In their short spells with Real Sociedad three players left an indelible mark, as former teammates recallThe day John Aldridge turned up at Real Sociedad’s Zubieta training ground in September 1989, he was confronted by graffiti saying foreigners weren’t welcome. A year on, he had been so good that they welcomed two more of them, this time with open arms. For almost 30 years, la Real didn’t have a player from outside the Basque Country; now they had three, and all from Britain and Ireland.They were in San Sebastián together for only a season and not even a particularly good one, la Real finishing 1990-91 in their lowest position since returning to the first division 22 years earlier, but Aldridge,...
The mesmerising dominance of Pep Guardiola’s side made a talented team look like a bunch of choreographed patsiesThe critical passage of this game, you felt, arrived around an hour in, when Borussia Mönchengladbach – 1-0 down and having just enjoyed a rare shot on goal – threw on two attacking players in attempt to wrestle back control. On came Marcus Thuram and Valentino Lazaro, jogging onto the pitch with vim and purpose, pointing in various directions for no reason, in the way that substitutes often do.At which point, with Ederson in possession, Manchester City simply walked the ball up the pitch and scored. Ten passes in total, broken only by a desperate sliding clearance from midfielder Florian Neuhaus by his...
It is is a sign of how bad things have got that the clash of Italy’s title-race frontrunners is greeted with relief and celebration Across Europe a spirit of competitiveness has broken out. Not in England, perhaps, where Manchester City’s excellence looks sure to win out. Nor in Germany, where Bayern Munich remain inviolable. But elsewhere revolution is in the air. Paris Saint-Germain are not top in France, neither Real Madrid nor Barcelona are top in Spain and Juventus are not top in Italy. The elite are being challenged in a way they have not been for almost a decade.The temptation is to blame the pandemic for this spirit of revolution, to see Covid as the explanation for everything. It...
With Liverpool stuttering, RB Leipzig’s bright young acolyte of the German press must see Tuesday’s Champions League game as a chance to claim another major scalp Football, Brian Clough used to complain, is not a world that ever lets you enjoy your success. There’s always another match, another season, another threat. The past three seasons at Liverpool have been a story of remarkable achievement: a Champions League final, then Champions League success, then the end of the 30-year league title drought. But the fireworks had barely dimmed in the sky over Anfield before Jürgen Klopp found new opponents rising against him. Related: RB Leipzig v Liverpool relocated to Budapest due to German Covid rules Continue reading...
Win at Gladbach followed a botched appointment, a shock cup exit and a player upsetting fans – a regular seven days, thenThere was only one way to celebrate. As they began to bask in a surprise derby victory at Borussia-Park, the plan of Cologne’s players quickly clicked into gear. The players in red scampered to the north-west corner of the ground where the away support would usually be penned in, and Salih Özcan uprooted the corner flag before popping a shirt on it and waving it in the air above his jubilant teammates.The ribbing wasn’t lost on Borussia Mönchengladbach’s players. This has been Marcus Thuram’s victory routine since he arrived from France, normally flying his flag in front of the...