Following the end of the EFL Championship season over the weekend, we can now turn our attention to arguably the biggest spectacle in the Football League: the Championship Promotion Playoffs, as the third through sixth place teams battle for one spot in the Premier League.
As domestic leagues across Europe enter the final weeks of their seasons, not only are league titles at stake, but qualification for next season's Champions League is also yet to be resolved.
Only 11 of the 26 automatic qualification spots for the UCL group stage have been officially determined, and more than half of the 55 playoff spots are up for grabs.
With so many bids up for grabs across the continent, tracking the qualification process can be very difficult.
The final round of the 2021 Liga MX Femenil regular season concluded on Monday with a marquee match between Chivas and Tigres at Akron Stadium in Guadalajara.
Tigres entered top of the table, but a Chivas win would see las Rojiblancas take the No. 1 overall seed heading into the playoffs. This one more than lived up to the hype with three goals that you have to see.
Belen Cruz opened the scoring for Tigres in the 13th minute by following up on a rebound. 21-year-old Lizbeth Ovalle then made it 2-0 in the 16th with the first screamer of the match.
When it comes to data and analytics in football, most people prefer looking at the statistical relationship between goals/assists and how that’s going to influence the performance of this goddamn Fantasy Premier League team that’s been tanking since December.
Just captain Harry Kane and be done with it.
But there’s an overlooked statistic that jams well with probability theory, namely, the player with the most nutmegs in Europe this season is probably the greatest footballer alive.
With five MLS clubs and three Liga MX sides making up the quarterfinals of the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League, the stage is perfectly set to deliver the matchups we all want to see.
While one MLS side is guaranteed passage to the semifinals (Atlanta and Philadelphia do battle in the quarters), we’re eagerly anticipating 2018 CCL finalist Toronto against 2014 CCL winner Cruz Azul, reigning MLS Cup titleholder Columbus taking on 2019 CCL victor Monterrey, and 2020 MLS is Back Tournament champ (the highest accolade around) Portland clashing with 2016 CCL top dog América.
Back in 1974, adidas began associating itself with the “Impossible is Nothing” slogan, which was an extract from a Muhammad Ali quote.
“Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
The cat is out of the bag as 12 “leading European clubs” have thrown it all away in pursuit of securing the most gluttonous bag in the history of football. It’s difficult to see these historic institutions — Manchester United, Liverpool, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Juventus and AC Milan among them — as football clubs at this point; they’re self-serving vehicles of greed that operate as welfare for billionaires. We should amend the “FC” abbreviation on these clubs’ names accordingly.
Something we often forget about professional footballers is that unlike most of us, they actually have pretty lousy job security. A manager will bench a player who is playing poorly without any second thought because the success of the team is more important than any individual player.
Of course, the starting lineup is always fluid, but players have to fight every week to make the starting XI, even when it seems like their position is secured. And eventually, every player will be replaced; it is only a question of when.
Why are two goals called a brace? Does a CAP mean career appearances? When does the hat do a trick and is it a kick flip?
These are all questions that non-soccer regulars may have asked themselves at one point. The Beautiful Game has some unique terminology that not everyone knows the root of. This article will act as your cheat sheet on why these terms are used and where they came from.
In case you have some sort of three-question quiz coming up, you can come back to this article for the answers.
First on the list is the brace.
Este 16 de abril retorna la MLS y el sabor latino será uno de sus principales condimentos. Uno dato revelador es que dentro de los 10 futbolistas más valiosos o mejor tasados de la liga, según Transfermarkt, nueve son latinos. Quien rompe ese dominio es el español Alejandro Pozuelo.
El Top 10 latino está conformado mayormente por jugadores que ya llevan al menos seis meses en la competencia. La única excepción es el brasileño Brenner, quien es uno de los refuerzos del FC Cincinnati para la campaña 2021.