Red-hot action from the world’s premier club competition across Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Bigger Vase and Tin Pot clubs must wait for their slice of European action until after an international break almost as long as the Geopolitics World Cup itself. Rather like Gianni Infantino’s North American investment roadshow, Bigger Cup, with its revolving Swiss system, 36 teams reduced to 24 following 114 matches, has become baggier than MC Hammer’s trousers [now there’s a reference for the young readers – Football Daily Ed].
Back in Clive Tyldesley’s ITV pomp, ties such as Liverpool v Atlético, Napoli v Arsenal, and Real Madrid v Inter moved the dial, filling boozers and column inches. Now, paywalled away and despite the whir of Darren Fletcher and Ally McCoist’s unrelenting hype machine, these nights can feel more routine, a golden goose not so much terminated as gathering dust on the mantelpiece. A trinket retaining monetary value but not as cherished as it once was.
That holders PSG are so minted they can afford to play separate teams across Ligue 1 and Bigger Cup says much about modern football, where clubs and competitions have become content providers feeding an attention economy. In this case, that attention will run a deficit until, just like the GWC, the juice is in the knockout stages. There are, though, different dimensions to take solace in.
Uefa suits would argue, for all the ennui surrounding Manchester City facing Real Madrid 14 times since 2012 – they don’t meet in this year’s group – Bigger Cup offers pluralism in the presence of minnows and newcomers. Think of them like plucky non-league clubs in the FA Cup third round. There’s Serie A arrivistes Como, a cracking away trip for fans, with Cesc Fàbregas as well-regarded young coach, and Nico Paz as a potential successor to Lionel Messi.
Austria’s Lask, from Linz, will make their group stage debut, having sunk Celtic in the playoffs and featuring the talents of former Mangotsfield, Wealdstone, Yeovil, Chesterfield, Swindon and St Mirren defender Miguel Freckleton. Azerbaijani football has previously been represented by Qarabag but Sabah are the new Azeri force, from a small municipality on the banks of the Masazir, an actual salt lake. Their coach, Valdas Dambrauskas, will be reunited with Manchester United.
Using the funds from a small, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire win on Lithuanian TV in 2002, having phoned a friend, gone 50-50 and asked the audience, he emigrated to England, eventually becoming a coach at United’s soccer schools in 2004, beginning his long personal journey back to Old Trafford. Then there’s Slovan Bratislava, coached by a 2009 Big Cup winner in Yaya Touré, who succeeded Vladimir Weiss in the summer. Touré becomes the first African coach to lead a team in the competition’s group stage, ending a wait that has lasted far too long.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
