THE cowardly dead-of-night announcement about the European Super League, buried on a Sunday evening when people were heading for their beds, confirmed a number of things and demonstrated how fans have been hoodwinked for so long. The clubs they claim as their belongings are anything but, they are the property of business people who want […]
A FEW weeks ago, the La Liga race looked a foregone conclusion with Atlético Madrid 10 points clear and favourites to lift their first title since 2014. Real Madrid and Barcelona, were shot, fading forces with old players, financial pressure and internal politics. Diego Simeone’s team were in full flow, supposedly more adventurous than ever […]
BARCELONA’s offices raided by the Mossos d’Escuadra in a week when the club’s presidential elections are taking place. Call me sceptical, but was the timing and staged drama strategically designed to distance candidates from the Bartomeu era, giving an advantage to anyone who was a fierce opponent of the previous president? Barcelona’s multitudes must be wondering how […]
THERE was a little introspection in Madrid, Barcelona and Seville after the first legs of the UEFA Champions League, with Spanish football officials fearing a series of setbacks had signalled the decline of the most successful nation in European club competitions. Like most events big or small, disappointment was accompanied by social media-driven over-reaction and […]
FOOTBALL is a results business, so for Chelsea, it was a case of job done in Bucharest. But if it is also deemed to be an entertainment industry, then it was, at times, white handkerchief territory in the Arena Nationala at times. Curiously, nobody has really considered the pandemic could be a competitive disadvantage for […]
THIS could finally be the season when the stranglehold starts to loosen across European football and some of the top leagues finally celebrate a new champion. According to CIES Football Observatory, trophies in Portugal, Spain, Italy and France will be changing hands, while Manchester City will regain the Premier League they last won in 2019. Bayern […]
IT IS difficult to comprehend today, but between 1960 and 1973, Barcelona failed to win Spain’s La Liga. Every major club in history has its occasional lean spell, Manchester United and Liverpool, for example, did not win the English league for 26 and 30 years respectively. In 1973, Barca were desperate to end their barren […]
GLASGOW Rangers, Sporting Lisbon, AC Milan and Atlético Madrid are all top of their respective leagues in 2021, challenging the clubs that have swept aside their rivals for the best part of a decade. These are all big football institutions with rich histories, but they have found themselves in the shadows of clubs that have […]
LONDON’s Kings Cross district has undergone a dramatic transformation in recent years, comprising the major refurbishment of two mainline railway stations and the emergence of Granary Square and Coal Drop Yard close by. It’s a trendy neighbourhood now with social and business development that has seen technology-orientated companies introduce a decidedly upbeat vibe. Where better […]
