After a stretch of boring internationals that included a useless 1-1 draw between the United States and New Zealand, it's time to get back to business with some real football action in Europe. Let's refresh what's going on in the top leagues over there and get ready for the weekend.
Premier League
The biggest story continues to be how foreign managers continue to latch on, with Pep Guardiola and Antonio Conte coming aboard this year. Ronald Koeman has Everton flying high and Mauricio Pochettino and Tottenham look capable of another third place run.
The big matchups this weekend are all between foreign managers. Former Barcelona bosses Guardiola and Koeman meet along with a match between Italian supremos Conte and Claudio Ranieri as Chelsea take on Leicester City. Perhaps the most intriguing is Arsene Wenger matching wits with Bob Bradley as Arsenal tussle with Swansea City. Bradley's hire has drawn plenty of attention and the Swans have actally won on three of their last five league visits to the Emirates.
The Premier League features a last-place team with an American striker in Sunderland's Lynden Gooch.
Bundesliga
The table is still tight with Bayern Munich only enjoying a three-point lead. The big match is today as second-placed Hertha Berlin visit third-placed Borussia Dortmund in a matchup of heavyweights.
Both have American stars and Christian Pulisic and Dortmund will be eager to take over second place ahead of a big Champions League encounter with Sporting Lisbon. Hertha, who have been playing without John Brooks, have shipped six goals in their last two road fixtures, including a humbling 3-0 defeat to Bayern. The last time these sides met, BVB rolled in the German Cup semi-finals, and Berlin have plenty to prove. Hertha's Genki Haraguchi and Valentin Stocker had impressive weeks for their countries.
The Bundesliga features a last-place team with an American striker in Hamburg's Bobby Wood.
No league will have a better title race than this one. Atletico Madrid currently lead, followed by Real Madrid, Sevilla and Barcelona in fourth.
The big story is the return of Lionel Messi. Both Barcelona and Argentina showed their frailties without him. The plan is to get him some action this weekend against Depo so he can possibly start against Guardiola's Man City next Wednesday.
In other news, Cesare Prandelli is the latest to take over at troubled Valencia. Can the Italian maestro revive this once-proud club?
La Liga, of course, features no American players.
Juventus is back on top and on form, although is there cause for concern after Gianluigi Buffon's gaffe against Spain? We think not.
The biggest game is second versus third when Napoli host Roma. Things won't be the same since the strike partnership of Jose Maria Callejon and Arkadiusz Milik has been broken up thanks to Milik's ACL injury while playing for Poland. How ill-timed are these internationals?
Quietly, a Carlos Bacca-led AC Milan may finally be a Champions League contender again. Over at the San Siro, Keisuke Honda is out of favour once again and he has ripped the Milan faithful in response.
Serie A features no American players, although that could change.
FINAL THOUGHTS
That about sums it up. There is one bit of business we want to mention from international play - the developments in Asian World Cup qualifying this past stretch. You may be surprised to learn that neither South Korea nor Japan hold automatic spots in a region that is becoming more competitive.
Iran scored a deserved 1-0 victory over Korea in front of a huge crowd in Tehran despite playing on a Shiite day of mourning. Check out the highlights below:
You mention my people only to link their loss?
ReplyDeleteHow dare you.