All roads lead to Saudi Arabia, at least in football. Manchester City, maiden UEFA Champions League winners after a 1-0 victory over Internazionale, will travel to Jeddah in December as favourites to win the 2023 Club World Cup and cement Europe’s dominance of the club game in a tournament that marks the end of the competition’s current flawed format as well as a watershed moment in Saudi Arabia’s booming influence in the sport.
Brazil’s Corinthians were the last non-European club to claim the Club World Cup, but that narrow victory over Chelsea in 2012 – based on the tactical acumen and organisation of manager Tite and the enthusiasm of a huge travelling party in Yokohama – feels like a distant memory. That year, a single second-half goal by striker Paolo Guerrero proved to be the difference between the two clubs in a David-vGoliath contest but, since then, the final of the Club World Cup has too often been a one-sided and predictable affair with the Europeans, including a quintet of Real Madrid triumphs, prevailing.
Much has to do with the economic imperatives of the game. The UEFA Champions League remains the centre of gravity in the club game with riches and revenue on offer that no other competition can match. City serve as the perfect illustration: a superclub built on the wealth of a Gulf State. They are, at least according to Deloitte, the richest club in the world.
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