LOS ANGELES – Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., sent letters to both PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman to request information about last week’s “framework” agreement between the Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.

The agreement was announced last Tuesday to create a new for-profit entity that will be funded by the PIF, which also owns 93 percent of LIV Golf. The agreement calls for an end to the litigation between the Tour, LIV Golf and the PIF and creates a path back for players who joined the breakaway circuit to reapply for Tour membership.
 
Beyond that, there were no other details.

"The PGA Tour’s agreement with PIF regarding LIV Golf raises concerns about the Saudi government’s role in influencing this effort and the risks posed by a foreign government entity assuming control over a cherished American institution," the letter read.

Blumenthal – who is chairman of the permanent subcommittee on Investigations – also claims the move by the PIF, which is controlled by the Saudi government, is an attempt at sports washing, pointing out the Tour “was one of the loudest critics of LIV Golf’s affiliation with Saudi Arabia.”

According to last week’s announcement, the Tour plans to keep its tax-exempt status, which Blumenthal also questioned: “whether a foreign government may indirectly benefit from provisions in U.S. tax laws meant to promote not-for-profit business associations.”

The request includes any information regarding the agreement between the Tour and the PIF, any communication relating to the agreement between board members and executive management for both organizations and any internal communications about how the agreement could impact the Tour’s tax-exempt status.

The request, which begins with any communications starting in October 2021, is due on June 26.

Last summer the Wall Street Journal reported that the Tour is being invested by the Department of Justice for potential anticompetitive behavior toward LIV Golf.
 

The 123rd U.S. Open begins Thursday at Los Angeles Country Club. Here's a look at first- and second-round tee times for the men's third major of the season.

(a = amateur; all times ET)

Teeing off No. 1 in Rd. 1; No. 10 in Rd. 2

Teeing off No. 10 in Rd. 1; No. 1 in Rd. 2

LOS ANGELES — The U.S. Open trophy is no longer in Matt Fitzpatrick’s possession. The questions about Saudi involvement in golf and the LIV Golf circuit won’t go away.

Not much has changed from Brookline to Los Angeles, from one U.S. Open to the next one, only the nature of the questions and the vagueness — and fatigue — of the answers.

“The whole thing is confusing, I guess,” Fitzpatrick said Monday. “It was confusing last year.”

LIV Golf had just played its first tournament going into the U.S. Open last year, and the uncertainty was whether it would gain traction and who else might join. Now it’s about the blockbuster announcement last week that the PGA Tour — in the midst of a bitter antitrust lawsuit with LIV and having stood its ground on legacy and the source of LIV money — has agreed to partner with the Saudi Arabia wealth fund that pays for LIV Golf.

Players were blindsided by the agreement, which has been described as a framework because there still is no meat to the business merger. They still have no answers. No one does.

“I really know as much as you guys know, to be honest,” said British Open champion Cameron Smith, who defected to LIV after the PGA Tour season ended last August. “I haven’t been told much at all. I’m just taking it as it goes along.”

PGA Tour players complained about getting news of the stunning development off social media (CNBC broke the embargo about the time the tour was notifying players). Smith said Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Public Investment Fund, called him and a few other LIV players shortly before Al-Rumayyan — whom Smith refers to as “H.E.” for His Excellency — joined PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan on CNBC.

“I guess the first reaction was I thought it was kind of a joke,” Smith said. “And then H.E. gave me a call and kind of explained what was going on. He didn’t really explain too much. I think there’s still a lot of stuff to be worked out, and as time goes on, we’ll get to know more and more. But there’s definitely a lot of curious players, I think, on both sides as to what the future is going to look like.”

The timing isn’t great. The U.S. Open is the third major of the year and presents a new challenge for most of the players because Los Angeles Country Club has never hosted the major known as the toughest test in golf.

Monday was the first full day of practice, and even for those players who snuck over to the North course during the West Coast swing have not seen it dry and fast.

There are angles to learn. Two par 3s are longer than 280 yards, another could play as short as 80 yards. Expect to hear the term “barranca,” which in simple terms is a wide ditch of native grasses and soil that winds through the front nine.

And there is LIV and the Saudi agreement, just no answers.

“I don’t think anyone knows what’s going on. Are we signing with the PIF, are we not signing with the PIF? I have no idea,” Fitzpatrick said. “Even though I guess it is confusing, it’s pretty clear that nobody knows what’s going on apart from about four people in the world.”

Billy Horschel played the front nine of LACC on Sunday in peace. He played the back nine Monday and walked right off the 18th green into a television interview.

He can talk as well as anyone, even in circles.

Yes, he was shocked when the news broke last Tuesday. Since then, he has become more patient to wait on details to figure out what it all means.

“There’s a structure of an agreement, but that’s all there is,” Horschel said. “Until all that information is figured out and shared with us, I’m emotionless — which is rare for me. And even more rare is I’m not going to give a thought or an opinion because I don’t have enough information to speak.”

Rory McIlroy must feel the same way. He canceled his scheduled press conference for Tuesday. Fitzpatrick thought long about whether he should be compensated for showing loyalty to the tour before saying, “I’ll pass.” When another question on the topic was asked, a USGA official interjected to put the focus on U.S. Open.

Oh, yes. That.

It was like that a year ago at the U.S. Open, especially with Phil Mickelson played on American soil for the first time since LIV started its league. Only later was it discovered the PGA Tour suspended him for his involvement in recruiting players to LIV Golf.

By Thursday, the focus shifted to The Country Club, and by Sunday, Fitzpatrick was holding the shiny silver trophy. Much is expected this week.

“Listen, it can be a distraction. There’s no doubt about it,” Horschel said. “If guys are worrying about it, thinking about it, talking about it all the time and they’re not focusing on their game and what matters at the end of the day ... all you can do is play good golf, and hopefully all the other stuff works out the way it should.”

LOS ANGELES – Berry Henson is this U.S. Open’s version of Johnny Cash.

He’s been everywhere.

Ask the 43-year-old Henson to list the tours he’s played on since turning professional two decades ago and he’ll rattle off a set list that would make Led Zeppelin tired: PGA Tour, DP World Tour, Korn Ferry Tour, Challenge Tour, Asian Tour, Japan Tour, Korean Tour, Sunshine Tour, Canadian Tour, Hooters Tour, eGolf Tour, Golden State Tour, Pepsi Tour, National Pro Tour, and certainly a handful of others that he’s forgotten about.

“I think the only tour I haven't played is the Latin America Tour,” Henson said. “That's, I guess, the definition of a journeyman.”

So, how did this journeyman make it to the U.S. Open at The Los Angeles Country Club? By Uber, you could say.

Henson’s point of origin is just up the road in Thousand Oaks, where he was born. He attended high school in Palm Desert, college at San Diego and now resides in Rancho Mirage. When he was 18, he got a job at Marriott Shadow Ridge in Palm Desert to fund his golf career, which he began professionally in 2003, and worked there for 15 years, earning a pin for his decade-and-a-half of service.

When it comes to California, Henson has never left. Well, considering Henson’s globetrotting ways, kind of. Back in 2011, Henson had just missed at Q-School for the seventh time. He was down to his last sponsor and just $5,000 in his bank account when one of his financial backers threw a dart.

“Should we go to Asia?” the backer, Marshall McComb, asked Henson.

“It was sink or swim,” Henson says now.

Henson swam. In his fourth Asian Tour start that year, he won in the Philippines. He’s since posted 28 other worldwide top-10s, including three runners-up and three thirds, and reached as high as No. 296 in the world rankings. He enters his major debut No. 444 after getting through the 36-hole final qualifier in Summit, New Jersey, last week.

“I'm a grinder,” Henson said. “I've been doing this for 20 something years. I feel like I have that type of mentality. I make a lot of pars. I can get up-and-down from the trash can. I don't get down on myself and just enjoy what the course gives me.”

When Henson was younger, he set two goals for himself: Play a tournament at St. Andrews and qualify for a U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. He’s now competed in two Dunhill Links, and his Pebble wish came before LACC was awarded this championship.

Entering this dream week, Henson is well rested – at least from a competition standpoint.

“I was telling my team this week that it's kind of been like having the lead for seven days straight,” Henson said of the time period since punching his U.S. Open ticket at Canoe Brook. “Haven't been sleeping that good.”

Other than his qualifier, though, he hasn’t teed it up since mid-April, when he played an International Series event in Vietnam. He took a vacation to Cabo with his dad during one of those weeks. The rest have been spent training and dieting (he’s lost a little bit of body fat), dialing in a few parts of his swing, sharpening his mind, and perfecting that deft short game with coach Ron Dizinno.

“I can’t say enough about him because that’s how I got in the U.S. Open,” Henson said.

Oh, and plenty of rides. Yes, Henson moonlights as an Uber driver, a part-time job he started when he injured his wrist in 2016, but one he kept because he enjoyed it so much.

His rating? A sparkling 4.99.

Those who know him well would expect nothing less from the “Hensonater,” Henson’s nickname since freshman year of college because, as Henson reckons, he’s just a fun guy who likes to joke around and keep things loose.

The “Hensonator” will have quite the gallery over these next, hopefully, six days. He’s already played a couple practice rounds with Phil Mickelson. He had his own press conference on Monday.

What a way to begin one’s major career.

And perhaps this crazy ride isn’t done.

“I feel like, yeah, I'm kind of starting my journey,” Henson said. “I don't know, it sounds weird, 43, starting your journey, but I've never given up. I've always tried to get 1% better. That's kind of been our motto. That's the road I'm on right now, and it just happened a little bit later.”

Manchester United have distanced themselves from comments made by Brandon Williams in the aftermath of Manchester City's treble with the club unhappy with the defender's actions, sources have told ESPN.

Williams appeared to mock City's achievement in an Instagram story posted on Saturday night which read: "Nobody wants a sloppy seconds."

- Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)

United were the first English team to complete a treble of the Premier League title, FA Cup and Champions League under Sir Alex Ferguson in 1999.

Williams also criticised former United defender Rio Ferdinand, who was working at Saturday's Champions League final in Istanbul as a pundit for broadcaster BT Sport.

Williams wrote: "@rioferdy5 Bet you don't congratulate if you was player keep the same morals. too face is boring." He continued: "You don't praise simple as. Fakessssssssss for [money emoji]."

Speaking after City had beaten Inter Milan 1-0 in the Champions League to complete the treble, Ferdinand called Pep Guardiola's team "immortal."

United are disappointed with Williams' posts with one source telling ESPN that his comments are "not welcomed." The club refused to comment when approached by ESPN.

Williams, 22, struggled to break into Erik ten Hag's last season and was limited to just one appearance. He has made 51 appearances for the club since making his first-team debut in 2019, scoring once. His contract at Old Trafford runs until 2024 with the option of another year.

- Ranking every treble-winning team: How do Man City compare?

Meanwhile, sources have told ESPN that United are monitoring Napoli's Kim Min-Jae and Monaco' s Axel Disasi but their priority in the transfer market remains landing a top-class striker and a midfielder.

United, according to sources, have asked to be kept informed of developments regarding the two defenders, although there has been no direct contact with their clubs.

United are expected to make their opening offer for Chelsea's Mason Mount this week despite a gap in valuation. Mount will enter the final year of his contract at Stamford Bridge this summer and is open to a move to United.

Arsenal goalkeeper Matt Turner and Club America attacker Alejandro Zendejas headline the 23-player roster that will represent the U.S. at the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup, which starts Friday and runs through July 16.

The team is made up primarily of MLS players, with 16 of the 23 players playing domestically. B.J. Callaghan's side also includes seven players who were part of the squad that played at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

In addition to Turner, that group includes FC Dallas forward Jesús Ferreira, Toronto FC goalkeeper Sean Johnson, LAFC defender Aaron Long, the Seattle Sounders duo of forward Jordan Morris and midfielder Cristian Roldan, as well as Inter Miami defender DeAndre Yedlin. Yedlin is the most capped player on the roster with 78.

"This is a group that we have a lot of confidence in as we look to win another Gold Cup trophy. It's a roster that has a good mix of veteran players that have World Cup experience and younger players that have earned an opportunity to come into camp and represent the United States in the Gold Cup," Callaghan said.

"Many of these players have performed well at their clubs as well as the previous opportunities that they have had in the national team environment. We're trying to expose as many players as possible to tournament competition. Some have a lot of experiences that we continue to build on, while others are just starting out. In all cases it will be valuable for the group moving forward."

There is some overlap with the U.S. roster that will defend its title at the Concacaf Nations League this Thursday-Sunday, with Turner, Johnson, and Zendejas joined by Atlanta United defender Miles Robinson and FC Juarez midfielder Alan Soñora. The U.S. opens against Mexico in the Nations League semifinals on Thursday in Las Vegas and would play either Canada or Panama in the final should it advance past El Tri.

The roster also features two players from the team that represented the U.S. at the just-concluded FIFA Under-20 World Cup, those being San Jose Earthquakes forward Cade Cowell and Chelsea goalkeeper Gaga Slonina.

Also on the roster is Columbus Crew midfielder Aidan Morris, who had been named to the preliminary rosters of both the U.S. and Canada. If Morris features in the Gold Cup, it will mean he is tied to the U.S. going forward.

The USMNT is part of Group A in the Gold Cup along with Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and a team that will be determined through the 2023 Gold Cup Prelims, and it will play all its group matches at Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas. Nicaragua had been part of the group but was thrown out Monday night for using an ineligible player in eight matches. Trinidad and Tobago replaced it.

Based on the Gold Cup Prelims draw, the remaining team in Group A could be one of four possibilities: Curaçao, French Guiana, Sint Maarten, or St. Kitts and Nevis. The prelims round will run from Friday through June 20 at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The U.S. will seek a record-tying eighth Gold Cup title. The USMNT won the inaugural tournament in 1991 before winning again in 2002, 2005, 2007, 2013, 2017 and 2021.

Should the U.S. win the July 16 final at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, it would tie Mexico's record of eight titles. Tournament rules state that the final roster will be submitted no later than June 14.

A player may be replaced on the roster up to 24 hours before a team's first match of the group phase, as well as 24 hours after the completion of its group stage competition, in the case of injury. The replacement player must come from the 60-man preliminary rosters.

USMNT GOLD CUP DETAILED ROSTER BY POSITION (club/country; caps/goals):

GOALKEEPERS (3): Sean Johnson (Toronto FC/CAN; 12/0), Gaga Slonina (Chelsea/ENG; 1/0), Matt Turner (Arsenal/ENG; 26/0)

DEFENDERS (8): DeJuan Jones (New England Revolution; 2/0), Aaron Long (LAFC; 32/3), Matt Miazga (FC Cincinnati; 23/1), Jalen Neal (LA Galaxy; 2/0), Bryan Reynolds (Roma/ITA; 3/0), Miles Robinson (Atlanta United; 21/3), John Tolkin (New York Red Bulls; 1/0), DeAndre Yedlin (Inter Miami; 78/0)

MIDFIELDERS (6): Gianluca Busio (Venezia/ITA; 9/0), Djordje Mihailovic (AZ Alkmaar/NED; 6/1), Aidan Morris (Columbus Crew; 2/0), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders; 32/3), James Sands (New York City FC; 8/0), Alan Soñora (FC Juárez/MEX; 2/0)

FORWARDS (6): Cade Cowell (San Jose Earthquakes; 3/0), Jesús Ferreira (FC Dallas; 18/8), Julian Gressel (Vancouver Whitecaps/CAN; 2/0), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders; 52/11), Brandon Vazquez (FC Cincinnati; 3/1), Alex Zendejas (Club América/MEX; 3/1)

Paris Saint-Germain are open to listening to offers for Kylian Mbappe this summer, sources have told ESPN.

The Ligue 1 champions' willingness to part ways with their superstar forward comes after sources confirmed multiple reports that Mbappe sent a letter to PSG informing them he would not exercise the option to extend his current deal beyond 2024.

With PSG not wanting Mbappe to leave as a free agent after next season, sources said club chairman Nasser Al Khelaifi is now begrudgingly open to letting the 24-year-old leave Paris.

ESPN sources added that PSG would be looking for a fee in the region of €150 million ($161.5 million).

Last year, PSG turned down a bid in the region of €180m from Real Madrid, who have pursued Mbappe since he was 11 years old, for the World Cup-winning forward before he went on to sign his current contract.

The young striker is likely to be linked again with a move to Madrid, particularly after Karim Benzema left the La Liga giants for Saudi Arabian team Al-Ittihad.

Madrid has already agreed to a deal for England midfielder Jude Bellingham. The potential acquisition of Mbappe would be a major statement of intent after they relinquished their LaLiga and Champions League titles this year.

Mbappe had refused to discuss his PSG future following their Champions League round-of-16 defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich in March, another disappointing exit from Europe's top club competition.

PSG, which is owned by Qatar Sports Investments, has already seen Lionel Messi leave for nothing in return, with the Argentine great making a stunning move to MLS team Inter Miami.

There is also uncertainty about the future of another PSG star in Brazil international Neymar.

But the potential departure of the 24-year-old Mbappe would be the greatest loss to PSG, given that he is a national icon and widely considered one of the few players capable of taking over from Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the game's biggest star.

Mbappe had until July 31 to trigger a one-year extension to his contract. He has been at the club since 2017 after signing from AS Monaco in a transfer worth a reported $190 million.

PSG were planning a change of strategy after moves for the biggest stars failed to bring success in Europe. The new focus would be on young, French talent. Mbappe was expected to be at the heart of that shift and it had been hoped he would sign a longer-term contract.

Mbappe has won five French league titles with PSG and was a World Cup winner with France in 2018.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this story.

After winning a historic European treble of the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League, Manchester City paraded their trophies through the streets on Monday. The rainy weather didn't stop fans from flooding the Manchester city centre and celebrating the second English side in history to complete the treble.

- Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)

If City made the most of last year's celebrations, this season's parade was even more lively given the momentous occasion. Before kicking off celebrations, City players were spotted on the subway, with a shirtless Jack Grealish enjoying himself.

The route ended with the players, coaches and staff arriving at a main stage where they hoisted the trophies, danced and embraced each other.

Thousands of fans turned out in Manchester, despite the rain. to support City, who chased Arsenal to win the Premier League, defeated rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup final and edged Inter Milan in the Champions League final. And would it be a celebration if Guardiola isn't puffing on a cigar?

Premier League record goal scorer Erling Haaland poured champagne on Grealish, who looked on with disbelief while Haaland grinned into the camera.

Erling Haaland really poured champagne on Jack Grealish during Man City's parade ??

(via @JackGrealish) pic.twitter.com/DTocQs2ZDo

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) June 12, 2023

If you looked closely, one fan used his body as a canvas to immortalize the historic treble with a tattoo.

The parade continued as players, some drenched from the rain, showed off their three trophies to the fans from the open-top bus.

A creative mural painted on the pavement showed Ilkay Gundogan, John Stones, Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne with the trophies.

Players pulled out their dance moves, and we'll let you decide on Stones' strut atop the City bus.

Johnny, Johnny Stones!! ? pic.twitter.com/Sy7Nf0qZYs

— Manchester City (@ManCity) June 12, 2023

Guardiola reached the main stage, saying "We had to have the best parade with this rain or it is not Manchester!" before a shirtless Haaland came dancing on with the rest of the squad.

And as we expected based on last year's celebrations, Grealish took the microphone to say "I'm the turkey, and the turkey needs feeding!" before taking a swig of a bottle.

Jack Grealish is a Turkey.. ?

"The turkey needs feeding!"

pic.twitter.com/BR5idCrX5Z

— City Chief (@City_Chief) June 12, 2023

We even caught a glimpse of the Norwegian giant dancing in the rain.

? @ErlingHaaland ? pic.twitter.com/fvSOeS2wob

— Manchester City (@ManCity) June 12, 2023

The celebrations are bound to continue, and Man City will be the favorites to defend these titles next season when we go again.

The blue double decker bus carrying Manchester City's treble winners pushed slowly through the streets of Manchester city centre on Monday evening to give the crowd a chance to celebrate a team that didn't just complete the most successful season their club has seen, but one of the greatest seasons ever. The mood wasn't dampened too much by the change in weather from sun to rain as City fans turned out to welcome their team home, after most players made a brief stop in Ibiza on Sunday night.

Pep Guardiola's men, after winning the Premier League title, FA Cup and Champions League during the 2022-23 campaign, have taken their place among some of history's most iconic teams including Ajax in 1972, Manchester United in 1999 and Barcelona in 2009. But as the afternoon sun turned into a typical Manchester rain shower, the trophies glinted and the beer flowed, it was easy to forget that this season has not been without its difficulties for Guardiola and his players.

- Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)

As far back as July, Guardiola assessed his squad and told staff that he was concerned about their hunger for more success. He sensed the motivation had slipped, only slightly, having won back-to-back Premier League titles, but ever the perfectionist, he considered it a major problem. Worse though, according to some of those around the City manager, was that he didn't know how to fix it.

Never staying for more than four years at either Barcelona or Bayern Munich in his previous coaching jobs, Guardiola was firmly in uncharted territory as he prepared for a seventh season at the Etihad Stadium. Despite spending part of the summer with his family in Barbados, he too felt a little jaded. There were points during the summer when he admitted he wasn't looking forward to the new season, particularly with the prospect of a winter World Cup on the horizon.

However, Monday's celebrations in the streets of Manchester proved Guardiola's concerns to be ill-founded as Man City completed a remarkable campaign. Here's how they got to football's summit in 2022-23.

Building around Haaland

It was during preseason that Guardiola saw for the first time where the threat to City's Premier League title might come from. After hearing that Arsenal had beaten Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea 4-0 in Florida, Guardiola raised his eyebrows and said, "Wow." Afterward, Gunners manager (and former City assistant) Mikel Arteta tried to play down the significance of the result, but Arsenal had already caught Guardiola's attention.

But before everyone else caught onto Arsenal's title credentials, City's season started with the Community Shield against their main rivals for the previous four years: Liverpool.

Erling Haaland, the striker signed amid much hype in the transfer window, missed a golden chance as City lost 3-1 at Leicester's King Power Stadium and immediately the questions started about whether the Norway international could cut it in England. Guardiola sought out his striker after the game, believing he might need to lift his spirits, but before the conversation could start Haaland laughed and said, "Don't worry, I'll score goals."

He wasn't wrong. Haaland scored nine in his next five games, including back-to-back hat tricks against Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest, and ended the season with 52 in all competitions.

Much of Guardiola's early-season work focused on how to get the best out of his new forward. Before Haaland arrived from Borussia Dortmund, Guardiola assured the player's father, Alfie, that City could play in a way that would suit the 22-year-old, pointing in particular to his work with Robert Lewandowski at Bayern. But City's 2021-22 title success was built around a system without a striker and it took time to adapt to Haaland's skill set.

The plan that Guardiola developed involved asking the creative players to look for Haaland first when they received the ball. They didn't have to pass to him, but they had to look before they made a decision about what to do next, and Guardiola wanted to see them do it.

During the early weeks of the season, Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish and Bernardo Silva were shown videos of Haaland's movement and asked, "Did you look?" If the answer was "no," there would be a slight reprimand and a reminder that a striker is no good without the ball.

Haaland has helped Guardiola as much as Guardiola has helped Haaland, too. The City manager, according to sources, has enjoyed the challenge of building another team around him but it was another young player, Rico Lewis, who was at the centre of a crucial spell in City's season.

City's unlikely saviour

The biggest fear around the club ahead of the campaign was that Guardiola's contract -- due to run out in June 2023 -- could turn into a distraction. There were internal conversations about whether Julian Nagelsmann, then at Bayern, would be a good fit if a replacement was needed, and it was a relief when Guardiola travelled to Abu Dhabi during the World Cup break to sign a new two-year deal.

Even with Guardiola's future secured, it was not all plain sailing when the season resumed. Guardiola wasn't happy with the body language of some of his players in training and it was soon slipping into matches.

City drew with Everton at the Etihad in their second Premier League game after the restart and then in January suffered back-to-back defeats to Southampton in the Carabao Cup and Manchester United in the Premier League. In their next game, City had to come back from 2-0 down to beat Tottenham Hotspur 4-2, and afterward Guardiola exploded in his news conference, branding his players a "happy flowers team."

Behind closed doors he was even more brutal, accusing his squad of being "soft" while also revealing that his preseason fear that the hunger had drained away was being proved right. One of the only positives, he said, was Lewis, the teenage defender who was thrust into the team after the World Cup.

Highly rated by the youth coaches who had worked with Lewis since he joined that club at eight-years-old, a year earlier he was playing for the Under-21s in a 5-0 defeat in front of fewer than 2,000 fans at Rotherham.

The 18-year-old, according to Guardiola, didn't have the "arrogance" to expect to win every game just by turning up, and played like it. The manager encouraged others to follow the youngster's example. Lewis also possessed the technical ability to show Guardiola that it was possible to play with a defender who also moved into midfield, a role John Stones perfected during the run-in.

The emergence of Lewis also played a part in Guardiola accepting Joao Cancelo's demand to leave in the January transfer window after a furious row between the pair about the defender's lack of playing time after returning from Qatar. Director of football Txiki Begiristain checked with Guardiola before accepting Bayern's offer to sign Cancelo on loan, with the reply coming back that the atmosphere in the dressing room was far more important than any individual.

Meanwhile, the winter tension on the training pitch was being mirrored in the boardroom.

Feeding on adversity

On the morning of Feb. 6, City chiefs were given 30 minutes' notice that the Premier League had charged the club with more than 100 breaches of financial rules between 2009 and 2018.

Speculation that a guilty verdict could lead to titles being stripped and even relegation quickly unsettled the dressing room. Begiristain and CEO Ferran Soriano addressed the squad and staff at the City Football Academy (CFA) to ease their fears before Guardiola spoke, telling his group that City had "already been sentenced" and it was up to them to "defend" the club on the pitch.

For some, City's treble will come with an asterix until the club is cleared of any wrongdoing, although with no timeline for the process to be completed, it could be a while.

Guardiola insists the Premier League charges were not the turning point of the season, but after Feb. 6, City played 28 games in all competitions and lost just one, against Brentford in May when the title was already won.

At one point in early April, City were eight points behind Arsenal in the title race, but Guardiola's message was consistent: stay in touch and get them to the Etihad. Arteta brought his team to Manchester on April 26 and were thrashed 4-1. Four league wins later, and City were crowned champions for the fifth time in six years.

How they finally won in Europe

City's charge towards the title only really started in February, but the seeds of Champions League success were sown long before.

In the aftermath of last season's semifinal defeat to Real Madrid in May 2022 -- a tie City were leading until stoppage time in the second leg -- Guardiola told his players to remember that their collapse in the Bernabeu had been put down to a lack of character and mental strength. He reminded them again before the second leg this season, telling them that as he watched the draw in his office at the City Football Academy, he had wished to get Real Madrid again because he "wanted it," seeing the rematch as a chance to end the debate about the mentality of his group.

After playing out a 1-1 draw in the first leg of that semifinal in the Spanish capital, City destroyed the reigning champions of Europe 4-0 in one of the most devastating performances of the Guardiola era. Real Madrid were so lost that at one point Guardiola turned to Vinicius Junior as he stood on the touchline and asked, "Are you going to play?"

Vinicius didn't have an answer. Neither did Madrid.

All season there have pictures of the Premier League trophy, FA Cup and Champions League trophy hung up around City's training ground, above the caption "our goal." In public, Guardiola played down the prospect of winning all three, at one stage calling the treble "impossible," but in private he has encouraged his players to think about their chance to write themselves into the history books. After all, the only other English team to do it was United under Sir Alex Ferguson and that was nearly 25 years ago.

It culminated in a 1-0 win over Inter Milan in Istanbul on Saturday night. Perhaps fittingly, it was one of City's most difficult games of a remarkable campaign, decided by a Rodri strike midway through the second half after City had weathered a surprising amount of pressure from their opponents. It was also the hardest-fought of City's three trophies, and vindication for Guardiola after so many near-misses in Europe's top competition since arriving in Manchester.

After celebrations on the Ataturk Stadium pitch for more than an hour, followed by cans of Heineken in the dressing room, the party moved to the rooftop bar of the Marriott. Some players, including Grealish, were still in their kits when they turned up, and when they did, they were introduced to waiting friends and family as "Manchester City, treble winners." (The party continued all weekend as a large City contingent -- led by Grealish, Stones, Foden and Haaland -- flew to Ibiza for more fun prior to Monday's parade in Manchester, with Grealish front and center there as well.)

After a season of ups and downs, problems and solutions, Guardiola's impossible dream had come true.

A YouTube personality tried to push his way through Phoenix Mercury security personnel to get to Brittney Griner while she and the team were at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on Saturday morning, according to a police report obtained by ESPN on Monday.

Alex Stein, whom the WNBA described as a "provocateur," approached Griner while team members were walking on a concourse to catch a flight to Indiana for a Sunday tipoff following two games against the Dallas Wings.

A Mercury security representative stayed between Griner and the man, but Stein pushed the security personnel, according to the police report. The guard then pushed Stein against a wall on the concourse, and Griner waited behind a gate area until officers arrived.

Officers were dispatched at approximately 9:38 a.m. The security guard told officers that Stein "seemed aggressive and made some inappropriate comments" to Griner, the report stated. While the passenger never got physical with Griner, the Mercury security guard told officers the man was physical with him, but that he did not want to press charges.

Griner, one of the league's biggest stars, spent most of 2022 in Russian custody after officials said they found vape canisters with cannabis oil in her luggage. She was sentenced to a nine-year prison term but was freed in December through a prisoner exchange negotiated between the United States and Russia.

WNBA teams typically travel commercially, with few exceptions, for road games, although the league and the Mercury worked in the offseason to develop alternative arrangements where possible for Griner because of her high-profile case. According to a video posted by Mercury teammate Shey Peddy earlier this season, Griner and teammates appear to have traveled via JSX, a semi-private airline, to their season-opening game in Los Angeles.

After officers were called to the scene on Saturday, an American Airlines manager tried to find an area for the Mercury to congregate until their flight. A nearby Admirals Club representative said the team could enter if it purchased a day pass, but once the team was escorted to the lounge, the Mercury were told "they did not have enough room for the team," the report stated.

The Mercury were eventually escorted to a customer experience office to wait until they boarded their flight. The team was then escorted to its gate by officers around 10:20 a.m. and immediately boarded without any other issues, according to the report.

Airport officers were unable to locate Stein in the area, the report stated, and American Airlines did not find a passenger with his name flying at the airport. The airport's master control room confirmed that the man "walked to the lower gates, connected with a female passenger and entered the Skylink Train heading to Terminals B & D."

Although the incident happened in Terminal A (which is exclusively operated by American Airlines), the Skyline Train -- which is accessible while inside security -- connects all five terminals of the airport, one of the largest in the U.S. Stein, who was filming the confrontation, posted a 90-second video on YouTube of the interaction later in the weekend.

Griner has largely picked up where she left off pre-detainment, averaging 22.7 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.7 blocks in 30.6 minutes per game for the Mercury.