Defiance or denial? Inside Manchester City’s bubble, decked with inflatable bananas

By Ben Church, CNN

Manchester, England (CNN) — Stepping inside the plush halls of Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium before Wednesday’s Champions League match against Paris Saint-Germain felt a bit like walking into an alternative universe.

Despite all the criticism that has pummeled the club since it was found guilty of over 100 charges relating to financial breaches, you could be fooled into thinking nothing was wrong.

In recent weeks, the Premier League side has been called a cheater and a liar by many. Those who love the club could only watch as its past successes were belittled and its fans became the butt of jokes – or, as one supporter told me, shouted at in a grocery store for wearing the club colors.

But despite the torrent of abuse from all angles, City has pleaded its innocence, appealing the guilty verdict and promising its players, staff and fans that it’s entirely innocent – arguing it’s merely the victim of a witch hunt.

That message has landed well internally, at least publicly. Manager Enzo Maresca has brushed aside a barrage of tricky questions about the topic with a smile, while players, both past and present, have toed the line.

The fans are certainly playing their part as well. In a storm that had nothing to do with them, many have bought into the pantomime of it all, relishing their role as the arch villains of English soccer.

It’s not as though fans were crying in the stands worrying about what the sanctions could entail – be that transfer bans, points deductions or even relegation from the Premier League entirely.

Instead, the concourses on Wednesday were full of groups of supporters manifesting ways in which the appeal would be successful. Optimism, blind or otherwise, was the name of the game.

To sell that dream further, the stadium was treated to a light show before kickoff, accompanied by a montage which showed past occasions when City had overcome the odds. It was another thinly veiled message to tell supporters not to worry.

And, despite the heavy 4-2 loss against PSG, there were no signs of anyone breaking rank.

Finding hope in bananas

Unlike at Liverpool last weekend, when the team was booed from pillar to post, the Etihad’s four walls felt like an oasis on Wednesday.

If you didn’t know the context or hadn’t been following the news of the possible sanctions hovering over City’s head, you’d think this was a club totally in tune with one another.

Fully dosed up on an ‘us against them’ mentality, the togetherness between the players, manager and the fans is almost enviable.

And in the face of such adversity, the fanbase has opted for a measure of gallows humor – symbolized by hundreds of inflatable yellow bananas that punctuated the capacity crowd that was treated to an enthralling match against PSG.

Even when City fell behind, the bananas were waving enthusiastically wherever you looked.

Such an oddity does have meaning, though. The inflatables are a throwback to the 1980s when Manchester City was relegated to the second tier of English soccer.

In an attempt to lighten the mood around the club at the time, fans nicknamed their then journeyman striker Imre Varadi as ‘Imre Banana’ and have been bringing their inflatables ever since.

Those bananas are now working harder than ever in the current circumstances.

UAE vs Qatar

There was something perfect about City’s opponent in what was the first home match since all this news broke.

Just as City has been backed by the United Arab Emirates since its takeover in 2008, PSG is backed by Qatar. In 2014, both teams were charged with breaking “Financial Fair Play” rules by UEFA – the governing body that runs the Champions League.

After a years-long process, though, both PSG and Manchester City escaped relatively lightly and City seemingly found a friend in the Parisians this time around.

PSG manager Luis Enrique told reporters before the match that he’d hoped City would escape serious sanctions from the Premier League, a rare voice of support in a pretty deriding domestic crowd.

The PSG faithful, however, were less kind – jeering the City players as they came out for the warm-up and seemingly reveling in their host’s disappointment in the defeat.

In truth, a night that started with so much gusto fell a bit flat from City’s perspective. Even the presence of former manager Pep Guardiola in the stands couldn’t turn the team’s fortunes around.

After leaving this summer following ten incredible, trophy-laden seasons in charge, Guardiola was welcomed back at the Etihad as Manchester City continues to keep up appearances.

The Spaniard has been a strong voice for unity since the verdict, calling on everyone associated with the club to stick together and trust the ownership.

His face appearing on the big screen was naturally greeted by cheers of adoration from the stands and would normally have been a pure reason to smile.

But as with everything about City at the moment, the context spoke so much louder.

It’s not normal for a legendary manager to return so quickly to a club he just left. This felt like another ploy from City to yet again prove that nothing is wrong, and everything will be totally okay.

What the future holds

But step outside of the Etihad Stadium and the harsh reality quickly dawns.

Supporters don’t seem keen to talk to the media about the charges, even less so the guilty verdict, and almost all parrot the same response: ‘Wait for the appeal.’

But blaming others and kicking the problem down the road won’t, and never will, make the problem go away.

And while the Champions League might eventually prove a tonic during a tough season, the club will be reminded of its very real danger every time it plays a Premier League match.

It’s in those moments, when facing clubs directly impacted by the saga, that City will face its toughest tests of the season.

And with the appeal process still months from completion, the farcicality of this whole episode will rear its head time and time again – no matter how many inflatable bananas the fans manage to blow up and how much the club stresses that everything is definitely still okay.

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