Manchester City’s disappointing scoreless draw with Inter Milan to begin life in the new Champions League format brought out plenty of criticism for their performance on the pitch, but it has apparently also drawn critiques for some off-field aspects of the match as well.
According to former Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, who spent eight years at City’s arch rivals before joining the Citizens for the final season of his career, the atmosphere at the Champions League home opener was dull, which led to his harsh assessment of the experience at Etihad Stadium.
Schmeichel, who is the on-site match reporter for the CBS Sports television broadcast in the United States, told the crew he felt the atmosphere at the Premier League venue was flat.
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“I thought it was a really, really boring game, and I’m sorry to say that,” Schmeichel said when asked for his assessment on the match. “I thought Inter did really well in stopping Man City.”
When asked why he felt that way by studio panelist Jamie Carragher, who had just finished saying it was a “good draw,” Schmeichel blamed the Etihad Stadium crowd. “Because I love good football, and I like excitement from the crowd. It was dead, the Etihad, it was absolutely dead. The only people we could hear were the Inter supporters who were quite good, but there was no atmosphere in the Etihad today. Normally you’d think big European nights…but it didn’t happen for them.”
But Schmeichel wasn’t done quite yet. When former Manchester City player Micah Richards, also in the CBS Sports studio, fired back, Schmeichel came out even heavier.
“Are you disrespecting my club like this?” Richards asked incredulously. “What is happening?”
Schmeichel fired back harshly. “Micah, once in a while leave the studio, come out, and experience it. You just sit there and judge us for what we’re saying.”
“There was no atmosphere at the Etihad today.” 😴@Pschmeichel1 said they’re never beating the allegations 😭 pic.twitter.com/tJFIE61cBE
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) September 18, 2024
That seemed quite a bit over the top, as to Micah’s credit, said he indeed was at the Etihad on Saturday for Man City’s win over Brentford in Premier League play. When given that tidbit of information, Schmeichel held firm. “They must have left all the atmosphere there on Saturday, it was so flat [today].”
While it seemed like he was simply bailing himself out when presented with facts contrary to his argument, Schmeichel may actually onto something with his final assessment. Many regular Man City supporters were priced out of the match by tickets that cost nearly double what last season’s group stage registered at.
Schmeichel has a history of taking an aggressive stance towards his CBS Sports broadcast colleagues. Last season, when paired with Carragher on site at a Borussia Dortmund match in Champions League play, Schmeichel was overtly perturbed by Carragher’s jolly (and slightly inebriated) attitude.
“I’ve been working for four years to try and develop a good relationship with every UEFA person here and they’re all stood behind the camera telling us to be quiet,” Schmeichel said with Carragher right next to him, in one of his numerous rants about his on-site partner’s behavior. “This guy comes on the road once and drinks eight pints, and ruins every relationship.”
