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Champions League ⚽ & Scottish Prem 🏴 Matchday 1 📅
And some mad results in the Paris Olympics Football 🏅⚽🎉
Erik Jansson
July 30, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes
Champions League ⚽ & Scottish Prem 🏴 Matchday 1 📅
And some mad results in the Paris Olympics Football 🏅⚽🎉
Hey there MVP,
We continue with our coverage of the early Champions League qualifying rounds by looking ahead to some of the most consequential second legs. We’re also keeping up-to-date with the Olympics football, including a big result for Morocco in their game against Argentina and a convincing win for France over the USA.
Also, there’s already been some interesting results in the pre-season friendlies. Over in the USA, Brendan Rodgers got a win over Pep as Celtic won a 7-goal thriller against Manchester City. There were some nice finishes from Celtic’s German winger Nicolas-Gerrit Kühn.
As usual, we’ve also got the latest transfer news as the Premier League clubs begin to make their moves. And we’ve got another VAR shocker for you that features a pitch invasion.
Today's game plan:
Celtic vs Kilmarnock | Sunday | 16:30 BST
The reigning Scottish champions get their 2024/25 season underway with a home against Kilmarnock on Sunday afternoon. Last season, Celtic continued their dominance of Scottish football, while Kilmarnock achieved qualification for the Europa League qualifiers.
This season opener will be a sign of intent for Brandan Rodgers. who has strengthened this Celtic squad over the summer.
Form & Team News
Celtic have been active over the preseason, integrating both youth and new players into their squad. Notable performances have come from O’reilly in midfield and Nicolas Kuhn who has stood out with exceptional performances against Manchester City where he bagged two nice goals.
Celtic are in a strong position entering the 2024/25 season, with the addition of Kasper Schmeichel bringing much needed experience and stability. Also, young players like Francis Turley and Colby Donovan might see more first-team action given their impressive development and future potential.
GR Celtic predicted lineup | Schmeichel, A. Johnston, Carter Vickers, Scales, Taylor, McGregor, Hatate, O'reilly, Kuhn, Kyogo, Maeda
Kilmarnock's preseason has shown promising signs. Their recent performance in the Europa League qualifiers shows they have something about them. In their first-leg match against Cercle Brugge at Rugby Park, the game ended in a 1-1 draw. The match was evenly contested in the first half, but Cercle Brugge took the lead after the break. Kilmarnock responded and had a goal disallowed for a foul before striker Kyle Vassell scored the equaliser with a header from a long throw-in on the 70-minute mark. The draw gives Kilmarnock a solid foundation to build on for the second-leg in Belgium on Thursday night.
Kilmarnock have been active on and off the pitch. The signing of Bruce Anderson has already paid dividends, with the striker making a significant impact in preseason friendlies. The team now have some depth in attack with Kyle Vassell contributing crucial goals in both domestic and European competition.
With new signings like Anderson supporting the attack, Kilmarnock will certainly compete with Celtic on Sunday —especially if they can leverage their recent momentum from their European campaign.
GR Kilmarnock predicted lineup | McCrorie; Mayo, Deas, Findlay, Ndaba; Armstrong, Donnelly, Watson, Kennedy; Vassel, Watkins
This Week’s Shocker…
The opening round of games in the Olympics football served up some interesting results. But the match between Argentina and Morocco in the Olympics was a strange one for another reason.
🤯 INCROYABLE SÉQUENCE : l'arbitre d'Argentine-Maroc annule le deuxième but argentin... deux heures après la suspension de la rencontre !
Les joueurs sont revenus sur le terrain pour disputer les trois dernières minutes et le Maroc s'est finalement imposé 2-1 #Paris2024
— Eurosport France (@Eurosport_FR)
5:12 PM • Jul 24, 2024
Morocco were leading 2-1 thanks to goals from Soufiane Rahimi but Argentina’s Cristian Medina looked to have equalised in the 16th minute of stoppage time. The late goal led to a pitch invasion, mostly from annoyed Moroccan fans, whilst the VAR was reviewing whether or not to award a goal. However, Before the VAR decision was announced, the match officials suspended the game.
The game was suspended for 2 hours, and in that time the Argentina equaliser was ruled out by VAR for offside. The players then returned to an empty stadium to play the final few seconds of the game. Strange indeed.
Around the world…
Mikel Arteta have secured the services of 22 year old defender Ricardo Calafiori from Bologna. Calafiori is a modern centre-back who is comfortable on the ball and has a good turn of pace. The fee is reported to be around £42 million.
France international Moussa Diaby has joined Al-Ittihad as the Saudi giants continue with their impressive summer transfer window. Diaby has signed a five-year contract and will join up with the rest of the squad in Spain before kicking-off their 2024-25 RSL campaign on August 24 at home to Al Ettifaq.
The opening Olympic football match between Argentina and Morocco was marred by chaos after fans invaded the pitch and led to the game being ‘suspended’. The game, which ended with Morocco winning 2-1, was temporarily suspended with the score at 2-2. Despite Cristian Medina's late goal that appeared to secure a draw for Argentina, it was eventually disallowed by VAR. The match came to a strange end in an empty stadium.
Kylian Mbappe won't be joining the team for their pre-season tour in the USA. Instead the French international will start pre-season training with Madrid on August 7th, in advance of the the UEFA Super Cup against Atalanta on the 14th
France delivered a strong performance in Olympic football with a 3-0 win over the USA. France's last gold medal was won in 1984 in Los Angeles when they beat Brazil in the gold medal match. But, under the leadership of Thierry Henry this young squad are emerging as favourites to capture gold on home soil.
Games to keep an eye on…
Sparta Prague vs Shamrock Rovers | Tuesday | 18:00 BST
Shamrock Rovers are 2-nil down to Sparta Prague heading into the second leg of this Champions League second qualifying round. Playing away from home in Czechia and looking outclassed for large parts of the game, the task ahead of them is massive.
New Zealand vs France | Tuesday | 18:00 BST
On Wednesday, France will play New Zealand in their final group A match. France are in a commanding position but New Zealand have got some results including a 2-1 victory over Guinea.
Midtjylland vs Santa Coloma | Wednesday | 18:15 BST
This Champions League qualifier looks to be over already as the Danish side have taken a commanding 3-nil lead in last week’s first leg.
Hearts vs Rangers | Saturday | 12:30 BST
Rangers begin their 2024/25 campaign away at Hearts. Hearts have Steven Naismith in charge for this match at Tynecastle Park on Saturday. 12.30pm kick off for this one.
GOAT Trivia…
Say congrats to…
Happy birthday to Daniele Rugani [@daniruga]! The Italy and Juventus full back turned 30 on Monday.
On this day in football…
On July 30th 1966, England took on West Germany in the World Cup final at Wembley. The match looked like it was going England’s way but in the 90th minute, Wolfgang Weber scored to make it 2-2 and take the game to extra time. England would go on to win 4-2 and claim their first and only international honour.
This match had plenty of talking points; there was Geoff Hurst’s controversial goal that some claim didn’t cross the line, and of course the famous line from commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme: “They think it’s all over; It is now.”
Goal of the week…
Michael Olise scored France’s second goal in the 3-nil win over the USA in the Olympics. The new Bayern Munich man curled in a lovely finesse finish from the edge of the box.
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