All wins, but not necessarily all admiration. meant when he paraded through the basement of the Atatürk Stadium, carrying his own loudspeaker and a can of Heineken not too discreetly hidden under his Louis Vuitton men's bag.
This impression was heightened as he staggered from Manchester. An urban sky blue Dreamliner that seemed to barely recognize which city it was in. After making an express detour to Ibiza for a second consecutive overnight session with his teammates, Grealish turned on a full stag party on his way to the open top. bus parade, riding a tram without a shirt.
It was said of Keith Richards in his dissolute extremes of the seventies that he once didn't sleep for nine days in a row. Grealish, despite the enforced forbearance that made him one of Pep Guardiola's most reliable performers, seemed hell-bent on challenging that record. And why not? At the age of 27, he won the treble, driven by an adrenaline rush that may never happen again.
For all that, Guardiola was strangely subdued after the final whistle in Istanbul, visibly exhausted by the nervous finale, he returned to his usual celebration antics while puffing on a giant Cuban cigar.
Erling. Haaland found some hedonistic tricks to match his 52 goals in a terrific season, tipping a bottle of champagne on Grealish's head.
But what about the rain? It came not in a refreshing summer squall, but in a torrent, flooding the revelers and leaving the smeared story-makers as if they had just taken a shortcut through a car wash. If you believed in the principle of the miserable delusion that ominous weather means impending disaster, it was hard not to see some meaning in the downpours.
As diligent as the City was hanging out, their euphoria was not shared by everyone. One elderly gentleman was walking down Deansgate, dressed in a 1999 Manchester United jersey, attracting looks of barely disguised horror from all sides.
It was a reminder of how, despite the fact that City denied his neighbors the only remaining right to boast, the intensity of mutual hostility persisted.
It's not that status concerns are limited to the red half of Manchester. While the City is desperate to rule out any mention of the 115 alleged financial wrongdoing, which they vehemently deny, the very existence of the allegations offers a bludgeon with which to beat them. While most opponents may not be able to beat them on the pitch, they still feel brave enough to put an asterisk next to all of these accomplishments while the legal battle continues.
The allegations against City are serious, ranging from allegations that the club concealed the true source of their funding, to allegations that they have only partially declared the salaries of players and former manager Roberto Mancini. They dispute all of this, insisting that they present a «comprehensive body of hard evidence» to «put an end to this matter once and for all.» The trouble is that this process can take four years, during which time you can be sure that the vilification from their opponents will not subside.
Guardiola did not even think about such thoughts when he entered the stage , even welcoming rain as the quintessential Mancunian. He deserves all the applause given the speed with which he turned City into the most feared team on the planet, turning even obscure players like Manuel Akanji into marvels. While the City's greatness is a subject of complex debate, its own is unequivocal. Soon he will be planning new conquests, even more incredible records. However, the dissidents from Quelling City may be above even his vast forces.
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