City Watch: Blues crash out of Club World Cup

Manchester City have been knocked out of the Club World Cup by Saudi Arabia side, Al Hilal in the Round of 16. 

Yes, that’s right, following a very successful group stage where the Blues were the only team to win all of their games, even smashing Italian giants, Juventus 5-2, City are out of the competition.

The game itself was incredibly exciting, especially if there were any neutrals watching. City took the lead early on through Bernardo Silva any absolutely dominated the first half after. 

We should’ve been three or four up at the break, but world class stops from Al Hilal keeper, Bounou and mishaps from City kept the score at just 1-0.

The Saudi side had an explosive start to the second period, scoring two in the first seven minutes to put Inzaghi’s side 2-1 up. 

City fought back though, with Haaland leveling just three minutes later.

The game finished 2-2, meaning extra time was required, which started an avalanche of goals.

Al Hilal retook the lead early on in the extended period before Phil Foden got on the end of a beautiful Rayan Cherki cross to level the score again. 

This wasn’t enough though, as late on, the Saudi side once again took the advantage, which this time, was answered by City, winning the game 4-3.

I’m glad I had the opportunity to vent my concerns about the competition in this column before it started, because now I can speak from the position that I didn’t care about it anyway! 

I’ve watched City get knocked out of big competitions in dramatic style, mostly the Champions League, all my life, and each one felt just as painful as the next.

However, watching the game in the early hours of Tuesday morning, when the full time whistle went, I simply turned my television off and went to bed and didn’t think much of it. 

My point is, watching the team I adore get dumped out of a big competition usually has an emotional toll on me, and I’m sure it does millions of others, but I felt absolutely nothing towards getting knocked out of the Club World Cup.

I’m sure I’m not the only one that feels this way, hence why I feel the need to write about this in the column this week. 

The whole tournament just felt completely fake, with half empty stadiums, it just felt like it was all about one thing;  money. 

I’m not sure when it was forgotten that football is for the fans, but the supporters are the reason this sport has grown into a global phenomenon and slowly but surely, they’re being forgotten about.

Our next game will now be in the Premier League against Wolves on 16th August, giving the players a little more time to rest. 

During then and now, I’ll keep this column up to date with any news of transfers, ingoings and outgoings as well as any other stories that come up surrounding the Blues.