Tops
After their resounding quadruple (C1, Cup, Premier League, UEFA Super Cup), the Skyblues concluded their magnificent year 2023 with a 5th trophy, the Club World Cup. A first for the English club, which never trembled from the first minute until the last moments. Superior in all areas of the game, they physically crushed their opponents who never found the solution. The absences of Haaland, De Bruyne and Doku will not have bothered the European champion at all.
Pep Guardiola is a happy man: the successful former coach of Barça and Bayern Munich became the first coach to win the competition with three different clubs, after his two coronations with the Catalan club (2009, 2011) and Bavaria (2013 ). Enough to leave a little more of its mark in the history of coaches.
In a surprising statistic, Manchester City became the first English team to win the Club World Cup at their first attempt. In the past, Manchester United (2000), Liverpool (2005) and Chelsea (2012) had all failed in their first appearances.
In Haaland’s absence, Alvarez took over as triggerman for his team. The Argentinian put his team on the right track by opening the score in the first minute of play, like a true surface fox (1st), then closing the score shortly before the end of the game (87th) with a cross strike unstoppable. The 23-year-old No. 9 also offered an assist to Foden (72nd). In short, a perfect copy.
Flops
Since 2012, and a setback for Chelsea against Corinthians (0-1), teams from the Old Continent have no longer let a team from another continent win. The Rio de Janeiro club was never in a position to do so this Friday: totally dominated in all areas of the game, it never brought danger into Ederson’s area. The step was too high.
Why push yourself when you can keep it simple? The Cityzens had a walk in the park, and never needed to beat the game to win by a large margin. Spectators may, however, regret the lack of intensity, far from the frenzied games of the Premier League or Champions League. The match, played in Saudi Arabia in high humidity and almost 30 degrees, did not help.
