Key events
Kevin de Bruyne has a kind of wedge haircut. I haven’t seen anything like that since Hilary in Neighbors.
And I say that as a compliment. I remember interviewing him when he was selected for England and being asked who he should be with. He said yes, but I’m pretty good myself – a statement that reminded me of Wayne Rooney, who realized at 14 that he was the best player at Everton.
However, I wonder if Bellingham will now spend his entire career in La Liga. Unfortunately, it looks like the Premier League is lagging behind the rest when it comes to quality, and given the kind of character he is, I’m sure he’ll want a bit of his home country’s adoration at some point.
I can’t lie, I was looking forward to seeing Bellingham tonight. He might be the closest thing to Bryan Robson since Bryan Robson and I can’t imagine any higher praise.
I enjoy Rio Ferdinand’s interview, I listen and think about the face – although it’s a long shot to compare to that of Mike Goldberg, the former UFC play-by-play commentator.
Uncontrollable cheerfulness in the afternoon:
Also tonight…
In a disastrous act of strength, Madrid beat Costs del Man City 4-0 at the weekend. But Jude Bellingham was injured, so his place goes to Brahim Diaz.
Leipzig makes one change compared to the 2-2 draw in Augsburg: Kampl leaves and Simakan comes on. That means either an additional central defender or Henrichs in midfield.
Today’s teams
Leipzig: (4-2-2-2): Gulasci; Simakan, Klostermann, Orban, Raum; Schlager, Henrichs; Olmo, Simons; Sesko, Openda. Subs: Blaswich, Zingerle, Lenz, Bitshiabu, Elmas, Haidara, Poulsen, Seiwald, Baumgartner, Lukeba, Jatta, Kampl.
Real Madrid (4-4-2): Lunin; Carvajal, Nacho, Tchouameni, Mendy; Valverde, Kroos, Camavinga, Diaz; Rodrygo, Vinicius. Subs: Arrizabalaga, Gonzalez, Modric, Joselu, Lucas Vasquaz, Ceballos, Fran Garcia, Arda Güler, Mario Martín, Paz, Alvaro Carillo, Ramón.
preamble
Football teaches us all kinds of things – big cities and small towns, for example, or advanced geopolitics and basic shilling knowledge. Or that you can never rule out Real Madrid in the European Cup and the Champions League.
But can they turn la decimocuarta into la decimoquinta — add fluency to the list — to ease the pain of last season? And by what happened last season I mean the Madre de Dios of all semi-final defeats, when Manchester City achieved a repeat of the times.
Madrid, of course, did what Madrid did: they signed Judfredo di Stefellingham, the club that knows how good he is, perfect for a player that knows how good he is, and the two have found each other just the same , as we expected.
That’s not it either. Rodrygo and Vinicius are progressing, Camavinga is growing, Kroos and Modric are now more effective and are not used together; you have the feeling that something is building up.
If, given all this, it seems unlikely that a team would lose in two games to the fifth-best team in Germany, that’s because it is. But football also teaches us that football is not like that, and a team with Dani Olmo, Xavi Simons, Loïs Openda and Benjamin Sesko can give aggro to anyone. So treat yourself to a nice cold Gazprom, sit back and enjoy a decent night of football.
Begin: 9:00 p.m. local time, 8:00 p.m. GMT
