Heh, just saw the pvr’ed game. Despite the scoreline, Giekewicz absolutely stood on his head - maybe one of ther best netminding showings I’ve seen this year in any league, period. Lewandowksi, himself, needed a seventh shot to finally do it.
A little saddening seeing Boateng coming off for the last time. Cool that they let his family attend. (and same - maybe slightly less so - for Alaba and Martinez)
Funny hearing the stadium announcement of 250 in attendance.
Yeah, it seemed ironic that a Polish keeper did all his best to prevent the record of his fellow countryman, just to unfortunately deflect Sané’s central shot to Lewandowski and let him score in the 90th minute. Those are the scripts that only football can write.
That might be the best giving-up-five-goals keeper performances I’ve seen (and I’ve seen quite a few). The amount of space yielded by the defenders to people not named Lewandowski was remarkable, but not surprising.
Otherwise, what a wistful day to see so many of them leaving.
I’m thinking of watching some EPL live tomorrow for more or less the first time ever. Am I correct in thinking that basically the only thing to play for is the final Champions League slot, which either Liverpool or Leicester will win? Are there any other storylines worth following?
Is this a typical amount of stuff-that-matters for a final day of the season?
Tottenham could grab the last Europa League berth if West Ham loses to Southampton.
But it’s different every season. Sometimes the league title is undecided until the final day, sometimes it’s who will be relegated.
I hope some easily accessible network is showing Brentford - Swansea this coming Saturday.
The Bundesliga relegation/promotion fight was entertaining today. For some reason, though, ESPN+ only showed one of those matches. 
Hopefully they carry the Wednesday/Saturday playoffs…
I’m glad that VFL Bochum made it to the first Bundesliga, so after the bitter relegation of Schalke 04, there will be at least a “small” Ruhr derby next season, Dortmund-Bochum.
ETA: and the glorious traditional “Northern derby”, HSV-Werder Bremen, will take place in the second Bundesliga. That’s a strange thought.
I think my math was wrong re: Spurs.
No, that’s right. We would have been in Europa with a win plus a West Ham loss. As you may have noticed, it was also possible for Chelsea to get the last Champions League spot!
Nice way to end the season for Spurs, coming back to win from 2-1 down with some Gareth Bale magic. Sadly West Ham also won, so we get the “honor” of participating in the inaugural European Conference Whatever.
I completely forgot about that new third tier tournament and had to brush up on it this morning. I’m not always this scatterbrained but the trends are alarming.
Unbelievable penalty shootout in the Euro final ManU-Villareal. So far, 16 penalties scored in a row! Never seen this kind of thing before.
ETA: now 18!
ETA2: 20! Now the goalies.
ETA3: And De Gea misses! With the 22th penalty. The actual game , especially the extra time, was kind of boring, but that was one of the craziest penalty shootouts I’ve ever witnessed.
ETA4: I once was a football goalkeeper and I can relate, this must be a nightmare for every goalie: concede 11 penalties in a row, without an inkling of a chance, and then missing the decisive one. Horror.
LOL at De Gea. Allows 11 straight PKs than misses his.
Out of concern over COVID, the Copa America is being moved out of Argentina and Colombia to…Brazil!? Honestly, just say that Brazil has heavy influence in CONMEBOL and be done with it.
We had segued a little in the Champions League final thread about the upcoming Euros and I had opined that I had three teams rated higher than Belgium. I just took a look at their roster and I stand corrected – with or without DeBruyne, they’re loaded. And with lots of my personal favorites, can’t wait to watch them play. If Portugal could win five years ago, Belgium could definitely win this summer.
It was moved out of Colombia due to civil unrest there.
Argentina was about to refuse to organize it due to covid, or may be ask for a delay.
So they moved it to Brazil where there is civil unrest AND covid. Geniuses.
They are such a fun team to watch. And I know FIFA rankings are a little strange sometimes, but they’ve been consistently ranked at the top for quite a while now…somewhat perpetually under the radar.
Ah, thanks for the additional detail.
Brazil does have a lot of white elephant stadiums, certainly this could be a surprise benefit for them. My understanding is that Brazil is still maintaining them, even the remote one up in Manaus (which is apparently available).
I think their midfield is pretty weak outside KDB, compared to France, Germany, Portugal, England, and maybe the Netherlands. But very solid attack if Eden Hazard can regain some form, solid at the back, and in goal. I think your initial assessment is correct, but they’re legit contenders.
I may indeed like Carrasco, Meunier and Witsel (among others) a little more than some. Add KDB to the mix in time for the knockouts and some combination there of those with him is a very strong midfield, maybe even the equal of France, which suffers a slight dropoff after Pogba and Kante.
I’ve talked myself into getting very excited for this tournament. We haven’t even mentioned two fairly recent World Cup winners in Germany and Italy, both of whom have recently struggled but also both of whom have rosters that can scare you a little.