Fernandinho hits out at 'absurd' reports of Lionel Messi provocation

Manchester City midfielder Fernandinho has said reports he provoked Barcelona's Lionel Messi in the aftermath of his side's 3-1 win on Tuesday are "absurd."

Cadena Cope claimed Messi confronted an unnamed City player after the latter had provoked him as both teams left the pitch following the match at the Etihad Stadium.

The Spanish radio station reported that Messi allegedly shouted, "stupid, come here and show your face, don't hide" as the City player in question rushed into the changing room.

On Wednesday, City denied reports of an altercation in the tunnel, a club source told ESPN FC, and Fernandinho has echoed that stance.

The Brazilian said on his Instagram account: "To the misinformed. I am totally unaware where from rumours could have emerged related to an alleged augment and provocation on my behalf towards Messi!

"I can only reiterate that news spread by the media are not only false/untrue but absurd, as I did not have contact with any of the players of Barcelona's technical team after the match.

"Instigation and provocation does not reflect my character as I strongly uphold value and respect in and out of the pitch, irrespective of which player or opponent team."

Spanish channel La Sexta TV claims it was not a City player but Pep Guardiola's assistant, Mikel Arteta, who had an altercation with Messi in the tunnel

According to La Sexta, Arteta told Messi: "Who are you waiting for? Go on to the changing room, you twit."

ESPN FC's Spain correspondent Adriana Garcia contributed to this report.

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Graphic Shows That Manchester Derby Is Set To Be The Most Expensive Ever

Sky Sports’ graphic shows that the Manchester Derby between Manchester United and City is set to feature the most expensively assembled lineups ever.

Both teams have spent incredulous amounts of money in the transfer market this summer, with the combined values of each team being absolutely astounding.

Manchester United may have acquired only four players, but there all arrived for large fees, through transfer totals or annual salaries.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is amongst the best-paid players at the club, whilst Eric Bailly cost the Red Devils £30 million.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan also arrived for north of £25 million, whilst Paul Pogba became the world’s most expensive player at £93.25 million.

Pogba has impressed since his move.

Looking across to the blue side of Manchester, Pep Guardiola was not afraid to use Sheikh Mansour’s enormous bank balance in order to secure the services of some very exciting players.

Nolito arrived from Celta Vigo for £13.8 million, Leroy Sane arrived for £37 million whilst John Stones made Everton £47 million as he also signed for the Citizens.

Ilkay Gündogan parted Borussia Dortmund for £21 million, and Claudio Bravo left Barcelona for £17.1 million.

Gabriel Jesus also signed for Guardiola’s outfit for nearly £30 million.

The players within the squads were also expensive acquisitions. United paid £57.6 million for Anthony Martial, and City shelled out £49 million for the acquisition of Raheem Sterling from Liverpool.

Luke Shaw also cost £28 million, and Fernandinho was recruited for the handsome sum of £30 million.

Here’s the incredible graphic of the expected line-ups, with thanks to Sky Sports.

Callum Connolly, Pundit Arena.

Manchester City flop Danny Mills lays into the Blues again

The former Man City defender failed to see the positives in the friendly match at Bayern Munich.

You would think Danny Mills would have a little more love and understanding for a club that paid him good money for three seasons of doing rock-all.

But to listen to him co-commentating on Manchester City's friendly at Bayern Munich on Wednesday, you would think the Blues had kept their former defender locked in the football equivalent of Guantanamo Bay.

Even the most bitter cynic on the planet could see that City youngsters Tosin Adarabioyo,Pablo Maffeo and Angelino were performing well on a big stage.

Asked if any of the young Blues had impressed him, Mills pooh-poohed the very thought: “Not really ...” he said.

That brought an acerbic Twitter comment from Blue legend and current Premier League support manager Paul Lake, who works with – and highly rates – those City youngsters.

Valuable experience for Pablo Maffeo and Tosin Adarabioyo against Bayern

Said Lake: “Great to see so many young #mcfc players at at the Allianz tonight, getting to know Pep, his expectations, in and out of possessions. #learning.

“... but what do I know? The font of all knowledge is co-commentating.

“Angelino's been excellent. Shown a real hunger to impress. Also strong performances from Adarabioyo & Maffeo. Top graduates from our academy.”

Mills was unperturbed. He repeated the suggestion that Pep is a flat-track bully, saying at Barcelona he inherited “world-class players in good form”.

Guardiola was portrayed as a flat-track bully

The fact that he got the job because Barca finished 18 points behind champs Real Madrid, finishing third behind Manuel Pellegrini's Villarreal, and wimped out of the Champions League in a semi-final against United, seems to have escaped his notice.

Barca were under-performing badly, just as City did last season, and Pep turned that team into a history-making winner of six trophies.

He questioned City's decision to play top teams in pre-season, saying that the likes of Mansfield and Barnsley make better pre-season fodder than Bayern and Manchester United.

And he suggested, just before half time, that Guardiola needed to get his players in at half time and give them some strong tactical advice.

Fernando and Fernandinho - similar players?

It was a pre-season friendly – his half time team talk was more likely to stress the need to get some fluids down, and that four were coming off, and four more would follow shortly afterwards.

The commentator was little better, suggesting that Fernando and Fernandinho were the same type of player – which came as some news to those of us who have watched them for the last couple of seasons.

Whether this strange view was down to the fact that the two Brazilians' names sound similar.

But it might explain the similarity of his oppo's name to Fanny Mills, an unfortunate Victorian circus attraction who had size 30 feet – although, unlike her sound-alike she is not known to have constantly inserted them into her mouth.

Espanyol and Celta Vigo Interested in Manchester City's League Cup Winning Hero Willy Caballero

Manchester City goalkeeper Willy Caballero could be on his way out of the Etihad despite becoming City's hero in the League Cup final against Liverpool back in February.

The 34-year-old is wanted by La Liga clubs Espanyol and Celta Vigo, according to a report in the ​​Daily Mirror.​

The Argentinian goalkeeper faces an uncertain future as Manuel Pellegrini, the manager who brought Caballero to English football, has left Manchester City with Pep Guardiola replacing him.

Caballero has one year remaining on his current £40k-a-week deal at City, but it's expected that a move back to Spain would be preferable after he spent 10 years with Elche and Malaga.

Despite playing only 20 times for City over two seasons, including five in the Premier League, Caballero became a cult-legend in the North West for his penalty heroics against Liverpool in the League Cup final.

The final ended 1-1 after Coutinho cancelled out Fernandinho's opener, leaving the game to be decided by a penalty shoot-out, where Caballero saved three Liverpool penalties to win City the Cup.

Caballero now faces the choice of sitting on the bench for the final season of his contract at City, or move to La Liga, where he may be in line with a starting place having already gained a wealth of experience in Spanish football.

Gunners shatter City’s Champions League qualifying hopes

London, May 9

Pep Guardiola could find himself without Champions League football next season after Manchester City’s hopes of qualifying suffered a major setback in a 2-2 draw with Premier League top-four rivals Arsenal at Eastlands on Sunday.

Arsenal twice came from behind, goals from Olivier Giroud and Alexis Sanchez cancelling out efforts from Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne, in what was City manager Manuel Pellegrini’s final home game in charge before he is replaced by Bayern Munich’s Guardiola after the end of the season. This result left fourth-placed City just two points in front of Manchester United, who have a game in hand on their local rivals.

FA Cup finalists United, currently fifth, will definitely finish above City and deny Guardiola, who guided Barcelona to two Champions League titles before joining Bayern, a place in European football’s premier club competition if they end their league season with wins against West Ham and Bournemouth. “We should have won that game,” Pellegrini told the BBC. “But Arsenal’s goals were good.”

The draw meant Arsenal remained third but they moved to within two points of second-placed Tottenham Hotspur, after their arch-north London rivals saw a miserable week end with a 2-1 loss at home to Southampton earlier on Sunday. “I am not disappointed because twice we were losing and twice we came back,” said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. “It was an unbelievable fight today.”

City were ahead as early as the eighth minute when Argentina striker Aguero got on the end of Fernandinho’s header into the box. But just minutes later, France striker Giroud equalised for Arsenal when he rose unmarked to head in a corner. City, beaten in the Champions League semi-finals by Real Madrid in midweek, restored their lead in the 51st minute when Belgium midfielder de Bruyne’s low shot from the edge of the box beat Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech.

Arsenal rallied again when Chile striker Sanchez, ultimately denying compatriot Pellegrini a farewell home win, struck in the 68th-minute after getting on the end of Giroud’s flick into the box.

City though almost won the game late on, but Wilfried Bony’s shot hit the crossbar.

Concerningly for England, ahead of June’s European Championship, Gunners striker Danny Welbeck went off with an apparent knee injury in the first half. England manager Roy Hodgson is due to name his France 2016 squad on Thursday.

In Sunday’s other Premier League match, Liverpool rounded off a week that saw them beat Villarreal to reach the Europa League final with a 2-0 win at home to Watford.

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A version of this article appears in print on May 10, 2016 of The Himalayan Times.

Manchester City must trim their dead weight

Manchester City have had a decent 2015-16 season so far despite some harsh critics.

They have already won the Capital One Cup, they are still in with a fighting chance of finishing in the top four in the league and are the only English team to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League. But yet, Manuel Pellegrini’s side have not been close to their best.

Players like Sergio Aguero, David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Fernandinho, Kalechi Iheanacho and Joe Hart have put in memorable performances this campaign and have been City’s shining stars so far. But, on the other hand, there are a number of names who have been quite disappointing on more than a few occasions. While they still might scrape through this season with their current crop, there will surely be a call for change when new manager Pep Guardiola takes over. There is no doubt that the Spaniard will be handed a hefty war chest to add some talent to his squad.

While there is still no concrete evidence as to whom City will sign next season, Outside90’s Rahul Dantes looks at some of the deadweight that the club must work towards getting rid of.

Martin Demichelis

After his horror show in the Manchester derby last weekend, there is no surprise that Demichelis makes the list. But that is not the only reason why City should cut loose the aging centre-back. The Argentine might have been valuable centre-half at one time in his career, but that time has long gone now. The 35-year-old seems to get worse with every passing game and is evidently well past his prime. Due to mounting injuries to City’s centre-backs, Demichelis was forced to start and has disappointed his team almost every time that he has taken to the pitch, making way too many errors for a defender with such vast experience.

Guardiola will certainly not entertain such poor performances and it is more than guaranteed that the club will not renew the Argentine’s contract which expires at the end of this season.

Eliaquim Mangala

Mangala arrived in Manchester as recently as 2014, but has yet to make any sort of impact in the two years. Like Demichelis, Mangala has been the reason why City have suffered defensively this season. His performances have been terrible at times and he has understandably moved down the pecking order. But what has angered the fans has been the amount of money the Citizens paid for the centre-back, which was in the region of £32 million (more than five times what City paid for Kompany). That is right, City paid over £30 million for a defender who had yet to prove his worth on the big stage and is arguably still yet to do so.

Considering the fact that the Frenchman is just 25-years-old, it would be harsh to discard him straight away, but if the past couple of years is anything to show for the future, it can only be considered sensible that the club cash in on the centre-back before things go horribly south and they end up with another Demichelis on their hands.

Yaya Toure

Many would consider it a ludicrous idea to let go of powerhouse Yaya Toure, who has not had the worst season nor the best so far. No doubt, the Ivorian was once among the Premier League’s top players but no more. Since last season, Toure has shown signs of slowing down with the level of his performances seeing a huge drop. Despite the huge amount of success that he’s enjoyed with City, there comes a time in a player’s career where moving on is just the best option. The midfielder has scored over 70 goals for the Citizens since his arrival at the club, putting in some noteworthy and match-winning performances along the way. But at 32-years of age even Toure looks to have decided that his future does not lie in Manchester, as reports from the players agent claims he wants away. Toure’s contract expires at the end of next season and it would be best if the club are able to sell the aging player off at the end of the season, rather than to let him go on a free transfer.

Wilfried Bony

Another player who has only recently arrived on the club but has had a dreadful time since then. He made a name for himself at Swansea, where he scored 34 goals in 70 appearances. Compare that to his 10 goals in 40 games for City and you notice the vast difference. Bony still might have a good amount of years left in him and at only 27 years of age he might still have a lot to offer. But it is not the lack of goals that is concerning for the Ivorian, but his performances that have been well below-par. Bony lacks the pace and creative vision that the other Sky Blue attackers have in abundance and at times he just seems out of place.

There is little doubt that Guardiola will not add another striker to the City ranks and that could well mean curtains for the Ivorian after only a season and a half. The Ivorian is certainly still a good striker and a shift in teams may not be the worst idea for him. The emergence of young Kalechi Iheanacho would be another reason why City might let the 27-year-old depart the club at the end of the season though.

Manchester City without five key men for Crystal Palace clash

Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini will select from the same squad that drew 0-0 with Everton on Wednesday for Saturday’s clash with Crystal Palace at the Etihad Stadium. 

Nicolas Otamendi and Martin Demechelis will continue in central defence in the absence of captain Vincent Kompany (calf) and Eliaquim Mangala (hamstring). 

Striker Wilfried Bony is also still out with a calf issue and midfielder Fernandinho will miss out with a muscle problem. 

Playmaker Samir Nasri remains a long-term casualty after undergoing hamstring surgery in November. 

Sergio Aguero, Raheem Sterling, Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva may all start. 

Provisional squad: Hart, Caballero, Zabaleta, Sagna, Demichelis, Otamendi, Clichy, Kolarov, Toure, Fernando, Delph, De Bruyne, Silva, Sterling, Navas, Aguero, Iheanacho, Celina.

Fernandinho & Mangala Ruled Out For Palace

Manager Manuel Pellegrini has confirmed that Fernandinho and Eliaquim Mangala remained sidelined for this weekend's game against Crystal Palace.

In quotes carried by the Official Site from his pre game press conference, Pellegrini explained that he hoped to have both back for the match against West Ham at Upton Park, but for Palace the game came too soon.

They aren't the only two missing as he also said there'd been no change in the injury list at the club.

'The injuries are exactly the same as the last game, we are without Fernandinho, Mangala, Bony, Vincent, Nasri, Patrick Roberts. Probably one or two of the players will be fit next week. Kelechi is in the squad list - we`ll see tomorrow the starting XI. He`s a young player who is working every day with the team. When young players have the option to play games they have to take their chances and every time Kelechi has done that and played very well. It`s important for him to work every day with important players. I especially think he will be an important player.'

With questions about the draw against Everton raised, he again praised the overall performance ruing missed chances and the penalty shout, but he was confident if we could consistently play like that we wouldn't need penalties to get a break through in games.

'We dominated, we had chances and for different reasons we didn`t score. We can`t be worried after playing that way. It was very strange the team didn`t score - it`s an accident that happens in football sometimes. We must continue to play in the same way and trust we will score goals. One of the things this team is not is predictable - we have so many ways of playing. We continue being the highest scorers in the Premier League for the last three seasons. Not only at home, but away we also try to be an offensive team. If we don`t score once after having 17 shots, it`s just an accident. Teams are always waiting with eight or nine players behind the ball, waiting for us to play. We always try to play with a high tempo - it`s not always easy against eight or nine players near their box. It`s not tempo you need, you need accurate passes in the final third. If we don`t have possession, that can be a matter of pace but we normally have possession in games.'

Speaking briefly about the opposition more specifically, he went on to say that there would be no link with the victory earlier in the season over them.

'Every game is different, we had a very difficult game against Palace in London winning in the very last minute. We were in a very good moment at the start of the season, scoring a lot of goals. It was a close game, maybe here in the cup was a bit easier but we don`t think tomorrow will be easy at all. They`re a strong team with important players.'