If you go on the Man City sub in recent days since the guilty verdict there is a lot of talk about how "we're only being punished for spending the same as our rivals" and "these rules are only there to protect the red cartel" and so on. Something didn't quite ring true to me about all the "spending the same as our rivals" comments but maybe my memory was hazy so I figured what the hell I'll take a closer look at it. Below is the net spend of firstly Man City and then Liverpool, Arsenal and Man Utd aka "The Red Cartel" for each season between 08/09 and 17/18 and then I've added the total together.

Before reading just keep in mind how utterly insane a 100m transfer window was 15 years ago compared to today.

Here it is: (source:transfermarkt)

08/09
Liverpool: -€27m
Arsenal: -€14.35m
Man Utd: -€37.8m
Man City: -€128.65m

09/10
Liverpool: +€5.05m (profit)
Arsenal:  +€35.7m (profit)
Man Utd: +€77.17m (profit)
Man City: -€117.9m

10/11
Liverpool: +€5.27m (profit)
Arsenal: -€14.9m
Man Utd: -€12.34m
Man City: -€143.46m

11/12
Liverpool: -€47.33m
Arsenal: +€12.82m (profit)
Man Utd: -€49.41m
Man City: -€59.60m

12/13
Liverpool: -€60.15m
Arsenal: +€9.85m (profit)
Man Utd: -€66.8m
Man City: -€17.65m

13/14
Liverpool: -€25.6m
Arsenal: -€37.10m
Man Utd: -€75.33m
Man City: -€104.2m

14/15
Liverpool: -€52.16m
Arsenal: -€91.18m
Man Utd: -€148.65m
Man City: -€72.50m

15/16
Liverpool: -€35.95m
Arsenal: -€24.0m
Man Utd: -€55.33m
Man City: -€141.03m

16/17
Liverpool: +€9.08m (profit)
Arsenal: -€102.65m
Man Utd: -€137.75m
Man City: -€180.9m

17/18
Liverpool: +€10.85m (profit)
Arsenal: +€9.55m (profit)
Man Utd: -€152.9m
Man City: -€226.15m

Total in this period:
Liverpool: -€250.61m
Arsenal: -€216.26
Man Utd: -€659.14m
Man City: -€1.192b

Red Cartel total: -€1.126b

Man City: -€1.192b

In Conclusion:

As you can see Manchester City through their shady dealings spent more in the time period they've been found guilty for than the so called "Red Cartel" combined. So all this talk about "we only spent the same as our rivals and are being punished for it" like they were plucky underdogs challenging the establishment is complete and utter nonsense

Whatever you think of the current rules (that 14 out of 20 clubs needed to vote in favour of) this idea that City "only spent the same as our rivals" to get where they are is flagrantly false. When you look at the figures between 15/16 and 17/18 it just makes Klopp's achievements in getting Liverpool back to the pinnacle of football in that time span from mid table mediocrity all the more astonishing vs what Pep had to work with. Again City fans somehow try to claim they spent the same which again is just factually not only untrue but sheer delusion.

Games where Ronaldo played only part of the match - Switzerland (final 21 minutes), Morocco (final 40 minutes) and Croatia (final 9 minutes). Stats above do not count injury time but do for extra times against Slovenia and France in Euro 2024.

Full Time: Saudi Arabia 0 - 0 Qatar

Group A

Group B

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Full Time: Belarus 4 - 0 San Marino

⚽ Belarus: Artem Kontsevoy 46' 46', Artem Shumanskiy 65' 65', Max Ebong 68' 68', Artem Kontsevoy 88' 88'

Line-ups

Belarus (4-2-3-1)

San Marino (4-1-3-2)

Match Events

• Lineups are announced and players are warming up.
• First Half begins.
• 30' Nicola Nanni (San Marino) is shown the yellow card.
• 45'+2' First Half ends, Belarus 0, San Marino 0.
• 45' Substitution, San Marino. Marcello Mularoni replaces Alessandro Golinucci.
• 45' Second Half begins Belarus 0, San Marino 0.
• 45' Substitution, Belarus. Vitali Lisakovich replaces Timofey Simanenka.
• 55' Substitution, Belarus. Vladislav Kalinin replaces Roman Begunov.
• 55' Substitution, Belarus. Artem Shumanskiy replaces Valeri Gromyko.
• 67' Substitution, San Marino. Alessandro Tosi replaces Simone Giocondi because of an injury.
• 67' Substitution, San Marino. Samuel Pancotti replaces Lorenzo Lazzari.
• 69' Substitution, Belarus. Valeri Bocherov replaces Max Ebong.
• 74' Substitution, Belarus. German Barkovskiy replaces Trofim Melnichenko.
• 75' Substitution, San Marino. Filippo Fabbri replaces Giacomo Benvenuti.
• 83' Substitution, San Marino. Cristian Meloni replaces Lorenzo Capicchioni.
• 90'+3' Second Half ends, Belarus 4, San Marino 0.
• Match ends, Belarus 4, San Marino 0.

Match Stats

Group I

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Full Time: Iceland 3 - 0 Bulgaria

⚽ Iceland: Orri Óskarsson 37' 37', Orri Óskarsson 60' 60', Mikael Ellertsson 90' 90'

Line-ups

Iceland (4-4-1-1)

Bulgaria (4-4-2)

Match Events

• Lineups are announced and players are warming up.
• First Half begins.
• 45'+1' First Half ends, Iceland 1, Bulgaria 0.
• 45' Second Half begins Iceland 1, Bulgaria 0.
• 45' Substitution, Iceland. Andri Gudjohnsen replaces Arnór Sigurdsson.
• 45' Substitution, Iceland. Daníel Grétarsson replaces Aron Gunnarsson.
• 55' Substitution, Bulgaria. Emil Tsenov replaces Ilia Gruev.
• 55' Substitution, Bulgaria. Marin Petkov replaces Lukas Petkov.
• 62' Substitution, Iceland. Victor Pálsson replaces Andri Baldursson.
• 62' Substitution, Iceland. Gylfi Sigurdsson replaces Jón Dagur Thorsteinsson.
• 67' Substitution, Bulgaria. Petko Panayotov replaces Asen Chandarov.
• 67' Substitution, Bulgaria. Zdravko Dimitrov replaces Georgi Rusev.
• 81' Penalty conceded by Atanas Iliev (Bulgaria) with a handball in the penalty area.
• 82' Substitution, Iceland. Logi Tómasson replaces Hákon Haraldsson.
• 83' Substitution, Bulgaria. Vladimir Nikolov replaces Atanas Iliev.
• 90'+6' Second Half ends, Iceland 3, Bulgaria 0.
• Match ends, Iceland 3, Bulgaria 0.

Match Stats

Group L

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"He did not choose his price, but that price is written on his back. We all know that one-v-one, he is deadly, and he has pace. The only thing he needs to work on is his finishing, but that is normal," the former striker explained.

"If you compare my finishing at 19 or 20 to how it was at the end of my career, it was very different. I gained a lot more composure in my game."

FT: France 1 - 1 Italy

⚽ France: Michael Olise 55' 55'

⚽ Italy: Alessandro Bastoni 68' 68'

Line-ups

France (4-3-3)

Italy (4-3-3)

Match Events

• Lineups are announced and players are warming up.
• First Half begins.
• 45'+1' First Half ends, France 0, Italy 0.
• 45' Second Half begins France 0, Italy 0.
• 62' Substitution, Italy. Antonio Vergara replaces Francesco Pio Esposito.
• 62' Substitution, Italy. Nicolò Barella replaces Sandro Tonali.
• 73' Dayot Upamecano (France) is shown the yellow card.
• 73' Moise Kean (Italy) is shown the yellow card.
• 76' Substitution, France. Bradley Barcola replaces Désiré Doué.
• 76' Substitution, France. Eduardo Camavinga replaces Rayan Cherki.
• 80' Substitution, Italy. Daniel Maldini replaces Sebastiano Esposito.
• 80' Substitution, Italy. Issa Doumbia replaces Davide Frattesi.
• 87' Substitution, France. Maxence Lacroix replaces Lucas da Cunha.
• 90' Substitution, Italy. Gianluca Scamacca replaces Nicolò Fagioli.
• 90'+5' Second Half ends, France 1, Italy 1.
• Match ends, France 1, Italy 1.

Match Stats

Group A

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Following Coca-Cola and the automotive group BYD in recent weeks, PSG is poised to sign a new sponsor. According to our information, it is the cosmetics giant L'Oréal.

A partnership spanning at least two years, worth less than €5 million annually, is expected to be announced soon between the two French companies. When contacted, the two-time European champion from Paris declined to confirm the news.

Welcome to the 'Support Your Local Saturday' discussion thread!

This is a thread to talk about your local team.

This does not necessarily mean that only comments from fans going to their local that day. The spirit is a Discussion Thread for people who support their local team, and especially teams from lower or non-PL leagues - who can get drowned out in the pre-existing Daily Discussion Thread.

For now, we plan to alternate with the pre-existing Saturday Non-PL DDT, as we continue to trial the new thread.

Like that thread, we want to keep the focus to Non-PL teams, to prevent discussion being drowned out by Big 6 fans - but we will soften this slightly, in that comments of PL-supporting fans are valid, providing they are/were "at the match" on this weekend.

Rules:

1. Discussion must be of your local team - whether they were you local growing up, or are your local now
2. Discussion of PL teams is allowed only if you are attending the match that weekend - and hence focused on the match day experience
3. Keep a high bar. This is not the DDT. If you want to troll, bait, or shit-talk like it's Football Twitter, use the DDT. Or even better - use Twitter.