Association Football 2023/2024 Discussion Thread

[JGibson]

Roman Abramovich will sell Chelsea.

https://twitter.com/ESPNFC/status/1499087484004753408

[JGibson]

Chelsea should face heavy point deductions and possibly automatic relegation for this, as the UK sanctions Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.


Joe Prince-Wright at NBC Sports:

The potential sale of Chelsea has been thrown into uncertainty, as owner Roman Abramovich has been sanctioned by the UK government and his assets, including Chelsea Football Club, have been frozen.


Chelsea have been given a special license (which runs out on May 31, 2022) to continue to operate as a club but they will not be able to buy and sell players, hand out new contracts to current players and benefit financially through merchandise, new ticket sales and many other avenues.

The UK government may ‘vary, revoke or suspend’ this license at any time, so there is the potential for the license to change in order for Chelsea to be sold but it appears the UK government will take over that process.

As of right now, the sale of the club is on hold as Abramovich was said to be close to selling Chelsea in the coming days for a reported fee of over $3 billion, as he previously said net profits would be donated to victims of the war in Ukraine.

[JGibson]

USMNT won 5-1 over Panama, with Christian Pulisic having a hat trick (including 2 from the spot). They clinch themselves at least an intercontinental playoffs place by placing Top 4 in the Octogonal and a good chance at clinching a ticket to Qatar outright on Wednesday.

[JGibson]

Starting next season, the Premier League will re-enact the 5 subs/3 opportunities rule that was used during the Project Restart to conclude the 2019-20 season on a permanent basis. Sub(s) made at halftime do not count as one of the three opportunities. The bench will stay at 9.

This move puts them on terms with nearly every other major footy leagues and competitions across the world that uses the 5 subs/3 opportunities (+1 extra during extra time) rule.


https://twitter.com/premierleague/status/1509524540073910274
https://twitter.com/charles_watts/status/1509525652248035335

[JGibson]

UECL Semis

Leicester City v. Roma, Feyenoord v. Marseille

[JGibson]

Arsenal's faint top 4 hopes are fading fast, and possibly their European hopes as well, as they lost again for the 3rd match in a row, this time 1-nil to Southampton.

If we get no European football for two years in a row, then Arteta should be sacked.

[JGibson]

Big win for Arsenal today, as they defeat Chelsea 4-2 at Stamford Bridge. Arsenal is now level with Tottenham Hotspur at 57 points for the fourth and final Champions League spot in England, trailing Tottenham by goal differential. Tottenham travels to Brentford on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Coppa Italia will have a Derby D'Italia match for the final, as Juventus will face Inter on May 11.

Arsenal's Top 4 hopes are back up and running, as they beat Chelsea 4-2. An epic clash with Manchester United waits on Saturday, with the winner likely favored to have a shot at usurping Sp*rs out of Top 4.

[JGibson]

Combined with Arsenal's 3-1 win over Manchester United and Tottenham drawing nil-nil against Brentford, the Gunners are back in 4th.

In the Bundesliga, Bayern won their 10th title in a row.

[JGibson]

Burnley may yet survive, when about a month ago, they were set to go down to the Championship. Everton and maybe Leeds's PL survival chances are in danger.
Norwich City has officially been relegated and Watford all-but so.

[JGibson]

Calling the French league one of the "Big 5" is a bit of a joke tbh, although the media has jumped on that the last few years. Ignoring the fact that the Portuguese and Dutch leagues have 10 European Cups between 5 different winners between them compared to the French league's 1 which was one by one of the most corrupt teams in history...

The Big 7 would be a better definition: The Big 5 + Eredivisie (NED) and Primeira Liga (POR).

[JGibson]

Bournemouth makes its return to the Premier League, as it clinched the other automatic promotion place in the Championship with a 1-nil win over Nottingham Forest.

Nottingham Forest and Huddersfield Town have locked up playoff places for the right to be the final team promoted into the Premier League. Two of Sheffield United, Luton Town, Middlesbrough, and Millwall have a chance to clinch playoff spots.

[JGibson]

It's official. Watford are relegated to the Championship with their 1-nil loss to Crystal Palace. One relegation place is left to be decided, and one of Burnley, Leeds, or Everton will join Watford and Norwich.

The Championship Playoffs to nab the final promotion place to join the Premier League alongside Bournemouth and Fulham is now all set:
#3 Huddersfield Town v. #6 Luton Town, #4 Nottingham Forest v. #5 Sheffield United

[JGibson]

Effective with the 2024-25 season, the UCL will have a new format that'll feature 36 teams in a Swiss style format. The same also applies to the UEL and UECL. 

Two of the 4 extra slots in the UCL will come through past European performance.

UEFA:

Following an exhaustive consultation with stakeholders in the game, the UEFA Executive Committee has today in Vienna approved the final format and access list for European club competitions as of the 2024/25 season further to its decision of 19 April 2021 to introduce the so-called “Swiss system”.

The key amendments relate to the reduction from 10 matches to 8 in the league phase of the UEFA Champions League and the change of criteria for the allocation of two of the four additional places in the UEFA Champions League, removing access based on club coefficient. This confirms UEFA’s strong commitment to the principle of open competitions and sporting merit, while recognising the need to protect domestic leagues.

The eight matches of the UEFA Champions League will be played over the ten European weeks foreseen by the decision made in April 2021. The UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League will all enjoy one week of calendar exclusivity.

The four additional places created by the increase from 32 to 36 teams in the league phase of the UEFA Champions League will be allocated as follows:

• One place will go to the club ranked third in the championship of the association in fifth position in the UEFA national association ranking.

• One place will be awarded to a domestic champion by extending from four to five the number of clubs qualifying via the so-called “Champions Path”.

• The final two places will go to the associations with the best collective performance by their clubs in the previous season (total number of points obtained divided by the number of participating clubs). Those two associations will earn one place for the club best ranked in the domestic league behind the UEFA Champions League positions. For example, at the end of the current season the two associations adding one club to the Champions League, based on the collective performance of their clubs would be England and the Netherlands.



[...]



The top eight sides in the league will qualify automatically for the knockout stage, while the teams finishing in ninth to 24th place will compete in a two-legged play-off to secure their path to the last 16 of the competition.

Similar format changes will also be applied to the UEFA Europa League (8 matches in the league stage) and UEFA Europa Conference League (6 matches in the league stage) and both will also include 36 teams in the league phase.

[JGibson]

The FIFA series in EA Sports is no more, as of July 2023. FIFA 23 will be the last game under the FIFA license with EA Sports. Effective July 2023, the series will become EA Sports FC.

https://twitter.com/EASPORTSFIFA/status/1524054021186768896

[JGibson]

Sp*rs manage to cut the Top 4 deficit to 1, as Tottenham thrash a 10-men Arsenal 3-nil. Arsenal will be at least one and likely two CBs down, as Rob Holding got sent off for getting two yellows and Gabriel went off injured.


Hope and pray Burnley and Norwich beat Tottenham, and Arsenal win against Newcastle and Everton.

[JGibson]

5 days ago, Arsenal had a 4-point lead in the table for 4th place. Now, they are behind Sp*rs by 2 points as we head to the 38th and final matchweek, as Newcastle beat the Gunners 2-nil.

For Arsenal to get Top 4, Sp*rs have to lose to already relegated Norwich and Arsenal have to beat Everton on Sunday.

[JGibson]

Eintracht Frankfurt won the 2022 UEL Final in penalties 1-1 (5-4 on penalties). As a result of Eintracht's win and placement outside the Top 7 of the Bundesliga table, Germany gets 5 UCL places (Bayern, Dortmund, Leverkusen, RB Leipzig, and the aforementioned Eintracht) and 8 UEFA places (5 UCL + 2 UEL + 1 UECL) next year.

Everton came back from a 2-nil halftime hole to win 3-2 over Crystal Palace to clinch safety for another season in the Premier League and Burnley drew Aston Villa 1-1, leaving Burnley and Leeds level on points but Burnley is out of the drop zone due to better goal differential.

The title race between Liverpool and Manchester City will come down to Sunday.

[JGibson]

2021-22 PL in review: 


Manchester City win title, Burnley get relegated, West Ham head to the UECL, Arsenal and Manchester United head to the UEL, and Liverpool, Chelsea, and Tottenham head to the UCL.

[JGibson]

Nottingham Forest are back in the Premier League for the first time in 23 seasons, as they beat Huddersfield 1-nil to clinch the final promotion ticket to the PL.

[JGibson]

Starting next year, MLS and Apple will have every MLS game available. 


MLS and Apple have agreed to a 10-year deal to stream every MLS game (no blackouts), beginning in 2023 when STL City SC enters the league. Expect far less games on linear TV outlets. 

The Verge:

Apple will offer streams of every Major League Soccer (MLS) match from early 2023 through 2032 in the Apple TV app, the two organizations announced in a major deal revealed Tuesday. While some games may still air on linear TV networks like ESPN and Fox, this gives Apple the global exclusive on an NFL Sunday Ticket-style offering for the league.

To watch the matches, fans will be able to subscribe to a new, currently unnamed MLS streaming service that will be available “exclusively through the Apple TV app,” according to Apple’s press release. A “broad selection” of MLS and Leagues Cup matches will be available to Apple TV Plus subscribers, “with a limited number of matches available for free.” If you’re a full-season ticket holder, you’ll get access to the new streaming service as well. Unlike many sports streaming deals, there will be no local blackouts or restrictions.

[JGibson]

LB/CM Oleksandr Zinchenko is headed to Arsenal on a 4-year deal.

https://twitter.com/afcstuff/status/1549770781772718080

[JGibson]

Arsenal opened the Premier League season with a 2-nil win over Crystal Palace. Oleksandr Zinchenko, William Saliba, and Gabriel Jesus made their official club debuts.

[JGibson]

Could Manchester United's Harry Maguire be headed to Chelsea in a swap for Christian Pulisic?

[JGibson]

Newcastle blow a 3-1 lead, and Manchester City came back to level it 3-3 to gain a point. This result keeps Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table.

[JGibson]

The UECL group stage:


Group A: İstanbul Başakşehir, Fiorentina, Heart of Midlothian, RFS
Group B: West Ham United, FCSB, Anderlecht, Silkeborg
Group C: Villarreal, Hapoel Be'er Sheva, Austria Wien, Lech Poznań
Group D: Partizan, FC Köln, Nice, Slovácko
Group E: AZ Alkmaar, Apollon Limassol, Vaduz, Dnipro-1
Group F: Gent, Molde, Shamrock Rovers, Djurgårdens IF
Group G: Slavia Prague, CFR Cluj, Sivasspor, Ballkani
Group H: Basel, Slovan Bratislava, Žalgiris, Pyunik