The Fußball Chatter

Napoli has finally reached football heaven. They are now Italian champions for the first time since 1990. Naples erupted with wild celebrations across the city when it was finally confirmed after a 1-1 draw against Udinese on May 4th , and the celebrations are not ending anytime soon. Napoli, the club heavily associated with Diego Maradona, now has new heroes from Nigeria, Georgia, South Korea and Kosovo.  For some, it is a surprise. For others, it is not, as Napoli has been one of the best-performing teams in Serie A over the past decade, with quality players and coaches coming to the Diego Armando Maradona stadium. They have been close to winning it on various occasions but failed. Now, it has finally happened. This is the story of Napoli's rise to become Italian champions again. DECLINE, RELEGATION AND BANKRUPTCY The Maradona years at Napoli were the most successful period in the club's history. They became the first team from Southern Italy to win Serie A in 1987; when Ser...

We are already at the halfway point of the group stages in this season's Champions League. With little time for recovery and reflection, each game now is vital. Whether it is going through to the next round or staying in Europe by qualifying for the Europa League, the next three Champions League games will determine the feat of all 32 teams involved. Here are five takeaways from the group stages so far. BRUGGE ON THE BRINK Club Brugge remains the only Belgian side to have played in a European Cup/Champions League Final. Losing to Liverpool in 1978. Since then, Belgian sides have been an afterthought in the Champions League, as no Belgian side has ever reached the Round of 16 in its current format as Brugge's close rivals Anderlecht reached the Second group stage of the Champions League in the 2000/2001 season. This makes Club Brugge's exploits in the Champions League this season, even more remarkable. Though they avoided any big hitters, they still got experienced sides Atl...

The Italian Serie A returns this coming weekend as the defending champions AC Milan host Udinese at the San Siro to kickstart the new season. Last season produced an exciting season from the Italian top flight we have seen in a while as Milan edged city rivals Inter Milan to win the title on the season's final day. This season looks no different as up to four teams have a shot of winning the Scudetto, following years of dominance from Juventus. As we celebrate the return of Calcio , how have the major sides prepared for the new season? AC MILAN & INTER MILAN: WHO GETS THE SECOND STAR? Despite numerous metrics stating they were the best performer in Serie A last season, Inter Milan could not defend the Scudetto for the first time since 2010 as city rivals AC Milan beat them to win their first league title since 2011. An achievement for coach Stefano Pioli and the Rossoneri. Following years of being in the wilderness for the past five to six years. A big reason for Milan's s...

  La Liga 26 goals were scored in the Spanish top flight this past weekend as we are approaching the business end of the season, with only ten games remaining. Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and, Real Madrid all won their games this past weekend, as the title race drags on. Barcelona got the biggest win of the three, beating Real Sociedad 6-1 at the Anoeta with Lionel Messi and American right-back Sergino Dest both scoring braces in a big win for the Blaugrana. Atletico Madrid kept their four-point lead at the summit of the league table, beating Alaves 1-0 at home. Luis Suarez scored the only goal of the game, which was his 500th career goal, a milestone for the Uruguayan. Real Madrid went away to Celta Vigo and, got a 3-1 win thanks to Karim Benzema, who scored two goals. As well as Marco Asensio, who continued off his cameo performance in the Champions League from mid-week. In the relegation dogfight, everybody failed to win their games to get some breathing space. Cadiz lost 2-1 awa...

  Premier League Nine games were played in the Premier League this past weekend, with 21 goals scored. The biggest clash in the English top-flight was the North London Derby between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates. Arsenal went out 2-1 winners thanks to goals from Martin Odegaard and Alexandre Lacazette. Spurs went in front thanks to a wonderful rabona goal from Erik Lamela, who later got sent off after receiving a second yellow card. Another wonderful goal was scored by Dwight McNeil for Burnley in their 2-1 win against Everton at Goodison Park. The Burnley wide-player breezed past Allan before curling the ball past Jordan Pickford. Chris Wood also scored for Burnley with Dominic Calvert-Lewin pulled one back for the Toffees . Kelechi Iheanacho scored his first Premier League hat-trick as Leicester City trashed Sheffield United 5-0. The Nigerian, who scored in Leicester's last two, was too much for the Blades , with Jamie Vardy acting as a perfect foil. His third was...

  Bundesliga 20 goals were in the Bundesliga this past weekend with six teams keeping clean sheets. RB Leipzig kept the pressure on Bayern Munich in the title race, winning away at Freiburg 3-0 with Nkunku, Sorloth and Forsberg scoring. That put Leipzig top of the Bundesliga before Bayern's game against Borussia Dortmund in Der Klassiker . There was early trouble for Bayern when Erling Haaland scored twice for Dortmund in the first ten minutes. Bayern initially clawed back, winning the game 4-2 with Robert Lewandowski scoring a hat-trick, taking his goal tally to 31 this season. Three goals off his total of last season. Borussia Monchengladbach has been on a bad run of form with no wins in their last four games. That run continued following a 1-0 home defeat to Bayer Leverkusen, dropping down to 10th in the league table, seven points behind Leverkusen. Hertha Berlin scored two late goals to win the game 2-1 against Augsburg, their first win since January with two late goals from Du...

  Premier League Action 16 goals were scored from this past weekend from eight games played with only two teams winning at home, Liverpool and Southampton. The biggest game of the weekend was between Chelsea and Manchester United on Saturday at Old Trafford. It was fair to say that nothing much happened in the game with both sides unwilling to take the initiative during the game. Edinson Cavani made his debut for Manchester United after moving from Paris Saint-Germain but it was a very dull game that people will be asking for those 90 minutes back. Leeds United continued to excite many, after inflicting Aston Villa's first defeat of the season, beating Dean Smith's side 3-0 at Villa Park on Friday. Patrick Bamford netted his first Premier League hat-trick as Villa were unable to live with Marcelo Bielsa's side. Now, everyone is going to put Bamford in their fantasy team. Just hope he's not another Teemu Pukki. Everton also lost for the first time this season, losing 2-0...

  Premier League Recap The Premier League returned following the international break with eight games played from the weekend, with 27 goals scored and only two teams from matchday 5 kept a clean sheet. The biggest game from the Premier League was the Merseyside Derby between Everton and Liverpool at Goodison Park on Saturday. The game ended 2-2 with Mohamed Salah scoring his 100th goal for the Reds  while Dominic Calvert-Lewin continued his goal-scoring form for the Toffees. The game was marred with controversy, particularly from Liverpool's standpoint. Firstly, the third 'goal' which was scored by Jordan Henderson was ruled out for offside as Sadio Mané was placed in an offside position. The other was Jordan Pickford's challenge on Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk. The Everton keeper lunged in on the Dutchman, resulting in an early substitution. As of now, van Dijk has been ruled out for a considerable point of time as he sustained an ACL injury, altering Liverpool...

The 2020/2021 Football season has gone underway with the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, and Serie A all in action. The Premier League has been covered, so this is on the Bundesliga, La Liga, and Serie A to look at how this season will pan out from the title race to the race for European places.  La Liga The 2020/2021 La Liga season started on the 12th of September with Eibar playing against Celta Vigo, which ended in a goalless draw. The likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Atlético Madrid rested on the first weekend due to their participation in the latter stages of the Champions League last season. Barcelona has dominated La Liga over the past decade, winning six titles between 2011 to 2020. However, the Blaugrana missed out on the title last season to Real Madrid, with Zidane's side favourites to retain La Liga this season. Barcelona's troubles both on and off the field have not made things a lot easier, with heavy surgery required to get close to their main rivals. Al...