Champions League News and Analysis

Transfers: Barca’s Gundogan mistake, Brighton take a huge risk, Juve outsmarting Milan?

20Aug

By Kevin ParviziNo Comments

Champions League, Features, LaLiga, Premier League, Serie A

Transfers: Barca’s Gundogan mistake, Brighton take a huge risk, Juve outsmarting Milan?

Did Barcelona make a mistake by signing Ilkay Gundogan? Will Brighton's transfer gamble be worth the reward? And are Juventus getting one over on AC Milan this summer? Here is the latest analysis behind some of world football's hottest transfer news stories. Juventus stealing Pierre Kalulu from AC Milan Juventus had a lot of problems last season, but the defense clearly wasn't one of them. So much so that Gleison Bremer and Danilo were two of the best center backs in Serie A, while Federico Gatti joined Bremer with significant interest from around the Premier League. Still, Juve wanted to land a young center back to potentially start over Gatti for new manager Thiago Motta and then take the reigns as a star in defense from Danilo, who is heading closer to the end at age 33. Alth...

Who has the better career, Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Robert Lewandowski?

13Aug

By Kevin ParviziNo Comments

Bundesliga, Champions League, Features, LaLiga, Ligue 1, Premier League, Serie A

Who has the better career, Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Robert Lewandowski?

Strikers have always been the glamor players in world football, and over the last 20 years, few goal-scorers made as many headlines as Robert Lewandowski and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Lewandowski is still going strong as one of the best strikers in Spanish football, likely finishing up his career with Barcelona after forcing a move away from Bayern Munich, where he became one of the greatest strikers of all time. Meanwhile, Zlatan, who also played for Barcelona briefly, is retired and enjoying the next step in his career as an executive for AC Milan, one of his former clubs. In fact, Zlatan played for all three powerhouses of Italian football, but perhaps his period was a largely overlooked tenure in Paris as the first face of the Qatari project before the arrivals of Neymar and Kylian Mba...

The 10 most underrated center backs in world football in 2024

3Aug

By Kevin ParviziNo Comments

Bundesliga, Champions League, Features, LaLiga, Ligue 1, Premier League, Serie A

The 10 most underrated center backs in world football in 2024

As a position, center backs are underrated in general, because they have to do so much heavy lifting to stop the opposition's best attackers and are being tasked with more playmaking and on-the-ball ability under pressure - even moreso in modern football than ever before. Here are 10 center backs who are especially underrated. These are young players who haven't yet been picked out as top transfer targets, or they are more experienced players in their primes who have somehow flown under the radar, largely because they star for clubs outside of the spotlight. Joachim Andersen, Crystal Palace Even though Joachim Anderen has been operating at the highest level while starting for Crystal Palace in the Premier League, the vast majority of fans around the world don't know how good he is. ...

Is football’s congested fixture schedule beginning to show its negative effects?

20Jul

By Javier MartinezNo Comments

Champions League, Features

Is football’s congested fixture schedule beginning to show its negative effects?

While it was an amazing experience to watch Euro 2024 and Copa America simultaneously, questions have been raised about the lack of quality displayed in both tournaments. Copa America might have a bit of an excuse due to the competition's poor organization, which included adverse field conditions, extensive travel demands, and inadequate security protocols. However, Euro 2024 was generally underwhelming, especially from the teams considered favorites. Historically, teams have often started slowly and progressively improved throughout the tournament, but on this occasion, neither France, England, nor Germany (apart from their opening group game against Scotland) performed at their best. Interestingly, it was teams like Turkey, Austria, and even Romania who made more of an impact on the ...

Ranking the 10 best center midfielders of the 2010s

10Jul

By Joe SorianoNo Comments

Champions League, Features

Ranking the 10 best center midfielders of the 2010s

Throughout the 2010s, Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Lionel Messi was the most heated debate on the lips of world football fans, but as time has passed and the discussions have become more retrospective, much of the discussion has moved towards the midfield. It isn't just Real Madrid and Barcelona fans getting into it about their elite midfields that dominated the 2010s, as Premier League supporters, Serie A fans, and, of course, the Bayern Munich faithful are wondering where their midfield stars stack up. When looking back at the best center midfielders of the 2010s, it is no surprise to see that the teams that dominated the Champions League that decade - Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Bayern Munich - also dominate this list. It's fair to say that this observation is yet another endorsement ...

Ranking the 11 best young center midfielders in world football right now in 2024

7Jul

By Joe SorianoNo Comments

Champions League, Features

Ranking the 11 best young center midfielders in world football right now in 2024

It isn't easy for a young player under the age of 23 to make a major impact in the center midfield positions, because it's a position that requires a combination of technical quality, tactical intelligence, defensive grit, energy, work rate, veteran know-how, and all-around footballing quality. Here are 10 young players under the age of 23 who have been standouts for their clubs in midfield. To be considered one of the best young center midfielders in the world, a player must be a 6 or an 8 and cannot only play as a 10. Players who are No. 10 playmakers but have a past history of success as a 6 or 8 are able to qualify for this list, because they have shown a history of success in this role. 11. Johnny Cardoso, Real Betis Johnny Cardoso is the least-known name on this list outside ...

Ranking the 10 best center backs in world football right now in 2024

7Jul

By Joe SorianoNo Comments

Champions League, Features

Ranking the 10 best center backs in world football right now in 2024

The center back position is becoming more of a premium position in world football these days with elite European clubs trying to lock down the world's best attacking players. Here are the 10 best center backs in the world right now in 2024. 10. Giorgio Scalvini, Atalanta Atalanta star Giorgio Scalvini gets overlooked because of all the top-class defensive talent in Serie A, and Atalanta tend to get a whole lot less press than, say, Juventus or Inter Milan. Furthermore, it doesn't help that Bologna star Riccardo Calafiori is the young Italian center back soaking up all the media attention and social media fanposts. That's for good reason, but before Euro 2024, Scalvini was seen as THE young center back to watch in Italian football after putting together a second excellent season ...

3 clubs that could sign Mats Hummels this summer

18Jun

By Kevin ParviziNo Comments

Bundesliga, Champions League, Features

3 clubs that could sign Mats Hummels this summer

Borussia Dortmund legend Mats Hummels set an ultimatum that the club would either have to fire Edin Terzic or watch him join Marco Reus in leaving the Signal Iduna Park. Well, as it turns out, Terzic is no longer the manager of Dortmund, yet Hummels will be leaving the club as a free agent this summer, making it the second time in his career he will exit. However, this time, Hummels isn't going to Bayern Munich, but he could still end the twilight of his career with a Champions League contender. Here are three possible destinations for the German footballing icon in the summer 2024 transfer window. Roma Roma managed to qualify for European football this season thanks to the improvements made by club legend Daniele De Rossi, who came in as interim manager and restored confidence ...

Ranking the 10 best available center backs on the summer 2024 transfer market

15Jun

By Kevin ParviziNo Comments

Champions League, Features

Ranking the 10 best available center backs on the summer 2024 transfer market

With the summer 2024 transfer window opening up, it's time to take a look at the best center backs available on the market. The center back position has become increasingly coveted in world football, as top clubs want to have solutions to the best forwards in the world. As Antonio Rudiger showed everyone in the Champions League quarterfinals against Manchester CIty and Erling Haaland, a world-class center back can make the difference between winning it all or sitting at home. Here are the 10 best available center backs on the summer 2024 transfer market, ranked in order. 10. Jonathan Tah, Bayer Leverkusen Jonathan Tah appears to be closing in on a transfer to Bayern Munich, who already signed underrated Stuttgart talent Hiroki Ito as part of their move to overhaul their defense....

The Spanish province producing elite coaches like Unai Emery and Mikel Arteta

27May

By Javier MartinezNo Comments

Champions League, Features, LaLiga, Premier League

The Spanish province producing elite coaches like Unai Emery and Mikel Arteta

When you think of where some of the best managers in the world come from, there might be a few nations that come to mind. Italy has always had a good history of producing elite coaches and some have gone on to become world-class managers (Carlo Ancelotti, Fabio Capello, Arrigo Sacchi). Meanwhile, Germany's coaching school is considered one of the toughest programs on the continent and is something that’s reaping its rewards as some of the best coaches in the current game are German (Jürgen Klopp, Thomas Tuchel, Julian Nagelsmann). However, what if the the best managers weren't necessarily coming from a country or even a region, but a province of that country? That's the case of Gipuzkoa, the Spanish province in the Basque region that's become a factory of producing elite coa...