September 2019

    2019-20 Uefa Champions League Matchday One Preview: PSG and Real Madrid meet for umpteenth time

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    The Uefa Champions’ League is back with a bang! Interesting clashes will take place across the groups in different centres. Titans will clash, and these clashes promise thrills, frills and goals. Here is a preview of the important ties of matchday one. Tuesday, 17 September Group E: Liverpool will lock horns with Napoli at the Stadio San Paolo. The reigning champions have met Partenopei four times in European competitions, winning just one of those clashes. Both sides met twice in Group C last season, Napoli winning 1-0 in Italy before Liverpool edged the return clash in a tense 1-0 win at Anfield to secure qualification to the knockout stages. The Reds are buoyed by their success last season but will meet a familiar foe in the Italians. Expect Jurgen Klopp’s men to get the better of Napoli on the basis of form, pedigree and a tested attacking trio of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane, that has ruled Europe. Prediction: Napoli 1 Liverpool 2 Group F: Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona haven’t faced each other in almost 22 years since the 1997 European Super Cup final. However, this will be the first time that both sides will meet in the Champions League. It is expected that Spanish striker Paco Alcacer and French winger Ousmane Dembele will prove points against their former employers. Missed seeing this 1️⃣–2️⃣ ???? pic.twitter.com/mvBtckEF3N — FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) September 16, 2019 Last season’s best forward, Lionel Messi, is fit to play after a two-month injury layoff. His brothers-in-arms Luis Suarez scored twice at the weekend on his return from injury too. However, the Germans will be difficult to beat at Signal Iduna Park. Prediction: Borussia Dortmund 2 Barcelona 2 Group H: Valencia have not won against Chelsea in six previous Champions League matches. Current Blues manager, Frank Lampard, scored in the Londoner’s last clash with Los Che at the Mestella eight years ago and will be looking for another win over them. Lampard says he will be proud to make his Champions League debut as Chelsea manager tomorrow. He cites multiple incredible nights in the competition, particularly at Stamford Bridge.#CHEVCF — Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) September 16, 2019 Valencia’s recent crises and appointment of a new coach may have unsettled the balance of the team, but they have given a good account of themselves in Europe recently. They were Europa League semi-finalists last season, losing to another London-based team, Arsenal. On the good form of Anglo-Nigerian striker, Tammy Abraham, Chelsea should win this tie. Prediction: Chelsea 2 Valencia 1 Wednesday, 18 September Group A: By now, Paris Saint-Germain will be getting sick at the sight of Real Madrid. Both teams met in the 2015/16 season and the 2017/18 season, with Real Madrid prevailing over the Parisians on aggregate on both occasions. PSG have a star-studded squad and are aiming to be the first French team since Olympique Marseille to win the Champions League. This will be their eighth consecutive season participating, and the fact that they retained the services of Neymar should make them strong contenders for the title. The Brazilian superstar is however unavailable likewise Kylian Mbappe. It will also be an immediate reunion for goalkeeper Keylor Navas who will relish a clash against Los Merengues after he joined the French team on transfer deadline day. The Spanish capital club have started the current season poorly, and with a depleted defense line that will see Sergio Ramos, Nacho Fernandez and Marcelo miss out of the tie, PSG will fancy their chances of getting something out of this game. Prediction: PSG 1 Real Madrid 1 Group C: Manchester City will relish going into their game with Shakhtar Donetsk as they were able to avoid the major European giants in the draws. They won 3-0 (away) and 6-0 (home) against the Ukrainians in the group stage last season. Shakhtar have been playing away from their original home due to war since 2014. On the plane to Ukraine! Our 21-man squad for the #UCL clash against Shakhtar Donetsk ???? ???? #ManCity pic.twitter.com/NSRZ1leQ0O — Manchester City (@ManCity) September 16, 2019 They have a first team with 10 Brazilians led by captain, Taison, and will hope to give a better account of themselves against the Citizens. However, the superior fire-power of Pep Guardiola’s side makes them outright favourites in this clash. Prediction: Shakhtar Donetsk 1 Manchester City 3 Group D: The clash between Atletico Madrid and Juventus is a perfect opportunity for Diego Simeone and Co. to seek revenge against the Italians. It took a second-leg hat-trick from Cristiano Ronaldo to dump Atletico out of the competition in the Round of 16 last season. This time around, it seems things will be different. Diego Costa is back for Los Rojiblancos and will have a new sidekick in Portuguese wonderkid, Joao Felix. It will be a tough task for Juventus to defeat Atletico at home, but they will count on the scoring prowess of Ronaldo, who has scored seven goals in his last eight meetings with Atleti in Uefa competitions. It is a tough call, but the recent friendly between the two sides suggests that the Spanish outfit have what it takes to break the Old Lady. Prediction: Atletico Madrid 2 Juventus 1 Follow Akin on Twitter: @mac_akin_ajayi Photo credit: Getty Images

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    Neymar and the price of greed

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    Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed”. The renowned Indian nationalist Mohandas K. Gandhi is credited with having made the statement above, and this is apt in the case of Neymar da Silva Santos Junior, the prolific Brazillian forward who plies his trade in France with Paris Saint-Germain. His proposed move from the French capital back to Barcelona dominated much of the summer transfer headlines, but it never materialized after the transfer window closed at midnight on September 2, 2019. https://twitter.com/TheEpicFootball/status/1169015967533412353?s=20 Here was a man playing alongside two of the world’s best forwards – Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, forming an all-conquering, Latin American attacking triumvirate dubbed “MSN”. This partnership terrorized defences in Spain and Europe. In the three seasons they played together, the trio scored an implausible 364 goals in 450 matches, an average of 0.81 goals per match. Of those goals, Neymar Jr. had 90 which he scored in exactly 145 matches. So fearsome was their partnership that in the Spanish La Liga alone, they scored a goal every 102 minutes. The rewards they got were a Champions League victory in 2015, plus three Copa del Rey wins, two La Liga titles and a Club World Cup triumph to top their successes. Seven major trophies in three seasons were, and still are, enviable records for most footballers, but the Samba boy wanted more. The appeal of perpetual fame, the whiff of Arab money and the burning desire to attain footballing glory as a lone gladiator, not as a member of a trio, was too much for the Sao Paulo-born player. Thus, while all was going well in Catalonia, he had his ears tickled by family members, international colleagues and close friends who advised him to “escape the shadow of Messi”. Once he had a chance to sign for one of the greatest football moneybags the world has ever seen, he packed bags and set sail for the “City of Lights”. https://twitter.com/TrollFootball/status/1168971669169475586?s=20 A number of sources have reported that he even signed his contract for the Parisians while he was still living in Barcelona. A fervent plea to remain and be made a world conqueror at Barcelona by La Pulga came, but the deed had already been done. The allure of earning £51 per minute as at then was never to be turned down. Indeed, more money was to be earned off the field than on it. In the end, the transfer escalated an already-damaged relationship between PSG and Barcelona, and the acrimony between the two has reached legendary status of late. ????️ — Luis Suárez: "We talked about it at the time when Neymar left in 2017. We told him that there would be no place better than Barça.. But that was his decision. Now he did everything possible to return." pic.twitter.com/Jqxdltv61y — Barça Universal (@BarcaUniversal) September 4, 2019 The rest, as they say, is history. Two years down the line, the prodigal son is aching to come back home. After vying twice for the biggest honour there is in European football, suffering a spate of unfortunate injuries and being outshone by the emergence of the precocious talent of Kylian Mbappe, Neymar wants to go back to where he claimed he should never have left. All the fame-seeking gladiator got in two years were more money, thankless club fans, envious teammates and unprotecting referees. His superiors didn’t take kindly to his brazen request to leave, and they ensured that only a suitor opulent enough would take away their prized asset. Several meetings were held, a number of bids were made, while other potential suitors were lurking in the background. In the end, however, it was a wild goose chase, a case of a buyer with a lean purse negotiating with an indisposed seller. It simply wasn’t to be. Neymar Jr. is clearly paying the price for greed. The story could have been much more different if he had continued his progress with Barcelona. He could have moved on to greater heights and eventually take hold of the baton of leadership left behind by his previous compatriots. Neymar and Barca suing each is on track to the court on 27th of September. ????‍⚖️ Neymar is suing Barca for €26m and Barca is suing Neymar for €75m. ???? The case revolves around €40m bonus Neymar was to receive just before he left to PSG. pic.twitter.com/Z5HVUeM5uV — SuperGameCompany⚽???????????? (@supergamecompa1) September 4, 2019 Sadly, his old man didn’t seem to help matters too; he was always listening to offers for his son’s services from affluent clubs, riding on the success and talent of his progeny to make even more money. It is now clear to thinking minds that even in football, money can buy a team but not trophies, just as money can buy star players but not satisfied ones. It remains to be seen if the deal that fell through would happen this winter or next summer. But will it be the same as the first time? Only time will tell. From the Neymar transfer saga, the moral of the story is obvious: you can have your cake and eat it, but you can’t eat your cake and have it. What are your thoughts on Neymar’s failed return to Barcelona? Share them in the comments box below Follow Akin on Twitter: @mac_akin_ajayi Photo Credit: Getty Images

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