Manchester City fans can be annoyed by Peter Schmeichel comments - but that anger is misplaced

The reaction wasn’t surprising. Manchester City fans are often prickly when it comes to criticism of their fanbase.

And rightly so; there are some lazy and plainly incorrect narratives surrounding an incredibly loyal group of supporters. Last season, the club sold out all their home league games when the tickets were released at the start of the campaign, and in the first two Etihad matches of this season, City have had a full house against Ipswich Town and Brentford.

As for the atmosphere, in truth, few grounds in the top flight can boast of having an electric aura every week. That City often win so comfortably does reduce the nerves and therefore sense of drama at games - but few in attendance on Wednesday for the final 20 against Inter Milan could fail to be sucked in by the noise and clamour as Pep Guardiola’s side searched to find a winner.

Well, maybe not everyone.

“I like good football and I like excitement from the crowd. It was dead,” was the verdict of Peter Schmeichel after the game, when speaking on US broadcaster CBS. “The Etihad today was absolutely dead. The only people we could hear were the Inter supporters who were quite good. But there's no atmosphere in the Etihad today.”

The former keeper’s comments were ill-advised to say the least. He also seemed to ignore the exciting conclusion to the game, and his claims that Inter fans created all the noise appeared misguided from the vantage of the press box. The travelling fans contributed little to an encounter that for long spells failed to arouse much emotion.

But there is a nugget of truth to Schmeichel’s stance that the atmosphere was flat, and for 70 minutes this was far from the flashy opening Uefa envisaged for their new Champions League format. City managed just one shot on target for the first three quarters of the game, while Inter were content to defend deep and limit the spaces for the likes of Erling Haaland and Phil Foden to operate in. It’s no surprise supporters were a little subdued.

But Schmeichel’s controversial comments also overlooked a much more pressing issue - why was the atmosphere a little underwhelming? Perhaps the ex-Manchester United (and City, lest we forget) stopper was unaware of the significant price hike for tickets on Wednesday night. It’s probably a long time since the 60-year-old had to fork out to attend a match, after all.

His verdict was out of touch and ignorant to the plight of everyday City fans, many of whom are growing increasingly agitated about the costs associated with simply watching their side.

Fans protested against the increase in season ticket prices ahead of this term, and The 1984 Group released a statement claiming the sky-rocketing cost had ‘no justification’ and were ‘pricing out’ regular supporters. Fans also forced through a U-turn on a decision to remove free parking spots for disabled supporters earlier this season. Coming in the midst of a cost of living crisis, it all feels a little exploitative.

There’s a theme emerging at City, who are increasingly looking to commercially squeeze as much as possible from their loyal fanbase, despite the club’s extremely healthy financial outlook. Wednesday’s game was the latest incident, with season ticket holders who do not opt into the cup scheme (another talking point in itself) seeing prices increase significantly.

Last season, standard adult tickets for all three Champions League matches could be purchased for less than £30 per game. For the Inter match, prices ranged from £42 to £72 for supporters who haven’t opted into a cup scheme. Those costs have dropped markedly for the next Champions League game at home to Sparta Prague (up to £20 in some cases), but this only serves to further underline how these increases are selective rather than essential.

City aren’t the only side who have enraged their fanbase with similar price jumps, and across the Premier League there are swathes of disgruntled supporters. Aston Villa have added a sour note to their first Champions League/European Cup home game in 41 years by charging up to £97 for a ticket to see Bayern Munich in two weeks’ time. Fulham season tickets can cost up to £150 per home league match, while Tottenham Hotspur faced a backlash for removing their senior discount.

Like other clubs, City have justified these increases by pointing to the need to comply with the Premier League’s PSR demands - a flawed argument given the paltry income this earns in comparison to the hundreds of millions spent across the division on players. Fans aren’t stupid, they’re being exploited and taken for a ride.

Indeed, it’s the basis behind the expanded Champions League format, a change, despite all Uefa’s commercial jargon, that centres around maximising profits for the biggest clubs - and Uefa themselves. It’s emblematic of the direction football is headed, with profit and financial gains trumping supporter concerns.

City’s Champions League price hikes also came on a night when they wore their fourth kit at home in an effort to peddle more sales. As for their ticketing price structure, it ultimately saw them lose out on the sale of 2,000 tickets, while Inter also returned around the same number.

It goes entirely against the attractive new format that Uefa are pushing. Big games, more drama and the sort of spectacle everyone wants to consume, and yet neither side could sell their ticket allocation.

And why would fans, particularly City’s, care about missing one ‘blockbuster’ meeting between two of Europe’s top teams when the very nature of the new league format means there will be more high-profile clashes to come? Ironically, Uefa’s model led to a less enticing game on Wednesday with a subdued atmosphere - the exact opposite of what Aleksander Ceferin et al intended with these new changes.

Schmeichel may have inflamed the anger of City fans with his comments, but the Dane should not be the real source of supporters’ ire.