“FOOTBALL'S all about money now,” people grumble. But then, when wasn’t it? The BBC used have a three-hour run-up to the FA Cup Final. Bums on seats or consumers watching screens – that’s always been the name of the football-on-TV game.
The final of the Champions League (BT Sport) wasn’t until 8pm on Saturday, so they shoved some stuff on earlier to whet the appetite of potential viewers. Steve McMenamin, Owen Hargreaves, Michael Owen and a few other ex-footballers sat in a room with a terrible carpet and the cup (or a copy) on display.
What did they say? Nothing you couldn’t have come up with yourself – Gundogan was really good, Haaland would prove a handful, great coach, that Pep. There seemed little doubt that Manchester City would beat Inter Milan and the question really was, would it be by two or three or more goals?
That kind of talk, I’ve always thought, is unwise – it can irritate the footballing gods.
And so it turned out. Man City beat Inter Milan by two or more goals? Hah! “You’d love to be in that huddle, wouldn’t you?”somebody said as Pep gave his players a final talking to as they prepared to head out and play the second half. In the first half, Haaland missed a couple of chances and was generally mastered, Gundogan was just another player, not great and not awful, Pep on the sidelines looked to be enduring the torments of hell.
But then, among all the blind alleys, Man City’s Rodri found a clean route to the Inter Milan net and struck a beauty. After that, Man City lived on their nerves, especially in the final seconds, as the ball bobbled around with headers, rebounds and miraculous let-offs.
Then they’d won, and the defeated players tried not to cry and the winners blubbed like babies. Jack Grealish, usually so chipper and cheery, sounded like a drunk man, wiping his eyes and muttering about being a family man. Goal-scorer Rodri told his interviewer that in the first half “I was playing shit, to be honest." It was left to the pundits and commentators to talk it up. These men should have “immortal statues galore – they deserve it”; and while it might be raining in Manchester, to the Man City supporters “it may taste like champagne."
Footballers get paid huge salaries – all twenty-two players must be multi-millionaires – but actually it’s not all about the money. Why would you cry if you still had a bulging bank balance? Winning sends them half-crazed with delight and losing sends them half-crazed with disappointment.
Deep emotion is compulsive viewing, and the Champions League final delivered on that at least.
