The All Other Leagues/Competitions Discussion Thread

[Brahvocado]

Quote: Originally Posted by Krebstar

Unforch for Bellingham.

He should have just racially abused Greenwood, La Liga is fine with that.

[bhurst99]

Got to believe Bayern's streak of titles comes to an end now. Thanks Harry Kane!

Sent from my SM-S901W using Operation Sports mobile app

[fugazi]

Pulisic with a nice Goal and an Assist today.

[southernmetalhead]

Modric comes on in the 75th, scores the winner in the 81st.

[ImTellinTim]

Paul Pogba officially banned 4 years for elevated levels of testosterone following a test after a match he didn't even play in.

Tough break for a good kid.

I've seen a lot of articles/interviews lately that basically say for years and years, and in various nations (but especially Italy and Spain), that doping was an open secret in the sport and nothing was done. I wonder what kind of stuff is going to come out over the years about that.

[Krebstar]

Quote: Originally Posted by ImTellinTim

I've seen a lot of articles/interviews lately that basically say for years and years, and in various nations (but especially Italy and Spain), that doping was an open secret in the sport and nothing was done. I wonder what kind of stuff is going to come out over the years about that.

It's definitely out there—without a doubt. However, whenever it's players from English clubs talking about it (Neville, Keane) I can't help but wonder that maybe, just maybe, certain clubs and even countries were well ahead of the Premier League regarding conditioning, nutrition, recovery, etc. and some of those former players don't want to admit or realize how archaic their training and approach to fitness were. (Yes, even though Keane had his cheese sandwich incident, as a club I'm sure United were still behind those on the continent.)

Eventually everyone caught up, but there was clearly a time when clubs viewed player fitness very differently in England (cup of tea and a smoke at the half, pints during the off-season) and Italy.

Yes, there is and was doping, but just as England was far behind tactically from the continent (Ferguson publicly talked about this, I believe), there was a time when they were also very behind regarding fitness.

[southernmetalhead]

What a weird bounce this ball takes on the goalkeeper.

https://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=39637813

[DrJones]

Trying to put what Leverkusen is doing into perspective:

1. I'm reasonably sure that their 39-match undefeated streak (in all competitions) from the start of a season is the record for a major European league. The best I could find was 1991/92 Milan (35 games) and 1994/95 Ajax (32 games)

2. The closest any club has come to a "perfect" season is that 94/95 Ajax team
- Won Eredivisie undefeated
- Won Champions League undefeated
- Won Dutch SuperCup
- Lost in KNVB Cup QF
- Final record, all competitions: 37W 11D 1L

3. The only club I could find that won a treble with an undefeated league season is 2010-11 Porto
- Won Primeira Liga undefeated
- Won Europa League - but lost a leg in both the two-leg R32 and SF rounds
- Won Taça de Portugal - but lost a leg in the two-leg SF
- Won Supertaça (Community Shield equivalent)
- Lost in 3rd round of Taça de Liga (League Cup equivalent)

4. Leverkusen (no league titles to date in their 120-year existence) has had more agonizing near-misses than any other club in a big league (and maybe any team in any sport). Since the 85/86 season, here's how they've placed in the Bundesliga:

1st ZERO
2nd 5
3rd 6
4th 5
5th 7
6th 6

7th-9th 6
10th-12th 1
13th-15th 2
16th-18th 0

The most definitive "Neverkusen" experience was May 2002, where they managed to blow a 5-point lead with 3 games to go for their 1st Bundesliga title, then proceeded to lose the DFB-Pokal Final and Champions League Final in the same week.

5. Here's where Leverkusen is currently:

a. A 13-point lead over 11-time defending champions Bayern Munich with 7 games to go. No team in a Big 5 league has ever lost the title when leading by 13+ points at any point in a season.

b. A DFB-Pokal SF vs Fortuna Dusseldorf (currently 3rd in the 2nd division) this Wednesday. If Leverkusen wins, they would face the winner of Kaiserslautern (currently 16th in the 2nd division) and Saarbrucken (currently 11th in the 3rd division).

c. A Europa League QF vs West Ham. Winning Europa would be a big, big ask with Liverpool and Milan still in the bracket.

Oh, and have I mentioned that during this streak, Leverkusen has scored NINE game-winning or game-tying goals in the 90th minute or later?

So soccer's equivalent to the Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Indians/Guardians, and pre-2018 Washington Capitals will almost certainly architect one of the greatest stories in football history, or the biggest bottle job ever. With a (small) chance of an unprecedented perfect season as well. Fun!