The derby, one of the few matches of the penultimate weekend with anything riding on it, didn’t disappoint Betis’s bus made its way through a cloud of green smoke, while Sevilla’s passed the police cordon down the last, short stretch of empty street, turning off palm tree avenue to the Benito Villamarín. It was momentarily quiet outside, just a few stall holders in the sunshine, but inside the bus was different. On the right, a window had been smashed – not there, but four kilometres away, where a Sevilla fan had waved his team off over-enthusiastically – and sitting alongside it was the manager Joaquín Caparrós, exposed and in his element. Someone had put the club anthem on and he...
The all-conquering Old Lady has no plans to abdicate her throne even with the inevitable summer changes aheadLast May, the commemorative T-shirts celebrated a “Le6end”. This year, Juventus went with “My7h”. Even as players popped champagne corks for the second time in four days at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico, it was tempting to imagine a marketing team somewhere planning the slogans and hashtags for the next round of celebrations in 12 months.Seven consecutive Scudetti. No club had even won six in a row before the Bianconeri embarked on their present run. Across Europe’s top five leagues, only Lyon, at the start of this century, have enjoyed such an uninterrupted spell of domestic dominance. Even then, they did not pair Ligue 1...
There has been plenty of entertainment but it has been an unusual and not always satisfying season in GermanyThe clock, since you asked, kept on ticking. As the curtain fell on Hamburger SV’s unbroken presence in top flight since the Bundesliga’s formation in 1963, it was alone in maintaining steady hands (give or take it being digital). With the home side’s winning position futile, as Wolfsburg completed an eventually emphatic victory over Köln 170km to the south, any façade of holding it together began to crack.Pyrotechnics rained down from the ultras in the Nordtribüne and a heavy police presence took over the pitch in lines, with horses and dogs for company. Some of those waiting to see if the famous...
A 2-1 home victory against Mönchengladbach was in vain for the Bundesliga’s only ever-present club thanks to Wolfsburg’s win, and fireworks and flares rained down at the endThe city of Hamburg has seen significant regeneration in the past decade. In an effort to rid the city of its faintly sleazy reputation, as home of the Reeperbahn and the stag do delights it contains, a whole new district – HafenCity – was established with plans for modern shops, homes and entertainment venues. The most prominent of the latter was the Elbphilharmonie concert hall, an extraordinary structure that cost €789m, more than three times its initial budget.But as new buildings rise around town, the solid old pillars of their football club crumble....
Max and co on Huddersfield and Southampton’s survival, hotels, West Brom’s relegation, Yaya Touré’s leaving do and plenty moreRate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email.Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Wilson and Barney Ronay to look back at the last few days in football, starting with Southampton’s survival as they win at Swansea and the hotel effect. Continue reading...