A Beautiful Thread for the Beautiful Game

Huh, and to think Ecuador did win yesterday. I get that Félix Sánchez isn't the most brilliant tactician, but with him the team has scored 4 points out of 6 in this recently-concluded period. Heck, so far he's having a better starting performance (61,11%) than Gustavo Alfaro!

Some serious comebacks in the Champions today. Either some teams had serious mental strength or there were horrible chokes.

Oh yes, I loved this matchday overall.

Yesterday Barcelona defeated Porto 2-1 and finally returned to the Round of 16 in the UCL. Manchester City had qualified, but needed to win their match in order to secure the first-place berth; and you'd think their 3-2 victory against Leipzig was a smooth one if you diodn't watch the match, except the first two goals were from Leipzig, so for City it was an uphill comeback! PSG had a very controversial tie after losing 0-1 against Newcastle for 97 minutes (PSG's goal came from a hotly-dabated penalty kick in their favor); they still haven't secured qualification, so we'll see what happens in December. At least Atlético had a less dramatic 1-3 victory against Feyenoord, and has qualified to the next round.

And that was yestarday. Today Real Madrid won 4-2 against Napoli; the first goal was from the Italians, but Madrid made a great comeback with beautiful goals. Bayern Munich got a sterile 0-0 draw against Copenhagen, but it's a non-issue because they've already secured the first-place berth. Sevilla lost 2-3 against PSV, and won't be able to qualify for the next round; they'll have to win the next (and final) match in the group phase in order to go to the UEL (which is good for them, if you think about it). Arsenal got a 6-0 victory against Lens, and it's actually thanks to this victory of theirs that Sevilla has a chance at all. Last, but far from least, Manchester United was unable to remain ahead in the scoreboard, ultimately getting a 3-3 tie against Galatasaray; they can still qualify for the next round, but if they flub yet again (for reference, they're in the same group as Bayern and Copenhagen) they're risking being relegated to Europa League... at best.

EDIT: Alright, now I'm editing this post to add a very touchy situation that is happening in Argentina. As you may know by now, Boca Juniors is wrapping up what ended up being a very bitter year for them. After losing the Libertadores Final against Fluminense and the Superclásico against River, they needed to earn a few more points in the local tournament to qualify for next year's edition of the coveted international competition. However, they were unable to do that and now they'll have to play the Sudamericana instead. Normally, this would be merely a tedious disappointment for the club, but there's a more grave incident that is adding to it to worsen the situation. It turns out this year is also supposed to hold elections for the next president of the club (and suffice to say, the current management's campaign has been difficult due to the aforementioned disappointments). But due to irregularities reported regarding the registered members of the club, the elections were suspended until further notice (they were scheduled for this upcoming Sunday). The opposing candidate, Mauricio Macri (yes, the highly controversial former president of Argentina from 2015 to 2019), has blamed the current management of the situation, and a hurricane of he-said-she-said jabs and boasts have been thrown between Riquelme (who is part of the current management) and Macri. The whole situation is a hot mess. As a River fan, none of this really concerns me (I'm not pitying Boca because they mocked River endlessly during the latter's fateful 2011 relegation), but it's been the talk of the town in Argentina lately.

Edited by MyFinalEdits on Nov 29th 2023 at 8:07:34 AM

Well, no election this Sunday, after all.

For the near future, that's probably for the best, as it'll give them time to work out the inconveniences. Elections will probably take place later in December, or even early January next year.

Today's Europa and Conference League matches weren't particularly interesting, to be honest. The only highlights I can think of (and both being from UEL) are Roma's 1-1 tie against Servette, and while they're already qualified for the next round they would need to win and expect Slavia Praga to lose so they can instead hop onto the further round (as the runner-up berth will have them duke it out against an eliminated UCL team in a playoff phase). The other highlight is Liverpool's 4-0 victory against LASK, which secured them the first-place berth to avoid the playoff round against a former UCL team.

El Fantasma de la B is rounding it's next victim!

Currently, it's just El Fantasma de Quedarse en Casa, really.

Well, the ghost claimed Colón, unfortunately. But it was either them or Gimnasia.

Also, the Euro 2024 groups are in, and we've got a deathly one among them!

• Group A: Germany, Scotland, Hungary, Switzerland
• Grupo B: Spain, Croatia, Italy, Albania
• Group C: Slovenia, Denmark, Serbia, England
• Group D: Netherlands, Austria, France, and the playoff winner between Poland, Wales, Finland and Estonia
• Group E: Belgium, Slovakia, Romania, and the playoff winner between Israel, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine or Iceland
• Group F: Turkey, Portugal, Czech Republic, and the playoff winner between Georgia, Greece, Kazahstan and Luxemburg

The groups for Copa América will be determined on December 7th.

It's Brazilian cousin, O Fantasma da Serie B, made a visit to Santos, first time they are relegated ever.

Man, the number of perennial top-division clubs has been ebbing. And of note is that, in these years, the biggest casualties came from Brazil (Corinthians, Inter Porto Alegre, Vasco da Gama...)

Also, the Copa América groups have bee decided.

• Group A: Argentina, Perú, Chile, and a Concacaf berth (to be disputed between Canada and Trinidad & Tobago)
• Group B: México, Ecuador, Venezuela, Jamaica
• Group C: USA; Panamá, Uruguay, Bolivia
• Group D: Brazil, Colombia, Paraguay, and a Concacaf berth (to be disputed between Honduras and Costa Rica)

Could have been worse for Venezuela.

The unthinkable has happened. Sevilla was already out of the race for the UEFA Champions League since the previous matchday, but they could still have qualified for their well-known fetish (Europa League, of which they're the current winners) and all they had to do was win their match against Lens. Guess what happened instead....

Correct, Lens won 2-1.

Diego Alonso probably won't be around in the club for too long. And neither will Erik Ten Hag if, as of this post, Manchester United doesn't revert their ongoing 0-1 defeat against Bayern.

EDIT: F for United. They didn't even qualify for Europa League either. Conversely, Real Sociedad qualified for the Round 16 as group winners after their 0-0 tie against Inter Milan, while Real Madrid completed a perfect streak of victories in the group phase after a surprisingly difficult 2-3 victory against Union Berlin. Bayern Munich and Arsenal also got nice closures in their groups (where they respectively won, too).

Edited by MyFinalEdits on Dec 12th 2023 at 5:59:58 AM

Something something fan of one of the other 19 Premier League clubs insert Nelson laugh.

Meanwhile, the other half of the final wave of group matches wrapped up today. In Group E, Atletico Madrid beat Lazio 2-0 to solidify their grip on first place, while Celtic got a consolation 2-1 win at home to Feyenoord but still finish last; the crunch match in Group F finished 1-1, so Borussia Dortmund stay top, PSG stay second, and thanks to a 2-1 win at St James' Park, Milan are through to the Europa League while the whole "not ready for the adults' table" aura surrounding Newcastle deepens; the expected clubs won in Group G to leave the order unchanged, so it's Man City and RB Leipzig through to the knockout rounds while Young Boys of Bern are off to the Europa League and Red Star are out; and Porto beat Shakhtar Donetsk 5-3 while a bizarre finale saw Royal Antwerp leading Barcelona 2-1 at 90 minutes, then conceding an equaliser, then edging back in front to win 3-2. Changes nothing about the group order (Barca and Porto to the knockouts, Shakhtar Donetsk to the Europa League), but still, well done them.

The draw for the knockout round is Monday.

Today's matches were pretty exciting. The fact PSG failed to get the top spot (it was already a miracle that they managed to advance at all) will put them into a compromising situation, considering the teams they may potentially face. They're definitely no favorites against Bayern, City or Real Madrid.

Also, it was finally confirmed that Juan Reynoso will no longer manage the Peruvian national team. Considering his abysmal performance in the qualifying matches (zero victories, two draws and four defeats), it's only a surprise that they didn't sack him earlier.

Another metaphorically beheaded manager was Diego Alonso, whose team (Sevilla) suffered a resounding 0-3 defeat against Getafe and who was already on thin ice after the team's elimination from UCL without even maning to qualify for UEL. Sevilla is facing the possibility of relegation...

Also, the semifinals of the Club World Cup are in (I thought they would take place in February like the latest three editions, hence why I was surprised that they're in fact taking place now!) Al-Ahly defeated Al-Ittihad 3-1 and will face Manchester City (Benzema is playing in Ittihad, so this was the first time he played the CWC but unable to reach semifinals; quite a contrast for someone who won the competition five times with Real Madrid). Meanwhile, Urawa Red Diamonds defeated León 0-1 and will face Fluminense (this one having the other 5-time winner with Real Madrid, Marcelo ). León is the third Mexican team to fail to reach semifinals, after Monterrey in 2013 and Chivas in 2018 (and unlike in those editions, there won't be a fifth-place bout), which resulted in Nicolás Lacarmón resigning from his managerial position.

The semifinals will be due next week.

The match ups for the Champions League were decided.

These are my predictions, hopefully I won't jinx anything.

Arsenal, Barcelona, PSG, Atlético, Dortmund, Bayern, Manchester City and Real Madrid will advance to the quartfinals. I would like Real Sociedad to give the surprise and eliminate PSG, but alas...

I dunno, I kind of hope you do jinx something there, MFE; some surprises would be nice. ;)

As long as those surprises don't invove the Leipzig-Madrid duel, fine by me.

On another news, Boca's fans were finally able to vote, and Riquelme was elected president. Not surprisingly, Mauricio Macri abstained from voting.

Also, Fluminense got a surprisingly difficult 2-0 victory against Al-Ahly in the CWC semifinals, and will face the winner between Manchester City and Urawa Red Diamonds (due tomorrow). I wouldn't mind some jinxing in that match.

Finally, today marked the 1st anniversary of Argentina winning the World Cup in Qatar! And big congrats to Rosario Central, they're the new champions of Argentine football!

NEXT-DAY EDIT: No surprise in the end, City will face Fluminense in the final after winning 0-3 against the Japanese squad.

Edited by MyFinalEdits on Dec 19th 2023 at 11:44:15 AM

Well, Manchester City crushed Fluminense 4-1, and have won the Club World Cup for the first time in history! The third-place bout was won by Al-Ahly, who defeated Urawa 2-4.

Also, a couple days late, though I didn't want to talk about it at the time because it's a bit Flame Bait-y, but it seems like the European Court of Justice has negated UEFA's and FIFA's legal opposition to the creation of the Super League project helmed by Real Madrid. I admit I'm feeling very conflicted over this.

Edited by MyFinalEdits on Dec 22nd 2023 at 7:36:01 AM

That seems like a trainwreck waiting to happen. And European teams already could use a few games less, honestly.

I agree.

Also, River won the Champions' Cup (kind of like the Argentine Supercup, only with the two half-year champions of 2023). Glad to see them win another trophy before concluding the year!

Carlo Ancelotti has renewed his contract with Real Madrid. This reduces to zero the chances of the Brazilian Confederation to hire him to helm the national team.

But right now, that's the least of Brazil's worries. FIFA is threatening to expel the national team from the Copa America and club-related international activities due to the country's political intervention to fire the Confederation's president upon some irregularities detected.

2023 has been a very difficult year for the Brazilian national team, as all of this adds up to the numerous defeats it had. We'll see what happens next year.

Well, 2024 hasn't exactly redeemed 2023 so far for Brazilian football, as last week saw the passing of Mário Zagallo, player in the 1958 and 1962 World Cup winning sides and manager of the 1970 World Cup winning side, and thus the first person to both play for and manage World Cup winners. He was 92 and had been in declining health for a while, but it's still sad.

And just days later, the second person to both play for and manage World Cup winners followed him: (West) Germany's Franz "Der Kaiser" Beckenbauer, captain of the winning side in the 1974 final, and manager of the winning side in the 1990 final (I think I know which of those I'd rather watch...), and one of just nine players to win the FIFA World Cup, the European Cup (pre- or post-Champions League), and the Ballon d'Or. He also had been in declining health for some years, but he was only 78.

RIP, and RIP again - legends both.

(Didier Deschamps might want to stay indoors for the next few days...)

I had expressed my condolences to the families and friends of Beckenbauer in the General RIP Thread, but not those of Zagallo so I want to do so here. May both rest in peace.

Real Madrid won the Spanish Supercup after defeating Barcelona 4-1. It was a difficult match, but Madrid found the way thanks to Vinicius who made a fantastic performance with three goals (Rodrygo scored the fourth), while Lunin became a reliable barrier against Bacelona's potential goals (despite still receiving one). They had defeated Atlético beforehand 5-3 in the extra time. Carlo Ancelotti has now amassed 11 trophies for Real Madrid, being now tied with Zidane as the second most successful manager in the club's history!

NEXT-DAY EDIT: Can someone please tell me why Messi won The Best? No, it's not because of the World Cup because that was in 2022 and he already won the 2023 edition because of it. *sigh*

Edited by MyFinalEdits on Jan 15th 2024 at 5:01:17 AM