When Thomas Tuchel joined the Chelsea Football Club last year, everything changed within the team and also for the fans. Team was strong even when Frank Lampard managing the team but either he got his tactics wrong or team didn’t gel very well, team was not getting the results they wanted. When Tuchel joined everything changes. Teams starts getting results against the big teams and eventually they won the Champions League.
Now the season have changed and Manager gains confidence among the Board and he have the say when it comes to transfers. Chelsea already bought key players last year but this year they improvised their team with 2 transfers and some players returned from the loan spell. So, let’s discuss what they did in their transfer window.
Romelu Lukaku
Last year when team bought Timo Werner, Manager thought that he will replace Oliver Giroud and will compete with Tammy Abraham to take a striker spot. Werner shows flashes of brilliance in the season but main problem with him was finishing in the box and because of that Chelsea goals tally decreases.
This year team decided to offload both Oliver Giroud and Tammy Abraham and brings in Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan by paying 97.5 million pounds to Inter Milan.
Romelu Lukaku will help Chelsea to increase their goal tally and this transfer might help Timo Werner to improve himself and prove his worth to the Manager and fans. So let’s see how this transfer will turn up and how Lukaku will help Chelsea to win more trophies.
Saul Niguez
Reason behind the addition of Saul Niguez in the team like Chelsea where Manager already have three options to chose for only one spot felt felt strange to me personally. Will Saul strengthen the team depth? Yes. But how much match minutes he will get in whole season is a big question because team have Jorginho who just UEFA Men’s Player of the Year, Kante who is world class midfielder and Kovacic who already won UCL with Real Madrid and Chelsea too. Kovacic is a player who will fight for his place with Saul.
Saul is a player who played in multiple positions when he played with Atletico Madrid and those positions where Centre Back, Midfielder, Wing Back and striker too. So he will be useful at Chelsea for sure but how the manager will use him is a big question.
Squad Depth
When we see the squad depth of Chelsea, we see that this team have substitutes for each and every positions. Thomas Tuchel have players who can lead the team to win Premier League easily if they gel well and if the managers got his tactics correct.
When team president give each and everything manager asked for, then manager have pressure to produce more positive results than negative results. Thomas Tuchel have all the weapons in his armour. Let’s see how well he use it.
After watching the first match of F.C. Barcelona against Real Sociedad, one thing that I want to say is that Messi leaving Barcelona can be a blessing in disguise for a team. I am saying this because when one superstar left the team then there are players who got the opportunity to prove their worth in the team and they want to cement their place in the team for coming season. When a player like Messi played in Barcelona there are chances that he will get most of the limelight whenever a team won the match and other players has to perform excellant if he want to take a limelight from Messi.
As we all know that Messi left Barcelona and he joined PSG. Messi saga is over with Barcelona. But now players like Griezmann, Depay, Coutinho (if he didn’t leave), Dembele (if he didn’t get injured) and many youngsters like Ansu Fati, Pedri, Puig, Demir and Collado have to step up and have to take team on another level.
It will take few players to replace Messi when it comes to his goals and assist cntribution but now the pressure is on manager’s shoulder because he have to distribute the duties and have to tell the roles to each and every player.
Before Messi left the team, there are few incomings and very few outcomings and there are some rumours about the transfers. So let’s talk about it one by one.
Sergio Kun Aguero
After spending ten years at Manchester City, sergio aguero have only two wishes, first wish is to play with messi at club level which will remain a wish as messi left for PSG and second wish he want to fulfil is to win champions league. He didn’t win UCL at Man City and now he have to step up and prove his worth at Barcelona. At the moment he is injured, so let’s see what will he do.
2. Eric Garcia
Another player who left Manchester City to join Barcelona is Eric Garcia. Eric Garcia is a player who can play for a decade, if treated properly. Eric Garcia is a great prospect and he can play at Centre Back position. At Manchester City, he didn’t get much chances but when he got chance at Euro 2020, there he showed his true caliber. He can be a starter for Barcelona very easily but he have to play really well because there are many players who are sitting on the bench like Lenglet, Mingueza and Araujo and eagerly waiting to play.
3. Memphis Depay
Ronald Koeman (Manager of Barcelona) wanted Memphis Depay even in last transfer window but because of some financial issues they didn’t get the player.
After the 2020-2021 season ended, Depay becomes the free agent and it becomes easier for Barcelona to get the transfer done. Depay is a player who can play in more than one position which are Left winger, Striker and Centre Attacking Midfielder.
After Messi’s departure, his workload will definitely increase and lead the team to the glory. He looks promising when he played in pre-season matches and first game of La-liga.
What’s Next?
There are few players who will get loaned out and there are some players who can depart from the team. Trincao joined Wolves from Premier League on loan and Emerson Royal came back from Real Betis after the loan of three season. There are many names who are on transfer list like Coutinho, Dembele, Pjanic and young players like Alex Collado and Puig can go on loan.
F.C. Barcelona can create wonders if each and every dot connects but there is a chnace that they can go trophyless. So let’s what will happen in coming days. Mes Que Un Club.
Today Real Madrid will start their new campaign with many changes in the team. When 2020-2021 season ended there were many rumours about the manager and few players will not play for Real Madrid and all the rumours got real.
First, one of the best Manager for Real Madrid, Zinedine Zidane left the team. He left the team because he was frustrated with the media and he thinks that President of the team will not provide him the players he needs in the neext season.
Second shock for the team came up when Real Madrid broke the news that captain of the team, Sergio Ramos will leave the team after 16 years because the player needed the 2-year contract but Real Madrid offered him the contract only of 1-year.
Third departure for the team was of Brahim Diaz. It was not a shocker because he was already played for AC Milan for one and a half year on loan and Real Madrid is already stacked with many midfielders who will stay with the team this season.
On a personal note, One of the biggest blunder of Real Madrid was when they let go Raphael Varane in this season. When a team lost their two main centre-backs (Ramos and Varane). Varane left Real Madrid on a good note and the reason he left the team because he wanted a new challenge in his life.
There were many departures and very less incomings. This season Real Madrid mainly concentrated on players contract extensions. So let’s talk some of good news that came from Real Madrid side.
Carlo Ancelotti
When Zidane left Real Madrid, there were many Managers who were linked with Real Madrid like Antonio Conte, Pochettino and Allegri. But none of them came on board with Real Madrid and last option Real Madrid left with is Carlo Ancelotti and a signing of him literally came from nowhere. Ancelotti was a manager of Real Madrid when team won the ‘famous’ 10th UCL and he know about La Liga and he knew that how Real Madrid works. Let’s see, how his second reign with the team will go ?
2. David Alaba
David Alaba was linked with Real Madrid since March. David Alaba can play in three positions which are left back, centre back and Centre Midfielder. At one point, fans and media thought that Alaba will be a replacement for Marcelo but when players like Ramos and Varane left, now the manager is planning to play him at centre-back position and in a friendly, Alaba looks promising at that position. Alaba signed 5-year contract with the team and we all hope that he prove his worth in coming season.
3. Contract Extension
Real Madrid is concentrated when it comes to contract extension because this season they already gave new contracts to Luka Modric who is set to play with the team for one more year, second player who got a new contract is Lucas Vazquez who will stay with the team until 2024 and I think he can be the most important player for the team in coming season. Two defenders who got the contract extensions were Nacho and Carvajal and they will stay with the until 2023 and 2025 respectively
What’s Next ?
There are only two weeks left in the transfer window and Real Madrid’s main priority is to sign Kylian Mbappe from PSG but Mbappe’s departure is looking difficult now because PSG bought players with the champions pedigree and player like Mbappe want to give one last shot and will try to win UCL with Messi, Ramos and Neymar. Other than that no players is linked with the team but there are many players on the list who can go on loan or can depart on a permanent transfer.
So, let’s hope for the best for Real Madrid. HALA MADRID.
First team I want to talk about before the start of the season is Paris Saint Germain (PSG). PSG is very busy in the transfer till date. We all know this team is so rich that they can buy anyone on the given day like they did before when they bought Neymar and Mbappe and everyone else but this year they are playing smart, they are spending money on the players who are best at their positions and the players who are free agents in the transfer market. In this transfer window they bought four free agents and one player from the other team. So let’s talk about all the weapons PSG put in their armoury.
Achraf Hakimi
Last year Achraf Hakimi played a Pivotel role in inter to win a Seria A title. He cemented his Right back position in that team. Everyone thought that he will continue to play with Inter Milan but after winning the title sporting director of Inter Milan said that the team have to offload some players to make a balance in financial books. First shock for Inter Milan came when Antonio Conte resigned as a Manager then some players wanted to leave the team and then PSG came into the picture.
PSG showed the will to buy Achraf Hakimi and offered 70 million dollars to Inter Milan and they accepted the bid and PSG and Inter Milan shook hands. On a personal terms with Achraf Hakimi, PSG gave hime a contract untill 2026 and offered double the wage that he got at Inter Milan. So this transfer was a win-win situation for both the clubs and the player.
2. Sergio Ramos
Who would have thought that Real Madrid will let go his captain Sergio Ramos just because they cannot offer him a 2 year contract. Already there were rumours that Sergio Ramos will leave Real Madrid after 16 years. But at one point there were also rumours that both club and player agreed and Sergio Ramos will stay but one day, news from nowhere broke the social media that Sergio Ramos will not renew the contract with Real Madrid because of the contract issues.
Few days later PSG announced that they bought Sergio Ramos as a free agent and will play for a team untill 2023. Sergio Ramos will be the best asset for PSG for next two years without a doubt, if he didn’t get injured.
3. Gianluigi Donnarumma
Gianluigi Donnarumma’s transfer from AC Milan to PSG was a bit strange for both the parties involved because first question that I want to raise that why AC Milan can’t convince Donnarumma to stay and on the other side if PSG already had a world class goalkeeper named Keylor Navas, so why they bought Donnarumma?
This transfer can be a good marketing strategy as Donnarumma just win the Euro 2020 with his one of the best performance. But how PSG will convince player like keylor Navas to sit on the bench in most of the games. If not this year, Keylor Navas should leave PSG next season if he didn’t get the playtime which he deserves.
4. Georginio Wijnaldum
After the Wijnaldum’s contract expires at Liverpool there were strong rumours that Wijnaldum will join Barcelona and it seems like done deal but when it comes to wages Wijnaldum demanded more of it from Barcelona and Barcelona tried to bargain but then PSG came into the picture and gave Wijnaldum a better contract as compare to Barcelona and Wijnaldum decided to accept the contract and now he will play for PSG untill 2024.
He will cover the midfield position in the team. He is not that good but not that bad. He can be a player who will come as a substitute and can be a game changer for the team. He is a good addition in the team but not the transfer that PSG wanted to have.
5. Manager’s Renewal
When a team like Tottenham Spurs and Real Madrid were searching for their new managers, Pochettino was linked with both of the teams and he was in contact with Tottenham Hotspurs but then PSG offered him a contract extension and they sent a strong message to all the teams that their Manager is not for sale and not going anywhere untill 2023.
6. Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi will play for PSG. This is the biggest transfer of the season by any football team around the world. Messi wanted to stay at Barcelona but because of the wage cap rules of La Liga Barcelona was not able to register him and Messi didn’t renew for the team he love the most.
After the announcement of Messi’s leaving Barcelona, PSG was the first one who made contact with the Father (agent) of Lionel Messi and few days later Messi agreed to the contract and changed his team from Barcelona to PSG after 21 years.
What’s Next ?
After buying player for each position , now the main challenges for PSG is that how the manager will manage the egos of each and every player, which player will start the match and which will be benched, there are few who will not miss a match untill they get injured which are Messi, Ramos, Neymar and Mbappe.
So let’s wait and watch, what this team will achieve in future, how this team will gel and the trophies they will win. ICI C’EST PARIS.
Football is Back. Yes, Football is back with another season. Last season we saw great performances by some individuals and teams. Teams who performed as a team won the tournament. Take an example of Chelsea who won the Uefa Champions League and Italy who won the Euro 2020. Team like Argentina who won the Copa America not only because of the brilliance of Lionel Messi because when it comes to the final of Copa America, Argentina won it as a team because Messi played wonderfully in the final but his contribution in a winning goal is zero.
Last season we saw some brilliant individual performances by Bruno Fernandes at Manchester United but when he played with Portugal in Euro 2020, he was nowhere. We can use this example for Robert Lewandowski who broke yet another goalscoring record at Bayern Munich but even after scoring 3 goals in Euro 2020, he can’t take his National team to further stages. It is a team who helps you to become a legend and it is a team who will help you to win a trophy.
This season teams will make changes to make a weak links stronger than before. Some team will buy defender, some will buy midfielder or attackers. Few teams will have less money to make promising project for the team and some team will spend the money with both hands. Some teams are looking forward to bring new managers in the team and few team manager have to compromise with the squad they have and some managers have to use their minds before selecting the starting XI as they have many options on the bench.
Questions like whether Player like Cristiano Ronaldo will play his last season at Juventus or he will left the club this year only without completing his contract at Juventus or Will kylian Mbappe leave his current club which Paris Saint Germain or he will join Real Madrid which is his ambition to join that club will get there answer before the transfer window.
Teams like Leicester City will be the team who keep pressure on other teams in Premier League or will they secure the Champions League Spot and on other hand Borussia Dortmund will be happy if they secure the second position in Bundesliga or will they try to end the domination of Bayern Munich.
It will be tough for the team like Inter Milan to continue their current form in Serie A but after the departure of their manager and some key players can be the advantage for other teams like Juventus, AC Milan, Napoli, Atlanta and Lazio.
After getting dethroned from a team like LOSC Lille in Lgue 1, Paris Saint Germain want to regain the top spot in the league but teams like Monaco will be a challenger for the league title.
Real Madrid and Barcelona will lock horns with Atletico Madrid to fight for the La Liga title. Last year Real Madrid lost the league with just one point and fight for the top four was so nail biting.. Teams Like Sevilla FC, Villarreal FC and Valenica will fight for the top four spot.
Let’s see who will emerge as a new champions of different league across the europe and who will be crowned as a ultimate champion of UEFA Champions League. Cannot wait for the nexxt season and cannot wait to see who will break the records.
Fernando Santos guiding his players from sidelines, Cristiano Ronaldo motivating his team from sidelines after getting injured, match went in extra time, players covering hard yards to score a winning goal but then in 109th minute of the match, Eder, a player from Portugal shoots a ball that went inside the goal beating France’s defenders and goalkeeper and then the refree blows the final time whistle and Portugal won their first ever Euros. As a football fan, I watched my first Euros back then in 2016 and Ronaldo lifting the trophy was a cherry on top kinda moment.
Five years later, Euro 2020 is starting from today, which was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID pandemic and UEFA committee decided that they will move the tournament by one year and name of the tournament will remain the same.
For the first time in tournament history, Euro 2020 will be held in 12 different host cities around Europe which are Rome, Baku, Saint Petersburg, Copenhegan, Amsterdam, Bucharest, London, Glasgow, Seville, Munich and Budapest.
Format Of The Tournament
In Euro 2020, the 24 teams drawn in six groups of four teams each. The top two team in each group and four best third-placed teams will advance to the round of 16, then teams who will win their round of 16 matches will qualify for quarterfinals and then they will play quarterfinals to qualify for semifinals stage, then semifinal round will happen to reach to the ultimate finale of EUROs which will held at Wembley on July 12, 2021 as per Indian Standard time.
Let’s Talk About Groups
Official Match Ball for EURO 2020
There are few teams who are starting the tournament as title favourites. Some teams got easy groups, some teams got complicated groups, and out of six groups there is one group which is getting famous by the name of “group of death.” Let’s talk about the groups:-
GROUP A
In Group A, there are 4 teams including Turkey, Wales, Italy and Switzerland where Italy and Wales are favourites to qualify for knockout phase. Italy have some quality players like Donnarumma, Chiesa, Bonucci, Chiellini, Jorgingo, Immobile, Verrati and Nico barella. This time Wales is not reliant only on Gareth Bale, this time they got Dan James, Ben Davies, Neco Williams and Aaron Ramsey.
GROUP B
In Group B, there are teams like Denmark, Finland, Belgium and Russia. This is quite a complicated group because except Belgium, three other teams have an equal chance to qualify for next stage of the tournament. Belgium got great players like Courtois, Hazard, Lukaku, De Bruyne, Castagne, Jon Vertonghen and Carrasco. Belgium will be the tough team to beat in the tournament.
GROUP C
In Group C, Netherland have a great chance to top the group which includes teams like Ukraine, Austria and North Macedonia. Netherland got a great team where players like De Jong, Depay, Wijnaldum, De Ligt, Nathan Ake and Blind can help the team to achieve glories but in midfield they are lacking one of their important player which is Van De Beek. Team Ukraine is the team who have the capability to clinch second spot in this group because this team knows how to attack whenever needed.
Group D
Group D is one of the best group in the tournament to lookout for because in this Group there are team like England who have great young and experience players like Kane, Sterling, Henderson, Mount, Grealish, Foden, and they got great defended too like Trent Arnold, John Stones, Chilwell etc. Second team in this group is Croatia who reached in previous World Cup final and still got great players like Modric, Vrsaljko, Kovacic, Perisic and Lovren who can help the team to qualify for next stage. Scotland and Czech Republic are other two teams in this group who have some individual talents but not have a great team.
GROUP E
In Group E, there is team which is my personal favourite i.e. Spain and Spain will lock their horns with the teams like Poland, Sweden and Slovakia. Spain is a team who have one of the best young players in the tournament but can the young players will help the team to win the tournament ? Players like Pau Torres, G. Moerno, Marcus Llorente, Morata, Ferran Torres, De Gea, Laporte can lead this team to glory. If I look at Poland team there is only player on which they totally depend and the player is Robert Lewandowski. How much a single player can help his team, time will tell. Sweden and Slovakia. will have their chance to finish the group as third best team.
GROUP F
Group F will be the most entertaining group for the football fans throughout the world because when teams like Germany, France, Portugal will play with each other, nothing but firecrackers are expected from them. All three teams have a bunch of great players which make there team the title favourites.
Starting from Germany, players like Neuer, Rudiger, Sule, Kimmich, Havertz, Toni Kroos, Werner can lead this team to many victories once they get their team combination ready.
France, world champion of football, will enter the field to conquer Europe because they have one of the best team in tournament. They have great players in every area. Varane, Hernandez , Digne, Pavard in defense, Kante, Pogba, in midfield, Mbappe, Griezmann, Benzama in attack can create problems for other teams while playing.
Portugal, 2016 Europeon Champion, got a once in a generation kinda team because when you have players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes, Ruben Dias, Pepe, Joao Cancelo, Bernardo Silva, Andre Silva, Felix and Diogo Jota in one group, nobody in a world can write you off. Can this team pull off another trophy or they will lack somewhere?
Fourth team in the group is Hungary which I don’t think is having any chance to qualify for next phase of the tournament.
Coming days are interesting for football fans. We will see some great team performances, some great goals, teams will upset each other, players will celebrate their wins, players will cry when they will face a loss. But for fans there is one thing that they will get for next one month and that thing is Entertainment.
Another football season came to an end. This year we saw many ups and downs, many turnarounds, many upsets, some team bought multiple players and there are teams who don’t even bought a single player, some teams sacked their respective managers even when they don’t have much options, many records were broken, some teams made history by winning trophies.Let’s remember one of the biggest moments happened throughput the season.
CHELSEA – The Thomas Tuchel Way
Chelsea won the most prestigious club level trophy, The UEFA Champions League last night. When the tournament started, Chelsea was not favourites to win the trophy. But then they bought Ziyech, Werner, Havertz, Chilwell and Mendy. Everyone started believing that this team have a spark to win something. They started their premier league campaign very well under manager Frank Lampard but after few games their performance starts diminishing. People starts raising questions on team’s player and manager’s ability and after few games when Board member lost their patience, they decided to sack Frank Lampard.
After sacking Frank Lampard they decided to bring Thomas Tuchel for managing the broken Chelsea of that time. When Thomas Tuchel join the team, Chelsea was at ninth position in the premier league and in champions league they had to play Atletico Madrid in Round of 16. Everyone thought that Tuchel can’t change the team situation in very less time but Tuchel have another plans. From the very first game Chelsea looked different. They went 14 games unbeaten. They beat atletico madrid in round of 16, porto in quarters finals and Real Madrid in semi finals, in the premier league, from ninth position they climbed to fourth position and booked their place for next UCL season. They beat Man city in premier league and in semifinals of FA Cup. And destiny gave the fair chance to Man City to take the revenge in UCL Final but Tuchel and his company outplayed the tactics planned by Guardiola ( Manager of Man City) and won the UCL second time in their club history.
2. Villarreal – Won first ever europeon championship
Villarreal won their first ever Uefa Europa League under the manage Unai Emery who also known as Mr. Europa League because he previously won the same tournament thrice with Sevilla F.C. . Emergence of players like Pau Torres, Gerard Moreno, Dani Parejo made the job easy for the manager.
It’s not lke that their path to glory was so easy because they finished La Liga on seventh position which means they didn’t qualify even for UEFA Europa League. But their performance in Europa league was consistently improving. In round of 32 they beat RB Salzburg with aggregate 4-1, in round of 16 they thrashed Dynamo Kyiv with the aggregate of 4-0, in quarter finals they find it difficult to beat Dinamo Zagreb by 3-1 but they qualify for semi finals and there they faced Arsenal and beat them with the aggregate of 2-1. After winning the semi final, the biggest clash of their lives against the Manchester United was waiting for them. When the final of Europa League started Villarreal weren’t favourites at all but they fought for the trophy till the end and the match went up to the penalties and they won the Europa League 1(11)-1(10) by barest of margin. They wrote history after winning the title and qualified for the Champions League.
3. LOSC LILLE : Fairytale To Remember
LOSC Lille won Ligue 1 after ten years and show the world that you don’t need big names to win the league. What you need is passion and courage to win the ligue. You need consistency and you have to show confidence in your players and on the manager of the particular team.
During the campaign players like Sven Botman, Burak Yilmaz, Jonathan Bamba, Jose Fonte and Mike Maignan played very well and consistency and confidence was the key for them.
Even they win the league by a point but defeating team like PSG where they have world class players, is one of the biggest news in world football. These type of performance make football more interesting.
4. Manchester City: Toughest Premier League Season Ever
After the sheer dominance of Liverpool in 2019-2020 season, this season of premier league started with the thought that Liverpool can win again but few games later their key player Virgil Van Dijik got injured and out for whole season. But their list of injuries didn’t end there, Liverpool almost lost their all centre backs at one point. Teams like Chelsea, Leicester City, Aston Villa, Manchester United and West Ham United took advantage of the condition and played very well in the league.
On the other hand Manchester City struggle to cope up with other teams and after ten games they were at 13th position but from there Guardiola changed his tactics and started playing team without a striker which means more attacking players in midfield and they can defend at the back when they need to. This tactic helped them and they went 16 games unbeaten. Players like Ruben Dias, Cancelo, J.Stones, Gundogan, Phil Foden, Mahrez and De Bruyne stepped up and take the team to another level and won the premier league third time under Pep Guardiola.
5. Atletico Madrid: You entered in a Suarez zone
When you seal the La Liga title on 67th minute of last gameweek and a team like Real Madrid who kept the pressure untill 90+2nd minute, just think how much the pressure was on Atletico Madrid.
They started the league as La Liga favourites because after few games the gap they created between first position and second position was of 13 points and players like Joao Felix, M. Llorente, Suarez, Hermoso and angel correa performed very well.
But when the dip in performance came they can’t cope up with performance and they reduced 13 points margin to none. At one point there league standing was second but Real Madrid and Barcelona were so inconsistent and helped Atletico to win the league.
Last two gameweeks were so thrilling because in each game Atletico conceded the goal and keep the pressure on themselves but Luis Suarez always came to the rescue and win the match for the team and helped Atletico to win the title after eight years.
6. Inter Milan : Dethrone Juventus
Ending the nine year domination of Juventus and to win Serie A after 2009-2010 season was a long journey for Inter Milan and for the manager Antonio Conte.
People tagged Conte as the “go the league winner manager” because whenver he joined new team like Juventus and Chelsea, he won the particular league with both of them.
But the task to win the Serie A with Inter Milan was difficult because the main challenge for them is to beat Juventus who have the world’s one of the best player Cristiano Ronaldo and also key players like Dybala, Morata, De ligt but what they don’t have was experienced manager. Juventus just hired Andrea Pirlo and he don’t have even one game experience of managing any team.
On the other side Conte bought and develop his players very well. Lukaku, Achraf Hakimi, Nico Barella and Martinez. Lukaku develop himself as a goal machine and helped the team to dethrone Juventus. They played attacking football throughout the season which helped them to win the title.
7. Bayern Munich : No one can stop them
Even when they perform bad, Bayern Munich can win the Bundesliga title. Even their number one striker Robert Lewandowski got injured for few weeks they managed to win the title.
They perform like they are made for this competition. Each and every player knows his role while playing for a team. Where they lack this season was depth in the team and because of the lack of depth they didn’t go far in Champions League and lose to PSG in quarter finals. But their dominance in Bundesliga continues even when player like Haaland, Sancho and Gio reyna emerge as a house power for Borussia Dortmund.
8. Leicester City : FA Cup Glory
Aftwe winning the Premier League in 2015-2016, Leicester City emerged as a new team who can challenge Big Six teams of Premier league and they continue to do that but didn’t win the trophy. Everybody put the “Keep the pressure on team” tag on them. They managed to win games against big teams but they didn’t finish in Top 4 spot after winning the league.
This year they performed very well throughout the league and till Gameweek 36 they are on third position of the league and in FA Cup final they will face Chelsea.
They creates history by winning their first ever FA Cup and team celebrated a lot but in last two gameweeks of premier league, they bottled, and from third position they end their campaign on Fifth position and qualify to play UEFA Europa League.
9. Robert Lewandowski : Breaking Gerd Mueller’s Record
Last year he scored many goals, won the sextuplet with his team Bayern Munich and won two best player awards and everyone thought that it was a “one season wonder” kinda performance but only Robert Lewandowski believed in himself and he started the season on the same note. This season he scored 41 Bundesliga goals and with the help of those goals he broke the 49 years old record of Bayern Munich Legend Gerd Mueller. He could have scored more goals but he missed few games because of an injury. Now he is looking for more goals as EURO 2020 is coming and his eyes will definitely be on most prestigious individual award which is Ballon D’or.
10. No trust shown in managers
For consistent results team’s Board Member have to be consistent and have to show confidence with the managers of their respective teams. But in last few months we saw, three very shocking exit of Jose Mourinho who was manager of Tottenham Hotspur, Frand Lampard who was managing Chelsea and Thomas Tuchel who managed Paris Saint Germain.
News of sacking Jose Mourinho was so unexpected because his team was not doing well in the league but they managed to reach the final of Carabao Cup where they had to face Manchester City. Just before 3 days of the final they decided to sack Jose and it’s not like they had an option for new manager back then because they bring 29 years old Ryan Mason who have zero experience in managing the teams.
Sacking of Frand Lampard and Thomas Tuchel happened around the same time. First PSG sacked Tuchel because of bad run of form by the team and on the other hand Chelsea decided to sack Frank Lampard after inconsistent performance by the team. Sacking of Frank Lampard was understandable because after spending around 200 million dollars they did not get the results but why PSG sacked Thomas Tuchel wasn’t understandable at all because last year, manager helped the team to reach their first ever UCL final and in this season when his main players like Neymar and Mbappe missed their most of the matches because of injury, they lacked consistency. In my opinion, PSG had to wait for more games because while writing this blog Tuchel won his first ever UCL with Chelsea and proved his capability as a manager.
The day has finally come . Coronavirus tried to ruin the party for football fans but can’t . Yes , The final of UEFA Champions League will be played today between Paris Saint Germain and Bayern Munich at Estadio da Luz , Portugal .
It’s a clash of two attacking giants because both teams have super strikers . PSG have Neymar , Mbappe , Icardi and Angel di Maria and Munich have Lewandowski , Gnabry , Perisic and Muller. PSG is looking forward to win their first Champions League and on the other hand Bayern Munich is eyeing for their sixth title .
Let’s see the journey of both the teams this season .
Paris Saint Germain
Till date PSG won three titles in 2019-2020 season and looking forward to win Fourth and most prestigious title of their team history .
(A) Ligue 1
Every year PSG are favorites for winning this title as there is less competition compared to other leagues . Before Covid 19 lockdown , PSG were league leader and 12 points ahead of Marseille .
Conditions of France was getting worse at that time and because of that The French League (LFP) has declared PSG as 2019-2020 Ligue 1 champion despite an early end to the season due to the coronavirus pandemic .
(B) French Cup
Team with the French Cup Trophy
French Cup final was the first competitive match for PSG after lockdown . This match was played between PSG and St-Etienne on 25th July . PSG were favorites for winning this title and nothing new happened and they won the final by 1-0 and Neymar scored the only goal of the match .
But one bad thing happened for PSG and that thing was , Mbappe got injured and chances of him playing in UCL got lesser .
(C) Coupe de la Ligue
PSG with the Coupe de la Ligue trophy
1st August 2020 was the date when PSG continued their season campaign and played the final against Lyon .
For PSG , this match was tough because they don’t have Mbappe on their side. Match went goal less till extra time and PSG won the match by 6-5 which was decided by penalties.
2. Bayern Munich
After winning Bundesliga and DFB Pokal in 2019-2020 season , Bayern Munich wants to complete the treble and finish the season on the high .
(A) Bundesliga
Bayern Munich players with Bundesliga trophy
Start of 2019-2020 Bundesliga was not good for Bayern Munich as they lack the form and because of that they sacked the manager Nico Kovac and bring the new manager Hansi Flick on board and the rest is history .
Bayern Munich won the league by 13 points and their biggest rival (Borussia Dortmund) clinched the second spot with 69 points .
(B) DFB Pokal
Bayern Munich players with the DFB Pokal trophy
Bayern Munich played the DFB Pokal final against Bayer Leverkusen on 4th of July 2020 . Looking at both the teams , there was a 50-50 chance of winning for both of them.
Match started and Bayern Munich scored three goals (by Alaba , Gnabry, Lewandowski) under 60 minutes and become favorites to win the title but few minutes later Bayer Leverkusen player (Bender) scored in 63rd minute of the game and tried to score more but Munich defense was rock solid and to seal the victory for Munich , Lewandowski scored again on 89th minute . Second goal came very late for Leverkusen (95th minute) by Kai Havertz .
Who’s Gonna Win Today ?
UEFA Champions League Trophy
Predicting the score for today’s final is very tough because both teams have many attacking options . But , according to me , team who will defend well (not park the bus) will win today , team who will gain possession will win the match and team who will score first will win the match .
I am expecting the fire crackers today on the field because , winning UCL is a dream for any team and both the teams have different motives today .
Bayern Munich is looking forward to regain the European Giant tag from other teams Real Madrid , Liverpool , Barcelona etc.
PSG is looking forward to win their first UCL Trophy and want to remove the tag of “Farmer” from them .
At last I want to say that “May the best team win” .
Messi after embarrassing loss against Bayern Munich .
A shocking 2019-2020 season for F.C. Barcelona as they go trophy less after thirteen years . Players,coaches,sporting staff,team directors, everyone was disappointed after the embarrassing loss against Bayern Munich which was the reflection of their whole season .
Let’s see how their season went this year and what went wrong with F.C. Barcelona .
Supercopa De Espana
Messi after exit from Supercopa De Espana
Barcelona went to UAE to play semi-final of Supercopa De Espana against Atletico Madrid on 10th January . F.C. Barcelona was favorite before the fixture but Atletico Madrid comes up with different mentality .
First half went goal less where both teams were eagerly looking for gaols but nothing much happened . Immediately after starting of second half , Koke from Atletico Madrid scored in 46th minute and gained the lead for the team but five minutes later , star of Barcelona , Lionel Messi scored and equalize . Now both the teams started looking for the winner and eleven minutes later Griezmann from Barcelona scored and now they are leading by 2-1 .
Barcelona are now on pole position for winning the fixture but Atletico Madrid was in fighting mode . In 81st minute of the match Barcelona player made a foul and awarded a penalty to Madrid , in response to that Morata scored the equalizer and Madrid was back in the game . Five minutes later Barcelona made another mistake and Madrid scored the winning goal and F.C. Barcelona take an exit from the tournament .
2. Copa Del Rey
Shattered after the exit from the tournament .
Fight for the second trophy ends for F.C. Barcelona when they faced Athletic Club on 7th February . They met in quarter-final and again Barcelona was favorite to win the fixture .
Match starts and both teams started looking for a goal , both teams are very competitive , each teams is testing each other defense by playing attacking football and nothing happened throughout the match .
Second half was about to end , coaches started thinking about the tactics for extra time but on 93rd minute of the match , Barcelona player , Sergio Busquets made a blunder and score an own goal and that’s how Barcelona campaign for the second trophy ends as well .
3. La Liga
Sergio Ramos celebrating an El Classico win .
La Liga comes up with many highs and many lows for F.C. Barcelona . For first half of the season Barca were leading the points table and Real Madrid is chasing them for clinching the title .
First big blow they had when they lost against Real Madrid in El Classico and then Real Madrid was leading la liga by a point but before the lockdown starts, Barcelona were in a comfortable position and winning La Liga by two points .
La Liga resumed after the lockdown and Barcelona started the campaign with a win . At the end of La Liga , F.C. Barcelona comes 2nd by winning 8 matches and drawn 3 . By looking at these stats , nobody can argue about their form but Real Madrid who become champion of La Liga was in inevitable form where they won 10 matches on a streak and play only one draw after the pandemic .
Barcelona lost La Liga by 5 points but many questions raises about the squad rotation , bonding between coach and the players etc .
4. UEFA Champions League
A Record never wanted to achieve by F.C. Barcelona .
Last but the most important trophy that F.C. Barcelona want to win in the trophy less season was Champions League trophy but the odds of winning that is too less .
After winning the UEFA Champions League in 2014-2015 season , bottling up in knockout stages become Barcelona thing . This thing started when Barcelona lost 3-2 against Atletico Madrid in 2015-2016 in quarter-finals , in 2016-2017 they lost against Juventus by 3-0 in quarter finals , losing against AS Roma was more embarrassing because Barcelona lost the lead of first leg of 3 goals and then AS Roma made a comeback and won the quarter final by scoring 3 goals . In 2018-2019 season , F.C. Barcelona again bottled up against Liverpool and lost the semifinal by conceding 4 goals in second leg fixture .
But the biggest humiliation is about to come in 2019-2020 season where they faced attacking football giants and totally revamped team , Bayern Munich in quarter finals . This season Barcelona wasn’t the favorite to win the fixture and this thing doubled up the tension in Barcelona camp . And nothing new happened and Bayern Munich humiliates Barcelona by winning the match by 8-2 .
Barcelona’s form throughout the season raises many questions , fans wants changes in team and want a new coach which will bring new energy in the team .
But no one knows that what will happen in coming future for F.C. Barcelona .
Two days before Real Madrid’s 2019-2020 season comes to an end after 2-1 defeat to Manchester City . Real Madrid won two trophies this season and lost two . So let’s see how our season went and what we got and in which areas we have to improve ourselves .
SUPERCOPA DE ESPANA
After being consistent in La Liga , Real Madrid went to Saudi Arabia to play semifinal of Spanish Supercup against Valencia .
On 9th January we played against Valencia and won that match by 3-1 . We won this match very comfortably as Kroos , Isco , Modric scored in early stages of the match and we concede only goal in the added time of second half . After this we have to play the final of Spanish supercup against Atletico Madrid as they won the semifinal against Barcelona by 3-2 .
On 12th January , Final of Supercopa De Espana played between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid . This match is also known as Madrid Derby in Spain .
Match went very well , nobody scored in regular time though and referee gave extra time which means 30 more minutes will be given to both the teams to score . But in 115th minute of the match when Morata from A.Madrid running towards the goal , Valverde from R.Madrid tackled him and received a Red Card but A.Madrid didn’t able to scored and match went to penalties and then Real Madrid won the penalties showdown by 4-1 . Even after receiving Red Card , Valverde emerged as a Man Of The Match .
LA LIGA
This season is one of the toughest season to complete just because of one reason and that reason is “Coronavirus” . Because of “Coronavirus” , La Liga paused for almost three months .
Before the Lockdown caused by coronavirus , Real Madrid paused their season on 2nd position with 11 games left .
And on 14th June Real Madrid resumed their La Liga campaign and win 10 games on the roll and drawn one and emerged as La Liga Champion on 20th July . This was the 34th La Liga trophy won by Real madrid .
On the personal note , Sergio Ramos should win Player Of the Season because as a defender he scored 10+ more goals and conceded very less goals too and as a player and a captain , his impact on Real Madrid performance was the most .
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
With the signing of Eden Hazard this season , Real Madrid was hyped up for UCL after last season shocking exit against Ajax .
We started our campaign with a loss against Paris Saint Germain by 3-0 . Then we played a draw against Club Brugge and again the tension in the Real Madrid tunnel was created . Then we won two match on a roll against Galatasaray and then played a draw against PSG . Finally we won the last group match against Club Brugge 1-3 and qualify for Round of 16 stage of UCL .
Then Round of 16 happened and we got Manchester City to play . In First leg of that round Real Madrid faced a defeat by 1-2 but also give hopes Real Madrid show the winning intent while playing .
After Lockdown , two teams again met for the second leg and emerging winner of that match will qualify for Quarter-Final but Real Madrid should win the match by 2 goals margin to qualify .
And we all know what happened , Varane from Real Madrid did two silly mistakes and gifted two goals to Manchester City and eventually we lost the match and our campaign of UCL was over . Our season got over .
Finally I want to sum this up by saying that , Ups and Downs , wins and losses are just the part of our life . We don’t have to celebrate our winning too much and on the other hand don’t have to worry too much about losing .
Real Madrid will learn from the mistakes and will play like a champions in next season #HALAMADRID .
UEFA is all set to resume the Champions League on 8th August 2020 after the Coronavirus outbreak but this time rules of knockout stages will be different as compare to previous seasons. Let me tell you the changes we will notice for remaining season :-
No second leg matches of quarter-final and semi-final will be played this season .
Quarter-final and semi-finals matches will be played in neutral venues which means no team will get the advantage of home ground .
Third change is applicable for all the sporting event right now and that change is , no spectators are allowed in all the remaining matches of UEFA Champions League .
We all noticed this change till now in all the Europs’s Top 5 league and this change will be available in UCL too and that change is , all teams can make 5 substitutes but only on 3 occasions of the match .
Another questions that arises is what’s the schedule for remaining matches of competition . So , here’s the answer you all want to know :-
Remaining Round of 16 matches will be played on 8th and 9th of August .
Quarter Final matches will be played between 13th – 16th August .
And the teams who will win in quarter final matches will play their semi final matches on 19th of August .
Last but the most important match which is FINAL of UCL will be played on 24th August 2020 at Estadio Sport Lisboa e Benifica Stadium .
So , let’s wait and watch for the resumption of 16 days of football carnival . Let’s hope football will win again and all the spectators experience the good quality of football matches .
So even after 353 days and curtains about to fall but still nobody knows which two team of Premier league will qualify for UEFA Champions League . Liverpool and Manchester City are already comfortably sitting on the first and second position respectively but there are 3 teams which will fight for third and fourth position on Matchday 38+ and those teams are Manchester United , Chelsea and Leicester City .
The excited news is Manchester United and Leicester City will play against each other and whoever wins that match will clinch 3rd or 4th respectively and on other hand Chelsea will play against Wolverhampton Wanderers and that match decide either Chelsea will qualify for UCL or not.
But there are few permutation and combination by which things got complicated here . First I want to tell you that Man Utd. currently have 63 points and sitting on 3rd position and on 4th position Chelsea have same points but with better Goal difference Man Utd. got the advantage and Leicester City is on 5th position with 62 points . So what are the permutation and combination by which this tally can change :-
Most likely results which I think will happen is , Man Utd. and Chelsea will win their respective matches and will clinch 3rd and 4th position .
But what if Man Utd. and Leicester city will play a draw against each other and on the other hand Chelsea lost their match , in this case Man Utd. will clearly clinch the 3rd position and Leicester City will also clinch 4th position with the better goal difference as compare to Chelsea .
In third scenario , If Chelsea won their match and on the other side Man Utd. lost against Leicester City then Chelsea and Leicester City will Clinch 3rd and 4th spot and then Man Utd have to satisfy with 5th position.
So there are lot on the stake for these 3 teams . But you all will be thinking why UEFA Champions League is so important for any team around the world . So I will explain that too in brief :-
When team got to play in UCL they got exposure , they get to know what other league’s team have and they don’t .
Teams and teams player experience a lot more competition as compare to their domestic leagues.
Last but not the least , teams earn more money when they play in UCL as they got more T.V. rights , more sponsors and more supporters from all around the world .
In the end I just want to say all the best to all the teams and may the best team qualify for Uefa Champions League .
The Football Writer 