Rooting for Bayer 04 but something in me thinks Atalanta will win it, perhaps with a very late winner. One of those “you live by the sword, you die by the sword” moments in Leverkusen’s case. No way they lose the DFB Pokal this weekend.
dang. i guess i picked the wrong day to watch only my second or third Neverloosen game. if Xavi put in a performance like this, his own fans would be calling him an incompetent moron.
One. Team. League. Once they foist useless, worthless do-nothing Jack Grealish on some other stoopid EPL side, they'll be even stronger. And yes, Pep should return to Barça. That is, once he finally tires of giving his footballing inferiors five to the eye in the EPL.
Meh. Kompany has managed Anderlecht for 2 years, and then Burnley for 2 years. Xavi managed some team in Qatar for 2 years, then came back to Barça. Kompany has Craig Bellamy as his lead assistant. Xavi has his brother. Now? Laporta and dumbass Deco want to hire a guy whose chief accomplishment was to get fired by the German FA, a feat that has never been done before. That is, until it was accomplished by Flick. I dont know that Culers have much room to laugh and point at Bayern, TBH. I mean, many of us are hoping that Barça will retain an incompetent manager, so as to save cash, and to enter the manager market next season.
Atalanta is one of the hottest teams in Europe, tbf. They won their last 5 Serie A matches to catch Roma from way back, while blowing away Liverpool and Marseille in the previous 2 rounds of the Europa League. They'll be favored now to finish ahead of Juventus and grab 3rd place in Serie A.
Yup, Serie A are having a fine season on the Continent. Just a vast gulf between what they've been able to do, and what La Liga/EPL haven't been able to do, overall. I'm just surprised that, in a moment of historic opportunity, Leverkusen were unable to answer the call. I doubt that any of those players or coaches will have another chance to finish a season undefeated ever again.
Will Serie A have SIX teams in the Champions League next season? I really can't stand what the tournament has become. I understand why UEFA made these changes over the years but I sure as hell don't like it. I miss the original European Cup format, as well as the UEFA Cup and (R.I.P..) Cup Winners' Cup..
The original EC is actually the true Champion League because it contained only champions. That said, the current Champion league is the best format. The next year is not my liking.
I would say, let's see how it plays out. A bit difficult to predict how interesting the league stage will be relative to the current group stage. Let's be honest though, that bar is not too high. The current format was maybe a little too exciting for Barca in 2021 and 2022 but overall there weren't many matches to get excited about until the KO stage. One thing I like about the new format is that (in theory) there is no advantage for teams in pot 1 over teams in pot 4. Everyone plays two matches against teams from each poy, so no protection for the top teams and the newbie teams don't automatically get screwed before a ball is even kicked. Even after the draw is made, every team will have a legit chance to reach the KO stage. Not sure. Last time a EL winner had already qualified for the CL based on their domestic league ranking was when Sevilla won the EL in 2020 and Spain were not given an extra CL spot. But yeah.... the new format maybe changed that practice.
According to wikipedia "Benfica will enter the league phase – instead of Roma – if Atalanta finish the 2023–24 Serie A in third or fourth place. If they finish 5th, it will be Roma". Don't understand the logic in that, but chances are Atalanta will finish higher than 5th so it will probably go to Benfica (and Roma to the Europa).
City season has been similar to Barcelona 2018-2019 season. Could have been treble season but ended up winning only the league title. Both losing the domestic cup in final.
Thank fvkcing God Laporta, Deco, and the rest of those morons didn't wait a fvkcing year, but got HansibFvkcing Flick now.
Although I may not agree with the Flick move, I don't think the club should plan based on a "what if". Pep could end up renewing. He could also want to take a year or two break. Or, not come back at all. Actually, maybe they have already had that conversation.
Or, again, if they'd waited a season, maybe Arteta becomes available. Or maybe Lucho becomes available. Or emery. Or any number of managers that are just better than Flick or Xavi. Or maybe, Xavi figures out that its a bad idea to trust Cancelo to protect a lead vs P$G or LPB? Is what Xavi said THAT offensive, really? Or how about this: If Laporta gets his jollies off hiring a German, if he waited a year, maybe some schmuck named Jurgen Klopp is available? (Hes not working NOW...) So many better options than what they chose. See, I cannot abide them RUSHING to hire a substandard Flick, because their weak and tender feelings got hurt. I dont care to give those imbeciles the benefit of the doubt, because they've bungled their way through their jobs so far. They've got no vision, and no logic behind what they do.