It is the right thing to do for Liverpool to be playing around with different scenarios in their heads because Mo Salah is now over 30 years old. It is only normal to then plan ahead and think about alternatives for him. Of course the Saudi Professional League has now contributed to an inflated transfer market and somehow accelerated the back and forth in the market. It's almost impossible to know whether a player will still be at the club tomorrow regardless of whether an offer has been declined today because those clubs can just increase their offer by hundreds of millions. Mbappe is an example that they are willing to pay absurd transfer prices and now Liverpool knows that Salah could also already be smelling hundreds of millions in salary.

I thought that Manchester City knew why they sold Sané because it was weird that one month he was the best player in the league and the next month he played like a ghost. I don't know how much he would be and whether Bayern Munich would let him go.

Maybe Mane could have still be important for Liverpool although I think he has experienced a significant decline in his performances. I know that he is now scoring for Al-Nassr again, but I have no idea what that means and whether he would still be able to compete in the Premier League. He left Liverpool in a bad moment because it was a time when Liverpool's offense was one of the best in the league, but he decided to leave and the rest is history. I would not take him back now as Liverpool does have strong strikers who are also younger and have better speed than Mane. Salah also isn't the youngest anymore. I think that Liverpool will also soon face some big changes and they will need a player with a very high level of club identification again. That is what Salah stands for. The first player people think about when they hear the name Liverpool is Salah.

It's about their fan bases, but it's of course about their unique talents as players and that they have played in the same league for the best teams in the world competing with each other for so long. They have literally never been injured and both just missed a few games in their career. It's crazy what kind of records they hold, like Ronaldo scoring 46 La Liga goals in one season and then Messi acing it with his 50 goals in one La Liga season only. Those numbers are so impressive that it is hard to imagine we will see that again anytime soon. I think that not even Mbappe could ace the 50 goals per season in La Liga only. They have also produced ridiculous goal counts in all other competitions. That were amazing times for fans no matter what team they generally cheered for.

Mbappe is probably the best paid sports professional outside of Saudi Arabia. Stating that he doesn't covet huge sums of money has already been proven wrong. No football player has ever received more than Mbappe. He got a huge lump sum and a loyalty bonus for every single year he stayed with PSG. Money was the sole reason why he signed an extensive contract with PSG. He earns around 20% of the entire PSG payroll. If that doesn't mean he covets huge sums of money, then what else could mean it...

But he wanted more money. He didn't want to forego his loyalty bonus of I think around $100 million or so and he was trying to get a deal with Real Madrid that would have made him as much money. But now that he himself is soon as rich as a sheikh who is sitting on a sea of oil, I wonder if he still considers going to Saudi Arabia.

Manchester City isn't as strong as last season, which also contributed to Arsenal being able to beat them. It also was a home game for Arsenal. Chelsea is showing some positive signs as well, which means that I wouldn't be too sure if it will be any easier for Arsenal to beat Chelsea at Stamford bridge than beating Manchester City in their home stadium. They will be well advised to take the game as seriously and not expect a weak and erratic Chelsea.

Chelsea has some minor momentum as well although they haven't really beaten any of the stronger teams in the Premier League, but still the small momentum is there.

Last season I think it was an ending that most of us expected. This is what makes Manchester City so incredibly strong because they know how to deal with pressure like no other team at the moment. They have the patience and the quality to come back from difficult situations. Right now they seem to show some weaknesses that nobody expected, but I am absolutely sure that they will soon be back on track and still, the champion isn't decided by a losing streak of two games. Just look for how long Arsenal led the table last season and Manchester City kept up the pressure nonstop. They won game after game and Arsenal felt that they can't have a single failure or Manchester City will be ready to take it and attack whenever it is possible. The fact that the game now went in favor of Arsenal is good for the whole league I think or otherwise it would have become too boring too early. Now I think there is an open race for the top that makes the whole league more attractive. Even though I am a Manchester City fan I prefer to see them lose games at times as well.

But it will again come down to endurance and whether a team like Tottenham or Arsenal are able to keep the pace or not. I think in that regard Manchester City has deeper resources.

I guess it can hardly be verified if this has ever been true, but I just came across this article that I saved back then and it is still breath taking if it is true.

Al Hilal was offering Mbappe £605m (€700m) salary and on top of that they were ready to pay PSG 300 million euros as a transfer fee. However, I don't really understand whether the sheikhs who own PSG have an interest to compete with the Saudi sheikhs who are trying to improve their domestic league. I think it must be crazy to be a great footballer these days. When you think back about the top players at the early 2000s or even in the 90s, they probably must be crying if they see the sums that are paid these days. For just one year, holy this is crazy. And it can't be sustainable I thin because other players will adjust their requirements as well if they see these kind of deals.

I guess I can't and don't want argue against it, but it somehow is saddening to know that we will probably not see a duel like that again, which we had when Messi was against Ronaldo. None of the two could have existed the same way without the other. I think this is what made La Liga a crazy league because these two guys lifted the quality of the entire league and also how the league was perceived around the globe. I remember streaming a clasico back at the time and the next day they reported how many people watched a "standard" La Liga game between Barcelona and Real Madrid. It was hundreds and hundreds of millions all around the globe. I don't know if we will ever get to see that again.

That is what Liverpool says for now, but the truth is that there is a price tag for every single player in the world. I was impressed that they refused this offer they got from the Saudi Professional League the last time although I don't know whether it would have ended in a transfer anyway because in the end it is also the player who has to say yes. I am not sure if Salah ever expressed his desire to leave Liverpool and go to a club in the Saudi Professional League. From what I was able to gather, I think that Salah never intended to leave Liverpool in the first place.

Well that is what we are all looking forward to and the worst would be if any of the top players would be injured before the El Clasico. It is still the most important game not only for the fans of both teams, but for the football world in its entirety. I think that this game is still electrifying people globally although I guess we are all missing these times when Ronaldo was facing Messi and it was all about them. It is not the case anymore, but watching players like Vinicius Junior is a of course a huge joy as well.

Maybe they have, but Arteta also knows that this competition won't be decided between Arsenal and Manchester City, but between the long fight between the clubs with the other amazing opponents. The aftermath has to wait.

But there is still a gigantic chance for Arsenal now to take revenge for the last season and also ensure that Manchester City knows this season will be a difficult one for them.

Is this based on data or on feelings? I think that Barcelon is still paying a hell of a salary and they can't align the current perception of the club with what FC Barcelona is right now. They are struggling with the fact that Messi is gone and imagine, how would anyone replace the fact that Messi is gone?

I think this is a new era and they are still trying to cope with not having this superstar on their team anymore. Bringing in a new player who can attract the global audience like Messi did is essentially impossible.

But still time is going on and as Real Madrid had to accept that Ronaldo is gone, Barcelona has to do the same.

I agree and Kevin De Bruyne is one of the most powerful midfielders in this game. I am a lucky person to see this guy play the game, he is like the Messi or Ronaldo of the midfield.

But at the same time you can see how Manchester City is suffering from the fact that a player like De Bruyne is missing. If you look at the midfield now and you know that last season they had Gundogan and De Bruyne at their best, I think every team in the world would have huge problems if a duo like them goes missing out of a sudden. There is no way to equally replace them.

Sancho has huge issues because he is one of those professionals who value money over success in sports. Not sure what to think about that but he has made his choice.

But he is not the first player to leave a club where he was able to thrive and develop and then go after the money and prestige and nothing is like it used to be before that. Sancho is a great talent, but he has to have an environment that makes him thrive again. I believe that Ten Hag is most likely a bad coach for any player who needs special attention and care.

In my opinion they should soon get rid of Ten Hag if they want to return to successful times.

I would usually agree with you and if you look at the PSG team and check them player by player for their strength, PSG should be able to win the title with ease, but the issue is that PSG has moral issues when they are out of the Champions League. They have had the problem in the past and this has been mentioned here already. It is so right and Mbappe also performs less well when he is only playing for the Ligue 1 title. This could give the other teams a chance to compete with PSG for a long time this season similar to how Lens kept up with them last season. When I see the players I thin they deserve to be playing in the Champions League, but when you see them perform as a team they are not strong enough to beat the main competitors and it has been like that for a while.

Yes but the next two games are both against Bayern Munich for Galatasaray and if Manchester United is able to win both games against Copenhagen while Galatasaray loses both games against Bayern Munich, the group would be extremely close. It is still not over yet although Galatasaray has it in their own hands. If they can tie one of those games against Bayern Munich, I think it's almost impossible for Manchester United to recover from their situation. I think in this group we will have a final showdown on the last game day for certain. A little bit of hope is still left because Galatasaray did not win their home game against Copenhagen. That could be a small detail that might be against Galatasaray eventually.

Obviously Copenhagen has 1 point while Manchester United has 0 points and this means Copenhagen's position at the moment is better than that of Manchester United. But Manchester United still has both games to go against Copenhagen, which means with the next two games they can turn this around and at least secure the third rank in the table for the time being. But Copenhagen isn't Manchester United's biggest problem. The real problem is Galatasaray because they are stronger than Manchester United has anticipated. They clearly underestimated the Turkish team. Their defense is pure stability as can be seen in the Turkish league and their attack is good enough to overcome the defense of the Red Devils. Assuming that they win both of their games against Copenhagen, the problem with Galatasaray is still unsolved. The real showdown will take place in Turkey.

That's bad news for Norway, but there is one thing I never fully understood and maybe one of you guys can shed some light on the situation. I read that there are some backdoors for European national teams to also qualify via the so called Nations League. Does this mean that Norway still has a chance to make it to the UEFA Euro 2024 or is it game over for Norway at this point? All these different ways to qualify for the Euro are confusing as there are also play-offs from the group stage I think. Is Norway officially out (apart from the unlikely scenario that KTChampions outlined)?

Prediction 1: $26,600.66
bech32 address: bc1qrdfdwpfqkvluzham6tzypsjw5mmlzz5lsnnfgr

But so far this momentum of "this is football where everything is possible to happen" did not work in favor of Manchester United, but in favor of Galatasaray. When they won their game, I think that was a typical "everything is possible" moment. When Galatasaray saw the drawing of their group and they noticed Bayern Munich and Manchester United, I am quite sure that they were motivated but also grounded with their expectations. I am also sure that they thought they should do everything they can to win their home games, but instead they now have a win against Manchester United and still have their home game. I have big doubts that they will slip this momentum away from them. That is why I am convinced that Galatasaray will not lose the home game. I have no idea whether they can win twice against Manchester United, but depending on the odds I will consider betting on a win/draw combination for Galatasaray.