Today's UEFA CL game was being hyped as "two of the world's best goalkeepers" going against each other. Peter Schmeichel and Rob Green were then introduced. There's just something about "world's best" and "Rob Green" being mentioned in close proximity that made me chuckle.
Was fantastic to see Bayern blow it yesterday and Dortmund took care of business today. Every other team in the Bundesliga has to be pleased to see someone other than Bayern win the league.
No doubt at all. They are at home next week to a mid table team in Mainz. I wouldn't put it past them to hand it back to Bayern.
I think even my son, who’s a diehard Bayern fan, understands that it’s a good thing if they don’t win the league every damned year.
As a Valencia fan, I’m pretty disgusted by the treatment towards Vini Jr today. Disgusted by the treatment from the entire referee and VAR crew, disgusted by the Valencia players, and disgusted by the Valencia fans who engaged in racist behavior towards Vini Jr. A fan said something to him, he pointed out the person in the Curva Nord (supporters section) and what happened? Nothing, except that it then sounded like the entire section started a chant of “Mono! Mono!” (Monkey! Monkey!). I didn’t even mention the dozens of things thrown at Vini Jr during this time. Pathetic behavior. I didn’t even get into how he was run down and bear hugged by the Valencia goalkeeper, who is 6’6” (picking on Vini, who is 5’9”), and then put into a chokehold by another Valencia player for probably 10 seconds (literally) and when he broke free and turned around his arm happened to go across the dude’s face who was choking him, and of course he goes down like JFK at Dealey Plaza. Guess who got a red card out of all that…. Vini Jr. The win means nothing, because now we will stay up and there is zero chance Peter Lim sells the team, so it’ll just be the same pathetic shit next year, yet another relegation battle. Vini Jr got totally fvcked today, I feel for him. Such a great player doesn’t deserve the shit he constantly has to put up with.
Luton Town win the Championship playoffs on penalty kicks. Sky Sports just said they are the first team to go from top division to non-league, back to the top. 31 year round trip. Luton Town has a 10,000 stadium ... smaller than Bournemouth. Will make more $ next year than in the last 17 years combined. Football. Bloody Hell.
Valencia got a point today, meaning that while they aren’t technically safe from relegation, it would take a 2018 USA WCQing debacle of results to send them down. Honestly, I’m kinda bummed. Relegation seems to be the only potential way to get Peter Lim to sell the club. I would accept relegation if it meant he would sell the club, that is how bad the situation is. Oh well, another year of misery in 2023-2024.
I had the opportunity yesterday afternoon, while recovering from Saturday's Taylor Swift concert, to catch up on some Benfica TV coverage of the final round of the Liga Bwin season. Benfica won their first league title in 5 years, with a 3-0 win over Santa Clara in the final round of the season, finishing 2 points ahead of Porto. It's Benfica's 38th league title. Most in Portugal. It was an amazing season for Benfica. It all started with Roger Schmidt's arrival. In his first interview, when asked why he's at Benfica, he stated, "It's simple. If you love football, you love Benfica." The statement sort of became a centerpiece for the club, fans and most the players throughout the season. It showed up on scarves, it's on signs and tifo at the Stadium. It's incredible. Schmidt said it again post match. When his son was interviewed post match he said that Schmidt told him he has no plans to leave Benfica until they add a 4th gold star above the crest. I freakin love the guy. Late in the second half BTV commentators mentioned nearly all the players who will receive a Champions medal for having started the season with the club, or played a few minutes for the club this season. They included in the list Julian Weigl, Roman Yaremchuk, Diogo Goncalves, and one John Anthony Brooks. As they went through the list conspicuously absent from the mentions was a certain Argentine midfielder who went to Chelsea to win trophies ended the season a mere 27 points away from Champions League football next season. It'll be interesting to see what happens this summer. Benfica is likely to lose more players. Striker Goncalo Ramos or CB Antonio Silva will likely draw the biggest bids. LB Antonio Grimaldo has already signed on a free for Bayer Leverkuesen. But there will be reinforcements coming through Benfica's academy, there always are. It's been such a joyful season to be Benfica supporter after a few tumultuous seasons including the arrest of the club President and a coaching carousel. There is now a measure of stability, even with the knowledge that we will see roster turnover, that's the nature of modern football. But Roger Schmidt, club President Rui Costa, and near every player who put on the shirt this season restored the pride of the club. I'm excited as can be for what comes next.
Missed the match for a work event. But I talked soft serve ice cream stands of the Hudson Valley with a former editor of Esquire, over Vodka Sodas. And his favorite is the same as mine, less than a half mile from my house. I’m coping.
Roma has reached two European finals in two years with Mourinho, winning one. Anyone with even a most simple understanding of Roma's history, and recent battles with FFP knows what an accomplishment this. It's stinks not to win, and given the constraints on Roma it will likely lead to Mourinho's departure, but it's been a good ride.
Just thought I'd add a couple of photos from European games Mrs KG and I recently attended. That's Pepi playing for Groningen vs Room's old team Vitesse. This is Vitesse's South End (and that sure looks like a Crew banner of some kind). And, of course, representing.... Vitesse won 6-0 after a late first half red card (deserved).
Now for the Gladbach pix. Gladbach beat Augsburg 2-0--and the game also had a DOGSO red, that came after a PK call was determined to be outside the box. The first two are on the site of the old stadium, which I went to in 1978. It's now a housing development and park. We were close to the Augsburg section (and no, those fireworks are *not* legal) Four minutes in... Doop! We had good seats.
If anyone wants a Peacock code... Summerofpeacock for the commercial version of Peacock. It's $20 for a year and the commercial-free version can be upgraded to. This code expires Monday.