Majoritatea ligilor din Europa au o pauză de iarnă de una sau două săptămâni în preajma Crăciunului, când meciurile sunt întrerupte și programele de antrenament se uşurează.
Dar fotbalul festiv a fost o instituție britanică de zeci de ani. Și asta înseamnă că, da, majoritatea fotbaliștilor profesioniști se vor antrena în ziua de Crăciun.
“Când ai copiii tăi acolo să se joace cu noile lor jucării și trebuie să te antrenezi, acesta este un mare sacrificiu. Nu este vorba despre bani, este doar natura umană”, a declarat pentru BBC fostul mijlocaș de la Sheffield United, Tottenham și Fulham, Michael Brown.
Cu meciurile din diviziile de top din Anglia, Scoția, Țara Galilor și Irlanda, toate programate pentru Boxing Day – precum și în ligile inferioare engleze – o sesiune de antrenament de Crăciun este ultima oportunitate pe care managerii o au de a ajuta jucătorii să-și mențină fitnessul și munca. pe un plan de joc.
Fotografiile festive cu jucători care poartă pălării de Moș Crăciun și nas de ren sunt adesea postate online de cluburile care se antrenează în ziua de Crăciun.
Sesiunile de Crăciun pentru echipele care joacă acasă de Boxing Day au loc de obicei dimineața sau după-amiaza devreme, înainte ca jucătorii să meargă acasă pentru a petrece timp cu familia mai târziu în cursul zilei.
Dar dacă o echipă joacă în deplasare de Boxing Day, atunci lucrurile devin mai complicate.
Cluburile stau adesea la hotel cu o seară înaintea meciurilor în deplasare, mai ales în cazul unei ore de start mai devreme sau a unei distanțe lungi de călătorie, ceea ce înseamnă că o călătorie cu autocarul sau un zbor urmată de o noapte la hotel este obișnuită.
Chelsea va avea un test greu într-un meci în deplasare împotriva unui Everton, o echipă care se îndepărtează încet din zona retrogradării pierzând doar unul dintre ultimele cinci meciuri. Apărarea lui Sen Dyche a preluat controlul, permițând doar patru goluri în acea perioadă, păstrând patru porți curate, dar cu atacul lui Chelsea venind în oraș, acolo lucrurile vor deveni interesante.
Albaștrii au explodat sub Enzo Maresca, disputând cel mai mare atac din Premier League, cu 37 de goluri marcate pe numele lor. Dar chiar și apărarea a devenit aproape medie, ceea ce îi are pe Blues chiar în toiul lucrurilor, pe măsură ce perioada festivă este în desfășurare.
Iată poveștile noastre, cum poți urmări meciul și multe altele:
Cum să urmărești și cote
Data: duminică, 22 dec. | Timp: 9 am ET
Locaţie: Goodison Park — Liverpool, Anglia
TELEVIZOR: SUA | Stream live: Fubo TV (Încercați gratuit)
Cote: Everton +425; Remiză +300; Chelsea -165
Povestiri
Everton: Este un alt meci în care Toffees trebuie să se sprijine pe puterea lor defensivă, dar au avantajul de a fi acasă și de a fi obișnuiți să absoarbă presiunea. Când te afli în partea inferioară a mesei, a putea suferi în defensivă este critic și puține echipe sunt mai bune în a obține rezultate în acest fel decât Everton.
Everton a prezis pe XI: Jordan Pickford, Ashley Young, James Tarkowski, Jarrad Branthwaite, Vitalii Mykolenko, Iliman Ndiaye, Orel Mangala, Idrissa Gueye, Jack Harrison, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Chelsea: Jucând la începutul meciului, albaștrii au șansa să ajungă în fruntea ligii punând toată presiunea asupra lui Liverpool, care ia terenul mai târziu în cursul zilei într-un meci dur în deplasare. Marc Cucurella va rata meciul din cauza suspendării, în timp ce Reece James este în continuare accidentat, lăsându-l pe Maresca fără fundașii săi de top, dar profunzimea a fost o forță majoră, deoarece oricine a conectat Chelsea a reușit să facă performanță. Este un avantaj de a juca în Europa Conference League, unde Maresca poate arunca o privire asupra jucătorilor mai profund, lucru pe care majoritatea managerilor îl pot face doar în antrenamente sau meciuri de cupă.
Chelsea a prezis XI: Robert Sanchez, Malo Gusto, Levi Colwill, Tosin Adarabioyo, Axel Disasi, Enzo Fernandez, Jedon Sancho, Cole Palmer, Pedro Neto, Nicolas Jackson
Previziune
Indiferent cât de bine se descurcă o apărare, nu o poți opri pe Chelsea să marcheze, iar Everton este pe cale să afle asta pe calea grea. Prin Cole Palmer orice este posibil. Alege: Everton 0,Chelsea 2
Șeful lui Vitor Pereira spune că își urmărește visul în Premier League de 14 ani.
Portughezul s-a mutat joi la Molineux cu un contract de 18 luni pentru a pune capăt așteptării sale de a lucra în Anglia.
Pereira, care a fost aproape de a se alătura lui Everton de mai multe ori din 2010, și-a atins obiectivul de a se descurca în Premier League săptămâna aceasta, când l-a înlocuit pe Gary O'Neil la Wolves, al zecelea club al său în ultimii 11 ani.
„În ultimii 14 ani ai carierei mele, concentrarea mea a fost să vin în Anglia”, a spus el, după ce a părăsit partea saudită Al-Shabab. „Pentru a concura cu cei mai buni antrenori, acesta este locul în care vreau să fiu. Vreau să fiu în această ligă pentru a concura, a mă provoca și sunt gata.
„Îmi amintesc primul pas în afara țării [Portugal] a fost în Arabia Saudită [Al-Ahli] acum 14 ani. Când am plecat de la Porto, ținta mea era un club din Anglia.
„Am avut o întâlnire la acel moment pentru a veni în Anglia, dar după ce un prinț a bătut la ușă și m-a convins, nu m-am dus în Anglia. Nu mi-am imaginat niciodată că voi merge în Arabia Saudită.
„Am avut câteva abordări de la cluburi din Anglia [in the past] dar Wolves a făcut pasul înainte pentru a termina.”
Pereira preia conducerea, iar Wolves este pe locul doi și la cinci puncte de Leicester, pe locul 17, cu care se confruntă duminică (14:00 GMT) pe Stadionul King Power.
Wolves l-au demis pe antrenorul Gary O'Neil, după înfrângerea cu 2-1 în ultimul suflu cu Ipswich Town în Premier League, sâmbătă.
A marcat a patra înfrângere consecutivă în ligă, după o înfrângere cu 4-2 cu Bournemouth, o înfrângere devastatoare cu 4-0 împotriva lui Everton și o înfrângere cu 2-1 la West Ham.
Wolves rămâne pe locul 19 în clasamentul Premier League, înaintea lui Southampton cu patru puncte, deși echipa South Coast are un meci în mână.
Sourced a declarat pentru ESPN că clubul este în discuții cu antrenorul portughez Vitor Pereira pentru înlocuirea lui O'Neil. Pereira este responsabil de Al Shabab în Saudi Pro League și a mai antrenat la Porto și Fenerbahce, printre alte echipe.
O'Neil a semnat o prelungire de patru ani în august, după ce a condus clubul pe locul 14, cu 46 de puncte în campania 2023-24. Cu toate acestea, echipa sa s-a luptat în defensivă de la acea extindere, primind cele mai proaste 40 de goluri în ligă după 16 jocuri.
„Suntem foarte recunoscători lui Gary pentru tot efortul, dăruirea și munca grea pe care a petrecut-o la club și îi dorim lui și echipei sale mult noroc pentru viitor.” Președintele Wolves, Jeff Shi, a declarat într-o declarație a clubului.
O'Neil, un fost fundaș al West Ham, devine al treilea antrenor principal din Premier League care va fi eliberat din funcții în acest sezon, după ce Manchester United l-a demis pe Erik ten Hag și Leicester City l-a concediat pe Steve Cooper.
Următorul meci al Wolves este în deplasare la Leicester pe 22 decembrie, cu meciuri grele împotriva lui Man United și Tottenham mai târziu în cursul lunii.
Informații de la Rob Dawson de la ESPN au contribuit la acest raport.
Deși majoritatea echipelor au acordat prioritate talentelor engleze, există mult mai mulți jucători de peste mări de care trebuie să-i ai în vedere.
După ce a făcut o impresie de durată pentru Heat anul trecut în fruntea ordinii, aluatul din Noua Zeelandă Colin Munro a revenit, în timp ce Scorchers l-a semnat pe colegul său Kiwi Finn Allen.
Pace bowler Lockie Ferguson a fost ridicat de Thunder, în timp ce wicketkeeper Tim Seifert au încheiat un contract de doi ani cu Renegades, deoarece încearcă să se îmbunătățească, terminând pe locul șapte sezonul trecut.
Paine a recrutat un filator al Indiilor de Vest Fabian Allen pentru Strikers, care caută să facă un pas mai departe în acest an, după o înfrângere în Challenger în 2023-24. Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein şi Sherfane Rutherford au fost semnate de Hurricanes, respectiv Sixers și Thunder.
Mulți jucători pakistanezi s-au prezentat pentru draft, dar s-au învârtit Usama Mir a fost singurul care a fost ales, deoarece se întoarce la Stars după ce a câștigat cinci wicket-uri în cinci jocuri sezonul trecut. Hassan Khan a semnat ca înlocuitor, dar Haris Rauf, Shadab Khan și Fakhar Zaman se numără printre cei care trebuie să rateze.
Picior-învârtitor Rishad Hossain trebuia să devină al doilea jucător din Bangladesh care va apărea în BBL, dar el a optat să joace în Bangladesh Premier League.
Jucătorii australieni de testare vor putea juca doar în ultimele etape ale sezonului regulat datorită seriei lor de cinci teste împotriva Indiei, care se va încheia pe 7 ianuarie. Asta înseamnă că va exista o fereastră de 10 zile pentru a juca în faza grupelor.
Australia începe un turneu de două teste în Sri Lanka începând cu 29 ianuarie, așa că este puțin probabil ca jucătorii să fie disponibili pentru knockout.
Khawaja este listat drept căpitanul lui Heat, în timp ce Nathan Lyon este contractat cu Renegades, Travis Head la Grevişti şi Mitchell Marsh la Scorchers. a lui Nathan McSweeney promovarea în partea de Test îi lasă și pe Heat fără unul dintre cei mai buni batași.
Pat Cummins a semnat ca jucător „suplimentar” la Thunder și Mitchell Starc şi Josh Hazlewood la Sixers, dar toți sunt „puțin probabil” să joace, dar vor „sprijini activitățile în afara terenului”.
Obișnuiți cu mingea albă Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Sean Abbott şi Adam Zampa ar trebui să fie disponibil pe tot parcursul.
Bronny James și-a făcut debutul pe șosea în G League joi seară pentru South Bay Lakers și se pare că tot ce avea nevoie era puțin timp departe de casă. James a revărsat 30 de puncte și a adăugat trei recuperări și două pase decisive în cea mai bună performanță din tânăra sa carieră profesionistă.
În ciuda nopții mari a lui James, Lakers au căzut în fața Valley Suns, 106-100.
James, în vârstă de 20 de ani, nu i-a luat mult să pornească, deoarece și-a arătat șutul său exterior cu o pereche de 3-pointers de tragere în primele minute. În total, el a afișat un arsenal ofensiv impresionant, care a inclus înălțarea pentru un alley-oop. Pentru sezon, acum are o medie de 14 puncte, 3,5 recuperări și 2,5 pase decisive în G League.
După un sezon prescurtat de boboc la USC, în care nu a ajuns niciodată la curent după revenirea din cauza unei probleme cu inima, James a declarat pentru draftul NBA 2024. Așa cum era de așteptat, a fost selectat de Lakers cu alegerea generală nr. 55 în runda a doua și a semnat un contract pe patru ani, de 7,9 milioane de dolari.
În seara de deschidere, el a participat la meciul dintre Lakers și Minnesota Timberwolves alături de tatăl său, LeBron James, și făcând acest lucru au devenit primul duo tată-fiu care a jucat împreună într-un joc NBA. Mai târziu, au jucat împreună în Cleveland, când Lakers i-au înfruntat pe Cavaliers, iar Bronny a marcat primele puncte în carieră la o săritură în al patrulea sfert. Altfel, totuși, Bronny a primit doar minute de gunoi în NBA. Nu există așteptări care se vor schimba în acest sezon.
Bronny, care a fost recent exclus din cauza unei probleme cu călcâiul, își va juca cea mai mare parte din timpul său în G League, deși nu există un plan definitiv în vigoare.
„Va fi fluid”, a declarat președintele South Bay Lakers, Joey Buss, pentru ESPN. „Vom face ceea ce este mai bine pentru dezvoltarea lui. Vor fi multe lucruri pe care le vom face pentru toți jucătorii de la misiune, iar deciziile sunt luate în funcție de locul în care se află, în funcție de starea accidentării, în funcție de câte Corpurile de care au nevoie pentru antrenament. Sunt o mulțime de variabile.
La începutul sezonului, rapoartele au indicat că Bronny ar juca doar în meciurile de acasă cu South Bay Lakers, a căror arenă de acasă funcționează de două ori ca centru de antrenament al echipei NBA. În mod evident, organizația a inversat cursul cu privire la această decizie, deși rămâne neclar când sau dacă Bronny va pleca din nou pe drum.
Manchester City și-a păstrat strânsoarea pe primul loc, învingând St Polten în penultimul meci din grupă de joi seară.
Căpitanul Alex Greenwood a fost scos pe targă în prima repriză, înainte ca Lily Murphy să deschidă scorul în a doua perioadă.
Barcelona s-a alăturat lui City în optimile de finală, cu victoria cu 3-0 la Hammarby – punând capăt sperantelor suedeze de a progresa.
Va avea loc acum o confruntare în Spania pe 18 decembrie pentru a vedea cine conduce grupul.
Dacă Barca învinge City, atunci ambele echipe vor fi blocate pe 15 puncte, așa că primul loc va fi decis de recordul lor head-to-head.
Asta ar însemna că City, care a câștigat cu 2-0 împotriva Barcei la începutul campaniei și își conduce rivalii cu trei puncte, va termina pe primul loc dacă câștigă, egalează sau pierde cu un singur gol.
Bill Connelly, ESPN Staff WriterDec 12, 2024, 12:17 PM ET
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Bill Connelly is a staff writer for ESPN.com.
The first few matchdays of the 2024-25 Champions League campaign were a bit strange from a general vibes perspective. We saw plenty of interesting matches and great performances, but with the freshly expanded format — four more teams, two more matchdays, four-team groups ditched for a giant, 36-team table with two-thirds of teams advancing to the knockout rounds — it was hard to really glean the stakes of what we were seeing.
It’s not hard anymore.
In Matchday 6, we saw teams officially eliminated, we saw Liverpool lock up a top-eight finish and a bye to the round of 16, we saw a couple of Europe’s richest teams (Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain) get off the mat a bit, and we saw another one (Manchester City) continue its recent tailspin. We also saw lots of goals. Twelve of 18 matches had at least three of them, and seven had at least five.
With this level of entertainment, it’s almost a shame that the competition will now basically take six weeks off — Matchdays 7-8 are in the last two weeks of January — but we’ll make do. The more time to prepare for the richest Relegation Six-Pointer of all time (Manchester City at PSG on Jan. 22), the better, eh?
Let’s once again go country-by-country to look at who’s faring well, who’s flailing and which players performed the best in Matchday 6, the best of the competition thus far.
The categories below:
‐ Title hopefuls: Teams with at least a 3% chance of winning the whole thing, per ESPN BET ‐ Fighting for the top eight: Teams with at least a 20% chance of finishing in the top eight of the league phase, per Opta ‐ Just hoping to advance: Teams with at least a 20% chance of finishing in the top 24, but a less than 20% chance of finishing in the top eight, per Opta ‐Playing out the string: Teams with an under 20% chance of finishing in the top 24
ENGLAND: Liverpool and Arsenal are new title favorites, Manchester City’s tailspin continues
TITLE HOPEFULS: Liverpool 16.2% (up 1.2% from last matchday), Arsenal 11.5% (up 0.6%), Manchester City 10.1% (down 3.6%)
You know your season’s going pretty well when we can nitpick semi-comfortable wins, but Liverpool both clinched a top-eight finish and left plenty to be desired in their 1-0 win over Girona on Tuesday. They scored only via a soft penalty and goalkeeper Alisson, in his return from injury after a couple of months, had to come up with a couple of huge saves as Girona was able to open up the match at times, attempting 13 shots worth a decent 1.2 xG.
This was the first time in five away matches that Liverpool didn’t allow at least two goals — they were stretched particularly open last week in a 3-3 draw at Newcastle — and they weren’t incredibly sharp against Girona either. But they handled their business, and they remain atop the table in both of the world’s most lucrative leagues.
And now they have company.
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1:36
How Arne Slot has exceeded his own expectations at Liverpool
Beth Lindop assesses Arne Slot’s “incredible” start to his managerial career at Liverpool.
Two weeks ago after Matchday 5, Liverpool became the overall betting favorite at 14.9%, with Manchester City (13.7%) in second and Arsenal (11.0%) in fourth. With another City loss, Arsenal and Barcelona are now tied in the No. 2 spot. And more importantly in the short-term, Arsenal saw its chances of a top-eight finish and round-of-24 bye increase by more than 20 percentage points with Wednesday’s easy 3-0 win over Monaco. Both teams had plenty of the ball in the attacking half, but only Arsenal did anything with it. And when they leveraged the ball into the right side of the attack, dangerous things usually happened thanks to the Martin Odegaard-Bukayo Saka firewall.
Saka continues to make a pretty good case for Best Right Winger in the World. He had two goals and an assist on Wednesday, and when Arsenal lost possession in his area of the pitch, he usually collected it back. He had seven ball recoveries and was one of the primary reasons why Arsenal dominated that category (they had 58% of the match’s ball recoveries).
Check out his passing maps:
Saka received 15 passes from either Odegaard, Thomas Partey or Declan Rice and sent 12 passes their way as well, and Monaco was unable to prevent the ball from flowing in their direction. Throw in a brilliant first 35 minutes from forward Gabriel Jesus — in which he had three shots worth 0.8 xG, then assisted Saka’s 34th-minute game-winner — and you had Arsenal at its best. Monaco’s Breel Embolo missed a golden opportunity in the 65th minute, then Arsenal put the match away with two goals in the last 15 minutes.
You can make a pretty easy case that Liverpool and Arsenal are the two best teams in the world right now. In fact, it’s probably harder to make any other case. We’ll see what does or doesn’t change in the six weeks until Matchday 7.
FIGHTING FOR THE TOP EIGHT: Liverpool (100% chance of a top-eight finish), Arsenal (90.8%), Aston Villa (50.4%)
On Tuesday night in Leipzig, Aston Villa won one of the most entertaining and impactful matches of the week, a 3-2 decision that bumped up their odds of a top-eight finish by more than 30 percentage points and officially eliminated RBL from advancing. This match had four spectacular goals and a spectacularly-deflected winner from Ross Barkley, and Villa took all three points despite a spectacular match from RBL left midfielder Antonio Nusa. The shot and xG totals were similar, and RBL actually generated more opportunities in the box, but Villa got Barkley’s long deflection and yet another long-range strike from Jhon Durán.
He really might be the best pure finisher in the game at the moment.
JUST HOPING TO ADVANCE: Manchester City (0.0% chance of a top-eight finish, 90.8% chance of advancing)
Zero point zero percent. Club soccer’s season is so long and arduous that it’s sometimes hard to know what to make of a team going on a hot or cold streak in the fall months. When it comes to the odds of accomplishing their goals, such a streak might not change things all that much. But Manchester City’s month-and-a-half from hell — 10 matches, one win, seven losses since Oct. 30 — has officially begun to derail their season.
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2:44
Where is it going wrong for Pep Guardiola and Man City?
Gab Marcotti and Rob Palmer discuss the problems faced by Pep Guardiola and his struggling Manchester City squad.
According to Opta’s power ratings, City’s odds of winning the Premier League are down to just 3.8% now that they’re in fourth place and eight points back of Liverpool (Liverpool has a game in hand). And while they’re still quite likely to advance to the Champions League knockout rounds, they’re out of the running for a top-eight finish and bye, meaning they’ll have to survive an extra round in February. And with the way the table is clustered, with 12 teams at between eight and 11 points, that round-of-24 matchup could be against a team like Celtic, and it could be against a team like Real Madrid.
At least the problems were different on Wednesday. That’s something, right? After watching their aging and thin midfield get overrun for weeks, resulting in tons of high-level scoring chances for opponents, City only allowed Juventus to attempt three shots worth more than 0.1. Unfortunately, two of those shots went in the net, including an All-American Tim Weah-to-Weston McKennie combination that put the match away.
Meanwhile, Juve’s defense was an ode to catenaccio: They gave City all the possession they wanted and gave up absolutely nothing in dangerous areas. City attempted 228 passes in the attacking third (Juve: 24), but completed just one of 10 crosses in open play, attempted only four shots in the game’s first 64 minutes and saw six of their 12 total shot attempts blocked. Erling Haaland managed just 18 touches and two shot attempts: one was blocked by Manuel Locatelli, the other was saved by Michele Di Gregorio, and that was that. He saw almost no opportunity in the final 50 minutes.
Based on preseason Opta simulations, the benchmark for advancing to the knockout rounds has basically been nine points. City are sitting at eight with two matches – one at PSG, one at home against Club Brugge. With the transfer market opening in three weeks, we might see a different City team for the rest of this competition. They could still catch fire in the second half of the season, as we’ve seen many times, but these are depths we have never seen from a Pep Guardiola team.
PLAYING OUT THE STRING: none
SPAIN: Nine points for LaLiga’s three heavyweights
TITLE HOPEFULS: Barcelona 11.5% (down 0.6%), Real Madrid 11.5% (up 1.3%)
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1:46
How Barcelona exposed ‘vulnerable’ Borussia Dortmund in the UCL
Craig Burley and Alejandro Moreno react to Barcelona’s 3-2 win over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.
After an incredible October run of seven wins in seven matches (scoring margin: 29-5), Barcelona began to skid a bit in November. The incredibly high Barcelona defensive line, a staple of manager Hansi Flick’s style, continues to draw opponents offside at rates we haven’t really seen before — they’ve drawn 37 offsides in this competition thus far, and the other 35 teams have averaged 12.2. But it’s been pierced a lot more in recent weeks, and beginning with a 1-0 loss to Real Sociedad on Nov. 10, they’ve won just one of their last five LaLiga matches.
The Barca defense certainly proved vulnerable again at Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday, but in a wonderfully free-flowing match, they outscored the defending Champions League runners-up, 3-2, thanks to two late goals from substitute Ferran Torres.
In American football, you’ll sometimes hear an announcer say something like, “This game will come down to whoever has the ball last.” This match was sort of the soccer version of that: both teams took turns dominating the ball and the attack in the second half, and Barca just happened to be the last one to take advantage. Regardless, they secured three vital points and all but assured themselves a round-of-24 bye. Considering the fatigue levels that come with executing the Flick system, that’s a pretty good prize.
FIGHTING FOR THE TOP EIGHT: Barcelona (90.5% chance of a top-eight finish), Atletico Madrid (37.8%)
Outside of Liverpool and Arsenal, is there a better team in the world right now than Atletico Madrid? Granted, they got to pick apart Slovan Bratislava on Wednesday, one of the three teams in the competition with zero points. But their comprehensive 3-1 win backed up something that has been evident for a few weeks now.
Manager Diego Simeone has exactly what he needs with this squad: Intensity, structure, industry and thanks to the combination of Antoine Griezmann and Julián Álvarez, just the right amount of creativity up front. The duo scored all three goals, and Atleti completely dominated in terms of both ball recoveries (they made 61% of them) and high turnovers (81%). They’ve won 10 in a row in all competitions (scoring margin: 30-7), and while peaking in December isn’t the single greatest way to win trophies, they’re overflowing with confidence at the moment.
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1:57
Klinsmann: Mbappe getting back to his best at Real Madrid
Jürgen Klinsmann reacts to Kylian Mbappe’s goal in Real Madrid’s 3-2 win over Atalanta in the Champions League.
JUST HOPING TO ADVANCE: Real Madrid (15.7% chance of top eight, 94.8% chance of advancing)
December is evidently Bounceback Month for Real Madrid. Firmly ensconced back in the LaLiga race after taking 12 points from five matches (and watching Barcelona wobble a bit), they re-established their Champions League credibility as well with a 3-2 win over a dynamite Atalanta team. That bumped them from 24th to 20th in the giant Champions League table and eased the tension a bit.
That said, they were pretty lucky to leave Bergamo with all three points. They took a 3-1 lead due to customary moments of brilliance — Kylian Mbappé’s lovely run in the 10th minute (assisted by Brahim Díaz), Vinícius Júnior’s advantageous strike off of a high turnover in the 56th minute and Jude Bellingham’s low screamer in the 59th — but were forced to bunker in and survive from there. Over the last 30 minutes, Atalanta attempted 10 shots worth 1.97 xG, and while Ademola Lookman brought Atalanta to within 3-2 with a low screamer of his own, the third goal never came, and Mateo Retegui missed a golden opportunity at the very end.
Mbappe enjoyed a torrid start but came off with a thigh injury (it’s evidently not considered serious); still, though it felt like almost an upset, Real Madrid got three vital points.
PLAYING OUT THE STRING: Girona (0.4% chance of advancing)
Why Bayern Munich are ‘serious contenders’ to win the Champions League
Jürgen Klinsmann assesses Bayern Munich’s form this season under Vincent Kompany.
Sometimes, the worst thing you can do as an underdog against Bayern is score early. It wakes the German giants up. Left winger Kevin put Shakhtar Donetsk ahead 1-0 in the fifth minute in Gelsenkirchen, but Bayern charged ahead 2-1 and finished the first half with 13 shots to Shakhtar’s three. It was only 2-1, though, so Shakhtar pressed for a second goal in the second half and created some decent opportunities. But as is typically the case against Bayern, this eventually backfired. They scored in the 70th, 87th and 93rd minutes and cruised, 5-1.
This seemed like a pretty good time to play Bayern – the Bundesliga leaders are incredibly banged up at the moment and were without striker Harry Kane, goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, left back Alphonso Davies and attackers Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman on Tuesday. With a draw against Borussia Dortmund, a DFB-Pokal loss to Bayer Leverkusen and a sloppy weekend win over Heidenheim, their domestic form had fallen off a bit. But they still had Jamal Musiala and Michael Olise, who combined for three goals, two assists and an incredible 11 successful 1v1s on Tuesday. That was more than enough to secure their third straight Champions League win.
Olise was particularly dominant on the right side, constantly giving poor Shakhtar leftback Mykola Matviyenko and left-center back Alaa Ghram fits. Oh, and his mazy one-man goal in stoppage time was one of the highlights of the week.
FIGHTING FOR THE TOP EIGHT: Bayer Leverkusen (70.6% chance of a top-eight finish), Bayern Munich (64.7%), Borussia Dortmund (51.2%)
While BVB’s top-eight odds slipped with the defeat to Barcelona, Bayer Leverkusen charged back into the conversation with a 1-0 win over Inter. Since getting pounded 4-0 by Liverpool in Matchday 4, they’ve won two in a row and raised their top-eight odds by more than 30 percentage points on Tuesday. And for as vulnerable as their defense has been at times in Bundesliga play (and at Anfield), they’ve outscored five Champions League opponents not named Liverpool by a combined 12-1.
JUST HOPING TO ADVANCE: Stuttgart (0.0% chance of top eight, 60.2% chance of advancing)
Following a humiliating 5-1 defeat at Red Star Belgrade in Matchday 5, Stuttgart gave up an early goal at home against Young Boys, which felt pretty foreboding. But they responded vigorously, charging to a 5-1 win of their own and getting their odds of advancing back on the right side of 50%.
The last two spots in the round of 24 could come down to PSV Eindhoven (77% chance), PSG (67%), Stuttgart (60%) or Dinamo Zagreb (29%). Stuttgart gets winless Slovan Bratislava in Matchday 7 … and then PSG at home in Matchday 8.
PLAYING OUT THE STRING: RB Leipzig (0.0% chance of advancing)
RB Leipzig has lost six matches by a total of seven goals. Sometimes it’s just not your year.
ITALY: Hello, Juventus
TITLE HOPEFULS: Inter Milan 4.8% (down 0.7%), Juventus 3.5% (up 1.5%)
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How Juventus & McKennie dealt a huge blow to Man City’s UCL knockout hopes
Recap Manchester City’s 2-0 loss to Juventus in the Champions League.
After opening the competition with two wins, Thiago Motta’s Juventus pulled just two draws from their next three matches, matching the stolid form that has produced an incredible nine draws from 15 Serie A matches this season. (They’re unbeaten in league play but in sixth place, a difficult combination to execute.) But after Wednesday’s 2-0 win over City, ESPN BET gives them the eighth-best title odds, tied with Bayer Leverkusen.
That might be an overreaction, but Wednesday was a reminder that this team has upside. And while they rarely win, they evidently never lose.
FIGHTING FOR THE TOP EIGHT: Inter Milan (78.9% chance of a top-eight finish), AC Milan (42.4%), Atalanta (23.0%), Juventus (22.6%)
AC Milan picked the wrong time to play Red Star Belgrade: the Serbian champs found their footing with a huge win over Stuttgart in Matchday 5 and tilted the field in their favor for large portions of Wednesday’s match in the San Siro. But they had no good ideas in the attacking third (they were 1-for-16 on open-play crosses) and with the match tied at 1-1 late, Tammy Abraham gave Milan a huge three points.
The win raised Milan’s odds of a top-eight finish to nearly 50%. Inter’s odds, meanwhile, sank a good amount.
Inter’s Simone Inzaghi is one of the most adaptable managers in the game: it’s one of the main reasons why Inter have won six trophies in three seasons and are the defending Italian champions. But sometimes the answer never comes. On Tuesday in Leverkusen, Inter offered absolutely nothing of note, attempting just six shots (none worth more than 0.11 xG and only one after the 40th minute) and suffering a meek 1-0 loss. Their defend-and-counter routine produced nothing in the counters department, and while they nearly stole a 0-0 draw, Nordi Mukiele’s 90th-minute goal took even that away from them.
Field tilt is the percentage of passes each team makes in the attacking third. Leverkusen’s field tilt: 81.5%. Inter barely even had anyone with an average positioning in Leverkusen’s half.
This was only Inter’s second loss in any competition this season, so it’s forgiven. But it still dropped their odds of a top-eight finish from 91% to 79% and dropped their title chance, per ESPN BET, under 5%. It wasn’t the most damaging loss in the world, but it wasn’t a very good performance.
JUST HOPING TO ADVANCE: none
PLAYING OUT THE STRING: Bologna (0.0% chance of advancing)
FRANCE: PSG rebounds (for now)
TITLE HOPEFULS: none
FIGHTING FOR THE TOP EIGHT: Brest (31.4% chance of a top-eight finish), Lille (26.2%)
They aren’t going to win this competition, but man, has it been fun watching Brest and Lille find themselves in Champions League play. Both have their distinct identities: Brest do the bunker-in-and-counter thing well and beat PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday with pure intensity and a couple of moments of brilliance from Julien Le Cardinal, while Lille comes at you with 1v1s and a high defensive line. They briefly lost control of their match with Sturm Graz on Wednesday, allowing goals on both sides of halftime, but Lille’s eventual 3-2 win kept them in the top eight for now.
JUST HOPING TO ADVANCE: Monaco (3.5% chance of top eight, 98.1% chance of advancing), PSG (0.0% top eight, 67.0% advancing)
It was only Salzburg. It’s important to point that out. The recent Austrian giants haven’t been in any way giant this season and have fallen out of the top 150 (and only a few spots ahead of the Houston Dynamo) in Opta’s power rankings. But after going four matches without a win in Champions League play, and three straight overall, PSG was able to build some confidence with an easy 3-0 away win on Tuesday. They weren’t able to fully put the match away until scoring twice in the last 20 minutes — and they once again underachieved slightly against their xG values (they now have just six goals from shots worth 11.2 xG) — but Salzburg never offered much of a threat, and the result was never really in doubt.
Gonçalo Ramos’ presence makes such a difference. With both his scoring and pressing abilities, Ramos seemed custom-built to lead a Luis Enrique front line, but he missed three months with an ankle injury and has only recorded 256 minutes in all competitions this season. His 30th-minute goal put PSG ahead for good, and he might have helped Bradley Barcola enjoy his first standout Champions League performance of the season. (The level of competition probably didn’t hurt.)
Barcola didn’t score, but he was ridiculously dangerous, winning 10 of 15 1v1 attempts (both of those numbers are huge) with 20 combined progressive carries and passes. He’s got 10 goals and two assists in Ligue 1 play and zero of either in the Champions League, but he did everything but score on Tuesday. And the win kept their advancement hopes alive ahead of Manchester City’s late-January visit.
PLAYING OUT THE STRING: none
EVERYONE ELSE: Feyenoord takes flight
TITLE HOPEFULS: none
FIGHTING FOR THE TOP EIGHT: none
JUST HOPING TO ADVANCE: Sporting CP (8.8% chance of top eight, 99.6% chance of advancing), Benfica (3.7% top eight, 98.1% advancing), Celtic (0.2% top eight, 95.1% advancing), Feyenoord (2.0% top eight, 94.1% advancing), Club Brugge (0.5% top eight, 87.0% advancing), PSV Eindhoven (0.0% top eight, 76.9% advancing), Dinamo Zagreb (0.0% top eight, 29.2% advancing)
Two weeks ago, Feyenoord’s odds of advancing were down to nearly 50-50 following a surprising 3-1 home loss to RB Salzburg. Then they found themselves down 3-0 against Manchester City in Matchday 5. But the late comeback and 3-3 draw lit a fire, it seems. Against a Sparta Prague team happy to exchange haymakers on Wednesday, Feyenoord put on an extraordinary finishing display, bolted to a 3-0 lead and cruised 4-1.
They’re all but guaranteed to advance now, and … man oh man, the Feyenoord home crowd just sounds different than most crowds:
We had two interesting matches between teams in the “Hoping to Advance” category on Tuesday. Celtic and Dinamo Zagreb played an intense but wary 0-0 draw, then Club Brugge continued its hot streak with a 2-1 home win over Sporting. It was Sporting’s fourth straight loss in all competitions, and their odds of a top-eight finish and a knockout-round bye have plummeted from 75% just two matchdays ago.
But while confidence may be dissipating in the weeks following manager Ruben Amorim’s departure for Manchester United, they were basically fine on Tuesday night. Brugge were just a hair more clinical and got a lovely Gustaf Nilsson-to-Hans Vanaken-to-Casper Nielsen game-winner in the 84th minute.
Off the bench and onto the scoresheet for Casper Nielsen to give Club Brugge the lead 💫 pic.twitter.com/3KBkR7CmPk
Brugge have now gone unbeaten in 11 straight matches in all competitions and have taken seven points from their last three Champions League matches.
PLAYING OUT THE STRING: Red Star Belgrade (2.5% chance of advancing), Shakhtar Donetsk (1.2%), Sparta Prague (0.4%), Sturm Graz (0.2%), RB Salzburg (0.0%), Slovan Bratislava (0.0%), Young Boys (0.0%)
Red Star have looked increasingly dangerous in this competition but evidently waited too late to get going. But with a home match against PSV Eindhoven in Matchday 7, they could still play a role in who advances to the next round.
THE BEST XI OF MATCHDAY 6
This was easily the hardest Best XI I’ve had to come up with in this competition. We had some serious star performances.
Goalkeeper: Ivan Guteaa, Red Star Belgrade
The late strike from Tammy Abraham was a heartbreaker for Red Star as a whole, but especially Gutesa, who made a whopping eight saves and according to the postshot xG values, prevented 1.8 goals with those saves.
Backup: Lukasz Skorupski, Bologna
Fullback: Achraf Hakimi, PSG
Two assists from four chances created, plus 13 defensive interventions. Hakimi remains maybe the best all-around fullback in the sport.
Backup: Joshua Vagnoman, Stuttgart
Central defender: Marquinhos, PSG
There still might not be a better center-back in the world when it comes to ball progression. He not only completed 123 passes (17 more than anyone else), he also completed 42 progressive passes; no one else had more than 23.
Backup: Cameron Carter-Vickers, Celtic
Central defender: Ryan Flamingo, PSV Eindhoven
Find yourself a defender who can both ensure great ball progression (Flamingo’s 78 pass completions were worth 0.7 expected assists, most of any center-back in Matchday 6) and disrupt the hell out of your opponent’s attack (his 19 defensive interventions were seventh-most).
Backup: Nicolás Otamendi, Benfica
Fullback: Nordi Mukiele, Bayer Leverkusen
PSG has cornered the right back market. Not only do they have Hakimi, but they also loaned Mukiele to Bayer Leverkusen, where he enjoyed a breakthrough performance on Tuesday: 22 combined progressive carries and passes, 12 defensive interventions and a lovely game-winner:
Inter concede their first #UCL goal of the season to a 90th-minute strike from Bayer Leverkusen’s Nordi Mukiele! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/Q83jZzJ103
The Stuttgart attack was in fifth gear for most of Wednesday evening, and with 27 combined progressive carries and passes and four fouls drawn (plus nine ball recoveries), Stiller was the accelerant for that. He scored, too.
RBL has been snake-bitten in this competition, but Nusa still enjoyed a breakout performance on Tuesday, creating four chances, drawing three fouls and going 5-for-6 on 1v1s. He was testing Aston Villa all night.
Backup: Mahdi Camara, Brest
Midfielder: Jude Bellingham, Real Madrid
Bellingham can produce do-it-all numbers like no one else. In Tuesday’s vital win over Atalanta, he combined 13 defensive interventions with a goal, two chances created and a 5-for-8 performance in 1v1s. He was everywhere.
Backup: Youri Tielemans, Aston Villa
Winger: Michael Olise, Bayern Munich
Two goals, one assist, 12 progressive carries and 6-for-11 on 1v1s. For my money, Olise was the best player of Matchday 6.
Backup: Fabian Rieder, Stuttgart
Centerforward: Ademola Lookman, Atalanta
Lookman has played 17 matches in all competitions this season. He’s scored at least once in nine of them, and he’s created at least three chances in eight. He had a goal and two chances, plus a season-high 14 progressive carries, against Real Madrid on Tuesday. He’s unreal.
Backups: Antoine Griezmann, Atletico Madrid; Loïs Openda, RB Leipzig; Ferran Torres, Barcelona
Winger: Bukayo Saka, Arsenal
Two goals, one assist, seven ball recoveries. Saka was probably the second-best player of Matchday 6. Olise and Saka were so good that somehow Stuttgart winger Fabian Rieder, with three assists, didn’t even make the Best XI.
Arbitrul din Premier League David Coote a fost demis, a anunțat luni PGMOL, invocând o „încălcare gravă” a contractului său.
Coote a fost investigat după scurgerea unui videoclip care l-a arătat într-o dezvăluire plină de insulte despre Liverpool și fostul lor manager Jürgen Klopp.
El este, de asemenea, investigat de UEFA, după ce un videoclip publicat de The Sun l-ar fi arătat pufnind o pulbere albă în timp ce era de serviciu la Euro 2024.
„După încheierea unei investigații amănunțite asupra comportamentului lui David Coote, angajarea lui la PGMOL a fost reziliată astăzi cu efect imediat”, a spus PGMOL într-un comunicat.
„S-a constatat că acțiunile lui David Coote au încălcat grav prevederile contractului său de muncă, poziția sa fiind considerată insuportabilă.
„Sprijinirea lui David Coote continuă să fie importantă pentru noi și rămânem angajați față de bunăstarea lui”, a spus PGMOL.
„David Coote are dreptul de a contesta decizia de a-și înceta raportul de muncă.”
Surse au declarat pentru ESPN că Coote nu a fost demis pentru comportamentul său legat direct de incidentul Klopp sau videoclipul când era în serviciul UEFA, ci pentru conduita sa generală, care a fost considerată a fi scăzut sub standardul așteptat.
Coote este, de asemenea, investigat de Asociația Engleză de Fotbal (FA), după ce ar fi discutat despre înmânarea unui cartonaș galben înaintea unui meci.
Ancheta se referă la un meci dintre Leeds United și West Bromwich Albion în octombrie 2019. Coote l-a rezervat pe jucătorul Leeds Ezgjan Alioski în timpul meciului. Nu există nicio sugestie că a existat vreo neadecvare în emiterea cardului.
