PSG beating Barcelona was never in doubt. Plus: World Cup ticket prices released

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Hello! Note to self: never doubt Paris Saint-Germain. They’re not champions of Europe for nothing.

On the way:

👊 PSG’s statement win

🏆 World Cup prices unveiled

👀 LAFC’s big MLS Cup chance

🪪 Yamal rookie card tips

Built to last: Depleted PSG beat Barca with late goal to put down Euro marker

Yours truly predicting a fortnight ago that Paris Saint-Germain would relinquish the Champions League this season — consecutive titles are incredibly rare, see — was inviting trouble. Any expression of doubt in PSG is prone to backfire, because PSG are out on their own.

They’re the hottest team in Europe whether the plane they’re travelling on is full or not, and their win in Barcelona last night hit statement levels precisely because of who wasn’t with them. They had no Ousmane Dembele, still injured and polishing his Ballon d’Or. They also flew without Desire Doue and Joao Neves, and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was nowhere to be seen either. It should have been the proverbial taking a knife to a gun fight.

They had the handicap, too, of conceding first to a clever assist from Marcus Rashford and a sharp finish by Ferran Torres (following on from the collectors’-item sight of Lamine Yamal putting Nuno Mendes on his arse), but no matter. Luis Enrique has built PSG to last, with players who interchange easily and a squad deep enough to cope with a stack of absentees which itself read like a Ballon d’Or nominations list.

Senny Mayulu pegged Barca back before half-time and PSG bided their time until the 90th minute when Goncalo Ramos picked off a defensive line so high it warranted a drugs test (above). I know what I said two weeks ago, but I’m backtracking in haste. PSG are the gold standard, despite them humouring us by donning the guise of complete incompetents during July’s Club World Cup final. Eliminate them and the Champions League is probably yours.

City slippers

It’s funny how football works in cycles. PSG, after years of trying without success, have mastered the European scene. In contrast, Manchester City, whose first Champions League title in 2023 should have been the gateway to several more, have lost the knack for continental dominance.

Erling Haaland bullied everybody in that 2022-23 season and, with 17 goals in 10 club and international appearances, he’s at it again, like Harry Kane at Bayern Munich — the difference being that the Premier League is a more competitive world than the German Bundesliga. But City as a whole? The ability to protect leads and close out matches has left them, at least to an extent. They led hosts Monaco twice yesterday but drew 2-2. It’s all becoming a bit predictable.

The most backhanded thing you can say about City is that, given the choice of potential Champions League winners this season, you’d opt to play them. Catch them on the right day — of which there have never been more in the Pep Guardiola era — and they’ll squeak. I shudder a little at the thought of what Luis Enrique’s mob would do to them at full tilt.

Red-faced

Napoli’s victory over Sporting CP in Naples, meanwhile, was notable for two things: Kevin De Bruyne producing the type of bulldozing run-and-assist which became his trademark at City, and Rasmus Hojlund finishing off two moves like the poacher he wasn’t (or was never allowed to look like) at Manchester United. (You can see the pair combining, for the first of those goals, above).

There is, to United’s dismay, a definite trend of players breaking out of Old Trafford and finding a new lease of life. Rashford, on loan at Barca for example, doesn’t seem to be regretting his career choices any more than Hojlund. If you didn’t know better, you’d think the red side of Manchester don’t have much of a clue — a little like me and PSG.

News round-up

FIFA vice-president Victor Montagliani has indicated that the game’s world governing body won’t move to vote on suspending Israel from its competitions until Europe’s UEFA reaches a decision first. A ban on Israel has been recommended by the United Nations in response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Montagliani is also warning European nations not to automatically expect broadcast-friendly kick-offs (i.e. favourable for people watching from European timezones) at the 2026 World Cup. “There’s a lot of games,” he said.

Manchester United are seriously thinking about organising a mid-season friendly in Saudi Arabia, for warm-weather training (and, let’s face it, to generate a bit of money). You know when clubs complain about the fixture list being too congested? Well…

Rodrigo Bentancur looks like he’ll be getting a new contract at Tottenham Hotspur. The deal the midfielder is on runs out at the end of this season.

$2,000 golden ticket: World Cup seats open to buy… and the final is not cheap

For all the narrative around World Cup tickets, what mattered most was the cost of them in practice. When enthusiastic punters entered the online maze to reach the front of the queue, what would the damage actually be?

We’ve got our answer and guess what? The headline is ‘expensive’. Very. The prices are fragmented and vary wildly so you’ll have to bear with me here, but it will shock you to learn that research done by The Athletic’s Henry Bushnell found $60 seats (£44 — the cheapest category) to be somewhat limited.

If you want to attend the USMNT’s first game — and bear in mind, the group-stage draw is still two months away — you’re in for $560 (£415) minimum. Spectators who paid for the World Cup final on the first day of sales were committing to upwards of $2,000. You won’t get into a Canada match for less than $100, and the quarter-final in Los Angeles on July 10 starts at $725.

I get that this is a premium event, and perhaps you’ll think my moaning is misplaced. You can take your own view by examining the full breakdown of prices compiled by Henry this morning. This World Cup wasn’t going to be cheap to attend, but these memories for life cost so much that swathes of people can’t even toy with the idea. Like so many aspects of football’s gold rush, it doesn’t have to be this way.

LA’s potent partnership: Son and Bouanga on incredible run as they eye MLS Cup

There’s a world in which Philadelphia Union win the Supporters’ Shield this weekend. And there’s a world — this one — in which they deserve to. They’ve been on it since the get-go and as I’ve said before, they get kudos for hitting the front without betting the house on signing famous names from European clubs.

What of the playoffs, though, because I wouldn’t say Philly’s regular season form necessarily makes them favourites for the MLS Cup. I’m glancing constantly at LAFC — and so is Charlie Davies — because they’re finding their groove big time. They’ve put together four wins on the spin and all 17 of the goals scored in their past six matches have come from Son Heung-min and Denis Bouanga. Every. Single. One.

Son is a happy guy as a rule but any time you see photos of him in LA, he’s positively beaming. The transfer from Tottenham has caught his imagination and frankly, he’s a cut above most of MLS. I’d be interested to know how you see the post-season going because they’ve got the potential to be wildly competitive. But if you asked me to bet my house here and now, I’d be sticking it on Sonny and the boys.

Around TAFC

Respect is due to Crystal Palace’s long, long unbeaten run (18 matches and counting). We’ve got a podcast on Oliver Glasner’s fine work here, and an analysis of the best unbeaten stretches among current Premier League teams here. Nottingham Forest once went 40 games without defeat (above).

Florian Wirtz cost Liverpool £100m. Ergo, the transfer has to work. But his settling-in period is proving trickier than he or the club would have liked. Have they got this one right?

Federico Valverde is having a worse time at Real Madrid. He’s out of the team, and when he has played, he hasn’t looked sharp. He banged out an angry social media post earlier this week. Guillermo Rai looked into it.

One positive thing about Manchester United: they are creating chances. Their actual goals total is way below their expected goals figure. Check out the xG league table.

Our collectibles team have put together a list of the 10 Lamine Yamal rookie cards you need to get your hands on before the World Cup. The potential value of these things is incredible.

Most clicked in Wednesday’s TAFC: Klopp on MLS and youth football in America.

Catch a match

(Selected games)

UEFA Europa League (all Paramount+/TNT Sports): Bologna vs Freiburg, Celtic vs Sporting Braga, both 12.45pm/5.45pm; Roma vs Lille, 12.45pm/5.45pm, Feyenoord vs Aston Villa, 3pm/8pm — both CBS, Fubo (in U.S.); Sturm Graz vs Rangers, 3pm/8pm; Nottingham Forest vs FC Midtjylland, 3pm/8pm.

UEFA Conference League: Dynamo Kyiv vs Crystal Palace, 12.45pm/5.45pm, Fiorentina vs Sigma Olomouc, 3pm/8pm — both Paramount+, ViX/TNT Sports.

And finally…

Neil Warnock — the former Crystal Palace, Sheffield United and Middlesbrough (among many others) boss — calls himself the Red Adair of football. He’s a managerial firefighter with a talent for rescuing clubs who are, you know, on fire.

So when Sky Sports in the UK jazzed up the Premier League table by giving each club a Fantasy Premier League-style name — in Manchester United’s case, ‘Paging Neil Warnock’ — the 76-year-old was right back at them, tweeting: “Give me a call in January.” Imagine.

(Top photo: Xavier Laine/Getty Images)

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