PARIS – The Champions League final between Manchester City and Inter Milan on Saturday could mark a definitive turning point in European football.
A City win will be the first for a state-backed outfit in Europe’s elite club competition, after more than a decade of trying.
The club that have recently won a fifth Premier League title in six seasons have been transformed since the 2008 takeover by the Abu Dhabi United Group.
Once just a “mid-table club”, they reached their first Champions League final in 2021, losing 1-0 to Chelsea. This season, they are eyeing a treble in Istanbul, having already added the FA Cup to their Premier League triumph.
Meanwhile, the rest of Europe must wonder if the sport is headed for a period of City dominance.
They topped the 2023 Deloitte Football Money League with revenue last season of €731 million (S$1.06 billion).
A decade ago, City were seventh, and their rise has posed problems for the sport, with the club being fined €60 million in 2014 for breaching Uefa’s Financial Fair Play regulations.
They were banned for two years from Uefa competitions in February 2020 for “serious financial fair play breaches”, but the sanction was later overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
In February, they were charged with 115 alleged rule breaches by the Premier League, relating to the period from 2009 to 2018. That case may not be resolved soon.
Yet if simply spending vast sums were all that mattered, Paris Saint-Germain would have won the Champions League.
PSG were bought by Qatar Sports Investments, a subsidiary of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, in 2011.
In 2017, they signed Neymar and Kylian Mbappe for the biggest fees in football history, and in 2020 reached the Champions League final but lost to Bayern Munich.
A year later, they lured Lionel Messi after the Argentinian had to leave cash-strapped Barcelona.
While City put their money into attracting coach Pep Guardiola and building the perfect environment for him to thrive, PSG threw cash at signing superstars.
That approach has not delivered the Champions League, but the sense is that they will eventually get there, and keeping Mbappe improves their chances.
Qatari wealth has also helped decimate Barcelona, who spent beyond their means trying to replace Neymar, creating debts that ultimately led to them losing Messi.
“The state clubs are a new phenomenon and present a danger that football has not seen before,” observed Javier Tebas, president of Spain’s La Liga, back in 2019.
The old elite are struggling to keep pace. Barcelona have gone out in the Champions League group stage in the last two seasons, while Liverpool will be in the Europa League next season and Chelsea will be missing from Europe altogether.
Meanwhile, Manchester United are preparing for their Champions League comeback, and may soon be in Qatari hands themselves as the sale of the club rumbles on.
Also in the Champions League next season will be the Saudi-backed Newcastle United.
“There are three clubs in world football who can do what they want financially,” observed Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.
“There is no ceiling for Newcastle but some other clubs have ceilings.” AFP
