WHEN Bayern Munich won the UEFA Champions League in 2020, it was fairly clear they were the best team in Europe. After their defeat in the quarter-final to Paris Saint-Germain this year, it is reasonable to ask if the French champions are a better side than Bayern. They are not, but it could be that […]
FIVE bookings, a red card, another home defeat and tension in the 16th arondissement – Paris Saint-Germain may have mislaid their league title this season, despite the return of Neymar to their starting line-up. It’s not over yet by any stretch of the imagination, but PSG’s 1-0 defeat at the hands of Lille, giving the team […]
THE NAMES in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League may be familiar, but nobody can accuse the competition of lacking some variety. This season’s last eight showed a five team change on 2019-20’s last eight which continues the trend of a 50% churn on the previous campaign. Yes, they are all part of the […]
LYON have dominated women’s football in Europe for the past decade and have been European champions for the past five years. But this season, they are facing a challenge from, among others, their national rivals Paris Saint-Germain. The two teams are neck-and-neck at the top of D1 Féminine and they will face each other in […]
THE MOST notable consequence of Barcelona’s defeat against Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus’ capitulation at the hands of Porto was the fact that, for the first time in several years, the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals won’t be graced by either Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. These are rock gods in football boots, saintly figures from a […]
NEVER MIND Liverpool’s tepid defence of their Premier League title, the biggest story in European football at the moment is the apparent decline of Barcelona, encapsulated by their 4-1 collapse at home to an exciting Paris Saint-Germain side in the UEFA Champions League round of 16. Commentators continue to refer to the last time PSG […]
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 […]
THE PANDEMIC may be having an unexpected impact on the football management sector in that fewer managers have been sacked so far in 2020-21. With the Premier League at the halfway stage, only one manager, West Bromwich Albion’s Slaven Bilic, has departed in a mid-season taxi. There will surely be more to come, but the […]
THE WORST kept secret in European football became reality as Mauricio Pochettino took the plunge and joined Paris Saint-Germain on an 18-month contract. Why 18 months (with an option for a further year), you might ask, is there not enough confidence in the deal to give the former Tottenham manager a longer-term contract? Let’s face […]
