This was the week when a group of players in sky blue shirts broke new ground and delivered something that seemed impossible in modern football.
Not Manchester City, whose demolition of Real Madrid was just the logical conclusion of super-talented, well-paid managers spending mind-boggling sums on a super-talented, well-paid coach and super-talented, well-paid footballers.
Incredibly impressive, but a victory that somehow left you cold. Because City is proof that when extreme wealth is used extremely cleverly, it can be irresistible. It allows a club to buy Erling Haaland even if they scored 99 league goals last season, or to spend £100 million on Jack Grealish just to improve his game.
Great for City supporters who have seen the rough years, but for other football fans it becomes a bit mundane, even boring, as the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 have become. The elephant in the room remains that the club faces the Premier League’s 115 charges in connection with alleged rule violations.
But as Pep Guardiola’s Abu Dhabi-backed juggernaut thundered relentlessly to an inevitable first Champions League title, another city – Coventry – was on the verge of completing a footballing marvel under former Manchester United striker Mark Robins.
Coventry reaching the play-off final was the most heartwarming story in football this week
In contrast, Manchester City’s victory over Real Madrid somehow left you feeling cold
Coventry’s 1-0 win over Middlesbrough means they will battle for a spot in the Premier League against Luton on May 27 at Wembley – another fantastic story of redemption. Both clubs were in League Two five years ago.
No doubt whoever gets promoted next season will take the usual six-goal thrashing at the Etihad Stadium, but what Coventry have achieved to get this far would almost make it worth it.
After seven games this season, Coventry were bottom of the Championship by three points, seven adrift of safety, having also started the campaign under a transfer embargo.
They had to play seven of their first nine matches of the campaign away from home as rugby sevens competition at the Commonwealth Games had made their pitch unplayable. Robins described a 3–0 defeat at Norwich on 3 September as ‘a disgraceful performance’.
In October they faced the threat of homelessness – for the third time – when their landlords, the Wasps rugby club, took over the board. Somehow they kept going, dragged their way to the top of the table and are now within reach of reaching the world’s most famous national competition.
The events of this season have been bad enough but they have become the norm for Coventry, last in the top flight in 2001. The club’s existence has been called into question on more than one occasion and they have had to play home games at Northampton and Birmingham Robins somehow managed to lead the team to the League One title during their spell at St Andrew’s.
It’s hard enough for a brilliantly managed club to rise from League Two to the Premier League. Coventry are one step away despite being a basket case off the field. Now the clouds have lifted and new owner Doug King is signing a deal to ensure that Coventry will remain at the CBS Arena for the next five years.
King agreed a deal in January to become sole owner of the club after purchasing the remaining shares from SISU Capital. SISU’s ownership had unfolded against a background of decline, anger and protest. The relief among the supporters was overwhelming.
Mark Robins has done an excellent job at Coventry, who are just one game away from promotion
Gustavo Hamer only cost Coventry £1 million but the midfielder is hugely impressive
Kyle McFadzean has spent a career away from the spotlight, but is now close to the top flight
City is gradually reducing the element of unpredictability, but Coventry keeps it alive
It was a joy to watch Kyle McFadzean and Gustavo Hamer joke and compliment each other in post-game interviews at the Riverside. Hamer, a Brazilian who has spent most of his life in the Netherlands, is one of the best midfielders outside the Premier League, despite costing Coventry just £1 million. Center back McFadzean has spent a career away from the spotlight and clearly never imagined he’d come this close to top-flight football.
Discussing the Manchester City conundrum, a colleague once admitted that they liked going to their games ‘to enjoy the show’, compared to watching Cirque du Soleil. But the appeal of sports is that we don’t know for sure what will happen next. Through their brilliance, City reduce that element of chance season after season. If you already know what’s going to happen, why watch football?
Fortunately, Coventry’s story shows that the game is still capable of surprising. A proud club that is on the edge of the abyss and has only found its voice again in the lower echelons five years ago. They are now preparing to take the final step at Wembley.
And no matter how many trophies Guardiola wins, no matter how many goals Haaland scores or Kevin De Bruyne scores, the real beauty of sport lies in stories like Coventry’s.