Madridistas All Over Copa And Euros Collide While Colombians Dominate - The Other Teams Thread

I'm not sure how you go from "32 team WC is great" to "will only start watching from the quarterfinals"? I get that in 2026 only a small percentage of group stage matches are worth watching, and that's a real shame, but things should be super interesting starting on the very first day of the knockout stage.

 

And of course the ref never got a chance to watch the replay in real speed. First thing he sees is a frozen shot of Wirtz' shirt being pulled. Then a couple of slo-mo relpays that stop too soon (before the flagrant dive by Wirtz).

This aspect of VAR really bothers me. I am also thinking that the play probably never gets looked at twice if Wirtz doesn't throw himself to the ground like there are 80k snipers in the stadium.

 

There are a few than that. Excluding Senegal v France is being disingenuous. Heck, even Colombia has likely 2 intriguing matches (aren't you Colombian? ).

But yeah, out of the 72 group stage matches, I'd struggle to list more than 16-18. That's still pretty bad when it was easily more than 50% in the 32-team format.

 

I am going to whine again on this new format. None of those matches are actually important. And they are all the cash cows for UEFA. Even, the mega match between Manchester City and Real Madrid tonight feel like a preseason match.

 

It will most likely be Colombia x Congo. Good match for sure.

 

I'll check the PBP threads in the Forum of the losing team tomorrow and see if it gives off preseason vibes.

 

Advancing eight third-place teams to the next round would likely diminish the significance of key group-stage matches. The France-Norway, Colombia-Portugal, Spain-Uruguay etc are played on the last match day. By that time, all those teams must have qualified for the next stage.


For instance, Colombia and Portugal share a group with two weaker teams. Both are unlikely to drop points early, virtually guaranteeing their advancement and eliminating any "must-win" pressure by the final matchday. They only need to finish ahead of one of the two minnows.

In another group, Spain and Uruguay face Saudi Arabia and Cape Verde, making them strong favorites to avoid the bottom. The Saudis might steal point, but Cape Verde is there for the ride. Finally, while Senegal could challenge Norway or France, the fourth team in that group would be either Iraqi, Suriname or Bolivia. I doubt that either Norway or France was in a must-win position by the time of Match 3.

 

The PBP threads will be full of complaining from fans, but it's all noise we forget in a day or two. How many of us lose any real sleep over the Liverpool result after the first 24 hours? For me, it was 5 minutes. I took one look at the UCL standing, and realised that the result changed little.

Edited: I will complain today on every moves by Real Madrid and Xabi Alonso for sure.

 

He was benched for 3 fvcking games, bro was acting like he was out from the squad for 3 weeks and was not allowed to train. I'm not defending him but Slot needed to find a solution, nothing is working for him so he went for the guy who puts the least effort on the pitch.

I really want to know what was going through Salah's mind when he decided to go public with his manifesto. What did he think would happen?

 

Exactly, ten hag had ronaldo on the bench for like a half season after game 2 lol, salah played nearly ever game this year and being honest he has been rubbish since march, he fell form fell of cliff the second half of last season.

 

Have you ever seen Henry or Ronaldo or any top player get benched for 3 games? I dont even like Salah. There's no logic to benching him besides the one I delineated.
When your top player isn't playing well. You keep him on and hope things improve. You dont bench AND not put him on when chasing goals.

 

Henry was benched a lot in 2009-10, but didn't create public drama.

🚨🗣️𝗡𝗘𝗪: Thierry Henry on Mohamed Salah's comments: "I had problems with Wenger, with Guardiola… Have you ever heard me talk about it publicly? NEVER. I protected the club."

"When you play for a club, you must protect it at all costs. No matter what’s happening internally,… pic.twitter.com/MlR2c0etd5

— The Touchline | 𝐓 (@TouchlineX) December 9, 2025

 

Henry was injured and washed way before that. He was not coming off a record-breaking season, but playing in a team with a guy called Messi

 

Since you asked nicely, structure is coordinated press, clear spacing. repeatable buildup patterns
defined rest defense. Slogans are “show character”, “be disciplined”, “run harder”

Right now the press is disjointed, front line jumps, midfield hesitates n back line stays flat. That’s how you get those huge holes between lines where one vertical pass takes out three players. I feel that’s a failed pressing trigger setup rather than plqayer attitude.

So it's better to not turn football into a one man blame pillow every time the structure falls apart.

 

Henry was great in 2008-09 season. 26 goals and 10 assists in treble winning season. He wasn't mediocre in 2nd half of that season unlike 2024-25 Salah.

Playing with Messi doesn't reduce contribution of Henry and Eto'o that season. Pool actually are missing underrated Diaz who carried them when Salah's form dipped last season.

Difference is Henry handled being washed in 2009-10 with class unlike Salah. He's not good enough for any top European team right now and Saudi bound most likely.

 

My issue with that thought process is - we've had games (mostly earlier in the season) where our pressing was on point. As the season went along we'd have pressing lapses where the team switches off, players ditching their tactical roles etc and we'd throw all the instructions out the window once we concede a goal and revert to our old ways.

So for me its not strange that the more tactical concessions Xabi gave the players the more disjointed we looked. Its not strange that Carlo has always opted for the low block instead of a pressing system. Players would rather play in a less physically intensive system and so it was an easier sell.

Thats why I agree the blame is shared (between Xabi and Players). I'm dissappointed in Vini because as much as we try and sweep his Barca blow up under the rug. It was selfish - we were winning. If we were chasing the game I'd understand but taking out a player to put in fresh legs and closing the game out is not a personal attack. Plus off the top of my head I can't recall a worse Player/Coach on field clash since Guti and Pellegrini.

 

Erling Haaland: “I’m a football fan, so I watch all kinds. We were eating dinner and I checked if there were any games. Man United, West Ham’s on, let’s put it on. My missus said, ‘I'm so sick of football. We watch it all the time’. I’m like, ‘Yeah, that’s the reason we’re…

— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) December 10, 2025

Best striker in the world and a genuinely cool character as well. Hopefully Rudiger gives him another bad experience tonight.

 

🚨🚨🌖| BREAKING: Manchester United have formally put forward an offer to bring Sergio Ramos to Old Trafford in the January window. [@La_SER via @goal] pic.twitter.com/QpOlL4izk2

— centredevils. (@centredevils) December 10, 2025

Can we just ********ing call him

 

All big 3 Spanish sides could get direct R16 qualification.

 

🚨🎖| 𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆: Ronald Araujo has flown to Tel Aviv, Israel on a religious and cultural trip. He’s seeking a spiritual reset to regain strength and return even stronger. [@monfortcarlos] #fcblive ✈️ pic.twitter.com/OrJlD6yHRE

— BarçaTimes (@BarcaTimes) December 9, 2025