The best action to follow this weekend
Saturday
🏆 We may as well call this Supercup Saturday with a number of traditional season openers taking place across Europe. Okay, so it’s known as the Community Shield in England but you get the drift and Liverpool vs. Manchester City is undoubtably the biggest draw of the day.
This clash, the first of its kind to be played before the start of August since 1958 takes place just 69 days after the two sides took the last Premier League title race to the final day. City took that, obviously whilst Liverpool had to settle for the FA and League Cup double. But how have both fared in the transfer market? And how are their squads shaping up for the new season? This is the first real test in at least semi-competitive action.
Elsewhere, the Dutch equivalent known as the Johan Cruyff Shield also provides a huge game with Ajax playing rivals PSV. ‘De Topper’ pits the sides who finished last season first and second in the league – with PSV losing out in that, but coming good in the final of the KNVB Cup, where they beat Ajax in the Final.
Watch out too for Bayern München in the DFL Supercup where Julian Nagelsmann’s side will be looking to start the post-Lewandowski era with a win over last season’s DFB Pokal winners RB Leipzip. This game takes place on the same weekend that the new DFB Pokal gets underway – with Borussia Dortmund winning in style at 1860 München on Friday night.
Wrapping things up, Portuguese double winners FC Porto take on Tondela, the minnows who made it to the final of last season’s cup competition despite getting relegated from the top flight. And in Turkey, Trabzonspor – who ended their long wait for a league trophy will look to lift more silverware against Cup winners Sivasspor.
🤝 With many of the top leagues due to commence over the next couple of weekends, this one provides a last opportunity for a lot of big sides to fine tune their starting XIs. Meaning that you’ll find a lot of club friendlies listed in your app for the next few days.
Among the headline games: Real Madrid play Juventus at the famous Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, Roma face Spurs in some kind of José Mourinho clásico being played in Israel and Barcelona do battle with MLS side New York Red Bulls – who currently sit third in the Eastern Conference.
And unofficially speaking, there appears to be a Premier League vs. La Liga Battle Royale taking place with (at the last count) eleven games taking place between English and Spanish sides. Manchester United are so keen they have one team facing Atlético Madrid on Saturday (in Oslo) and another side playing another Madrid based side, Rayo Vallecano on Sunday (in Manchester).
🏴 The EFL season officially started on Friday night with Vincent Kompany’s Burnley side recording a narrow win at Huddersfield on Friday night. However, the real fun starts on Saturday with games across all the divisions that sit at the second through to the fourth tier of English football.
In the Championship, the evening kick-off should be worth watching with West Bromwich Albion heading to Middlesbrough.
🏴 The Scottish season has been up and running for a while with the ever-early League Cup group stages but now we get the first games in the Premiership. Rangers headline the opening day as they begin their latest title challenge away at Livingston.
🇯🇵 And finally, top of the table action from a league that is already deep in to the campaign. With 22 rounds played in the J.League, Yokohama F. Marinos lead Kashima Antlers by five points, so Saturday’s game between the two will be vital for both sides. Marinos are looking to take back the title they last won in 2019 whilst the Antlers are hoping to break a six year barren run.
Sunday
🏆 The most successful Women’s Euros to date will come to a close on Sunday evening with a showpiece game set to break record attendances for a final in both the women’s and men’s version of the tournament. In fact, over 500,000 people will have attended a match at some point during Euro 2022 with Wembley sold out for the clash between hosts England and record winners Germany.
It’s a repeat of the 2009 final where Germany beat England 6-2 – one of eight European titles they have to their name. It’s going to be an intriguing match-up between the two best sides at the tournament, resilient England vs. the indefatigable Germans, and there’s a battle for the golden boot too with both Beth Mead and Alexandra Popp level on six goals a piece. One more for either player will break another tournament record.
🇫🇷 In a hangover from Supercup Saturday, the Trophée des Champions takes place in French football on Sunday. New PSG coach Christophe Galtier must lead his merry bunch of superstars against Nantes, the side who beat Galtier’s previous club Nice, in the final of the Coupe de France back in May.
With criticism already emerging in the French press and questions over Galtier’s readiness to deal with the stars at the club, it’ll be imperative that they start well and let Kylian Mbappé know that staying in Paris was worth his while.
🤝 We already mentioned Manchester United’s second friendly of the weekend against Rayo but elsewhere the England vs. Spain Battle Royale continues with games between Fulham and Villarreal and Leicester City and Sevilla. The latter having already provided opposition for Arsenal on Saturday!
Speaking of teams playing two games in one weekend, a Liverpool XI will face Ligue 1 side Strasbourg, on Sunday evening. The question remains – will Liverpool get to parade the Community Shield on the pitch at Anfield ahead of that one!?
🏴 Back in Scotland, Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic kick off their title defence against Aberdeen. The Dons have a proud record of never being relegated from the top flight but they did come close last season – finishing 10th out of 12 sides so they’ll be looking for immediate improvements this time around.
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Cover Image from IMAGO