Saturday 21 August 2021

Big win for ManCity
Registry operator now starts payment campaign

Jack Grealish is an incredibly expensive soccer player, and the English pro would have to score and turn up plenty of goals to justify investing in him. After all: the beginning has been made. Meanwhile, his coach carries an important message for Bayern Munich fans.

Jack Grealish has a huge mortgage with him: the attacking player recently moved from Aston Villa to Manchester City for the equivalent of 118 million euros, making him the most expensive professional footballer in England. But Grealish soon begins to justify the investment in him. Even in small steps: In the England champions’ mandatory 5-0 win over newly promoted Norwich City, the international scored on his first home game for the first time.

But it is clear that the Manchester City owners did not invest horrendous sums in Grealish to score against Norwich in the league. The vice-champion of Europe, of course, should help ensure that the desired goal of the Champions League is achieved. At least the start has been made, and the first-class group stage draw will not take place until next week.

Grealish scored in the 20th minute after a cross from Gabriel Jesus to make it 2-0 for City, who had already advanced in the sixth minute with an own goal through Norwich goalkeeper Tim Krul. Grealish made his debut in front of his new followers thanks to his purpose and dedication, but it was Jesus who “opened the cage of the Canaries and made him walk”, as the BBC described the master’s slow afternoon flow.

After the opening defeat to Tottenham Hotspur last weekend, City showed a dramatic improvement, overcoming the weak Norwich. The newcomer, hopelessly overshadowed by Manchester City’s dominance, who had already lost 3-0 to Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool in the first round, was able to prevent bad things until midway through the second half – until Aymeric Laporte hit the ball from close range. And they made the final decision.

Lewandowski? Stay with Bayern Munich.

When they last met in the Premier League two years ago, Norwich caused “one of the biggest surprises of all time” (BBC) when they beat City – then and now champions – 3-2 at home. But this time around, the Canary Islands, who have sent three former Bundesliga professionals into a desperate race with Schalke Teemu Pukki, Lukas Robb and Milot Rachica, who recently moved from Werder Bremen to the Premier League, have no question about a simple point win. Instead, City secured a massive victory: Raheem Sterling and Riyad Mahrez scored another goal.

Pep Guardiola’s side, who initially put the top performers of Sterling and Mahrez off the bench and left the last patient Kevin De Bruyne out for safety reasons, were so superior that it was easy to understand why the coach was already there before the match. Given the extreme relaxation of urgent personal issues: the change of star Harry Kane, who would like to leave his club Tottenham Hotspur, who has been proposing himself for weeks, is probably not making any progress. If? The coach assured him that he would be “very happy” if he could work with the team available to him now. Asked about a possible change from world footballer Robert Lewandowski, Guardiola said: “Robert Lewandowski is very important to Bayern Munich. He will stay with Bayern!” The European transfer window will close in ten days.