The Champions League is BACK!!! And so are we... The Straight Red team enjoyed a nice vacation, but with the footie coming thick and fast we had to return to reality. We have UCL, Premier League title clashes, FA Cup Cinderellas, and plenty more.

Before we get into all that, we want to give a quick word to those in Turkey and Syria who have been devastated by the series of earthquakes that hit earlier this week. There are lots of things going on in the world, but this catastrophe was horrifying and painful to witness. There have been reports of footballers (most notably former Chelsea and Newcastle midfielder Christian Atsu) who have gone missing amidst the chaos. Families have lost their homes, lost their loved ones, and we hope and pray for as many rescue successes as possible, while our thoughts go out to those who have lost so much. 

Jersey giveaway is back! First person to 10 referrals gets a free 22/23 jersey of their choice! It's super simple-–each and every one of you has a personalized referral card (in red below). That link is yours to share with people you think might enjoy the newsletter. If they sign up through that link, you get a point on the board. All they have to do is enter their email! It's super easy and super free––don't miss out!

Let's get straight into it.

ICYMI (In Case You Missed It):

Ryan Reynolds' and Rob McElhenney's Hollywood fairytale has come to an end, as AFC Wrexham were dumped out of the FA Cup. After an electrifying first leg 3-3, Sheffield United won the reverse leg 3-1, scoring two stoppage time goals to crush the Welsh side's dream right at the death. It's not all bleak for Wrexham, who are rocketing towards what seems to be sure promotion and a return to the EFL for the first time since 2008. It's still incredibly impressive, as non-league Wrexham were the last team outside the EFL left standing, losing to a team who are second in the Championship. 

Everton pulled off the impossible, beating Arsenal 1-0 at home. In new manager Sean Dyche's first game, it was two of his former Burnley soldiers combining for the winner––Dwight McNeil to James Tarkowski. Poetic. Can Dyche keep Everton up?

Real Madrid lost to Mallorca over the weekend, leaving real question marks at the Bernabeu. Madrid now trail Barcelona by 8 points in the race for La Liga, with some starting to question Carlo Ancelotti's post––even after winning both La Liga and the Champions League just last season. 

SIUUUU!!! Cristiano Ronaldo scored four goals for Al-Nassr on Thursday, surpassing 500 career league goals. I'm guessing you don't have the Saudi package in your cable bundle, but it's pretty cool to see Cristiano bagging goals again. 

Inter Milan bested AC Milan in the Derby della Madonnina on Sunday, through this header from Lautaro Martínez. It pushes Inter to 2nd, but still a whopping 13 points behind Napoli atop Serie A. Meanwhile, reigning champions Milan continue to struggle, sitting all the way down in 6th. 

Quiz Of The Week

What is the furthest a non-league team has made it in the FA Cup?

(Answer at the end of the letter) 

Clash of Giants in the Premier League

Wednesday –– 2:30 PM ET : Arsenal (+185) vs Man City (+145)

It's the matchup everyone has been waiting for: number one versus number two. Number two will go all out to get one over on number one, as Arteta tries to best his mentor in this game and ultimately the title race. 

This is Man City's big chance––Arsenal sit five points ahead with a game in hand. If they can win this, they'll put themselves right back in the mix (pending some potential outside issues we'll get to later). Arsenal are coming off their loss to Everton, but City also got beat by Spurs over the weekend, in what is becoming a normality, out of character with what we've come to expect Pep's City to produce. 

Arteta is surely manager of the season, no? This is a team that hasn't seen the top four in years, and now, with all the big bucks pouring through the Premier League, are seriously pushing for a first title since the Invincibles' 03/04 campaign. Arsenal were +2500 to win the league before the season started. If you weren't a believer then, you are now.

Manchester City, on the other hand, look like a shadow of themselves. They've lost four games this season, already more than last season's total. They've conceded 21 goals already, just 5 shy of their total all of last season. For some reason, it's just not clicking in the effortless fashion it always has done in Pep's tenure. 

We're used to seeing Klopp's Liverpool vs. Pep's City as the giant fixture in English football the last half decade. Now, it's Arteta and Arsenal's turn. 

Champions League Round of 16

The Champions League is back!! It feels like forever, mostly because it has been, since we saw CL action. But fret no longer, it's back and it's business end. 

There are some HUGE matchups inbound, ones that we might've saved for the further rounds, but we'll take what we can get. Liverpool square off with Real Madrid, while PSG face Bayern in two blockbuster matchups that could see a couple potential finalists cast aside early on. Chelsea face Dortmund, while Milan play Tottenham in another great couple of ties. You'd expect Man City to get past RB Leipzig, while the other three ties could go any which way. However it shakes out, start thinking about reasons to put off work in that afternoon midweek window. CL games this week:

Tuesday: PSG (+180) v Bayern (+135), AC Milan (+155) v Tottenham (+180)

Wednesday: Club Brugge (+280) v Benfica (-105), Dortmund (+145) v Chelsea (+195)

Man City: Financial Breaches Leave Serious Sanctions on the Horizon

Manchester City have been charged by the Premier League for alleged breaches of Financial Fair Play regulations from 2009-2018. Allegedly, there have been over 100 breaches over the time frame, leaving many dumbfounded as to how this could have happened unfettered. 

Man City's rise to the summit of world football has been met with questions every step of the way, but it's been more or less chalked up to the financial gluttony of the modern game. We've seen it with PSG, now Newcastle, and Chelsea before them. So, when Sheikh Mansour purchased the club in 2008 and started spending crazy sums of money, it was questioned but ultimately downplayed. In fact, Financial Fair Play (FFP) wasn't instituted until 2011, and was largely farcical in its early days. 

Allegedly, Manchester City have been fudging financial statements... from underreporting of wages to over-reporting of revenue. FFP is not like a salary cap in American sports; it's not equal for all. FFP designates how much a club can spend and operate with based on the amount of money they bring in. Higher reports of revenue=more money to spend. So, the accusation is essentially that Man City have lied about financials in order to build the team and club in the rapid fashion we've seen over the last decade and a half. 

It's not the first time Manchester City have been charged. In 2020, UEFA took a crack at City, fining them 30 million Euros and banning them from the Champions League for two years. Man City took the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), who ultimately overturned the ban and reduced the fine to 10 million Euros. 

The question is now, what's next? Well, the charges have been brought but the investigation is expected to take two years at minimum. However, there are possibilities of punishment in the meantime. The Premier League operates differently than UEFA––not only are there statutes of limitations that limit UEFA to investigating five years back, but the Premier League has far more autonomy. If Man City fights this case, they will be subjected to the letter of the Premier League's law and no one else's––they will not be eligible to return to CAS for an independent assessment. 

Remember when we said City could be right back in the title race with a win at Arsenal, pending some outside issues? Well, there is a possibility that the Premier League could hand Man City a points deduction in the current season while the investigation continues to roll on. What that deduction would look like is difficult to speculate, but it would almost certainly eliminate City from the title race. There are, of course, further sanctions that might follow, pending the outcome of the investigation. These range from fines to transfer bans to contract terminations to... expulsion from the league––though we doubt such drastic measures will be taken. 

Let's see where this goes before making any concrete judgments, but it doesn't look good. It doesn't look good for City, for the Premier League, or for the sport in general. We've become numb to the sums of cash being exchanged in football these days, particularly in the Premier League. An average player now costs 30 million pounds. Perhaps this case might begin to draw a line in the sand that exorbitant, excessive spending will not fly anymore. 

More Games to Watch this Weekend...

Sunday –– 9 AM ET: Leeds (+290) vs Man United (-110)

Monday –– 3 PM ET: Liverpool (-195) vs Everton (+500)

Sunday –– 6:35 PM ET: Chiefs (+1.5) vs Eagles (-1.5)

Quiz Answer: The FA Cup Final! In 1900, Southampton reached the final as a non-league team in the 7th tier of English football, but lost to Bury 4-0. 

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