The Champions League: A Manchester City Fan View

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 01: General view outside the stadium as the Manchester City team bus arrives prior to the UEFA Champions League group C match between Manchester City and Dinamo Zagreb at Etihad Stadium on October 01, 2019 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 01: General view outside the stadium as the Manchester City team bus arrives prior to the UEFA Champions League group C match between Manchester City and Dinamo Zagreb at Etihad Stadium on October 01, 2019 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images) /
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Manchester City comfortably beat Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League, but the shine and sparkle of the match was diminished by the poor refereeing.

Growing up the lure of European football was an exotic dream. The thought of facing players from far flung places like Poland and Hungary was an exciting prospect and any mention of them on the radio sent me searching through my football cards in the vain hope I could identify them.

And yet these days as a Manchester City fan I find my relationship with European football always leaves me with a slightly bitter after taste. I love the showbusiness glamour of the occasion, and the night matches, under the flood lights still rouse a certain thrill, which probably harps back to those childhood trips.

In fact I have not missed a European home game for at least 6 years, even taking in the dead rubber fixtures and strange play offs. I guess I am always thinking we are only ever a poor run  away from facing TNS of Wales again so we best make hay whilst the sun shines.

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But just as I begin to succumb and relax to the occasion I find myself consistently facing what feels increasingly like a UEFA agenda, characterised by poor refereeing decisions which are always designed to limit our involvement in the competition – we never benefit from the odd decisions, they never even themselves out.

Instead we find ourselves playing against what feels like a stacked deck of cards, meaning that not only do we need to win, but we must do so in such a way as to avoid reproach. We must win so comfortably that no single decision can cost us a result.

Therein, lies the difficulty as a Manchester City fan. I want to like this competition and relax but every now and again just when I am settling down, along comes a decision like a slap in the face with a wet fish, to awake me from my slumber and remind me this competition would appear to  be fixed.

It does not matter how many times we are brought down in the area, we will not get a penalty, but if we complain about the poor decision to deny us a penalty then we are sent to the stands.

The offside rule is a flexible tool which can be used to allow goals against us and rule out winners we have scored. VAR is the tool which will be used to ensure the result is as expected.

Next. . dark

So I go to cheer on my team because they are playing, rather than because of the competition. I urge them on to victory and hope that one day, we may be the team who is allowed to win the trophy.