Tag: Champions League

U.S. U-17 goalkeeper Diego Kochen makes Barcelona Champions League squad

A USYNT player to watch made Barça’s Champions League roster

U.S. youth national team goalkeeper Diego Kochen is one to watch.

Just ask Barcelona, who included the 17-year-old in its 27-player squad for the upcoming Champions League group stage.

The Miami native, who is a dual national eligible for the U.S. and Peru, is one of eight players who are currently playing for either Barcelona’s “B” team Barça Atlètic or the club’s U-19 squad.

Kochen has been in the mix for the first team this season. Kochen has been in uniform for each of Barça’s last three league matches, though due to availability and registration issues, he has not been the only back-up goalkeeper on the bench for any of those matches.

That said, with Barcelona finally able to register Iñaki Peña — Marc-André ter Stegen’s projected back-up this season — Kochen still dressed for Sunday’s 2-1 win at Osasuna. That builds on a good end to the season for Kochen, who trained with Barcelona’s first team last May.

Barça still pulling levers is good news for Kochen

Despite being home to La Masia, long lauded as one of world soccer’s most productive academies, Barcelona is having to get creative to put together its Champions League squad.

UEFA allows Champions League participants to include up to 25 players on “List A,” which is what most people would think of as the team’s actual roster for the tournament. Of that group, eight must meet requirements to be listed as “locally trained,” of whom four must have spent at least three seasons between the ages of 15-21 at the club.

Barça’s problem is that they can’t meet that requirement, and UEFA’s punishment is to reduce the number of spots a team has on List A as a result. As such, Barcelona submitted a List A with just 19 players, with the rest on List B.

Here is the full description from UEFA on what makes a player eligible to be included on a squad list as part of List B:

A player may be registered on List B if he is born on or after 1 January 2002 and since his 15th birthday has been eligible to play for the club concerned for any uninterrupted period of two years, or a total of three consecutive years with a maximum of one loan period to a club from the same association for a period not longer than one year. Players aged 16 may be registered on List B if they have been registered with the participating club for the previous two years without interruption.

Kochen, who made his move to Barcelona’s youth system in July 2019, is thus eligible for inclusion.

All of which is to say that while Barça still has a long way to go to get its house in working order financially, and that its apparent win-now mentality has restricted openings for youth players, Kochen is still managing to find a way to get reps with the first team in training, and be in uniform on matchdays.

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Champions League group stage draw: USMNT stars into group of death

The results for the U.S. contingent could have been friendlier

The 2023-24 UEFA Champions League is coming into view.

Thursday’s group stage draw saw 32 sides placed into eight groups of four, with play officially starting on September 19. The group stage will run through December 13.

For the USMNT players that are in the mix, the results are not exactly the most agreeable. Group F will see three of the most prominent U.S. players — Yunus Musah and Christian Pulisic with AC Milan, and Gio Reyna at Borussia Dortmund — dealing with what is arguably this year’s group of death. Their clubs will go up against Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle, a potentially bruising group in which every team has a strong claim at a place in the knockout rounds.

That trend holds to some degree for the other Americans. Brenden Aaronson and Union Berlin ended up in Group C with Napoli and Real Madrid, while PSV’s trio of USMNT regulars will go up against Arsenal and Sevilla in Group B.

Elsewhere, the draw has ended with a mix of tough assignments and favorable results. Bayern Munich and Manchester United were paired up in Group A, while Manchester City will be expected to come through Group G without much difficulty.

Here are the full results of the Champions League group stage draw:

USMNT players in UEFA Champions League 2023-24

11 U.S. players are in the world’s biggest club competition

There was once a time where a U.S. men’s national team player being on a Champions League squad list — even if they might have no shot at playing in any actual games — was a very big deal.

It’s safe to say those days are gone, with no fewer than 11 U.S. players on the books for clubs that qualified for this year’s competition.

Sure, in some cases the player in question is probably a major longshot to even dress on gameday, but between Christian Pulisic’s sublime start to life at AC Milan and a USMNT trio at PSV, USMNT fans are likely going to be watching games on multiple screens just to keep up.

Here is the complete list of U.S. men’s players to make it to this year’s Champions League proper:

Ricardo Pepi scores first PSV goal in Champions League qualifying win over Sturm Graz

Pepi is off the mark for PSV

Ricardo Pepi is off the mark at PSV.

The U.S. men’s national team striker came off the bench to score a late penalty as his new side defeated Austria’s Sturm Graz 3-1 in the third round of UEFA Champions League qualifying. PSV advanced 7-2 on aggregate.

Pepi entered the game at halftime for Luuk de Jong, making this his longest stint in a match since his summer move. Pepi’s previous three appearances since a July transfer from Augsburg saw the USMNT striker total 30 minutes, including a six-minute debut in European continental competition in last week’s first leg in Eindhoven.

With PSV having won that match by a 4-1 scoreline, there was never much of a chance for drama to creep into proceedings. While Sturm Graz opened the scoring at the Merkur Arena, PSV struck twice before halftime. The Dutch club’s second goal came from de Jong, the veteran who figures to be Pepi’s main rival for minutes at center forward this season.

With the match winding down, Pepi got his chance thanks to some assistance from VAR. An initially innocuous sequence saw a hopeful ball appear to clip Graz’s Gregory Wüthrich, and after a somewhat lengthy VAR check, PSV were given a spot kick.

Pepi got the nod, but seemed unable to hear the referee’s whistle amid jeering from Sturm Graz fans, who were not the least bit pleased after this VAR decision came on the heels of seeing a goal of their own chalked off.

After glancing over and getting the visual confirmation — literally a wave to proceed from referee Srđan Jovanović — Pepi buried the penalty kick to seal the final scoreline.

Malik Tillman, Pepi’s teammate for club and country, was not in uniform for the match after playing 45 minutes for Jong PSV (the club’s Under-21 side, which is in the Dutch second tier) on Monday.

While Tillman builds his fitness, he could well be called upon in the club’s final step to qualify for this year’s Champions League. PSV will be paired with Rangers (where Tillman spent last season on loan) in the final playoff round, with the two legs coming up on August 22 and 30.

Watch Pepi’s first goal for PSV

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KI makes history as first Faroese club to ever qualify for European competition

European soccer is coming to the Faroe Islands, pop. 54,000

Weeks before big-time European soccer is back underway, tiny KÍ is out here making history.

The Faroe Islands will have a club in the group stage of a European competition for the first time ever after KÍ (that’s Klaksvíkar Ítróttarfelag, as everyone surely knows) overcame Swedish champions BK Häcken in the second qualifying round for the 2023-24 Champions League.

Now within four games of qualifying for the Champions League proper, KÍ will face a third-round clash with Molde. They will host the Norwegian champions at their 2,500-capacity home Við Djúpumýrar on August 8 or 9, with the second leg coming on August 15.

KÍ is not supposed to be here. The Faroe Islands, with a population of 54,000, is not expected to see any clubs move beyond the first hurdle in any UEFA competition. Generally, that means Faroese clubs are done with their continental obligations in July, when most Champions League clubs aren’t even done with their summer break.

The closest any Faroese club has ever gone to qualifying for a European competition proper came in 2020-21, when on the brink of a spot in the Europa League group stage, KÍ fell 3-1 in a one-game playoff against Irish side Dundalk.

On Wednesday, though, KÍ was ready to take the next step. After a 0-0 first leg draw at home in Klaksvik, the pluckiest of underdogs came back twice at the Bravida Arena, scoring this incredibly awkward goal to equalize in extra time and force a penalty kick tiebreaker that they won 4-3.

KÍ is still a long way from the Champions League, but thanks to the extremely convoluted vagaries of UEFA’s myriad qualifying paths, the club from Klaksvik is already sure of a place in true European competition.

Teams that make it to the third qualifying round for the Champions League face two outcomes. Winners go through to the play-off round, which is the last step before being in the Champions League. Losers are sent to the Europa League’s play-off round, where bigger names like Ajax, Union Saint-Gilloise, and Aberdeen await. Victory there means a spot in the Europa League’s group stage, while defeat ends with a spot in the Conference League’s group stage.

KÍ even getting this far is massively unlikely. The first qualifying round draw set the Faroese champions up against Ferencváros of Hungary, by far the most difficult draw possible based on current UEFA club coefficients.

However, after a scoreless draw at home in the first leg, KÍ produced a massive upset, winning 3-0 in front of 18,187 fans (that is, a hair over one-third of the entire population of the Faroe Islands) in Budapest.

Now, Molde — a club that KÍ manager Magne Hoseth and assistant Daniel Berg Hestad combined to suit up for over 900 times — awaits. Needless to say, back in Klaksvik, they’re hyped.

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Man City! Treble dreams complete with Champions League triumph

Man City made history in winning the Champions League

Manchester City has, at long last, claimed the elusive Champions League title.

Pep Guardiola’s side defeated Inter 1-0 on a second half strike from Rodri, before riding their luck as the Milanese side put their goal under siege late on.

Man City held on though, getting their hands on Europe’s biggest prize. The Champions League joins the Premier League and FA Cup in their trophy case, making Man City one of just 10 European clubs to ever manage a treble.

In truth though, Man City had been expected to dominate Saturday’s final over an Inter team that finished 18 points off the pace in Serie A. Instead, Simone Inzaghi and the Nerazzuri frustrated Man City for long spells, and then created chance after chance in the game’s final 20 minutes.

Here’s how a tense day in Istanbul played out.

Not again! De Bruyne exits second straight Champions League final with injury

A real blow for Man City’s hopes

Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne was a shock early substitution in Saturday’s Champions League final against Inter.

The Belgium playmaker had to come off after just 36 minutes, with Pep Guardiola bringing Phil Foden on for Man City. De Bruyne appeared to be struggling with a thigh issue in the minutes before that, receiving treatment once before.

The 31-year-old attempted to play on, but after having to attempt a sprint, sat down on the pitch at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul.

De Bruyne has had some miserable luck in the Champions League final. He was forced off at the hour mark in 2021 after a collision left him with multiple facial fractures. Man City would go on to lose that match 1-0 to Chelsea.

 

Man City would go on to win the Champions League 1-0.

More to follow…

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Champions League final referee says he accidentally spoke at far-right event

The Polish referee said he was “gravely misled and completely unaware” of the event’s ideology

Szymon Marciniak will still referee the Champions League final next weekend after apologizing for speaking at an event held by far-right politician Sławomir Mentzen.

Marciniak claimed he had no knowledge that the May 29 event was associated with the Polish extreme-right movement.

Mentzen, the leader of the Confederation party, does not seem like a great guy! Per The Guardian:

Mentzen is widely known for launching the political slogan “We stand against Jews, gays, abortion, taxation and the European Union”. In 2021 he made international headlines as the producer of a beer named White IPA Matters, which mocked the Black Lives Matter movement.

In a statement released on Friday, UEFA said they “unequivocally reject the values promoted by a group linked to this conference” and that after a thorough review, they opted to keep Marciniak in charge for a June 10 clash between Man City and Inter in Istanbul.

UEFA shared a statement from Marciniak, who also refereed the 2022 World Cup final.

“I want to express my deepest apologies for my involvement and any distress or harm it may have caused,” the Polish referee said.

“Upon reflection and further investigation, it has become evident that I was gravely misled and completely unaware of the true nature and affiliations of the event in question. I had no knowledge that it was associated a Polish extreme-right movement. Had I been aware of this fact, I would have categorically declined the invitation.

“It is important to understand that the values promoted by this movement are entirely contrary to my personal beliefs and the principles I strive to uphold in my life. I am deeply remorseful for any perception that my participation may have contradicted them.”

UEFA added that the anti-racism group “NEVERAGAIN” raised the initial concerns about Marciniak and subsequently requested that he be retained for the match because “removing him would undermine the promotion of anti-discrimination.”

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Man United seals Champions League place by beating Chelsea, like everyone does these days

The Champions League will be back at Old Trafford next year

After a year away, Manchester United is back in the Champions League, having taken their final step at poor Chelsea’s expense.

Man United stomped the Blues 4-1 on Friday, handing them their ninth loss in 13 games under caretaker coach Frank Lampard.

Erik ten Hag’s first season in England has not seen linear progress, with Liverpool humiliating them in March and Sevilla serving up a rude reminder about the standard required in Europe in April.

However, the Red Devils ended a six-year trophy drought by winning the Carabao Cup, have the FA Cup final still to play, and are now assured of a return to global soccer’s biggest club event. It hasn’t been perfect, but after descending into “banter club” territory in recent years — last year was in fact their worst-ever Premier League season — it’s major progress.

Speaking of banter clubs, Man United pounced on another woeful Chelsea showing from virtually the opening whistle. Casemiro made their strong start count, heading home a set piece just six minutes in.

Chelsea offered a bit of pushback, but Man United signed off in the first half with Casemiro and Anthony Martial tearing the Blues apart to set Jadon Sancho up for a tap-in.

Bruno Fernandes would pile on with a second-half penalty kick, and Marcus Rashford would add an exclamation point with his 30th goal in all competitions after a defensive error that was embarrassing even by Chelsea’s 2022-23 standards.

Chelsea would get a very late goal from João Félix, but it hardly slowed the celebrations down at Old Trafford.

“This club belongs in the Champions League,” ten Hag told Sky Sports after the match. “It’s not easy [to win] Premier League, so a lot compete for that. It’s massive when you get it done.”

“We’re still not where we want to be but we’re back in the Champions League, and I think that was a really important step,” added the Dutch coach, who had continental success with Ajax that included a run to the semifinals in the 2018-19 Champions League.

Like ten Hag, Fernandes was both pleased to be back in UEFA’s biggest showcase, and not satisfied with where Man United is overall.

The Portugal midfielder called being back in the Champions League merely “decent,” adding that “it’s not perfect because we want more. For what we did this season, it’s perfect… Now it’s about finishing the league well and going to [the] FA Cup.”

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‘El Chiringuito’ opens with three silent minutes of sad Guti

This is pure TV gold

Real Madrid was eliminated from the Champions League on Wednesday in devastating fashion, and club legend Guti was extremely sad.

He was so sad, in fact, that the infamous Spanish TV show “El Chiringuito” decided to lead its show with three silent minutes of Guti being sad.

After Man City hammered Madrid, many Blancos fans likely didn’t have the words to describe how their all-powerful side could have been made to look so ordinary.

Guti didn’t know what to say either. But he didn’t need to say anything. He just needed to stare off into space and look sad. Thankfully, “El Chiringuito” was there with a bold and masterful editorial decision to kick off its Wednesday night show.

The camera angles. The fades in and out. The suspenseful yet downtrodden soundtrack. The backdrop of sad Madrid players. And Guti — the saddest and quietest man on earth. This is TV gold.

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