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Real Madrid x15🏆 & Euros 🇪🇺 Preview
So Real Madrid win ol’ big ears 🏆 for the 15th time and Olympiacos win the Europa Conference League 🥇
Erik Jansson
June 05, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 11 minutes
Real Madrid x15🏆 & Euros 🇪🇺 Preview
So Real Madrid win ol’ big ears 🏆 for the 15th time and Olympiacos win the Europa Conference League 🥇
Hey there MVP,
So, on Saturday night Real Madrid clinched their 15th European Cup with a 2-0 win against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley Stadium. Despite Dortmund dominating the first half and creating several clear chances, they were unable to capitalise. Madrid turned the game around in the second half with goals from Dani Carvajal in the 74th minute and then Vinicius Junior in the 83rd minute after a calamitous mistake from Ian Maatsen!
This victory adds the cherry on top of Real Madrid's impressive season. The Spanish giants end the season with a treble that includes the La Liga title and the Supercopa de Espana.
In other news, Olympiacos won the Europa Conference League with a 1-nil win over Fiorentina. This was the first major European trophy for the Greek side and they won it in extra time. El Kaabi was the scorer with a header, with his 33rd of the season. We’ve also got some really ridiculous stories from around the world of football and the shocker from Maatsen.
Today's game plan:
Portugal vs Croatia | Saturday | 17:45 IST
The most interesting friendly before the Euros officially kicks off is this match between Portugal and Croatia.
Portugal are 1x Euros winners having beat France in 2016, but they have reached the semi-finals on five occasions. Croatia are yet to win the Euros but have reached the quarter-final multiple times. Although neither team is being touted as a favourite to win the competition, these are both contenders with world-class players.
Form & Team News
This will be the second of Portugal’s three pre-tournament friendlies, having played against Finland on Tuesday night. The Portugal squad is packed full of top and upcoming talent that is definitely capable of going all the way in Germany this summer. Under ex-Belgium manager Roberto Martinez, Portugal made it through their qualification group at a canter, winning all 10 of their group matches. They also scored 36 times and conceded just twice. With Cristiano Ronaldo as captain, Portugal always play with a fearlessness and are usually a good watch.
Although Portugal lost a game 2-nil against Slovenia back in March, their recent form heading into the Euros has been strong with an average of over 2.5 goals per game.
Portugal’s provision squad for the Euros includes all of the familiar faces. There were minor concerns over Cristiano Ronaldo and João Félix's fitness but both are expected to play a role in Portugal’s attack. Bruno Fernandes and Rafael Leao are also fit to play and are both on the squad to play Finland on Tuesday evening.
GR Portugal predicted lineup | Costa; Cancelo, Pepe, Dias, Dalot; Fernandes, Palhinha, Bernardo; Leao, Ronaldo, Jota
Croatia have been drawn onto one of the toughest groups in this year’s Euros. Group B includes Spain, Italy, and Albania! Regardless of the competition, Croatia will give themselves a good chance of qualifying.
On Monday night, Croatia beat North Macedonia 3-nil thanks to a goal from Marco Pasalic and two from Lovro Majer. A nice warm up game but Portugal are a proper team with match winners dotted around the lineup. Croatia are aiming to improve on a string of impressive tournament runs —although Euro 2020 was disappointing (last 16) they won the bronze medal in the 2022 World Cup. Before Monday’s game, Croatia had won four of their last 6 games and are heading into Euro 2024 in good form.
Croatia has selected a provisional squad for the Euros that tries to find a balance between experienced players and young emerging talent. Top scorer in the squad, Ivan Perisic (33 goals) is just about back to full fitness after a bad knee injury, whilst Andrej Kramaric is also fit to start. Captain Luka Modric will be joined by young players including Bayer Leverkusen defender Josip Stanisic and Ajax centre-back Josip Sutalo. The one player likely to miss Friday’s game is Mateo Kovavic who picked up a hamstring injury.
GR Croatia predicted lineup | Livakovic; Stanisic, Sutalo, Pongracic, Gvardiol; Brozovic, Modric, Sučić; Majer, Kramaric, Pjaca
Gif by MOLATV on Giphy
This Week’s Shocker…
Ian Maatsen, the Dutch youngster on loan at Borussia Dortmund from Chelsea made a shocker of a sideways pass in the Champions League final that led to Real Madrid's second goal.
The unfortunate thing is that Maatsen, like the rest of the Borussia Dortmund team, had a cracking first half! Just one lapse of concentration is what he’ll be remembered for though.
Around the world…
Cristiano Ronaldo’s club, Al-Nassr, are reported to be considering making a massive offer for Manchester United's Casemiro. The 32 year old has another two years left to run on his contract at United.
West Ham’s Brazilian midfielder Lucas Pacqueta was charged with four counts of spot-fixing after being accused of deliberately getting booked in Premier League matches. The betting scam was extensive with as many as 60 bets being placed on the West Ham midfielder to be booked in one or multiple matches.
UEFA have come to a decision on whether or not to allow the teams of multi-club owners to play in the same European Competitions. UEFA rules provide strict guidelines on clubs being owned by the same ownership structure, with no two partnered teams allowed to play each other in the same competition but the news is that both Man United and Man City will be allowed to play in the Europa League and Champions League respectively, alongside their sister-clubs, Nice and Girona.
Mbappe isn’t going to be welcomed by the Bernabeu until after the Euros, but there is new info on his shirt number at Madrid. The expectation is for the Frenchman to get the number 9 shirt, because the number 10 shirt currently bears the name of Los Blancos legend Luka Modric. When Modric does move on, there‘s no doubt Mbappe will take on the famous number 10 shirt.
Bayern Munich have initiated discussions with Bruno Fernandes’s agent regarding a potential summer transfer. New Bayern manager Vincent Kompany is said to be a big fan of the Manchester United captain.
Games to keep an eye on…
Belgium vs Montenegro | Wednesday | 19:30 BST
After parting ways with Roberto Martinez, Belgium have begun on a new course with Domenico Tedesco. In previous tournaments over the past decade, Belgium have started as one of the favourites but it feels like that golden era is coming to an end now. .
Spain vs Andora | Wednesday | 19:45 BST
Spain have had a quiet last few tournaments after their dominance of world football between 2008 and 2012. But this year, Spain are back with a promising team full of rising stars.
France vs Luxembourg | Wednesday | 20:00 BST
France enter Euro 2024 as the favourite. This game against Luxembourg seem more like a party for the very wealthy but a good chance to see some French goals.
England vs Iceland | Friday | 19:45 BST
Iceland brings up bad memories for England fans, after that disastrous loss in Euro 2016. But this game against Iceland, England’s second pre-tournament friendly, will give us more of an idea about Southgate’s preferred midfield.
GOAT Trivia…
Say congrats to…
Lorenzo Insigne [@lorinsigneofficial], the Italian turns 33 today.
On this day in football…
Back on June 4, 2000, during the UEFA 2000 European Football Championships, Slovenia played an incredible group stage match against Yugoslavia. Slovenia, making their debut in the Euros, went 3-nil up but ended up drawing the game.
Yugoslavia completed their comeback with a last-minute equaliser from Slobodan Komljenović
Goal of the week…
Our goal of the week has to be Real Madrid’s second goal against Borussia Dortmund. The goal itself wasn’t that special, it came from a mistake from Maatsen but the pass from Jude to the likely Ballon D’or winner Vini Jnr was class.
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