For the uninitiated, there’s nothing more surreal than the conglomerates of fans that group together in unison to turn the world's footballing cathedrals into cauldrons of noise and song. In America, this sort of thing can be seen in college football and basketball, but the choreographed support largely dies at the professional level (save for a stadium wave here and a seventh-inning stretch there).
If the big-wigs of soccer are looking at the Forbes World’s 50 Most Valuable Sports Teams 2019, you can bet your bottom dollar they’re thinking “European Super League.” Back in 2012, only one team across all sports was worth at least $2 billion, that being Manchester United. Now, 52 teams meet that criteria, including almost every NFL team.
The 2019 summer transfer window is upon us! Woe unto you, ye blind guides, who feed us horribly misinformed transfer rumor nonsense over the next three months, but also woe unto us, the fans, who masochistically love the latest juice tying our beloved club with some unknown entity from De Graafschap.
Dortmund has another wunderkind in the works. Youssoufa Moukoko, who has been tearing apart the U-17 league, has now at just 14 been promoted to the U-19 team.
Real Madrid’s youth movement continued apace Tuesday with news that 21-year-old Serbian striker Luka Jović had completed his transfer from Eintracht Frankfurt on a six-year deal worth $67.5 million.
The latest football clubs’ valuation study has been released by KPMG, revealing the 32 richest soccer teams in Europe as of January 1, 2019. There’s been a shakeup at the top, where Real Madrid has climbed above Manchester United as the world’s most valuable club.
On Sunday, Union Berlin (third place finisher in the 2. Bundesliga) upset VfB Stuttgart (16th place finisher in the Bundesliga) in the Relegation Playoffs to send the second division side into Germany’s top division for the first time in its 54-year history.
The final whistle was greeted with delirium inside Union’s home ground, the Alte Försterei. The club, which is located in the south east of Berlin, has a passionate fanbase and routinely draws 22,000 to its unique all-standing stadium.
Bayern Munich defeated RB Leipzig 3-0 in the final of the DFB-Pokal on Saturday to secure a domestic double for the first time since 2015-16 (Pep Guardiola’s last season at the club). The goals included a brilliant brace from Robert Lewandowski and a sensational solo effort from Kingsley Coman, but Manuel Neuer also provided two stunning saves while making his first appearance since suffering a calf injury on Apr. 14.
The finale of Game of Thrones is Sunday night, an end to the dramatic arc that has taken eight years to reach its climax. Fans of the HBO series have seen despicable characters made lovable, lovable characters become hated and sorrowful figures become legend. But Game of Thrones has got nothing on what SC Paderborn 07 has been through, ending with an unlikely third Paderborn promotion in six seasons on Sunday.