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Group Stage Fan Preview: Manchester United
Last time Manchester United appeared in the Champions League, the year was 2015 and Louis van Gaal was at the helm. The Red Devils finished a disappointing 3rd behind VfL Wolfsburg and PSV Eindhoven, a stark contrast to United’s usual preeminence in European football. However, failure to eclipse the group stage is an unlikely result…
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Menys que un club: El Barça de Bartomeu
¿A quién no le gustaría presidir al club de sus amores? Ser la cabeza de tu equipo del alma (al menos en los despachos), ver cada partido desde un cómodo asiento en el palco, codearse con las estrellas que conforman la plantilla… Un sueño para muchos aficionados al futbol. Pero no todo es miel sobre…
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Oriol Romeu: Southampton’s Metronome
Southampton have a knack for picking up players who have fallen down the pecking order at their respective clubs letting them play, and developing them into a new player. Ryan Bertrand, Toby Alderweireld, Manolo Gabbiadini, and Juventus’ Mario Lemina being the most recent to fit into that category – but of them all, Oriol Romeu…
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Tactical Analysis: Porto 1-1 Benfica
One of the biggest and most competitive derbies in world football, Benfica would make the trip away to Porto’s Estadio Dragao for a mid-season battle. After expectedly strong starts to the season, following excellent transfer windows for both clubs, this early season matchup between two title contenders was highly anticipated. With Nuno’s newly integrated positional…
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Analisi Tattica: Juventus-Lazio 2-3
La Lazio ha vinto meritatamente la Supercoppa Italiana, palesandosi superiore dal punto di vista sia tattico che fisico e delineando i limiti del gioco della Juventus. La Lazio arriva alla sfida dopo una preparazione molto intensa cominciata l’8 luglio, 7 giorni prima dell’inizio dela preparazione juventina. A Roma c’è un clima positivo, l’ambiente biancoceleste è…
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ABBA tests itself out
FIFA and UEFA have already trialled the ABBA penalty shoot-out system on the international stage but Arsenal and Chelsea fans got to see it first hand in the Community Shield this afternoon. The idea of the new system being introduced is aimed at making it fairer on the team taking the second penalty. Traditionally, English…
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La stagione 2016/17 di Gianluigi
La stagione 2016/17 di Buffon è stata ancora una volta un’annata da numero uno assoluto, con il capitano della Juventus che, a 39 anni compiuti, si è confermato nuovamente come uno dei migliori portieri del mondo, nonché sicuramente il più longevo dei tempi moderni. Chiudendo la stagione 20 clean sheet in 42 partite (12 in…
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Less than the old Barca
“We do not believe in government through the voting booth. The Spanish national will [and] was never freely expressed through the ballot box. Spain has no foolish dreams.” These words from Francisco Franco show what would come for Spain in the next 40 years or so. The totalitarian, authoritarian regime that Franco headed for those 4 decades supported the fascist regimes…
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Leonardo Bonucci: The archetypal ball-playing center-back
“I thought it was a joke. I would never have thought anything like this could happen,” Alessandro Del Piero told Sky Italia on hearing the news about Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci’s transfer to AC Milan. As the old adage goes: where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and that was especially true here when it came to…
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Rolando Mandragora: lo scugnizzo dai piedi d’oro
Guardando giocare Rolando Mandragora si ha la sensazione di trovarsi davanti l’ennesimo prodotto made in Italy pronto a seguire le orme di Andrea Pirlo e Marco Verratti. Quella dell’ attuale giovanissimo centrocampista della Juventus è la storia di tanti ragazzi di strada a Napoli, sempre in bilico tra il sogno di una vita migliore e…
