“Chances are you’ve watched a football match or two in your life. Sophisticated and stunningly handsome subscriber to The Athletic that you are, you’re probably pretty good at it. There’s no wrong way for anyone to enjoy the sport. But when it comes to understanding what you’re looking at, it turns out that trying to follow 22 people all doing a hundred different things to influence which way a ball bounces around the pitch is really hard. Coaches and players (and, in our own dumb way, even journalists) spend whole lifetimes learning to watch games better. Maybe you want to, too. …”
The Athletic (Video)
Category Archives: Champions League
Inter’s use of a strike partnership under Simone Inzaghi is old-fashioned but highly effective
“At the start of Pep Guardiola’s managerial career, he seemed intent on creating the type of team that would have suited him as a player. A slender, technical midfielder who lacked physicality but could spread play calmly, Guardiola’s playing career ended prematurely because football no longer suited his type of player; defensive midfielders at the turn of the century were supposed to be about power and ball-winning ability. …”
The Athletic – Michael Cox (Video)
Fear, suspicion, awe: How Manchester City are viewed in Europe’s football citadels
“For Manchester City and their Abu Dhabi owners, the realisation of their grand footballing project is tantalisingly within reach. Domestic dominance has already been achieved, with City just one win away from securing a fifth Premier League title in six seasons, and now the club are closing in on a first-ever Champions League triumph after they progressed to next month’s final against Inter Milan with a semi-final victory over holders Real Madrid. …”
The Athletic (Video)
The Athletic: Gravity – the inescapable force behind Man City’s push for the treble (Video)
Manchester City were utterly superb, but we should worry
SI: Man City Shows the Real Money Is in Charge Now in the Champions League – Jonathan Wilson
BBC – Manchester City 4-0 Real Madrid (5-1 agg): Pep Guardiola says win banishes ‘pain’ of last year
NY Times: Manchester City Dethrones Real Madrid in a Dominant Champions League Performance
Inter have gone from the brink to the jackpot — reaching final matters for so many reasons
Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez celebrates after scoring his side’s opening goal during the Champions League semifinal second leg soccer match between Inter Milan and AC Milan at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, May 16, 2023.
“Rippling down the Curva Nord, the choreography unfurled by Inter Milan’s ultras before their Champions League semi-final second leg showed a knight in shining armour, his shield pock-marked with arrows, a depiction of Inter’s quest for the holiest of grails. If the knight were to have suddenly animated and taken off his helmet, it would not have come as a surprise to see the face of Simone Inzaghi revealed. He may as well have ridden in on a white charger when he joined Inter two years ago. They were champions of Italy at the time. But they did not look like a club who were going to dominate Serie A in the way Inter did between 2006 and 2010, when five domestic titles in a row culminated in an unprecedented treble. …”
The Athletic (Video)
Guardian: Inter’s Champions League progress built on depth and defensive resilience
Guardian: Lautaro Martínez finishes off Milan to put Inter in Champions League final
The Premier League Crucible Produces Something New: Ideas
“Manchester City had been in possession of the ball for a minute, no more, but to the denizens of the Santiago Bernabéu, it felt like an hour or more. Pep Guardiola’s team moved it backward and forward and then backward again. It switched it from side to side, sometimes via the scenic route, stopping off to admire the view from midfield, and sometimes taking the express. Real Madrid’s players did not seem especially concerned about this state of affairs. …”
NY Times
Milan haven’t learned from derby defeats – Inter were far superior with and without the ball
“… Inter may well have learned, but Milan did not. Their first half looked almost identical to the 3-0 Supercoppa loss to Inter in Riyadh in January. They were 2-0 down after 21 minutes that night to goals from Edin Dzeko and Federico Dimarco, as their 4-2-3-1 struggled to cope with Inter’s advancing wing-backs and combative front two. …”
The Athletic (Video)
SI: Inter Dominates Milan Champions League Derby But Fails to Finish the Job – Jonathan Wilson
Real Madrid 1-1 Manchester City: Vinicius and De Bruyne strike but Haaland was kept quiet
“A stunning strike from Kevin De Bruyne earned Manchester City a 1-1 draw against Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final first leg, after Vinicius Junior had scored from nearly the exact same spot on the Bernabeu pitch before the break. City dominated possession in the first half but it was Real who went in ahead after Vinicius linked well with Eduardo Camavinga and Luka Modric. …”
The Athletic
The Athletic: Stones, Camavinga and why Man City and Real Madrid pushed defenders into midfield – Michael Cox
Guardian – Real Madrid v Manchester City: beauty and parity living on the razor’s edge
The Athletic: Vinicius Jr, De Bruyne and the visceral thrill of kicking a football really hard
The Athletic: The important things for Man City in the Bernabeu were the things that did not happen
BBC: Real Madrid 1 – Manchester City 1
YouTube: Real Madrid vs Manchester City 1-1 | 2023 Champions League | Match Highlights
The New A.C. Milan Picks Up Where the Old One Left Off
“Stefano Pioli could feel it, even if he could not quite define it. In the nicest possible way, Pioli has made several journeys around the block as a soccer manager. At 57, he has been coaching in the volatile, capricious world of the Italian game for two decades. His current job, at A.C. Milan, is the 13th of his career. There is very little, these days, that counts as new to him. The couple of weeks leading up to and surrounding Milan’s Champions League quarterfinal against Napoli last month, though, were different. …”
NY Times
Real Madrid vs Manchester City: Champions League semi-final tactical breakdown
“A place in the final is within touching distance. Manchester City and Real Madrid face off in a Champions League semi-final for the second season running, and you would do very well to predict an outright favourite. In many ways, we are fortunate that we get to witness these two heavyweight teams battle for 180 minutes across two legs as opposed to a single 90-minute final — with a strong case to be made that a final-four tie has produced greater entertainment historically. …”
The Athletic (Video)
Pep Guardiola, the architect of tiki-taka, has come to embrace physicality
“… It would have made for an interesting experience for Pep Guardiola, who at that time was on his sabbatical, having left Barcelona the previous summer and had already been confirmed as the next Bayern manager. His Barcelona side was notable for its lack of physicality — he happily played multiple short, slight players in the same side and backed technique to defeat physique. His future Bayern side, clearly, offered different qualities, which he would come to embrace. …”
The Athletic
The Athletic: Bayern Munich’s Champions League failure will accelerate recruitment drive up front
How Carvajal and Camavinga’s positioning caused problems for Chelsea
“… Real Madrid’s right flank has been central to some tweaking in recent weeks, especially with Rodrygo’s constant movement inside to overload the centre of the pitch or even double up with Vinicius Junior on the left at times. Against Chelsea in the Champions League on Wednesday, it was more of the same but with a different idea to battle against Frank Lampard’s 5-3-2. Chelsea’s caretaker manager moved away from the back-five system in his first game in charge against Wolverhampton Wanderers, but returned to this shape in this match against Real Madrid. …’
The Athletic
The Athletic – Real Madrid 2 Chelsea 0: Champions in control, Lampard tactics backfire – and poor Joao Felix
The Athletic – As Real Madrid impress again, Carlo Ancelotti is big winner at a critical time
Napoli may have regrets from defeat in Milan – they need to unite for the home leg
“In San Siro’s Curva Sud, a pair of devilish red hands threatened to strangle the Pulcinella, a cowering look of pure terror writ large on the masked face of this figure from Neapolitan folklore. ‘In our hands, our destiny,’ proclaimed the Milan ultras’ pre-match choreography. But once the Champions League quarter-final kicked off, the street-wise Pulcinella cunningly escaped Milan’s clutches and seemed intent on making fun of their hosts on the biggest stage. Napoli did not appear intimidated by the atmosphere or the team that beat them up 4-0 in the league at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona 10 days ago. …”
The Athletic (Video)
Guardian – Milan against the world: five of their greatest nights on the big stage
NY Times: Milan Celebrates Its Revival With a Mighty Roar
Champions League to non-League – how fine are margins between the best and semi-pros?
“The Etihad Stadium. A Champions League quarter-final. Manchester City and Bayern Munich. John Stones is strolling out of central defence into midfield, having spent the last few weeks doing the same but from right-back. It is the latest tactical curiosity from City manager Pep Guardiola’s back catalogue and another string to the bow of one of the most technically gifted defenders of a generation. Stones is named man of the match as City win 3-0. The previous afternoon, about four and a half miles eastwards and eight stops along Manchester’s tram system, Curzon Ashton are hosting Spennymoor Town in the National League North, the sixth tier of English football. …”
The Athletic
Manchester City 3 Bayern Munich 0: Rodri’s stunner, Bayern dishevelled and Dias the Colossus
“Manchester City took a huge stride towards a Champions League semi-final with a riotous victory over Bayern Munich at the Etihad Stadium. Pep Guardiola’s side will take a three-goal lead into next week’s second leg in Bavaria. Rodri’s stunning goal, curled in from distance beyond a despairing Yann Sommer, prised an initially tight game open before the hosts ran riot to score twice more in six frantic second-half minutes. …”
The Athletic
The Athletic – Pep Guardiola’s tactical evolution: The one constant? Change
Lens dream of Champions League return after 20-year absence
“We’ve written about plenty of surprise packages in this column, but it’s rare for clubs to break into the European places in Ligue 1. Reims did it in 2018-19 but, other than that, the top seven of PSG, Marseille, Monaco, Lille, Rennes, Nice and Lyon have been remarkably consistent for the last half-decade. Lyon’s recent stutters have created an opportunity for a new face to secure a place in Europe. …”
Guardian
W – RC Lens
Milan giants are Champions League contenders but may miss top-four cut
“The Champions League quarter-finals are upon us and, for the first time in 17 years, there are three Italian sides among the final eight. Before anyone gets carried away contemplating brave new eras, they might consider the growing possibility that two of those teams might not even qualify for next season’s tournament. Inter have won none of their last six games and slipped out of Serie A’s top four after drawing 1-1 with Salernitana on Good Friday. …”
Guardian
AC Milan toyed with Napoli in 4-0 win – roll on their Champions League rematch
“There is an old theatrical tradition that a bad dress rehearsal is followed by a successful first night of a show. Napoli will have to hope that is true. Sunday’s Serie A game against AC Milan was the first of three meetings between the sides in 17 days. The other two are in a Champions League quarter-final, with the first leg at San Siro next Wednesday and the return in Naples the following Tuesday. …”
The Athletic
Premier League predictions: Arsenal to edge title race but Manchester City to lift the Champions League?
“Will Arsenal hold on? Can Thomas Tuchel turn Bayern Munich into Champions League winners? Who will finish top four in the Premier League? And who will go down? And just how many league goals will Erling Haaland finish on in his first season at Manchester City? Oliver Kay, Daniel Taylor, Sarah Shephard, Nick Miller and Dan Sheldon assess the Premier League run-in and pick their Champions League and Europa League champions. …”
The Athletic
Where is the best fit for Nagelsmann after Bayern: Tottenham, PSG, Real Madrid, Chelsea?
“It’s amazing to think Julian Nagelsmann is still only 35. It’s a testament to his talent that he is more established than someone of his age may otherwise be, and feels like he’s been around forever. He was the Bundesliga’s youngest permanent head coach when he took charge of Hoffenheim aged 28, and was still just 33 when he arrived at Bayern Munich. …”
The Athletic
The Athletic: Bayern Munich, Julian Nagelsmann and a very surprising sacking (Video)
Liverpool must pull off the impossible at Real Madrid – this is how they do it
“The odds will be stacked against Liverpool when they walk out at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night. Real Madrid’s 5-2 win in the first leg at Anfield three weeks ago — Liverpool’s heaviest defeat at home in the Champions League — left Jurgen Klopp’s side on the brink of elimination. The champions of Europe, three goals up in their own stadium, against a team beaten by lowly Bournemouth last weekend. Logic suggests the tie is already done and dusted. …”
The Athletic (Video)
The Athletic – Real Madrid 1 Liverpool 0: Klopp’s team limp out – who can stop the champions?
Champions League Quarterfinal Draw Brings Intrigue to Wide-Open Field
“This has been an unusual season, with the break for the World Cup adding to a rare sense of unpredictability. This looks to be the most open Champions League in years, with the only side clearly in form, Napoli, never having previously gotten this far in the competition. It’s almost certainly too early to say the presence of three Italian sides in the quarterfinals represents the return of Serie A as a major power, 13 years since the last Italian winner, but that only one Spanish side got through the group is indicative of the financial difficulties La Liga sides are enduring. Wider trends are one thing, the specific ties another. After Friday’s draw, we assess the four quarterfinal ties. …”
SI – Jonathan Wilson
Liverpool’s elite status under threat after timid exit from the Champions League
“‘Where’s the final next year? Istanbul? Book the hotel,’ declared a bullish Jurgen Klopp after last season’s Champions League final defeat in Paris. Let’s hope those rooms are refundable. Klopp expected the good times to keep rolling, but over the course of this troubled season, Liverpool have been repeatedly exposed as a fading force. This limp last-16 exit at the hands of Real Madrid simply confirmed it. …”
The Athletic
Will the Champions League stay in Europe?
“In April last year, the Paris Saint-Germain chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi provided a window into the backroom discussions of European football. Al-Khelaifi is best known as the Qatari face of PSG but his footprint is all over the sport. He is on the executive committee of UEFA (the European football governing body and organiser of the Champions League) and he is the chair of the European Club Association (which represents the interests of clubs who compete in European club competitions). Not only that, but he is also running the Qatari broadcaster beIN Sports (which holds the largest portfolio of broadcast rights in the sporting world, screening major sporting events across the Middle East, France, New Zealand, Turkey and the United States). …”
The Athletic
P.S.G.’s Star System Has Run Its Course
“Nobody at Paris St.-Germain seemed particularly upset at being knocked out of the Champions League. Christophe Galtier, the coach, made all the right noises, of course. It was a terrible disappointment, he said. A great shame, because this is a competition that really means a lot to the club. Very sad for all concerned. Kylian Mbappé, meanwhile, came across so phlegmatic that he seemed almost detached, as if the whole thing had happened only in the abstract. …”
NY Times
The five reasons Liverpool have a broken defence
“For all the talk about Liverpool’s impending midfield rebuild this summer, it is becoming increasingly clear they need to strengthen their backline, too. Defensive errors heavily contributed to Tuesday night’s chastening Champions League thrashing at the hands of Real Madrid. “I think we gave all five goals away and that means we could have done better,” admitted Jurgen Klopp. The sight of Liverpool capitulating wasn’t a one-off. Alarmingly, it was the eighth time in all competitions this season they have conceded three times or more. …”
The Athletic (Video)
NY Times: Real Madrid Leaves Liverpool Chasing Shadows of Itself
Guardian: Liverpool and Klopp face big task to limit fallout from Real Madrid fiasco
The Football Sustainability Index: How well run is your club?
“The coming days and weeks will bring the moment that sees English football forced to embrace change. The government’s white paper is expected imminently, crystallizing the key recommendations proposed by the exhaustive fan-led review of the national sport’s governance. Those in power have now concluded that football cannot carry on as it was. Too many clubs have been allowed to unravel. Some irretrievably so. Increased regulation, despite the Premier League’s lobbying, will finally be introduced in 2023. …”
The Athletic (Video)
Napoli attack space. So how did they adapt when Eintracht Frankfurt didn’t leave them any?
“… Glasner does not set Frankfurt up to dominate European games but Napoli had 70 per cent possession, outshot the hosts 18 to five and created three big chances — a situation where a player should reasonably be expected to score — (including a penalty) without conceding any. This extends Napoli’s run to six straight wins, scoring at least twice in each and conceded just once. How did Napoli adapt their approach away to Frankfurt? …”
The Athletic
Pep Guardiola ‘delighted’ with Manchester City’s draw at RB Leipzig
“Pep Guardiola launched a characteristically counterintuitive defence of his approach after half-time in Manchester City’s draw against RB Leipzig. City were held to a disappointing 1-1 score in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie, but despite being dominated for long periods of the second half Guardiola refused to make a single substitution, and afterwards explained that he was wary of Leipzig’s danger on the counterattack. …”
Guardian (Video)
How goalkeepers react to high-profile mistakes – according to the goalkeepers’ union
“Loris Karius is set to make his first appearance in nearly two years in the Carabao Cup final for Newcastle this weekend. It comes in the same week Thibaut Courtois and Alisson both made high profile and uncharacteristic mistakes during Real Madrid’s Champions League win over Liverpool. So how will Karius, whose career has been defined by the errors he made against Real in the Champions League final in 2018, be preparing for a game he didn’t expect to be playing in? …”
The Athletic
Did the World Cup break PSG?
“PSG’s seasons follow a similar pattern; summer full of big-name transfers, start the season with a bang, trail off towards the end of the season, and crash out of the Champions League. However, they have started to trail off even earlier this season, and look like losing out on the Champions League even earlier than usual. So what is different about this season? Has the mid-season World Cup had an impact? Jon Mackenzie writes, Marco Bevilacqua illustrates.”
YouTube
Why Liverpool keep failing to beat Real Madrid: ‘They were almost mocking us’
“… As he basked in the glory of winning the Champions League last summer, Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti’s reflections were telling. Their path to victory had included knockout ties with Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Manchester City, yet the Italian deemed Jurgen Klopp’s side the easiest to prepare for tactically. … The pair have faced each other four times during three Champions League campaigns between 2017-2018 and 2021-2022. On each occasion, Liverpool have been second best. If they have any hope of winning silverware this season, they need to change the narrative when the two meet in the first leg of the last 16 of the Champions League tonight.”
The Athletic
European Super League: This week was a glimpse of what that world could look like
“Liverpool vs Everton, Paris Saint-Germain vs Bayern Munich, AC Milan vs Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal vs Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund vs Chelsea, Barcelona vs Manchester United. From Monday to Thursday, this week’s football fixtures have offered night after night of glamorous, high-profile match-ups between some of European football’s elite clubs. …”
The Athletic (Video)
Liverpool’s right-side triangle returns just in time for Real Madrid tie
“During Liverpool’s run towards Champions League glory back in 2019, one adjustment paved the way for future success. After introducing Jordan Henderson as a right-sided midfielder for the last 31 minutes against Southampton in April 2019, Jurgen Klopp started the English midfielder on the right side of his midfield against Porto four days later in the first leg of the quarter-finals of the Champions League. …”
The Athletic
Frontline football: ‘We try to show the same fight as the Ukrainian soldiers fighting for us’
“Celtic Park in Glasgow is among the most partisan football grounds in Europe – you don’t want to be on the wrong end of this crowd. But Celtic fans know the world, and last September was different: home supporters lined the approach to the stadium, to greet and applaud the visitors’ coach as it arrived for a big night in the Champions League. Aboard it: Shakhtar Donetsk, the Ukrainian champions who had not played a game at home for nine years, since Russian separatists and armed forces occupied their city in 2014. The crowd cheered the bus, and – poignantly – among the home fans’ Irish tricolours were flags of blue and yellow, those of Ukraine, waved by a group of children – refugees from the war that ravages their homeland, now settled in Glasgow. …”
Guardian
How Manchester United’s speed and directness ripped through Barcelona’s defence
“When Pep Guardiola took his Manchester City team to Old Trafford in November 2021, he had one thing on his mind when it came to stopping Manchester United’s threat. … More than a year has passed and United’s prowess on the offensive transitions is still there. The profiles of their attackers give United the upper hand in situations when they have just won the ball back and want to attack quickly. That is also helped by improvements off the ball under Erik ten Hag. …”
The Athletic
The Athletic: Barcelona’s Raphinha changed the game against Man United — so why did Xavi replace him?
The Athletic: Manchester United and Barcelona are on upward arcs — this was a worthy chapter in their rivalry
Reputation Meets Reality in the Champions League
“… Sure, Chelsea and Tottenham had both lost the first legs of their Champions League round of 16 ties, but that was nothing to worry about. There are the home games to come in a few weeks. Things will be better then. Wrongs will be righted. Everything is breezy. Neither manager’s pose was particularly ludicrous. Neither team had played especially badly. Both sides might have felt just a little unfortunate to have lost. Chelsea, still feeling its way to a settled identity after its winter excess, created a raft of chances against Borussia Dortmund. …”
NY Times
Liverpool, Real Madrid and terror at the Champions League final: Fans’ stories
“The Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid should have been one of last year’s great sporting showpieces — a meeting between two of European football’s aristocrats, in one of Europe’s grandest venues, in one of its finest cities, for arguably club football’s greatest prize. Instead, the day turned into a nightmare for thousands of supporters. …”
The Athletic (Video)
Barcelona’s ban on opposition colours and their fear of another Camp Nou takeover
“‘I am ashamed of what I’ve seen. We will take action.’ These were the words of Barcelona president Joan Laporta after the second leg of last season’s Europa League quarter-final with Eintracht Frankfurt. In April 2022, his club had just suffered their second European embarrassment of the season. The first was elimination at the Champions League group stage that autumn. The second saw them knocked out of the Europa League at a Camp Nou overflowing with away fans. …”
The Athletic
Bayern switching the play tormented PSG’s exposed defence — and Coman made them pay
“For many years, the Champions League has decided the narrative of the whole season for Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain, regardless of their domestic performances. In this one, that applies more than ever. The turbulence both of these European giants are experiencing in their own leagues has put more pressure on the playing squads and their respective managers, Julian Nagelsmann and Christophe Galtier, going into their face-off in the Champions League’s round of 16. …”
The Athletic
Guardian: Kingsley Coman returns to haunt PSG and give Bayern Munich the edge
Champions League last-16 preview: Analysing each team’s tactics
“Europe’s top competition is back. For those who have missed the soothing tones of the Champions League anthem, fear not. The knockout stage is upon us and we have 16 more games to feast on over the next four weeks. Using FiveThirtyEight’s well-respected prediction model, Bayern Munich stand as favourites to win the competition, edging ahead of Manchester City, Real Madrid and dark horses Napoli. However, we all know how knockout football works — do not expect things to go the way you might predict. …”
The Athletic (Video)
Uefa had ‘primary responsibility’ for Champions League final chaos, damning report finds
“Uefa bears ‘primary responsibility’ for the catastrophic organisational and safety failures that turned last season’s Champions League final into a horrific, traumatic experience for thousands of supporters, Uefa’s own review has concluded. That central finding, and alarming criticisms of the culture and operations at the confederation of European football, and of the French police, are made in a damning report produced by the panel Uefa appointed to review the chaos that engulfed the final between Liverpool and Real Madrid at the Stade de France in Paris last May. …”
Jurgen Klopp turned doubters into believers once already at Liverpool. Now he must do it again
“… Barely a year after reaching the Champions League final, Dortmund went on a run that saw them lose 11 of their first 19 games of the Bundesliga season. In early February they were bottom of the table, an astonishing fall from grace for Klopp and his team. Eventually, they rallied to win five and draw two of their next seven games, moving away from the relegation zone and ending up in seventh position. But after seven years, two Bundesliga titles, a German Cup, two German Super Cups, one Champions League final and more magical moments than their fans could ever have dreamed when he arrived from Mainz in 2008, Klopp told the Dortmund hierarchy in early April 2015 that he, his players and the club needed a change. …”
The Athletic
The Athletic: The problems facing Liverpool in the biggest crisis of Jurgen Klopp’s reign (Video)
Manchester City May Fall, but Soccer’s Billionaire Era Lives On – Brian Phillips
“… I thought about Mrs. Grayle on Monday, when the Premier League quietly posted a statement on its website charging Manchester City, the most dominant club in the past decade of English soccer, with more than 100 violations of league financial rules stretching back to 2009. Man City is famously rich, but it hasn’t been rich all that long. … Which meant—to be technically precise again—money. …”
The Ringer
UCL Dreams Dashed, Barcelona in Dire Need of La Liga Title Charge
Lewandowski has hit the ground running, and Barcelona will need every bit of his goalscoring prowess.
“There was a certain sense of inevitability that hung in the air at the Camp Nou. Bayern Munich winger Sadio Mané scored the opener in the ninth minute and hardly celebrated. A second went in in the 31st minute and all was already lost. The 84,000 supporters had seen this script play out before: Mighty FC Barcelona was simply not good enough against the German club. That didn’t stop the jeers from raining down at full time of Barca’s 3–0 loss, and it certainly didn’t ease the sting of what was a defeat of massive importance. Barcelona was out of the Champions League before the knockout stage in a season it needed to reach it more than any other. …”
SI
Barcelona’s financial mess: Champions League exit, more levers, Coutinho debt
“Around Camp Nou, it was mostly an eerie silence on the final whistle of Barcelona’s 3-3 draw with Inter Milan, as it dawned on the home fans that their club are now almost certainly eliminated from the 2022-23 Champions League already, with two group games still to play. As Inter’s players, coaches and fans celebrated in their small pockets, most of the 92,302 crowd were stunned and exhausted — as were the Barcelona team, their coach Xavi Hernandez and the club’s president Joan Laporta. …”
The Athletic (Video)
Premier League is asked if it has investigated Manchester City owner over Russia allegations
“The Premier League has been asked to confirm whether it has investigated the billionaire owner of Manchester City Football Club under its ‘fit and proper’ owners’ test, over allegations of helping Russian oligarchs avoid western sanctions after the invasion of Ukraine. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, the deputy prime minister of the UAE and a member of the ruling family of Abu Dhabi, has been accused in media reports of helping to allow rich Russians to evade sanctions by moving their assets, including superyachts and private jets, to the Emirates. …”
Guardian
Steven Gerrard was a free spirit as a player but his management style is repetitive – it leaves fans cold
“Towards the end of Steven Gerrard’s time at Rangers there was a distinct feeling that things had gone stale. It was the fourth season of playing the same way, with largely the same group of players. They had lost to Malmo in the Champions League qualifiers, the Europa League group was a drag and domestic games had long become like carbon copies of each other, regardless of the opposition. …”
The Athletic (Video)
Rangers’ only comfort comes from history in unequal ‘Battle of Britain’
“For Rangers Wednesday 4 November 1992 was as good as it got in movies such as this. As Mark Hateley smashed the Scottish champions in front inside five minutes at Elland Road, cross‑border needle which had extended to the press box morphed into outright celebration. Rangers and their fans felt they were not sufficiently praised for a first‑leg victory in this Champions League clash with Leeds United. Hateley’s goal, later backed up by an Ally McCoist strike before Eric Cantona claimed a Leeds consolation, secured the tie for Walter Smith’s side – a side, that is, which was dominated by Scottish players. …”
Guardian
UEFA Champions League Preview: Big clash in Lisbon, while Juventus need a win
“While Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez claims there are too many inconsequential matches, the Champions League group phase pushes ahead with matchday three. Matches that look quite appetising can be found right across Europe, from London to Leipzig to Lisbon. …”
Game of the People
How the Champions League final descended into chaos – visual investigation
“On 28 May 2022 the Champions League final between Real Madrid and Liverpool took place at the Stade de France in Paris. But the showpiece match between two great clubs was disfigured by chaotic organisation, in which Liverpool supporters suffered a near disaster and riot police teargassed spectators while failing to protect people from violent attacks by local thugs. Yet the French government, police and Uefa united instantly to put the blame on Liverpool supporters, claiming that the chaos was caused by thousands seeking entry with fake tickets. …”
Guardian (Video)
Guardian – ‘I had to leave’: concerns raised over state of Uefa amid cronyism claims
Guardian: Uefa pre-prepared Champions League final statement blaming ‘late’ fans
Think tank: Some potential reasons why Bayern Munich is struggling
“A dominating DFL-Supercup, plus strong four games to open the Bundesliga season — including the improbable Gladbach draw, which may have been the best of the performances — followed by three straight clunkers coinciding with the return of English weeks. How serious is the crisis at Bayern Munich, and what can be done about it? Let’s explore four of the possible narratives behind the recent Bavarian mudslide. …”
Bavarian Football Works
Analysing Bayern Munich 2 Barcelona 0: Xavi’s Alonso gamble, misfiring Lewandowski and ruthless Sane
“A ruthless 10-minute spell immediately after half-time helped Bayern Munich beat Barcelona at the Allianz Arena, with goals from Lucas Hernandez and Leroy Sane sealing three points for Julian Nagelsmann’s side. Barcelona dominated the first half but Robert Lewandowski failed to make Bayern pay on his return to Munich. Whatever the Bayern head coach Nagelsmann said at the break did the trick — by the 54th minute they were two goals ahead, first a header by Hernandez and then a neat finish from Sane. …”
The Athletic
World Cup 2022 news round-up: Jesus’ Brazil snub, Pepi’s debut and Queiroz’s return
“England and the USA have goalkeeper injury concerns, Ricardo Pepi has made his debut in Holland but Arsenal’s in-form Gabriel Jesus is suddenly out of favour with Brazil. With the transfer window shut and September international fixtures looming, a relentless domestic and European calendar is providing opportunities for players to shine and prepare for Qatar. …”
The Athletic (Video)
Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea sacking – the inside story told from both sides
“Chelsea’s sombre players shunned most of their non-mandatory media duties as they made their way out of Stadion Maksimir after Champions League humiliation at the hands of Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday evening, only to find their discomfort was far from over. Boarding the plane that would take them back to England from the Croatian capital meant filing awkwardly past the front rows of seats containing head coach Thomas Tuchel and his staff, as well as co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali. …”
The Athletic
Guardian – Style, central midfield and strikers: Potter’s key Chelsea issues to tackle
Why Leroy Sane’s late runs into the Inter box were so crucial for Bayern Munich
“On Tuesday evening, an Italian side playing 3-5-2 were defeated by the runs of a speedy attacker — starting deeper and narrower than you’d expect, but going in behind. Kylian Mbappe scored the opener for Paris Saint-Germain against Juventus and got the second goal, too. On Wednesday evening, an Italian side playing 3-5-2 were defeated by the runs of a speedy attacker — starting deeper and narrower than you’d expect, but going in behind. Leroy Sane scored the opener for Bayern Munich against Inter Milan and forced the own goal that was their second. …”
The Athletic – Michael Cox
Champions League: Michael Cox’s tactical guide to this season’s leading contenders
“Judging by the bookmakers’ odds, there are eight sides who stand a decent chance of winning this season’s European Cup. Broadly speaking, they look familiar from last season — few clubs have undergone a dramatic overhaul in terms of their starting XI and only one of these eight clubs appointed a new manager in the summer. If you haven’t watched any of the favourites since last season, here’s the lowdown on their approaches for 2022-23. …”
The Athletic
What the Champions League Is Lacking
“PARIS — There will be stories, of course. There are always stories. The Champions League delivers them so frequently and so reliably that it is impossible to dismiss the nagging suspicion that all of this might just be scripted, the product of some complex simulation being run from a secret lair in Nyon. Robert Lewandowski, clad in the blue and red of Barcelona, will return to Bayern Munich, only a few weeks after forcing his exit. Manchester City’s visit to Borussia Dortmund will see Erling Haaland standing once more before its Yellow Wall, that great force of nature no longer at his back but marshaled in his face. …”
NY Times
The Athletic: Champions League draw analysed – The biggest games, the shocks in store, the toughest groups
Why the through ball is becoming a dying art in European football
“The number of through balls in the UEFA Champions League dropped 50 per cent between the 2018-19 and 2021-22 seasons. In Europe’s top five leagues, the number of through balls dropped on average 30 per cent over the same period. In the Europa League, it dropped 24 per cent. The through ball is not extinct, but it is endangered.Before examining why, we need to define the term. FBref data define a through ball as a: ‘Completed pass sent between the back defenders into open space.’ It is a complex pass to complete, hence the number of through balls is never particularly high and is in fact lower than the goals-per-game total in Europe’s top divisions. …”
The Athletic (Video)
Newcastle and Stepping Stone Players
“Newcastle United want Champions League football. But they are a long way from achieving that with the current squad of players. However, would Champions League quality players want to join Newcastle in their current state? So, how do they make that jump? With Stepping-Stone players. Seb Stafford-Bloor explains what they are, Marco Bevilacqua illustrates.”
YouTube
‘They build an image of the enemy’ – France’s struggles to police football fans
“It might be of little consolation to the Liverpool fans, young and old, who were aggressively kettled, callously tear-gassed, arbitrarily struck with batons, cruelly denied entry to the stadium or viciously mugged on the day of the Champions League final, but there has been almost as much outrage in France over what happened at the Stade de France last weekend as there has been in the UK. Within hours of the game, and with the dust having barely begun to settle on Real Madrid’s 1-0 win, journalists and commentators from across the political spectrum were deploring the stark organisational failures that had led to the dangerous bottlenecks that were allowed to build up before the game and angrily denouncing the French government’s attempts to blame the travelling Liverpool supporters. …”
The Athletic