Association Football 2020/21

[NewYorkExpress]

I can't decide which group in this year's UEFA Champions League is more brutal.

Group B or Group H.

Group B is Real Madrid, Shaktar Donetsk, Inter Milan and Borussia Monchengladbach.

Group H is PSG, Manchester United, Red Bull Leipzig and Istanbul Basakesheir.

[NewYorkExpress]

Best match of the day was probably Tottenham/West Ham.

West Ham comes back from 3-0 down, scores three goals in the final five minutes to get a draw.

[NewYorkExpress]

UEFA Champions League Group Stage play begins tomorrow and Wednesday.

I've already got the Chelsea/Sevilla, Lazio/Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain/Manchester United,  Inter Milan/ Borussia Monchengladbach and Bayern Munich/Atletico Madrid matches circled on my calendar.

[NewYorkExpress]

Two contenders for Game of the Day in my opinion.

Club Brugge's 2-1 victory over Zenit St. Petersburg on a stoppage time goal by Charles De Ketelarae, and Manchester United's 2-1 victory over Paris Saint Germain, on a late goal by Marcus Rashford.

[NewYorkExpress]

Europa League Group Stage begins tomorrow.

While it is the second tier European competition, there are a couple of nice matches there.

I'll have Young Boys/Roma, Bayer Leverkusen/Nice and Celtic/AC Milan circled on my calendar.

[NewYorkExpress]

That Real Madrid 3-2 loss to Shakhtar Donetsk leaves me wondering about Zinedane Zindane's job security.

I mean, they have to go on the road to Barcelona next, and they might be in what is the true group of death in the Champions League. They might not even get third, and the Europa League parachute spot that goes with it.

[NewYorkExpress]

Bayern Munich just flattening Atletico Madrid right now in Munich.

They're up 4-0 at the moment, with just over ten minutes to play.

[NewYorkExpress]

Game of the day yesterday was the 5-3 goalfest between Villareal and Sivasspor (Villareal won, led by two goals from Paco Alcacer.)

Also, going into today's match with Leeds, somehow, Aston Villa is in second place. It would be rather impressive if they kept that position all season, just a point behind Everton.

[NewYorkExpress]

A bunch of great games this weekend.

I'd have to pick the 3-3 draw between Sassuolo and Torino as the game of the day for Friday.

Saturday's game of the day would be Real Madrid's 3-1 demolition of Barcelona. After five games, Barcelona now sits twelfth in La Liga, seven points back of the lead. If this keeps up, Ronald Koeman might get the sack.

And for today, I'll take Cagaliri's 4-2 victory over Crotone, in which there were five goals scored at halftime.

Looking ahead to tomorrow, Roma's trip to Milan to take on AC Milan, the leaders in Serie A, is the game I'll be watching for.

[NewYorkExpress]

So, the game of the day, refereeing debacles and all, was the AC Milan/Roma game by a mile.

Plenty of good UEFA Champions League Action today and tomorrow.

I probably will have Borussia Monchenglabach/Real Madrid, Olympique Marseilles/Manchester City and Atalanta/Ajax circled for today, and Sevilla/Rennes, Juventus/Barcelona and Manchester United/Red Bull Leipzig for tomorrow.

[NewYorkExpress]

Three contenders for game of the day from today's Champions League matches.

Real Madrid coming back from a 2-0 deficit to get a draw against Borussia Monchengladbach, Atalana coming back from a 2-0 deficit to get a draw against Ajax and Atletico Madrid's 3-2 victory over Red Bull Salzburg.

[NewYorkExpress]

They might have only been playing Krasnodar today, but that foursome of Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech, Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic looked great for Chelsea today.

[NewYorkExpress]

Manchester United looked really good, thrashing Red Bull Leipzig 5-0 behind a treble of goals for Marcus Rashford.

Now if they could keep that form and extend it to the Premier League...

[NewYorkExpress]

Embarrassing 1-0 loss for Tottenham Hotspur today against Royal Antwerp FC in Europa League action.

[NewYorkExpress]

Kind of embarrassing, but Barcelona couldn't beat Deportivo Alaves, only getting a 1-1 draw yesterday.

[NewYorkExpress]

Good win for Arsenal today - amazingly the first time in almost 6 years we’ve beaten a ‘Big Six’ club away, and 16 years since we beat Man Utd at Old Trafford. I remain cautiously optimistic about the direction of the club.

Somehow Manchester United is doing fine in the Champions League and doing horribly in the Premier League.

[NewYorkExpress]

https://twitter.com/SouthamptonFC/status/1324836694420578304?s=19

Eh, Liverpool gets a draw/win with Man City and passes them.

Plus, Tottenham Hotspur should beat West Bromwich Albion and also pass them, as should the winner of the Leicester City/Wolverhampton Wanderers game (assuming there is one).

[NewYorkExpress]

Scotland has finally qualified for a major tournament! (not that qualifying for the Euros is an achievement anymore) Even better that they beat Serbia!

The best part of this is, Scotland and England are in the same group.

[NewYorkExpress]

So back on Thursday, the U.S National Team got a 0-0 draw against Wales, in Swansea.

I mean, sure Wales didn't have Gareth Bale available, but they pretty much dominated the game. Great step forward for them.

They'll play Panama in Weiner Neudstadt on Monday.

[NewYorkExpress]

In what's probably a good sign, the U.S crushed Panama 6-2 yesterday.

This victory over Panama's good news for those of us (like me) who would like to see the U.S be the best team in CONCACAF. Now if we could just consistently beat Mexico...

[NewYorkExpress]

Rough loss for Real Madrid against Shakhtar Donestk in the UEFA Champions League.

[NewYorkExpress]

What the hell happened in the PSG-Basaksehir?

The game got suspended after a match official was accused of racism.

Assuming this is true, UEFA should ban the official in question for life.

[NewYorkExpress]

What the hell happened in the PSG-Basaksehir?

The game got suspended after a match official was accused of racism.

Assuming this is true, UEFA should ban the official in question for life.

If you actually followed the incident, you would know that it is more a question of insensitivity and unfortunate translation than intentional racism.

The player in question didn't see it that way.

[NewYorkExpress]

Draw results for the Champions League and Europa League:

https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/draws/
https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/draws/

Highlights for me are Leipzig-Liverpool in the Champions League, and Real Sociedad-Man Utd, Antwerp-Rangers, and Lille-Ajax in the Europa League. All of the Portuguese teams have a chance at an upset, so their ties could be interesting, too.

The ones i'd be looking forward to are Atletico Madrid/Chelsea and Barcelona/PSG in the Champions League and Real Sociadad/Manchester United and Granada/Napoli in the Europa League.

[NewYorkExpress]

Will Arteta be able to stay in his job until the new year if he loses at Goodison tomorrow? As stern of a test Everton will be, it won't get any easier with Man City and Chelsea coming up... Let's be real, even as an Arteta admirer, 15th in December is a disgraceful position for the 3rd-biggest club in England.

I think it's slightly more likely that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer gets canned at Manchester United, given the drastic disparity between their results in the Champions League/Europa League and the Premier League.