Yeah, I cant agree with you here. Great players? Absolutely. While I won't speak ill of the dead, I cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that Beckenbauer was probably a fraudster while working for the German FA. And further, him being involved in FIFA at a time when tournaments were bought and sold, I don't think we can forget him enabling Putin to "sportswash" his image. Nor can we forget that Beckenbauer's actions (in part) enabled the deaths of the slave laborers who built the Russian and Qatari tournament venues. "Great man?" Fvkc no. "Great player?" Fvkc yeah, with a bullet.
Just tuned into Madrid derby for Supercup and Atletico went up 3 x 2 late in the 2nd half but in typical Atletico Cup fashion vs Madrid, they give up the draw within the last 5 mins.
Saudi crowd keeps booing every time Kroos touches the ball for some reason. I imagine he made some comment about Saudi Arabia.
I keep forgetting they still send these games to extra time instead of straight to PKs. Waste of energy really.
back in the summer he was very critical of young and mid-career players moving to the Saudi League saying: "In the end it's a decision for the money - and against football"
So ... there were jeers from the stands yesterday in the Madrid x Atletico game when they were doing a moment of silence for Beckenbauer's passing. Is that something that is offensive to Muslims ? I don't think it was directed at Beckenbauer. Just a bit bizarre.
apparently it had nothing to do with Beckenbauer. Wael Jabir, a Middle East football columnist: "A minute's silence is seen in the more conservative interpretation of Islam prevalent in Saudi as a 'Bida'h', something that the prophet Muhammad never did so they should not be doing…In practice, what that means is that Saudis never observe minutes of silence for any incidents, even the death of their own king or fellow citizens." the organizers should have known this and come up with a different way to pay their respects.
Helmond Cup update: Winter break is finished in Germany Result: 20 Dec (Bundesliga) Bayer Leverkusen 4 VfL Bochum 0 13 Jan (Bundesliga) Augsburg 0 Bayer Leverkusen 1 Next fixture: Sat., 20 Jan (Bundesliga) RB Leipzig v Bayer Leverkusen Forthcoming: Bayer Leverkusen v Borussia M'gladbach (Bundesliga) [VfB Stuttgart v RB Leipzig (Bundesliga)]
Atletico coughing up a lead at the end vs Madrid again. Such a tradition. How do they leave Joselu completely open at the far post ?
Griezmann 3 x 2 Simeone should only really celebrate after the whistle is blown if he has learned anything from the past.
Tchouameni completely turned it off on that 3rd goal. Just sat there and stared as Griezmann was beating Vini. Shocking stuff.
This is a further relief, TBH. The road to the CDR continues, and the objectives for this season remains the same: 1. Win CDR, 2. Secure top 4 in La Liga, 3. Advance as far as possible in UCL.
The CDR got a bit tougher today. Barca drew Atletic in Bilbao. Moreover, the other favorites, Atleti and Girona, received easier draws so they will both likely be in the semis.
Agreed, I was just about to post the same. Having to face Bilbao is one challenge, but having to travel to San Mames is another level higher still. Valverde will be ambitioned to be Barça, so here's hoping Xavi can come up with something to counter him. Hopefully Ter Stegen and Cancelo will be available for selection, because this match kinda IS the season.
Not sure I'd go that far. AFAIK, Atletico only needs to match Barca's CL results this season to qualify for the 2025 Club World Cup instead of Barca and get the minimum €50 million that comes with that (and upto $100 million depending on results in that tournament). Also, next season's CL is expanded so I am guessing the prize money will be even higher (?).. So, qualifying for that is a must too (and despite its expansion it doesn't look like the 5th-place La Liga team will qualify because of poor European results for Spanish clubs this season). IOW, a good second half of this season in both La Liga and CL would be worth €100 to 200 million extra revenue for next season, which puts CdR as priority #3 IMO., and a super distant #3 at that.
€50m just to participate in the CWC ? Is this correct ? That's good money for European clubs but it's massive money for teams in other confederations like CONMEBOL for example. My team will participate in it. Our yearly revenue is just nearing €200m . So €50 is quite a bit of money.