Football (Soccer) Thread

[The Larch]

Yeah, I'd agree with those picks as well.

[Josquius]

I'm feeling Man Utd.
They must have given up on the league now, this is their only possibility to get something.

[Duque de Bragança]

My picks

Man City over Schake
Juve over Atletico
PSG over Man U
Spurs over Dortmund
B'lona over Lyons
Roma Porto will be close, probably Roma
Real Madrid will beat Ajax
and, most controversailly, Liverpool beat Bayern Munich

- Man City all the way Schalke is the weakest of the qualified and is not well in the Bundesliga too (13th!).
- Juve or Atlético could go both ways but Ronaldo knows how to score against Atlético
- PSG Man U Mourinho out may not be enough, Man U problems are not limited to Mourinho. PSG has the domestic league almost won so they can focus on Champions' League. Downside: lack of competitive games. PSG has to get to quarters once in a while too, or even the semi-finals. 
- Tottenham Dortmund both ways too but right now Dortmund is very good
- Barça should win this one but Lyon is very unpredictable (cf. their games vs Man City) tie in Lyon but Barça wins
- Roma Porto It's a pity for Porto the second leg will be after the domestic top game vs Benfica. Last games between teams ended well for Porto. Right now, Roma is in a bad sport but we are a long way from February. Not a bad draw for both teams. Though maybe Lyon would have been better for Porto, given how under-estimated Porto or even Portuguese clubs are in France, which many of the times ends up biting French clubs in the arse cf. 2004.
- Real Madrid Ajax Ajax gave such headaches to Bayern in group phase and Real is not exactly great. Maybe referees will save Real though. Real still favorite, of course.
- Liverpool Bayern Bayern is not having a great season with an aging squad so Liverpool winning is not exactly controversial, at least now.

[Admiral Yi]

Christian Pulisic signs with Chelsea.

[Tamas]

Christian Pulisic signs with Chelsea.

I wonder whose money they are laundering.

The guys contract was set to expire in November and they have loaned him back to Dortmund until the end of the season, so Chelsea has paid almost 60 million pounds to get this kid 3 months before they otherwise could have.

[Josquius]

60 mil is a silly sum for this but it isn't unknown to buy players whose contracts are expiring in a few months. It makes sure you're the one to get him rather than someone with a better contract offer.

Also I believe with players under a certain age you have to pay compensation for swiping them on contract expiry? Not sure where the cutoff is.

[Duque de Bragança]

Just three months and a half after being fired from Monaco, Leonardo Jardim returns to... Monaco, no less. LULZ
Thierry Henry did not last long for his first coach experience.
Jardim got allegedly 8 milion € as severance pay three months ago. Well played Rybolovlev! (Russian oligarch AS Monaco owner). 

[FunkMonk]

Henry should have stayed at his commentating gig in England

[Duque de Bragança]

Well, he's got a severance pay (10 M € ?) for this short gig at Monaco, so chillax FunkMonk.

[FunkMonk]

Ah, of course, the managerial golden parachute 

[Josquius]

Speaking of parachutes... How about Cardiffs vanished star signing?

[The Larch]

Speaking of parachutes... How about Cardiffs vanished star signing?

The teams might be involved in a legal battle for the transfer money now. Cardiff froze the payment until there's an official resolution on the case, and Nantes claims that what happened was not their fault and I guess that they still expect to get paid. And I don't know if insurance covers these kind of situations.

[Liep]

Newcastle beats City.

[celedhring]

Newcastle beats City.

Yay!

[Josquius]

Fuck.