be participating in Chelsea. There are criticisms over the competition which is only right given the number of games being played and this was a summer where elite players would normally get a rest with their being no international competition. However money and power are king. Just look at how many Saudi sides are in this competition. Lionel Messi will be back on television screens also as his team Inter Miami have qualified as the host nation. There are rumours that Cristiano Ronaldo is heading to a team participating in the competition and the lure of America, exposure, TV rights will be all too much for the money men. As football fans we want to see a good competition of course and hopefully it can be. However of course this is also a financial exercise in power and greed and already the world's richest sides will become richer exposing the gulf between them and the others. The winners for example are set to receive a cool 120 million dollars.
To win the FIFA World Club Cup: Real Madrid 5.00, Manchester City 6.00, PSG 6.00, Bayern Munich 8.00, Chelsea 10.00
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