The first Champions League semifinal is today, at 3 pm EST. We’ll be chatting here, just like we were for all the quarterfinal matches. One thing to consider: among semifinalists, Leipzig have created the highest proportion of their expected goals from set pieces, while PSG have allowed the highest proportion of their xG from set pieces. See you in an hour!
New contract, Who knows if RB would have paid the new wages? Would a mini loan spell even be allowed? Why would chelsea allow their 170k per week asset play in a game they dont care about?
Honest q for you guys: Do you feel a particular way about either a team owned by an energy drink or the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar? Depressed? Don't care? Refuse to watch (weird if you're here)?
This is going to be the future of football whether we like it or not. One uses the club to cover up for human rights abuse and the other just uses it to promote a drink that tastes like piss. It's very easy to choose between the two if we do have to make a choice
You give me capitalism, I will find you unethical consumption. If anything keep raising awareness to keep the light on it... Doesn't mean players don't deserve the bag and my eyeballs enjoy great soccer.
Red Bull owning a team is unpleasant to the established culture of football clubs, but doesnt feel terrible, just a bit tacky. Sovereign wealth fund brings about a whole list of problems, especially given their human rights record, but i feel like if one wanted to they could say none of the billionaire owners of sports teams have clean hands, Qatar just seems the most egregious.
But isn't this precisely the point of them spending money on a "kickass soccer team"? To ensure that spectators make exactly this calculation in favour of entertainment over human rights?
Tired resignation...fact of life and now part of the sport. But actively root against psg. I do have faith that the fans will sooner abandon any iteration of a super league before they do small clubs tho.
I'm 31 this year, which means all the football I've grown up watching has been in the era of mega-money (in the Premier League and CL especially). I know it's hypocritical of me to be concerned about money from authoritarian regimes changing "proper" football... But there does seem to be a qualitative difference between giant corporate football designed for profit (Man United, Real, Leipzig now etc) and the Qatari/Etihad/soon-to-be Saudi interests, which are also deeply invested in laundering the human rights records of authoritarian regimes through football.
I've already seen Reddit discussions where Man City fans are jumping to defend the human rights records of the club's owners, and everyone seems ok with the deaths the Qatar World Cup is already responsible for, so I guess it's worked.
There is, indeed, no ethical consumption under capitalism - but we can still pay attention to the details I hope.
Not really. But then again short of going full on oligarchic like the NFL there really isn’t a way to keep money from playing so I don’t know how you stop it at the end of the day.
PSG's owners should never have been allowed to buy the club, and their success bothers me, but they also have a bunch of players I love watching, and immoral billionaires bankrolling otherwise enjoyable things is just how things go now.
Qatar-owned is worse because of the unlimited resources they can pour into a game to tip the scales and win. The energy drink thing group is just a bit gross and dirty.
Congrats to Ryan for HIS victory. Not much else to say here; PSG, with Neymar, Di Maria, and Mbappe all playing, are always gonna be better than just about everyone they play. RBL were unlucky not to grab one, but none of the good chances came until the game was way out of reach. Final xG count: 3.38 to 1.29. I wrote this piece (https://www.espn.com/soccer/uefa-champions-league/story/4052884/psg-to-win-the-champions-league-neymarmbappe-and-co-compare-closest-to-past-10-winners) a couple months ago about how PSG look like a CL champion -- control the pitch and tempo, dominate shots, rarely give up good chances -- and nothing about the past two matches suggests otherwise.
Gonna be it for me today. The tension of that match can be summed up by the fact that we were discussing potential trades between a soccer team that just lost 8-2 and a basketball team that just lost to the Orlando Magic. Had a blast, as always. We'll be back here tomorrow for Lyon's inevitable victory. (You know it's going to happen!)
Two subs ... and Neymar, Kimpembe, and Mbappe are all still out there lol. There might be some fitness argument to this, I guess? Maybe extra game-time is important before Sunday after all their time off? Probably not, though!
I'm ready to trade one of my kidneys if that ensures that the club backed by a nation famous for human rights abuse suffers like all those people that have suffered under this Qatar regime.
Di Maria: deadly on the set pieces, found himself in the middle for a goal, perfect crosses in. probably is the right balance for neymar, mbappe and no icardi.
A tie between Kimpembe and Di Maria: Presnel was solid as hell and seemed decisive and Angel created a lot of chances/goals while controlling the ball in tough situations.
Fear of a collapse makes you be less rational. Also the bench isn't as deep as it looks. Gueye picked up a knock in training recently and Verratti just returned to training.
RB Leipzig, more than anything else to me I think, really drives home the differences in sports culture between the US and Europe. Is there any doubt that they would be venerated as a forward thinking, smart, advanced team in the US? The Astros (pre-cheating scandal) of European football.
PSG winning this tournament or not will not in any way stop Qatar from abusing human rights but a part of me hopes that they never win this tournament. I mean the curse of Bambino lasted for almost a century and no one was killed in that process. PSG's failures should at least for a millenium.
Neymar feels a lot like Dwyane Wade to me (Cavs fan here, so I had blind hatred for Heat players.) Hate him while he’s playing and then when he retires I’ll look back and realize that actually he was amazing and one of my favorite players ever
If Neymar played baseball, he'd set the record for "most times a guy had a 99-mph fastball thrown directly at his throat".
He'd also have broken the most "unwritten rules"
People talk about PSG's wealth of talent, but RBL have the best player in the world, Tyler Adams, sitting on the bench.
Can’t believe you’d disrespect Gio Reyna like that
These RBL counters would look a lot more dangerous with, say, I don't know, an insanely fast, world-class goalscorer.
Was it kind of weak of him not to play out the CL with them?
New contract, Who knows if RB would have paid the new wages? Would a mini loan spell even be allowed? Why would chelsea allow their 170k per week asset play in a game they dont care about?
I do wish that was Dani Olmo, but sadly not yet
Twenty minutes in, it's, uh, 1.83 xg for PSG and 0.09 for RBL.
I see you're trying to use your superpowers to cause leipzig to score 2 in the next 5 minutes
PSG looking like the team that busted Liverpool’s ass in Paris last year
More trivia than anything, but Kimpembe has completed 70 out of 70 passes in the first half.
Id be shocked if they keep him with a yellow past 60
someone should tell HIM he's on a yellow
Sorry for the delay. That touch from Neymar on the goal briefly disassociated my spirit from my corporeal form. I'm back!
That's a goal, folks. Nagelsmann's suit was a way-too-aggro heat-check. We should've expected this.
I like the suit but not the shirt-tie combo
HT Update:
xG: 2.39 PSG, 0.57 RBL
Shots (on target): 7 (3) PSG, 5 (1) RBL
Attacking-third passes: 48 PSG, 20 RBL
Penalty-area passes: 6 PSG, 4 RBL
If Mbappe or Neymar leave PSG at any point in their primes it will suck
Neymar is a gift.
Last week he kept coming, hope we see the same relentlessness.
Honest q for you guys: Do you feel a particular way about either a team owned by an energy drink or the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar? Depressed? Don't care? Refuse to watch (weird if you're here)?
This is going to be the future of football whether we like it or not. One uses the club to cover up for human rights abuse and the other just uses it to promote a drink that tastes like piss. It's very easy to choose between the two if we do have to make a choice
You give me capitalism, I will find you unethical consumption. If anything keep raising awareness to keep the light on it... Doesn't mean players don't deserve the bag and my eyeballs enjoy great soccer.
Definitely more bothered by PSG's ownership, with the human rights abuses and all that, than RB.
Red Bull owning a team is unpleasant to the established culture of football clubs, but doesnt feel terrible, just a bit tacky. Sovereign wealth fund brings about a whole list of problems, especially given their human rights record, but i feel like if one wanted to they could say none of the billionaire owners of sports teams have clean hands, Qatar just seems the most egregious.
PSG’s owners are objectively evil, but I’d rather they spend their money on a kickass soccer team than whatever else they do with it
But isn't this precisely the point of them spending money on a "kickass soccer team"? To ensure that spectators make exactly this calculation in favour of entertainment over human rights?
Tired resignation...fact of life and now part of the sport. But actively root against psg. I do have faith that the fans will sooner abandon any iteration of a super league before they do small clubs tho.
I don’t understand the issues with either ownership as long as the FPP isn’t violated. Which I guess isn’t a thing anymore!
I'm 31 this year, which means all the football I've grown up watching has been in the era of mega-money (in the Premier League and CL especially). I know it's hypocritical of me to be concerned about money from authoritarian regimes changing "proper" football... But there does seem to be a qualitative difference between giant corporate football designed for profit (Man United, Real, Leipzig now etc) and the Qatari/Etihad/soon-to-be Saudi interests, which are also deeply invested in laundering the human rights records of authoritarian regimes through football.
I've already seen Reddit discussions where Man City fans are jumping to defend the human rights records of the club's owners, and everyone seems ok with the deaths the Qatar World Cup is already responsible for, so I guess it's worked.
There is, indeed, no ethical consumption under capitalism - but we can still pay attention to the details I hope.
Just so you know, you have two years to reach a champions league semi final...#Nagelsmann
I'm still coming to terms with the fact that I might not make it as a world class box-to-box midfielder...
Not really. But then again short of going full on oligarchic like the NFL there really isn’t a way to keep money from playing so I don’t know how you stop it at the end of the day.
PSG's owners should never have been allowed to buy the club, and their success bothers me, but they also have a bunch of players I love watching, and immoral billionaires bankrolling otherwise enjoyable things is just how things go now.
Qatar-owned is worse because of the unlimited resources they can pour into a game to tip the scales and win. The energy drink thing group is just a bit gross and dirty.
Does the product matter? Any team that is commercially owned can be a cause for concern, I would think.
As a big Red Bull consumer and a Chelsea fan I fell like it would be rather hypocritical of me to feel anyway about either team
When Di Maria does his heart celebration I pretend he's directing it at me
I love you too Di Maria!!
Congrats to Ryan for HIS victory. Not much else to say here; PSG, with Neymar, Di Maria, and Mbappe all playing, are always gonna be better than just about everyone they play. RBL were unlucky not to grab one, but none of the good chances came until the game was way out of reach. Final xG count: 3.38 to 1.29. I wrote this piece (https://www.espn.com/soccer/uefa-champions-league/story/4052884/psg-to-win-the-champions-league-neymarmbappe-and-co-compare-closest-to-past-10-winners) a couple months ago about how PSG look like a CL champion -- control the pitch and tempo, dominate shots, rarely give up good chances -- and nothing about the past two matches suggests otherwise.
Gonna be it for me today. The tension of that match can be summed up by the fact that we were discussing potential trades between a soccer team that just lost 8-2 and a basketball team that just lost to the Orlando Magic. Had a blast, as always. We'll be back here tomorrow for Lyon's inevitable victory. (You know it's going to happen!)
Bud needs to play more shooters, so they can't double khris and wall off Giannis. you signed korver marvin and george hill for a reason
thank you ryan!!
why tempt fate? BTW that was a fantastic piece, if somehow someone here hasn't read it, pls do so
Two subs ... and Neymar, Kimpembe, and Mbappe are all still out there lol. There might be some fitness argument to this, I guess? Maybe extra game-time is important before Sunday after all their time off? Probably not, though!
just waiting for ECM to be subbed on to get his allotted goal
That Paredes volley overwhelmed me with nostalgia. You don't see guys try those shots too much anymore.
Let's see how PSG hold up when the other team has the best player on the field for once.
what if we play lyon though
see: Adams, Tyler
Nkunku off at half. Woof. Really rough two games for him in the After-Werner Era.
You know the game is over when the commentators starting mentioning Istanbul as soon as the score is 3-0.
I'm ready to trade one of my kidneys if that ensures that the club backed by a nation famous for human rights abuse suffers like all those people that have suffered under this Qatar regime.
if we blow this i will never watch soccer again
remember when our manager was unai emery lmfaooooooooooo
wearing my kimpembe jersey if anybody was wondering
Rewatched the Ringer 2018 World Cup videos :,( just to remember what life was like...great job!
Kwak still needs to eat that boot
EAT THAT CLEAT. Funnily enough as a German fan at the time I remember thinking "yeah I'm with Ryan on this one, the German team kinda sucks."
i put my animal crossing character in a full psg kit
changing my first name to Marquinhos
Who's your man of the match? Again, don't just give me a name; give me a reason.
Tyler Adams, best American on the pitch
Di Maria: deadly on the set pieces, found himself in the middle for a goal, perfect crosses in. probably is the right balance for neymar, mbappe and no icardi.
A tie between Kimpembe and Di Maria: Presnel was solid as hell and seemed decisive and Angel created a lot of chances/goals while controlling the ball in tough situations.
Mbappé and Neymar were the best players, but Di Maria had the big moments, so give him the weird little trophy
ECM bc of carryover from last match, on the whole tho idc mbappe neymar di maria kimpembe all fantastic
Tuchel hasn't made a sub yet. Bizarre.
Fear of a collapse makes you be less rational. Also the bench isn't as deep as it looks. Gueye picked up a knock in training recently and Verratti just returned to training.
Managers have PTSD from last years semis
Go back and read the intro to this chat. I'm an idiot.
lmfao NEYMAR
RB Leipzig, more than anything else to me I think, really drives home the differences in sports culture between the US and Europe. Is there any doubt that they would be venerated as a forward thinking, smart, advanced team in the US? The Astros (pre-cheating scandal) of European football.
RB +320
Suns, Rockets were pretty beloved in my circles
Can't wait to see Messi in the Di Maria spot
Ronaldo LW, Neymar #10 just do it
Is franco gonna do a watch along for the europa league final
I would pay good money for a Fufi instagram live watch along
What was that tuchel talk at the end?
TYLER ADAMS SUPER SUB HYPE TRAIN! GET ON BOARD
30 minute hat trick incoming
Tired: Upamecano OR Kimpembe
Wired: start em together
Barca and Man U just cried a little watching that goal
upamecano is so fuckin good, chelsea need to buy him
I'M SO HAPPY!!
Finally mbappe comes off
Shouldn’t have started! What’s he ever done for anyone!
i cried when united got that penalty last year
It kickstarted a worse depression.
get neymar and mbappe off the pitch ffs
Unless Tuchel wants the same boot that he is wearing, for Mbappe, take him off the field
LMAO GET FUCKED
Neymar saving his goals for the final = BOSS move.
mamba mentality
PSG winning this tournament or not will not in any way stop Qatar from abusing human rights but a part of me hopes that they never win this tournament. I mean the curse of Bambino lasted for almost a century and no one was killed in that process. PSG's failures should at least for a millenium.
Bayern vs PSG might be the best final in terms of the high quality of both teams since Barca Man U
Neymar and Mbappé legit might be the best two attacking players in the world
Please don't bottle this Bayern, that'd be a phenomenal final
Same thing we were saying before the City-Lyon game ...
What a disgusting pass from Neymar
Offensive touch
LETS FUCKIN GOOOOOO I LOVE THIS CLUB
ici cest paris!
Neymar feels a lot like Dwyane Wade to me (Cavs fan here, so I had blind hatred for Heat players.) Hate him while he’s playing and then when he retires I’ll look back and realize that actually he was amazing and one of my favorite players ever
What, why would we Cavs fans have any hatred for lifelong Cavalier Dwyane Wade?
Is it possible that's slightly underrating Neymar?
Watch 2006 NBA Finals
or his 2009 season