Mbappe hat-trick dumps Man City out of UCL | Liverpool draw thriller at Villa to stretch lead over Arsenal
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Hello, welcome to Back Pages, bringing you everything you need to know about the biggest sports stories making the headlines in the morning's newspapers. I'm Chris Latcham. Joining me are Craig Hope from the Daily Mail and Jack Rosser from The Sun. Welcome to you both.

I think, though, gentlemen, we have to start with the Champions League. And it was a complete one-sided mismatch, unfortunately, for Manchester City. They've had this stuttering season, but Real Madrid were absolutely imperious. And you can take your pick on which of the papers you go with. I think we'll go with the Sun front page. The Mirror have the same headline, Craig. They've gone with Killjoy. Kylian Mbappe was sensational.

He was. I think it's worth giving a nod to the eye-back page as well. Three and easy, and the word I picked from that is easy. And tonight was no surprise, really. I was at the Etihad on Saturday when we emerged from there with the narrative that Manchester City had won 4-0 and given themselves this perfect springboarding platform into the game there tonight. Marmouch had scored a hat-trick, Nico Gonzalez had bossed the midfield, but...

I thought that was a little short-sighted, given they're up against a Newcastle team who had two eyes on the Carabao Cup final. I was never really convinced myself. And the way tonight played out was fully expected for me. And I think the most disheartening thing from a City perspective was it felt inevitable from the off, really. There was no fight.

There was no intensity. What we saw on the pitch was matched by Pep Guardiola on the touchline. I didn't think his body language was particularly good. It wasn't until the 76th minute that they had a shot on target through Phil Foden. And just looking at someone like Foden as well, you know, he's had a lot of love and a lot of praise in this country. But is he really the level when you look at those Real Madrid forwards, Rodrigo, Vinny Jr. and Bapier Jude Bellingham joining in, I think?

I thought they were sensational tonight. And what has happened to City in the past year, you look at the knockout game last season, the two legs between them, how tight they were, how entertaining they were.

Listen, the first leg that he had was entertaining to a degree, but tonight wasn't. It was a procession, and that would be the most worrying thing for Manchester City. I thought they were short all over the park, and this idea that the January signings were going to come in and change their scene, and again, I go back to that phrase, I think that is short-sighted. City have got some real deep-rooted problems there, and I think it's shown itself over two legs against Real Madrid. Hmm.

Seems so, doesn't it? The Guardian go with over and out, Jack. There's some stinging criticism there from Craig. A procession, completely one-sided. Would you go along with that? Absolutely, yeah. I think even watching the first leg, it was a much more entertaining game and the way City taunted Real Madrid at the start with that banner as well. It looked unadvised and it looks...

even more ill-advised now. I mean, tonight you sort of went and thought, well, maybe there could be one last hope and you see that Haaland's not in the team and you think that's going to be more of a challenge and then

You wonder whether Mahmoud can offer something slightly different and follow on from what he did against Newcastle. But I think when you look at how City have fared when they've come up against real quality opposition away from home this season, it's absolutely no surprise they've lost to Liverpool. They've lost heavily at Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus. You throw in, I think they lost away at Bournemouth, Brighton as well. They've had such a stuttering season, like you said, but it's over now, really. They're still in the FA Cup, of course, but...

considering the standards they've set, that even if they go on to win that, it's not going to be enough for Manchester City. It's been a horrendous season and I don't think there's any shame in them losing to Real Madrid. These have been the two titanic teams in this competition. Whoever's won this tie in the last few years has gone on to win the Champions League. But I think the most concerning fact is the way

The way that they lost it, like Craig said, there was absolutely no fight. There was never any chance. They didn't threaten for at all, really, throughout the game until it was far, far gone. It looked time and again that they didn't quite know how to get at Real Madrid. Whereas every time Madrid got on the front foot, they looked incredibly dangerous. And City made it far too easy for them. They're three...

Good goals from Kylian Mbappe in his hat-trick, but all of them from a Manchester City side. I think the first one especially, they're going to be incredibly frustrated the way they conceded that so early on. And it sort of sums up their season. They've been due. They've had a few of these results and they've been due them as well because they've slipped so far.

Credit where it is due to Kylian Mbappe. The times go with City humbled by Mbappe hat-trick. They were three goals really well taken. Craig, it wasn't so long ago that there were people saying, I don't think he's settling at Real Madrid. He seems to have settled just fine.

It wasn't so long ago there were journalists as well during the Euros writing him off and I might have been one of those journalists. I saw him play in the semi-final over two legs last year. I was there live, PSG v. Dortmund and given we knew Mbappe was on the verge of a move to Real Madrid, this was a chance to

to really impact his legacy in Paris. And he didn't. He was awful over those two games. I saw him in two matches earlier in the Champions League campaign against Newcastle when the only goal he scored was a controversial 97th minute penalty. Again, he had no impact there. And I think I've seen killing him back there live now. It must be 10 times. And the best I've seen out of those 10 games was the very first time I saw him play for Monaco. So,

I was among that movement as you touched on there, Chris, who did think that Kylian Mbappe wasn't quite the player we thought he was going to go on to be. Well, wow, tonight. He was tremendous. He really was. The first finish, I think Edison's helped him by making his mind up, but you've still got to execute that. The second finish, the manipulation of the ball to

cut inside his man. I felt sorry for Kushinov. Not only did he have to live with Vinny Junior, killing Mbappe so much joy his mate was getting and he pulled out left as well and nobody bothered to help the young Uzbek to sign and I really felt for him. No surprise that the second goal comes from that avenue and the third as well. It was just a sensational performance and you really do hope that Mbappe in Madrid works because you can't believe he spent seven seasons in Paris and

Paris Saint-Germain are only really a team who play in the Champions League. Anything else that happens in League One doesn't matter. So a player of that talent, to have him now on that stage with Real Madrid, you know, 25, 26-year-old, let's hope that we do eventually see the fulfilment of that balance.

Ballon d'Or winning potential and tonight well we certainly saw that he was tremendous yeah the Telegraph agree with you Craig they go with Mbappe's regal night they're crowning him as a king of Europe already Jack who do you make favourites for the Champions League now Liverpool won the group Barcelona finished second but have we just seen the favourites for the tournament tonight

I think we might have done. You look, you know, they've had their problems earlier in the season, gone through some sticky patches and they're in the middle of a huge conspiracy against the Spanish referees at the moment. But they've got an aura in this tournament that no other team can match. Liverpool have got it in this country. Of course, they've won six, but they can't stack up to Real Madrid in this competition. They might be a better team in a one-off game at the moment, but Real

Real Madrid just took that step of looking imperious tonight. There were two teams that really struggled throughout the groups and you saw tonight the clear difference between one team that maybe had a difficult group stage but has it in them to go well above and beyond and one team in Manchester City that's really having a poor and difficult season and are nowhere near what they used to be.

I think Real Madrid will obviously face some difficult ties as they move on through the tournament. But in the manager they've got, the way he manages to keep calm and the adaptability he's got to different games, then they certainly have to be, if not the favourite, then one of the top two or three.

Jack, I think there'll be one or two subs at your newspaper just toasting themselves tonight for the headline on the back page. Can't score, da winner. Darwin Nunez missed a real sitter at the end of the game that Liverpool ultimately drew 2-2 with Aston Villa. They've gone one point further clear of Arsenal, but it feels like they've dropped something tonight.

Yeah, it's a difficult one, isn't it? I mean, I was sort of flicking between the two of them and watching them and you see it and Liverpool clearly aren't a slot. We saw speaking just before this programme came on about how frustrated he was with missing them. And you sometimes do feel for Darwin Nunes, he seems to be the one that misses all of these clangers, I think.

think the last week or so will will maybe Arsenal will have just sat up a bit the results that they've had here and and at Everton Liverpool to close that that big gap it could close to five points if if Arsenal win their game in hand it's still the big one at eight it may have just made them sit up and and pay attention if Liverpool continue as we know they can then this miss by the end of the season I think everyone will quite happily forget about it maybe not quite completely forget about it because it was a

bad one, but maybe be able to put it out of their minds a bit more. If the race tightens up and Arsenal have got a shot when they play each other in May, then people might not be, David Nunes might not be too popular in Liverpool for a little while. I've just had a text from Ronnie Rosenthal. He says, no one will ever let you forget the

And in fact, the telegraph inside it, Craig, they focus on Nunes invoking the spirit of Rosenthal with Liverpool howler. This is one for the younger viewers. This happened more than 30 years ago and it comes up every time someone shoots over from close range.

Yeah, and it takes an older reporter like me. I remember Ronnie Rosenthal and Ronnie Rosenthal was a byword when I think you're similar age to me, Chris, you know, it was a byword for a howler in front of goal. To be fair to Nunes, I think Rosenthal's was worse. There was a little bit of pressure on the ball. Rosenthal was actually a left foot and he put it over the bar with his favoured foot. It was on Nunes' weaker side. Nonetheless, he should have done better, but

this speaks to the Manchester City game. Actually, I'd expect it to watch the whole City game tonight, but given the inevitability of that, I ended up flicking over and watching more of Liverpool's. And it was a cracker. It really was. And I honestly don't think this is the worst point for Liverpool there tonight. Villa Park was rocking in Morgan Rogers. I thought they had the game's outstanding player. I've seen the XG as Liverpool 3, Aston Villa 1. That didn't marry with what I saw with my eyes. I thought it was a real ding-dong experience.

end there. So I don't think it's the worst point for Liverpool. And in this season, where the bar isn't necessarily as high, if you do the expected points, which I've done in preparation for tonight, it has Arsenal on finishing this season on 80 points. Well, 80 points last year would have had you fourth come the end in the Premier League. So,

By my calculations, Liverpool only need another 19 points from the remaining 12 matches to win the Premier League if that projected tally sees its way through. And I think it probably will. I can't see Arsenal mounting this tremendous comeback that folks seem to be talking about now. Yes, Liverpool have got a hard game this weekend against Manchester City, although maybe it's not as hard as we think given everything we've just said about City. But after that, they've got a really favourable run of three home games. Now, just look at that.

And I think Liverpool will be absolutely fine. And even though they've had that little bit of a wobble, we're calling it recently, I wouldn't go as far as to say that. They're not losing any games. Yes, they've dropped points and everything and then again tonight. But you might just look back on those as hard-earned points, given the atmosphere and the surrounds in which they were played. And I think Liverpool will be just fine. I think we saw the champions there tonight.

So Craig's got Liverpool home and hose Jack. In the Telegraph though, they are saying that the draw keeps Arsenal's title hopes alive. How do you see it? I spoke there just about, you know, Arsenal sitting up a little bit and maybe having a tiny, tiny bit of hope. But I think that the fact they've had the injury to Havertz and not managed to get a replacement in January or decided against Arsenal,

getting a replacement in January, the consistency that Liverpool have had this season. I've done a fair few of their games and they've never looked, they've never blown you away maybe in the way that a Jurgen Klopp team could, but they have been so efficient and consistent and controlled in the way they've been dispatching teams. And like Craig just mentioned there, even though they maybe haven't won ever as a game that really on paper you'd expect them to win, but it's always a challenge.

in one of those derbies. They've not lost. They've kept going. And I think really, you know, we like to keep a title race alive until the end. But I think Liverpool will walk away with this one quite comfortably. Let's go straight to the eye and focus on Manchester United releasing their latest financial figures. Financial woes described by the newspaper INEOS have punched themselves in the face.

And the Guardian also picking up on this one. Short-lived Ashworth hire set United back £4.1 million. This is a story that's covered by all of the broadsheets. INEOS in talks to end Spurs sponsorship deal. We'll focus on that bit in a little while because the INEOS is a wider issue. The Manchester United issue is that on the field, Craig, they're not doing particularly well. Closer to relegation than the Champions League. And off the field, it also seems that they're in a right old muddle.

Well, tomorrow marks one year of Ineos and Sir Jim Radcliffe at Old Trafford, and I think the biggest achievement in that time. It's quite remarkable. This takes some doing, as they've made themselves almost as unpopular as the Glazers. That really is quite something. We won't repeat the chant that was offered in Sir Jim Radcliffe's direction down at Fulham recently, but it wasn't very complimentary, and given that he arrived...

As that white knight, and you know we were on this show a year ago talking about the good that Jim Radcliffe could potentially do for a football club that was as badly run as Manchester United. Well, they had absent owners who were pretty incompetent and not very good.

Now they've got owners who are present and are pretty incompetent and not very good. And you've just got to look at the whole Dan Ashworth shambles, you know, the revelation today that it cost £4.1 million to bring him in and then get rid of him in the space of 159 days. The due diligence just wasn't there on Dan Ashworth. He's someone, an operator I know well from his time up here at Newcastle, and there's a...

There's this myth or this idea around Dan Ashworth that he's a super recruiter, that he identifies talent and brings them in. He's not. He's an organiser. He's very good at what he does, but I don't think Manchester United necessarily knew what they were getting there, and it wasn't a good mix from the off. And the word we were getting from journalists a long way out was that it wasn't really working inside there. So no real surprise to me, given everything we'd heard, that Ashworth had ended up the way it did. But doesn't that just speak of the...

This jumbled decision-making that has gone on at Manchester United since Ineos came in, and there's talk now of Ineos coming out of Tottenham and, you know, streamlining and focusing all of their attention on Manchester United. Well, I'd say that's bad news for Manchester United. You don't want Ineos and Sir Jim Radcliffe redirecting all of their resource and their time to the club, because the more...

they spend there, the worse it gets. The recruitment on the field in the summer, the decision to keep Eric Ten Haag when it was obvious to everybody that the cup win was potentially detrimental to the club's long-term health. If it meant a manager who shouldn't have been there staying, which is what happened, the decision to give him the new contract revealed today is costing close to upwards of £10 million. It really is quite remarkable the job they've done in one year and I don't mean that in a positive sense.

Jack, if we shift the focus to the INEOS in talks to end Spurs sponsorship deal story in the Telegraph, this relates to a deal signed in December 2022, a five-year deal to become the official four-by-four vehicle partner of Tottenham Hotspur. That aside, what does this say to...

Fans of sport, the fact that INEOS last week were linked with trying to get out of a deal with Mercedes, whether or not that was completely factual, we don't know. And now this talks, they're trying to get out of this deal with Tottenham. What does that say to fans of Manchester United?

I think, as Craig said there, it will have them fairly panicked, I think, really. Well, it's going to go either way. Either they carry on running away from sport and leave completely and it's back to just the Glazers again. But I can't really see that happening. I think they'll be slightly worried that all of Jim Ratcliffe and Dave Brailsford's time will be spent looking at Old Trafford and meddling in things at Old Trafford. It's been shambolic from the start. We mentioned there about Ten Hard getting his contract extended again.

at the end of last season when it was sort of common knowledge that they were looking absolutely everywhere for someone else and it's carried on like that they arrived on such a wave of goodwill and finally someone that will know the club and understand the club and understand the fans will come in and they've pinched at stuff and cut back in different places where

Manchester United fans really, really don't want them to be doing, almost chipping away the heart of the club, a lot of the culture of the club. And then when you see these accounts today, the money they've wasted on paying off Dan Ashworth, like Craig said, someone they identified to do a job that he wasn't really suited to doing. You wouldn't have to cut so many jobs if you weren't making such calamitous profits.

mistakes in that regard and chip away at parts of the club that hold the character of Manchester United. I think on the Spurs thing, it's another retraction in terms of their investment outside of Manchester United, but it's probably a sensible thing to do. I was watching the Man Utd-Tottenham game with my partner the other night. She sort of said, what's Ineos doing all over the Tottenham Stadium? It's a bit jarring for fans at times. It's a strange one. So I think

probably something that was going to happen at some point. But yeah, part of a wider trend of Ineos dialling in on Old Trafford, which won't have many people going there as fans or working there, feeling too comfortable, I'd imagine. Let's have a look at the Mirrorback page. Harry Kane fear for Thomas Tuchel's first game as England boss. We are only a couple of weeks away from Tuchel naming his first squad and he's already said that Kane will be his captain. Kane went off injured in the Champions League against Celtic earlier this week.

How concerning is that for the new boss, do you think, Craig? Depends what you mean by concern and the two very winnable games he's got to open with. So I think you'll be able to negotiate them with or without Harry Kane. But it's a concern in that he's only got just over 12 months now to get an idea of what he wants and what he needs for the World Cup in the States. And the point I'd make about Kane is,

I think we need to see Kane in an England shirt because I've been of this opinion since the summer and I was there with England for five weeks in Germany. I honestly think the time has come now to move on from Harry Kane and phase him out, not out of the squad, but find a way to best use him in an England shirt. I don't think doing that from the start of every game is actually the best way to go forward. So while Kane isn't there, it means we can't see that. Yes, they can experiment with other players, but there's a chance Kane then comes back in and is handed the cap.

He's on band and he starts every game. I don't think that's best for England. I think we need to see Harry Kane in an England shirt more, not necessarily for the right reasons. What do you make of it, Jack? Is he an instant starter for you if he's fit, Harry Kane?

I think he definitely is if he's fit. He's by far England's best striker that Thomas Tuchel will be able to call upon, someone that can lead the team very well. But the big question with him is always fitness. It's been something that's clouded the last two major tournaments with England. I think it was his back during the Euros he ended the season with.

a bit of a back problem with Bayern Munich, which looked like it certainly carried on into the summer. And I think the World Cup in Qatar, there were, again, as they're often happening over his career, some problems with his ankles. So I think that will be the bigger worry for Thomas Tuchel, will be keeping him fit. Not quite whether he starts or not. I think just like Gareth Southgate, he'll stick with starting Harry Kane when he's available. But again,

I don't think it should be something that we should panic about quite too much anymore. There were a few, maybe five years ago, it was Harry Kane or no one, whereas now there are a fair few options popping up that certainly could fill his place. Ollie Watkins is having another fantastic season, had his own huge moment in the semi-final in the summer. Dominic Solanke, when he's fit, is having a good

season with Tottenham and Liam de Lappe starting to come up as well. So it will always be a blow to not have Harry Kane around the England squad. But I think there are more options now than there were previously. An embarrassment of riches in attack for England. That sounds quite nice to fans of England. We're very almost out of time. I just want to draw our viewers' attention to a couple of stories in the broadsheets about Emma Raducanu, one in The Telegraph, not the first to live in fear of depraved men.

And Millie Bright, the England defender, calling for respect after Raducanu's fans' horror. This relates to the fact that there was a fan in Dubai that displayed fixated behaviour towards her, exacerbated by social media, is what Fiona Thomas is saying in The Telegraph.