The Official European Football (Soccer) Thread

[spook007]

1 hour ago, GLASSJAW said:

not buying the NHL comparisons at all

 

according to WHO? there is absolutely no consensus that this is the truth. (more later)

 

If United stumble enough across a season to come in sixth in England, then I don't care if they beat Madrid in a CL final. they are not the best team in England, let alone the best team in Europe

 

again, this just simply isn't true.

 

Ashley Cole: rather win the league. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2009/jul/22/ashley-cole-chelsea-premier-league

Pep: rather win Bundesliga: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2011771-what-is-more-important-to-barcelona-champions-league-or-la-liga-glory

Iniesta: "The league is the most important, as it reflects consistency and the work you put in." (same article)

van Gaal: er, FA Cup better than Europa? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/manchester-united/12162067/Louis-van-Gaal-I-would-rather-Manchester-United-win-the-FA-Cup-than-Europa-League.html

 

(edit: these are just a couple examples after 2 seconds of googling)

 

the list can go on and on. So again, there is absolutely NO consensus (nor even majority, I would argue) that says the CL is the defining moment for players.

 

 

you're answering your own question... Buffon is crying because he has won literally everything else there is to win. It isn't because the CL is THE MOST!!!! career-defining achievement, it's "simply" the only major achievement he is yet to win.

 

As for the rest of your post, though, I simply don't really engage in convos about "who the best team in europe" is with any seriousness, because I think there are too many variables at play. And like Iniesta says, consistency is far more impressive than the countless variables that go into a CL finale

Agree 100% and I'm a Utd supporter.... Champions league is stil a cup competition and its easier to beat another team over 1 or two legs, than it is to win a league through a season.

 

[Beary Sweet]

If we manage to pull off the upset and beat the defending C/L champs today in the UEFA Super Cup, it will be a step towards greatness again. I'm not really expecting a win but we certainly want to see. It will show how far we have come to get to this point and even without the biggest splashes this summer with Matic, Lukaku being the key ones, we are destined and heading towards domination of Europe. Winning the Super Cup would just be icing on the cake. 

 

Regarding whether the league or C/L is better trophy to win, both have their advantages and disadvantages. For the P/L title, it shows that you have maintained your consistency as a club and played just as well in the domestic cup comps. For the C/L title, it solidifies how good you really are and that you're the best in Europe. I honestly don't care about the league if we win the C/L and it matters to me in a sense as well but it's best to be just as good because once you face one of the European giants (Juve, Roma, Bayern, Madrid, Barca..), you're going to be in tough in a way the way those teams are structured and have some of the best players in the world. But they aren't perfect. I see United as being a dark horse sort of like Dortmund, Benfica where they can surprise and silence the critics. What I'm saying I guess is that C/L is far valuable than the league title but it's good to be just as consistent just in case as you'll need to focus on those sooner rather than later as you come across a giant in the Champs League

[AV.]

For perspective.

 

Many teams have gone in cinderella runs in the CL even if they didn't win it. Leverkusen in 2002, both 2004 finalists, Arsenal in 2006, Liverpool in 2007, arguably both times Atleti made it, Juve in 2015.  Then, a host of teams who made it to the semis.

 

Off the top of my head, I think just Leicester in England, Wolfsburg/Stuttgart in Germany, Deportivo in Spain, and Bordeaux/Montpellier in France are the only non-traditional top sides to have won their domestic leagues since 2000.  So, far fewer.

[spook007]

I hope Utd win tonight, but even if we do I am not going overboard. This is still preseason football, and I believe RM is still a week behind Utd in pre season. Its much more important to hit the ground running next weekend. 

In saying that of course it would be a morale boost with another trophy, but its definitely not end all be all... Come on Utd.

[GLASSJAW]

if Manchester United beats Real Madrid today does that make United the best team in Europe?

[Beary Sweet]

Lukaku makes up for his missed chance. Back in it! Down 2-1 now

[spook007]

1 hour ago, GLASSJAW said:

if Manchester United beats Real Madrid today does that make United the best team in Europe?

Nope...

[spook007]

Credit to RM... definitely the better team. 

Utd better 2nd half and Lukaku missed a glorious chance, but overall RM deserved the victory.

Utd a team in the making and liking some of the things shown. We've been poor the last couple of years, but we are getting better. Onwards and upwards.

[Beary Sweet]

In other news, less competition to face against for United as Coutinho is set to join Barca for a reported €90 million that can rise to €120 million.

I really liked the effort shown throughout the match by United in the Super Cup. They are a team trending in the right direction and only a matter of time it starts to dominate like what most of us fans are used to seeing. Really good potential that I'm really looking forward to. 

[ynwa]

3 hours ago, Beary Sweet said:

In other news, less competition to face against for United as Coutinho is set to join Barca for a reported €90 million that can rise to €120 million.

Grrrrrrrrrrrr@#@$%$#@ !

1

 

[GLASSJAW]

would be a tough loss for Liverpool

[Harvey Spector]

11 hours ago, GLASSJAW said:

if Manchester United beats Real Madrid today does that make United the best team in Europe?

No because they lost...  

[Harvey Spector]

Paris Saint-Germain on brink of signing Kylian Mbappe and are also close to capturing Fabinho

The Ligue 1 side threaten to boast the best forward line in world football having already landing Neymar.

 

Paris Saint-Germain are on the point of adding the €180million capture of Kylian Mbappe to their unprecedented and controversy-laden €222m signing of Neymar.

According to PSG and Monaco sources, the Qatar-owned club do not intend to stop at creating a forward line of Mbappe, Neymar and Edison Cavani at a combined transfer fee cost of significantly more than €450m. They also have a deal in place to bring Fabinho from AS Monaco and are attempting to persuade Jan Oblak to join them from Atletico Madrid.

As The Daily Record reported last month, PSG were one of three clubs to offer Monaco a transfer fee of €180m for Mbappe, a record sum for a teenager and, following the Ligue 1 side's release-clause recruitment of Neymar, a figure that would be the second highest ever paid for a professional footballer. Real Madrid and Manchester City were also in competition for the striker's signature.

 

Pep Guardiola has led City's efforts to persuade Mbappe to join a club he helped knock out of last season's Champions League, meeting the 18-year-old in person to discuss the proposed move. Madrid's approach has been handicapped by concerns over making space for Mbappe in their Galactico-laden squad, leading the European champions to float a reluctant Gareth Bale on the transfer market.

 

All three clubs are willing to meet Mbappe's salary demands, which according to a source familiar with the negotiations, are for a basic salary of between €7 and €8m net.

 

Following Madrid's 2-1 UEFA Super Cup victory over Manchester United on Tuesday, Madrid president Florentino Perez told reporters that he did not expect the club to make any acquisitions this month. “I don’t think there will be any more, we already have great players," Perez said. “My and Zidane’s idea after winning the Champions League was to do nothing and keep the team as it was.”

 

Fabinho, who Monaco initially priced at €45m, was included on the summer recruitment lists of both Guardiola and Jose Mourinho. City were involved in advanced negotiations for a player who can operate both in midfield and as a full back, then stepped away from a deal earlier this summer. United elected to reinforce their midfield with Nemanja Matic from Chelsea, a player with extensive experience of English football and Mourinho's methods.

 

Oblak, 24, is considered one the best goalkeepers in Europe and has been Atletico's No.1 since March 2015. PSG attempted to sign the Slovenia international last summer; his current contract runs until 2021 and includes a €100m buy-out clause. It is understood the player has reservations about leaving Atletico in the current window as a FIFA transfer ban prevents the club from signing a replacement until January.

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-transfer-news/paris-saint-germain-brink-signing-10959101

[Harvey Spector]

PSG to the rest of Europe:

 

“They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.”

 

Referring to Madrid, PSG said, “They have been very threatening beyond a normal state, and as I said, they will be met with fire and fury, and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before.”

 

[ReggieBush]

Am I the only one that doesn't buy the Manchester hype heading into this season? Lukkaku is a good buy, but their defense is talented but inconsistent. City is a better team attacking wise than United, but their defensive talisman is made of glass. That would scare me if I was a supporter of either one of those teams.

[Lateralus91]

Delegates of Barcelona are allegedly in Germany to talk about Ousmane Dembélé. Dortmund wants 150 m € according to several news outlets. While I think that's a good price, I wouldn't really understand a sale of Ousmane at this point of the season and at this point of his contract. Bundesliga starts next week and the transfer window is open for only 20 more days which would mean we probably would have to pay more for a replacement which we will need even with our current surplus of wingers.

Reus is out until next year, Mor will probably be gone to Inter this week, Schürrle is nearly as injury prone as Reus and Philipp is new at the club and will likely take some time to get used to the system.

Plus we will probably get 100m €+ next year or the year after and Ousmane will still have 3 or 2 years at his contract respectively.

[Bruce Boudreau]

10 hours ago, Harvey Spector said:

PSG to the rest of Europe:

 

“They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.”

 

Referring to Madrid, PSG said, “They have been very threatening beyond a normal state, and as I said, they will be met with fire and fury, and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before.”

 

These tough words and strongman tactics are quite impressive if they can stand up to the top two best clubs on the planet in Real Madrid and Barcelona.

 

Coutinho and Dembele to replace Neymar is pretty decent.

 

Mbappe,Neymar, Sanchez, Cavani, Di Maria, Veratti, Matuidi, Fabinho...

 

Oblak potentially would be able to vault PSG to world famous status if they were not already by getting a super star like Neymar.

 

The Sheikh is flexing his muscle.

Edited August 10, 2017 by Chip Kelly

[Bruce Boudreau]

3 hours ago, Lateralus91 said:

Delegates of Barcelona are allegedly in Germany to talk about Ousmane Dembélé. Dortmund wants 150 m € according to several news outlets. While I think that's a good price, I wouldn't really understand a sale of Ousmane at this point of the season and at this point of his contract. Bundesliga starts next week and the transfer window is open for only 20 more days which would mean we probably would have to pay more for a replacement which we will need even with our current surplus of wingers.

Reus is out until next year, Mor will probably be gone to Inter this week, Schürrle is nearly as injury prone as Reus and Philipp is new at the club and will likely take some time to get used to the system.

Plus we will probably get 100m €+ next year or the year after and Ousmane will still have 3 or 2 years at his contract respectively.

I'm sorry to say but if your club is not one of Real, Barca, PSG, Juve, or Bayern 

 

You are irrelevant in the grand scheme of things ie Champions league no matter what you might do domestically.

 

This goes for City, United, Arsenal, Liverpool,and Tottenham.

 

In this era of super league teams that's just how it is.

[Lateralus91]

25 minutes ago, Chip Kelly said:

I'm sorry to say but if your club is not one of Real, Barca, PSG, Juve, or Bayern 

 

You are irrelevant in the grand scheme of things ie Champions league no matter what you might do domestically.

 

This goes for City, United, Arsenal, Liverpool,and Tottenham.

 

In this era of super league teams that's just how it is.

So? I don't seem to get your intention. 

[Lateralus91]

Official stock market press release from Borussia Dortmund:

 

http://aktie.bvb.de/eng/IR-News/Ad-Hoc-News/Transfer-rumors-about-the-BVB-player-Ousmane-Dembele

 

Quote

 

Transfer rumors about the BVB player Ousmane Dembélé

 

DGAP-Ad-hoc: Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. KGaA / Key word(s): Miscellaneous Transfer rumors about the BVB player Ousmane Dembélé

10-Aug-2017 / 15:59 CET/CEST Disclosure of an inside information acc. to Article 17 MAR, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

 

Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. KGaA ("BVB") has held a meeting with the catalan football club FC Barcelona about a possible transfer of BVB player Ousmane Dembélé ("player") to FC Barcelona.

In this meeting, the representatives of FC Barcelona have submitted a bid which, however, did not correspond to the player's extraordinary footballing value and status as well as to the current econonomic market situation of the European transfer market. BVB therefore rejected this offer.

As there is no other offer from FC Barcelona to date, a transfer of the player to FC Barcelona is at present not more than likely.

Dortmund, 10. August 2017

Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. KGaA Borussia Dortmund Geschäftsführungs-GmbH

Contact: Dr. Robin Steden Inhouse Counsel / Investor Relations

 

Language:	English
Company:	Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. KGaA  Rheinlanddamm 207 - 209  44139 Dortmund  Germany
Internet:	www.borussia-aktie.de
End of Announcement	DGAP News-Service