It looks like Florian Flick is only on loan for half a season and next season Florian Flick will return to FC Schalke 04, I think it's a short time. Even though Florian Flick got more minutes at Nuremberg, I think that still doesn't fully guarantee Florian Flick to get a place in the main squad at Schalke when he returns from loan. But yes, hopefully Florian Flick can develop better there, considering Schalke's position is also not very good at the moment.
It is possible that next season Florian Flick will return to Schalke but in the end Florian Flick will play again in the 2. Bundesliga, because it seems difficult for Schalke to get out of the relegation zone.

Schalke is still not strong enough to compete in the Bundesliga right now, even though Schalke can return to playing in the Bundesliga quickly but it seems like Schalke still needs a better overhaul at least to be able to stay in the Bundesliga longer.
Maybe if I consider the current points gap, it looks like Schalke has a five point gap with Hertha Berlin and Stuttgart. But still, when the situation and condition of the team are not in their best shape, it will be difficult for Schalke to catch up with them but with this long break, hopefully Schalke can get up again.

I think for the early matches even though Saudi Arabia beat Argentina for me it was not a surprising result, because I thought in the early matches it was very possible for such a result to occur. But the truth is, at that time I bet for Argentina and I lost but with a result like that I personally am still not surprised.
For me, the surprise is of course in the knockout phase, because all the teams will try very hard to win because if they lose then of course they will be eliminated.

Therefore, when entering the knockout phase, the big teams or favorite teams will of course play their best but what happens is, there is one team that even from the start of the World Cup it was not predicted to win and that is Morocco.
If Morocco only made it to the round of 16 I think that would also be normal, because it happened to South Korea and Japan as well. But the surprise happened because Morocco managed to beat the favorite team in the round of 16 and finally Morocco will play in the quarter-finals against Portugal.

I think Brazil's situation and conditions are better than Croatia's, so I really can't doubt Brazil in this match. But if someone is really betting for Croatia to win, then surely it will be a big win for them because they get high odds @8.xx. Indeed, Croatia in the group stage also looked good by being able to win big against Canada and also, able to hold Belgium to a 0-0 draw.
But that doesn't mean that Belgium and Brazil can be compared, because it seems clear that Brazil still has better quality.

Therefore, regardless of the available odds, I personally will remain confident in choosing Brazil to win, even though basically I am not a team fanatic and am more neutral.
But for some reason, at this moment I can't choose Croatia and even though it is a draw, I personally don't believe it because I think it will be an absolute win for Brazil.

Atletico still cannot be underestimated because Atletico are also not a weak team at all and also, Atletico are not always beaten by Real Madrid and Barcelona. Because even last season Atletico could beat Real Madrid and Barcelona in one of the matches, so Atletico could still beat Real Madrid and Barcelona.
The decline in performance experienced by Atletico this season does not mean that Atletico will no longer be able to beat Real Madrid and Barcelona, because over time they will also be able to improve their performance.

So yes, I can't say that Atletico can't beat Real Madrid and Barcelona, because every time they play, of course, there will always be different situations and conditions. So the result will not always be defeat either, because a team that is even considered weak can still provide strong resistance when they play against Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Therefore, with Atletico having good management, then of course Atletico will be able to overcome the problems they are experiencing this season.

Even though Napoli will only play against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League, that doesn't mean Napoli will get to the final, because there are still quarter-finals and semifinals to go through. In this round, of course, Napoli will play against a tougher team and, in fact, Eintracht Frankfurt cannot be underestimated at all.
Because Eintracht Frankfurt is also in the Bundesliga experiencing a very good increase in performance, so even though Napoli will play against Eintracht Frankfurt in the 16th round of the Champions League it still doesn't guarantee that Napoli will win easily.

But yes, about Napoli's position in the Serie A standings, at least it can be said to be a safe position for Napoli because it has a wide enough point gap, and Napoli only needs to maintain good results in every match and not lose too often.
That way, it will be enough for Napoli to maintain its position at the top of the Serie A table this season. But if what you say about winning the Serie A title and also the Champions League can happen, then of course it will be a very extraordinary achievement but unfortunately, I personally not so sure about Napoli in the Champions League.

An easy match I think is only the Croatia v Brazil match, because in the other matches at least these teams have the same chance of winning. Because I think Brazil is a team that has no doubts about winning against Croatia, because even the odds also have quite a wide gap. Other matches are favorite teams like Netherlands v Argentina, England v France but yes, about Portugal which will only play against Morocco on paper Portugal will win.
But unfortunately, I'm not completely sure and it seems I still quite believe that Morocco will still surprise them in the match against Portugal later.

Back to today's match I'm just thinking about whether I should make a parlay bet or not, because for Brazil for me this will be an easy bet with not low and not high odds either and only around @1.3x.
But for the Netherlands v Argentina match to be honest I bet on the Netherlands while Argentina is the favorite team to win, but even so it looks like I will still make a multi bet on Brazil and the Netherlands to win.

It looks like Brazil and France have a big chance to reach the final and if that really happens, then maybe I will choose France as the team that will win the World Cup this time. But if this World Cup has a miracle, then of course the miracle will happen to Morocco as the only team that was not considered to qualify from the start.
But who would have thought Morocco would reach the quarter-finals after a successful clean sheet in the previous game against Spain, at least the result of that match was also a big surprise or maybe a miracle because even in a penalty shootout three players from Spain couldn't score.

Therefore, I personally am still quite sure that in this World Cup it seems that this miracle can still happen, but if it is only to choose the team that will compete in the final match then on paper I personally am quite sure about Brazil and France.
Since Netherlands will play against Argentina in the quarter-finals and then, in the semi-finals one of them will play against Brazil and I think Brazil will still have a chance to beat either the Netherlands or Argentina.
As for France, I really admire Giroud and I think this old player is still very dangerous and maybe he can also give good results for France.

Basically, Barcelona still has a chance to win the La Liga title this season and yes, it's not certain and it's not easy, but that doesn't mean Barcelona's chances are completely lost. I don't think it's right if you think that Barcelona has no chance of winning the title, because after all, in fact Xavi has so far been able to give good results for Barcelona in La Liga.
Indeed, Xavi still can't give the best for Barcelona in Europe but I think it's still a stage of development which of course requires a long process.

So, the chance for Barcelona to win a title this season will always be there, especially for domestic competition, but for European competition, Barcelona's chances are indeed low because it is very possible that Xavi will only focus on one competition.
Because then at least Xavi can make the maximum push in domestic competition and yes, we also won't know what changes will happen later. But I wish Xavi to be able to give the best results for Barcelona in all competitions and indeed, it's not something easy because to achieve an achievement requires great effort as well.

However, the main problem for Ronaldo is that he is too ambitious to achieve the highest achievement and with such great ambition, Ronaldo will never be able to accept if he is too often on the bench. Even though each coach also has his own strategy which of course will make some players unable to play in all the matches, when they don't match the strategy used at that time.
Also, if Ronaldo still really has good gameplay then of course Ronaldo will continue to be played as a starter, no matter how old he is because if Ronaldo fits the strategy implemented then of course the coach will also continue to play him.

But what has happened lately, even Ronaldo does not always play the full 90 minutes or play from the bench, when compared to Messi the situation is very different because Messi can still be relied on by the team in every match.
Therefore, if there are no more big teams who are going to sign Ronaldo, then it would be better for Ronaldo to retire, because it will only be useless if Ronaldo continues to force it but in the end Ronaldo will only be on the bench more often.

Basically if they apply the tiki-taka style of play then what must be built strong, or the initial capital that must be possessed is a strong and good chemistry between players. That way they will be able to make the right moves and passes, because to implement such a style of play seems difficult if it doesn't involve Messi who can pass and make very good movements to deceive opponents.
Meanwhile in the Spain squad there are no players who have the abilities of Messi and also, the absence of Iniesta and Xavi in the midfield, of course, playing games like tiki-taka is difficult to implement properly.

Indeed, Luis Enrique gave the best for Barcelona with that style of play, but it will certainly be different when applied to different squads too.
But yes, I personally feel this result is not only about Luis Enrique's badness or mistakes, but also maybe Morocco did play so well that the big effort that Morocco put in really brought them a big result for them too.

The match between Netherlands v Argentina, the team that is at least predicted to win is Argentina if I refer to the currently available odds which are 3.xx : 2.xx. But in my prediction, I personally am pretty sure the Netherlands will win.
Because in some considerations from the several opportunities I got about Argentina, at least I have a little doubt about Argentina but I also don't underestimate Argentina. Therefore, I personally am quite sure that Netherlands will get a good result at this moment, I just don't want to get hung up on a big name like Argentina has about Messi.

But about Croatia, this team is still not strong enough to compete in the quarter-finals and I think Croatia's level is still below Brazil so I don't hesitate to bet on Brazil to win.
It doesn't matter whether it's an understatement or not, because I only see reality and that Brazil is indeed better than Croatia in my personal view. But if you have different views about Croatia and Brazil, then of course it doesn't matter because we have different opinions too.

If you are aware of the three opponents that Dortmund will face next, then I think it will still not be easy for Dortmund to get full points, especially when playing against Leverkusen. Maybe you missed how Leverkusen performed before the World Cup break, in fact Leverkusen have recovered and managed to get away from the relegation zone and Leverkusen have also managed to get three successive wins.
What's even more amazing is that Leverkusen was able to beat Union Berlin with a score of 5-0, even though at that time Union Berlin was still in the top four.

So, with these considerations I think it will still not be easy for Dortmund to be able to win the match against Leverkusen, moreover Leverkusen will also be playing at home.
If Leverkusen can still play the same as when they beat Union Berlin, or at least can still play the same as in the three matches before the break, then I believe Leverkusen will beat Dortmund. But because of course changes will occur because there is a transfer window too, then any results can still happen but I personally am pretty sure Dortmund will still be difficult this season.

Well, about the Manchester United forwards I see an improvement for Marcus Rashford, it seems that under the coach of Erik ten Hag it can make Marcus Rashford's performance even better. Even so far Marcus Rashford is the only player who has scored many goals for Manchester United in all competitions, so I don't think Ronaldo's departure is a problem for Manchester United's performance.
But about whether Manchester United can be a successful team to win the Europa League title this season, I personally am still not completely sure.

Indeed, I am also quite sure that Manchester United have a chance to beat Barcelona, because Barcelona did not do very well in the Europa League considering last season. But even so, even if for example later Manchester United will qualify because they beat Barcelona, but I'm still not completely sure Manchester United will win the Europa League title.
But yes, after all Manchester United is having good progress with Erik ten Hag, it will be interesting to wait to see how far Erik ten Hag can take Manchester United in this Europa League.

Whatever Ronaldo's problems with Manchester United and Erik ten Hag, basically Ronaldo really wanted to leave Manchester United after failing to finish in the top four. After that, entering the new season and Erik ten Hag as coach, the reality is that when Ronaldo's condition and situation are no longer comfortable in the team, Erik ten Hag actually benches Ronaldo more often so it's only natural that Ronaldo's emotions can't be stopped at moments like that.
Also, when Portugal won big against Switzerland 6-1, Ronaldo's position was at least the same as what he experienced at Manchester United to be on the bench.

Factors like that will at least make Ronaldo's emotions maybe not okay again, with Ronaldo leaving Manchester United, of course it will make it difficult for him to get a new club.
Because as we have seen so far, at least the team can still win big without Ronaldo in the starting line-up, this proves that Ronaldo is no longer the main actor on the field. It will be interesting to wait, which big club will really be ready to risk spending big money to recruit Ronaldo later.

By the way, England will play against France in the quarter-finals and that means either one of them will not make it to the final or maybe they will also be knocked out in the semifinals. But yes, it is also one of the options that you have and I think it can happen because you have these two options, but in the end we still can't decide which team will win the World Cup this time.
I think in this moment there are unpredictable teams like for example Morocco, because they have made good steps so far.

If Portugal had trouble beating Switzerland yesterday, then maybe I will choose Morocco to reach the final because Morocco will play against Portugal in the quarter-finals. But because Portugal managed to beat Switzerland yesterday with a big score, it seems that the chance for Morocco to qualify for the semifinals is also lower.
But to be honest, if Morocco can play well when they play against Portugal or at least make good steps like when Morocco played against Spain, then I will be confident that Morocco will qualify and will play in the final.

The problem is, do you believe that Napoli will continue to lose and Milan will continue to win?
Because an eight-point gap is not an easy difference to chase in Serie A and indeed, Napoli will not always win either because at least there will be draws and defeats to come as well. But those results won't stick with them for the rest of the season, meaning they might only get a bad result once or twice and then they'll come back to have good results more often.

Unless the opponents or teams in Serie A are all big teams, then of course it is difficult for Napoli to continue to get the expected results in every match. Anyway, this season is a good season for Napoli, because Napoli is not only good in Serie A but Napoli is also good in the Champions League.
You can also compare how Milan was last season when Milan won the Serie A title, but Milan was very bad in the Champions League and even Milan finished fourth in group B and Milan fell in the group stage. At least that's a little proof of the difference in their quality at the moment too, so I don't doubt Napoli this season to be able to maintain its position at the top of the standings.

Real Madrid are still very strong in La Liga and even though Real Madrid are below Barcelona right now in the La Liga standings, but the points gap is still very close. Also, Real Madrid will still be playing in the Champions League while Barcelona will only be playing in the Europa League and thus, Real Madrid's performance so far has been fine. Unless Real Madrid's position continues to move away from the title race then surely it is a very weak performance which must be corrected immediately.
Also about whether Real Madrid needs new players or not, I think every time the player transfer window opens then the big teams will definitely sign new players although I'm also not sure who Real Madrid will sign.

Because even though Real Madrid currently has several great players, it seems that preparing to replace their old players such as Modric, Kross and Benzema must be done.
Because old players will certainly be prone to injury, so preparing early before it goes bad is a great way to maintain good team performance and gameplay.

I'm curious why the competition between Arsenal and Manchester United will become big because even though their positions in the standings are very different, but if it's about the big match then that's for sure. But for big competition, I personally cannot compare them because their positions in the standings are different, although indeed, in their first match or first meeting this season, in fact, Manchester United could beat Arsenal with a score of 3-1.
But with that defeat at least Arsenal can still be at the top of the standings so far, which means that that big defeat is not a big problem for Arsenal either.

Unless Arsenal lose their best form and continue to fall, then maybe the competition in the standings between the two will get closer.
However, I also realize that Arsenal's position is still not completely secure and could continue to decline over time because the gap is still close. If later Arsenal and Manchester United compete for the fourth position in the standings, then of course it will be a big competition, but if the position in the standings is still like this I think the competition might be normal and only matches that are titled big matches.

I don't think Mane's absence will affect Bayern Munich's performance as a whole, because players who can score goals at Bayern Munich are not only Mane. In fact, other players have more and better goals than Mane, so I personally don't think Bayern Munich will be weak just because Mane is injured.
Also, whether or not Mane will be present in the match against PSG, basically it will be a difficult match for both teams because whatever the result can be.

But indeed, at least if Mane can be played in that match then of course it will be better for Bayern Munich than without Mane. But besides that, there will be a transfer window that will open before the start of the Champions League, and with the transfer market before the Champions League starts again, of course Bayern Munich must move quickly to get new players, especially pure strikers.
That way, there is still plenty of time for all teams to improve and strengthen their squad in the transfer window, as they still have time to be able to improve their team's performance after the World Cup.

Basically, no matter how much consistency and or dominance a team has in a league, they will still get lost even if it's only one or two defeats. The point is, there will always be moments where they get a busy schedule with difficult opponents. This will make the player rotation not run well, especially if many of the main players are injured.
But apart from these factors, I personally don't doubt the quality of Napoli this season and those who say Napoli won't win the title this season, I think that's not true.

Because after all, I am also aware of Napoli's development from season to season and also, there are still other teams that from season to season get good results at the start of the season. But as time goes by the team continues to fall and that team is Atalanta and even, previously someone predicted Atalanta can win the title.
Even though the fact is that Napoli are better than Atalanta and with this big difference in points, then of course Napoli will be able to have better morale to maintain its position at the top of the standings.