Football (Soccer) Thread

[Sheilbh]

Don't get that reference, what's the Alexis Sánchez Protocol? 

Sanchez was going to Man City, Man United hijacked the transfer largely to stop Man City from getting him rather than because they needed him or he fixed a gap in the team. They ended up with him on massive wages (even for United) so couldn't shift him despite a profoundly underwhelming 2-3 seasons where he played something like 30 games and only scored a couple of goals

[The Larch]

Ok, thanks, I was not aware of that side of the transfer. 

If they pull it out then City will be popping champagne bottles. 

[clandestino]

He seems to fit better in United, it seems.

Good news as well for the national team, since Bruno-Ronaldo link was not optimal in the last Euro.

[Duque de Bragança]

Europa League groups (blatantly copy/pasted from a Spanish site, so sorry for the lack of translation, although I think it's quite easily understandable):

Grupo A: Olympique de Lyon, Rangers, Sparta de Praga, Brondby

Grupo B: Mónaco, PSV, Real Sociedad, Sturm Graz

Grupo C: Nápoles, Leicester Cty, Spartak de Moscú, Legia de Varsovia

Grupo D: Olympiakos, Eintracht de Frankurt, Fenerbache, Royal Antwerp

Grupo E: Lazio, Lokomotiv de Moscú, Marsella, Galatasaray

Grupo F: SC Braga, Estrella Roja, Ludogorets, Midtjylland

Grupo G: Bayer Leverkusen, Celtic FC, Real Betis, Ferencvaros

Grupo H: Dinamo de Zagreb, Genk, West Ham, Rapid de Viena

So Castilian gave up on Amberes and/or Antuerpia? That's worse than in the 17th century. 

We need someday an Italian translation of a CL group with Monaco and Bayern München.   
Pretty straightforward for most cases, not even a Francoforte for fun.

[Duque de Bragança]

Portuguese press says that Ronaldo is about to sign for City.

It's relevant since it's being related by serious people not the usual guys (Record, A Bola).

Please don't tell it's being related by Correio da Manhã, or worse, their TV channel.
So O Jogo gets a pass? Interesting. 

[Duque de Bragança]

Portuguese press says that Ronaldo is about to sign for City.

It's relevant since it's being related by serious people not the usual guys (Record, A Bola).

It is being reported in many different sources, so I guess it can be taken almost for granted.

I can't really see it working out.

Unlike Mbappé to Real from PSG, and then Ronaldo to PSG from Juventus? 

[clandestino]

Portuguese press says that Ronaldo is about to sign for City.

It's relevant since it's being related by serious people not the usual guys (Record, A Bola).

Please don't tell it's being related by Correio da Manhã, or worse, their TV channel.
So O Jogo gets a pass? Interesting. 

It was TSF at the time. Yes, O Jogo is a more serious paper than those two.

[FunkMonk]

Pogba and Fernandes pinging balls onto Ronaldo's head is gonna be spicy this season 

[The Larch]

Europa League groups (blatantly copy/pasted from a Spanish site, so sorry for the lack of translation, although I think it's quite easily understandable):

Grupo A: Olympique de Lyon, Rangers, Sparta de Praga, Brondby

Grupo B: Mónaco, PSV, Real Sociedad, Sturm Graz

Grupo C: Nápoles, Leicester Cty, Spartak de Moscú, Legia de Varsovia

Grupo D: Olympiakos, Eintracht de Frankurt, Fenerbache, Royal Antwerp

Grupo E: Lazio, Lokomotiv de Moscú, Marsella, Galatasaray

Grupo F: SC Braga, Estrella Roja, Ludogorets, Midtjylland

Grupo G: Bayer Leverkusen, Celtic FC, Real Betis, Ferencvaros

Grupo H: Dinamo de Zagreb, Genk, West Ham, Rapid de Viena

So Castilian gave up on Amberes and/or Antuerpia? That's worse than in the 17th century. 

We need someday an Italian translation of a CL group with Monaco and Bayern München.   
Pretty straightforward for most cases, not even a Francoforte for fun.

It's Amberes in Spanish, in that case they didn't change the original name of the team in the draw.

[Duque de Bragança]

Portuguese press says that Ronaldo is about to sign for City.

It's relevant since it's being related by serious people not the usual guys (Record, A Bola).

Please don't tell it's being related by Correio da Manhã, or worse, their TV channel.
So O Jogo gets a pass? Interesting. 

It was TSF at the time. Yes, O Jogo is a more serious paper than those two.

I don't think I ever managed to get my hands on a relevant "southern" edition of O Jogo, Euro 2016 Final commemorative does not count.

[FunkMonk]

God is playing a wacky game of FM right now lol

[The Larch]

It seems that CR to Man Utd has been confirmed as official.

That was unexpected, certainly.

[The Larch]

Today was also the draw for the new UEFA Conference League trophy. It's a pretty weird mix of teams for sure:



There's a team from Gibraltar in there!

[celedhring]

What's this shit?

[The Larch]

What's this shit?

The Conference League? The brand new UEFA competition below the Europa League, it starts this year. Villarreal would have played on it if they hadn't won the Europa League last season.