The Big Mac of football

I am old. I have seen plenty of football. I have suffered and I have celebrated. I have been overtly emotional (often too much) and learnt that being emotional is probably one of the worst things a human can be. 

And so in football: I have preferences, but I have seen it all, and I know that sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. But as important as winning or losing, is the question of how you win or how you lose. 

Just like in life. Arsenal are efficient, effective, get results: just like a Big Mac.

Don't mistake me. I recognise that Arsenal are a great team, and today they showed it. When Kai Havertz brought them ahead early on in the match through a splendid run down the left side, Arsenal pulled back and defended with discipline and tactical intelligence, cancelling Vitinha in midfield and the threatening runs of Karavashkelia. Despite possession, PSG, perhaps the best attacking side in the world right now, could not get through the tight defense, while Arsenal played on a possible corner kick.

I am a football fan, and I don't want football to turn into a contest of corner kicks, and I think that with Arsenal's quality they could and should have tried to score a "real" goal in the first half, when PSG were clearly confused as to what to do about Arsenal's defense.

I was happy for the the game of football more than for PSG when the Parisians managed to equalise by Ousemane Dembele on a penalty kick. 

Home-made food had finally scored against the Big Mac of football. 

At the score 1-1 Arsenal again started to attack more, but still seemed to go more for a corner-kick than they did for a goal...?

PSG fortunately won on penalty kicks, with Gabriel Magalhaes missing the last kick for Arsenal in an intense contest.

People may be annoyed at PSG; they have won their second title since last year's trashing of Inter Milan, but for the game of football it is surely better to have a team like PSG win, than a team who plays like Arsenal. 

Arsenal's 2006 CL final side were amazing, but lost to an even more amazing Barcelona side. This Arsenal side would have gone into history for winning, but nobody would remember how they played.

I am a romantic; even worse, I am emotional. I like the art of football: enjoying a great game between footballers with quality and who are not afraid to show it; just like enjoying a delicious home-made meal rather than a BigMac.

Arsenal are the BigMac of football. They excel at the only thing that counts in the today: efficiency, results, numbers and winning.

Fortunately they lost. 

PSG again in the final

It was virtually impossible that the second-leg match would be as good as the first leg between PSG and Bayern Munich, but it was still a good match. PSG were in my view the better team overall, highly organised, and having learnt from the mistakes of the first match, they closed down Olise and Kimmich in midfield, held back after Ousmane Dembele early goal on a counter-attack, and remained a deadly force on the counterattack, with Manuel Neuer being the saviour on many occasions for Bayern Munich. 

Many players are worth mentioning, but Kvisha Kvaraskhelia and Ousmane Dembele are perhaps two of the best players in the world right now; the former will surely be missed in the World Cup, but Dembele will hopefully shine in North America this summer (not because I support France - certainly not - but I just want to enjoy watching an artist shine in his trade). 

But Bayern Munich were not hapless. They created great chances that in the previous match would have given goals, and the well-deserved equalizer by Harry Kane in the last minute only came too late. What is a shame in the match was the referee Joao Pinheiro, who decided to oversee two clear handballs in core situations that could have given Bayern Munich an edge. The handball inside the area by the referee's namesake  Joao Neves was more a penalty kick than the bad penalty call against Alphonse Davies in the previous match. And Nuno Mendes should have been given a second yellow card for handball earlier as well.

The best team won, and it was a great match, but it is a pity that with all this VAR, a great contest it made controversial by a very very poor referee.

PSG are now in the second final in a row, and favourites to take their second title in a row, but anything can happen in a final. Arsenal are in the final after defeating Atletico Madrid in two matches that were frankly a bore, and Arsenal, despite their solid lead in the Premier League, are surely not as complete as PSG, but are not hapless; a goal on one of their signature free kicks and a solid defense (and a bit of luck), and they could take the title... 

Thank you from the bottom of my heart

Sometimes you get two teams with great players, both teams full of confidence that they are the best, they are on a roll in their leagues, and have offensive style based on their confidence. And suddenly they are playing an important match (let us say a semifinal) where they can display all their skills and style.

Then you get an extraordinary match, and that is what happened today in the CL first leg semifinal between PSG and Bayern Munich.

Do not mistake me; it was not perfect in the sense that there were mistakes (including by the referee when awarding a penalty kick for handball), poor defending, and the occasional technical mistake, but frankly these are parts of a match that had it all.

I was working, listening on the radio, but by the score 2-1 for PSG I shifted to the TV; Harry Kane had brought the visitors ahead 0-1 on a penalty kick, but shortly after Kvisha Kvarashkelia scored his first of two great goals where he showed his fantastic skills, and a bit later Joao Neves brought the Parisians ahead. The great Frenchman playing for the German side, Michael Olise, ran through the PSG central defense to make it 2-2 before Ousmane Dembele made it 3-2 on a handball call that in my view was not a penalty.

3-2 at halftime, the match had already been extraordinary (it could have been 5-5), but it was PSG who came out with a high and steady pressure on Bayern Munich’s shaky defense, with Kvarashkelia scoring his second and Ousmane Dembele making it 5-2 on a quick counterattack: it appeared at this point that the Germans were defeated, but truly, if we know anything it is that Bayern is never defeated.

Another Frenchman, Dayot Upamecano made it 5-3 on a header and poor defending, and suddenly it was Bayern Munich who was pressuring a PSG side that pulled back but was still a deadly menace on counterattack. It was the Colombian Luis Diaz who made it 5-4 winning a thrilling 1 on 1 duel with Marquinhos.

The match could easily have had more goals, but you could also sense the tiredness in all these footballing heroes at the end of the match, which ended with a French 5-4 victory, and the most goals scored in a single semifinal match in the CL ever.

This was perhaps the best match we will see this decade (if not century), and surely the best match of the year.

Forget the World Cup.

Next week is the second leg in Munich, but considering what we saw today, anything can happen, and I just look forward to seeing these two great sides, whom I thank from the bottom of my footballing heart for today.

The CL quarterfinal

 We have reached the quarterfinals of the CL, with some exciting matches ahead:

• Paris St. Germain-Liverpool: The defending champions dispatched the world champions, Chelsea, and will be facing the great Liverpool side, but who will be looking to fight for a good result against a PSG side that is looking to repeat the title
• Real Madrid-Bayern Munich: perhaps an early final? Bayern Munich have been awesome, and destroyed Atalanta in the previous round while Real Madrid are... welll... Real Madrid, who can win it all
• Barcelona-Atletico Madrid: a Spanish derby, where Barcelona are probably favourites, but never ever discount Atletico, although they faced the poorest side in the tournament, Tottenham, and still had to fight to make it.
• Sporting Lisbon-Arsenal: Sporting Lisbon impressed by eliminating fan favourites Bodø/Glimt when everything seemed against them, and this fighting spirit will have to be as strong if they are to defeat an Arsenal side that is surely a light-dark horse for the title?

All these matches are worth watching. 

2025 Football memories

It has been a bit of a poor year in terms of football as we await next year's big but probably overblown World Cup. Time-difference did not help as I worked too much and was more often than not too tired to watch football.

That said, some footballing memories worth mentioning:

• Cruz Azul-Monterrey: I went to watch my favourite Mexican team, Cruz Azul, a few times, including this match, the debut of Sergio Ramos for Monterrey (he played one season in the side from Nuevo Leon) and the match ended 1-1
• Argentina-Brazil: Watched the match in a local bar in Mexico, and it was a mixture of delight and surprise as the World Champions of Argentina completely dominated their arch-rivals as I had seldomly seen. Argentina won 4-1 and this match qualified them to the World Cup and ensured that Brazil's coach lost his job to be replaced by the great Carlo Ancelotti.
• Independiente Medellin-Once Caldas: I happened to be in Medellin when one of the local sides played a league match against Once Caldas. Not a memorable match but a fantastic atmosphere in the beautiful Colombian city.
•  Crystal Palace-Manchester City: Probably the best result for a neutral in 2025, with Crystal Palace taking their first title ever by winning the FA Cup against mighty Manchester City!
•  Cruz Azul-Vancouver Whitecaps: Cruz Azul took the Concacaf Champions Cup at home by trashing the Canadian side Whitecaps 5-0. Despite the title it was generally not a great year for Cruz Azul against MLS sides, specially as the got trashed by Seattle Sounders 0-7 in the Leagues Cup...
• PSG-Inter Milan: Watched the CL final in a bar in Mexico with some very happy Frenchmen present, with all reason as PSG finally took the coveted title, and in awesome style, playing a fanastic match where the 5-0 victory was none too little. Great for the Manager Luis Enrique.
• PSG-Chelsea: The first club World Cup final was between PSG and Chelsea, and PSG were surely favourites, but were torn apart 3-0 by a highly motivated Chelsea, and sadly PSG, including Luis Enrique, were incredibly sore losers, making it an ugly final instead of the spectacle it should have been from what was surprisingly a great tournament.
• Morocco- Argentina: The two sides faced one another in the u-21 World Cup final, and the African side were by far the better team, and we will look forward to see some of these great youngsters in 2026.
• Denmark-Belarus: with a victory at home, Denmark could have qualified to the 2026 World Cup. But instead poor attitude left them with a 2-2, and in the next match Denmark lost to Scotland, ending second in a group they should have won. As many Denmark fans I was hugely disappointed, and now I doubt that they can take the play-off spot, even if the do, they will play Mexico in the city where I am currently residing...
• Cruz Azul-Chivas: Went to watch this match at the Olympic University Stadium in Mexico, where the home side won 3-2, but only after suffering and the veteran Chivas' striker Javier Hernandez awfully missing a penalty that could have put them in the final.

Wishing everybody a happy new year 2026, for all fans and their teams, to enjoy football no matter who wins and who loses, even for my Cruz Azul-supporting cat:

Chelsea the World Champions

At least it was not Tottenham that won the very first World Club Cup and went into the history books. It was another London club, namely Chelsea, who just needed one half to secure the title against the favourites from Paris St. Germain. Two splendid strikes from Cole Palmer in the lower right side of the Paris goal and one strike from the new Chelsea revelation Joao Pedro, and the final was decided against a disappointing PSG side that lost with no honour as Joao Neves was shown a red card for a distasteful pulling Cucurella's hair, and as the game ended, instead of congratulating the winners, PSG players entered into an ugly brawl led by manager Luis Enrique.

Extremely disappointed about the Spanish manager and PSG as a whole for contributing to making it into an ugly event.

Probably we will see more of this in the future as honour disappears from football.

In the meantime the Chelsea celebrations were awkward as the US president stood in the midst of the players as they were handed the trophy.

The entire thing was more awkward than historical. A pity for a tournament that I think was an overall success.

The Club World Cup finalists

Unfortunately Fluminense were unable to defeat Chelsea to make it to the Club World Cup. The English side were better, but it is worth noting that the player who scored both splendid Chelsea goals in their 2-0 victory, Joao Pedro, scored them against the team that made him. The 23-year old striker, who scored his first Chelsea goals following his transfer from Brighton & Hove Albion, did not celebrate the goals against his childhood club.

He will be a player to watch next season as Chelsea try to get back to the top of the Premier League.

All this said, Chelsea will have a difficult time in the final where they will face an extraordinary Paris St. Germain side. The Parisians won a memorable Champions League final on June 1st, and in the semifinal against Real Madrid were as deadly: 4-0 against the Spanish giants with two goals by Fabian Ruiz, and Ousmane Dembele and Goncalo Ramos each scoring one. The victory could surely have been bigger, but in the heat and considering the final, Luis Enrique decided to let the foot of the speeder in the second half.

In the midst of this a thought to Kylian Mbappe: the great Frenchman last season changed from PSG to Real Madrid in order to win titles, but since he left PSG has won it all, and Real Madrid has won nothing....

PSG-Chelsea in the final. As everyone says, anything can happen in a final, but it appears likely that this "anything" is tipped heavily in favour of the great Parisians, who will be delighted to be officially crowned as the world's best team. 

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.

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.

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...

Mbappe's last days

When Messi left PSG to go to Inter Miami it did not happen with much love between the club and the player. Now Kylian Mbappe has announced that he is leaving (it has not been confirmed, but all rumours appear to be that he will join a Real Madrid side that again is betting on a Galacticos Part II), it is also without much fanfare. 

In his last home match for PSG only the ultras made a homage to the player that has spent seven seasons in Paris, while many other fans did not show any respect, instead whistling at him, even when he scored a goal (which he dedicated to Keylor Navas) in a match PSG lost 1-3 to Toulouse. 

He is the most scoring player in PSG’s history. 

It appear that Mbappe will end with yet another French title, but there is no doubt that he wants to win a Champions League title, and that the latest loss may only have confirmed that he needs to go to a new club with more history and winning mentality, things that appear to be missing amid PSG’s millions of dollars. 

Mbappe is only 25, already has a World Cup title and is one of the world’s best players. No matter where he ends up, he still has many years and many titles ahead of him.

Real Madrid (likely) champions

We have the two finalists of this year's Champions League: Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund. 

Borussia Dortmund defeated a shallow Paris St. Germain who everyone expected to be better at home in Paris after the narrow loss in Germany. One has to wonder whether they underestimated Dormund as Luis Enrique's tactics appeared unprepared for a side that was well-organised in defense and threatening on counterattacks. Even when Dortmund went ahead by the veteran Mats Hummels after a corner kick, the Parisians appeared unable to open Dortmund, who are deservedly in their third Champions League final. 

It does appear unlikely however, that Borussia Dortmund can win their second title as they will be facing the defending champions of Real Madrid, as well as a likely referee... 

Over the two matches against Bayern Munich, Real Madrid were good: they tied 2-2 in Munich, an excellent result before going back to Madrid. And indeed they pressured well in a first half that nevertheless ended 0-0, in part thanks to Manuel Neuer who looked like in his younger days. In the second half Bayern made some good changes, most of all Alphonse Davies, who came in with speed and technique, scoring a fantastic goal to bring the Germans ahead, and it looked like a German victory until the 88th minute when Joselu was on the spot when none other than the great Manuel Neuer could not hold the ball, and dropped it at Joselu's feet. 

1-1 still looked like extra time when Joselu scored for 2-1 in a situation that almost looked like off-side, but wasn’t. It was then that the referees took over to ensure Madrid's victory: Matthijs de Ligt scored for Bayern Munich, but was called off-side in a situation where the referee should never have whistled (let the play continue, as is the general rule), and Rudiger's arm appeared to cancel the offside. These things happen, yes, but in the world of VAR they shouldn't, and less should they happen when in such an important match. 

Congratulations to Real Madrid for the Champions League title!

Paris with Spine

After Barcelona defeated PSG in Paris last week I must admit that I thought that PSG would be out yet again against Barcelona in the Champions League.

How great it is to be wrong.

When Raphinha brought the home team ahead 1-0 after a great play by the only 16-year old Lamine Yamal, one thought that it was done. But PSG pressed on, and after half an hour Ronald Araujo received a red card in a situation that may have been controversial: Araujo brought down Bradley Barcola as he was running towards goal, and the referee assessed he was last man and sent him off.

No VAR or anything can make it clear whether it was in fact a clear red. In my personal opinion it was justified, but I also understand those who argue that it was not.

The fact was that it changed the match as Xavi took off Yamal and his team stood back as PSG did the only thing they could, which was to push forward, and five minutes before half-time Ousmane Dembele equalized against his old team in a good counter attack.

Although they were only 10 men, in my view Barcelona looked too passive against a PSG side that obviously pushed forward, but did not look awesome. In fact, when Vitinha scored a second for PSG on a good long-shot, Barcelona's defense looked passive as they should have known about the Portuguese good long-shot skill. Later, a penalty against Dembele (in my view a correct call as well) brought PSG ahead 1-3 by Mbappe, and as the match was nearing its end Barcelona appeared completely torn apart when Mbappe scored his second following an attack where only Ter Stegen looked decent.

1-4 for PSG and they are yet again in the semifinal they were last in in 2021. They do not look unbeatable but are probably slight favourites against Borussia Dortmund, who defeated Atletico Madrid 4-2 at home, and are in their first CL semifinals since 2013.

Great Champions League matches

 Expectations were fully fulfilled for the highly expected first legs of CL quarterfinals. I eagerly watched two of the matches.

The first one I watched was Real Madrid facing Manchester City, the match that for many was a prelude of the final, and a repeat of last season's semifinals.

The first 15 minutes of the match were crazy, with Bernardo Silva bringing the English side ahead after only 2 minutes in a free kick where Real Madrid appeared to have no wall or organization as Silva shot through. But only 10 minutes later Camavinga took a shot outside the area and the ball was deflected by Ruben Dias and went into goal for 1-1. Two minutes later Rodrygo caught City's forward defense and in his run towards goal the ball was also deflected and meant 2-1 for Real Madrid.

I was really enjoying the match a the Real de 14 Taqueria in San Salvador. It was played in a high tempo and both sides had great quality as it went into the break.

Second half Manchester City continued with a high pressure, and Phil Foden equalized for City on a marvelous strike from outside the area, where one could criticize Real Madrid for giving Foden too much space. 

It was another spectacular strike that brought City ahead 2-3 as it continued its pressure on Madrid: Josko Gvardiol scored from outside the area.

Naturally, Manchester City relaxed the pressure a bit as Madrid pushed forward, and another wonderful strike by Federico Valverde, who first-timed a pass from Vini at the edge of the area, made it 3-3, and the end result of a fantastic match. 

Last season they tied 1-1 as well in Madrid, for Manchester City to demolish Real Madrid in Manchester.
We will see how it goes this time.

The other match I watched today as Paris Saint Germain hosted a Barcelona side that has before been a stumbling block for the ambitious French side.

It appears that Barcelona will again be the end for the Parisians, as they won 2-3 in Paris in a match that nevertheless also flowed with crazy attacks.

Raphinha brought the Catalans ahead 1-0 in the first half, which was also the score at half time. PSG came out to attack in the second half and were ahead 2-1 withing five minutes on a fantastic strike by the ex-Barcelona player Ousmane Dembele, and then Vitor Ferreira following an elegant attack by PSG.

Donnaruma did not have a good day in goal, and gave the ball away for Barcelona's equalizer, although Pedri's pass to Raphinha was spectacular, and the Brazilian made it 2-2. 

It was not over, and PSG missed some big chances as Barcelona scored its winner from an unlikely Andreas Christensen, who headed the ball in from close quarters following a corner kick, in a situation where neither PSG defense or goalkeeper looked strong.

Barcelona now has one foot in the semifinals, as I have a hard time seeing PSG threatening them in Catalonia.

In the other quarterfinals Arsenal and Bayern Munich tied 2-2 in London, while Atletico Madrid defeated Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in Spain.

It will be some incredible matches next week!

This is why we watch football!

Champions League elimination round

 The Champions League Group stages (the last ones in this format) have just ended. 

The elimination of two English sides was one of the first surprises: Manchester United were shambles, and ended bottom of Group A, which was totally dominated by Bayern Munich, while FC Copenhagen took first spot after having defeated Galatasaray on a cold day in Copenhagen. Copenhagen, although a reluctant surprise, will now face the defending champions, also from Manchester. City have been awesome, winning all their group matches, and will (hopefully) be too much for FC Copenhagen.

Another English team that ended bottom were Newcastle. After trashing Paris St. Germain, it appeared they had something to offer, but only two draws and three defeats and they were out. It is all the more improbable, because a victory at home in their last match against AC Milan could have put them through as Borussia Dortmund and PSG tied 1-1 (in an exciting match), but AC Milan won, and took third spot.

While the Spanish sides of Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Real Sociedad and Atletico Madrid all won their groups, the former greats of Sevilla were as much a shadow of themselves as they have been in this season's La Liga. They ended bottom of the group behind Arsenal, PSV Eindhoven and Lens.

German sides will be represented by three sides: Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig, while from Italy's Serie A, Napoli, Inter and Lazio have made it through.

All in all we are looking at some interesting knock-out matches starting in February:

• FC Porto-Arsenal
• Napoli-FC Barcelona
• Paris St. Germain-Real Sociedad
• Inter Milan-Atletico Madrid
• PSV Eindhoven-Borussia Dortmund
• Lazio-Bayern Munich
• FC Copenhagen-Manchester City
• RB Leipzig-Real Madrid
  

The PSG stars are out again

 Paris St. Germain are a team of superstars, but as everyone knows you cannot construct a team just by superstars, and the Parisians were up against the wall as they faced Bayern Munich in Munich. And Bayern Munich are certainly also a team of superstars, but who to a much greater degree play like a team, and with tactical discipline and intelligence closed down the great potential threats posed by Messi and Mbappé.

PSG had their chances in the first half, and should have been ahead had it not been for a spectacular goalline clearance by Matthijs de Ligt. 0-0 at halftime, PSG still had hope, but Bayern Munich were far superior in the second half, with Eric Choupo-Moting bringing the Germans ahead after a clumsy mistake by Marco Verratti. And as PSG put everything forward, Serge Gnabry elegantly brought Bayern ahead 2-0 in the last minute of the match, and PSG's stars are again out.

This will surely cost Christophe Galtier his job, but the problem goes much deeper that the manager. You need to build a team!

First Champions League knock out round

Yesterday I escaped from the office to watch the highly expected clash between Bayern Munich and Paris St. Germain. In Paris, the highly rated French side (Bayern's lineup had more Frenchmen than the Parisian side showing the true Europeanisation of European football) were supposed to pull a good result before a return match in Munich, but were unable to in a match where the German team was superior throughout the match, and although Donnarumma should have caught Kingsley Coman's winning goal, the victory was fully deserved. The side with Messi, Neymar, Marquinhos, Mbappe, does simply not show any seeworthy and efficient football, and are likely again out of the CL.

In the meantime Tottenham lost 0-1 to AC Milan, but an exciting match awaits back in London.

Today I also managed to watch most of Borussia Dortmund against Chelsea. Chelsea's new players Joao Felix, Enzo Fernandez and Mikhailo Mudryk were all on the pitch and played a fine match where Chelsea could have deserved a goal, but in the end the German side won a good match on a splendid counterattacking goal by Karim Adeyemi. It all points to an exciting return match in London!

In the meantime, Benfica defeated Club Brugge 0-2 in Belgium, and are already looking towards a quarterfinal.

In Brugge

I had already said that Club Brugge could only surprise, and in the first match of their Group A in the Champions League the Belgian side surprised none other than mighty Paris St. Germain. One might think that the result of 1-1 was the surprise, with Club Brugge fighting to get a tie, but you would be wrong: Club Brugge deserved a victory, and were prevented by a Keylor Navas who proved that Donnarumma will have to fight hard to be a starter.

Club Brugge played exactly like Paris did not: as a team, and supporting one another throughout, some players stood out, notably the Colombian Eder Balanta, the young Charles de Ketelaere, and the captain Hans Vanaken, who scored the goal for Brugge. 

One must, first of all, credit Club Brugge for a fantastic match, which made Paris look weaker. That said, the Parisians seemed more like 11 talented individuals rather than one team. They will not win the tournament playing like that, and it is clear that they will have their hands full in their next match against Manchester City, who defeated RB Leipzig 6-3.

And nobody should be surprised about Club Brugge any longer!

PSG "Galactico II"

With the transfer of Lionel Messi to PSG the French club has strengthened its already strong team, and it would appear that few, if any, clubs will be able to compete with them at the French league level or European level. Because Messi is only the most famous of the new players that have arrived in Paris this summer, a list that includes: Gianluigi Donnarumma (AC Milan's and Italy's fantastic young goalkeeper), Giorginio Wijnaldum (the Netherlands' captain and solid Liverpool player), Achraf Hakimi (Inter's and Morocco's brilliant right-back) and Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid's and Spain's legendary defender). These players enter a team that already includes Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Marquinhos, Keylor Navas, Marco Verrati, Leandro Paredes, Angel DiMaria, Julian Draxler, Pabloa Sarabia, Rafinha, etc.

The undoubted quality that PSG has is no guarantee that they will be successful in their pursuit for titles, but it is certain that they are the team to watch in the coming season. Almost 20 years ago Real Madrid were dubbed "Galacticos" for the quality of players they had back then; PSG this season appears to be "Galacticos II".

Messi's exit from FC Barcelona

Lionel Messi's 21-year stay at FC Barcelona has ended. We all knew the day would come, but I guess the shock was about how abrupt the end was, not least for Lionel Messi himself, who appeared crying during the subsequent press conference. 

Everything comes to an end, and this moment is one for remembering the incredible contributions Messi made to FC Barcelona and to Football during his stay at the club. He has been an incredible player to follow.

Because let us admit it: it is not the fact that he is leaving, but how it happened. FC Barcelona has appeared a money-circus for many years, and Messi's exit appears as much as an economic tit-for-tat between la Liga and the club's management, who after pushing for the so-called European Superleague has had its financial troubles exposed. In sporting terms Messi's exit gives Ronald Koeman little time to build a transition to a new team and they appear weak as the la Liga season is about to start.

In sporting terms Messi's exit could be interesting, and perhaps he may also be interested in a new challenge as his career nears an end. Paris St. Germain is increasingly being touted as his next club, and this will surely be interesting as he reunited with Neymar, and will play alongside extraordinary players such as Kylian Mbappe, Angel Di Maria, Marco Verrati, and even Donnarumma in goal! If Messi can adapt to another team than Barcelona (something that is not guaranteed, as he has never done a change before) the Parisians will surely look like the team to beat next season.

In the meantime, I hope Messi adapts and continues making football fans happy wherever he ends up.