Europa League Final Preview Pack, more managerial madness
May 22nd: it's the Atalanta v Leverkusen Europa League Final in Dublin, Mauricio Pochettino is jobless again, Chelsea are looking for a manager again, EPL attitude to VAR is 'clearly wrong' again.
Europa League Final Preview Pack
Welcome back. Before we prepare to get dizzy again with all the transfer speculation and the managerial merry-go-round madness, let’s look ahead to two of the most enjoyable teams in Europe this season going head-to-head in Dublin today.
New German champions Bayer Leverkusen are up against former Serie A minnows Atalanta in the Europa League final - and consider this your pre-game briefing.
The Europa League may be the secondary UEFA tournament but, in many ways, is more fun than it’s big brother — different teams each year, different players and clubs that are, well, clubs rather than brands. We love it and this year’s final promises to be a cracker.
Xabi Alonso's Leverkusen have been the story of the season in European football and are on the brink of a frankly incredible unbeaten season in domestic and continental competition. (AP)
Bayer Leverkusen and Atalanta were nowhere close to being invited to the (Super League) breakaway three years ago and today represent soccer projects that won respect from neutral fans across Europe.
Both are based in provincial cities, each with more than 100 years of history, reaching surprise peaks. Before this season, they had only ever won three trophies: Atalanta’s Italian cup in 1963 and Leverkusen’s 1988 UEFA Cup — the forerunner of the Europa League — and Germany cup in 1993.
Leverkusen and Atalanta do not figure in UEFA research of the top-50 earnings list of European clubs for total matchday income from ticket and hospitality sales.
The numbers behind Bayer’s season are just incredible. (Bundesliga.com) and above all Leverkusen have set a new European record for the longest unbeaten sequence by going 51 games without defeat (42 wins, nine draws).
Here is UEFA.com’s overall preview of the game.
If you want to get really anal - Opta Analyst has you covered.
If you want to look at Leverkusen’s tactical evolution under Alonso - Michael Cox at The Athletic has, of course, delivered.
And for balance, a nice detailed looked at Gian Piero Gasperini’s work at Atalanta from the Coaches Voice.
Atalanta’s best bet in this clash is to go after Bayer early on and prevent them from getting into their rhythm. The German side like to control the tempo with their possession-heavy positional play, but Atalanta can bring enough chaos to trouble them.
La Dea have scored in 11 of their 12 Europa League games this term, netting 22 times in total. Given how they shell-shocked Liverpool at Anfield, they can get about Bayer and really trouble them. (Goal.com Betting Tips)
UEFA also do a nice rolling blog all day heading into the game itself.
And here’s every Europa League goal from Leverkusen (You Tube)
And every Europa League goal from Atalanta. (You Tube)
TV: Bayer Leverkusen v Atalanta (3pm ET Paramount Plus/CBS Sports/TUDN/UniMas) in the USA and 8pm on TNT Sports 1 in the UK) - Global TV listings here.
Of course, the Europa League is the successor competition of the old UEFA Cup, so for a bit of pre-game nostalgia: here’s the goals and highlights from the final from 25 years ago - with a star-packed Parma side beating Marseille 3-0. Amazing to look back at that Parma line-up…
‘Das Karussell’
Here at The Daily Soccer we were joking the other day that the way the game is going it won’t be long before a top club finds themselves inadvertently signing their own manager.
Enter the Thomas Tuchel to Chelsea rumour.
Sacked by Chelsea in May, 2022, the German, heading out of Bayern Munich, is an unlikely name in the mix for the job at Stamford Bridge which is now vacant after Todd Boehly and friends parted ways with Mauricio Pochettino.
Pochettino is the third permanent manager to leave the club under the Clearlake Capital-Todd Boehly ownership, but this time it was mutual. There was no sacking and no arguments or rancour, just handshakes and an agreement to move on respectfully.
Which is nice. There is of course a pay-off check in the post for Poch, who had a year left on his contract and the Argentine is probably going to be back in a job in a few days in any case, so yeah, why not end it all amicably with a nice ‘last supper’ in some over-priced Italian in the West End of London?
We hasten to add that the chances of Chelsea turning back to Tuchel are, despite these speculative reports, highly unlikely, but it is telling that it is even considered worth throwing into the rumor mill for any other reason than he probably still has a parking pass at Cobham.
After all, last week, we were being asked to believe that Bayern Munich really were considering signing their own manager - and it was none other than Herr Tuchel.
Bayern announced in February that Tuchel would leave the club at the end of the season. But after being knocked back by a number of potential replacements -- including Xabi Alonso, Julian Nagelsmann and Ralf Rangnick -- the German club have held talks with Tuchel about the possibility of staying on.
Those talks were not fruitful and so now Bayern’s ‘preferred option’ is apparently Vincent Kompany, fresh from relegating Burnley. Let’s hear no more clichés, about Bayern’s ‘ruthless efficiency’ please….
Pochettino is now instantly ‘on the radar’ of Manchester United this just two weeks after a certain Tuchel issued a classic of the genre: “a come and get me plea” to the powers at Old Trafford. Seriously.
So, who is going to be in charge at Chelsea next season?
The search for his replacement is now well and truly on with a shortlist compromising of Kieran McKenna, Sebastian Hoeness, Enzo Maresca, and more, all being considered.
Football.London has a rolling liveblog of all the speculation about the Chelsea job and something tells us they won’t be short of content.
As for Pochettino’s future? Surprise, surprise, the Telegraph reports that Man Utd and Bayern Munich are possible destinations.
You reckon?
2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup
Last night’s round of 16 fixtures saw Atlanta Utd (MLS) go through 5-4 on penalties after a scrappy encounter finished 0-0 aet against Charleston Battery (USLC); while there were dramatic scenes at a packed Heart Health Park as Sacramento Republic FC (USLC) scored twice in 88 seconds in extra time against San Jose Earthquakes (MLS) to force a penalty shootout they won 4-3.
Tuesday’s Full Results
Charleston Battery (USLC) 0-0, 0-0 (aet), 4-5 PKs Atlanta United (MLS)
NYCFC II (MLSNP) 0-3 New Mexico United (USLC)
Sporting Kansas City (MLS) 4-0 FC Tulsa (USLC)
Sacramento Republic FC (USLC) 2-2, 4-3 (aet) San Jose Earthquakes (MLS)
LAFC (MLS) 3-0 Loudoun United FC (USLC)
U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 Calendar – Wednesday, May 22
7:00 p.m. ET | Indy Eleven (USLC) vs. Detroit City FC (USLC) [Watch Live]
7:30 p.m. ET | Tampa Bay Rowdies (USLC) vs. FC Dallas (MLS) [Watch Live]
10:30 p.m. ET | Seattle Sounders FC (MLS) vs. Phoenix Rising FC (USLC) [Watch Live]
TDS Digest….
Your Daily Soccer Transfer Round-up: Both Ederson (Fabrizio Romano) and Stefan Ortega (Florian Plettenberg) could be leaving Man City leaving them a bit short in the goalkeeping department. Sporting CP have the resources to keep Viktor Gyökeres according to the guy in charge of resources at Sporting CP. And a host of European clubs are looking to sign midfielder Xavi Simons from PSG on loan, with him keen on moving back to Barça.
In Other News
Premier League fans breathe a sigh of relief as PGMOL looks to revise the VAR “threshold for intervention” from “clear and obvious error” to “clearly wrong.” Yes, we know! (The Times)
Who said romance was dead? ESPN will continue to stream the FA Cup for four more years after extending their agreement with the English FA. (ESPN)
Are the Columbus Crew the most interesting team outside of Europe, and is Wilfried Nancy destined to lift the Champions League trophy in the next decade? (Jake Landau)
Ronaldo is poised to break the record for most appearances at the Euros should he make Portugal’s final squad, although he still won’t be as old as Pepe. (Yahoo)
Can you build exceptional, collaborative relationships, work effectively within a multidisciplinary team, and are able to work flexibly across the week including weekends and evenings? Good, Liverpool are looking for a First Team Set Piece Coach. (jobsearch.liverpoolfc.com)
The Tinkerman is set to retire after ensuring Cagliari’s safety. (Guardian)
The 2026 Champions League Final will be held in…….Budapest.
We’ll be back tomorrow with more.
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