Another weekend of European football is in the books and, as usual, there have been enough plot twists and upsets to talk about for the next week. Giants like Bayern Munich look as vulnerable as ever, while the FA Cup saw the minnows fighting back with Wrexham and Southampton putting on thrilling performances. Elsewhere, Valencia … Read more
It might have been less than a week since the Champions League began (you can catch all the Champions League action only on Paramount+), but it already feels like we’re entering a critical period of the competition. By the end of this week a third of the group stages will already be behind us. Though … Read more
A few weeks ago, before Juventus started Champions League play, Massimiliano Allegri pointed to the home game against Benfica in Round 2 as the biggest of the group stage for his squad. At the beginning of said game Wednesday night, it looked like he had treated it as such. Juve took an early lead on … Read more
It might have been less than a week since the Champions League began, but already it feels like we are entering a critical period of the competition. By the end of this week a third of the group stages will be concluded. Though it is not impossible for a team to overcome back to back … Read more
Three weeks ago, you could forgive a Juventus fan for being more bullish about the midfield than one had in quite some time. With Paul Pogba returning to join talented pieces like Manuel Locatelli and Weston McKennie, backed up by Denis Zakaria and three solid young prospects, things were finally looking up for a unit … Read more
As the football industry shuddered from the reverberations of the COVID-19 pandemic, the bright minds in the Barcelona boardroom concocted a plan. With the club beset by financial angst, one of their executives approached UEFA, the organiser of the Champions League, with a proposal. Barcelona required loans to ease the pain caused by years of … Read more
It is a cold, dark December evening in south-west Paris and kick-off in Paris Saint-Germain’s home game with Nice is less than two hours away. Beneath the white awning that overhangs the heated outdoor terrace at the Aux Trois Obus brasserie, just around the corner from the Parc des Princes, PSG supporters in parkas and … Read more
Forget Didier Deschamps, Kylian Mbappe, Paul Pogba and co for a moment — as usual, they are doing just fine — the most important person in French football right now is probably an accountant called Jean-Marc Mickeler. Chief executive of the auditing division at Deloitte, the financial services company, Mickeler also runs French football’s financial … Read more