Pennant Fever

In England, Arsenal have won three games in a row, while Man City suffered a 3-3 draw against Everton in its next-to-last game.  Man City has a game in hand, but Arsenal will win the title if the Gunners can win their last two games:

1.  Arsenal:  24-5-7 (79 points)

2.  Man City:  22-5-8 (74 points)

Here's what's left.  On Wednesday, Man City hosts Crystal Place and will probably win that game to get to 77 points.  On Monday, May 18, Arsenal hosts Burnley, who have already been relegated.  On Tuesday, May 19, City goes to Bournemouth, who are in the middle of the pack.  The season will end on Sunday, May 24 with every team in the Premier League kicking off at 10 A.M. Central Time.  City will host fifth-place Aston Villa, one of the best teams in the league, while Arsenal will travel to fifteenth-place Crystal Palace.  So, the Arsenal clearly have the advantage on the remaining schedule.

On Saturday, May 16, Man City will play Chelsea in the final of the F.A. Cup.

In Scotland, last week Heart of Midlothian picked up a 2-1 victory over Rangers to effectively eliminate Rangers from the title race.  But on Saturday, Hearts played a 1-1 draw with Motherwell that opened the door for Celtic to take the title.  With two games left, the top of the table looks like this:

1.  Hearts:  23-5-8 (77 points)

2.  Celtic:  24-8-4 (76)

On Wednesday, Celtic travels to Motherwell, while Hearts host Falkirk.  And then on Saturday, the final day of the season, Celtic will host Hearts in a game that will probably decide the Scottish title.  It's been several generations since the Scottish race was this exciting.

On Saturday, May 23, Celtic will play Dunfermline Athletic in the final of the Scottish F.A. Cup.

In Europe, Arsenal (ENG) beat Atletico Madrid (ESP) by 2-1 over two legs to reach the final of the Champions' League for the second time in team history.  The Gunners will face defending champ Paris-Saint-Germain (FRA), who beat Bayern Munich (GER) in a 6-5 thriller over two legs.  PSG and Arsenal will meet at Puskas Arena in Budapest on May 30.  That game, which will decide the Champions of Europe, will be the final club match of the 2025-26 season.  After that, everyone will start focusing on the World Cup. 

Euro 2024

Every four years, the nations of Europe play their own soccer tournament in the summer -- it's like a miniature version of the World Cup.  (In 2021, of course, it was delayed by a year because of COVID.)  This year they are in Germany.  For the last few weeks, they've been going through the group stages, and the knockout games start on Saturday.  Here is your Sweet 16:

Spain v. Georgia

Germany v. Denmark

Portugal v. Slovenia

France v. Belgium

Romania v. Netherlands

Austria v. Turkey

England v. Slovakia

Switzerland v. Italy

Here are the last ten finals:

1984:  France 2 - 0 Spain

1988:  Netherlands 2 - 0 Soviet Union

1992:  Denmark 2 - 0 Germany

1996:  Germany 2 - 1 Czech Rep. (golden goal)*

2000:  France 2 - 1 Italy (golden goal)

2004:  Greece 1 - 0 Portugal

2008:  Spain 1 - 0 Germany**

2012:  Spain 4 - 0 Italy

2016:  Portugal 1 - 0 France (after extra time)

2021:  Italy 1 - 1 England (3-2 on penalty kicks)

*Golden goal means "sudden death" in American.  The Europeans experimented with sudden death in the late 1990's and early 2000's, but they didn't like it, so they went back to extra time.

**That Spain team also won the World Cup in 2010.  In other words, they won three major tournaments in a row.  It was probably the best National Team since Pele's Brazil teams won the World Cup in 1958, 1962, and 1970.

Champions' League Update

I quit watching Man City and Real Madrid once it went to extra time, because I knew it was going to penalty kicks and I cannot abide penalty kicks.  Sure enough, after dominating play for over 100 minutes, City made only three of its five penalty kicks -- and was eliminated when Real Madrid made four.  Meanwhile, Bayern Munich beat Arsenal 1-0 at home.

So the English clubs are out, and the only game I've wanted to watch all season was decided on penalty kicks.  Anyway, this sets up the following semi-finals:

Borussia Dortmund (GER) v. Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)

Bayern Munich (GER) v. Real Madrid (ESP)

I'm going to root for an all-German final.  But I'm pretty sure Real Madrid will be lifting the Cup for the 15th time overall, and the sixth time since 2014.

Champions' League Update

Borussia Dortmund beat Atletico Madrid 4-2 today, which means that it won 5-4 on aggregate.

Paris Saint-Germain was down 1-0 in Barcelona -- and down 4-2 on aggregate.  But in the 29th minute, one of the Barcelona players got a red card, and PSG ran wild after that.  Paris Saint-Germain hammered Barcelona 4-1, and won the quarter-final 6-4 on aggregate.

So we now have one of the semi-finals:

Borussia Dortmund (GER) v. Paris Saint-Germain (FRA).

Champions' League Quarter-Finals

Years of experience have taught me not to pay attention to the UEFA Champions' League until they get down to the quarter-finals.  Today and tomorrow, they will be playing the second legs of the quarter-finals.  Remember that the team with the most total goals over two legs advances to the semi-final.  Remember also that last year, Manchester City defeated Inter Milan to win the title.

Here are the quarter-finals.  The home team for the second leg is listed first and the score is the score after the first leg:

April 16:

Borussia Dortmund (GER) 1 - 2 Atletico Madrid (ESP)

Barcelona (ESP) 3 - 2 Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)

April 17:

Bayern Munich (GER) 2 - 2 Arsenal (ENG)

Manchester City (ENG) 3 - 3 Real Madrid (ESP)

Here are the last 10 finals:

2013-14:  Real Madrid (ESP) 4, Atletico Madrid (ESP) 1 (after extra time)

2014-15:  Barcelona (ESP) 3, Juventus (ITA) 1

2015-16:  Real Madrid (ESP) 1, Atletico Madrid (ESP) 1 (Real Madrid wins 5-3 on penalty kicks)

2016-17:  Real Madrid (ESP) 4, Juventus (ITA) 1

2017-18:  Real Madrid (ESP) 3, Liverpool (ENG) 1

2018-19:  Liverpool (ENG) 2, Tottenham Hotspur (ENG) 0

2019-20:  Bayern Munich (GER) 1, Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) 0

2020-21:  Chelsea (ENG) 1, Manchester City (ENG) 0

2021-22:  Real Madrid (ESP) 1, Liverpool (ENG) 0

2022-23:  Manchester City (ENG) 1, Inter Milan (ITA) 0

Champions' League Update

Fifteen years ago, I used to watch a lot of European soccer.  But since then, I've largely stopped.  Why?  Because most of the games are literally meaningless.  The F.A. Cup, which I loved, is now mainly an opportunity for the top teams in England to play back-up squads, at least until they reach the quarter-finals.  The English League is usually decided by the middle of March.  (This year's winner will be Manchester City, for the second year in a row.)  The other big European leagues are usually decided long before that.  In Germany, for example, Bayern Munich has won every league title since 2012 -- and they are in first place again this year.

So the only time you can see really meaningful soccer these days is in the UEFA Champions' League.  Even here, there are only a few teams that could actually win it all.  Here's a list of winners since we started this blog:

2011:  Barcelona (ESP)

2012:  Chelsea (ENG)

2013:  Bayern Munich (GER)

2014:  Real Madrid (ESP)

2015:  Barcelona (ESP)

2016:  Real Madrid (ESP)

2017:  Real Madrid (ESP)

2018:  Real Madrid (ESP)

2019:  Liverpool (ENG)

2020:  Bayern Munich (GER)

2021:  Chelsea (ENG)

So there's not a whole lot of drama in the Champions' League.  But at least everyone is really trying to win, and you don't get the same winner every single year.

As you probably know, there are months and months of games in the Champions' League to eliminate dozens of small clubs with no real chance.  For example, this year -- for the tenth year in a row -- the Bulgarian champion was Ludogorets Razgrad.  In June 2021, they eliminated Shakhtyor Soligorsk (the champion of Belarus) 2-0 in the first qualifying round.  Then in July, Ludogorets defeated Mura (the champion of Slovenia) 3-1 in the second qualifying round.  But in the third qualifying round, in August, Ludogorets was defeated by Olympiacos (the champion of Greece) 3-3 (4-1 on penalty kicks).  Anyway, you get the picture.  Lots of little teams get knocked out, and now we are down to the Round of 16.  And so, for the first time all year, important teams are playing truly meaningful games.

Here are the matchups in the round of 16:

Red Bull Salzburg (AUT) v. Bayern Munich (GER)

Sporting CP (POR) v. Manchester City (ENG)

Benfica (POR) v. Ajax (NED)

Chelsea (ENG) v. Lille (FRA)

Atletico Madrid (ESP) v. Manchester Utd (ENG)

Villareal (ESP) v. Juventus (ITA)

Inter Milan (ITA) v. Liverpool (ENG)

Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) v. Real Madrid (ESP)

Anyway, they play two games (one at each team's home park) with the winner being the team with the most goals over both legs.  (I think they have eliminated the away goals rule, but I'm not sufficiently motivated to look it up).  The Round of 16 will be completed by March 16.

To be honest, I wouldn't advise you spending a lot of time on the Round of 16, except for the match between PSG and Real Madrid.  (PSG won the first leg 1-0 yesterday), and the one between Inter Milan and Liverpool, who are playing on CBS right now.  You should wait and tune in for the quarter-finals, because that's when the drama will really start.

Champions' League

Here are the results from the quarter-finals:

Manchester City (ENG) 4 - 2 Borussia Dortmund (GER)

Porto (POR) 1 - 2 Chelsea (ENG)

Bayern Munich (GER) 3 - 3 Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) (PSG advances on away goals)

Real Madrid (ESP) 3 - 1 Liverpool (ENG)

So that sets up the following semi-finals, which will be played over two legs on April 27-28 and May 4-5:

Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) v. Manchester City (ENG)

Real Madrid (ESP) v. Chelsea (ENG)

Here are the odds to win the title, according to the UK betting services:

Manchester City:  5 to 4

Paris Saint-Germain:  3 to 1

Real Madrid:  7 to 2

Chelsea:  4 to 1

Champions' League Quarter-Finals, First Leg

There's not a lot of drama left in the European soccer season, as we pretty much know who will win most of the major national leagues.  Also, the lockdowns in Europe have kept fans completely at bay, and soccer without fans is quite dreadful to watch.  But we still have the Champions' League -- the biggest prize of all -- which is down to the quarter-finals.  These consist of two-leg matches, with each team hosting a leg.  Most total goals over two matches wins.  The first legs were played this week, and the second legs will be next week.  Here are the results so far (home team in the first leg listed first):

Real Madrid (ESP) 3 - 1 Liverpool (ENG)

Manchester City (ENG) 2 - 1 Borussia Dortmund (GER)

Bayern Munich (GER) 2 - 3 Paris-St. Germain (FRA)

Porto (POR) 0 - 2 Chelsea (ENG)

Champions League Update

Here are the last ten finals in the UEFA Champions League, the most prestigious championship in club soccer.  Whoever wins this tournament is the champion of Europe:

2010-11:  Barcelona (ESP) 3, Manchester Utd 1

2011-12:  Chelsea (ENG) 1, Bayern Munich 1 (Chelsea won on penalty kicks)

2012-13:  Bayern Munich (GER) 2, Borussia Dortmund 1

2013-14:  Real Madrid (ESP) 4, Atletico Madrid 1 (after extra time)

2014-15:  Barcelona (ESP) 3, Juventus 1

2015-16:  Real Madrid (ESP) 1, Atletico Madrid 1 (Real Madrid won on penalty kicks)

2016-17:  Real Madrid (ESP) 4, Juventus 1

2017-18:  Real Madrid (ESP) 3, Liverpool 1

2018-19:  Liverpool (ENG) 2, Tottenham Hotspur 0

2019-20:  Bayern Munich (GER) 1, Paris Saint-Germain 0

Here's the key point to remember between the 2004-05 season, and the 2011-12 season, teams from England reached the final seven times in eight years.  That was obviously intolerable to the folks in Europe, so they convinced themselves that the English clubs had an unfair advantage because their owners were putting huge amounts of money into their clubs.  So they changed the rules making sure that teams would have to rely primarily on money that they generated from soccer.

Well, everyone understands that in Europe, there are three giant clubs that are in a much stronger position to take advantage of that rule than anyone else:  Barcelona and Real Madrid dominate Spanish soccer, and Bayern Munich dominates Germany.  No other club can approach those three in terms of soccer revenue.  According to Deloitte, here are the 10 richest clubs in the world:

1.  Barcelona (ESP):  €715.1 million

2.  Real Madrid (ESP):  €714.9 million

3.  Bayern Munich (GER):  €634.1 million

4.  Manchester Utd (ENG):  €580.4 million

5.  Liverpool (ENG):  €558.6 million

6.  Manchester City (ENG):  €549.2 million

7.  Paris Saint-Germain (FRA):  €540.6 million

8.  Chelsea (ENG):  €469.7 million

9.  Tottenham Hotspur (ENG):  €445.7 million

10.  Juventus (ITA):  €397.9 million

Now with the rules as they are, there's just not much anyone can do other than to assume that most of the time, the title is going to one of the top three clubs.  And in fact, since 2013 they've won every title but one.  I have no idea why this type of dynasty-driven sports competition is so popular in Europe, but honestly this appears to be what they prefer.  They certainly don't give underdogs much of a chance.

So my interest in club soccer has waned significantly since the new rule was added, but they just completed the Round of 16 in the 2020-21 Champions' League.  These were two-leg matches, with the winner being decided by the most total goals.  In the event of a tie, the team with the most away goals is the winner.  If that doesn't work, they go into extra time.  If they are still tied after extra time, the team with the most away goals is the winner.  And if that doesn't work they use penalty kicks.  OK, here we go (team hosting the second game listed first):

Manchester City (ENG) 4 - 0 Borussia Monchengladbach (GER)

Bayern Munich (GER) 6 - 2 Lazio (ITA)

Chelsea (ENG) 3 - 0 Atletico Madrid (GER)

Liverpool (ENG) 4 - 0 RB Leipzig (GER)

Juventus (ITA) 4 - 4 Porto (POR) (away goals after extra time)

Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) 5 - 2 Barcelona (ESP)

Borussia Dortmund (GER) 5 - 4 Sevilla (ESP)

Real Madrid (ESP) 4 - 1 Atalanta (ITA)

The big drama here was Juventus -- led by Cristiano Ronaldo -- going out in stunning fashion to the underdogs from Portugal.  It's also surprising to see Barcelona not making the last eight, but at least they lost to another big club.

The draw for the quarter-finals will take place Friday morning.  The quarter-final matches should be really good.

 

Bulgaria Update

For the fifth year in a row, the 2015-16 Bulgarian A soccer title went to PFC Ludogorets Razgrad.  So once again, Ludogorets Razgrad was eligible for the Championship of Europe.  Here's how they've done.

They started in the Second Qualifying Round in mid-July, where they played Mladost Podgorica, the champions of Montenegro.  Ludogorets crushed Mladost over two legs, 2-0, and 3-0, and they were on to the Third Qualifying Round.

In the Third Qualifying Round, which took place in late July and early August, Ludogorets played Red Star Belgrade, the champions of Serbia.  On July 26, the teams played to a 2-all tie in Razgrad before a crowd of 7,759.  (That's pretty much a capacity crowd in Razgrad.)  The teams then went to Red Star Stadium, in Belgrade, where 50,223 fans showed up.  This game was a cracker:

After 17 minutes, Red Star led 1-0 on the night, and 3-2 on aggregate.
After 24 minutes, the score was 1-1 on the night, 3-3 on aggregate, and Red Star led on the Away Goals rule.
After 40 minutes, Ludogorets led 2-1 on the night, and 4-3 on aggregate.
After a penalty kick in the 62d minute, Red Star and Ludogorets were tied 2-2 on the night, and 4-4 on aggregate.  They were also tied 2-2 on the Away Goals rule.  So the game went to extra time.

And in extra time, Ludogorets's Brazilian star -- Wanderson -- completed a hat trick with goals in the 92d and 97th minute.  (He had also scored in the 40th minute).  So Ludogorets won 4-2 in Belgrade, and 6-4 on the night.  You can see the highlights here.

With that thrilling victory, Ludogorets advanced to the Playoff Round, where they took on Viktoria Plzen, the champions of the Czech Republic.  This time, 11,812 folks turned up at the Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia for the first leg on August 17, where Ludogorets rolled to a 2-0 victory.  Six days later, Ludogorets got a 2-2 draw in Plzen, and they were ON TO THE GROUP STAGES!  This was only the third time any team from Bulgaria had turned that feat.

Ludogorets Razgrad (BUL) was drawn into Group A, along with Arsenal (ENG), Paris Saint-Germain (FRA), and Basel (SUI).  Due to UEFA rules, Ludogorets played their home games at the National Stadium in Sofia.  Here's how they started (home teams listed first):

09/13/2016:  Basel 1 - 1 Ludogorets Razgrad
09/28/2016:  Ludogorets Razgrad 1 - 3 Paris Saint-Germain
10/19/2016:  Arsenal 6 - 0 Ludogorets Razgrad

Their next game, in Sofia on November 1, was against Arsenal.  A crowd of 30,862 showed up to see Nick Hornby's favorite team take on the Champions of Bulgaria.  It was quite a game, as you can see here. In the 12th minute, Cafu gave Ludogorets a 1-0 lead.  And then, three minutes later, Ludogorets tacked on another goal to go up 2-0.  Bulgaria was transported!  But Arsenal struck back six minutes later, making the score 2-1.  Late in the first half, the Gunners headed in another goal, and we were all tied at 2.  It was a tense second half, as Ludogorets sought a famous victory.  But in the 86th minute, Mesut Ozil, a star for the German National Team who is one of the greatest players in the world, got the ball at the back of the Ludogorets defense, and he made a spectacular goal to win the game for the Gunners, 3 to 2.

So the standings in Group A look like this:

Arsenal:  3-0-1 (10 points) 
Paris Saint-Germain:  3-0-1 (10)
Ludogorets Razgrad:  0-3-1 (1)
Basel:  0-3-1 (1)

With only two group games left, Ludogorets is too far behind to reach the knockout rounds.  But once again, they have made a noble effort.

Portugal v. Wales

Portugal and Wales will be kicking off their European Semi-Final Match in 45 minutes.  Here's how Portugal got here:

Group Stage:
06/14:  Portugal 1 - 1 Iceland
06/18:  Portugal 0 - 0 Austria
06/22:  Hungary 3 - 3 Portugal
(Portugal advance as one of the four best third-place teams)

Knockout Rounds:
06/25:  Croatia 0 - 1 Portugal
06/30:  Poland 1 - 1 Portugal (Portugal win 5-3 on penalties)

And here is the Portugal lineup, along with their clubs and leagues:

Goalkeeper:  Rui Patricio (Sporting C.P.) (Portugal)

Defender:  Cedric (Southampton) (England)
Defender:  Bruno Alves (Cagliari) (Italy)
Defender:  Jose Fonte (Southampton) (England)
Defender:  Raphael Guerreiro (Borussia Dortmund) (Germany)

Midfielder:  Danilo (Porto) (Portugal)
Midfielder:  Joao Mario (Sporting C.P.) (Portugal)
Midfielder:  Renato Sanches (Bayern Munich) (Germany)
Midfielder:  Adrien Silva (Sporting C.P.) (Portugal)

Forward:  Nani (Valencia) (Spain) (vice-captain)
Forward:  Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) (Spain) (captain)

Ronaldo is, of course, one of the greatest players in the world -- and Gareth Bale's teammate.  This whole match is like a game between Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson in which they can only play with teammates from their home states.  (That would be amazing.)

OK, here's how Wales got here:

Group Stage:
06/11:  Wales 2 - 1 Slovakia
06/16:  England 2 - 1 Wales
06/20:  Russia 0 - 3 Wales
(Wales advance as winners of Group B)

Knockout Rounds:
06/25:  Wales 1 - 0 N. Ireland
07/01:  Wales 3 - 1 Belgium

Wales's second-best player, Aaron Ramsey, is out of this game for collecting too many yellow cards.  The same thing happened to Ben Davies, one of Wales's best defenders.  Interestingly, the United States lost some of its best players for the same reason in the semi-finals of this year's Copa America.  The Americans were crushed 4-0 by Argentina; we will hope Wales holds up better.  Anyway, here's who Wales will start:

Goalkeeper:  Wayne Hennessey (Crystal Palace) (England)

Defender:  James Chester (West Bromwich Albion) (England)
Defender:  Ashley Williams (Swansea City) (England) (captain)
Defender:  James Collins (West Ham Utd) (England)
Defender:  Chris Gunter (Reading) (England)
Defender:  Neil Taylor (Swansea City) (England)

Midfielder:  Joe Allen (Liverpool) (England)
Midfielder:  Joe Ledley (Crystal Palace) (England) (vice-captain)
Midfielder:  Andy King (Leicester City) (England)

Forward:  Gareth Bale (Real Madrid) (Spain)
Forward:  Hal Robson-Kanu (Reading) (England)

(Robson-Kanu is technically unattached to any team right now, but he played for Reading last season.)

Euro 2016 -- WALES!

In 1996, England lost to Germany (of course) in the semi-finals of the European Championships.  Since then, here are the teams that have reached the semi-finals of the European Championships and the World Cup (winners in bold, runners-up in italics):

1998 World Cup:  France, Brazil, Croatia, Netherlands
2000 Euros:  France, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal
2002 World Cup:  Brazil, Germany, Turkey, South Korea
2004 Euros:  Greece, Portugal, Czech Rep., Netherlands
2006 World Cup:  Italy, France, Germany, Portugal
2008 Euros:  Spain, Germany, Russia, Turkey
2010 World Cup:  Spain, Netherlands, Germany, Uruguay
2012 Euros:  Spain, Italy, Germany, Portugal
2014 World Cup:  Germany, Argentina, Netherlands, Brazil

Do notice anything interesting -- other than a mysterious victory for Greece and a whole lot of close-but-no-cigars for the Netherlands?  That's right:  no English-speaking country has reached the semi-finals of either tournament in the last 20 years.

Until now.

On July 1, in the Stade Pierre-Mauroy (near Lille, France), Wales faced Belgium in the quarter-finals of the European Championships.  Almost no one had expected Wales to get so far, and they were heavy underdogs against Belgium, which was ranked as the second-best national team in the world.  Sure enough, Belgium jumped out to a 1-0 lead after only 13 minutes.  But never underestimate the Welsh spirit!  Wales came roaring back with a glorious display of soccer, crushing Belgium 3-1 in one of the most stunning upsets in the history of the sport.

Much of the credit here must go to Gareth Bale, one of the world's best strikers.  Bale normally plies his trade for Real Madrid, which is only the best club on earth.  He has been magnificent throughout this tournament, and he is undoubtedly the main reason for Wales's success.  One of England's biggest problems in international soccer has been the lack of a truly great striker -- Bale is showing what a difference that type of player can make.

But Bale didn't score any of the goals against Belgium -- although he was critical in making everything run.  The Welsh team is seizing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, much like Indiana State did while Larry Bird was there.  If nothing else, they have shown that English-speaking teams can win at this level.  It will be interesting to see if England heeds their example.

Here is a complete list of the quarter-finals (you will notice that unlike England, France had little trouble with Iceland):

Poland 1 - 1 Portugal (Portugal wins 5-3 on penalties)
Wales 3 - 1 Belgium
Germany 1 - 1 Italy (Germany wins 6-5 on penalties)
France 5 - 2 Iceland

That sets up the following semi-finals:

07/06/2016 (in Lyon):  Portugal v. Wales

The other striker for Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo, plays for Portugal.  So yeah, that's a pretty good squad.

07/07/2016 (in Marseille):  Germany v. France

Germany handled France without too much difficulty at the last World Cup, but I think the French will be difficult to beat at home.  And Germany had all kinds of trouble with Italy -- the Germans only survived because Italy missed too many penalty kicks.

Here are the latest odds to win the tournament:

Germany:  9 to 5
France:  15 to 8
Portugal:  7 to 2
Wales:  15 to 2

Euro 2016

Most of the Round of 16 went as expected at Euro 2016, but there were two big exceptions.  Italy drilled Spain 2-0, so the two-time defending champions are out of the tournament at a much earlier stage than expected.  And Iceland, which has a smaller population than Louisville, beat England 2-1.  The English are humiliated right now, as they should be, but this is actually good news for them.  England's soccer team is run by a group very much like the sort of folks who run the UK Athletic Department -- they prefer genteel mediocrity to annoying excellence.  So they will only hire a really good coach when things get so bad that they can't hide from the embarassment.  Losing to Iceland falls into that category, so I expect improvement from England.  Here are the results from the round of 16 (Wales is into the quarter-finals!):

Switzerland 1 - 1 Poland (Poland win 5-4 on penalties)
Croatia 0 - 1 Portugal (after extra time)
Wales 1 - 0 N. Ireland
Hungary 0 - 4 Belgium
Germany 3 - 0 Slovakia
Italy 2 - 0 Spain
France 2 - 1 Ireland
England 1 - 2 Iceland

Euro 2016

OK, they finally finished all the group stages at Euro 2016, the every-four-year European soccer championship.  Here were the group winners.  Where there was an upset, I have put the expected group winners in parentheses:

Group A:  France
Group B:  Wales (England)
Group C:  Germany
Group D:  Croatia (Spain)
Group E:  Italy
Group F:  Hungary (Portugal)

Now the way the draw was supposed to work, you wouldn't have had Great Powers like Italy and Spain meeting until the quarter-finals.  But given the results in the group stages, the draw for the knockout round, is now cockeyed, with the traditional powers being crowded together in the lower half.  That Italy/Spain matchup in the Sweet 16 is a really big deal.  Meanwhile, it's amazing to see so many small countries still kicking around in the draw:

June 25:  Switzerland v. Poland
June 25:  Croatia v. Portugal
June 25:  Wales v. N. Ireland
June 26:  Hungary v. Belgium
June 26:  Germany v. Slovakia
June 27:  Italy v. Spain
June 26:  France v. Ireland
June 27:  England v. Iceland

Here are the latest odds to win the tournament:

France:  4 to 1
Germany, Spain:  5 to 1
Belgium:  6 to 1
Croatia:  9 to 1
England:  10 to 1

Wales is 25 to 1, but we will be rooting for them anyway.

Wales 2016!

Today in the European Soccer Championships, Wales crushed Russia by the score of 3-0.  Meanwhile, England and Slovakia finished with a scoreless tie.  So the final standings in Group B look like this:

1. WALES:  6 points (2-0-1)

2. England:  5 points (1-0-2)

3. Slovakia:  4 points (1-1-1)

4. Russia:  1 point (0-2-1)

Russia is eliminated, Wales and England move on to the Round of 16 – but Wales will get a better draw, since it finished top of the group.

This is the first time in history that Wales has made it to the European Soccer Championships, and the first major soccer tournament of any kind for Wales since the 1958 World Cup.

Once the full round of 16 is set, we will let you know who Wales play next.

European Cup Final: Real Madrid v. Atletico Madrid

Not so long ago, teams from England were doing very well in the European Cup.  From 2005 to 2012, eight of the sixteen European Cup Finalists were from England:

2005:  Liverpool (ENG) 3, AS Milan (ITA) 3 (Liverpool wins on penalty kicks)
2006:  Barcelona (ESP) 2, Arsenal (ENG) 1 (Arsenal's goalkeeper was sent off early)
2007:  AS Milan (ITA) 2, Liverpool (ENG) 1
2008:  Manchester Utd (ENG) 1, Chelsea (ENG) 1 (Man Utd wins on penalty kicks)
2009:  Barcelona (ESP) 2, Manchester Utd (ENG) 0
2010:  Internazionale (ITA) 2, Bayern Munich (GER) 0
2011:  Barcelona (ESP) 2, Manchester Utd (ENG) 0
2012:  Chelsea (ENG) 1, Bayern Munich (GER) 1 (Chelsea wins on penalty kicks)

Results like these were plainly intolerable to England's partners on the Continent, and so the rules were changed to limit the ability of European soccer clubs to take on debt.  The new rules, which went into effect in the 2011-12 season, effectively made it impossible for English clubs to compete on the same playing field as giants like Bayern Munich, Barcelona, and Real Madrid, who don't need to borrow as much money because of their enormous fan bases.  Since then, the results have been much more to the liking of the powers that be in Europe:

2013:  Bayern Munich (GER) 2, Borussia Dortmund (GER) 1
2014:  Real Madrid (ESP) 4, Atletico Madrid (ESP) 1 (after extra time)
2015:  Barcelona (ESP) 3, Juventus (ITA) 1

And this year, we have a re-match of the 2014 final, with Real Madrid taking on Atletico Madrid.  Here's how they got here (all knockout scores are aggregate scores, with matches taking place over two legs, one at the home field of each team):

REAL MADRID:
5-0-1 in Group A (first place)
Round of 16:  4-0 win over Roma (ITA)
Quarter-Finals:  3-2 win over Wolfsburg (GER)
Semi-Finals:  1-0 win over Manchester City (ENG)

Real Madrid's win over Manchester City was the 12th time in the last 13 Champions' League matches that an English club lost to a Spanish club.

ATLETICO MADRID:
4-1-1 in Group C (first place)
Round of 16:  0-0 against PSV Eindhoven (NED) (Atletico Madrid won 8-7 on PK's)
Quarter-Finals:  3-2 win over Barcelona (ESP)
Semi-Finals:  2-2 against Bayern Munich (GER) (Atletico Madrid won on away goals)

As you can tell from these results, Real Madrid is the sort of team that you would expect to be the Champions of Europe -- it's loaded with all-stars from all over the Continent.  Atletico Madrid is kind of the U of L of European soccer -- it gets its victories through grinding and hard-nosed defense.  Atletico Madrid has spent its entire history in the shadow of Real Madrid, but Atletico came very close to winning it all two years ago -- they led 1-0 until Real Madrid scored three minutes into injury time in the second half.  That sent the game into extra time, where Real Madrid put three more goals past an exhausted Atletico defense for a 4-1 win.

Normally, I would root for the underdog in this type of matchup, but years of watching soccer has left me with a never-dying hatred for teams that pack everything in around their own goal and try to beat you on the counter-attack.  So I'll be happy if Real Madrid repeats its 2014 victory.

Bulgaria Update

So the group stages of the UEFA Champions' League are finished, and our friends from Bulgaria have been eliminated.  Here's how Ludogorets Razgrad did in six games against three huge clubs (home teams listed first, although it should be noted that Ludogorets had to play its home games at the Bulgarian National Stadium in Sofia:

09/16/14:  Liverpool 2 - 1 Ludogorets Razgrad
(Liverpool won on a penalty kick in extra time)

10/01/14:  Ludogorets Razgrad 1 - 2 Real Madrid
(Real Madrid may literally be the best club in the world, so this was a very good effort.  The game was tied at 1 before Real Madrid scored the game-winner in the 77th minute)

10/22/14:  Ludogorets Razgrad 1 - 0 Basel
(The first ever win for a Bulgarian club in the group stages of the Champions League.  Ludogorets scored the game-winner in extra time.)

11/04/14:  Basel 4 - 0 Ludogorets Razgrad
(Ouch)

11/26/14:  Ludogorets Razgrad 2 - 2 Liverpool
(Ludogorets scored in the 88th minute to seriously damage Liverpool's chances to advance.  An excellent result)

12/09/14:  Real Madrid 4 - 0 Ludogorets Razgrad
(Real Madrid may literally be the best club in the world.)

So the final standings of Group B look like this (the top 2 teams advance to the knockout stage):

1.  Real Madrid:  6-0-0 (18 points)
2.  Basel:  2-3-1 (7)
3.  Liverpool:  1-3-2 (5)
4.  Ludogorets Razgrad:  1-4-1 (4)

A brave performance by Ludogorets Razgrad, which sets a new standard for future Bulgarian clubs. Good for them!

Here are your 16 clubs that reached the knockout round.  For each group, the group winner is listed first:

Group A:  Atletico Madrid (ESP), Juventus (ITA)
Group B:  Real Madrid (ESP), Basel (SUI)
Group C:  Monaco (FRA), Bayer Leverkusen (GER)
Group D:  Borussia Dortmund (GER), Arsenal (ENG)
Group E:  Bayern Munich (GER), Manchester City (ENG)
Group F:  Barcelona (ESP), Paris Saint-German (FRA)
Group G:  Chelsea (ENG), Schalke 04 (GER)
Group H:  Porto (POR), Shaktar Donetsk (UKR)

Bulgaria Update

Ludogorets Razgrad have their first game in the Champions' League Group Stages today.  They will be visiting Liverpool, which has won the European Cup five times:  1976-77, 1977-78, 1980-81, 1983-84, and 2004-05.  So this is a big-time opponent for the Bulgarian champions.

The Guardian did a feature on Ludogorets.  You can read it here.

FIBA Update: Round of 16

Over the weekend, they played the Round of 16 in the FIBA World Cup of Basketball.  If the Aussies took a lower seed to avoid meeting the United States in the quarterfinals, their plan backfired, as they were beaten by Turkey.  The only big upset in this round was Serbia's blow-out win over Greece.  Serbia had gone only 2-3 in the Group Stage, while Greece had gone 5-0.  But Greece was in Group B, and all four teams from that Group were eliminated.

Here are the scores, with the higher-seeded team listed first:

Upper Bracket (in Madrid):
Spain 89 - 56 Senegal
Croatia 64 - 69 France
Greece 72 - 90 Serbia
Brazil 85 - 65 Argentina

Lower Bracket (in Barcelona):
United States 86 - 63 Mexico
Slovenia 71 - 61 Dominican Republic
Lithuania 76 - 71 New Zealand
Turkey 65 - 64 Australia

Anthony Davis had only 4 points and 6 rebounds in 20 minutes against Mexico -- he went 2-9 from the field.  But DeMarcus Cousins came off the bench to score 11 points and get 7 rebounds in only 14 minutes.  (Cousins went 5-5 from the field and 1-1 from the line).

This sets up the following quarter-finals:

Upper Bracket (in Madrid) (September 10):
Spain v. France (Spain beat France 88-64 in the Group Stage)
Serbia v. Brazil (Brazil beat Serbia 81-73 in the Group Stage)

Lower Bracket (in Barcelona) (September 9):
United States v. Slovenia
Lithuania v. Turkey

These teams did not meet in the Group Stages.

The United States is still 8 to 13 to win the Cup; Spain is still 6 to 4.

FIBA World Cup Update

OK, we have completed the Group Stages of the FIBA World Cup of Basketball.  The top 4 teams in each group advance.  Here were the results:

GROUP A:
1.  Spain:  5-0 (10 points) (440 points scored / 314 points allowed)
2.  Brazil:  4-1 (9) (416/333)
3.  France:  3-2 (8) (376/357)
4.  Serbia:  2-3 (7) (387/378)
5.  Iran:  1-4 (6) (344/406)
6.  Egypt:  0-5 (5) (312/486)

GROUP B:
1.  Greece:  5-0 (10) (414/349)
2.  Croatia:  3-2 (8) (414/398) (beat Argentina head-to-head)
3.  Argentina:  3-2 (8) (420/372)
4.  Senegal:  2-3 (7) (348/399)
5.  Puerto Rico:  1-4 (6) (388/446) (beat Philippines head-to-head)
6.  Philippines:  1-4 (6) (383/404)

GROUP C:
1.  United States:  5-0 (10) (511/345)
2.  Turkey:  3-2 (8) (365/372)
3.  Dominican Republic:  2-3 (7) (347/386) (1-1 in games with New Zealand and Ukraine)
4.  New Zealand:  2-3 (7) (347/376) (1-1 in games with Dominican Republic and Ukraine)
5.  Ukraine:  2-3 (7) (344/369) (1-1 in games with Dominican Republic and New Zealand)
6.  Finland:  1-4 (6) (342/408)

OK, given that the Dominican Republic, New Zealand, and Ukraine all went 1-1 in their head-to-head match-ups, how did FIBA break the tie?  It used total points scored in the head-to-head games.

The Dominican Republic lost to Ukraine 72-62, but beat New Zealand 76-63.  So its total for those two games was 138-135 (a difference of 3).

New Zealand lost to the Dominican Republic 76-63, but beat Ukraine 73-61.  So its total for those two games was 136-137 (a difference of minus 1).

Ukraine beat the Dominican Republic 72-62, but lost to New Zealand 73-61.  So its total for those two games was 133-135 (a difference of minus 2).  And that one point is the reason New Zealand finished ahead of Ukraine.  FIBA!

GROUP D:
1.  Lithuania:  4-1 (9) (383/331) (beat Slovenia head-to-head)
2.  Slovenia:  4-1 (9) (425/374)
3. Australia:  3-2 (8) (404/373)
4.  Mexico:  2-3 (7) (370/372) (beat Angola head-to-head)
5.  Angola:  2-3 (7) (375/399)
6.  South Korea:  0-5 (316/404) (5)

One of the very few upsets in the Group Stages took place today, when Angola beat Australia 91-83.  Goran Dragic, a Phoenix Suns guard who plays for Slovenia, immediately accused the Aussies of losing on purpose, presumably so that they would come in third place -- thereby avoiding the Americans until the semi-finals.  FIBA!

Here is the draw for the round of 16, which will be played on Saturday and Sunday:

UPPER BRACKET (all games in Madrid):
Spain v. Senegal
Croatia v. France
Greece v. Serbia
Brazil v. Argentina

LOWER BRACKET (all games in Barcelona):
United States v. Mexico
Slovenia v. Dominican Republic
Lithuania v. New Zealand
Turkey v. Australia

The final will be on September 14 in Madrid, which will be a big advantage to whichever team comes out of the Upper Bracket, because that team will have already played three games in the Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad de Madrid, while the teams in the Lower Bracket will have played in the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona.  As it turns out, Spain (the host nation) was placed in the Upper Bracket, while the Americans (who have never won this tournament twice in a row) are in the Lower Bracket.  FIBA!

Latest odds to win the tournament:

United States:  8 to 13
Spain:  6 to 4
Brazil:  25 to 1
Greece:  33 to 1

No one else is better than 50 to 1.