by AND WAS 16…
Copenhagen v Manchester City: The joys of the Post-Fergie Wilderness Years™ are so varied that it can be hard to keep track of everything, but there’s something utterly beautiful about Copenhagen capitalizing on Manchester United setting up a trophy that was so easy for treble winners later England. FCK will, of course, try hard, and there may even be banners and cheers. However, now that the greatest football player of our generation has found lads and big defenders who can defend, they are less likely to work than before, Sheikh Mansour’s exciting saga continues with another unforgettable game no one on it. But he loves soccer!
Leipzig v Real Madrid: Is Real Madrid – Real Madrid! – the good things? Because here we are, the ultimate Franco-charged training ground sale, right $per-£eague-shilling defending everything that’s good about the game against a vehicle that sells fizzy drinks to unlikely AI-generated players any of them. for beating them.
PSG v Real Sociedad: Or the slow food derby, as a columnist would say trying to excite his readers; luckily, the Daily doesn’t have the stomach for it. On the pitch, the main joy is of course wondering how and when Paris will fall, but it won’t be in this tie because that’s not how it works. However, on the other hand, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the president of PSG who is also the chairman of the European Club Association, is a positive presence that we can safely count on to protect the game for the benefit of all.
Lazio v Bayern: We’re all friends here, so let’s talk plainly: Harry Kane signing for Bayern and doing nothing would be a dead man’s tick. Oh, football! How positively you bring out the worst in one! In any case, with eight wins in the league already this season, Lazio – a club not known for its humor – is not about to make the world laugh, so Bayern will be closer to the fate: another looming over the City.
PSV v Dortmund: Both of them will back themselves to win the hand clap, which is really being tested in the elite sport, as an adult can confirm. Otherwise, Barcelona legend Luuk de Jong will lead the PSV attack, and Narrative will surely hope that their back four are threatened by Jadon Sancho’s unique brand of slow movement invention.
Inter v Atlético: We’ve had to process a lot of wild events in recent years – life has never felt so believable. But for your demagogues, pandemics and defunct monarchs of this world, nothing – nothing – it is strange that Matteo Darmian and Henrikh Mkhitaryan are in the team that plays regularly out of Serie A in 2024, and that Marko Arnautovic and Davy Klaasen fit their bench. On the other hand, Atlético are not what they used to be, but while he got Álvaro Morata (although he is knocked out at the moment) and Memphis Depay, Diego Simeone cunningly ensured his continued brilliance, and with that prowling the touchline, anything can be done.
Porto v Arsenal: In the pick-up to the Primeira Liga, Porto find themselves at the bottom of the three-team table this season, seven points behind Sporting, in second place, and Benfica, who lead the way on a head-to-head basis. Arsenal, meanwhile, are very happy with themselves as they are at this stage of every season – apart from the ones they spend creating internet drama. But, while his team is in many important ways less formidable than many of those left in this competition, when he was Arsenal captain, Mikel Arteta spent money he collected from players’ fines on watch for Ivan Gazidis, then.
Napoli v Barcelona: The champions of Italy and Spain rarely made such a mockery of their league. Napoli are eighth in Serie A, 25 points behind the leaders, while Barcelona are third in La Liga, 10 off the leaders, with a lame duck manager and a bank manager who is a complete duck. No one, least of all the Daily, is wrong with this.
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STATEMENT OF THE DAY
“I’m not really in the mood if I’m being brutally honest about it [highlighting] positive things and trying to find things to say that would lift my spirits, because I don’t know what could be said that would lift my spirits. What can I say that will make the players happy? I could say maybe, well, with the players we’ve got coming back and these boys doing so well, there’s a good chance for the future with the 14 games we’ve got left” – Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson struggles to find straws to cut Conor Gallagher’s 3-1 comeback gave Chelsea a 3-1 win, their 14th in a row against the Eagles. And that is not a vote of confidence.
DAILY FOOTBALL LETTERS
If we take the example of Ivory Coast, who sacked their manager during the Afcon group stage and still won the trophy, should England consider dropping Gareth Southgate midway through the Euros in the hope that we get the same result?” – Pádraig Ó Faoláin.
Does the sacked Jean-Louis Gasset still get a winner’s bonus?” – Tony Walsh.
The more I hear about Bayer Leverkusen, the more I want them to loosen Bayern’s iron grip on the Bundesliga. The city is named after a chemist who created an artificial blue dye. Its population is less than half that of Leicester. And it’s linked to Bracknell, of all places. Can you imagine many more unlikely clubs to tackle the über rich Müncheners? They might play black and red, but I’ll be shouting: ‘Come on, Artificial Blues!’” – Mark McFadden.
He doesn’t want to be picky but generally it’s Mark, not ‘Ian’, Bright who sits next to Steve Parish (yesterday’s Football letters). It occurred to me that since there is Ian Bright (economist) who has a fairly high profile, I may have been mistaken and indeed Ian Bright had replaced Mark to provide some much needed insights to Parish on Premier League economics” – Russell D Pulford (and 1,056 others).
Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. The winner of our lucky letter today is … Patrick Fuller.
