{"id":46846,"date":"2023-06-10T20:14:44","date_gmt":"2023-06-10T20:14:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/the-fake-final-news-sport-sports-news-results-and-broadcast-schedule\/"},"modified":"2023-06-10T20:14:46","modified_gmt":"2023-06-10T20:14:46","slug":"the-fake-final-news-sport-sports-news-results-and-broadcast-schedule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/the-fake-final-news-sport-sports-news-results-and-broadcast-schedule\/","title":{"rendered":"The “fake” final – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcast schedule"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Two big teams. Two big leagues. Who wins? That is usually the question, but before Saturday’s game it is more tempting to wonder something else: When did we last see such a big favorite in a Champions League final? City came first in the Premier League, Inter came third in Serie A. 20 years ago, a duel between two top teams from England and Italy would have given us an even battle. Now the odds on City are worthy of a top team at home against a Mediterranean danger. In fact, Inter have been told that City’s semi-final against Real Madrid was the real final. WRONG: Kevin De Bruyne thinks all finals are “50-50”. It’s wrong. Photo: AFP In that case, this is a “false” final, a formality. We know who wins, let’s just get it done. Fortunately, sports don’t work like that. But when Kevin De Bruyne claims that all finals are “50-50”, it’s not hard to show why he’s wrong. Earning twice as much In the light blue corner, City have smashed all opposition in the three biggest tournaments this season. Arsenal gave them a bit of a fight in the league, and Manchester United made it to the FA Cup final. Otherwise, all teams \u2013 even Bayern Munich and Real Madrid \u2013 have been swept off the field. The favorites are one match away from the triple. Inter are here against all odds. In Italy, Inter are in good form and recently won the cup. In the Champions League, they were the strongest who survived the group against Bayern and Barcelona. But then they were lucky to meet Porto and Benfica, two teams from Portugal, and then their neighbor Milan. In Istanbul, they meet an institution that operates on a completely different level. According to Deloitte, the teams earned this in 2021-22: City: 731 million euros Inter: 308.4 million euros And according to the website Transfermarkt, the stables are worth the following: City: 1.05 billion euros Inter: 534.45 million euros THE BOY IN THE SMOKE: Pep Guardiola doesn’t just have a good football mind. He also has the financial muscle Inter can only dream of. Photo: Reuters City earns the most in the world and is worth the most in the world. They are the best in the world. They have the best coach in Pep Guardiola. They are owned by Sheikh Mansour, a member of the search-rich royal family that rules the United Arab Emirates. Inter? They invested heavily to win Serie A in 2021, but then had to borrow 275 million euros to keep the lights on in the office. They are struggling to pay off the debt, and there are rumors that the owners, the Chinese company Suning, may sell out this summer. Land of flops This economic gap has consequences on the transfer market. When Erling Haaland was wanted by the whole of Europe last year, it was City that had the ambitions and resources to persuade him. Inter was not even mentioned. Instead, Inter – like many teams in Italy – have taken names that have been found too poor by richer teams, especially in England. An example is Romelu Lukaku, the Belgian striker who struggled at Manchester United and was sold to Inter in 2019. As soon as he had led Inter to the title two years later, Chelsea threw 115 million euros on the table. Inter, with their red numbers, said yes. FORWARD AND BACK: Romelu Lukaku’s nomadic life has become the symbol of Inter’s inferiority against the Premier League clubs. Photo: Reuters Then Lukaku flopped at Chelsea. But Inter could not afford to buy him back, so now he is there on loan. This is how today’s football works. If he succeeds, he will stay in England. If he is wrong? Hello, Italy. Such is the balance of power between England and Italy. Top teams in Serie A are now losing bidding wars against teams in the lower half of the Premier League. So superb is the latter, that what is gray stone on ball island can easily turn into gold in boot country. Have slept in class It didn’t used to be like this. 20 years ago, the Champions League final was Milan against Juventus. English teams had won the tournament once since 1990, the year they were re-entered after a five-year ban following the Heysel tragedy. Serie A was full of ambitious owners writing fat checks. The stars went to the Mediterranean. The list of transfer records in the world is dominated by Italian teams from the 1950s until the turn of the millennium, when Real Madrid entered the field. This was before “Financial Fair Play”, when owners could spend as much money as they wanted. OTHER TIMES: When Diego Armando Maradona played havoc for Napoli, Italy was the country the stars would most like to play in. Photo: AP But then the Premier League became a commercial beast. With full stands and crude marketing, it has become the world’s richest and most popular league. In 2021\u201322, the team that finished last received 105 million euros in TV money. Inter earned the most in Serie A – and received “only” 84.2 million euros. Serie A has slept through the hour. Calcio has not been sold well enough as a product. Teams play on dilapidated arenas borrowed from the municipality. The league’s reputation has been damaged by violent ultras, scandals and racism. With low global popularity and little money, it has fallen behind its rivals. And when “Financial Fair Play” prevents riches from spending their own money on players, it gets tough on the pitch. No one from Italy has won the Champions League since Inter in 2010. Now Serie A is ranked number four in Europe, behind England, Spain and Germany. And although Italy has finalists in all three European tournaments this season, the Premier League is still way up there in a financial galaxy of its own. Geniuses and gladiators It should be added that City’s success is about more than money. Few teams in Europe have built themselves up in such a smart way. In 2012, they were clever in bringing in Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain, the directors behind one of the best Barcelona teams of all time. The two then brought in Pep Guardiola. Guardiola has now built his most complete team: A mix of defensive gladiators, creative geniuses and a ruthless Viking at his peak. Other top teams have burned through more money, but City have used their best. That is, unless they breached the Premier League’s financial rules between 2009-10 and 2017-18, which the league accuses them of doing. City denies blame. COMPLETE: Ilkay G\u00fcndogan (th) was the match winner in the FA Cup final. Photo: AP At the same time, City would not have become City if they had played in Italy. When Sheikh Mansour wanted to buy a club in 2008, the super popular Premier League was a natural target. After that, City could tempt good coaches, players and directors with good salaries and big plans. Serie A has no Sheikh Mansour. The foreign owners there are mostly companies from the USA and China who want money back for their efforts. Even if Serie A were to get a load of rich uncles, they will be prevented by “Financial Fair Play”. In 2023, the goal is to earn the most. City is the best in the world there. And Inter is number 14. In this sense, this final reflects the trends in European football over the last 20 years. When Inter won the tournament in 2010, they were part of the elite. On Saturday, they have the chance to win their fourth title. If they lose, it can take a very long time before it comes back.
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Two big teams. Two big leagues. Who wins? That is usually the question, but before Saturday’s game it is more tempting to wonder something else: When did we last see such a big favorite in a Champions League final? City came first in the Premier League, Inter came third in Serie A. 20 years ago, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46847,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[24,8737,466,16,23,25,21,22],"class_list":["post-46846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-broadcast","tag-fake","tag-final","tag-news","tag-results","tag-schedule","tag-sport","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46846\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}