Yeah Lunin has been confirmed to be benched. However if he wasn't injured I think it might not have been too easy for Courtois to be in the starting eleven tonight.    Because Lunin's performance in his absence was amazing! So many important saves (two of which must be penalties vs Manchester City) he had until this point.

If I were in Ancelotti's place my first choice would be Lunin after this performance if it weren't for his injury. Courtois played in only four games since he recovered so I wouldn't prioritize him in that situation. But it is still Courtois quality we are talking about so let's see what happens. 

There are news all around the internet regarding this situation. All of them are pointing to his accepting to sign for PSG. If we see a crisis between Napoli and him then it would probably affect his performance negatively too.

His market value is already 80 million euros. Considering that it wouldn't be any surprise to see Napoli way higher than that. If PSG is offering 100 million then I think Napoli can seriously consider it. But on the other hand they have just signed Conte. Do they plan to even ask him about whether he would like to keep Kvaratskhelia? Because obviously Napoli wants to play bigger next season after bringing a manager like Conte. 

As far as I can see Luis Enrique has won all the trophies in France. This should be enough to give him a second chance for the Champions League trophy as well. It has been only one year too. PSG will need to prepare for next season with some good transfers. Mbappe is leaving already as we have discussed many times. They can't just move on without making new transfers as a result. 

PSG chairman should listen to Luis Enrique while making the transfers. He is a Champions League winner manager. It would be meaningless if the chairman doesn't do that and takes a bigger risk by bringing the players he want only. Then it might be more difficult for the manager to bring the success too. 

Today is the day for Dortmund to compete in the Champions League finale. As a reminder if Dortmund manage to be champions tonight this will help Frankfurt also gain a Champions League spot.  

I respect Frankfurt's run throughout the season of course. But considering the huge gap between Dortmund and them in the standings this would be a really free quota for Frankfurt there.    However this isn't the highest probability to happen today though. Real Madrid are expected to be quite dominant. Terzic will need to play patiently and look for some chances by counter-attacks.

If it doesn't happen then Frankfurt wouldn't make it a big problem. They are already going to the Europa League at least.

Mourinho was looking forward to managing a team again. He could have already joined a Saudi team but he didn't. He wanted to manage a European team. I was expecting that team to be in one of top leagues but I was surprised with the news. Fenerbahçe officials must have made a big effort to convince him. It is rumoured he is going to earn 40 million euros a year but not an official statement as far as I can see.

I agree. Mourinho also doesn't want to catch up with today's football much. He just wants to continue to apply his usual system to the team he goes to. I won't be surprised if I see the same thing in the Turkish league as well. But maybe at least he might make Fenerbahçe champions after 10 years. 

After finding out about Milan's sacking Pioli recently I'm curious about who they will bring for the job. I couldn't find any news related to a candidate yet. Does anyone suitable comes to your mind? 

I only remember Pochettino who is available after getting sacked by Chelsea recently. He hasn't managed an Italian team in his career yet but there is always an opportunity to try a new adventure.    If Mourinho didn't sign a deal with Fenerbahçe then maybe there might have been a chance for him to return to Italy. But Milan seems like they have a strict policy with bringing an Italian manager. Most of their managers so far have been like that so let's see who it will be this time.

I'm just criticizing Manchester United's policy in every chance I get.    The supporters must also be criticizing them because of not being able to spend their money efficiently. Yeah they aren't in good condition these days but it is still in their hands to recover. It shouldn't be too difficult to be more careful with transfer policies. I don't say to them that they shouldn't sign by paying a big sum. I'm just saying it must be worth it at least.

Yeah apart from Real Madrid, Manchester City is another team that does this job very well. It is thanks to Guardiola's being free to bring the players of his choice. The chairman believes in him completely so there is no problem at all.

It seems like Luis Diaz is a target for not only Barcelona but also Saudi teams according to recent rumours. Do you think he would really think of leaving for money and join a Saudi team at the age of 27 already? 

I mean he isn't an average player. He is one of the really valuable players at Liverpool. I assume he wouldn't like to throw away his career by joining such team so early. He can still join those teams for money in the future but there is no need for rush. For example Saint-Maximin has left for money while he is still only 26. His salary was 4.2 million euros at Newcastle and now he is earning 11.7 million a year. He was also a rising player and I think he should have also waited for such move. 

Thanks for mentioning Stuttgart's name as well.    Because most people are preoccupied with Leverkusen's success this season. I'm not saying it to blame anyone of course. I'm also admiring that huge work. 

However Stuttgart shouldn't also be forgotten there. They literally finished the season ahead of Bayern Munich at the 2nd position. We are talking about a team that barely stayed in the Bundesliga last season. They stayed thanks to winning in the relegation playoffs you know. This is a huge progress.

Hoeness came during the last weeks of that season. First he kept the team in the Bundesliga and now he has achieved this.    What a run!

St Etienne won by 2-1 in the first leg yesterday. Did they deserve the win? I think they absolutely did.    1.41 xG to only 0.17 xG... Metz were really desperate but they still resisted well for a long time. That winning goal came in the 80th minute made things more difficult for them in the second leg. Do you think they can make a comeback from here?

I think there is still a significant chance. Because it isn't a huge score advantage. I feel like we will watch extra time and maybe even penalties to decide the winner. I still believe Metz will win the playoffs and remain in the Ligue 1 honestly. 

Gasperini has done a top work. He is going to be remembered as the person to beat Xabi Alonso after an unbeaten streak of 51 games as well.    Now I'm curious about what Gasperini's future will be.

First he said like Napoli were interested in him and he was also leaning towards such deal. However Napoli have signed Conte instead. Now he has said that there is an offer from a Premier League team to him but he is happy with working in Italy now according to Fabrizio Romano. Juventus has also signed Motta. Bologna and maybe Milan (if they are thinking of replacing Pioli though) might make an offer too but I think Gasperini would stay as long as it isn't Milan doing it.

A small edit: I have just found out Pioli got sacked five days ago.  

Yeah this has become a trend these days. Bayern Munich got some advice from Guardiola for Kompany as well as you mentioned his name. Otherwise it would be much more difficult to see them signing a manager who has just relegated with their team.  

Reference is really important in every field of business life actually like in this example. Arteta also had that reference from Guardiola and we have all seen how great he has been doing with Arsenal. It is a pity he has been missing title opportunities slighly but a Premier League title seems imminent though. If Kompany and Maresca also make difference at their new teams then no doubt how much more Guardiola is going to be praised.  

This is really one of the things Real Madrid is very good at. I agree.    They are very good with making the right transfers for themselves. I can't say that every rich team is good about that. I don't know how many times I have given it as an example but Manchester United isn't as good as them. I can't say PSG and Chelsea are very good at it either recently.

When it comes to Barcelona it has mostly been due to financial trouble. They don't want to lose their best young talents at the same time so it is going to take them some really good amount of time to strengthen their financial condition. I'm curious about what Hansi Flick will do next season.

Yeah there is no way it is a 50/50 chance.    Just look at the odds in the first place.



However would I like to see Dortmund as the champions? Hell yeah!    I indicated that already before and I think people except Real Madrid fans wouldn't also say no to seeing a different champion. Real Madrid have already been dominating the Champions League with 14 titles you know. If Mbappe joins them as well then it is more difficult to beat them out of the tournament. Therefore I hope Dortmund make it this year. 

As far as I can see, the odds for the winner of the whole matchup are around:

Metz : 1.70
St Etienne : 2.15

For the first game St Etienne are the home side and I feel like they won't lose here. However like I said before I'm favouring Metz to celebrate staying in the Ligue 1 in the end. It isn't a big achievement to celebrate though. In that case they had better prepare better for next season. They need to improve especially in defense. Other than that the number of goals they scored this season is near even Nice which finished the league at the 5th position. 

If Fiorentina won against Olympiacos in the Conference League finale then Italy were going to have 9 team joining European tournaments next season.    They failed but they still have 8 teams to join though.

Even in that situation Napoli weren't going to be able to join any tournament.    Because they finished at the 10th position which is a huge downgrade. Now they have brought their 4th manager in one year who is Conte. At least their choice is really good. Conte is one of the most experienced managers. If Napoli manage to start next season with a powerful squad I hope to see them healing with Conte finally.

Even if they don't manage to compete for the title I hope the board be fair with him and give him the time he needs.

By the way we are talking confidently about Mbappe to join Real Madrid these days. And Fabrizio Romano is no different either. However Mbappe is still talking about it like "My team is going to be clear in a week." and there isn't any leak by Real Madrid side as well. In addition to all of that, Mbappe made a statement like this about a possibility to play for Milan in the future. 

However I think he has just a shared a dream of him. I don't expect such very surprising transfer to happen anytime soon. I even have high doubts Milan would be able to afford him.    But there is no doubt they wouldn't turn down a chance like that if it arises. For now, I'm just expecting Real Madrid to announce Mbappe.

It was really worth it.    The regular time was very boring though. Extra time wasn't too different either but that winning goal came in a really unexpected moment. Once again El Kaabi was on the stage.    He really made a huge impact on Olympiacos' becoming the champions in the Conference League. 11 goals in 9 games is just great statistics you know.

Fiorentina must be really devastated after losing in the finale of this tournament two times in a row. Olympiacos were technically playing home as the game was in Athens and they took advantage of this in a really good way honestly.

I was just going to share that information with you friends. Kompany is officially the Bayern Munich manager now. 

There is so much criticism on the choice of Bayern Munich honestly. I also have my own doubts about Kompany for now. Promoting to the Premier League with Burnley was nice but the team were able to stay there for only one season.    But if Kompany turns out to be a good rival for Xabi Alonso... Then things can get very interesting. 

I would be happy with watching a head-to-head title competition between these two until the end of the season next time.

Yeah it is more like a bonus as he isn't a striker directly. I don't want to seem like I haven't liked his performance so far. Especially in the La Liga, it has been an epic performance with 19 goals. He scored even more than many other strikers. Maybe even Ancelotti didn't expect that many goals from him despite trying him in the attacking midfield position. 

I just hope to see him scoring at least one goal in the finale to finish the season by scoring.


No I'm not comparing. How did you understand it that way?    That part of my post was independent from the Bellingham part.

Yeah maybe Southgate didn't find it good enough yet. He joined Dortmund in the middle of the season and he didn't play a full season there yet. His inadequate performance at Manchester United before that must be a factor here.