UEFA Nations League: What You Need To Know About UEFA’s New Exciting Competition

Nations League aims to confuse the audience. (Goal)

The UEFA Nations League has been announced and teams have been placed into their pots and leagues, so what is it and will it replace the Qualifiers? We Investigate UEFA’s new exciting idea.

What is the UEFA Nations League?

The UEFA Nations League is an exciting new idea that aims to make friendlies more competitive and will also give an opportunity to smaller countries to compete at the European Championships. Although the road to Euro 2020 will now seem confusing, the new format will make it fun and thrilling.

The format of the UEFA Nations League

55 teams will compete in the UEFA Nations League and these teams will be divided into four leagues. League A will have the highest ranked teams, with League D having the lowest ranked teams. These Leagues will have four groups in each, Leagues A and B will have four groups of three teams. League C will one group of three and three groups of four teams. While League D will have four groups of four teams. In each league there will be four group winners, these group winners of Leagues B, C and D will be promoted to the above league. While the group winners of League A will qualify for the UEFA Nations League Finals. In addition, the winners of each group will qualify for the Play-Offs for the 2020 European Championships. The four teams that finish bottom of their group will be relegated for the next edition of the UEFA Nations League.

When does it all begin and who will be in what League?

The draw for the Nations League will be on the 24th of January and the actual competition will take place in September, October and November of 2018. While the finals of the UEFA Nations League will take place between the 5th and the 9th of June.

Here are the teams in their pots and leagues:

League A

Pot 1 : Germany, Belgium, Portugal, Spain

Pot 2 : England, France, Switzerland, Italy

Pot 3 : Poland, Iceland, Croatia, Netherlands

League B

Pot 1 : Austria, Wales, Russia, Slovakia

Pot 2 : Sweden, Ukraine, Republic Of Ireland, Bosnia

Pot 3 : Northern Ireland, Denmark, Czech Republic, Turkey

League C

Pot 1 : Hungary, Romania, Scotland, Slovenia

Pot 2 : Greece, Serbia, Albania, Norway

Pot 3 : Montenegro, Israel, Bulgaria, Finland

Pot 4 : Cyprus, Estonia, Lithuania

League D

Pot 1 : Azerbaijan, Macedonia, Belarus, Georgia

Pot 2 : Armenia, Latvia, Faroe Islands, Luxembourg

Pot 3 : Kazakhstan, Moldova, Liechtenstein, Malta

Pot 4 : Andorra, Kosovo, San Marino, Gibraltar

Will traditional qualifying still exist?

Portugal are the current European Champions. (UEFA)

The answer is yes. There will still be the traditional qualifying as there will be ten groups. Five groups of five and five groups of six and the top two teams from each group will qualify for the European Championships in 2020. However unlike last year the third placed teams won’t be competing in the Play-Offs, this goes to the Nations League winners.

So how do the Play-Offs work?

The 16 teams who won their group in the Nations League will qualify for the Play-Offs. However if that team has qualified for the European Championships automatically, then their place will go to the next ranked team in their league. If everyone in that league has qualified then it will go to the next best team in the League below. In each league there will be a two legged Semi-Final followed by a one-legged final. The four winners of the Play-Off final will take the final spot at the European Championships.

So, how do we determine who the next best team is in each league?

Here is how rankings of each league are calculated:

1. Position in Group
2. Points
3. Goal Difference
4. Goals Scored
5. Away Goals Scored
6. Wins
7. Away Wins
8. Disciplinary Points
9. Coefficient

Does a host country qualify and when does traditional qualifying start?

No host country qualifies as 13 different cities will host the European Championships in 2020. Traditional qualifying will start in March 2019 and ending in November of the same year. The play-offs will take place in March 2020.

Why are UEFA doing this and will this disturb club football?

UEFA have made this competition to do three things. One is to make friendlies more competitive and less experimental. Another reason is to make Euro qualifying more streamlined and clearer, by getting rid of the third placed teams receiving a Play-Off place. The third reason is to give smaller teams a chance of making a major championship as they saw what it meant to someone like Albania at the 2016 Euros. This new competition means that one of the teams in League D will make the European Championships. UEFA also claim it won’t disturb club football as it will stick to the original international calendar.

Let the games begin!

 

 

 

Arsenal v Leicester Preview: We Need To Start Better

(Evening Standard)

The Premier League season is upon us and the first game of the season sees Arsenal host Leicester City at the Emirates Stadium. Can we actually win our opening game of the season?

Liverpool. West Ham. Aston Villa. These are three teams that have beaten us on the first game of the season at the Emirates Stadium in a row. Normally an unprepared Arsenal team starts their Premier League season in appalling fashion as their defence is normally unprepared for the task at hand. Is this season any different?

Well, yes and no. Yes because we are once again in a position where some of our best defenders are missing for the first game of the season such as Laurent Koscielny, Shkodran Mustafi and Kieran Gibbs. This is simply not good enough as we need depth in our team. However Arsenal have some defenders that have looked solid including Rob Holding and Nacho Monreal who are expected to start the first game. The main talking point of the defence is new signing Sead Kolasinac who has looked more than impressive in pre-season including the Community Shield, where he scored his first goal for the club.

Another thing that is different this time around is there is a different formation to previous seasons as Arsenal are going for a 3-5-2 formation, intending to copy the Chelsea side that was successful in lifting the Premier League trophy last season. In fact the tactic has beaten Chelsea twice in a row now. This is why Arsenal fans will be expecting fortunes to change tonight when they host the foxes.

What about the visitors? Well, despite four bids from Roma they have managed to keep hold of Riyad Mahrez and have also retained Jamie Vardy’s services. They also signed Kelechi Iheanacho from Manchester City for 25 Million as well as signing Vicente Iborra from Sevilla for 14 million. However Iborra will miss tonight’s game. They have a strong squad and will look to build on their relatively weak finish last season.

Despite Alexis Sanchez being absent, I do expect Arsenal to expect the campaign strongly and win 2-0. Here is my predicted XI for the gunners:

Cech, Holding, Mertesacker,Monreal, Kolasinac, Elneny, Xhaka, Ox, Welbeck, Ozil, Lacazette.

Ekstraklasa Week 4: Jaga’s 100% Record Ends As Termalica Continue To Haunt Legia

Jagiellonia Bialystok disappointed on week four of the Ekstraklasa (Jagiellonia.pl)

In the fourth week of Ekstraklasa action Jagiellonia Bialystok’s 100% record ended at the hands of Sandecja Nowy Sacz as they fell to a 3-1 defeat. While Legia Warsaw continued to struggle as they lost 1-0 to Termalica Bruk-Bet Nieciecza.

Jagiellonia Bialystok 1-3 Sandecja Nowy Sacz

Heading into this match the hosts had won their first three matches of the season and were on fine form. Jaga’s opponents were a team that were yet to score a goal in the Ekstraklasa since being promoted. Easy victory for the hosts, right? Well, that wasn’t the case as despite early chances for the hosts, Sandecja took the lead thanks to an easy finish from Aleksandar Kolev. However the hosts didn’t give up their unbeaten record without a fight and they levelled ten minutes before half time as Szufryn scored an own goal. However second half goals from Cetnarski and Trochim sealed Sandecja’s first goals and win of the season. Bialystok now fall to second place while Sandecja move into 8th position.

Termalica 1-0 Legia Warsaw

Legia were looking to recover from their midweek disappointment in the Champions League by trying to beat Termalica, who had only picked up one point this season. It was a scrappy match with the reigning champions having the best of the chances through Pazdan and Guilherme. However they couldn’t find a way past unambitious hosts. However against all odds the ‘Orange Wall’ scored a tap in to seal Legia’s fate. Piatek scored to confirm Termalica’s first win of the season. Termalica now move to 11th while Legia go down to 10th.

Zaglebie Lubin 3-0 Pogon Szczecin

After Jaga’s surprising loss, Zaglebie had the chance to go top of the table with a win over Szczecin. They ran out comprehensive 3-0 winners as Nespor and two goals from Swierczok gave the hosts a magnificent 3-0 victory to go top of the table by a single point.

Other Results

Piast Gliwice 1-1 Slask Wroclaw- Marcin Robak score his first goal of the new season to give the visitors the lead befor Dziczek equalised. Piast had the chance to win it when they had a penalty but Vasiiljev missed his 2nd penalty of the season as the hosts missed a big opportunity for their first win of the season.

Wisla Plock 0-1 Wisla Krakow- The visitors went up to second after a 95th minute winner from Carlitos Lopez ensured three points went to Krakow. The hosts have a chance for revenge on Tuesday when they meet again in the Polish Cup.

Lechia Gdansk 1-1 Gornik Zabrze- Igor Angulo scored his 7th goal in four matches to give Gornik a well deserved 1-0 lead before Marco Paxiao scored his 4th goal of the season from the penalty spot. Despite the draw Zabrze maintain their great start to the new season.

Cracovia 0-2 Lech Poznan- Two late goals from Jozwiak and Christian Gytkjaer ensured Poznan’s second win of the season despite a disappointing week. Probierz’s Cracovia continue their disappointing start to the season.

Arka Gdynia 0-0 Korona Kielce- Despite the chances created by the visitors, it ended a goalless draw. Piesio got sent off in the second half for the hosts.

League Table

Here is the league table after this weekend’s fixtures:

STANDINGS:

* @ZaglebieLubin 🔝 of the Table
* @ArkaGdyniaSSA @ZaglebieLubin The only undefeated clubs
* @SandecjaNS gets 1st ESA win ever pic.twitter.com/Vsld9BYe1O

— LOTTO Ekstraklasa EN (@_Ekstraklasa_EN) August 8, 2017

 

Champions League And Europa League Draws Set

Real Madrid (Telegraph)

The draws for the Champions League and Europa League Play-Offs have been announced which has seen some top names enter the fray.

The Champions League play-off draw includes teams like Napoli, Liverpool, Sevilla and Celtic. There are some good names in the Europa League draw such as AC Milan, Braga, Everton and last year’s runners up Ajax. Here are the draws:

Champions League:

Qarabag v Kobenhavn

APOEL v Slavia Prague

Olympiakos v Rijeka

Celtic v Astana

Hapoel Beer-Sheva v Maribor

Istanbul Basaksehir v Sevilla

Young Boys v CSKA Moscow

Napoli v Nice

Hoffenheim v Liverpool

Sporting Lisbon v Steaua Bucharest

Europa League

Shkendija v AC Milan

Vardar v Fernebahce

Ajax v Rosenborg

Osijek v Austria Vienna

Crvena Zvezda v Krasnodar

Altach v Maccabi Tel-Aviv

BATE Borisov v Olexandriya

Club Brugge v AEK

Maritimo v Dynamo Kyiv

Dinamo Zagreb v Skenderbreu

Ludogorets v Suduva

Panathinaikos v Athletic Bilbao

Apollon Limassol v Midtjylland

Domzale v Marseille

Partizan v Videoton

FH v Braga

Everton v Hajduk Split

Utrecht v Zenit St.Petersburg

Legia Warsaw v Sheriff

Vitorul v Salzburg

Plzen v AEK Larnaca

PAOK v Ostersund

Ties for the Champions League play offs will be on the 15/16th of August and the 22/23rd of August.

Ties for the Europa League play offs will be on the 17th of August and the 24th of August.

 

 

 

 

Ekstraklasa Week Three: Legia and Lech Gain First Wins As Jaga Maintain Unbeaten Start

Legia Warsaw and Lech Poznan gained their first wins of the new season as Jagiellonia Bialystok maintained their 100% start to the season.

Legia Warsaw 2-0 Sandecja Nowy Sacz

Heading into their third game of the season, Legia Warsaw had yet to win a match in the Ekstraklasa after only picking one point from their first two games of the season, this is as they were distracted by European football. However they were facing a team that had not scored in their opening two games in Sandecja. It wasn't an ideal start from the visitors as Grzegorz Baran was sent off in the 21st minute. It took a couple of substitutions and 70 minutes for the hosts to find their first goal. This was scored by Kasper Hamalainen who found the bottom corner with an accurate shot. Kucharczyk sealed the victory in stoppage time to seal all three points. Legia now move into the top eight with four points, while Sandecja fall to 14th with one point and are the only team yet to score after three matches.

Lech Poznan 5-1 Piast Gliwice

Poznan were also looking for their first win of the season against Piast and looking for a confidence booster ahead of their Europa League 2nd leg qualifying match against Utrecht. They received that in a 5-1 thumping as goals from Nikki Bille Nielsen, Maciej Makeusewski, Lukasz Tralka and two goals from Christian Gytkaer secured their first win of the season. For Piast they are now bottom of the table after three games.

Pogon Szczecin 0-1 Jagiellonia Bialystok

The away side were hoping to maintain their 100% start to the season this weekend as they went to Szczecin. Pogon played very well and probably thought they deserved all three points, however a last minute Cillian Sheridan goal meant that Jaga made it 9 points out of 9 at the start of the season and have now opened up a two point lead with three games gone.

Other Results:

Arka Gdynia 1-1 Wisla Plock – In what has been a crazy week for the hosts after their first leg Europa League win last week, they managed the visitors a win. A 46th minute penalty by Warcholak denied Plock all three points as Arka now go 5th.

Gornik Zabrze 3-2 Wisla Krakow – Igor Angulo was once again the difference for the hosts as a hat-trick sees the newly promoted side jump into 3rd.

Termalica 1-1 Zaglebie Lubin – The hosts finally won their first point of the season as David Guba's 93rd minute equaliser cancelled out Nespor's early lead for Lubin. The visitors remain second.

Slask Wroclaw 3-2 Lechia Gdansk – The hosts won their first game of the season despite a mini-comeback from Lechia. The visitors pulled it back from 2-0 to 2-2 before captain Celeban scored his second of the game to grab the three points. The win sees them into 12th.

Korona Kielce 4-2 Cracovia – In this crazy game, Kielce managed to score more than their opponents as Probierz's Cracovia are five points off the pace.

Table:

Team Of The Week

https://twitter.com/_Ekstraklasa_EN/status/892339879715127296

 

The Polish Cup Draw: Arka Gdynia Start Their Title Defence Against Slask Wrocław

Arka Gdynia win last season's Polish Cup (Przeglad Sportowy)

The Polish Cup draw has been announced which has seen Arka Gdynia start the defence of their title against Slask Wrocław.

The draw also includes a repeat of last season's Semi-Final between Pogon Szczecin and Lech Poznan. The joint leaders of the Ekstraklasa Zagłebie Lubin and Jagiellonia Białystok will face each other. We also have a good opportunity for an underdog to go deep in the competition as sections one and three have plenty of underdogs in it. Here is the draw:

Section One:
Sokoł Ostróda v Gornik Zabrze
Miedź Legnica v Sandecja
GKS Belchatów v Chojniczanka
Siarka Tarnobrzeg v Bruk-Bet Termalica

Section Two:
Wisła Puławy v Legia Warsaw
Ruch Zdzieszowice v Gornik Łeczna
Pogon Szczecin v Lech Poznan
Drutex Bytovia v Lechia Gdansk

Section Three:
Swit NDM v Podbeskdzie BB
Arka Gdynia v Slask Wrocław
Stal Mielec v Piast Gliwice
Ruch Chorzow v Chrobry Głogow

Section Four:
GKS Tychy v Cracovia
Zagłębie Lubin v Jagiellonia Białystok
Zagłębie Sosnowiec v Korona Kielce
Wisła Krakow v Wisła Płock

Teams in bold are Ekstraklasa teams.

Remember that they are single legged ties until the Quarter-Final and Semi-Final stage of the competition. There will be another draw to determine the Semi-Final composition. Second round ties will be played between the 8th to the 10th of August.

Alexandre Lacazette On The Verge Of Arsenal Signature

Alexandre Lacazette (Getty Images)

Arsenal are on the verge of signing Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon for a massive £50 Million. 

Lacazette, who is 26, has scored over 20 goals a season in his last three seasons for Lyon. However the Frenchman isn’t happy about the club’s ambition and wants to leave for Arsenal. Although he wanted to move to a team who has Champions League Football, he believes this is the opportune time to move to one of the biggest clubs in England.

Arsenal, who have already signed Bosnian left-back Sead Kolasinac, are looking to boost their squad ahead of their Premier league and Europa league campaigns. They have also had a bid rejected from Monaco for Thomas Lemar. The bid is expected to be in the region of £30 million. A French swoop is expected from Arsene Wenger, who has recently signed a new two year deal. Ivan Gazidis revealed last night that Arsenal will be targeting key signings as Arsenal fans are becoming increasingly frustrated.

Morning Outline

Here are this morning’s sports headlines on the 24th of May.

Sport News

 

Can Paul Pogba lead Manchester United to their first Europa League title? (Daily Star)

 

• Manchester United are preparing for their UEFA Europa League final with Ajax with the winners gaining a place in the Champions League next season. Manchester United will place all their cards on the table at the Friends Arena in Stockholm, fail to win the trophy will result in playing in the Europa League next season.
• Sam Allardyce has resigned as Crystal Palace manager after just five months. The former England boss said in a statement yesterday that he has no intention of taking another managerial role.
• Jermain Defoe is set to join Bournemouth on a free transfer.
• Finally, Laurent Koscielny sent will miss the FA Cup final after his appeal was rejected by the FA. He will also miss the first two games of the Premier League next season.

Rumours

 

Max Allegri is joint favourite to become the new Arsenal boss. (Goal)

 

• Max Allegri and Patrick Viera are joint favourites to become the new boss at Arsenal. Arsene Wenger will make a decision on his future after the FA Cup final this Saturday.
• Speaking of Arsenal, Bayern Munich have apparently put in a bid of 60 million for Alexis Sanchez. The Chilean forward’s contract runs out next summer.
• David Moyes could become the next manager of Scotland if Gordon Strachan was to vacate his position in June. Scotland are unlikely to qualify for the World Cup next year.
• Finally Marco Silva is set to leave Hull City and become the new manager of Porto. The former Olympiacos boss failed to keep Hull in the Premier League.

Why Arsene Wenger Is To Blame For Arsenal’s Failures

 

 

Arsene Wenger is to blame for Arsenal’s failure to make the Champions League as he wasn’t responsible enough to make his own decisions.

Here are the facts, Arsenal failed to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in 21 years. They also finished below North London Rivals Tottenham Hotspur for the first time in 21 years. All of this is down to uncertainty of the manager and the structure of the football club.

 

Stan Kroenke treats sport like a business. (CBS)

 

The structure of Arsenal at a higher tier level is one that is aimed to improve the Business and stock market of the brand, not to improve the performance of the club. All that Stan Kroenke owns are a complete failure in their sport. For example the Colorado Rapids are currently bottom of the MLS Western Conference and the Denver Nuggets are ninth in the NBA western conference. These are failures and a club of Arsenal’s stature should not be accepting this. Despite Alisher Usmanov bidding 1.3 billion dollars for complete ownership, Kroenke has stood firm and continued his arrogant attitude towards sport.

However the short-term issue is Arsene Wenger. Arsene Wenger needs to take responsibility for Arsenal Football Club’s failures and I am not just talking tactically or his lack of leadership, I am talking about his lack of decision making and uncertainty surrounding the future of Arsenal. He admitted after the 3-1 victory over Everton that his uncertainty over his future has affected Arsenal’s future. Now even though I am a Wenger Out person, I would be less mad if he announced future three months ago than now, whatever the decision. After the victory on Sunday he didn’t even thank the fans, which shows his utter arrogance towards management.

 

Alexis Sanchez may miss the FA Cup final in potentially his final season at the Emirates. (The Sun)

 

Focus now turns to the FA Cup final against Chelsea, possibly without Laurent Koscielny, Gabriel, Mustafi and Alexis Sanchez. After the match a board meeting will take place in which it will go something like this:

Kroenke: ‘Well this season we have increased shirt sales in the U.S and Asia, so as long as this trajectory continues, you can sign a two year deal?’

Wenger: ‘Well if you insist…’

This is discomforting for most Arsenal fans as they would like to see change at the club and Arsene Wenger leaving would be the start of the revolution. The manager and the board must take responsibility for the failures of the club and the consequences that follow in the summer.

Ekstraklasa Score Centre!

Today is a big day in the Lotto Ekstraklasa as all eight matches are on at the same time in what is the last day before the points split! Join me as every goal goes in!

What’s To Play for?

We have an epic four team title race and five teams are battling for three spots in the top eight. Pogon Szczecin, Korona Kielce, Termalica, Wisła Płock and Zagłebie Lubin are all separated by a point heading into the final game before the points divide. While Jagiellonia Białystok , Legia Warsaw, Lechia Gdansk and Lech Poznan all battle out to gain an advantage over each other in what is an epic title race!

Here is the table as it stands:

Here are today’s matches that I will be keeping you up to date at 18:00 European time:

Arka Gdynia 1-1 Wisła Płock

Cracovia 1-2 Legia Warsaw

Gornik Łeczna 3-1 Wisła Krakow

Korona Kielce 0-1 Termalica 

Lech Poznan 3-0 Ruch Chorzow 

Pogon Szczecin 3-1 Lechia Gdansk

Piast Gliwice 0-1 Jagiellonia Białystok

Zagłebie Lubin 1-1 Slask Wrocław.

First Half:

REFRESH EVERY TWO MINUTES FOR UPDATES!

5: GOAL! Slask take the lead through Celeban scrappy goal. 0-1.

7: GOAL! Poznan take the lead over struggling Chorzow! Own goal give the hosts the lead. 1-0.

10: GOAL! Szczecin take a big lead over Gdansk! Fraczczak scores the rebound. 1-0.

17: GOAL! Gdansk equalise, Krasic scissor kick puts Lechia level! 1-1.

18: GOAL! Legia take the lead over Cracovia, Nagy with the goal! 0-1.

22: GOAL! Gornik take the lead through Spiaczka! 1-0.

25: GOAL! Jagiellonia take the lead in Gliwice! Sheridan with the goal. 0-1.

30: GOAL! Lubin level after Wozniak places it into the bottom corner! 1-1.

40: GOAL! Poznan score to go 2-0 ahead. Gajos the scorer. 2-0.

40: GOAL! Arka score to go 1-0 ahead. Siemaszko scores! 1-0.

43: GOAL! Cracovia score from the penalty spot! Dabrowski the goal scorer. 1-1.

SECOND HALF

49: GOAL! Legia re-take the lead through Necid! 1-2.

56: GOAL! Termalica take the lead! Nowak takes a crucial lead for the visitors. 0-1.

61: GOAL! Szczecin take the lead through Kort. 2-1.

62: GOAL! Poznan make it 3-0, through Jevtic! 3-0.

68: GOAL! Szczecin turn up the style and make it 3-1. Kort scores his second goal of the game. 3-1.

71: GOAL! Krakow equalises! Glowacki scores from a corner! 1-1.

78: GOAL! Gornik have re-taken the lead through a long range effort from Bonin. 2-1.

92: GOAL! Gornik score a third, Spiaczka adds a third on the final whistle. 3-1.

94: GOAL! Plock score an equaliser from the penalty spot. 1-1.

Full Time

Here are your full time results:

Arka Gdynia 1-1 Wisła Płock

Cracovia 1-2 Legia Warsaw

Gornik Łeczna 3-1 Wisła Krakow

Korona Kielce 0-1 Termalica 

Lech Poznan 3-0 Ruch Chorzow 

Pogon Szczecin 3-1 Lechia Gdansk

Piast Gliwice 0-1 Jagiellonia Białystok

Zagłebie Lubin 1-1 Slask Wrocław

It means that Pogon Szczecin, Termalica and Korona Kielce join the championship group! Here is the points divide table:

Championship Group

1. Jagiellonia Bialystok – 30pts
2. Legia Warsaw – 29pts
3. Lech Poznan – 28pts
4. Lechia Gdansk – 27pts
5. Wisla Krakow – 22pts
6. Pogon Szczecin – 21pts
7. Termalica – 21pts
8. Korona Kielce – 20pts

Relegation Group

9. Wisla Plock – 20pts

10. Zaglebie Lubin – 20pts

11. Slask Wroclaw – 17pts

12. Arka Gdynia – 16pts

13. Cracovia – 16pts

14. Ruch Chorzow – 15pts

15. Piast Gliwice – 15pts

16. Gornik Leczna – 15pts