First team eliminated from CL: RB Leipzig. Despite a beauty of a goal they scored tonight (the 2nd one) Would not have been my first guess.
A win pulled them well into the playoffs. A loss would have dropped them out of the playoffs, but so would a draw. I also did not want Atalanta pulling ahead of Barça. Moot point, now. Barça have 3 tougher fixtures to finish up the 1st round of the UCL, while LPB now have two more winnable matches.
The wheels have really come off Sporting Portugal. Deservedly lost to Club Brugge in Belgium. You're over thinking it, mate. Having Madrid on the wrong end of an ass whooping is always the best outcome.
BTW, keep an eye out for Leverkusen. Dominated Inter Milan tonight and have a foot and 4 toes in the round of 16/top 8. They were never gonna go undefeated for another season but they have only lost twice in their first 23 matches this season, and knocked out Bayern from the Cup in Munich.
A draw for LPB would have left them exactly at 24th in the UCL table, whereas a loss would have left them 25th or 26th in the table. Had Atalanta won, they would have 14 points, and be ahead of Barça, which would have added more pressure to today's match vs Dortmund. A draw would have had them level on points with Barça/behind on GD. Yeah, I always want to see LPB suffer, but I still think a draw would have benefitted Barça more, while fvckering LPB. Meanwhile, Atleti, after having shat their pants initially in UCL, look to be even on points with Barça after their match today. Barça need a win vs Dortmund today to make their place in the top 8 more secure, and make future fixtures less stressful.
Yeah, I'm not too worried where Atalanta is in the table. If Barca hit 16 points they will be in the top 8. I was just hoping LPB would have to go into Matchday 8 still needing a result in France, but realistically that required them losing last night (since they have an easy 3 points in MD 7).
Helmond Cup update: Will provide the details later but just coming in to say that Real Madrid has this Cup now for the first time ever.
Its a real mystery. The squad is a bit long in the tooth and lacks depth, but 5 points from the last 10 matches for a Pep-managed team is still crazy! I think @Khan jinxed them when he claimed the EPL is/was a 1-team league.
Close race for 2nd-place in the UEFA coefficients this season. Spain made up some ground this week so far. Just need Betis to wake up in the Conference league. Reminder that the top 2 get an extra CL spot for next season. Extra points will be given for teams that finish in the top 8 of the CL, EL and Conf League: England 12.5 Italy 10.8 Portugal 10.7 Spain 10.6 Germany 10.1
I'm stunned at this; Rodri's value is clear, and that squad has aged rapidly this season. I'm surprised that Pep couldn't find solutions sooner, be it a double pivot, or some other solve.
Bodo/Glimt of Norway effectively clinched a spot in the playoffs of the Europa League, ensuring they will play through the winter break above the Arctic circle. Their match against Besiktas last night kicked off more than 8 hours after sunset.
If I was a Madrid fan I'd be pretty annoyed that they rested Vinny Jr just for (I assume) the mickey mouse Toyota cup. Especially with so many players missing due to injury. Now they are 3rd place.
Is that what they really did ? I thought he was still not really 100%. Well done Rayo. Looking at the highlights Madrid had a couple of good chances to get the 4th but the keeper made a great save.
I'm not celebrating LPB having shat their pants at Rayo, because Barça have shat their pants plenty this season. I won't speak into existence what place Barça could end up in, if they fvkc up royally in their games prior to the break. Get a win today, and a win v Atleti, and then I'll feel better. For a neutral, though, La Liga is getting interesting.
Atleti haven't lost a game since 27 October, a run of 11 games across all competitions. They're on spectacular form, whereas both Barça and LPB have taken turns filling up their pants with fecal matter.
Barca Femini playing Man CIty in the CL tonight, trying to avenge their only loss of the season thus far. Barca F need to win by 2 goals to win that CL group and currently lead by a goal at halftime (controlling much of the match)
With the benefit of hindsight, its now safe to say that Ancelotti made CWC a bigger priority than the La Liga match v Rayo. In the last 8 days, Vinny Jr. played 90 minutes v Atalanta, started on the bench at Rayo, and another 90 minutes v Pachuca. And overall, the starting XI against Pachuca seemed closer to their first choice XI. Anyway, am glad he did.
Yeah, so the Conference league playoff round draw happens tomorrow. Main interest for me is that it would give us a better sense of how the similar CL draw would work a few weeks from now. Spain's representative, Real Betis, only finished 15th so they could face (by far) the best team in this competition, Chelsea, in the round of 16. 50% chance of the draw going that way, if I understand correctly. Betis would have probably had a much easier path if they just had a better goal difference. Also, I don't think there are any restrictions in the playoff. For e.g. Betis could draw Copenhagen (50% chance), who they played in the league phase. And APOEL could play Omonoia (both from Cyprus)