A balompie ride to the top - João Lucas de Souza Cardoso (Johnny) at Real Betis

Talk about under cover, nobody did a play by play of a. huge game for Betis. Probably Johnny's biggest game ever. And they won. Woohoo!!!

 

We were all doing our part not to jinx him.

 

Are you telling us that @Casper is invisible?

 

Well, someone had better damned well organize one for the final because playing Chelsea in any competition is a big game for Betis or anyone else but in a UEFA final . . . If this isn't the biggest game in the history of Real Betis, it's probably their most important in the last 50 years.

The truth is, with 50k+ members, Betis and not Atletico Madrid are the 3rd-biggest club in Spain but decades of poor management have left them a yo-yo side, relegated 6 times in the last 50 years, unusually light on trophies (a single pre-war La Liga title and 3 Copa del Reys) and permanently second-fiddle to Sevilla in the city. Their motto isn't ¡Viva el Betis manque pierda! (Long live Betis even if they lose!) for nothing.

Champagne and caviar the the Conference League isn't, but it's a trophy that also guarantees a place in the EL. The bragging rights over their neighbours for the first time this century is nice too but more importantly, winning or reaching a Euro final sets standards and lifts horizons. Arne Slot's Feyenoord reached the inaugural final and then won their first Eredivisie title in a decade the following season while winners Roma reached the EL final. Vincenzo Italiano credited Fiorentina's two finals with helping the club "to stop being anonymous, to be respected and to have an identity”.

Diego Simeone, famously, led Atletico to the EL title in his first season, followed by a UEFA Super Cup and a Copa del Rey the next season with a league title and a CL final the season after - all on a budget only a fifth or Real or Barca's. Pair a win in the final with CL qualification and Betis will carry some real weight in this summer's transfer market. Recruit well and we could see the emergence of a CL regular and maybe even a title challenger.

 

Tab Ramos played for Betis and I think he still has an affiliation. For you youngsters, Tab Ramos was one of the best midfielders ever for the USA.

 

He's around and posting today. I guess he's just ghosting us

 

These posts of yours with historical context are always appreciated deeply (by myself, anyway, but I'm sure many others as well). You may become this generation's @sidefootsitter, who left us--and all their knowledge of 50s-80s Soviet-bloc soccer--some years ago now.

 

I am unsurprised that you recall @sidefootsitter. Some "aww, shucks" with the comparison was expected.

 

He was a damned good poster. Much missed

 

He was also a frost-class troll.

 

He (she, they?) had no trouble pontificating on matches he hadn't watched.

 

This is BigSoccer. What else is new??

 

apparentlyI missed a lot because I had him on ignore.

 

Our most recent similar loss was Suyuntuy, who abruptly dropped off in October - I'm not sure why. 66,000+ posts, then gone (without a farewell).

 

Yeah, I noticed that to with Suyuntuy. Wonder what happened to him? (and his 8 monitors hooked to his UNiX workstation and the ever-sunny disposition).

 

He told it like it is and watched all the games. Wish him well.

 

Missed is such a strong word. I do think absence maketh the heart grow fonder. Well, except for Jürgen Klinsmann.

 

He went back to graduate school to conduct cutting edge research on being a smug humorless know-it-alll.

 

That’s great news. He’s sure to return to BS when he has to do field studies.

 

No, even including Klinsmann. As Attila the Hun said in his book* "every Hun has his uses. Even if it's only to set a bad example."


*The Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun
https://pdfcoffee.com/leadership-secrets-of-attila-the-hun-wess-robertspdf-pdf-free.html

 

Johnny starts! Betis visiting Atlético Madrid.

 

Hate to say it but with the age that I think most of us are he could have had something bad happen and we wouldn't know. We're a bunch of arguing knuckleheads but y'all are the best group of arguing knuckleheads I know and I hope we all hang on for a while.

 

I miss the tracker of how many Americans cause teams to get relegated each year.

 

After 2 draws on the trot against much inferior sides, the loss against Atletico confirms that Betis will miss out on CL ball next season and Villareal will take that spot.

The good news is that since Celta Vigo can't catch them, they're guaranteed to finish 6th and qualify for the EL group stage directly. The Conference League final is therefore a matter of prestige, as it will be for Chelsea who have also qualified for the EL at least and may yet secure a CL place on the final day.