2013-14 Club Soccer/Football Discussion Thread

[Tender Branson]

Almost a Bayern own goal by Rafinha, as he tried to play the ball back to Neuer with his chest.

[Keystone Phil]

His Holiness is currently visiting a Soccer stadium in one of Brazil's worst slums.

I really hope he's at the Italy-Argentina Friendly (being held in his honor!) on August 14th.

[Goodwin]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/jul/26/arsenal-luis-suarez-liverpool

Arsenal preparing another bid for Suarez, due to interest from Real Madrid. Liverpool want £50 million for him though.

[Franknburger]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/jul/26/arsenal-luis-suarez-liverpool

Arsenal preparing another bid for Suarez, due to interest from Real Madrid. Liverpool want £50 million for him though.

Tonight's German Supercup will be the first official Bayern-Dortmund encounter of the new season (live from 20:30 CET on German ZDF, so internet live streaming should be available).

It will be interesting to watch whether Luis Gustavo will be on the ground or at least on the bench (Wolfsburg has now launched an official bid for him). The same applies to Swiss national Xherdan Shaquiri, another frequently named potential Bayern sale.
On the Dortmund side, it will be interesting to watch Robert Lewandowski, whose request for changing to Bayern had been categorically turned down by the Dortmund management ("for no money in the world we will allow any other of out top players to change to Bayern this summer, and its not like we need cash after having to let go Mario Götze"). They seem to have taken the whole Götze thing quite personal - after all, Bayern sports director Matthias Sammer had been team captain when Dortmund won the Champions League in 1997, and Dortmund coach when they became German champion in 2002. 

[Tender Branson]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/jul/26/arsenal-luis-suarez-liverpool

Arsenal preparing another bid for Suarez, due to interest from Real Madrid. Liverpool want £50 million for him though.

Tonight's German Supercup will be the first official Bayern-Dortmund encounter of the new season (live from 20:30 CET on German ZDF, so internet live streaming should be available).

It will be interesting to watch whether Luis Gustavo will be on the ground or at least on the bench (Wolfsburg has now launched an official bid for him). The same applies to Swiss national Xherdan Shaquiri, another frequently named potential Bayern sale.
On the Dortmund side, it will be interesting to watch Robert Lewandowski, whose request for changing to Bayern had been categorically turned down by the Dortmund management ("for no money in the world we will allow any other of out top players to change to Bayern this summer, and its not like we need cash after having to let go Mario Götze"). They seem to have taken the whole Götze thing quite personal - after all, Bayern sports director Matthias Sammer had been team captain when Dortmund won the Champions League in 1997, and Dortmund coach when they became German champion in 2002.  

Thanks for reminding me about that ! I almost forgot about that.



Prediction: Bayern 2, Dortmund 0

PS: The ZDF livestream does not work outside of Germany.

[Franknburger]

Dortmund up 1:0 at half-time (Marco Reus in minute 6 benefitting from a poor save). Interesting Bayern line-up: Starke replacing Neuer as goalkeeper, Shaquiri replacing Ribery, and neither Martinez, nor Luiz Gustavo, nor Bastian Schweinsteiger on the green. Wonder if Guardiola is still testing (thereby underestimating the relevance of this showdown), or whether this is his first team (which smells like a lot of trouble ahead).

[Lief 🗽]

Well done to Dortmund!

[Franknburger]

After Dortmund has destroyed Bayern  4:2, I think the Guardiola honeymoon will be over. Uli Hoeness and Mathias Sammer  will not take this defeat lightly, and start asking a few question (and if they don't, SportBild will be happy to step in): Why was the goal kept by Starke (whose mistake caused the initial Dortmund lead), and not by Neuer? Why did Ribery not play, in spite of his strong performance against Barcelona? Is Guardiola's new 4-1-4-1 system really the right system, considering how vulnerable it made Bayern against Dortmund's counter-attacks? And, more importantly, is Thiago (who lost the ball that ultimately lead to Dortmund's final goal) really the right choice in the defensive midfield, or could Martinez or Schweinsteiger  have given more stability to Bayern's defence?

It will be especially interesting to watch Bastian Schweinsteiger over the coming weeks. Many have linked Germany's quite disappointing showing in the 2012 Euro to his performance, conceding, however, that he was still recovering from injury at that time. Nevertheless, Ilkay Gündogan is more and more becoming a serious contender for the third position in Germany's central midfield (two of which, barred an injury, are more or less reserved for Khedira and Özil). Gündogan played great tonight, causing van Buyten's own goal. and scoring the beautiful 3:1 himself, while Schweinsteiger had to watch most of the game from the bench to only come in in the 67th minute.

[Lief 🗽]

Well, Neuer and Ribery were injured, but the other two questions should be asked. It's pretty obvious that playing a 4-1-4-1 with Thiago as your DM against one of the best counter-attacking teams in the world is a stupid idea.

[minionofmidas]

This was a pre-season "friendly" in all but name. An actual pre-season 'friendly' is the only less relevant footballing event in existence.

[Franknburger]

This was a pre-season "friendly" in all but name. An actual pre-season 'friendly' is the only less relevant footballing event in existence.

A "pre-season friendly" watched live by 7 million Germans at home (plus possibly a few more in their holiday locations), at a time when there is hardly anything to report for the newspapers. Tell me more...

[Keystone Phil]

Big day for us. Unveiled our new signings, new kits (including a silly camo third kit) and won 3-1 in our first real exhibition game of the season against Galatasaray.    Next up: Arsenal on Saturday and Porto on Sunday.

[Tender Branson]

After the stunning Bayern loss to Dortmund on Saturday, now this:

Tax evasion charge for Bayern Munich chief Uli Hoeness

German prosecutors have charged Uli Hoeness, president of European football champions Bayern Munich, with tax evasion after a lengthy inquiry.

Lawyers for Mr Hoeness have one month to respond to the charges before a court in Munich decides whether the case should go to trial.

The former footballer reported himself to the authorities earlier this year over an undeclared Swiss bank account.

Bayern Munich beat Borussia Dortmund to win last season's Champions League.

News of the secret bank account caused a stir in Germany with even Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman saying she was disappointed in the former West Germany international.

Neither he nor officials have disclosed how much money is involved, but German media suggest he deposited millions of euros in a Zurich-based account over 10 years.

He is said to have failed to pay capital gains tax.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23507750

[Tender Branson]

2 important games today/tomorrow:

Today: Austria Vienna vs. Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar (CL qualification, 3rd round)

Tomorrow: Red Bull Salzburg vs. Fenerbahçe Istanbul (CL qualification, 3rd round)

...

The Salzburg game should be interesting, because RB Salzburg is already on top of the Austrian league in the new season 2013-14 after two games, while the Turkish league has not yet started and Fenerbahçe is still in preparations mode. Anyway, because Salzburg is playing relatively well so far this season and a lot of Turkish fans are coming too, the stadium will be sold out for the first time in a very long period. Ca. 35.000 people can be seated in the stadium.

My predictions:

Austria Vienna to win 1-0 today and RB Salzburg to win 2-1 tomorrow.

[Tender Branson]

My predictions:

Austria Vienna to win 1-0 today and RB Salzburg to win 2-1 tomorrow.

And Vienna wins 1-0

http://derstandard.at/1373514001070/Austria-Wien---FH-Hafnarfjoerdur-Di-ab-1830

[Keystone Phil]

Man City up 3-0 on AC Milan in the Audi Cup after just 22 minutes. Hope Milan is just resting up for Sunday against either Inter or Chelsea in the Champions Cup.

[Keystone Phil]

5-2 City and it isn't even half time.

[Keystone Phil]

3!

[Keystone Phil]

First U.S. game of the Champions Cup last night. I fell asleep shortly after it began and woke up at 1:15 to penalty kicks. Pirlo could have won it on the final kick...but missed. Everton ended up winning it in a surprise. Juve supposedly looked pretty bad.

Tonight: Inter vs. Chelsea. Should be great to watch especially for Mourinho's interactions.

[Keystone Phil]

Napoli already up 1-0 on the Gunners. 

[Keystone Phil]

Arsenal gifted maybe the most ridiculous penalty kick I've ever seen. Reina blocks Podolski's shot. Wonderful start. 

[Lief 🗽]

God we're awful.

Good thing wise old Arsene Wenger thinks we're top quality with great mental strength and don't need to spend any money.

[Keystone Phil]

Well, Giroud gets the nice finish. I wanted a clean sheet. 

[Lief 🗽]

LOL

I'll take it.

[Keystone Phil]

Of course...