UEFA Europa League Finale

This season Europa League has been full of intriguing and dramatic turns with many shocking results recorded throughout the season.

Football fans across the globe have been treated to goal fiesta - 611 goals have been scored so far - which started from the group stage in October 2020 then to the knock-out phase and will climax in Gdansk on the 26th of May 2021 when Villarreal takes on Manchester United.

No doubt that Manchester United are the favourite going into this game. One player who has contributed immensely to their ride to the final with his goals, assists and creative play is Bruno Fernandes. He has been unplayable atimes this season and if he brings his A-game to the party on Wednesday, you can't bet against United lifting this trophy. 

For Villarreal, Gerard Moreno has played a prominent role for the Unai Emery led side all through the season, and it needs to be stated that Emery is the most successful manager in the history of this competition with 3 titles and runner-up medal to his credits.

Villarreal finished 6th in the Spanish La Liga table this season, so winning this trophy is a huge deal to the team since it will earn them automatic qualification to the Champions League for next season.

We will continue to keep tab as the hours draw near to the final of the second most prestigious club competition in Europe this midweek in Gdansk, Poland. Which side will prevail after the 90minutes of football? I don't have the answer, maybe you do.

Fabiyi Ridwan

Sports Writer and Analyst 

Best of Europa League

The 2020/21 UEFA Europa League gradually and winding down to the grand-finale that will happen in Gdansk. The colloquial saying that "boys have been separated from men" is a good phrase one can loosely use in this case.

The four teams (Arsenal, AS Roma, Manchester United and Villarreal CF) remaining are among the biggest clubs in Europe and winning this trophy is a task none of them will take lighthearted as its the best route for three of them to be in the Champions League next season. 

Statistics 

Games played - 199

Goals scored - 600

Teams with most goals scored

Arsenal - 32 goals

AS Roma - 26 goals

Villarreal - 25 goals

Most attempts at goal

Arsenal - 175 (67 on target)

This season semi-final pitted two English teams against one Italian club and a Spanish side respectively.

Villarreal vs Arsenal

(1st-leg, April 29th & 2nd-leg, May 6th)

The coach of Villarreal, Unai Emery is a familiar name among the Gunners fan-base being a former manager, and due to his experience and records in this competition it will be difficult task to knock him and his boys out.

This is the Yellow Submarine fourth semi-final appearances in this competition, their previous appearances were in 2004,  2011 and 2016.

In the previous four meetings between both sides, Arsenal had 2 wins and the other two ended in stalemates.

So Mikel Arteta Gunners are being tip to qualify especially because winning this trophy is the most realistic way of them qualifying for the next season Champions League.

AS Roma vs Manchester United

(1st-leg, April 29th & 2nd-leg, May 6th)

Roma have been fantastic in this competition and a testament to that is the number of goals they had, including the individual brilliance of former Real Madrid forward Borja Mayoral.

The Red Devils are the favorite to win and qualify after this tie although the Ole Gunnar Solskjaer led side semi-final heartaches have to be broken or else struggle continues.

The Red Devils have a better head-to-head record over the Gialorossi. Hopefully, that translates into them overcoming this hurdle by qualifying for the final.

Predictions

The final might be between the two English teams, however the pendulum can swing the other way as football has shown on numerous occasions in the past.

Fabiyi Ridwan

Sports Writer and Analyst

The Falling Giants Competition

The UEFA Europa League is the tournament of teams that plays second fiddle to the champions of European top football - this claim might be disputed by fans of these clubs.

It serves has a consolation to these teams due to their inability to qualify for Champions League which they desire in order to rob shoulders with elite of clubs football across Europe.

Teams in this competition always compete as wounded lions, especially the lowly rated teams who always prove stubborn and show no respect to teams of high quality who missed their way in the Champions League and dropped down to this level.

Many goals have been scored so far in this season edition, and the quarterfinalists battles continues with many more goals and interesting results expected.

Arsenal vs Slavia Prague

1st-leg (8th April) & 2nd-leg (15th April)

The Gunners struggled to qualify for this stage due to their topsy-turvy form which has been evident all-through the season.

Both teams have met just twice before with the Gunners winning 7-nil during the 2007/08 Champions League season - their biggest win in Europe. However, the Czech champion are no push-over after overcoming two British teams Leicester city and Glasgow Rangers in the previous rounds, so Mikel Arteta and his lads should watch out.

Granada vs Manchester United

1st-leg (6th April) & 2nd-leg (15th April)

The Red Devils are the favourite but they sometimes find it difficult to beat Spanish opposition, although they beat Real Sociedad in round 32 with ease while they lost to Sevilla in last season semi-final.

However Granada is a tough team, two of their players are among the top 6 yellow-carded players in this competition, so they will give United a run for their money.

Ajax Amsterdam vs AS Roma

1st-leg (8th April) & 2nd-leg (15th April)

Here are two of the biggest names in European football who have found themselves in this competition.

The match is a 50 -50 tie that will produce many goals because both side scored with ease. Ajax scored 7 goals in the last round while Borja Mayoral of Roma is among the topscorers with 7goals - a goal short of the leading scorer - in this season so far.

Dinamo Zagreb vs Villarreal

1st-leg (8th April) & 2nd-leg (15th April)

This is a game that has so much excitement written all over it. The giant killers from Croatia who most pundits gave little or no chance against Tottenham in the last round with their manager in jail will be out to repeat their exploits in this round.

It is expected as well that Emery's tactics and records in Europa League can be bank on to steer Villarreal through to the next round, but it won't be easy against these resolute Croats.

To qualify for semi-final are; Arsenal, Man United, AS Roma and Villarreal. Although this predictions might change since possession doesn't win games, only goals does.

Fabiyi Ridwan

Sports Writer and Analyst 

The Semi-final Hoodoo

Manchester united have been fantastic under Ole Gunnar Solksjaer, the legend cum manager has built a formidable team mixed with youth and experience players since he took over the Red Devils in December 2018

However, it is sadden that his boys always fall like a pack of cards when it really matters, recently their bitter rival Man City compound their semi-final bad luck with a 2-nil victory at old Trafford to book a place in the League Cup final.

Moreover Solskjaer and his lads suffered 3 semifinals heartache in the domestic and European cup competitions last season - to Man City (League Cup), Chelsea (FA cup) and Sevilla (UEFA Europa league).

Since Sir Alex Ferguson retired at the end of 2012/13 season, Manchester United have been a shadow of themselves. Managers such as David Moyes, Ryan Giggs (interim), Louis Van Gal, Jose Mourinho and now Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have all been brought into the fray but none of them could do it as the great man himself.

The last time Man United won any trophy was under Jose Mourinho in 2017 when they won the Europa league and League Cup by defeating Ajax and Southampton in respective finals.

The present squad are showing glimpses of promise but nearly can not kill a bird.

Can this crops of players eventually win a trophy?

Fabiyi Ridwan

Sport Writer and Analyst

The Top 5 Leagues in Europe

There are many professional football leagues in Europe, but  according to the UEFA's league rankings and co-efficient, here are the top 5 leagues on the continent. 

Spanish La Liga

The Spanish La Liga which was established in 1929 is one of the most popular professional football league in the world.

In accordance with the UEFA's League co- efficient, La liga has been ranked as the top league in Europe over the last 5 years.

Till date, 62 teams have competed in the La liga and only 9 teams have emerged as champions.

Barcelona won the inaugural season.

The most successful team in La Liga history is  Real madrid with an overall record of 33 titles while Barcelona have 25 titles.

Athletic Bilbao, Real Madrid and Barcelona are the only teams that have never been relegated since the inception of the league in 1929 till date.

Since 2009, Barcelona have won the Spanish La Liga title 7 times (2009 - 2011, 2012/13, 2014- 2016 and 2017 - 2019) while Real Madrid has won it twice ( 2013/14 and 2016/17).

Will Barcelona continues their dominance this season ?

English Premier League (EPL)

The Football League was established in 1888,  and at the end of the 1888/89 season Preston North End were the first club to be crowned Champion after completing their fixtures unbeaten.

In 1992, the First division change its nomenclature to be called the FA Premier league.

The first 5 champions in the Premier League era were Arsenal, Blackburn Rovers , Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United who

had all won the title at least once prior to 1992.

Leicester City were crowned champions for the first time in 2016, becoming the first team to win the Premier League without having previously won the First division title.

Man United have won 20 titles - the most of any club, Liverpool are second with 18 while Arsenal are third with13 titles - all of which came after 1930.

In the last one decade, Man City have won 4 League titles (2011/12, 2013/14, 2017 to 2019) while Chelsea has won it thrice (2009/10, 2014/15 and 2016/17). Man United won in 2012/13 and Leicester City won in 2015/16.

Liverpool have never won the EPL title in this era.

Will Liverpool break the jinx this season?

Italian Serie A

The Serie A title has been contested since 1898 in varying forms of competition. Juventus are the current champions, and have won a record 35 titles.

About 14 different teams have won the Serie A title since the inaugural season.

The Serie A championship title is referred to as the Scudetto(small shield), because the winning team will wear a small coat of arms with the Italian flag on their jersey in the following season.

Juventus have won 8 consecutive scudetti from 2011 to 2019.

Will any Serie A team hijack the title from Juventus this season?

German Bundesliga

The ancient German football league begins in 1903 as VfB Leipzig emerge champion.

The formation of the Bundesliga in 1963, marked a significant change to the German football championship, as FC Koln captured the first ever Bundesliga title in the league's inaugural 1963/64 season. So far, 13 different teams have won the Bundesliga titles.

Since the inaugural win of FC Koln, the competition has been dominated by Bayern Munich which has taken the championship 29 times out of the 57 Bundesliga seasons played to 2019/20 season.

In the last one decade, Bayern have won the German league 8 times and 7 consecutive bundesliga titles from 2012/13 till date,

Which team will end Bayern dominance in Germany?

French Ligue 1

The Union Design Societes Francaises de Sports Athletiques (USfSA) was founded in 1893/94, the first champion of  french football was Standard Athletic club, who defeated the White Rovers 2 nil in Courbevoie on 6th of may 1894.

Olympique Lyon established themselves as a top club by winning a record- breaking streak of seven successive league titles from 2002 to 2008/09 season.

Olympic Marseille and Saint- Etienne have the most championship wins with 10 Ligue 1 titles each while Paris Saint-Germain have won 8.

In the last one decade PSG have won the league 6 times.

No doubt that PSG is the best team currently in the French league with the Neymars and Mbappes of this world.

Do you think PSG will match the records of Marseille and Saint Etienne soon ? 

Fabiyi Ridwan 

Sports Writer and Analyst

The Most expensive football transfers of the last decade

The evolution of football from just a sport to a commercial juggernaut has been fascinating and interesting to fans.

Once upon a time, when footballers played the game of soccer, they usually do have a regular day job.

Presently however, footballers are among the richest sportsperson in the world, and a look at how the transfer fees have escalated over the years is amazing.

Even so, four of the ten most expensive signings in the last one decade involved the purchase or sales of English Premier League players.

Spanish La liga clubs have spent the most on top talents, signing six of the top 10 most expensive players of the last decade.

In 2017/18 season, the league secured a record revenue of 4.48 billion pounds.

Here are the shortlist of Players that made it into this list;

10. Cristiano Ronaldo 

The superstar joined Real madrid from Manchester United for the then world-record fee of 80 million pounds in July 2009.

He became a legend at the Bernabeu with over 450 goals scored, alongside winning numerous titles and awards in his glittering career.

In July 2018, he joined Juventus from Real madrid for a fee of 88.3 million pounds at the age of 33 years.

So far in Turin, he has scored 46 goals in 70 games till date and has won a scuddetto title to add to his many laurels.

9. Paul Pogba 

He returned to his boyhood club, after leaving as a free agent in his teenage years.

Manchester United had to coughed out 89.3 million pounds to Juventus in August 2016 to signed Pogba.

The fee paid for him remains the highest fee paid by an English club for a player.

He has 168 appearances with 31 goals so far, and he has won the league cup and the Europa league with the red side of Manchester. 

8. Eden Hazard 

The Belgian playmaker cost more than double of what was paid for the 10th priciest footballer signed between year 2000 and 2009 - Ronaldo Nazario cost 40.5 million pounds then.

Despite having just a year left on his contract, Real Madrid paid a fee of 90 million pounds to Chelsea in 2019 to obtain the service of Hazard.

So far, he has played 21 games with 2 goals and 

2 assists to show for it.

7. Gareth Bale

The Welshman's transfer to the galaticos from Tottenham cost a fee of 90.9 million pounds back in 2014.

In Real Madrid, he has made 245 appearances scoring 104 goals and contributing 67 assists. A league title and 4 champions league titles are the laurels he has won so far with the team.

6. Ousmane Dembele 

He was signed from Borussia Dortmund to replace Neymar in Barcelona for a record fee of 105 million pounds, plus a reported 40 million pounds add- ons on August 25, 2017.

With his buy-out clause set at 400 million pounds.

Despite not shining the light as expected yet, the former Rennes forward has played 81 games for the catalonia side, scoring 20 goals and making 14 assists.

5. Antoine Griezmann 

The 208 World  Cup winner was signed by Barcelona on a fee of 107.6 million pounds from Atletico Madrid in July 2019.

Since joining in the summer, the French jewel has made 26 appearances with 10 goals and 4 assists as his contribution.

4. Joao Felix 

Atletico Madrid 's massive outlay of 126 million pounds in July 2019 for Benfica wizkid Felix is the second most expensive fee paid for a teenager after Mbappe in history.

He is regarded as one of the best talents in world football at the moment but has so far played 13 games and scored just 3 goals.

3. Philippe Coutinho 

The Brazilian playmaker moved from Liverpool to Barcelona for 130.5 million pounds in January 2018.

He played 54 games and scored only 11 goals for the catalans before joining Bayern Munich on a loan deal for 2 years in the summer of 2019.

2. Kylian Mbappe 

He is the most expensive teenager ever after joining Paris Saint-Germain on a loan deal from rival club Monaco in 2017. PSG later paid 165 million pounds to complete the deal.

So far with the Paris based club, the teenage World Cup star has played 114 games and has scored 82 goals.

1. Neymar Jr 

At the moment, he is the most expensive player ever at 199.5 million pounds.

His 2017 transfer from Barcelona to Paris  Saint-Germain cost 236% of Cristiano Ronaldo's Real Madrid fee.

So far, he has been a decent player for the French giants, scoring 55 goals in 63 games.

His career in France though has been marred by controversies and injuries, which might be interpreted by some in certain quarters as being a wrong signing by PSG.

Which players will break the transfer record in the coming years?

Let's have your comments below.

Fabiyi Ridwan

Sports Writer and Analyst

The Greatest Superstars of all-time

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are arguably the best footballers of this century.

They have scored a combined 704 league goals during the 2010s - the exact same number Arsenal FC scored in the English Premier League this past decade.

They've shattered countless records in the footballing scenery for years, a combined total of 11 Ballon D'or awards between them isn't enough to sum it all up.

Benzema, Rojo, others set to miss UEFA Super Cup

Tobi Adesina

With less than 24hours to the 18th UEFA Super Cup Final, we take you through a list of players who won't feature in Macedonia tonight.

While Real Madrid looks like the less unfortunate, Cristiano resumed team training after he was given an extended vacation due to his participation in the Confederations Cup. Meanwhile the injury plaqued Bale is a doubt for tonight's encounter as his future with the galacticos is gradually looking bleak with interest shown by Manchester United. Keylor Navas is also a major doubt for the galacticos while Benzema is also out nursing a hip problem.

Éric Baily and Phil Jones are out serving match ban while Marcos Rojo and Luke Shaw are sidelined with injury.

José's side will have a big boost with his new signings Lukaku, Lindelof and the left-footed Matic.

The Super Cup Final will give United fans a glance of what to expect for the season, with the 54 year old expected to file out his boys in a 4-4-2 formation

MAN UNITED LOANS OUT GOALKEEPER

Manchester United has confirmed the on-loan departure of Sam Johnstone to Aston Villa for the rest of the season.

Sam Johnstone was Manchester United's third-choice goalkeeper. The 23year-old will spend the rest of the campaign at the Villa park after only featuring for Manchester United Under-23 this season

United manager Jose Mourinho recently admitted Johnstone would be the only player to leave Old Trafford on loan during the January window.

The club statement read: "Manchester United goalkeeper Sam Johnstone has joined Aston Villa on loan for the remainder of the season."

And the former England Under-20 international, who was behind David De Gea and Sergio Romero in Mourinho's pecking order, is looking forward to working under Steve Bruce.

He told Villa's official website: “I’m really pleased to have joined Aston Villa - it’s a massive club.

“I’m really excited to be here. Aston Villa were interested and it’s an opportunity I jumped at. It’s one you simply can’t turn down. 

“I’m really delighted to be here and I’m happy that it’s all sorted. I can’t wait to work with Steve Bruce too. 

“I’ve heard very good things about the manager. You can see his track record. He’s good for the club and I can’t wait to get going now.”