The World Cup underway

The Club World Cup is well underway in the USA. I have not been able to follow sufficiently, just seeing highlights, and watched the 1-1 between Real Madrid and Al Hilal and last night’s surprising and happy 2-1 victory of Inter Miami over FC Porto, with a victory goal by Lionel Messi on one of his signature free-kick goals. 

The idea of a Club World Cup is good; club football is much better than the national team football that suffers from excessive nationalism, while seeing how clubs across continents do against one another at the highest level has been something we have been waiting for, and which has been refreshing. Besides Bayern Munich’s 10-0 thrashing of Auckland, the level has been quite high and European sides have not been able to dominate as expected, and last night Europe’s best side, Paris St. Germain, lost 0-1 to Brazil’s Botafogo in yet another upset for European arrogance. 

All this said, the tournament also has problems: the opaque qualification process and playing times to fit TV viewing, but not the health of the players, who are playing in excessively hot weather (also, coming at the end of the season for many teams, the players arrive tired at the tournament). Also, we see the tournament take place in a non-footballing country where stadiums have been only half-full for many matches, and only many of the Latin American fans create anything that feel like a passionate atmosphere.

All this said the tournament appears here to stay, and I hope that FIFA will think about this tournament not only as a money machine, but also as a new scenario to get the best clubs to face one another. 

I hope.

Portugal`s second Nations League title

The UEFA Nations League started as a boring tournament to replace the many friendly matches in the national team calendars, and it has grown to become a tournament that teams look forward to winning, so it was with expectations that Spain and Portugal faced one another in the fourth final of the tournament.

Spain were favourites and dominated the first half of the first half. Real Sociedad's Martin Zubimendi brought the Spaniards ahead expectedly after 20 minutes, but only five minutes later the outstanding PSG player Nuno Mendes equalised for the Portuguese on a great play. 

But another real Sociedad player, Mikel Oyarzabal, brought Spain ahead yet again. 

40-year old Cristiano Ronaldo may not have the physical strength he once had, but he remains a marvelous footballer, and in his 221st national team appearance he scored his 138th goal when he deservedly equalised for Portugal in the second half. 

Shortly after Ronaldo had to leave the pitch though, much against his will, having to watch a strong Portugal side put pressure on the Spaniards. 

2-2, and after extra time the match had to go into a penalty shootout that Cristiano Ronaldo could hardly watch, but it was the veteran striker Alvaro Morata whose penalty was saved by Diogo Costa, giving Ronaldo and Portugal their second Nation League title. UEFA Nations League may not be the most prestigious tournament, but it was certainly an exciting final worth watching.

PSG Champions

The Champions League title has eluded Paris St. Germain for a long time, but now that it finally came it certainly came with style. 5-0 is the greatest difference in a European final ever, and it was not too little as the Parisians were far superior to the disappointing Milanese.

Perhaps it was as expected that Inter came out with a defensive attitude, but this was clearly not working as a highly motivated Parisian side tore apart a shaky defense after 12 minutes with the Moroccan Achraf Hakimi scoring the opening goal after 12 minutes against his former club, and the young Desire Doue scoring a second for PSG after 20 minutes. Inter really had no response, and in the second half one would have expected them to move forward but a far more intelligent PSG side again went a ahead 3-0 on a brilliant counter-attack where Doue scored his second at the greatest stage.

After this is was really over. PSG were clearly enjoying the match while Inter clearly just wanted the match to end. Kvisha Kvaratshkelia made it 4-0 and Senny Mayulu made it 5-0.

Despite it all it is worth congratulating Inter's players who took the heavy defeat with dignity, while for PSG it was particularly fantastic to see Luis Enrique lift the trophy. 

It is in place to congratulate PSG fans, although at the same time it is a shame that the celebrations in the French capital turned violent, when all most fans really want to celebrate is the great victory of a great football team.

Grandisimo Napoli

Today Napoli did not disappoint when they had it everything in their own hands to take the Serie A title at home. The Neapolitans defeated Cagliari 2-0, firstly on a splendid half-bycicle kick by Scott McTominay at a moment when Napoli had started to feel that the Cagliari, and in the second half Romelu Lukaku made it 2-0 on a typical "a-devil-in-him" goal.

Grande Napoli! My favourite Italian side! And Maradona is celebrating as well!

Crappy final

This year's Europe League final was a bore between two teams who have been playing so badly this year that had it not been for their historical names, the final would have not been watched by anyone. The final was crowned by one goal that was so full of mistakes and coincidences that had it been a Sunday-match in the park, it would have been transmitted again and again on TikTok as a ridiculous play.

Yet, it was Tottenham's only "shot" "on target" the entire match, and enough to make them the most boring champions in world football ever, I dare say. 

Ange Postocoglu's Tottenham has finally proven that you do not need to try to score to win a tournament.

It was Tottenham's first title in 40 years (it appears that this year will be remembered as the-year-those -who-never-won-finally-win: like Crystal Palace and Harry Kane...), which is a sad irony considering the much better Tottenham sides in those 40 years.

Congratulations to their fans. 

What a shame for the rest of us.

The football Pope

When Jorge Bergoglio had just become Pope Francis I in 2013 I was at a diplomatic reception in Monrovia, Liberia, and came across a young Argentine priest who worked at the Holy See’s representation in Monrovia. He confirmed he knew the Pope, and we then proceeded to discuss football, focusing on the coming 2014 World Cup. Confessing my own support for Argentina, we were interrupted by a Frenchman who overheard our conversation: “Of course, France also has a great team that could win”.

“Excomulgated”. The Argentine priest replied in good humour. 

It was the same good-natured approach of his Argentine boss, who after having passed away, has been given many tributes by the football community. 

Because Pope Francis may have been the popular leader of the Catholic Church, one of the most important religions in the world, but he was certainly also a follower of the quasi-religion of football. It might have been obvious given that Pope Francis was born in Argentina, and grew up in a society where the religion of football means a lot in every layer of society. 

The Pope was a fan of the club from the neighbourhood of Almagro, in Buenos Aires, San Lorenzo, a club that has incidentally been founded by a Priest. When the club miraculously won the Copa Libertadores in 2014, a year after he had become Pope, the club went to the Vatican to give the Pope a copy of the trophy, in gratitude for the Pope’s near-divine support. 

And the Pople met many footballers who have also paid tribute to him, just as the fans of many teams, including those of Olympique Marseille: 

 

The mighty Crystal Palace

The oldest existing football tournament in the world, the FA Cup, is great because it is still a tournament where anything can happen, and this year another great surprise happened when underestimated Crystal Palace defeated mighty Manchester City 1-0 on a lone goal by the English striker Eberechi Eze, and a brave and fair fight by the entire team and a fantastic goalkeeper in Dean Henderson, who even saved a penalty.

Crystal Palace was founded 120 years ago, and the club had never won an important title. It was their third FA Cup final, and when the referee ended the match after scandalous and nerve-wrecking 10 minutes of added time, the fans, unused to winning, erupted in delight and tears of joy.

The victory is so much sweeter as it was against a Manchester City side who, since they became of the top sides in the world, have lost every sense of humility and dignity, something that is a pity for club that only in 2012 won a spectacular league, and entered a new phase after so many years as a secondary team. Today, Manchester City appears entitled, and nothing symbolized it more than Pep Gurdiola's refusal to shake hands with Crystal Palace's goalkeeper after the match. 

At these moments one loves football and wish Crystal Palace fans days of fantastic celebrations!

Barca champion!!!

I am so, so happy, that FC Barcelona has won the Spanish championship! 

Because if they had not we would have had to listen to a bunch of entitled millionaires bitch about how unfair life is and how unjust the system treats them.

Frankly enough, just not listening to that shit, makes me support them!

New Managers in Real Madrid and Brazil

It was a change foretold: Xabi Alonso, the former Real Sociedad, Liverpool and Real Madrid successful manager of Bayer Leverkusen was going to manage Real Madrid one day. After Carlo Ancelotti's meager season that appears to end with no titles, Xabi Alonso will now try to bring the unlikely success he brought to Leverkusen (giving them their first Bundesliga title ever), to Real Madrid.

Despite the poor season Carlo Ancelotti leaves Madrid with three Champions League titles in his two stints as Real Madrid manager, as well as two league titles, a Copa del Rey and a Club World Cup title since his second stint started in 2021. 

While Ancelotti is surely one of the most successful managers in the world, he is taking on a huge challenge, perhaps the biggest in world football: he will be the new manager of Brazil!And the first non-Brazilian ever to manage Brazil, so all eyes will be on him as Brazil tries to get up again from Dorival Junior's disastrous stint and humiliating defeat to Argentina in the World Cup qualifiers. 

All eyes will surely be on Ancelotti, much more than on Xabi Alonso!

Happy Day to all Mothers

Silvija Greko’s son Nickollas became a Palmeiras fan after meeting Neymar, who had been a Palmeiras fan as a child. When Nickollas was five years old, Silvija took him to Palmeiras' stadium to his first match, although Nickollas was born blind. Initially, she gave him a radio to listen to the matches, but Nickollas wanted to listen to the atmosphere and sounds of the Allianz Parque stadium in Sao Paulo, home of Palmeiras.
Today, Sivija narrates every detail of the match to her son, a fan who lives the marvel of football through the words of his mother.

The sad world of sore losers

The saddest thing about football today is that there are players and managers like those from FC Barcelona (as well as all those privileged rich boys from all other great clubs). Because they do not appreciate the playful and irrelevant beauty of football.

Yesterday football fans were gifted with a fantastic semifinal match in the Champions League between Inter Milan and FC Barcelona. 4-3 after extra time, a match full of drama, tactical finesse, technique, great goals, great saves, mistakes and controversy. All the ingredients that have made football great over so many years. A home side going ahead 2-0, then FC Barcelona leading 2-3 and some fantastic saves by an incredible veteran Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer that kept the Italians in the match, and then a dramatic last minute equalizer and a victory goal by Davide Fratessi and dramatic last-ditch attacks by Barcelona.

The match could have gone to either side because both sides were great: if Yann Sommer had not made two fantastic saves against Lamine Yamal, it would have ended differently. If Gerard Martin had not fumbled in defense against Francesco Acerbi, Inter would never have equalised in the last second. If Dani Olmo had not lost the ball, Lautaro Martinez would never have scored the opening goal. If Robert Lewandowski had not missed an open header in the dying minutes of extra time, the match would have gone into penalty kicks.

So much could have happened. 

That is football.

Yet, Barcelona's players, manager and leadership are a bunch of sore losers entitled millionaires who have never faced a real challenge in life. Instead of recognising a great match, they just blame the referee. Believe me, if they had won, we would not have heard a word... But they are small people in a world where too many people never takes responsibility, never face defeat with dignity and recognition of others' efforts....

Sad sad sad, and although I would have been very happy to see Barcelona in the final, because they are a great side, I can only be delighted not to see them there when they behave like that.

I have no expectations that an Inter Milan side are any different, so that said I will support Paris St. Germain in the final, because of their manager Luis Enrique (a former Barcelona player). I know that he has gone through very difficult things in his life, and that he knows football is just that: football, important but irrelevant, and that there is always space to better yourself rather than blame others.

Concacaf Champions Cup semifinals

My favourite Mexican side, Cruz Azul, are in the final of the CONCACAF Champions club for the first time since 2014. The match that took them to the final was a 1-0 victory in a nervous and tactical match against the Tigres of UANL, winning on a late handball penalty (quite harsh) scored by Angel Sepulveda (the top scorer of the tournament). 

Great for a club whom success often eluded (but I bring good luck), although the final will not be easy. They will face the MLS side Vancouver Whitecaps, who already eliminated the Pumas of UNAM in the quarterfinals, and basically destroyed Lionel Messi's Inter Miami in the semifinals with a total of 5-1 (underlining that a football team is not made by stars and names). The Vancouver side is managed by the ex-Brøndby and Silkeborg Manager, Jesper Sørensen, who is looking for the Canadian side's first continental title (it would indeed be the first for a Canadian side, and the fourth for an MLS side, in the sad case that they win).

The final will be on June 1st in Los Angeles.

Liverpool champions

I was on a flight from Bogota to Mexico, so did not get to see Liverpool's magnificent 5-1 trouncing of Tottenham (and the fact that it was against despicable Tottenham just makes it more delightful) to take their 20th English championship title and their first since 2020, with four matches to go in the league.

A splendid result for a cosmopolitan side whose goals were scored by a Colombian (Luis Diaz), an Argentine (Alexis MacAllister), a Dutchman (Cody Gakpo), and Egyptian (Mo Salah) and the Italian Destiny Udogie scoring an own goal to seal the title for Liverpool.

I am happy for my many friends who I know are very happy right now, and congratulate all Liverpool fans.

Independiente Medellín-Once Caldas

I happened to be passing through Medellin, Colombia,  and decided to go to watch football. The local side Independiente Medellín was playing the team from Manizales, Once Caldas.

Great atmosphere in the stadium, fantastic fans and a home team that pressured from early on, completely dominating, and leading 2-0 at half time on excellent strikes by Leider Berrío and Francisco Chaverra.

Second half was frankly boring as Medellin pulled back and Once Caldas had little to offer.

But some fantastic fans did have a lot to offers and I had a great time in Medellin.

Remontada?

Real Madrid put too much pressure on themselves and that was one of the reasons of their surprising elimination from the Champions League at the feet of Arsenal. After a 3-0 defeat in London the entire Madrid machine was talking about how they would win it in Madrid with limited thought that the team currently appears unbalanced and that the rout in London was no coincidence. The players may have been psyched as much as the fans but this was not obvious on the pitch as Arsenal were organised and level-headed, something that they kept even as Bukayo Saka missed a penalty to a save from the great Van der Saar.

It was 0-0 late in the match with little prospect for a Real Madrid goal when Saka himself made it all good and brought Arsenal ahead. Vinicius Jr. equalized shortly after following a gift from the Arsenal defense giving the locals a bit of hope, but their attacks were feeble, and in the dying seconds of the match Gabriel Martinelli scored the winner for Arsenal.

A lot will likely change in Real Madrid the coming weeks as it appears that Carlo Ancelotti will leave and with him many players, and many new signings may happen.

No matter what, there is one thing that may be forgotten as everyone talks about Real Madrid: Arsenal are splendid! They will now face PSG in the semifinals, a strong side yes, but also one that could shake under pressure, and Arsenal have demonstrated that they can put anyone under pressure.

A lot of America-Cruz Azul

The two great clubs of Mexico City have met three times in the last 10 days. Firstly, they faced one another home and away in the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions Cup. The first boring 0-0 at America (which was ironically played in Cruz Azul's stadium, which has been taken over by America as the Azteca Stadium is being rebuilt, and Cruz Azul plays at the Olympic Stadium) was replaced by a tense 2nd leg, where the veteran Mexican striker Angel Sepulveda was the star: he scored after only 12 minutes, as well as the victory 2-1 goal in the 85th minute following Alvaro Fidalgo's equalizer for America.

Sepulveda is presently the top goalscorer in the CONCACAF Champions Cup ahead of one Lionel Messi (whose team, Inter Miami, is also in the semifinals, facing Vancouver Whitecaps), and will look to score more as Cruz Azul faces the UANL Tigres in the semifinals.

Yesterday Cruz Azul faced America in the Clausura league. A victory to America could have put them in first spot, while a Blue victory could have put them on second spot. But it ended 0-0, and Toluca, who defeated Atlas 2-3 are now leaders. That said, there are two matches left, and the top 6 teams go into the quarterfinals, and it seems that both America and Cruz Azul will be there (unless they totally mess it up). 

The return of Valencia

 In December it looked as though the (former?) great club of Valencia was on its way down. They were in relegation spots in the league, and were playing awful. But how things can change with a new manager! Ruben Baraja was fired and on Christmas day Carlos Corberan was brought to his home town from West Bromwich Albion, where he had been coaching for 2 years.

And in his first few months Carlos Corberan has changed the team, which now seems to have faith in its qualities. Slowly but steadily the team moved above relegation, and last weekend they defeated none other than Real Madrid 1-2 at the Santiago Barnabeu. This victory was notable for being their first away victory in the league for nearly a year, as well as the first time they won at Chamartin since 2008. And just yesterday they pulled an important 1-0 victory at home against Sevilla, and the team is now on 13th place, safely above relegation.

Valencia will not be playing in Europe next season (although some are dreaming of this unlikely prospect), but the revived Valencia also has some fantastic youngsters like Javi Guerra, Christian Mosquera and Diego Lopez, that hopefully will help build a new and great Valencia.

The World Champions have qualified

Argentina has been awesome in terms of defending their title in the World Cup qualifiers, and last night they could seal their mathematical qualification against none other than their arch-rivals of Brazil in front of a home crowd in Buenos Aires. 

Brazil, on the other hand, have been a shadow of themselves in these qualifiers, lingering on 4th-5th place, which may be sufficient to qualify, but is not where we expect to see the great Brazilians, who at least in social media were eagerly pumping up the atmosphere before the match.

 Perhaps a little air went out of the balloon as Argentina´s qualification was sealed before the match, when Bolivia tied Uruguay at home, but this was not obvious as the match started with a highly motivated Argentina who was leading 2-0 after only 12 minutes on excellent strikes by Julian Alvarez and Enzo Fernandez, and it seemed it could be a total trashing until Cuti Romero gave away the ball to the Wolverhampton striker Matheus Cunha, who scored easily in what was one of Brazil´s few shots in the match. For a short period Brazil seemed optimistic, but it quickly faded as Alexis MacAllister scored a splendid third for Argentina, first-timing a perfect pass from Enzo Fernandez. 

It is always a shame in these matches that players spend as much time bitching and crying as they do playing, and the first half ended in disgraceful arguments and fights between the players. 

Well, they may be great footballers, but they are not upstanding citizens. 

Second half was dominated by Argentina, who could have scored more, but Giuliano Simeone´s marvelous strike was the only goal amid many chances, and Argentina sealed a memorable victory, and appears as a serious contender for the title, even without a certain Lionel Messi….

Nations League Quarterfinals

 If UEFA had wanted a good publicity for the Nations League, they could probably not have fixed the matches to be so perfect as they were yesterday in the second leg of the quarterfinals: full of goals, drama and excitement.

• Portugal defeated Denmark, perhaps not so surprising overall, but certainly in a dramatic fashion after losing 0-1 in Copenhagen. Ronaldo missed a penalty early in the match, but Joachim Andersen equalised via an own goal, before my namesake Rasmus Kristensen equalised for Denmark. In the second half Cristiano Ronaldo finally scored, before Christian Eriksen again equalised for the Danes, and in was only a late strike by Francisco Trincao that brought the match into extra time, and Portugal finally winning 5-2. But credit to the Danes!
• Germany appeared to have it all after winning 1-2 in Italy, and winning 3-0 at half time on goals by Kimmich, Musiala and Kleindienst. But in the second half Italy was reborn, and managed to equalise to 3-3 on two goals by Moise Kean and a late penalty equaliser by Giacomo Raspadori. It was all too exciting for the Germans who are nevertheless through
• Croatia had won 2-0 in the first leg against France, and held in the first half. But in the second half the French equalised the tie on goals by Bayern Munich's Michael Olise and PSG's Ousmane Dembele. It was sufficient to take the match to extra time and penalty kicks, where the French stood tall and won 5-4, as expected, but to great disappointment by the always great Croatians.
• Spain versus Netherlands was probably one of the most expected matches after the first leg between the two rivals ended 2-2 in Amsterdam. The Real Sociedad striker Mikel Oyarzabal gave Spain an early lead on a penalty kick. It held until the second half when Memphis Depay equalised on another penalty, but Mikel Oyarzabal again brought Spain ahead, before Ian Maatsen equalised again, and the match ended 2-2. In extra time the young superstar Lamine Yamal scored a splendid goal to bring Spain ahead 3-2, but again the Dutch equalised to 3-3 by Xavi Simons on a penalty. There had thus been plenty of penalties as the match went into penalty kicks. Despite the fact that the young Lamine Yamal missed for Spain, the Spaniards still managed to pull a 5-4 victory.

So yes, these were very exciting matches for a tournament that most people do not care much about.

At least it is better than boring friendlies.

Internationals

Thursday and Friday there have been a lot of internationals. In Europe the UEFA Nations League quarterfinals kicks off with the first legs, and Denmark defeated Portugal 1-0 on a goal by the young Manchester United player Rasmus Højlund. More surprising perhaps than the victory was that Denmark outplayed the classy Portuguese who are managed by Roberto Martinez, who for six years managed the best Belgian side ever, but never gave them any titles. The Portuguese were bad against Denmark, who may now eye a surprise semifinal?

In other matches Germany defeated Italy, Croatia defeated France and Spain and the Netherlands tied 2-2.

Nearer to home the CONCACAF Nations League semifinals took place. Mexico defeated Canada 0-2 to make it to yet another final, but the real surprise came in the USA-Panama match, where a last minute strike by the Coquimbo Unido striker Cecilio Waterman, gave the Panamanians the victory. The result may nevertheless not be surprising since the Panamanians have the screws on the arrogant North Americans: the have defeated USA in four of the last five matches, among them the 2023 Gold Cup.

Panama will face Mexico in the final on Sunday.

In South America the World Cup qualifiers are heading into the last phase. Brazil and Colombia played, and Brazil got a last second 2-1 victory on a strike by Vinicius Jr. and are third in the qualifiers behind Argentina and Ecuador. That said, Colombia is also likely to qualify as six out of ten teams qualify directly.

In the meantime the Argentine World Champions are all but certain to qualify after having defeated Uruguay 0-1 in Montevideo, on a fantastic long-range strike by the young Lyon player Thiago Almada. Argentina just have to not lose their next match (against Brazil), and will be assured qualification.

Why Darwin?

I did not watch today's Champions League matches because I was working. But as I was heading home in the afternoon I followed the penalty kicks between Liverpool and PSG, following the Parisians surprising 0-1 victory. 

I have never been a fan of Darwin Nuñez; I am surprised he should be the best attacker from a great football nation as Uruguay. When he signed for Liverpool I thought that maybe, just maybe, Liverpool would be the right club for him, but I do not think it has been. So when he went up to strike Liverpool's second kick, I felt he might miss, and I think most people feared or hoped he might (depending on who you support).

And indeed he missed, starting Liverpool's defeat, as Curtis Jones also missed the next shot, while the Parisians scored on all their kicks. 

I know penalty kicks are a high level lottery, and that a defeat cannot be blamed on one penalty miss, but at the same time I wonder why Darwin Nuñez had to take a penalty in such an important match.

PSG are now through having defeated one of the favourites in this weird-format CL, and expect to see all big teams through...

Suffering with Cruz Azul

Here in Mexico they say that being a Cruz Azul fan is to suffer, and yesterday I suffer.

Cruz Azul has not been convincing under their new Uruguayan manager Vicente Sanchez, and they were hosting the Rayados of Monterrey with their new signing in central defense, the former Real Madrid player and all-time record-holder for most red cards in the Spanish League, Sergio Ramos.

Cruz Azul started a bit nervous, and it was none other than an unmarked Sergio Ramos who scored on a header after only 12 minutes, following a corner kick.

After this it was Cruz Azul dominating, and it seemed that Mr. Ramos and company had their problems with in particular Angel Sepulveda and the Polish Cruz Azul player Mateusz Bogusz. And in fact Nacho Rivero's equalizer came from a perfect pass from the Pole in between the two Monterrey central defenders.

1-1 at halftime and Cruz Azul came out with everything in the second half, and within the first fifteen minutes had 4-5 great chances to score, but this is where one suffers, as the strikers were too forgiving. Ten minutes before time, when it felt that Cruz Azul's dominance had to give a goal the Cruz Azul Argentine defender Gonzalo Piovi, who had played a fantastic match, received a direct red card, and this took the air out of the home side. That said, the Greek striker Giorgios Giakoumakis had a chance to win the match for the home team, but in the most shameful way missed.

So it ended 1-1 for Monterrey and Sergio Ramos, and they can only be satisfied, although Ramos was widely booed by the fans for his constant complaining during every situation, and should probably have received a yellow card.

But he will eventually.  

A new record for Salah

Watching the top team in the Premier League, Liverpool, play against the bottom side, Southampton, should not be an interesting match, and it wasn't, despite Will Smallbone bringing the visitors ahead 0-1 just before halftime. In the second half Darwin Nuñez scored one of his rare non-misses to equalize and then Mohammed Salah sealed the victory with two penalty goals.

What was special about the match is that with his two goals the great Egyptian Mohammed Salah sealed his position as top-scorer of the Premier League, and equalized Sergio Agüero's record as the foreigner with most goals in the Premier League, a record he is very likely to get in the next matches. He also became the third all-time Liverpool scorer behind Ian Rush (who was among the spectators today) and Roger Hunt.

Mohammed Salah is already a Liverpool legend, and today just seals it as Liverpool is almost sure to take the title this season. But with a spectacular season the Egyptian seems like the best player in the world at the moment. 

A true star and a true legend.

Coming to Mexico

The Mexican league is an interesting league, partly because of intense historical rivalries, the passionate fans, the quality of Mexican players, as well as many interesting players from specially South America, but also from Europe; either players who made the change unexpectedly and have had great success such as the former Marseille striker Andre-Pierre Gignac, who has played for Tigres for nearly ten years, as well as the Greek striker Giorgios Giakoumakis, who joined Cruz Azul last year. 

Colombian player and journeyman James Rodriguez joined Leon this year, and started well with a goal in his first match in a side that is currently top of the league, and today it was announced that the Rayados of Monterrey have signed former Real Madrid star Sergio Ramos in a very interesting move. Monterrey already have former Sevilla star Lucas Ocampo, as well as Sergio Canales, with a long career in Spain, including the national team.

While it is interesting to play in Mexico, and surely to live in this beautiful country, there is another draw for these recent signing: both Monterrey and Leon will be playing the highly touted FIFA World Club Cup this June in the USA, and for these old stars it is an opportunity to shine late in their careers. But it will also be interesting to see how they fare in Mexico.

The confusing Champions League

The money making machine of the Champions League is over with its new format, with eight teams going through directly to the knock-out, and a further 16 teams going through to the play-off knockout. It did not seem to matter to most teams; the objective was not to end among the bottom twelve where there were not really many surprises.

Surprises perhaps in the top eight: Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter, Bayer Leverkusen and Atletico Madrid were accompanied by Aston Villa and Lille. The latter was the best French side, but with favourites PSG, Brest and Monaco all going through to the play-offs. Other big teams made it through to the play-offs too: Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Benfica, Real Madrid.... In my view the problem is that none of the teams really cared that they did not end in the top-8, but that they were able to "relax" some matches without never really putting in doubt that they would progress. And two matches more? They are confident enough to win and make more money on it....

The only big team that really seemed to struggle was crisis-hit Manchester City, who until the last match could have been eliminated but won 3-1 over Club Brugge (who also made it through), and appear likely to be a hard nut to crack for anyone in the play-offs (and more money because it could be a big match!).

The draw for the play-offs will be on Friday.

Debacle

I was almost going to watch Barcelona-Valencia, but decided to do something else as expectations on Valencia doing anything are very low. And thankfully I did not watch a debacle where a team of washed-out veterans and youth players lost 7-1 to FC Barcelona.

Valencia is on its way to be relegated, being second to last, only ahead of hapless Valladolid. Perhaps it is time for Valencia to be relegated following the many years of Telenovela ownershipo by Peter Lim, and ever increasing debt, and all the most talented players being sold (one of the products of Valencia's youth academy, Ferran Torres, scored for Barcelona today). It has been painful to be a Valencia fan during Lim's ownership, and all the club needs is some stability, and perhaps this will be found in Segunda Division...

The worst Manchester United side ever

 It is not the fans, not a journalist or pundit who recently called the current Manchester United side "maybe in the history of Manchester United". No, the one who said it was none other than the current Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim who said it following another Manchester United defeat in the Premier League, 1-3 at home to Brighton.

This is quite an incredible remark from a manager who only joined the side in November 2024, but who has not had the success that was hoped for (or expected). It was also a strange change for Mr. Amorim, who came from success in Sporting Lisbon, and joined a club who was already in an enormous crisis and it did indeed look that Mr. Amorim had to do something superhuman to change what was happening. 

And now it looks that Amorim has realised the truth: that the crisis in Manchester United is deep, very deep, and that it is about the entire club, not just the manager. 

Does his comment help?

I do not think it is wrong to say what many fans and journalists are already saying, and surely many in Manchester United thinking, specially after another loss, and it is a wake-up call to a group of still-highly paid footballers who are clearly not delivering on the pitch. Manchester United looks less as a team than a group of offended rich kids.

Mr. Amorim may be a great manager; at least he speaks truth, but what he will do about it, remains to be seen.

The clasico in the desert

 The Spanish Super Cup final between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid took place in the country that will host the 2034 World Cup, Saudi Arabia, and thus, everyone should stop complaining, because Saudi Arabia is already host to a lot of sports-events, whether we like it or not.

Money talks, specially as these two sides faced one another, and the confrontation happened in the midst of the controversy of Dani Olmo being allowed to play for Barcelona despite some apparently creative financial juggling from FC Barcelona that many Spanish clubs are complaining about. That said, we have always known that there are other rules for these two sides who, despite all the controversy, are always good for some entertainment.

And the final was entertaining indeed. Barcelona was far far superior, but Real Madrid had Kylian Mbappe, who with his speed and quality was basically the only threat that Real Madrid had, and he proved it early on when he brought Real Madrid ahead. But that was virtually everything Real Madrid had to offer, and in particular defenders like Lucas Vasquez, Aurelien Tchouameni and Ferland Mendy were played around with by Barcelona's quick and excellent technicians. Young Lamine Yamal equalized for Barcelona with a brilliant strike, while Robert Lewandoski scored on a penalty committed by another poor Real Madrid player Eduardo Camavinga. By halftime the score was 4-1 for Barcelona with additional goals by Raphinha and Alejandro Balde, and when Raphinha made it 5-1 early in the second half against a Real Madrid side where Ancelotti had decided to make no changes, one thought that this could be a historical victory for Barcelona.

However, Mbappe's speed gave Real Madrid a bit of breathing space as he was taken down by the substitute Polish Barcelona goalkeeper, Wojciech Szczesny, who was correctly shown a red card (the referee did forgive red cards for Vinicius Jr. and Camavinga nevertheless), and in the subsequent free kick Rodrygo made it 2-5.

Barcelona pulled back, and that was the end result as Real Madrid showed zero threats against a Barcelona side that dominated throughout the match. And if anyone still questions the Balon d'Or: while Vinicius Jr. was invisible throughout the match, Pedri completely dominated the midfield alongside Gavi and Pau Casado to a degree that was humiliating for Real Madrid.

I don't really care that Barcelona won, but it was entertaining to see them play so well, but one has to wonder about Real Madrid: I have always considered Carlo Ancelotti one of the best managers in the world, but in this match he seemed to have missed everything. Tchouameni and Lucas Vasquez were simply not up to the task, and he had no answers to Barcelona's midfield control. It was one of the worst displays of Real Madrid in that desert afternoon in Saudi Arabia.

2025 forecasts

It is hard to be optimistic about 2025, both in and outside football. Football, like the world in general, is becoming more tribal, hateful, since hate and tribalism mobilises more money. Fewer and fewer fans watch because they want to watch good football, but rather because they want to belong to their tribe and hate the other tribe.

It is sad, but with that out of the way I have my predictions for 2025 (I am notably bad at predicting though):

• Liverpool will win the Premier League, and I think that Manchester City will squeeze into the top 4 instead of Nottingham Forest. Amorin will fail to qualify Manchester United to Europe.
• Real Madrid or Liverpool will win the Champions League, whose current format will favour all the traditional top teams as the surprises in the league will all be eliminated in the first round of knock-outs. FC Barcelona will suffer from its financial mess and not get far.
• Brazilian teams will be even more dominant in South America, and all four semifinalists of the Libertadores will be Brazilian
• The Club World Cup will be a big economic success for FIFA as they get the European teams on board, who will completely dominate the tournament with some VAR and referee assistance
• Real Madrid will win La Liga after a lucky streak ahead of Atletico Madrid. Valencia will be relegated and will have a hard time returning to the top flight.
• France will win the UEFA Nations League.
• FC Copenhagen will win the Danish League, Bayern Munich the German, Napoli the Italian, PSG the French.
• Cristiano Ronaldo will return to Europe to finish his career.