The battle among Europe's top sides is not just limited to the confines of a football pitch, with clubs upping the ante to find any marginal advantage in a burgeoning technology war.
Manchester City's recent hiring of a number of rocket scientists has taken things to the next level, with the Premier League side expanding their analysis team so as to get the jump on their rivals.
It is just one of a number of moves City have made in a bid to develop their data team. The club hosted a a recent artificial intelligence competition they ran in conjunction with Google, challenging tech whizzes to develop artificial intelligence 'agents'.