Portugal won the first UEFA Nations League by beating Holland 1-0 at home, at Porto’s Estadio do Dragao.
The Dutch had failed to qualify for the World Cup in Russia and were in decline until a new batch of Ajax bred youngsters and other rising or in form players were blended together by new national coach Ronald Koeman. Frenkie de Jong, Matthijs de Ligt and Daley Blind formed the core of Ajax’s surprise Champions League semi final team. They are joined by in form players like Memphis Depay (Lyon), Georginio Wijnaldum and Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool).
Portugal came off a disappointing World Cup that followed their Euro 2016 win in France. With Ronaldo still pulling the strings and rescuing the team but joined by new and risings in Bernardo Silva and Bruno Fernandes.
The game start well for the Dutch but soon became one mostly controlled by the Portuguese. The hosts managed to gain control of the midfield with Danilo adding extra midfield spine and mostly handcuffing the likes of de Jong. The Dutch were forced to use the wings but were unable to penetrate for much of the game. Quincy Promes for Ryan Babel at half time didn’t help or threaten much more on the left wing side and soon after the second half started Portugal gained more control of the game.
In the 60th minute a Bernardo Silva pass had Goncalo Guedes cutting inside. The winger took a long range shot and just beat Jasper Cillessen who got a hand on it but was unable to divert the ball to safety. Rui Patricio and Ruben Dias did well when the Dutch tried to threaten via crosses. Portugal claimed the inaugural trophy.
Earlier in the day England finished third by beating the Swiss. The third place match finished 0-0 and 6-5 after penalties, one of which was converted by Jordan Pickford, England’s goalkeeper.
Alisson is the Brazilian national team starter and ex-Roma goalkeeper. He had a big hand in Liverpool finishing second in the EPL and winning the Champions League.
Ferland Mendy is a soon to be 23 year old left back. Another Lyon prospect but not from Lyon’s own academy. Mendy grew up at Le Havre’s famous production line which has included the likes of Paul Pogba and Dimitri Payet in the past. He is rumoured to be the subject of €50+ million bids by Real Madrid and Manchester City.
Milan Skriniar is the consistent central defender at Inter Milan. He has been there since 2017. The Slovakian international is one of the reasons Inter finished with a Serie A second best 33 goals allowed.
Virgil van Dijk was another reason for Liverpool’s success and his pace and solidity have impressed since a very expensive € 85 million transfer from Southampton. The central defender has boasted excellent stats with attackers finding it near impossible to dribble past him.
Joshua Kimmich struggled, like most of his team mates, at the 2018 World Cup but is nevertheless solid and very important on the right hand side for Bayern Munich and his country. Still only 24.
Dusan Tadic had a rebirth of sorts at Ajax after being mostly underused in the English Premier League. Multiple impressive performances in the Champions League where Ajax reached the semis and in the Eredivisie where Ajax overtook PSV and won the title.
Frenkie de Jong (22), much like his Ajax team mate, impressed and earned an expensive transfer to Barcelona. The midfielder controlled games from the middle of the pitch and provided the focal point for much of Ajax’s excellent 2018-2019.
Eden Hazard spent his last season at Chelsea helping the team win the Europa League and be a vital component in unlocking league opposition. He will now do it again elsewhere, Real Madrid will likely be the destination with a massive €100+ million transfer fee going the other way.
Lionel Messi is Lionel Messi and with him at the helm Barcelona won another La Liga title. Despite the Champions League disappointment where Liverpool produced a historic come from behind win the Argentinian scored another 51 goals (in all competitions).
Kylian Mbappe led PSG to another Ligue 1 title. Still only 20 he scored 33 league goals, 11 more than Lille’s Nicolas Pepe in second place. His goal tally was over 30% of his team’s goals.
Raheem Sterling scored important goals for Manchester City, both in the Champions League and the premiership. He grew as a team leader and his play earned him spots on many end of season awards.
The 2018-2019 Champions League final will take place in Madrid’s 67,000 capacity Metropolitano Stadium, the home of Atletico Madrid, on June 1, 2019. Tottenham and Liverpool will complete the all English final – he Europa league featured Chelsea beating Arsenal 4-1 in Azerbaijan.
Tottenham finished fourth in the 2018-2019 premiership a big 26 points behind Liverpool who finished second. Liverpool were last year’s Champions League finalists losing 3-1 to Real Madrid. Tottenham have been under achievers both in domestic and European competition with last winning a major trophy in the 90s – a FA Cup in 1991. Under Mauricio Pochettino, if he stays, and a with a new stadium more is likely to come from the North London team. Jurgen Klopp has many second place finishes on his resume and hopes to change it this time.
Naby Keita is the only expected injury concern for Liverpool. Harry Kane, Tottenham’s star, is recovering but should be available. Therefore both teams are relatively healthy.
This is a meeting of two coaches who believe in pressing and moving up and pressuring opponents, this final could be chaotic and entertaining.
The winner of this games gets €19 million and the loser €15 million. This is only for being at the final, the money accumulated getting here can earn the winning team upwards of €80 million. The reason why the Champions League is so important to teams is very clear.
The 2018-2019 Europa League final takes place between Chelsea and Arsenal on May 29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Not without controversy.
The distance and the scarcity of direct flights will mean less fans in the stadium. Also, Henrikh Mkhitaryan is an Armenian and it has been decided that he will stay home fearing for his safety in the neighbouring rival country.
The all English final has two teams that finished third and fifth in the English premiership. The winner will get a spot in the 2019-2020 Champions League so this may provide an extra incentive for Arsenal as their fifth place league position rewards them with only a Europa League spot next season.
It could be the last game in a Chelsea shirt for Eden Hazard as he is likely to make a big money move to Real Madrid or elsewhere. Maurizio Sarri, the Chelsea manager, could be on his way back to Italy after the game.
On the other side Aaron Ramsey was to play his final Arsenal game, as he has signed to play for Juventus, but he is out injured. Petr Cech will retire after this this game. In other injury news N’Golo Kante is likely going to miss this game, as will Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding, Antonio Rudiger, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
One of the effects of money in football has been the gap between the rich and the poor. As in society there is some evidence that the gap keeps increasing. Several factors including how TV rights money is distributed contributes to this gap.
Somewhat unrelated to the aforementioned gap is the gap between first and second placed teams. This gap contributes to the excitement in the latter weeks of the season. Below are some numbers for the past three seasons.
In England the 2018-2019 season was historic in that the top two were very close and accumulated plenty of points. In the end Manchester City won the league by one point over Liverpool. The two teams collected 98 and 97 points respectively. The 2017-2018 season finished with Manchester City 19 points ahead of Manchester United (100 and 81). The season before it Chelsea won the league with 93 points and Tottenham 7 points behind finished second.
In Italy Juventus is ahead of Napoli by 11 points with one week to go. Last season the same top two finished with a four point difference (95 and 91). In 2016-2017 Juventus finished with 91 and Roma 87.
In Spain the 2018-2019 La Liga ended with Barcelona ahead of Atletico Madrid with a 11 point gap. 2017-2018 had the same two teams but with a 14 point gap. La Liga’s 2016-2017 season featured Real Madrid besting Barcelona’s 90 points with their 93.
In France PSG are ahead of surprising Lille by 16 points with a week to go. Last season PSG won the league with 13 points more than second placed Monaco and the year before Monaco had 95 points at the end of the season compared to PSG’s 87.
In Germany‘s Bundesliga Bayern Munich came back from behind to beat the perennial ‘capitulators’ (aka Dortmund) by two points (78 to 76). The season before Bayern finished ahead of Schalke with a massive 21 point gap. Schalke finished this current season in 14th place! The 2016-2017 season had Bayern first with 82 and RB Leipzig second with 67 points.
In Portugal‘s Primeira Liga high scoring Benfica won the 2018-2019 season having two more points than Porto’s 85. Last season Porto had 88 and Benfica in second place had 81. The 2016-2017 season finished with Benfica on top with 82 and Porto second with 76.
In Holland‘s Eredivisie Ajax stormed back and won the title over PSV’s 83 points. Three points separated the two. In 2017-2018 PSV had held on and won the league with 83 compared to Ajax’s 79 points. Feyenoord’s 82 was one better than Ajax’s point tally for the 2016-2017 season.
Portugal’s Gil Vicente take the court case route to the Primeira Liga
As the 2018-2019 season comes to a close the picture is almost clear as to which teams will join the top division in Europe’s major leagues. A few new names and a few more bigger names are headed to the top for 2019-2020.
Starting in England‘s Championship Norwich and Sheffield United won the automatic promotion spots. The latter were last in the top level in 2007. The playoff featured a faltering Leed United. The Marcelo Bielsa team led the league for a long while but collapsed late in the season and now have been eliminated in the promotion playoffs by Derby County. The finalists in the promotion playoffs are the aforementioned Derby and Aston Villa.
Italy‘s Serie B is volatile and irregular. Brescia and Lecce are promoted but the playoff places were thrown into turmoil after Palermo were demoted due to financial issues. Palermo were third at season’s end but now 9th placed Perugia climb to eighth and join the six teams vying for the third promotion spot. Benevento, Pescara, Verona, Spezia, Cittadella are the other teams fighting for that final spot.
In Spain Osasuna and Granada lead the second division with four games to go. Albacete, once wealthy Malaga, once mighty Deportivo La Coruna, Mallorca and Cadiz are not far behind in the top two and promotion playoff races.
Germany‘s 2nd Bundesliga is led by FC Koln with one game remaining. Paderborn, Union Berlin and Hamburg will know their fate for the second automatic spot and playoffs on May 19th.
France‘s Ligue 2 also has one game remaining but the top two spots are set and occupied by Metz and Brest. Troyes, Paris FC, once mighty Lens and Lorient will battle it out for the third promotion spot this month.
Holland‘s Eerste Divisie has had a runaway leader, Twente have won the division somewhat easily. PSV second team, Jong PSV is in third place but can not be promoted. De Graafschap and Excelsior from the top league are locked in the playoffs with second division’s Sparta Rotterdam, Den Bosch, Go Ahead Eagles and TOP Oss. The latter have never played in the top league.
Portugal‘s Segunda Liga is a curious case this season. Normally two teams are relegated and two are promoted. This year three are relegated while the top two from the second division win promotion. The third team is already decided to be Gil Vicente. The Northern Braga district based team won a court case against their forced relegation…in 2006! In that season they were accused of fielding an eligible players, Mateus Galiano da Costa. An obviously lengthy court battle has won them promotion alongside Pacos de Ferreira and Famalicao. Feirense and Nacional are heading down alongside one of Tondela and Chaves (to be determined on the final weekend of the season).
It is late April and the football season is drawing to a close in almost every country. Disappointment time is up on many teams, some of which spent or over spent to stay in the top division.
Here’s the status of the relegation fights across some of Europe’s top leagues.
In the English Premier League Huddersfield are going back down after spending two seasons in the premiership. Jan Siewert was unable to keep them up after taking over mid season. Fulham spent around 100 million after getting promoted but can be called one of the expensive flops of the season now that they are going back down. Cardiff and Brighton are fighting to avoid being the third relegated team. The latter are starved for goals and have failed to maintain the momentum of the early season home win vs Manchester United.
In Spain’s La Liga Rayo Vallecano and SD Huesca are almost certainly going down to the Segunda. A handful of teams will try stay and not join the aforementioned. Girona, Real Valladolid, Celta Vigo and Levante are all separated by only three points with 4 weeks left.
Italy‘s 2018-2019 Serie A relegation list has long included Chievo, the team started with -3 points after financial issues and has been at the bottom ever since. Frosinone have been thereabouts too, the Lazio region team is not surviving their second ever attempt in the top league. Empoli seem doomed and those above them like Udinese, Parma, Genoa and Bologna have likely done enough but there is still a month to go.
In France Guingamp, Caen and Dijon are likely done. The latter have been in the Ligue 1 for four years running, for the first time in club history.
In Germany‘s Bundesliga Hanover and Nurnberg are certain of relegation. Stuttgart have a big following of course but have disappointed in recent seasons, a far cry from the Bundesliga winning days of 2006–07. The Baden-Wurttemberg team are facing a relegation playoff.
Holland‘s Eredivisie will lose NAC Breda to relegation. Excelsior and De Graafschap are in the relegation playoff spots as of late April. FC Emmen, playing at the top level for the first time, are likely to survive but are still in danger.
In Portugal Aveiro district’s Feirense are way behind in 18th place. Nacional and Chaves occupy the places just above them but there is still time for Tondela and Boavista to fall into the last 3 spots.
The Champions League quarter finals produced more drama of the VAR variety. The introduction of Video Assistant Referees to the Champions League for the first time was bound to create questions as it has done at various leagues like the Serie A it hasn’t failed in doing so. A separate long read is required to point out the faults and the good of VAR but alas the results were surprising in themselves.
Liverpool might have been expected to over come Porto and Manchester United’s somewhat declining form might have given enough cause to make Barcelona favorites for the tie but the other two matchups provided bigger drama.
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City have spent massive amounts in all areas of the pitch and over spent on defense in order to achieve balance and stability but when scoring four goals at home is not enough to advance questions must again be asked. Tottenham were widely mocked for spending exactly zero euros last summer but now have reached the Champions League semis against a team that regularly spends over 60 million on individual players. All without their main star, Harry Kane.
In the other semis Ajax surprised Ronaldo and Juventus by producing another surprise after eliminating Real Madrid in the previous round. A young, fluid and composed team beat Juventus away after having tied at home. Ajax’s Matthijs de Ligt enhanced his reputation further and so did Hakim Ziyech.
Ajax meet Tottenham in the semis with the latter featuring numerous former Ajax players like Christian Eriksen, Davinson Sanchez, Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld. In the other semi Liverpool must overcome Messi and Barcelona to reach another final. Messi will have a chance to outshine Ronaldo, his generational rival.
↑ Ajax for beating another giant ↑ Tottenham for overcoming a big spender
Julian Nagelsmann is 31 and has been coaching 1899 Hoffenheim since 2016
Coaches (or managers) seem to be getting earlier starts as many former and not former players get to coach teams at highest levels inside their thirties. The following is a list of some of the youngest coaches in Europe’s biggest leagues.
In the English Premier League Jan Siewert at Huddersfield is the youngest at 36, he took over after David Wagner (47) left earlier in 2019. Scott Parker is currently the second youngest at 38. The former Fulham, Tottenham, etc. player is only a caretaker after Claudio Ranieri became Fulham’s second coach of the season, after Slavisa Jokanovic was fired in 2018. Marco Silva, in charge of Everton, is the third youngest at 41. Eddie Howe (also 41) has been in charge of Bournemouth for nearly seven years. Other coaches under 50 include Nuno Santo (Wolverhampton, 45), Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (Manchester United, 46), Mauricio Pochettino (Tottenham, 47), Unai Emery (Arsenal, 47), Sean Dyche at Burnley since 2012 (47) and Javi Gracia (Watford, 48).
In the Spanish La Liga Huesca’s Francisco is youngest at 40 followed by Javier Calleja of Villarreal also 40. The pair are younger than Sergio, 42 at Valladolid. Bilbao’s Gaizka Garitano is 43. All four have taken over their current posts within the last year. Three time Champions League winner as coach Zinedine Zidane (46) only recently returned to Real Madrid after resigning last Spring. Others under 50 include Imanol Alguacil (Real Sociedad, 47), Mauricio Pellegrino (Leganes, 47) and Paco Jemez (Rayo Vallecano, 48). Diego Simeone at Atletico Madrid since 2011 is 48, Abelardo Fernández (Alaves, 48) and Rubi (Espanyol, 49) round out the list.
Italy’s Serie A, somewhat befitting its stereotype, boasts “only” six coaches under 50 years old. Sassuolo’s Roberto De Zerbi is only 39. Igor Tudor, back for a second spell at Udinese, is 40. Milan’s Gennaro Gattuso is 41. Roberto D’Aversa at Parma is 43. So is Simone Inzaghi, at Lazio since 2015. Inzaghi’s brother would have been on this list but the 45 year old Pippo was fired by Bologna in January and replaced by Sinisa Mihajlovic. Vincenzo Montella, back at Fiorentina within the last week, is 44.
In Germany’s Bundesliga the highly rated Julian Nagelsmann has been at Hoffenheim since 2016 and is only 31 in 2019. This is unlikely to be matched at a top league club. Florian Kohfeldt at Werder Bremen is 36. He stepped up from the II team in 2017 when he replaced Alexander Nouri, another former Werder Bremen II team coach. Boris Schommers is a caretaker at Nurnberg and is only 40, he replaced Michael Kollner earlier in 2019. Mainz’s Sandro Schwarz is also 40. The Hungarian Pal Dardai is 43 and at Hertha Berlin since 2015. Markus Weinzierl is 44 at VFB Stuttgart. Niko Kovac, at 47, is hanging on to his job at Bayern. Rounding up the list is 49 years old Eintracht Frankfurt coach Adi Hutter.
In France’s Ligue 1 38 year oldJulien Stephan moved up from Rennes B last year. Patrick Vieira, 42, moved from MLS’ New York City to Nice in 2018. Leonardo Jardim (44) returned to Monaco after 41 year old Thierry Henry failed there. Thomas Tuchel (45) is trying to create a more successful Champions League team at PSG, he will be trying again next season! Caen’s Fabien Mercadal is 47 and so is Guingamp’s Jocelyn Gourvennec. Bordeaux’s Paulo Sousa, at only 48, has coached for over a decade.
The Dutch Eredivisie FC Groningen’s Danny Buijs is 36. Mark van Bommel at 41 is trying to help PSV retain the title, he replaced Phillip Cocu last year. Giovanni van Bronckhorst is leaving Feyenoord at the end of the current season, he is 44. Johnny Jansen (44) is a caretaker at Heerenveen after replacing Jan Olde Riekerink last week. Forty six year old Jaap Stam (PEC Zwolle) will move to Feyenoord next season. FC Emmen’s Dick Lukkien is 47 and has been at club since 2016. Mitchell van der Gaag is 47 at NAC, Russia’s Leonid Slutsky (Vitesse) is also 47. Erik ten Hag is 49 and is in charge of the rising Ajax team.
Portugal’s Primeira Liga boasts a slew of under 50 year old coaches. Tondela’s Pepa is 38. Nuno Manta Santos is 40 at Feirense, so is Abel Ferreira at Braga. The latter moved up from Braga’s B team. Benfica’s Bruno Lage is 42 and took over from Rui Vitoria in January 2019. Belenenses’ Silas is also 42, and so is Maritimo’s Petit. Ivo Vieira at Moreirense is 43. Costinha at Nacional is 44 and Joao Henriques at Santa Clara is 46. Antonio Folha (47) is in charge of Portimonense after years in the Porto system. Daniel Ramos (48) recently took charge of Rio Ave and Lito Vidigal (49) did the same at Boavista.
The FIFA under 20 World Cup takes place every two years. The 2019 edition is the 22nd and will take place in Poland – who beat India’s bid – between May 23rd and 15th June. England are the defending champions. The English beat Venezuela 1-0 in South Korea two years ago but failed to qualify for Poland. Six venues have been chosen for the 2019 tournament with capacities ranging between approximately 15,000 to 20,000.
Twenty three teams from six confederation have qualified and with the hosts’ automatic qualification will play in six groups of four. The qualification process is via the following tournaments. The player eligibility for Poland 2019 is for those born between January 1 1999 to December 31 2003.
Asia: AFC U-19 Championship (4 teams allocation) Africa: African Youth Championship (4 teams) North America: CONCACAF Under-20 Championship (4 teams) South America: South American Youth Championship (4 teams) Europe: UEFA European U-19 Championship (5 teams + hosts) Oceania: OFC Under 20 Qualifying Tournament (2 teams)
The top two of each group plus the four best third placed teams will qualify for the second round. Argentina have won the tournament 6 times followed by Brazil, Portugal and Serbia with 5, 2 and 2 wins respectively.
The draw was made in February 2019 and the groups are as follows:
