Blue Moon Podcast - A Manchester City Show

The international break is over and it's back to action for Manchester City for the final stretch of the season. It all begins with Liverpool in the FA Cup on Saturday lunchtime. David Mooney is joined by City fan Ciaran Murray and, from The Athletic, Thom Harris to discuss the game - with a little help from Neil Atkinson from The Anfield Wrap, too.

As Manchester City Women take a commanding lead at the top of the WSL table, we speak to Paul Clarke from the Man City Women Fancast to discuss their prospects of a first title in ten years... and, with an FA Cup quarter final on the horizon, too, is there a possibility of a league and cup double?

It seems we have some sadistic listeners, as well, given a not insignificant number asked us to use the international break to assess whether City in 1996 were the biggest club relegated from the Premier League. That's as Spurs face the very real prospect of going down this year.

Plus, following Nico O'Reilly's brace in the Carabao Cup Final, we set Ciaran the task of looking at the numbers behind City's brace-scorers.

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The Carabao Cup trophy is back at the Etihad, its rightful home, and David Mooney is joined by City fan KC and, from Sporting News, Dom Farrell to discuss the final against Arsenal. City have now won the League Cup under the Carabao banner more than any other team combined and Pep Guardiola has become the first manager ever to win the trophy on five different occasions.

With the international break to come, there's plenty of room in today's show to discuss the key performances from the victory at Wembley, which means giving due praise to the likes of Matheus Nunes, Rayan Cherki, Jeremy Doku and Antoine Semenyo... and not forgetting the Mancunian City fan from the academy who scored both goals, Nico O'Reilly.

Plus, there was also an interesting tactical approach from Guardiola to starve Arsenal of opportunities to get out of their own defensive third. The Athletic's Jon Mackenzie joins the show to break that down and look at how City strangled their opposition to get on top of the game.

On top of that, there's been more chatter around Guardiola's future... but, perhaps more of an immediate concern are the quotes from Rodri about the next steps in his career. Could that be away from the Etihad and back in Madrid? Also, who would be the best City player in the circus?

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It was a terminal week for Manchester City's Champions League hopes, with elimination at the hands of Real Madrid (including the hand of Bernardo Silva if we're being strictly accurate about it all). Meanwhile, the team's hopes of winning the Premier League title were dealt a blow after they failed to keep pace with leaders Arsenal with a 1-1 draw at West Ham.

David Mooney is joined by City fans James Faulkner and, from the MCFC Lads podcast and social pages, Luke Stanley. They discuss the performances and the results this week... because there is a difference in how each is perceived... and they look ahead to what will undoubtedly be a tough test against Arsenal in the League Cup final on Sunday.

Arsenal fan Michael Keshani returns to the show to give his thoughts on how Mikel Arteta's side are playing. Are they as good as previous Arsenal teams and are they even good to watch? We get into the narratives around the league leaders, plus look at how Sunday's final could impact the remainder of the title race, however unlikely it is that City close the gap at this stage.

On top of all of that, we've roped in Chris Higginbottom and, from the City Ramble podcast, Amos Murphy to discuss City's best fluked goals. That's after Bernardo admitted that his strike at the London Stadium wasn't quite as intentional as it might have been.

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Just when you thought everything was getting back on track with a lovely 3-1 FA Cup win at Newcastle on Saturday, a 3-0 away defeat in the first leg of the Champions League last-16 against Real Madrid comes along to ruin your Wednesday. David Mooney is joined by City fans Andy MacNab and, from The City Ramble podcast, Joe Butterfield to discuss this week's shifting emotions.

It's West Ham next in another Saturday evening game, as City get back to league action aiming to keep the pressure on leaders Arsenal. James Jones from We Are West Ham is on the show to give his thoughts ahead of that tie. Then can there be a salvage job as Real Madrid visit the Etihad for the second leg? Stranger things have happened, though maybe not many...

On Saturday, Omar Marmoush scored his seventh goal for City against Newcastle. With 14 in a blue shirt in total, he enjoys playing against the Magpies... so we're looking at some other City players that always had a penchant for scoring against one opponent in particular.

Plus, we've put the listeners on the case to lift the mood with some light-hearted end-of-the-show questions.

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David Mooney is joined by The Sun's Martin Blackburn and, from the City Ramble podcast, Amos Murphy to look back over the win at Leeds and the draw with Nottingham Forest. Where have the results left Manchester City in the title race? But have the performances still be trending in the right direction, even if there's been a bit of a knock to the system?

After the break to allow the Muslim players to break their Ramandan fast on Saturday, we've spoken to Seemo from City's first Muslim supporters club, Blue Crescent OSC, to get his thoughts on the situation and his experience of what it was like to break his fast in the away end at Elland Road.

City against Real Madrid is now the second-most played Champions League tie of all time, so we've had journalist Tom Green look at the numbers behind the meetings. Plus we hear from Madrid fan Oscar Garcia to find out how things are going in the Spanish capital, as we preview the tricky trips to Newcastle and Real.

Plus, what's up with Phil Foden's form at the moment, what are the best passes played that you never saw coming, and who are City's irreplaceable players from the past? Oh... And what about the best goalmouth scramble?

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