WITH Spain’s big two struggling to live up to their illustrious names, Real Sociedad and Atlético Madrid have emerged as title contenders in the early months of 2020-21. While Sociedad have been boosted by the arrival of David Silva, Diego Simeone’s side are going through something of a reinvention and their new look is winning […]
FOR the second night running, the Champions League delivered an intriguing tie that kept the stay-at-home crowd on the edge of their sofas and underlined the competition’s ability to thrill. Leipzig, the much-discussed product of corporate football, edged their way to the last four of the Champions League at the expense of a club that […]
ONLY three times since the UEFA Champions League was formed have both of the previous season’s finalists exited at the round of 16 stage. The structure of the competition is designed to allow the rich to become successful, so that fact should come as no great surprise. The Champions League has become the playground of […]
WITH Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in their autumn years and Zlatan Ibrahimovic on a retirement tour, the football world is asking itself where is the royal line of succession? Kylian Mbappé is being touted as the greatest thing since Pelé and there are big hopes for Atlético Madrid’s João Félix, but are these players […]
CAN ANYONE end Barcelona’s recent dominance of La Liga? After a summer of big signings and the announcement of record revenues, Barca look stronger than last year and with Real Madrid enduring a miserable pre-season and Atlético Madrid in transition, it could be a third consecutive title – and nine in 12 – for the […]
IF YOU’VE visited Madrid recently, you’ve no doubt flown over the gleaming new home of Atlético Madrid, the Wanda Metropolitano. It’s an impressive site, fashioned out of a stadium built in anticipation of the Spanish capital being awarded the Olympic Games. If Atléti play their cards right, they could be playing at home in the […]
IN THE end, it was a result that didn’t suit either team: Chelsea needed to win to top the group, Atletico Madrid had to snare three points to have any chance of staying in the UEFA Champions League. As it turned out, the most important result was in the Italian capital, where Roma beat Qarabag […]
AS IT stands, UEFA could be looking at Real Madrid v Juventus and Manchester United v Ajax Amsterdam for their two finals in 2016-17. On paper, this looks like two fantastic ties featuring some of the continent’s top names. Admittedly, United v Ajax is not what it might have been 20 or 30 years ago, but […]
THE characteristics of the free-market economy have long been adopted by football, including the once prestigious mergers and acquisitions industry. In KPMG’s Football Benchmark’s latest paper, multi-club ownership is discussed, highlighting a growing trend across the sector – at a time when the corporate finance sector is seeing a big drop in M&A activity. In […]
