What people should also not forget is that this tournament will be held in Germany. A considerable boost for German football, which has been underperforming in the national tournaments for years. World Cup 2018 and World Cup 2022 were already the end of the story for this team in the group stage. They are building a new team, possibly with great success already in the summer of 2024. They still have a lot of good players. I also have my doubts about the national coach. But does that mean Germany doesn't have to play matches to qualify? Isn't there a lot of competition rhythm missing then? They would have qualified for this tournament anyway, but then you have at least a few more matches. Or do they participate in the group and their results are not included in the final score?

Tuchel may not be the best manager, but he managed to win the Champions League with Chelsea. And if you compare Chelsea with other teams in Europe, I can name 6 teams that are definitely better. So that was a huge achievement from Tuchel. Arsenal and United also seem to be in good shape, but United have not yet reached the optimum level of play they would like. On paper, I think Ajax has achieved the most favorable draw against Union Berlin. Juventus can also not complain with Nantes as an opponent. Although Juventus itself is of course not doing well either.

Djokovic is again complaining that he has to miss a number of tournaments. This time it is not about Australia, but about America. The masters are scheduled in a few weeks / months, but America has a strict entry ban due to the increased number of corona infections during this time. And Djokovic is not vaccinated, and also refuses to be vaccinated. I don't think he gets much support from his stubborn attitude. It has been proven that a vaccine only makes you better and stronger, so a kind of immunity has also been built up. People like Djokovic are ruining it all over the sports world. People like that should be role models. Good news is that he can play at the Australian open that will start soon.

Blind has left Ajax. He went to Bayern Munich on a free transfer. It is remarkable that a club like Bayern Munich brings in this player. He is elderly and has not been able to keep up with the pace lately. Maybe teammate Mathijs de Ligt put in a good word for him in Munich? There are several former Ajax players in that team. I think this level is a bit too high for him. Donny van de Beek has a nightmare scenario following his transfer from Ajax to Manchester United a few years ago. Only injuries and it never seems to be able to become the Donnie he was at Ajax again.

Depay was brought to Barcelona because there was a good chemistry between the then coach of Barcelona, Ronald Koeman and Depay. Both had a good cooperation in the Dutch national team. However, Depay is not of a world class, and was made better by Koeman than he actually was. It also has a reason that he is always on the couch. He was close to a transfer to Juventus in the summer, but that did not happen for financial reasons. Of course there are always a few clubs that are interested in Depay, but he should not assume that many European top clubs are. Then you should rather think of Subtop clubs. The most important thing is that he will play football again in the base.

Great tournament played by both. Van Gerwen seemed to be the towering favorite, beating significant players 5-0 and 6-0 respectively in his quarter-final and semi-final. Smit was on the verge of elimination against Schindler, but today he was definitely the better player. And especially that he has thrown a 9 darter is of course a great conclusion to the tournament. In that leg, van Gerwen also almost threw a 9 darter. And speaking of 9 darts, then Smith almost threw another one. And Smith is also the new number 1 in the world. That must be a dream start to the year.

I wouldn't expect too many goals from the Inter - Napoli game. Both sides play on Safe and it is also the first game after the winter break. Not much action on the field either. AC Milan has come a little closer to Napoli through a hard-fought away win. It must be said that they were already 0-2 ahead within fifteen minutes, so it wasn't really that difficult. Juventus won, for that team it doesn't matter much how they win the games at the moment. A tough game, but the more they will enjoy the last minute winner.

The final has now started and the score is 1-1 in sets. It is an unprecedented high level so far. And a 9 darter has already fallen. I know there's a serious prize on that too if you roll it, I think a 50,000 GBP bonus. Quite a lot of money. They seem evenly matched at the moment, but van Gerwen seems totally unimpressed with his opponent's play. Also looked up some statistics. The last 3 times they played against each other, Smith managed to win all 3 games. So he has serious chances to become world champion tonight.

manchester have not played great games, and are actually having a very unremarkable season. What most people remember are especially the 2 defeats in the beginning of the competition. Yet they are actually in third place, all in all not bad. There are a few teams that are stronger. Maybe only 2 teams are really better at the moment and that is Arsenal and Manchester City. Also no surprise that they are both above United. Especially the gap that Arsenal has made with its competitors is special and striking. Can they keep that up? I think it is mainly with Manchester City, if those points continue to be lost then Arsenal's title will not be in danger soon.

Ronaldo has indicated that his work in Europe was over. So it seems that he himself was no longer open to a transfer to a club in Europe. No idea if it's the truth, but he's going to earn 200 million in 2.5 years at his new club. Not a bad salary. Must be very different from the cultures he was used to in England, Italy and Spain. Many things are forbidden there. But you will also experience empty stands there. He will have to train less hard and try less hard. Could also be that Ronaldo has been met because of the upcoming World Cup in a few years that Saudi Arabia is after.

Perhaps Inter Milan - Napoli is the most important game of the season where the championship will be decided. There's quite a lot at stake. If Napoli wins, the backlog is almost impossible to make up for. But Inter can also win this match and then the differences will become smaller and Inter can slowly start working on catching up. And teams like AC Milan will also hope that Inter will win this match. But you have not suffered a single defeat in the league, you hardly see that in any competition if you take the rankings into account when you enter the winter break.

Martinez was indispensable for Argentina in the final, but actually throughout the tournament. He was extremely unsportsmanlike, but in the end he didn't do anything that wasn't allowed. The management of Aston Villa still wants to talk to him about his (mis)behavior during the World Cup. It is strange that he is reserve keeper of the national team of Argentina, while he is the reserve keeper at Aston Villa. It was a memorable final, one we will not soon forget. And Messi can now rightly be called the best player of all time after winning the title. He was also very important for Argentina.

At the moment the number 1 in the world, Price, plays against the German Clemens. Clemens has taken a 2-1 lead in sets. Perhaps a bit surprising. Later in the evening we see the favorite for the title still in action, Michael van Gerwen. He then plays against Cris Dobey. The 2 games of the afternoon were not favorites games, but they were entertaining. Especially Clayton - van den Berg was very exciting and that match seemed to go both ways for a long time. Michael Smith is a player who is considered an outsider for the title, but then he will have to throw a lot better than today.

It was actually strange that these big names have not competed in F1 before. They are pure race cars par excellence. But doesn't Hyundai already have a certain engine that they supply to a current team? Maybe I'm mixing things up now. 2026 is also quite far away, a lot of plans can change in this way. For the coming season I expect few surprises in terms of composition. Some teams could still change drivers, but the top teams will not replace drivers. Verstappen will also be very satisfied with Perez as 2nd driver.

Bayern Munich cannot afford to miss some good players in this game against PSG. Both teams are considered the strongest teams in the world, but the difference is that the bench at PSG is a bit stronger. PSG have big ambitions to win the CL, but in Bayern Munich they may have the strongest opponent imaginable. Speaking of strong teams, I can remember a match where Bayern Munich completely outplayed Manchester City and eventually won 1-3. That was perhaps the best game ever played by a team in the CL. But that City team no longer exists, then they were really a lot less than now.

Ultimately, a player is and remains responsible for his or her gaming behavior. Sites should perhaps monitor the situation better, but they are not participating fanatically because they are generally good customers who play a lot and also lose a lot of money with bets. It will always be literally and figuratively a game. There have also been several lawsuits from players who argued that the site should be more responsive to the player's gambling addiction. In the end, I think almost all judges have ruled that it is the responsibility of the player himself, so similar situations will also end that way.

In principle, if Napoli can continue to play the way they played before the winter break, they don't need to adjust or improve many things. They do have players who have become very good, it is possible that the big clubs will hunt these players and buy them away from Napoli. You always have to take those kinds of scenarios into account. They have a beautiful and fun football team, but if you take a player out of it, it can also collapse like a house of cards. The EPl will be very interested in taking over certain players. Also a pity to see that Dybala has fallen far. It was a promising player when he was in the starting line-up of Juventus. But that was a long time ago now.

An interesting topic of conversation. But in fact, gambling sites can do whatever they want as long as they include everything in their terms and conditions. You could say that there is a certain theft, as there are also sites that lock accounts and confiscate funds if you have not logged in for a certain period of time. I don't know what is customary to use as a fee, then you should think of an amount of 5 eur per month, for example. But there are fraudulent sites that simply confiscate entire balances. I don't think most sites that have a reputation charge any fees at all?

Not the best move from Manchester City. Arsenal now have a 1-3 lead, so they will get another 3 points and walk out 2 points due to City's draw. It could just be that this will be Arsenal's season and that City will no longer be able to connect with Arsenal. Arsenal are also playing well. Manchester United also had a lot of trouble winning today, but 1-0 turned out to be enough in the end. And in the end was rashford the match winner, the man who had nevertheless received certain disciplinary measures from the United management? Newcastle were third but I don't think they belong there. So very surprisingly the 0-0 does not come from them.

Vettel is one of the most experienced drivers present. He may not be good enough to take another shot at the world championship, and besides, he doesn't have the car in his team. Maybe it's not a bad idea at all that he will drive as a kind of mentor / supervisor with a team. He has a lot of experience and I think he can also transfer his knowledge to young drivers who still have a lot of experience to gain. He will have to be open to it himself. You say goodbye to the podium chances and you can also put any ambitions on hold.