2023-24 Euro Soccer Thread

[M2]

It's opening weekend for most of the big five leagues. Harry Kane has transferred to Bayern Munich. Newcastle is flying in their first game and they might be a good sleeper pick to win the EPL. Kylian Mbappe is suspended at PSG and could be transferred before the end of the month. And there's an influx of USMNT players into Serie A. So make sure you're watching the Rossoneri this season.

[M2]

Champions League draw is out:

Group A
Bayern Munich (Germany)
Manchester United (England)
Copenhagen (Denmark)
Galatasaray (Turkey)

That's two powerhouses and two teams fighting for the Europa League spot in the group.

Group B
Sevilla (Spain)
Arsenal (England)
PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands)
Lens (France)

Wide open group, and Arsenal shouldn't get too comfortable (even if it should progress).

Group C
Napoli (Italy)
Real Madrid (Spain)
Braga (Portugal)
Union Berlin (Germany)

No easy games in this group. Madrid and Napoli are going to have to work.

Group D
Benfica (Portugal)
Inter Milan (Italy)
Salzburg (Austria)
Real Sociedad (Spain)

Another fairly open group. Inter's the favorite, but it's not an automatic to progress.

Group E
Feyenoord (Netherlands)
Atlético Madrid (Spain)
Lazio (Italy)
Celtic (Scotland)

And another wide open group. All four teams will believe they have a chance to progress.

Group F
Paris Saint-Germain (France)
Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
AC Milan (Italy)
Newcastle (England)

Group of death.

Group G
Manchester City (England)
RB Leipzig (Germany)
Red Star Belgrade (Serbia)
Young Boys (Switzerland)

Easy stroll through the group stage for the defending champs.

Group H
Barcelona (Spain)
Porto (Portugal)
Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)
Royal Antwerp (Belgium)

Barca should escape the group stage for the first time in three years, though Shaktar tends to be tricky.

[Kingspoint]

U. S. hosts a re-tooling Germany in Hartford, CT this week. They then host Ghana (in Florida?) in their next friendly.

[BuckeyeRed27]

I didn’t get to watch it until later but Arsenal beating City in the league for the first time in (embarrassing long amount of time) really made my weekend better.

[M2]

I didn’t get to watch it until later but Arsenal beating City in the league for the first time in (embarrassing long amount of time) really made my weekend better.

It would be amazing to see Arsenal and Tottenham in the hunt right up until the end. Curious if you've gotten to see Spurs and have any thoughts.

[BuckeyeRed27]

It would be amazing to see Arsenal and Tottenham in the hunt right up until the end. Curious if you've gotten to see Spurs and have any thoughts.

I watched the Arsenal game and thought Arsenal was better but didn’t get 3 points from being sloppy. I watched the Liverpool game which unfortunately got a little ruined with that VAR controversy. I think they are very solid and Son seems to be more dynamic without Kane. I tend to doubt they have the depth to hang until May with Arsenal and City though, but I don’t know a ton about some of their young guys and newer signings so maybe?

[Chip R]

RIP, Sir Bobby Charlton

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/38710663/man-united-england-legend-sir-bobby-charlton-dies-86

[Kingspoint]

RIP, Sir Bobby Charlton

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/38710663/man-united-england-legend-sir-bobby-charlton-dies-86

I saw that.

[M2]

If you're not watching Jude Bellingham, it's time to start.

https://twitter.com/footybuzzHQ/status/1718434008844141020

[M2]

1st place in La Liga - Girona.

1st place in Der Bundesliga - Bayer Leverkusen.

[M2]

Copenhagen through to the knockout rounds. ManU didn't even get the Europa League qualification. Neither did Sevilla, which is having a miserable season.

Big thing to watch tomorrow is there's a chance PSG loses away to Dortmund and fails to qualify for the knockout rounds.

[Big Red Smokey]

POT 1️⃣

Bayern
Borussia Dortmund
Arsenal
Manchester City
Real Madrid
Barcelona
Real Sociedad
Atletico Madrid

POT 2️⃣

PSG
Inter
Lazio
Napoli
Porto
RB Leipzig
Copenhagen
PSV Eindhoven

[M2]

POT 1️⃣

Bayern
Borussia Dortmund
Arsenal
Manchester City
Real Madrid
Barcelona
Real Sociedad
Atletico Madrid

POT 2️⃣

PSG
Inter
Lazio
Napoli
Porto
RB Leipzig
Copenhagen
PSV Eindhoven

Rooting for Barcelona vs. PSG, whose manager Luis Enrique is a former Barca star and manager. His job and Xavi's might be on the line if they face each other, as I doubt either club will be happy with a first round exit.

A City-Inter matchup would be a rematch of last year's final, and that would be kind of cool.

The sneaky team in Pot 2 is PSV. They've got a perfect record in the Dutch league (which could leap over France in the UEFA coeffiicient by the close of this season). They've got cohesion, which makes them dangerous, especially if the opposition takes them lightly.

[Big Red Smokey]

Yeah, I'm glad Arsenal don't have to play them again.

[M2]

Champions League draw:

Atletico Madrid - Inter
Barcelona - Napoli
Arsenal - Porto
Real Sociedad - PSG
Dortmund - PSV
Bayern - Lazio
Real Madrid - RB Leipzig
Man City - Copenhagen

Some tasty draws in there, also fodder to argue the two sheik-owned clubs bought their preferred matchups. Though I think Sociedad is fully capable of sending PSG home. Will be particularly interesting to see if any of the three Italian clubs can progress. Anybody feel like calling an upset?

[M2]

Liverpool vs. Arsenal on Saturday with 1st place heading into Boxing Day on the line. Who's winning?

[BuckeyeRed27]

Liverpool vs. Arsenal on Saturday with 1st place heading into Boxing Day on the line. Who's winning?

Arsenal hasn’t won at Anfield since 2012. I’m just hoping for a draw.

[Big Red Smokey]

Yep. Better playing at Anfield now then April like last year.

Get the point and get out of town.

[Chip R]

The European Court of Justice has ruled FIFA and UEFA rules blocking a Super League to be unlawful.

https://theathletic.com/5154222/2023/12/21/super-league-ruling-case-uefa-fifa/?source=dailyemail&campaign=601983

[M2]

The European Court of Justice has ruled FIFA and UEFA rules blocking a Super League to be unlawful.

https://theathletic.com/5154222/2023/12/21/super-league-ruling-case-uefa-fifa/?source=dailyemail&campaign=601983

Still a dead project though. Germany, France and (after fans insta-revolted) England aren't touching that thing.

[BuckeyeRed27]

Liverpool vs. Arsenal on Saturday with 1st place heading into Boxing Day on the line. Who's winning?

Well played game. Arsenal was way better early and then survived and got insanely lucky TAA hit the bar on that break.

Hoped for a draw and got it.

[Big Red Smokey]

That pitch yesterday was a joke. Players sliding all over the place.

[Big Red Smokey]

Another bad Chelsea loss. 22 points. 10th place. Closer to relegation zone then 4th.

[M2]

Another bad Chelsea loss. 22 points. 10th place. Closer to relegation zone then 4th.

They're a disaster. Only three guys left on the club out of the 14 guys who played in their 2021 UCL title win (Reece James, Ben Chillwell and the ghost of Thiago Silva). They spent £272M on transfers in the summer of 2022, £284M last winter and £403M this past summer - all for a glorified pile of crap. That's 33 players. What's a team supposed to do with 33 players?

- - - Updated - - -


That pitch yesterday was a joke. Players sliding all over the place.

You'll never slide alone.

[Big Red Smokey]

Arsenal look like a shell of the team from last year. Just very robotic. No creativity. And the defense is starting to crater.

[BuckeyeRed27]

Arsenal look like a shell of the team from last year. Just very robotic. No creativity. And the defense is starting to crater.

They are just so wasteful. They play pretty football, passing all that. But just never take advantage of chances right now.

Martinelli has dropped off badly and has no confidence. Jesus has just never recovered from that knee injury. Nketiah isn’t a starter. Troussard and Havertz seemed kinda lost in what their roles should be. Odegaard and Saka have been pretty good, but just as a unit it’s just off.

[M2]

Arsenal look like a shell of the team from last year. Just very robotic. No creativity. And the defense is starting to crater.

They can't handle Christmas.

[Betterread]

Real Madrid destroy Barca 4-1 in the Spanish Supercopa (winner and loser of Spanish cup and 1-2 in la liga - four teams). Notable for Vinicius’ hat trick in the first half. Reminder of his class in a year that has been all Bellingham all the time. A return to last years’s form?

[M2]

Real Madrid destroy Barca 4-1 in the Spanish Supercopa (winner and loser of Spanish cup and 1-2 in la liga - four teams). Notable for Vinicius’ hat trick in the first half. Reminder of his class in a year that has been all Bellingham all the time. A return to last years’s form?

Vini's just getting healthy. Was most encouraged by how he hammered that PK. Barca helped by playing that insanely high line. Practically rolled out the red carpet for Vini and Rodrygo to scorch them.

[Betterread]

The Roma and Mourinho love affair is over. Spicy is all well and good but the team still has to beat Lazio and Atalanta at least. DDR gets his first HC opportunity. Buona fortuna capitano futuro!

[M2]

The Roma and Mourinho love affair is over. Spicy is all well and good but the team still has to beat Lazio and Atalanta at least. DDR gets his first HC opportunity. Buona fortuna capitano futuro!

Mourinho 3rd Year Syndrome is a real thing.

[M2]

Jurgen Klopp announced he's stepping down at Liverpool after the season, saying he's sort of fried from the job. Now Xavi is saying he's stepping at Barcelona after the season, though in his case he might get sacked before that.

Here's my question, will Klopp still insist he's burnt out when Barca comes knocking?

[M2]

Mauricio Pochettino just got sacked at (11th place) Chelsea. Everything is in place for Mourinho to return. The universe practically demands it.

https://media.tenor.com/6r9EhGRfHVQAAAAM/jose-mourinho-ssh.gif

[BuckeyeRed27]

Arsenal!

[M2]

Mauricio Pochettino just got sacked at (11th place) Chelsea. Everything is in place for Mourinho to return. The universe practically demands it.

https://media.tenor.com/6r9EhGRfHVQAAAAM/jose-mourinho-ssh.gif

Apologies, I was mistaken and Poch is not yet sacked.

[dabvu2498]

Has anyone put Harry Kane’s head on the Bad Luck Brian meme yet?

[M2]

Champions League draw is out.

Arsenal (ENG) vs Bayern (GER)
Real Madrid (ESP) vs Manchester City (ENG)
Paris (FRA) vs Barcelona (ESP)
Atlético de Madrid (ESP) vs Dortmund (GER)

The de facto final might once again be that Madrid vs. City matchup. Also, there's a pretty A section and B section to the draw as the Arsenal/Bayern winner will face the Madrid/City winner in the semis.

[BuckeyeRed27]

After stress watching penalties against Porto just happy to be back for the first time in 14 years! Decent year to catch Bayern though, so see how it goes.

[M2]

After stress watching penalties against Porto just happy to be back for the first time in 14 years! Decent year to catch Bayern though, so see how it goes.

Fun fact, Prem teams are now 21-7 in the UCL knockout rounds across the last four editions. One of those losses is Man City in the 2021 final against Chelsea. The other six are against Real Madrid. Basically, the only club able to hand with the EPL is Madrid. It's gone 6-2 against them over that time, losing to 2021 winners Chelsea and 2023 winners Man City in the semis. It's beaten everyone else. So it's like super club vs. super league.

That's a roundabout way of me saying, Arsenal's chances against a flagging Bayern side are looking pretty good.

The other half of the draw is wide open. PSG and Barca are battered. Dortmund's limited. I think it might be there for Atleti to win, though it's in a dog fight to stay in the top four in La Liga. So it's got a lot of stress going into every game it plays.

[M2]

Bayer Leverkusen wins its first-ever Bundesliga title. The fans were mildly enthused - https://twitter.com/MenInBlazers/status/1779600417661292895.

[Big Red Smokey]

Arsenal with their biggest win ever over Chelsea yesterday.
Everton beats Liverpool today

Can Brighton pull the miracle tomorrow?

[M2]

Real Madrid vs. Borussia Dortmund for the Champions League final.

[M2]

Bayer Leverkusen is two games away from an unbeaten season in all competitions. The won the Bundesliga with zero losses, breaking a streak of 9 straight from Bayern Munich. They have the German cup final against Kaiserslautern next weekend. Yet before that, on Wednesday, they have the Europa League final against Atalanta, and that's going to be a serious game. Both teams play progressive football and have great managers. Leverkusen's Xabi Alonso is a hot commodity for obvious reasons, but Atalanta's Gian Piero Gasperini has been a magician over the past 8 seasons. That might be the game of the year.

[Betterread]

Real Madrid win UEFA Champions League 2024. Hala Madrid. 7th CL win for Ancelotti at Wembly.
Vinicius and Charvajal were top performers. BVB were pretty good, and even outplayed RM for most of the first half, but they ran out of energy around 65 minutes without scoring any goals.
Bellingham was meh, did get an assist.

[M2]

Mood:

21310

[RedTeamGo!]

Real Madrid won? Yawn

[M2]

Real Madrid won? Yawn

Six times in 11 years, baby. Oh, and Mbappe's coming next season. Enjoy the dynasty, because you're never going to see it again.

[RedTeamGo!]

Six times in 11 years, baby. Oh, and Mbappe's coming next season. Enjoy the dynasty, because you're never going to see it again.

Why would it never be seen again? Real Madrid has been spending billions on players for decades now

[M2]

Why would it never be seen again? Real Madrid has been spending billions on players for decades now

They spend way less than EPL teams, or PSG, or Barcelona. Madrid doesn't even make the top 10 in transfer spending for the past decade - https://www.planetfootball.com/stats-tables/highest-net-spend-since-2013-europe-cies-man-utd-chelsea-psg-arsenal.

As for doing it again, do you know how incredibly hard it is to win a Champions League? Manchester City has spent €856M over the past decade and it's got one title to its name. PSG has spent €1.01B and it's got zero. The legendary Sir Alex Manchester United teams only won twice in 20 tries, nine years apart from each other. Since they converted to being the Champions League (from the pure head-to-head format of the European Cup) in 1993, Madrid is the only club that's won consecutive titles. Madrid may keep this run going for a bit, but the only other club that's got 6 in 11 years is Madrid from 1956-66. This kind of comet doesn't come around too often.

[Betterread]

Why would it never be seen again? Real Madrid has been spending billions on players for decades now

May 29, 2024 top wage bills for Euro clubs
1. Paris Saint-Germain – €290,990,000
2. Real Madrid – €282,650,000
3. Bayern Munich – €255,320,000
4. Manchester United – €240,761,310 (£205,756,000)
5. Manchester City – €235,233,765 (£201,332,000)

Money isn’t everything. Man U finished 8th, Bayern finished 3rd in domestic leagues.

[westofyou]

Euro 2024 starts next Friday, who ya got?

[M2]

Euro 2024 starts next Friday, who ya got?

I'm going with the Netherlands. I think they're going to be formidable in the back in the knockout rounds.

[Betterread]

Euro 2024 starts next Friday, who ya got?

France. But I think this is the year England finally breaks through and does well. The way the draw is set up, they could avoid France and Germany until the final. With Saka, Foden and Bellingham, I think they have three young players ready to shine……and they just lost a tuneup game to Iceland, in Wembley.

[BlackPete Ibold]

I realize this is a continent away, but the USMNT is a dumpster fire. Carry on.

[BlackPete Ibold]

I realize this is a continent away, but the USMNT is a dumpster fire. Carry on.

Realize the bad form to quote my own post, but....

I posted right as it got to 3- 1. More of a flaming poo-show than dumpster fire at this point. Holy smokes, so much for a potential 'golden generation'

[Betterread]

Are moderators taking the day off?

[M2]

Realize the bad form to quote my own post, but....

I posted right as it got to 3- 1. More of a flaming poo-show than dumpster fire at this point. Holy smokes, so much for a potential 'golden generation'

Bringing back Berhalter was an idiotic decision. They needed someone to come in who can take them to the next level.

[M2]

When you realize American sports fandom is kind of passive and lazy - https://twitter.com/MenInBlazers/status/1804214175302062273.

[Chip R]

Due to his broken nose, Mbappé is a sub for the France Netherlands match today.