Champions League

Astana, Cluj And Helsinki Too? The Most Obscure Clubs To Reach The UCL Group Stage

When the UEFA Champions League group draw occurs every year in August, the two biggest focuses are inevitably which group is my favorite team in and which group will be the most entertaining to follow/watch.

For a small portion of us, the most interesting section of the draw is uncovering the most obscure team that somehow made the group stage.

Usually this team comes from some tiny country in Eastern Europe, riding some sort of heavy investment toward a wave of success only for the debt to invariably catch up soon after.

I’ll Pay Anyone $10 If They Can Name All 22 Americans Set To Play In UEFA Competitions

For the first time in history, Americans will play in all three of UEFA’s European tournaments. This season is also the first time there have been three tournaments, but minor details. There are tons of Americans playing in Europe, but only 22 have made it to the group stages across the three competitions.

Here are the numbers for Americans playing in European tournaments.

  • Champions League: 11 Americans
  • Europa League: 9 Americans
  • Europa Conference League: 2 Americans

First, let’s look at the 11 in the Champions League.

Messi’s PSG Draws Guardiola’s Manchester City In Champions League Group Stage

ISTANBUL - Lionel Messi's new club Paris Saint-Germain will play Manchester City, managed by the Argentine's former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola, after being drawn together in Champion's League Group A on Thursday.

Messi joined Qatar-owned PSG, who will also face Bundesliga side RB Leipzig and Belgium's Club Brugge, from Barcelona this month after the Spanish side were unable to afford a new contract.

When Will My Brain Accept That The Away Goals Rule Doesn’t Exist Anymore?

What a meeting we had in the Champions League playoffs on Wednesday. Portuguese giant Benfica, a two-time winner of the contest, against the Dutch behemoth PSV, winner in 1988. 

How would PSV navigate a trip to the formidable Estádio da Luz in Lisbon? Would Mario Götze orchestrate a vital away goal? Or would Nicolás Otamendi inspire the all-important clean sheet?! My brain whirled and reeled with all sorts of prognostications.

Brenden Aaronson Hits Clutch 90th-Minute Champions League Winner For Salzburg

It was a big day for Americans in Europe on Tuesday as Brenden Aaronson’s RB Salzburg took on Brøndby in the first leg of their Champions League playoff, while over in Germany Gio Reyna’s Borussia Dortmund welcomed Bayern Munich to the Westfalenstadion for the DFL-Supercup.

Brøndby had taken a surprise 1-0 halftime lead at Red Bull Arena, prompting 33-year-old manager Matthias Jaissle (who used to be an assistant at Brøndby) to turn to Aaronson for the second 45.

That change brought good things for Salzburg.

Like The Galácticos Before Them, Are The Stars Of PSG Doomed To Fail?

Have you seen the potential Paris Saint-Germain starting lineups for the 2021-22 season? They all share two qualities: (1) they’ve got more boom boom than Charo and (2) they’re all wildly different.

All we know is that Mauricio Pochettino — previously a Marcelo Bielsa disciple whose high-press hit vertically, horizontally and everywhere in between — is now a protégé of FIFA Ultimate Team champion Fnatic Tekkz.

What will the tactics board look like at the Parc des Princes?

Messi moving centrally to shoehorn Ángel Di María into the starting lineup?

Pulisic’s Pretty Face Will Grace Everyone’s Screens When They Watch Newest Intro For Champions League

The new Champions League intro video has been released and USMNT fans will be happy to know Christian Pulisic made the final cut. Pulisic’s grand cameo comes in at the end of the video with the Chelsea trophy lift.

Hugely Talented Lassina Traoré Scores 2 Goals In First 2 Shakhtar Appearances

More than a few eyebrows would have been raised at the news of Lassina Traoré's move to Shakhtar Donetsk this summer. Just two years after he joined Ajax from the youth side of the Dutch giant's affiliate in Cape Town, Traoré made the $12 million move to Ukraine as one of the first signings of new manager Roberto De Zerbi, who left Sassuolo to take up the post. 

Court Decision Demands UEFA Revoke All Penalties For Super League Creation

Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus released a joint statement welcoming a Madrid court's decision on Friday asking European soccer governing body UEFA to revoke action against them for planning the creation of the breakaway Super League.

Weston McKennie Snubbed From UEFA’s Goal Of The Season List By Goals Nowhere Near As Good

I have a bone to pick with you, UEFA. Not only did you block me from embedding your video with all the nominations for Goal of the Season, forcing me to find them on Twitter, but you didn’t include Weston McKennie’s scissor-kick goal at Camp Nou. I need to have a word with the committee.

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