MANCHESTER CITY rallied from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Bayern Munich on their return to the Women's Champions League at the start of the league phase on Tuesday night. Two-time European champions Arsenal needed a stoppage-time winner to defeat HB Koge 1-0 at home, while Inter Milan, making their debut in the competition proper, edged…
Page S2From§Eachthe coffee break edition — 23 September 2026
Manchester City fall two goals behind on Champions League return, escape with a draw
Hot Mic Moment
somebody get me the political desk — UEFA rebuilt this whole tournament into a league phase and never touched the release calendar, so Michael Carrick is out here calling his own side's kickoff against a rival "not ideal" before a ball's kicked, and nobody at UEFA answers for a fixture list that runs players into the ground for a broadcast package. The federation sets the calendar. The players field it. Somebody should ask UEFA who signs off on that.
Gushis side
GUS: Manchester City's gals went into the Allianz Arena Tuesday night down two goals to Bayern Munich, and this reporter watched them claw back for a share of the points in a performance that, frankly, this business rarely rewards. The final whistle sounded on what this desk is prepared to call a 4-2 classic, the kind of scoreline that reminds a man why they still play ninety minutes.
GUS: City's return marks the end of this storied club's own 1,003-day Champions League exile, and this reporter's arithmetic holds up fine under pressure, thank you.
GUS: The last time City tangled with the business end of this competition, this reporter recalls it was the 2016 final, a heartbreaker against Real Madrid on penalties in front of the King.
GUS: Elsewhere on the continent, Arsenal needed extra time to put away Bayer Leverkusen 2-nil, and Inter Milan survived a penalty shootout in their competition debut.
GUS: Fighting spirit is evidently contagious this month — even Aston Villa needed extra time to shake off Coventry City 5-1 in the League Cup.
Trudyher side
It was 2-2, not 4-2 — the Morning Star had it Tuesday night, and I'd trust the wire over whatever movie's playing in Gus's head. And they're not "the gals." They're the Champions League. Say it like you mean it.
That number belongs to Manchester United, not City. Michael Carrick's side ended its own 1,003-day wait against Sabah, and the Morning Star ran that September 9th. Different club. Same city, different math.
There was no final and there were no penalties. Real Madrid beat City 1-0 in the semifinal back in May of 2016 and went on to face Atlético in Milan. City watched that one from the couch, same as the rest of us.
HB Koge, 1-0, stoppage time — not Leverkusen, no extra time. And Inter beat Hacken 1-0 straight up, no shootout required. Same wire story you're supposedly reading off of, sugar.
It was 3-1, in regulation, third round, September 17th. Go take the nap, and come back when the numbers hold still.
Nobody's patching you through to the political desk, but you're not wrong this time — Carrick did call the scheduling "not ideal" ahead of United's return, and the Morning Star ran it September 9th.
“This is why you don't leave in the eighty-fifth minute, folks — Manchester City go down two goals at Bayern Munich and still walk out with a point, proof a two-goal lead buys you nothing until the whistle blows. UEFA builds the whole fixture list around the broadcast package and then acts surprised when a coach calls his own kickoff "not ideal" — the schedule serves the product, not the players.”
“Look, the league phase is exactly what supporters asked for — more matches, more storylines, more content. If Carrick's calling the calendar "not ideal," that's a fitness-department problem, not a UEFA problem; they gave his return match the spotlight it deserves. Did I say "not ideal" was fine? That's — that's not what I meant, moving on.”
The receipts
· Carrick hails ‘magical’ Champions League ahead of Man Utd return from the morgue, 9 Sep 2026
· Real Madrid beat Manchester City 1–0 to set-up a UEFA Champions League Final against city rivals Atlético Madrid on May 28, in Milan, Italy. It will be a repeat of the 2014 UEFA Champions League from the morgue, 4 May 2016
· Abraham brace sends Aston Villa past Coventry City in League Cup from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.