La Liga urges UEFA probe on City buying
Three days after a 4-0 destruction of the Netherlands in which they showcased their frightening array of attacking talent, France proved themselves unable to break down minnows Luxembourg, the nation lying 136th in the world rankings.
Didier Deschamps’ side, with Kylian Mbappe starting after coming off the bench to score against the Dutch, had more than 70 percent possession and over 30 attempts on goal in Toulouse but failed to find a way through and the final whistle was greeted with a chorus of boos. Antoine Griezmann smacked a 30-yard free-kick off the bar five minutes before half-time while Paul Pogba saw a header rebound off the frame of the goal late on.
It could have been worse for Les Bleus, though, as Luxembourg substitute Gerson Rodrigues outpaced Laurent Koscielny in the 79th minute before seeing his shot strike an upright.
It is the first time France have failed to win against Luxembourg since 1914 and the only consolation for the French is that they remain a point clear of Sweden at the top of Group A with two games remaining.
“Thursday’s result was important but so was getting three points today, so we’ll need to fight to the end,” Deschamps told TF1.
The Spanish La Liga has urged UEFA for an investigation into the spending spree of financial giants Manchester City, alleging that the “funding by state-aid distorts European competitions and creates an inflationary spiral that is irreparably harming the football industry”, according to the BBC.
UEFA are already investigating if French club Paris St Germain have broken the Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules after record deals for Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
The 18-year-old has already joined them on loan from AS Monaco this season.
Their exorbitant spending of £214.20m against the £58.5m that they earned through player sales had prompted Uefa to look into their transfer records.
However, across the top five leagues in Europe, Manchester City’s net spend of £215m was the highest.
In fact, three of their players — Benjamin Mendy (€58.2m), John Stones (€58m) and Kyle Walker (€56.7m) — are among the top four costliest defenders in the Premier League, with Chelsea’s David Luiz (€62.5m) leading the list. Of them, Mendy and Walker have arrived from AS Monaco and Tottenham Hotspur this season, while Stones had joined them from Everton last summer.