De Bruyne holds key to Manchester City’s hopes of toppling ‘The Cartel’

Three games from the summit: now for The Cartel. It is a key element of elite football’s febrile brand of double-think that the richest club in the world can still portray themselves as underdogs, outsiders, thieves in the temple. As Manchester City contemplate their Champions League semi-final first leg against the imperial meringues of Real Madrid on Tuesday night, there is still that lurking sense of novelty, of an entity that is, on some level, forcing its way in from the outside.

“It is an honour to be here in the semi-final against Real Madrid,” Pep Guardiola said at his pre‑match press conference, doffing his cloth cap and presenting his chipped enamel mug for another helping of turnip soup. “In the last decade we start to be here and it is an honour. We try to do a good game.”

And so here they come, the nowhere boys: beating down the mahogany-panelled doors of the shadowy elite, cartwheeling across the dining tables like sky blue Spice Girls – and doing all this mainly by spending €433m a year on salaries, hiring the greatest coach in the world, setting their lawyers against anyone in their path and trying to join a super league.

It should be noted that Manchester City’s supporters have largely dropped the cartel stuff over the past year. It is a logical move given City have tried and failed to join an anti-sport cartel of their own. The European Super League may have stalled under the weight of its own tin-eared incompetence but it remains a handy guide to how the super-rich really feel about stitch-ups and closed shops. Deeply unhappy when they are left out of one. But absolutely delighted to be included.

It is on the pitch that the Citizens versus Royals dynamic still has some way to travel. City may be