The Fußball Chatter

The Serge is Cooking Serge Gnabry returned to North London but to face Spurs and possibly the beat performance of matchday 2, scoring four goals as Bayern hammered Tottenham 7-2 to continue their fine start to the season on Tuesday. It was the biggest clash in Group B and things started well for Spurs when Son Heung-Min put the hosts in front twelve minutes in but after three minutes,  Joshua Kimmich scored a screamer from 25 yards to level. At the stroke of halftime, Robert Lewandowski scored to give Bayern the at the break. Bayern took control in the second half as Gnabry scored twice in two minutes making the score 4-1. Harry Kane scored from the penalty spot after Spurs were awarded a penalty, giving the hosts some hope. It proved nothing more than a consolidation goal as Bayern scored three more goals with Lewandowski scoring one and Gnabry getting two more goals. A pulsating performance from the Bavarians and Gnabry but now more problems and questions for Spurs after a ...

After the completion of the playoff rounds, the UEFA Champions League draw for the group stages where done yesterday as the road to Istanbul, the venue of this season's final has began with the first round of games starting on the 16th and 17th of September. Let's see all eight groups and see who are likely to go through to the knockout stages. Group A: Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Club Brugge and Galatasaray PSG and Real Madrid are heavy favourites to go through with Club Brugge and Galatasaray having a very thin chance of going through. For PSG and Real, it's who that will top the group. Both teams underwhelmed last season getting eliminated in the Round of 16 in incredible fashion. Madrid have brought Zidane back to shake up the squad while the Parisians still have the Neymar situation going on with his future still uncertain. With Zidane's experience and wealth of talent at his disposal, Madrid will top the group with PSG going through as well. Fina...

The UEFA Champions League has finally ended with Liverpool becoming victorious after defeating Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in the Final. It was a poor final, pretty much an underwhelming end to a fantastic season in the competition which has produced some fantastic moments which will be talked about. Here are the top five moments of the Champions League this season. That Messi Freekick (Barcelona 3-0 Liverpool, semifinal 1st leg)  When Barcelona faced Liverpool in the semifinals, many saw the game as Lionel Messi against the top performing defender in Virgil van Dijk. The 3-0 victory for Barcelona didn't reflect the entire game with Liverpool pressurizing the Catalans for the majority of the game with Valverde forced to make a defensive change but then again, Barcelona were already two goals up, thanks to Luis Suárez and Messi, who scored from a rebound. However, the third goal was something of pure beauty. Barcelona get a free kick from 35 yards with Messi taking it. ...

The football season is over with the Europa League and Champions League Final the only games left to see from the season that just concluded. The teams that won their leagues last season defended their titles. However, let's look at the teams that achieved more than what many expected. AFC Ajax It has been a remarkable season for Ajax Amsterdam but many forget how the Dutch side have struggled before now in Europe and at home. They haven't won the Eredivisie since 2014 seeing their rivals PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord win it since and haven't played in the knockout stages of the Champions League since 2005/06. Changes were made behind the scenes with former players Edwin van der Sar and Marc Overmars appointed as CEO and Technical Director. This season, the Dutch side rolled back the years with some fantastic football that the late Johan Cryuff will be proud of. Under the guidance of coach Erik Ten Hag, with a blend of youth in Matthijs de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong and ...

The Round of 16 has been completed with AFC Ajax, FC Barcelona, Juventus FC, Liverpool FC, Manchester United FC, Manchester City FC, FC Porto and Tottenham Hotspur FC through to the quarterfinals. The draw for the quarterfinals has been done with some exciting match-ups. Here are my thoughts from the draw. Manchester United FC V FC Barcelona The biggest match-up from the draw, Manchester United will face the daunting task of stopping Lionel Messi and Barcelona when they meet in the last eight. Manchester United were in a different place before the knockout stages with the level of uncertainty at Old Trafford. However, since the appointment of interim manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær, United look like a team that has belief again and that belief grew a thousand fold when they came from behind to beat PSG to go through. With Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford, Romelu Lukaku, Victor Lindelöf and Ander Herrera revitalized under the Norwegian, United have a chance, even if it's slim. Barça g...

It's the second leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 with some games looking like it was over from the first leg or the hope that the game can turn on its head in the second leg as we have seen a number of times in the competition's history. Here is the recap of Tuesday's Champions League games. Ajax takeover the Bernabéu It was a week for Real Madrid to completely forget with three defeats at home in three competitions losing the Copa Del Rey semifinal against Barcelona, losing to them again in La Liga which completely ended their slim title hopes and are out of the Champions League after a 4-1 defeat to Ajax ending 5-3 on aggregate to the Dutch side as they play in the quarterfinals for the first time in over twenty years. Playing to the same routine from the first leg, Ajax were more efficient with their chances and we're clinical with Hakim Ziyech and David Neres scoring in the first half to give Ajax the lead on aggregate. Madrid were unable to contr...

Spurs score three past Dortmund Tottenham Hotspur pulled out one of their best performances in the Champions League after a resounding 3-0 victory over Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund at Wembley. Spurs had to play without Harry Kane and Dele Alli who were both out due to injury forcing Pochettino to play Lucas Moura and Son Heung-Min upfront. Dortmund had injury troubles of their own with captain Marco Reus out with injury as well as Manuel Akanji, Paco Alcàcer, Julian Weigl and Lukasz Piszczek. Dortmund almost took the lead just at the stroke of halftime when Juan Foyth failed to control the ball and was intercepted by Christian Pulisic but hit the side of the net. Two minutes in the second half, Spurs took the lead from Heung-Min Son when Eriksen intercepted a ball from Hakimi passing it to Jan Vertonghen, who crossed the ball for Son to finish. It was all Spurs after that with Dortmund unable to handle Spurs' pressing and got their second from Vertonghen, who lashed th...

The draw for the Round of 16 in the Champions League was held today at Nyon, Switzerland as we are now in the knockout stages of the competition. The 16 teams finally knew who they will face and will now prepare for the tie which will take in February with the second leg in early March. Here are the matches: AS Roma V FC Porto The least fancy fixture but still both teams will believe they have a chance of going through. Roma, who have struggled in Serie A this season, will be the happier side as they avoided better teams and are the favourites to go through. Porto will hope for a better showing as they knocked out by Liverpool last season 5-0 on aggregate with all five coming at home turf. Likely winners: AS Roma Olympique Lyonnais V FC Barcelona Barcelona are one of the favourites to win the competition this season and will fancy their chances against Lyon. Barça aren't dominating La Liga but their aim is winning the Champions League with Lionel Messi already on...

Wednesday brought the complete end of the Champions League group stages. Groups E to H played their last group games with many knowing who are going through. Here are the highlights from Wednesday's night. Lyon make it through The only game that was a winner takes all scenario was Lyon facing Shakhtar Donetsk at the NSC Olimpiyskiy. Lyon knowing a draw was enough for them to go through went behind with Júnior Moraes opening the scoring giving the Ukrainians the edge. With 17 shots, the Ligue 1 side needed to find an equalizer which they got from captain Nabil Fekir in the 65 minute.  Finishing with 8 points while Shakhtar finished with 6 points, Lyon go through in Group F with Manchester City who topped the group after beating Hoffenheim 2-1 at the Etihad. CSKA Moscow shock Real Real Madrid experienced a shock 3-0 defeat at the hands of CSKA Moscow at the Santiago Bernabéu. Madrid rested many of their senior players as they are already through with only Marcelo, Isc...