Defiance or denial? Inside Manchester City’s bubble, decked with inflatable bananas

Stepping inside the plush halls of Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium before Wednesday’s Champions League match against Paris Saint-Germain felt a bit like walking into an alternative universe.

Despite all the criticism that has pummeled the club since it was found guilty of over 100 charges relating to financial breaches, you could be fooled into thinking nothing was wrong.

In recent weeks, the Premier League side has been called a cheater and a liar by many. Those who love the club could only watch as its past successes were belittled and its fans became the butt of jokes – or, as one supporter told me, shouted at in a grocery store for wearing the club colors.

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But despite the torrent of abuse from all angles, City has pleaded its innocence, appealing the guilty verdict and promising its players, staff and fans that it’s entirely innocent – arguing it’s merely the victim of a witch hunt.

That message has landed well internally, at least publicly. Manager Enzo Maresca has brushed aside a barrage of tricky questions about the topic with a smile, while players, both past and present, have toed the line.

The fans are certainly playing their part as well. In a storm that had nothing to do with them, many have bought into the pantomime of it all, relishing their role as the arch villains of English soccer.

It’s not as though fans were crying in the stands worrying about what the sanctions could entail – be that transfer bans, points deductions or even relegation from the Premier League entirely.

Instead, the concourses on Wednesday were full of groups of supporters manifesting ways in which the appeal would be successful. Optimism, blind or otherwise, was the name of the game.

To sell that dream further, the stadium was treated to a light show before kickoff, accompanied by a montage which showed past occasions when City had overcome the odds. It was another thinly veiled message to tell supporters not to worry.

And, despite the heavy 4-2 loss against PSG, there were no signs of anyone breaking rank.

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Unlike at Liverpool last weekend, when the team was booed from pillar to post, the Etihad’s four walls felt like an oasis of Wednesday.

If you didn’t know the context or hadn’t been following the news of the possible sanctions hovering over City’s head, you’d think this was a club totally in tune with one another.

Fully dosed up on an ‘us against them’ mentality, the togetherness between the players, manager and the fans is almost enviable.

And in the face of such adversity, the fanbase has opted for a measure of gallows humor – symbolized by hundreds of inflatable yellow bananas that punctuated the capacity crowd that was treated to an enthralling match against PSG.

Even when City fell behind, the bananas were waving enthusiastically wherever you looked.

Such an oddity does have meaning, though. The inflatables are a throwback to the 1980s when Manchester City was relegated to the second tier of English soccer.

In an attempt to lighten the mood around the club at the time, fans nicknamed their then journeyman striker Imre Varadi as ‘Imre Banana’ and have been bringing their inflatables ever since.

Those bananas are now working harder than ever in the current circumstances.

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There was something perfect about City’s opponent in what was the first home match since all this news broke.

Just as City has been backed by the United Arab Emirates since its takeover in 2008, PSG is backed by Qatar. In 2014, both teams were charged with breaking “Financial Fair Play” rules by UEFA – the governing body that runs the Champions League.

After a years-long process, though, both PSG and Manchester City escaped relatively lightly and City seemingly found a friend in the Parisians this time around.

PSG manager Luis Enrique told reporters before the match that he’d hoped City would escape serious sanctions from the Premier League, a rare voice of support in a pretty deriding domestic crowd.

The PSG faithful, however, were less kind – jeering the City players as they came out for the warm-up and seemingly reveling in their host’s disappointment in the defeat.

In truth, a night that started with so much gusto fell a bit flat from City’s perspective. Even the presence of former manager Pep Guardiola in the stands couldn’t turn the team’s fortunes around.

After leaving this summer following ten incredible, trophy-laden seasons in charge, Guardiola was welcomed back at the Etihad as Manchester City continues to keep up appearances.

The Spaniard has been a strong voice for unity since the verdict, calling on everyone associated with the club to stick together and trust the ownership.

His face appearing on the big screen was naturally greeted by cheers of adoration from the stands and would normally have been a pure reason to smile.

But as with everything about City at the moment, the context spoke so much louder.

It’s not normal for a legendary manager to return so quickly to a club he just left. This felt like another ploy from City to yet again prove that nothing is wrong, and everything will be totally okay.

But step outside of the Etihad Stadium and the harsh reality quickly dawns.

Supporters don’t seem keen to talk to the media about the charges, even less so the guilty verdict, and almost all parrot the same response: ‘Wait for the appeal.’

But blaming others and kicking the problem down the road won’t, and never will, make the problem go away.

And while the Champions League might eventually prove a tonic during a tough season, the club will be reminded of its very real danger every time it plays a Premier League match.

It’s in those moments, when facing clubs directly impacted by the saga, that City will face its toughest tests of the season.

And with the appeal process still months from completion, the farcicality of this whole episode will rear its head time and time again – no matter how many inflatable bananas the fans manage to blow up and how much the club stresses that everything is definitely still okay.

周三曼城与巴黎圣日耳曼的欧冠比赛前，走进曼城伊蒂哈德球场豪华的大厅，感觉就像走进了另一个平行宇宙。

尽管俱乐部因 100 多项财务违规指控而被判有罪，并因此饱受批评，但你可能会被蒙蔽，认为一切正常。

最近几周，这支英超球队被许多人指责为骗子和说谎者。那些热爱这支球队的人只能眼睁睁地看着它过去的辉煌被贬低，它的球迷沦为笑柄——或者，正如一位球迷告诉我的那样，仅仅因为穿着俱乐部球衣就在杂货店里被人辱骂。

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曼城被发现“大规模作弊”。接下来会发生什么？

尽管遭到各方猛烈抨击，曼城仍坚称自己无罪，对有罪判决提出上诉，并向球员、工作人员和球迷承诺自己完全无辜，声称自己只是政治迫害的受害者。

至少在公开场合，这一信息在俱乐部内部反响良好。主教练恩佐·马雷斯卡面带微笑地回避了一系列关于此话题的棘手问题，而现役和退役球员也都对此保持沉默。

球迷们当然也扮演了重要角色。这场与他们毫无关系的风暴，让许多人深陷其中，他们乐于扮演英格兰足球的头号反派。

球迷们并没有在看台上哭泣，担心制裁可能带来的后果——无论是转会禁令、扣分，甚至是彻底从英超联赛降级。

周三，球场走廊里挤满了支持者，他们展示着各种能让上诉成功的方案。盲目乐观，或者说理性乐观，成了当时的主旋律。

为了进一步强化这种梦想，赛前球场上演了一场灯光秀，同时播放了一段回顾曼城过往逆境逆转的精彩集锦。这无疑是在向球迷传递一个隐晦的信息：不要担心。

尽管以 2-4 惨败给巴黎圣日耳曼，但没有任何迹象表明有人会脱离队伍。

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与上周末在利物浦被球迷从头到尾嘘声一片不同，伊蒂哈德球场的四面墙壁感觉就像是周三的绿洲。

如果你不了解背景，或者没有关注曼城可能面临的制裁新闻，你可能会认为这是一个内部完全和谐的俱乐部。

在“我们对抗他们”的氛围下，球员、教练和球迷之间的团结令人羡慕。

面对这样的逆境，球迷们选择了一种黑色幽默——数百根充气的黄色香蕉点缀着座无虚席的观众席，他们观看了一场与巴黎圣日耳曼队的精彩比赛。

即使曼城落后，你目光所及之处，香蕉都在热情地挥舞着。

这种奇特的景象其实是有其意义的。这些充气物让人想起上世纪80年代曼城降级到英格兰足球第二级别联赛的情景。

为了缓和当时俱乐部的气氛，球迷们给当时还在四处征战的前锋伊姆雷·瓦拉迪起了个绰号叫“伊姆雷·香蕉”，并且从此以后就一直带着充气玩具来庆祝。

在目前这种情况下，这些香蕉比以往任何时候都更加努力地工作了。

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自从所有这些消息传出以来，曼城的首场主场比赛，对手似乎恰到好处。

就像曼城自2008年被阿联酋收购以来一直得到其支持一样，巴黎圣日耳曼也得到了卡塔尔的支持。2014年，这两支球队都因违反欧足联（欧冠联赛的管理机构）的“财政公平竞赛规则”而被起诉。

不过，经过多年的波折，巴黎圣日耳曼和曼城最终都相对轻松地脱身了，而这一次，曼城似乎在巴黎人那里找到了盟友。

巴黎圣日耳曼主教练路易斯·恩里克在赛前告诉记者，他希望曼城能够避免受到英超联赛的严厉处罚，这在国内一片嘲讽声中实属罕见。

然而，巴黎圣日耳曼的球迷却没那么友善——当曼城球员出来热身时，他们发出嘘声，似乎很享受主队输球后的失望。

说实话，这场开局气势如虹的比赛，从曼城的角度来看却略显平淡。即便前主帅瓜迪奥拉亲临现场观战，也未能扭转球队的颓势。

在执教曼城十个赛季并带领球队赢得无数奖杯后，瓜迪奥拉于今年夏天离开。如今，曼城重返伊蒂哈德球场，继续保持着良好的竞技状态。

自判决结果公布以来，这位西班牙人一直强烈呼吁团结，呼吁所有与俱乐部相关的人员团结一致，信任俱乐部老板。

他的脸出现在大屏幕上，自然会引来看台上观众的欢呼和喜爱，这通常会是一个令人愉悦的纯粹理由。

但就像目前曼城的一切一样，背景因素远比表面看起来更有说服力。

一位传奇教练如此迅速地重返他刚刚离开的俱乐部，这并不寻常。这感觉像是曼城为了再次证明一切正常、一切都会好起来而耍的又一个花招。

但走出阿提哈德球场，残酷的现实很快就会摆在眼前。

支持者们似乎不太愿意与媒体谈论这些指控，更不愿意谈论有罪判决，几乎所有人都鹦鹉学舌般地重复着同样的回答：“等待上诉吧。”

但责怪他人和把问题往后拖延并不能，也永远不会让问题消失。

虽然欧冠联赛最终可能会在艰难的赛季中起到一定的鼓舞作用，但每次参加英超联赛，俱乐部都会被提醒自己面临的真实危险。

正是在那些时刻，当面对直接受到这场风波影响的俱乐部时，曼城将面临本赛季最严峻的考验。

而上诉程序距离完成还有数月之久，整个事件的荒谬之处将会一次又一次地浮出水面——无论球迷们吹起多少充气香蕉，俱乐部又如何强调一切都绝对没问题。