PAIN & (MADRID’S) GAIN
It may have been a happy accident for Uefa, but opening the Bigger Cup playoffs with a game between the last two European champions was a boost for the new format and a treat for armchair fans everywhere. Fears that Manchester City and Real Madrid might keep things tight were forgotten once we got a look at the clown car parked in front of Ederson’s goal in the first 20 minutes. After Madrid had tried and failed to walk the ball into the net multiple times, City then took an unexpected lead through Jack Grealish’s cross, Erling Haaland’s forward run and clinical finish – all given a Guardiolan twist by left-back Josko Gvardiol popping up mid-move to chest the ball into Haaland’s path. The hosts held their lead until the half-time break, frustrating Carlo Ancelotti and intriguing Amazon Prime viewers in the UK who had pressed the wrong button while trying to watch Clarkson’s Farm.
