In 2023, the United States decided to end the show BattleBots which had been broadcast since 2000 on Comedy Central, ABC and Discovery Channel. The principle? Two robots face off in an arena. A year later, the Champions League decided to copy the concept with this poster between Sporting Portugal and Manchester City which is in reality a duel between two cyborgs: Viktor Gyökeres and Erling Haaland. Except as Ivan Drago showed it in Rocky 4, robots also have flaws and are not invincible. And that, the Norwegian, who had 14 goals in 14 games before tonight, showed it by sending his penalty onto the crossbar while Manchester City was trailing 3-1.
However, his evening opponent had shown the way by sending a praline from the penalty spot a few minutes earlier after equalizing in the first period with a subtle dip. Viktor Gyökeres ends his show with a second penalty at the end of the match. Victory by KO for the Swede who celebrates each of his goals by miming Hannibal Lecter's mask. An already cult celebration which is taken up by all Sporting supporters with each pawn of their number 9.
Received 66/66
It must be said that Viktor Gyökeres was confident before the Manchester City reception since he is coming off a quadruple against Estrela Amadora in the Portuguese championship where he is now at 16 pawns in 10 matches. So yes, the Liga Portugal is not the Premier League but the Swede proved this Tuesday evening that no matter the defenders and goalkeepers he has in front of him, he will always win his duel and shake the nets. It's quite simple, since his arrival at Sporting Portugal in the summer of 2023, the 26-year-old striker has scored 66 goals in 66 matches, including 21 in 17 matches this season. Enough to prove that the Lisbon leaders did well to spend 24 million euros – club record – to recruit a Championship player.
So yes, Kyle Walker and Nathan Aké were on the bench, or, Ruben Dias and John Stones were injured. But this victory and this hat-trick for Gyökeres are not trivial. This is only the second time in its history that Manchester City has conceded 4 goals in the Champions League – after Barça in October 2016 – and the third time that Guardiola has conceded 4 on the same stage. Enough to prove that this second place in the Sporting C1 ranking – which is on 10 victories in 10 matches – is not due to chance. Even if the hardest part is yet to come for the Lions who are experiencing one of the best periods in their history.
In the suitcase of Rúben Amorim?
By chance of the draw, Sporting Portugal should no longer cross paths with Manchester City this season. On the other hand, Rúben Amorim will find Pep Guardiola and the Citizens on December 15 with Manchester United, whom he will join during the international break. This time, the Portuguese coach will no longer have Viktor Gyökeres in attack. At least, for now. Amorim was clear: “ I am not going to bring in any Sporting players in January “. On the other hand, he did not talk about the next summer transfer window. The one in which Viktor Gyökeres will be the main target of all the major European clubs. And Sporting Portugal will not really be able to fight to keep him since they have a release clause of 100 million euros which will not scare Manchester United. Nor Paris Saint-Germain who would like to have the successor of Zlatan Ibrahimović on the front of their attack. Especially since he proved during the first match of the Champions League season that he could easily acclimatize to the French championship by scoring against Lucas Chevalier's LOSC. On the other hand, he could not have helped the Parisians against PSV since the Dutch are one of the rare teams not to have conceded a pawn from the Swede this season with Portimonense, Estoril and Milan Škriniar's Slovakia. We remind you that cyborgs also have flaws. Even if with him they are minimal.
Root et le Sporting ridiculisent Manchester City
