The group stages have become predictable and merely reinforce financial inequalities between the biggest clubs and also-ransI n the distance the anthem swells. Inappropriate advertising hoardings are covered up. A continent prepares to give thanks to Gazprom for providing them with football. The Champions League returns on Tuesday, unleashing an excited flurry of anticipatory questions: Can Liverpool defend their crown? Will Pep Guardiola stop overcomplicating things and, after a nine-year break, finally lift his third European title as a manager? Will Juventus’s gamble on Cristiano Ronaldo pay off? Are Barcelona and Real Madrid as shambolic as they appear? Who will Paris Saint‑Germain lose to hilariously this time? But mostly, when does the real stuff start?Does any other competition that so...
Choosing to stage Euro 2020 in 12 different countries is a decision that seems to be lacking in common senseImagine a series of outline maps spanning England, Europe and, perhaps even, the world. They feature clearly highlighted contours and country boundaries but the neatly printed place names which customarily adorn atlases and globes are missing.It is safe to assume that, asked to fill in the blanks and pinpoint specific towns and cities, a lot of people might make some embarrassingly bad guesses. But what price football fans proving the geographically literate exceptions? Related: Euro 2020 qualifying roundup: Spain cling on, Italy rally and Pukki scores Related: Harry Kane hits hat-trick in England’s demolition of blundering Bulgaria Continue reading...
Everybody has their favoured format for Uefa’s tournament but few want to see it evolve into a European Super League“Europe,” Sir Alex Ferguson said, actually a little before Manchester United’s 1999 success in the Champions League helped bring a knighthood his way, “ought to be the cherry on the cake. No one wants it to be the whole cake – that would spoil everything.”Ferguson was responding, a couple of decades ago, not only to non-champions being allowed into the hallowed event – he would mellow on seeing United go all the way in Europe after finishing second behind Arsenal in 1998 – but to Uefa tweaking the format once again to introduce a double group stage involving more matches. In...
World football’s governing body does not seem to have got any cleaner, it’s just that everything else has got significantly dirtierI’m so glad that sporticidal Fifa president Gianni Infantino got to enjoy his second-term victory speech two weeks ago entirely free of spoilers. “Nobody talks about crisis at Fifa any more or rebuilding it from scratch,” he announced from the stage. “Nobody talks about scandals or corruption – we talk about football. We can say that we’ve turned the situation around. This organisation has gone from being toxic, almost criminal, to being what it should be – an organisation that develops football and is now synonymous with transparency, integrity.”Mmm. Following the detention of former Uefa boss Michel Platini on Tuesday,...
If Gunners refused to contest Europa League showpiece they would generate headlines that might force Uefa into climbdownLeave no man behind. A code embraced by the US military, it refers to army policy of doing everything and anything possible to avoid abandoning troops behind enemy lines. A commendable dictum, despite the accompanying risks, it is one the Arsenal hierarchy may ponder ruefully as their players and backroom staff set off for next week’s Europa League final, leaving one of their own potentially key troops behind before even arriving at the Baku battlefield.In the meantime a “letter voicing their concerns” has been dispatched to Uefa and, at a recent media briefing, Unai Emery made all the right noises about the importance...