CL 2019-20

[Lang Spoon]

Though this is arguably progress from when the red one was simply referred to as "Manchester" by the same outlets.

That's how it was said 20 year back when That Night in Barcelona was mostly reported on TV news focusing on the horror of those (mostly drunk and obnoxious, but not especially violent) Els Hooligans.

[3 Colours Red]

Dynamo Kiev, Sparta Prague, Sporting Lisbon - they're everywhere, aren't they.

UEFA's bugs do use Kyiv and Praha for the first two, and Muscovite clubs do tend to get Moskva these days. There is a general creep towards using native names in their official English language presentation.

[anton pulisov]

For many years, Dutch media referred to the two Old Firm teams as "Celtic" and "Glasgow"

[Janik]

Dynamo Kiev, Sparta Prague, Sporting Lisbon - they're everywhere, aren't they.

Sparta doesn't belong on that list. It's not a Czech word - it's a Greek one. Sparta Praha is as much of a hybrid name as Sparta Prague, so either is fine, really.

[Kevin S]

Aha, thanks Janik!

[EIM]

That's how it was said 20 year back when That Night in Barcelona was mostly reported on TV news focusing on the horror of those (mostly drunk and obnoxious, but not especially violent) Els Hooligans.

One of the papers over there described United fans as "an ugly people but a good people". Wonderful.

[seand]

As you can tell from this and the Europa League thread, I'm catching up with the Opta stats, but this one is worthy of Rogin's Quiz.

https://twitter.com/OptaJean/status/1174630438733787136?s=19

And in each other's kit colours. No al calcio moderno.

That said, PSG's kit is an almost carbon copy of a semi-vintage Lyon effort
1050 × 590

[Satchmo Distel]

And further evidence of the insanity and unfairness of guaranteeing group stage places for the top 4 in the top 4 leagues. Half the group stage places pre-assigned to those countries is choking the competition without raising standards, but hey it makes it near impossible for Milan to miss out on qualification, so it's all good!

Sadly, TV revenue is more important to UEFA than standards, which only really become watchable in the KO stages. There's also a subtext of parachuting teams like Milan and Inter into the Europa League KO stages (which may also be Chelsea's fate this season).

But ultimately it weakens the tournament because only having four dominant countries is going to retard development in the rest so the groups will become a procession of one-sided games (even moreso than now).

[elguapo4]

One of the papers over there described United fans as "an ugly people but a good people". Wonderful.

If my team were described that way I'd have a banner the length of the stand.

[Sporting]

I'm a bit surprised that Real Madrid have been given one of the early kick-off slots today; with Spanish work schedules in mind, not sure if the attendance will be that great, though of course the big bucks nowadays come from other sources. I wonder how kick-off times are allocated: on some kind of rota basis, or depending on other teams in the same cities playing on the same day (for TV and/or crowd control purposes)?

[Satchmo Distel]

My guess is that Atalante are kicking off early to avoid clashing with Juventus in the TV schedules and Real Madrid are doing so because the TV companies want a big name in that slot. Man City might kick off early at some point because the time slot is friendlier to Asian TV markets.

[Sporting]

Weird goal by the Belgians.

[Wouter D]

Real Madrid 0-2 Club Brugge!!? What the blue fuck is going on?

[ursus arctos]

Demonic aid, most likely

Did Brugge have any association with witches when it was controlled by the Spanish Habsburgs?

[Gangster Octopus]

Can yer man score without nearly falling over?

[Wouter D]

Sergio fucking Ramos grrrrrrr

[Sporting]

Looked offside to me but angles and that...

[ursus arctos]

[URL="https://twitter.com/alextruica/status/1179096591636017153?s=21"]https://twitter.com/alextruica/status/1179096591636017153[/URL]

[Sporting]

I swear very rarely on here but Ramos really is a smirking bastard, isn't he?

[ursus arctos]

And is therefore the living embodiment of Madridismo.

[Wouter D]

Ah, there is that demonic aid that UA was talking about.

[Toby Gymshorts]

Imagine wanting Real Madrid to win anything. Weird.

Anyway, Spurs v Bayern has escalated quickly. Quicker would be appreciated as I've got 3-1 Bayern in the Super Six.

[Toby Gymshorts]

Bayern are terrible at the back.

[Tony C]

And is therefore the living embodiment of Madridismo.

A bit harsh.

[Toby Gymshorts]

Bayern are terrible at the back.

Then again, so are Spurs.