It's going to be a strange year for sport and much like 2020, these sporting events will feel much different than normal. However there is plenty to keep the average punter happy when it comes to placing bets and trying your luck. The crowds will be much thinner, but that might even make it a bit easier for the experts to focus on what they do best.
I find the best odds and biggest range of events for our taste over at SportsBet.io, here is a month by month rundown of the biggest events happening this year.
February is packed with action: Fifa World Cup, Tennis ATP Cup and the Australian Open, Nascar: Daytona 500, Premier League Darts and Rugby Union: Six nations round one. The pinnacle of all sporting events, The NFL Super Bowl LV also takes place on the 7th of Feb.
March continues the pace with The Cheltenham Festival horse race, the Oman Open and the Darts: 2021 UK Open.
April has a nice mix with the World Snooker Championship, The Men's golf major: Masters Tournament, the Carabao Cup final and the Escape Loch Ness cycling event.
May leads us to another super hot month, with the Belfast City Half Marathon, the legendary Kentucky Derby, the Portugal masters and European Tour golf. The 2021 Scottish FA Cup final will also crown a winner. The British Touring Car Championship is a favorite for speed rally freaks. The US PGA Championship and the French Open will have tennis fans on the edge of their seats. To round it off the Uefa Champions League final occurs at the end of the month.
It's a bit quieter in June, Epsom Derby festival & Royal Ascot will attract horse racing afficionados and the Uefa European Championship is decided.
July is the opening of the Tokyo Olympic Games, although this one is looking rather precarious with the pandemic current situation, it will open up a whole realm of out of the ordinary sports for viewers.
The highlights of August would be more Olympic sporting activities, the English Open, the British Grand Prix MotoGP event, The US Open and the Tokyo Paralympics.
September will keep you busy with the World's Strongest Man: Giants Live World Tour Finals, the KLM open and the 43rd Ryder Cup.
October is when the London Marathon takes place, has the Rugby World Cup 2021 and plenty of golf tournaments to cap it off.
November has the DP World Tour Championship, the Ashes Test cricket series and the Melbourne Cup in Victoria, Australia.
December rounds out the Ashes test series and finishes with some classic UK Championship Snooker.

Introduction

Hello, everyone. We've talked endlessly about Man United's various players and how good they really are, but something which I've seen crop up on occasion is the idea of the 'winning mentality'. In other words, it's this idea that part of the reason that this club is struggling on the pitch at the moment is attributable to the fact that most of our players have little to no experience winning trophies and so lack the required drive, desire or experience to succeed in the same way that the likes of Liverpool and Man City have.
How do we measure 'winning mentality', though? I don't think it can truly be measured objectively, but medals and trophy cabinets might give us some indication. Thus, I'll be going through every player currently at the club (with a minimum cut-off of fifty career senior appearances) and looking at all the senior trophies they've won to see how true it is that our current problems stem partially from a lack of experience at winning things.
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David de Gea

De Gea was bought from Atlético Madrid by Sir Alex on the 29th of June 2011 for £18.9 million (which was a British record for a goalkeeper at the time) and it's fair to say that he's been among our best players in recent years. You may already know that he's one of the very few players left at the club who has won a Premier League title, but what else has he won?
Not many people talk about this, but DDG had actually won stuff with Atlético prior to joining United, namely the Europa League and the UEFA Super Cup. Not the most impressive haul, but part of Fergie's magic was instilling a winning mentality into players who otherwise might not have possessed the same mental fortitude.
At United, De Gea was of course part of Ferguson's last title-winning squad. In addition, he has won an FA Cup under van Gaal, a League Cup under Mourinho, three Community Shields (one under Ferguson, one under Moyes and one under Mourinho) and he even got a winners' medal when Mourinho won the Europa League (I checked and he did actually play a few fixtures). All-in-all, not a bad trophy haul, but considering that he was the best goalkeeper in the world at one point, he'll be disappointed to have won just one league title and no Champions Leagues in his senior career. His lack of silverware with Spain will also be an issue for him.
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Dean Henderson

Hendo came from the youth ranks but didn't sign a senior contract until August 2015. He has since gone on loan to Stockport County, Grimsby Town, Shrewsbury Town and Sheffield United. In that time, he hasn't won a single senior trophy; the closest he came was making the EFL Trophy final with Shrewsbury and coming second in the Championship with Sheffield United. He's no doubt a solid keeper, but if we're to return to the glory days, Ole (or whoever a future manager might be) is going to need to drill him to win titles.
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Sergio Romero

The Argentinian international was signed on a free transfer (his most recent club being Sampdoria) by Louis van Gaal on the 27th of July 2015. Prior to joining United, he had already won the Eredivisie and the Johan Cruyff Shield (which is basically the Dutch Super Cup) with AZ Alkmaar, so he had experience winning league titles. He had also recently featured in the World Cup Final for Argentina, but failed to win.
Since joining United, he has won the FA Cup, the League Cup, the Community Shield and, most notably, the Europa League. He has failed to win anything with Argentina despite reaching two Copa América finals. Considering he's essentially a backup, his trophy cabinet isn't too shabby. Plus, he absolutely earned that Europa League title under José considering he played both in the semi-final and the final (take notes, Ole).
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Lee Grant

Manchester United's GOAT goalkeeper has had quite the career. Signed from Stoke City on the 3rd of July 2018 for a reported fee of £1.5 million, it's fair to say that he's a bit of a veteran, having made his senior debut all the way back in 2002. In that time, he has won absolutely nothing. I mean, I guess there's no obligation for the third-choice goalie to have won anything, but still, it's a little odd.
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Joel Pereira

A youth player, Joel Pereira has spent most of his time on loan. He has yet to win anything.
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Victor Lindelof

Lindelof was signed from Benfica by Mourinho in June 2017 for a fee of €35 million, and his list of honours is bigger than you might expect (granted, not quite playing at the same level). His first trophy was the Swedish Division 1 title with Vasteras SK, before winning three Primeira Liga titles, two Taca de Portugal titles, one Taca de Liga and one Supertaca Candido de Oliveira with Benfica. In other words, prior to joining United, he had won four league titles, two cups, a league cup and a super cup. He has yet to win anything with Sweden, however, or with Manchester United for that matter.
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Eric Bailly

Bailly was the first player to be signed by Mourinho on the 8th of June 2016 for £30 million; he had previously been at Villareal. Bailly is a rather unusual case in that he hadn't won any domestic trophies prior to joining United but he's also the first person on this list to have won international silverware, more specifically the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations with Cote d'Ivoire. At United, he has won the Community Shield, the League Cup and the Europa League, all under José Mourinho.
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Phil Jones

Now we come to none other than Jonesta himself. When he was first signed by Fergie from Blackburn Rovers on the 13th of June 2011 for £16.5 million, he was genuinely seen as one of the hottest young talents at the time despite not having won anything. It's a shame that hasn't really lived up to his potential, but right now, we're focussed only on trophies, and I have to say that he hasn't done too badly for himself on that front.
He's one of the few players at this club who has won the Premier League, more specifically Ferguson's last title (which is still one more than Steven Gerrard). He has also won the Community Shield under both Ferguson and Moyes (not under Mourinho, however), the FA Cup under van Gaal and the Europa League under Mourinho. At international level, he of course hasn't won anything with England.
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Harry Maguire

Maguire was infamously signed for £80 million (a world record fee for a defender) from Leicester City on the 5th of August 2019. The only silverware he's ever won, though, is a Championship play-off trophy with Hull City, which is somehow still more than some of our other players. Of course, he's also reached two semi-finals with England (the World Cup and the Nations League) but he's yet to bring football home. With his record in mind, it's easy to see why some fans are sceptical of Slabhead's captaincy.
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Marcos Rojo

Like Cristiano, Rojo came from Sporting, having been signed for £16 million by Louis van Gaal on the 19th of August 2014. He has been much-maligned by United fans for a while now (I bet most of you forgot he was still at the club), but his trophy cabinet, compared to most of our players, is actually relatively impressive.
While at Estudiantes de La Plata (which is not one of the Argentinian 'Big Two' of River Plate and Boca Juniors), Rojo won the 2010 Apertura (which I think counts as a league title?) and the 2009 Copa Libertadores. That makes him the first player on this list to have won a continental title. At United, he has won the FA Cup, the League Cup, the Europa League and the Community Shield. I have to say, if the problem is players who lack a winning mentality then I'm not sure Rojo should be the first to go (though he's still deadwood IMO).
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Axel Tuanzebe

Somehow, he actually makes the cut-off; I didn't realise how much he's actually played. Another youth player, most of Tuanzebe's appearances have come while on loan to Aston Villa, and he actually won the Championship play-off with them, so he already has a trophy in his cabinet. He also supposedly has a Europa League to his name, but I'm not sure how considering he hadn't made his debut yet, so I'll be cautious and exclude it.
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Luke Shaw

Louis van Gaal signed Luke Shaw from Southampton on the 27th of June 2014 for a reported fee of £30 million (making him the most expensive teenager in world football at the time). What had he won at that point? Nothing. Still, he was considered a generational talent and he has since won a couple of stuff at Manchester United: the Community Shield and the Europa League, both under José. Yeah, his trophy cabinet is pretty barebones.
Interestingly enough, Chelsea were in for him at the same time United were, but backed out due to his wage demands. Perhaps Shaw would have won more trophies had he gone to Chelsea instead? More interesting is that José Mourinho was Chelsea manager at the time, so it's quite ironic that after refusing to sign Shaw, he'd end up managing him anyway.
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Timothy Fosu-Mensah

I'm not sure what position TFM plays, but fullback seems most appropriate. Anyway, he came through our academy and didn't win anything on his various loan deals. However, he has won both the FA Cup and the Europa League at United, like most of our players, it seems.
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Alex Telles

Signed from Porto for £15 million in this transfer window, I'm happy to say that he's actually won a lot of stuff in various leagues, which is hopefully a good sign.
Firstly, he has won the Copa FGF (a regional Brazilian cup competition) twice with Juventude. Secondly, he has won a league title with Galatasaray, as well as two Turkish Cups and a Turkish Super Cup. Finally, he has won two Primeira Liga titles, a Taca de Portugal and a Supertaca Candido de Oliveira with Porto. He has won trophies at every club which he's spent more than a season with, so hopefully, he'll help United to our first piece of silverware since the Europa League under José.
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Aaron Wan-Bissaka

Signed from Crystal Palace for £50 million on the 29th of June 2019, he hasn't got the greatest pedigree, winning nothing. How much he's expected to win at the age of 22, I don't know, but certainly, there's still plenty of time. What's needed is for someone to instil that winning mentality into him like Sir Alex would have done with his young signings.
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Diogo Dalot

Dalot was supposedly considered a huge talent before signing for us, but really, it seems to me as if he should be a winger rather than a fullback. Anyway, we signed him from Porto on the 6th of June 2018 for £19 million, but went out on loan this transfer window to A.C. Milan. Believe it or not, he's actually got a trophy to his name, and it's not some minor super cup either; he's actually won the Primeira Liga with Porto. Dude has won more trophies than Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
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Paul Pogba

Depending on who you ask, Pogba is a fantastic midfielder who is United's best player, a talented midfielder who has been too inconsistent or a waste of money who has cared only for himself (in José Mourinho's words, a 'virus'). This isn't too surprising considering we signed him for £89 million from Juventus on the 8th of August 2016, which was a world record for any player at the time; of course expectations were going to be high.
At Juventus, Pogba was a trophy-winning machine, having to his name four Serie A titles, two Coppa Italia titles and two Supercoppa Italiana titles. The lack of European success was his only weak spot in that regard. Since joining United, however, he's been restricted to a League Cup and a Europa League, which must feel like quite the stepdown (at least he's got a European trophy now, though probably not the one he wanted).
That's only counting club trophies, of course. His greatest achievement by far has to be his 2018 World Cup win for France; it's not as if he was a passenger either, being praised during the tournament for boosting France's midfield significantly. This, to me, shows that he can absolutely be motivated to win titles, but it doesn't seem to happening for him at United for whatever reason.
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Juan Mata

The only David Moyes signing still at the club, Mata was signed from Chelsea in January 2014 for £37 million, which was a club record at the time. He had an illustrious career prior to joining United, and looking at his trophy cabinet, one could argue that he has effectively wasted his prime years at this club.
Even prior to joining Chelsea, he had won a Copa del Rey with Valencia and the 2010 World Cup with Spain. He then proceeded to win a Champions League, a Europa League and an FA Cup with Chelsea (as well as reaching the final of the FIFA Club World Cup), in addition to winning the 2012 European Championship with Spain. When United signed him at the age of 25, he had already won pretty much every major trophy barring a top-flight title and he hadn't even hit his prime, so the signing must have felt like an absolute steal.
Unfortunately, this is where Mata's success began to fade. At Manchester United, he has won a Europa League, an FA Cup, a League Cup and a Community Shield, but still no league title. At the age of 32, it seems unlikely that he'll win any more major trophies, which is a shame for a player who won so much at a tender age.
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Jesse Lingard

Although he made several appearances as an unused sub under Fergie, Lingard didn't make his competitive debut for the club until the 2014-15 season under van Gaal (who loved to use youth players). How much has won, then? Not more than most other players, it should be said. None of his loan spells garnered him any trophies, but he has won the Europa League, the FA Cup, the League Cup and the Community Shield for Man United.
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Fred

When United signed the Brazilian midfielder for £47 million from Shakhtar Donetsk on the 5th of June 2018, there were no doubt a few eyebrows raised. However, he has actually won a boatload of trophies at club level despite his lack of international success.
While at Internacional, Fred won the Campeonato Gaúcho (the top division of the Rio Grande do Sul regional leagues) twice and then proceeded to win three Ukrainian Premier League titles, three Ukrainian Cups and four Ukrainian Super Cups at Shakhtar Donetsk. That's actually not a bad trophy haul at all.
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Bruno Fernandes

Ah, the Portuguese Magnifico himself; when United fans talk about the 'winning mentality', Bruno is often the first player that is pointed to as an example of a player who possesses this mentality. The question is, though, has Bruno actually won anything?
As a matter of fact, he has, but no league titles, unfortunately. While at Sporting, he has won a Taca de Portugal and two Taca da Liga titles, so a cup and two league cups. His most prestigious trophy is arguably the 2018-19 Nations League with Portugal, though time will tell if the Nations League successfully establishes itself as a premier competition. That being said, based solely on his trophy haul, there is little to suggest that Bruno has what it takes to win a league title (of course, anyone can see from his performances and demeanour on the pitch that he hates losing).
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Nemanja Matic

The best Nemanja since Vidic, Matic has won a lot of trophies over his career. When he was first signed from Chelsea by Man United on the 31st of July 2017 for £40 million, he had already won the incredibly prestigious Slovak Cup with Kosice, before winning two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and a League Cup during his two stints at Chelsea as well as a Primeira Liga and a Taca de Liga with Benfica. At United, he has won...nothing. In fact, if you discount his season-long loan at Vitesse, this is so far the only club in which Matic hasn't won anything.
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Donny van de Beek

For Ajax, DvdB won an Eredivisie title, a Dutch Cup and a Johan Cruyff Shield. He also reached a Nations League final with the Netherlands. Time will tell if he can add to his trophy cabinet at Manchester United.
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Scott McTominay

McSauce came through the youth ranks, made his debut at the end of the 2016-17 season and has yet to win anything.
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Andreas Pereira

Pereira made his senior debut in the 2015-16 season before being loaned to Granada, Valencia and now Lazio. He has yet to win anything at senior level.
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Edinson Cavani

The signing of Cavani has divided opinion. Some feel that he'll be the next Bastian Schweinsteiger or Radamel Falcao, while others feel that he could be the next Zlatan Ibrahimovic. However, one thing that can't be denied is his massive trophy cabinet; whether a player who has achieved as much as he has is precisely what United needs is another matter.
The Uruguayan started his career by winning the Primera División with his boyhood club Danubio before winning a Coppa Italia with Napoli. However, it was at PSG where he really shone, winning six Ligue 1 titles, the Coupe de France four times, the Coupe de la Ligue five times and the Trophée des Champions four times. Yes, it's PSG and yes, he hasn't won any continental competitions, but he's still a proven winner. Add in the 2011 Copa América (which he won with Uruguay) and I don't think Man United have a more decorated player in their squad at the moment. The real question is whether Cavani is past it or whether he still possesses the class that he had in his prime.
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Anthony Martial

On the 1st of September 2015, Manchester United famously threw £50 million down the drain to sign a 19-year-old Anthony Martial (who came from France) from AS Monaco. The English press declared that he had no chance; he went on to score 71 goals in 225 competitive games for United.
It should be said that Martial hadn't won anything when we signed him, but considering his age, that's forgivable. He has since won the FA Cup, the League Cup, the Community Shield and the Europa League, but still no Ballon d'Or. As for the French national team, Martial came close to winning Euro 2016 but he (and France) fell at the final hurdle, while he wasn't included in the squad for the 2018 World Cup.
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Dr. Marcus Rashford MBE

The future Prime Minister and part-time Manchester United forward came through the academy ranks before making his debut under Louis van Gaal following an injury to Martial. Rashford during his time at Man United has won an FA Cup, a League Cup, a Community Shield, a Europa League, a Member of the Order of the British Empire and an honorary doctorate from the University of Manchester.
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Mason Greenwood

The best finisher at the club since Robin van Persie, Greenwood also came through the academy ranks. Given his young age and lack of experience, he of course hasn't won anything yet.
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Daniel James

The Welsh winger was Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's first signing as manager, being bought from Swansea City on the 6th of June 2019 for £15 million. Given his previous club (Swansea) and his national team (Wales), it's no surprise that he's yet to win anything.
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Odion Ighalo

Unlike the rest of the players here, Ighalo was loaned to us in January 2020 from Shanghai Greenland Shenhua. He may won just the one trophy, but when that trophy is none other than the coveted Chinese FA Cup, you can already tell that he's a natural born winner (Chinese FA Cup-winning centre-forward, you'll never sing that!). He also came second place in the Championship with Watford, but second place is first place for losers, so that doesn't really matter.
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Jadon Sancho

Bought on deadline day for £120 million, Sancho has won the DFL-Supercup with Borussia Dortmund.
...screw Ed Woodward. At least we have Facundo Pellistri, eh?
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Conclusion

This whole thing is turning into a bit of a mess, so let's standardise it with some numerical values. Note that these are just arbitrary numbers that I've assigned for comparison purposes, so don't take them as gospel.
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World Cup, confederation cup (e.g. Euros), Champions League, Copa Libertadores = 20 points
Top-flight title in 'Big Five' leagues = 16 points
Europa League, national cup competition in 'Big Five' leagues = 10 points
UEFA Nations League = 6 points
Other top-flight title = 5 points
Other national cup competition = 3 points
Other cup (e.g. league cups, super cups) = 1 point
​
With this system, here are all the current Man United players (min. 50 senior appearances) ranked by trophy haul.
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Cavani: 180
Pogba: 117
Mata: 112
Matic: 52
De Gea: 51
Rojo: 47
Jones: 38
Fred: 33
Bailly: 32
Lindelof: 28
Romero: 28
Telles: 27
Lingard: 22
Martial: 22
Rashford: 22
Fosu-Mensah: 20
Fernandes: 11
Shaw: 11
Van de Beek: 9
Dalot: 5
Ighalo: 3
Maguire: 1
Tuanzebe: 1
Grant: 0
Greenwood: 0
Henderson: 0
James: 0
McTominay: 0
Pereira (both of them): 0
Wan-Bissaka: 0
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Obviously, trophies aren't everything (I am not seriously suggesting that Phil Jones has a stronger mentality than Bruno Fernandes) but this might be interesting. For reference, here's the list for all of Man United's players who played in at least five league games in the 2012-13 season (our last league title) up to and including the beginning of that season (so trophies won after the start of the 2012-13 season, including the league title, aren't counted).
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Ryan Giggs: 291\*
Paul Scholes: 244*
Rio Ferdinand: 113*+
Anderson: 111*
Nemanja Vidic: 108*
Michael Carrick: 98*+
Patrice Evra: 97*
Wayne Rooney: 95*
Nani: 83*
Shinji Kagawa: 62
Jonny Evans: 44*^
Chicharito: 42
Rafael: 41*
Antonio Valencia: 23
Robin van Persie: 21
Chris Smalling: 18
David de Gea: 12
Danny Welbeck: 9*
Anders Lindegaard: 4
Tom Cleverley: 2
Ashley Young: 2
Phil Jones: 1
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*Player won the Club World Cup, which I've assigned 6 points
+Player won the Intertoto Cup, which I've assigned 3 points
^Player won the second division of a 'Big Five' league, which I've assigned 3 points
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OK, firstly, jeez, calm down, Giggsy. Secondly, LOL at Anderson being ahead of Vidic, Carrick, Ferdinand, Evra and Rooney. Thirdly, that 2012-13 squad contained 10 players who had a score greater than 52 at the time (and of course, several of them saw a jump after the title win). The current squad has 3. Obviously, it's much easier when you've been winning titles left, right and centre for the past twenty years, but make no mistake: Fergie drilled his teams to win at all costs.

Manchester United fans cannot be satisfied with their team’s Premier League campaign, as they are currently 8th in the table. However, thanks to often hiccups of their rivals, the Red Devils are only five points behind Tottenham Hotspur, having played one game less. In the mid-week, Bruno Fernandes and the lads are a completely different team, and in a very tough group, they top the table. After a poor start to the Premier League season, nobody expected that Man Utd could win in Paris – again. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side is three points ahead of their upcoming rivals and RB Leipzig, whom they trashed 5:0 at Old Trafford. If United haven’t lost away to Basaksehir – thanks to terrible defensive positioning – they wouldn’t worry about the place in the eight-finals. However, Manchester United needs a point from this one at the home ground to secure a place in the top two. Despite not so confident displays, the hosts tied four victories in a row, and the latest one came against Southampton last weekend. The Red Devils were 2:0 down at half time but managed to score a winner in the stoppage time. That one might boost their confidence ahead to this crucial game.
On the other hand, PSG has been in a variable form lately, as the visitors booked only two wins in the past five games. They lost to RB Leipzig 2:1 in Germany and suffered a surprising 3:2 defeat in Monaco, although they were 2:0 ahead. Last weekend, Thomas Tuhel’s side earned just a point against Bordeaux at Parc des Princes. Only six points in the current Champions League campaign cannot satisfy the last season’s finalists, and this is a must-win game for the visitors. Neymar and Kylian Mbappe are back in the squad, and the French champions will heavily rely on them in this clash. Nevertheless, other players can pose a real threat to the hosts, although Marquinhos, Julian Draxler, and Juan Bernat won’t be able to help their teammates.

Full-Time Winner Odds & Prediction

It is going to be an exciting clash and a very unpredictable one. Looking into each team’s strengths, PSG has more individual quality, but they don’t perform constantly this year. Man Utd can put masterclass display and yet lose to the bottom-half Premier League teams at Old Trafford. Nevertheless, we believe the hosts won’t suffer a defeat in this one.

Goals Market Prediction

Both teams have trouble keeping their nets intact lately. Their last two matches were pretty efficient ones, and we think both teams will score at least once in the game.
Manchester United AH 0 @ 2.10
BTTS Yes @ 1.55
Correct score 1:1 @ 7.00
Read the analysis here and share your opinion with us!

With the 2020-2021 Serie A underway, there is a general sense of uncertainty about a league that has fallen from the heights of its glory in the 1990s. Juventus are looking to make it an even 10 Scudetti in a row, yet with a new, untested manager in Andrea Pirlo, a new midfield, and arguably less star quality than they have had since their unbeaten title in 2011-2012 they are facing more questions about their ability to sustain a title challenge while also competing in a European front.
Most of these questions are coming from a chasing pack that collectively looks much stronger than any top-flight season Italy has seen in the last decade. While standout individual squads such as Maurizio Sarri’s 2017-2018 Napoli have blooded the champions before, the last several years in Italian football have allowed several teams to plan on dethroning Juventus, and this season Lazio, Milan, and Inter will relish the chance to ruin Juve’s 10th.
But the sternest challenge might come from a Lombardy team that has never won major honors since 1963, when they were crowned Coppa Italia champions. Atalanta capped off a second season in 2019-20 with another Champions League place, their best European finish since 1991, and most importantly without selling any of their key players, with the only departures being the backup wing-back Timothy Castagne and the teenage winger Amad Traore.
Should Atalanta capture a miracle first ever Scudetto, they would become the first “new” title-winners since Sampdoria in 1991, a gap of 29 years. But Samp themselves didn’t have to wait that long to break an existing hegemony. Their debut title was preceded by only four years, when Napoli captured their first Scudetto in 1987, and two years earlier than that, Hellas Verona won their only title in 1985.
And that’s where we find ourselves today, exploring the unheralded Verona side of 1984/1985.
 
1985: Something is rotten in the state of fair Verona…
Or so the competing clubs in Italy thought at the end of the 1984/1985 season. In a league full of talented stars such as Michel Platini and Alessandro Altobelli, the Scudetto traveled the banks of the Adige to Julius Caesar’s favorite vacation spot.
The context of the league at the time adds some further spice to this particular shock. In 1980, the scandal of Totonero broke; Italian internationals such as Enrico Albertosi were found to have placed bets on teams in a complex web of movements revolving around a Roman restaurant. Totonero could be a book on its own, or perhaps a good documentary, but its most relevant consequence were the attempted reforms to the system of Italian referee selection throughout the following decade. In 1984/1985, instead of relying on the traditional designatori arbitrali, the referee assignment council, the Italian league decided to randomly draw referees, allowing no one knowledge of who was going to referee their games.
Furthermore, in January of 1984, the Italian league decided to enforce a three-season ban on signing foreign players for all teams except those newly promoted: Atalanta, Como and Cremonese. Therefore, the cream of Italy’s crop decided to invest big on foreign players already in Italy and elsewhere across the world.
 
La Stampa's headline 29 June 1984: Foreigners, a summer of negotiations, and then the blockade
 
Big names were moving: the Scot Graeme Souness, back when Pogba didn’t exist to hate, headed to Sampdoria from Liverpool, the German Karl-Heinz Rummenigge joined Inter from Bayern Munich, and across town in Milan, the English duo of Mark Hateley and Ray Wilkins moved to the red half of the San Siro from Portsmouth and Manchester United respectively. The third Brazilian midfield magician of 1982, Socrates, joined Fiorentina, while his teammate Junior signed for Torino. Oh, and Napoli signed some angry midget from Barcelona - we’ll get to him in a minute.
Verona made moves with the rest of them. It would be wrong to call them an untalented squad - their coach, Osvaldo Bagnoli, brought them to a fourth-place finish and a Coppa Italia final in 1982-1983, although Juventus triumphed over them across two legs. They already had the creative attacker Pietro Fanna and the midfield playmaker Antonio Di Gennaro, spearheaded by the speedy Giuseppe Galderisi. But they had very little pedigree in Italian football, with their main contribution being a Coppa final in 1976 where they lost to Napoli. Consequently, their signings weren’t on the same level as their competition, investing in the long-jumper-turned-left-back Hans-Peter Briegel of Kaiserslautern and the Danish playboy Preben Elkjær from Lokeren, following his performances at Euro 1984.
The Gialloblu hit the ground running, going 14 matches unbeaten until falling to an Angelo Colombo goal away to Avellino. That brief wobble allowed Inter, one of the two closest challengers, to briefly hold the top spot - until a draw in Verona set Bagnoli’s side back on top. Not even a further defeat to the other challengers Torino could knock Verona from their perch, as they sealed their first ever Scudetto in the following weeks with a draw against none other than Atalanta.
 
Analysis
 
Sadly, I was only able to find one full match of this historic Verona team, in their opening day victory over Napoli. While obviously there are going to be distinct differences between today’s football and that of the 1980s, there are some interesting patterns that we can see in Verona’s play, some that actually continue to manifest to this day. You can watch the complete match here. Here are four takeaways:
 
1) The Genius of Di Gennaro
Taking the #10 shirt at a historic Italian club like Fiorentina is never easy. Especially when the current holder of that shirt is Fiorentina icon and World Cup winner Giancarlo Antognoni. That’s why Antonio Di Gennaro, who could never fit into a midfield featuring Antognoni, swapped purple for the yellow and blue of Verona, and a more comfortable #10.
As was common for playmakers in those days, Di Gennaro looks remarkably undisciplined in a positional sense; floating from wing to wing, dropping deeper than the center backs, and charging forward into space to support the attack. However, throughout the Napoli game, the Florentine showed his preference to begin his attacks from deeper in midfield, in contrast to his opposite number Diego Maradona, who tended to stay in his team’s attacking half. Di Gennaro also pitched in defensively, making interceptions and tackles to spark quick counterattacks led by the likes of Luciano Marangon, Pietro Fanna, and Luciano Bruni. When Napoli attempted to press him higher in the second half, Di Gennaro countered by playing the fast forwards Giuseppe Galderisi and Pietro Fanna into space with some delicious long passes.
His tendency to play deeper also opened up space ahead of him for Fanna to operate as an advanced creative midfielder, while Bruni and Hans-Peter Briegel also surged into the open areas in the Verona attacking third. That didn’t stop Di Gennaro from doing plenty of attacking himself - the move that resulted in Giuseppe Galderisi’s goal was started and assisted by Verona’s #10, and he added a third goal from a Fanna free-kick.
Oh, and most importantly...he had some silky skills
 
2) All-Action Briegel
In another universe, Hans-Peter Briegel is a decorated member of Germany’s Olympics athletics team. In this one however, the Rodendach native left the long jump behind to become a defensive midfielder and left back, initially at Kaiserslautern before making the jump to Verona. The summer signing made an immediate impact at both ends of the pitch against Napoli.
Briegel, was given freedom to rampage forward from his midfield position, and was a beneficiary of the passes from Di Gennaro and Fanna. The corner that led to his opening goal came from a lung-bursting run through the center and a slick through ball for Fanna, who returned the favor moments later with an inch-perfect cross.
Perhaps as important as his goal, however, was his man-marking of Maradona. Bagnoli was no stranger to the threat that the Argentine possessed, so whenever Napoli was in possession, their star signing found himself bullied off the ball by Briegel’s relentless marking. Napoli found themselves forced to go long or to the flanks rather than make their play through Maradona. In the second half, Maradona was able to buy himself more time on the ball by dropping deeper to pick it up, but it greatly reduced his goal threat and saw him resort to set-pieces to chip away at the Venetians.
Briegel’s brilliant form saw him end as Verona’s 2nd-top scorer with 11 goals in all competitions, behind the duo of Galderisi and Elkjær. Sadly, there are no statistics for how many other playmakers “the Rhineland steamroller” flattened en route to his winner’s medal.
 
3) The Best Defenders can be Great Attackers
While the back five or back three formations are fairly common throughout Italian football history, Bagnoli’s Verona brought an interesting twist to the position by having his nominal outside center-backs, Luciano Marangon and Roberto Tricella move forwards into attacking positions, while the wide players Domenico Volpati and Pietro Fanna moved inside. In a rather modern take on the wing-back positions, Bagnoli had Fanna stay forwards to serve as a creative influence in the final third, while Volpati tucked in to become another defensive midfielder, protecting the remaining center back Mauro Ferroni and supporting the midfielders Di Gennaro, Briegel and Bruni when they moved forwards.
Marangon, naturally a left-back, pushed particularly up high to support the left-sided striker Elkjær when he moved inside. While he did not make a contribution to the goals or assists against Napoli, he would net two goals during the season. Tricella was less of an attacking influence, mainly due to the presence of Fanna ahead of him, but similarly to modern day center-backs, was tasked with carrying the ball out of defense, or playing long passes upfield when necessary.
 
4) The Midget and the Mad Mayor of Verona: Galderisi and Elkjær
Standing at roughly five-foot seven-inches, or about one Alexis Sanchez, the then-21-year-old Giuseppe Galderisi did not immediately appear to be in the mold of some of his contemporary forwards, such as Mark Hateley or Alessandro Altobelli. But for Verona, he was more than enough to lead the attack.
During the early phases of the Napoli game, as both teams probe each other’s weaknesses, Galderisi doesn’t have much to feed on. Consequently, he drops a little deeper than normal to pick up the ball and attempt to win a foul. Galderisi also pops up on the right flank, where he helps support Briegel, Bruni and Fanna in their attempts to combine. His scrappiness off the ball leads to Verona’s 2nd goal; after a slick move by Di Gennaro, Galderisi is perfectly timed to smash home the rebound.
Galderisi’s strike partner Elkjær was another who didn’t mind a scrap; while he tended to stay higher up than the diminutive #9, the two would combine to hound defenders out of possession and limit the buildup, as demonstrated here. While Galderisi dropped out of the box to hunt for the ball, Elkjær would move into the penalty area, and several times both Galderisi and Fanna narrowly missed serving the perfect cross to the big man’s head. While he would fire a blank against Napoli, the Dane would equal Galderisi’s 13 goals across all competitions, and his performances would see him nominated for the 1984 and 1985 Ballon D’Or, where he finished third and second respectively, losing out to Juventus’ Michel Platini.
While Galderisi’s stay at Verona wouldn’t last long, Elkjær would remain in Veneto until the tail end of his career. The chainsmoking Dane is still an incredibly popular figure in the city, even receiving votes in mayoral elections to this day.
 
The Aftermath
Verona’s story following their fairytale title might have come from a Shakespearean tragedy, with several of their best players leaving and the club returning to its yo-yo status within the decade. Attackers Pietro Fanna and Giuseppe Galderisi departed for Inter in 1985 and Milan in 1986 respectively, but neither could recapture their Gialloblu form. World Cup winner Paolo Rossi did replace them in 1986/1987 as the club managed to gain a fourth-place finish and UEFA Cup qualification, and Bagnoli stuck around to guide them to a quarterfinal finish in the tournament. From there, however, it was only downhill; finishes of 10th, 11th and 16th in 1990 condemned Verona to relegation.
Perhaps the bitterest pill to swallow after tasting victory was the resurgence of the referee selection commission. The random ballot for the 1984/1985 season was swiftly shelved, and various systems that allowed the biggest teams influence over referee selection returned. Historian John Foot notes that some clubs recognized Verona’s victory as a threat to their order; their “psychological power” was reduced by the free draw. And while this particular incident was not of an Italian making, Verona’s European Cup adventure in 1985/1986 was ended by Juventus, and the Gialloblu bitterly suspected the French referee of aiding their downfall.
After financial difficulties forced a temporary rebrand to simply Verona, the club regained their name and Serie A continuity in 1999, but disaster was only three seasons away. Hellas Verona slipped back into Serie B in 2002, and would spend most of the early 2000s bouncing between Serie B and Serie C1. Finally, in 2013, they tasted top-flight football - temporarily. A further two promotions were needed until the Gialloblu could cling on to the top-division spot they now hold.
Osvaldo Bagnoli, meanwhile, headed to Liguria to join Genoa after Verona’s 1990 relegation. He once again achieved UEFA Cup qualification with an unheralded squad. More financial troubles finally saw him arrive at his hometown to coach Inter Milan, but sadly his magic touch deserted him in the face of conflicts with Dennis Bergkamp, and he retired at the relatively early age of 59.
Thanks all for reading my work! Stay tuned for the next entry in this series, featuring a very familiar shaggy-haired Argentine...

The stake in this clash is very high, as the winner will continue its Champions League campaign. We think Ajax is a bit closer to the victory, and they should be able to deliver it.
Ajax to win @ 2.25
Atalanta won’t be focused just on defending its net and will search for the chance to score. Since both sides are very efficient in the final third, we believe that neither of the teams will be able to keep the clean sheet.
BTTS Yes @ 1.45
Correct score 3:2 @ 19.00
Read the full analysis here, and subscribe to our Telegram and YouTube channels!

The hosts put a very good display in Munich last weekend in the Bundesliga, as they snatched a point against Bayern. Although they had a lead twice, the home side will definitely be satisfied with a draw. Emil Forsberg and the lads have been very productive in front of the oppositions’ goal lately. RB Leipzig scored nine times on three occasions, but during the same period, conceded seven goals. Julian Nagelsman’s side is still in the battle for a place in the knockout stage, as they are level with PSG and Manchester United. However, they need to think only about the victory in this game since it is very unlikely that PSG can lose against Istanbul Basaksehir at Parc des Princes. The German side has the weakest head-to-head record in this triangle, and three points for them is the only outcome that can guarantee them a place in the top two.
Manchester United had another poor first-half display, as they trailed 1:0 to West Ham last weekend. However, they needed 30 minutes to turn around the result and book a 3:1 victory. That one was their fourth in a row in the Premier League and lifted them to the 5th spot. The Red Devils are now only five points behind the Spurs, with one game played less. However, they missed the chance to secure a place in the Champions League knockout stage last Wednesday, as they lost to PSG 3:1 at Old Trafford. Although Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side had several excellent chances, they got punished. United’s crucial defeat occurred in Istanbul against Basaksehir, and now, they need to avoid the loss in order to remain in the top two.

Full-Time Winner Odds & Prediction

A great battle is ahead of us, and both sides will go for some points in this clash. We believe Manchester United is more experienced in games like this one, and they should pick up at least a point.

Goals Market Prediction

Both sides have been involved in efficient games lately. RB Leipzig will attack from the start, and the visitors will search for their chance to punish any home side’s mistake. Therefore, we don’t expect nets to remain intact at the end of this game.
Manchester United AH +0 @ 2.20
BTTS Yes @ 1.50
Correct score 2:2 @ 12.00
Read the analysis here and share your opinion with us!

After six straight victories, Ajax tied two defeats in a row, and that is not an encouraging moment for the hosts ahead to the most important match in this part of the season. They first lost at Anfield, while Twente booked a surprising win at Johan Cruijff Arena last weekend. Erik Ten Hag’s still tops the Eredivisie table, but they need to chase for a victory in this one to secure one of the top two spots in the group. A double triumph against Midtjylland brought them six points, while Ajax snatched the point in Bergamo after a 2:2 draw. They could have easily got back with a win, but they spilled a 2:0 lead. Dusan Tadic and the lads are very efficient this season, especially in the domestic championship. However, the hosts need to get back on the winning track if they want to book a ticket for the eight-finals.
Atalanta had more time to prepare for this clash since they didn’t play their Serie A match last weekend. The visitors are one point ahead of their next opponents, and a draw could see them progressing further in the competition. However, they also cannot be proud of their latest form since Atalanta has been pretty inconsistent lately. Gian Piero Gasperini’s side celebrated just twice on the past nine occasions, and interestingly, both victories came at the away grounds. Despite losing 5:0 against Liverpool at home, they managed to win all three points at Anfield just one round later. That’s how Atalanta is unpredictable. Luis Muriel and the lads are very productive in front of the oppositions’ goal this season, but they concede a lot as well. Last time, they were just one step away from the semi-finals, but can they get into the knockout stage again?

Full-Time Winner Odds & Prediction

The stake in this clash is very high, as the winner will continue its Champions League campaign. We think Ajax is a bit closer to the victory, and they should be able to deliver it.

Goals Market Prediction

Atalanta won’t be focused just on defending its net and will search for the chance to score. Since both sides are very efficient in the final third, we believe that neither of the teams will be able to keep the clean sheet.
Ajax to win @ 2.25
BTTS Yes @ 1.45
Correct score 3:2 @ 19.00
Read the analysis here and share your opinion with us!

Alright, yesterday I created a quick match thread to calm down the increasing flow of new redditors on the sub, we went up to 3,598 online users on the subreddit at some point...
So today, let's have a serious, interesting and calm discussion about what happened during the game yesterday.

Atalanta 1 — 2 Paris Saint-Germain

Quarterfinals

Venue: Estádio da Luz
Attendance: Unkown
Referee: Anthony Taylor (ENG)
Kick-off: 21:00 local.

Lineups

Paris Saint-Germain lineup 4-4-2: Navas; Bernat, Kimpembe, T. Silva (Captain), Kehrer; Gueye, Marquinhos, Herrera; Neymar Jr., Icardi, Sarabia
Atalanta lineup 3-4-2-1: Sportiello; Toloi, Caldara, Djimsiti; Hateboer, De Roon, Freuler, Gosens; Gomez, Pasalic; Duvan Zapata

L'EQUIPE RATINGS

MATCH REPORT

GOALS:

• [1]-0 - Mario Pasalic (27')
• 1-[1] - Marquinhos (90')
• 1-[2] - Choupo Moting (90+3')

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS

• CBS Extended Highlights
• UEFA Highlights
• Optus Sports Highlights

STATISTICS:

	Atalanta	PSG
Shots (on target)	9 (4)	16 (6)
Ball Possession	39%	61%
Passes	367	593
Distance Covered	108.2 kms	104.9 kms
Fouls	29	13
Corners	4	3
Offsides	2	0
xG	0.58	3.29

FULL STATISTICS
FULL MATCH REPORTS:

UEFA: "Tuchel's side pull off stunning late comeback."

Paris were so nearly the first to land a blow, Neymar racing clear in the third minute only to slot wide with just Marco Sportiello to beat. Atalanta soon found their feet, with Hans Hateboer’s back-post header – smartly saved by Keylor Navas – serving notice of their growing intent.
La Dea’s ascendancy was rewarded before the half-hour when Duván Zapata played the ball neatly into the path of Mario Pašalić, whose first-time effort from just inside the penalty area arced perfectly past Navas.
Paris carved relatively little out of their superior possession for much of the second half, at least until the 90th minute when Neymar squared for Marquinhos to tap in from close range.
Crestfallen, Gian Piero Gasperini's side had barely caught their breath when substitute Kylian Mbappé raced down the left and crossed for fellow replacement Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting to help himself to an added-time winner.

The Guardian: "PSG's late, late double ends Atalanta's Champions League dream" by Barney Ronay

In the end it took £400m of attacking talent, 93 minutes of increasingly frantic football, and a man who mustered up five goals in a single year at Stoke to wrench a thrilling Champions League quarter-final the way of Paris Saint-Germain.
It had to be Neymar, one way or another. The world’s most expensive footballer had played for much of the game like a man trapped inside another kind of storyline, finding space fluently but shooting at goal like a man wearing wooden clogs.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s Atalanta underdogs had played with familiar verve to lead 1-0 with 90 minutes already up. At which point PSG’s labouring star machine finally found some relief.
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, on as a 79th-minute substitute, swung a fine cross into the box, and the ball was deflected in off a combination of an Atalanta defender and Marquinhos.
Three minutes later, with extra time looming, Neymar played an extraordinary, high-pressure pass, taking the ball in a small space outside the area, freezing the moment, then sliding the ball inside José Palomino to meet the run of Kylian Mbappé. His low cross was equally precise. Choupo-Moting turned the ball into the net to set up a semi-final with either RB Leipzig or Atlético Madrid next Tuesday.
Atalanta will remain the wider story and not just because of another stirring show from this high-intensity team of low-cost parts. A Champions League quarter-final represents an all-time high, albeit one that will be coloured by other emotions. The horrors of March in Bergamo are well-documented. This is a region still processing its grief. Freewheeling success on the football field is not a fix or a balm for this kind of real-life pain. But all things considered, it is not a bad place to start.
The other story is, of course, Neymar, and a step into fresh territory for Thomas Tuchel’s version of that oddly brittle PSG star vehicle. Neymar remains, for all the outstanding moments, an object of some frustration among those baffled by the choice to move at his peak to an environment as lukewarm as Ligue 1.
And yet, Neymar did deliver and did so when his team needed it most. There are stronger opponents in the draw but not many better attacks, with Mbappé likely also to be fit for the next round.
The Estádio da Luz had provided an agreeably haunting stage for the latest instalment of midsummer Covid-bal. The late evening kick-off meant Lisbon was at least mercifully cool, a step down from the predicted mid-August firepit.
Atalanta had Marco Sportiello in goal, with Josip Ilicic absent for domestic reasons. PSG were without Ángel Di María and Marco Verratti, with Mbappé on the bench.
The action was frantic from the start. It took Neymar two minutes to produce an astonishing miss, running in on goal unimpeded from the centre circle, then shanking the ball five yards wide of the right-hand post.
Unconcerned by their own suicidally high defensive line, Atalanta set about besieging the PSG end. With 10 minutes gone Hans Hateboer drew a clawing save from Keylor Navas and the game settled into a series of crisp, direct Atalanta attacks, broken up by the occasional white-shirted counter.
For a while that powerful PSG midfield began to dictate its more stately rhythms but it was Atalanta who took the lead. Duván Zapata found space just outside the box, tumbling over as the ball ran on to Mario Pasalic. His first-time shot zinged into the top corner.
The response was familiarly staccato. Neymar produced a nutmeg on Pasalic then pinged a shot just wide. Otherwise Atalanta held their high line and swarmed around the ball, their combinations zippy and urgent where PSG seemed to be playing through a midsummer haze.
Neymar had time before the break to miss another presentable chance, blasting miles over the bar after seizing on a terrible pass from Hateboer and sending Tuchel into mild frenzy in his dugout.
Tuchel has something agreeably pale and gaunt about him at the best of times, striding about the touchline looking like a sad-eyed victorian wraith. In Lisbon, left leg encased in a surgical boot, he could be seen shielding his brow and flinching in horror at times in that first half.
Mbappé, his remaining ace, was sent out to warm up at the interval. And PSG did start with more purpose after the break. Neymar continued to find space but still lacked any sense of edge. A low free-kick on 50 minutes was his fourth shot at goal, his third off target.
With 31 minutes to play Mbappé was on, replacing Pablo Sarabia. His impact was instant, a series of surges down the left offering a threat where PSG had been reliant on Neymar’s twists and spins.
Atalanta flooded that side, surrounding Mbappé with five defenders at times. It looked like being enough, right up until that extraordinary ending.

La Gazzetta dello Sport: "Atalanta, going out like this hurts! Pasalic deludes, but PSG overturns everything in the recovery minutes" by Francesco Fontana

Nerazzurri ahead 1-0 until the 90', then the mockery: Marquinhos' draw and Choupo-Moting's overtaking goal. The Parisians went to the semi-finals and Mbappé's entry was decisive.
Players in tears over an incredible result, unbelievable stuff. Atalanta lost 2-1 on PSG, killing the minutes from 90 minutes (Marquinhos' goal) to 93 minutes, when Choupo-Moting signed the overtaking after Pasalic's great goal at 27 minutes of the first half. The Champions League quarter-finals speak French, in the semi-finals Tuchel's team will go there and now await the winner of Leipzig-Atletico Madrid, on the pitch tomorrow night. In any case, despite the defeat, the Goddess can return to Bergamo with a very high head.
Compared to the hypothesis of the eve there is no news in Atalanta's house: Gasperini bets on Caldara, Hateboer and Pasalic, preferred to Palomino, Castagne and Malinovskyi. So, in his 3-4-2-1, space to Sportiello in goal. In defence also Toloi and Djimsiti with De Roon-Freuler on the middle and Gosens on the left. In front, of course, Gomez and Zapata. On the other side, without Verratti and Di Maria (out for injury and disqualification respectively), Tuchel chooses the 4-3-3 with Keylor Navas between the posts, behind Kehrer, Thiago Silva, Kimpempe and Bernat. In midfield Herrera, Marquinhos and Gueye with Sarabia, Icardi and Neymar in attack (Mbappé starts on the bench). English referee Taylor.
First ring at 3': left Papu from inside the area, para Navas on the ground. The real danger comes 1' later with Neymar who, incredibly, makes a one-on-one mistake with Sportiello kicking out. Super start in this first quarter final. The Goddess is in the game, PSG concedes something. On the 11th assist top of Gomez, who from a distance fishes Hateboer on the second post: dunked by the Dutchman's head, Navas is ok in answering (ditto a few moments later on Caldara, albeit offside). Until the 27th minute, the French push to corner the opponent, then the result changes: a ball to the limit for Zapata who, in a daring way, serves Pasalic, amazing with a left-footed shot to beat Navas on the second post. Goddess ahead. And he'll stay there until halftime, also because Neymar, in the 41st minute, didn't take advantage of Hateboer's mistake (Sportiello's back pass was too short) and sent him out. And by quite a lot. Thrill. We go into the locker room after 1' of recovery.
Tuchel (on crutches due to a sprained left ankle with a fractured fifth metatarsus) is not happy and sends Mbappé to warm up immediately, on the field at 60'. At the same time Gasperini puts Malinovskyi and Palomino in place of Papu and Djimsiti, who just before (57') makes a mistake on the fly: what a chance for the Goddess. In the central part of the shot Atalanta shortens, PSG struggles to create. And it's no coincidence that, at this stage, Sportiello is still watching: it will seem absurd, considering adversary and level of competition, but that's how it is. The changes continue: Gasp throws in the fray Muriel (out Pasalic), Tuchel risks more with Paredes and Draxler for Gueye and Herrera. We're at 74', when Sportiello puts his big foot on Mbappé's right. Navas doesn't make it because of an injury accused just before, on 79' space for Sergio Rico, the reserve goalkeeper. Eleven minutes to go, Mbappé made another mistake (very good Palomino in closing). Gasp called for Castagne and Da Riva, midfielder of the 2000 class at his debut in the Champions League. PSG tries, tries and tries. And at the end, in the 90th minute, he finds a draw with Marquinhos, who puts it in the fray from a few steps. And in the 93rd minute he even overtakes Choupo-Moting, who receives a "chocolate" from Mbappé. Unbelievable, unbelievable stuff. Although a round of applause for this Atalanta is certainly not to be missed.
POST-MATCH INTERVIEWS & QUOTES

• Thomas Tuchel Post-Match Press Conference.
• Eric Choupo-Moting Post-Match Press Conference.

The stake in this clash is very high, as the winner will continue its Champions League campaign. We think Ajax is a bit closer to the victory, and they should be able to deliver it.
Ajax to win @ 2.25
Atalanta won’t be focused just on defending its net and will search for the chance to score. Since both sides are very efficient in the final third, we believe that neither of the teams will be able to keep the clean sheet.
BTTS Yes @ 1.45
Correct score 3:2 @ 19.00
Read the full analysis here, and subscribe to our Telegram and YouTube channels!

The stake in this clash is very high, as the winner will continue its Champions League campaign. We think Ajax is a bit closer to the victory, and they should be able to deliver it.
Ajax to win @ 2.25
Atalanta won’t be focused just on defending its net and will search for the chance to score. Since both sides are very efficient in the final third, we believe that neither of the teams will be able to keep the clean sheet.
BTTS Yes @ 1.45
Correct score 3:2 @ 19.00
Read the full analysis here, and subscribe to our Telegram and YouTube channels!

Although Atletico Madrid already sits in 2nd place, they are only two points clear from Lokomotiv Moscow. The Spanish side has boked just one victory so far in the competition, the one in the second round after being 2:1 down to Salzburg. Diego Simeone’s side has troubles in finding the back of the oppositions’ net in this competition, as they scored only four times. In the opening match of the Champions League campaign, they lost to Bayern Munich 4:0. However, Joao Felix and the lads haven’t lost eight times in a row in all competitions, and they want to extend that unbeatable streak. Jan Oblak managed to keep the clean sheet four times in a row, but he’s going to have a tough challenge in this one. Diego Costa, Luis Suarez, and Lucas Torreira are going to be sidelined for this clash.
Bayern Munich travels to Madrid without any pressure, as they have already secured their place in the eight-finals. With four wins in the current Champions League campaign, they tied 15 consecutive victories in this competition. The defending champions missed the chance to win only once in the last 13 matches, although they conceded seven times in a row. Robert Lewandowski and the lads are still lethal in front of the oppositions’ goal, as they netted 15 times in this competition, in addition to 31 goals in the Bundesliga. Several players will not be at Hans Flick’s disposal for this clash, including Alphonso Davies, Joshua Kimmich, Javi Martinez, Corentin Tolisso, and probably Lucas Hernandez.

Full-Time Winner Odds & Prediction

Atletico Madrid needs a victory in this clash, but Bayern Munich will do everything to keep their unbeatable run going, despite several setbacks with injured players. We won’t be surprised if this game ends in a draw.

Goals Market Prediction

Although the hosts haven’t conceded in the last four games, Bayern Munich is capable of scoring against any team. Also, the visitors didn’t manage to keep their net intact in the past seven matches, so we think both teams will score in this one.
Draw @ 4.00
BTTS Yes @ 1.60
Correct score 1:1 @ 7.50
Read the full analysis here and share your opinion with us!

After an abysmal start of the season, the home side managed to stabilize its form and enter a winning streak. PSG opened the domestic campaign with two straight narrow defeats against Lens and fierce rivals Marseille. It seemed that they simply didn’t have enough time to prepare for new challenges after losing in the Champions League finals against Bayern Munich. Also, the Saints couldn’t count on their star players in that period. However, Thomas Tuchel’s side managed to get back on the winning track with five straight wins, and PSG climbed to the 2nd spot. Kylian Mbappe and the lads have scored ten times in the last two games, while in the previous four occasions, the hosts conceded just once. PSG is full of confidence, and they want to book their first three points in the continental competition.
On the other hand, Manchester United fans cannot be satisfied with displays of their lads. The Red Devils opened the Premier League campaign with a shocking 3:1 defeat against Crystal Palace at Old Trafford. Although Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team struggled in the next clashes, they tied three victories. However, they fell to a heavy 6:1 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur before the international break. Bruno Fernandes and his teammates managed to improve the game somehow last weekend, as they were confident against Newcastle United with a 4:1 victory. Manchester United needs to stabilize its form urgently if they want to be competitive this season.

Full-Time Winner Odds & Prediction

Even though many vital players will be sidelined for this match for the home side, PSG is still the favorite in this clash. We believe the hosts will keep up where they left off and celebrate a win in this clash.

Goals Market Prediction

Manchester United is capable of scoring against any side, while the defensive work is their primary issue. We don’t need to mention that PSG is a goal machine, and they were incredibly efficient lately. We expect to see an exciting clash and goals in both nets.
PSG to win @ 1.55
BTTS Yes @ 1.60
Correct score 3:1 @ 11.00
Read the analysis here and share your opinion with us!

The hosts enter this clash after a comfortable 7:0 victory over minnows Andorra last Wednesday. Cristiano Ronaldo made a great comeback after recovering from Covid-19, as he came on as a substitute in the second half and scored a goal. Portugal sits on the top spot on the table, however, they have the same number of pints as their upcoming rivals. The home side hasn’t tasted a defeat on the last eight occasions, and during that period, they failed to win just twice. Fernando Santos’ side managed to pick up a point one month ago in France, giving them a bit of an advantage ahead of this game. Portugal is very stable in the back, as the hosts haven’t conceded five times in a row, and they failed to keep the clean sheet just once in the last eight games.
France travels to Lisbon after a surprising 2:0 defeat against Finland in Paris just three days ago. Although the leading players were given a break, the visitors should have won that friendly game. It will be interesting to see how it will impact their confidence ahead of this important clash. Before that game, the current world champions haven’t lost 12 times in a row, missing the chance to celebrate just twice. France already booked two away victories, but they would need another positive result away from home to remain in the game for the top spot.

Full-Time Winner Odds & Prediction

It is going to be a big fight between these world-class teams, and we expect to see a tight battle. We won’t be surprised if the game ends in a draw once again.

Goals Market Prediction

Both teams have excellent attacking potential—Cristiano Ronaldo on one side, and Kylian Mbappe on the other, followed by other talented players. We don’t think the nets will remain still, although clashes between these two sides haven’t been too efficient lately.
Draw @ 3.25
BTTS Yes @ 1.90
Correct score 1:1 @ 6.00
Read the analysis here and share your opinion with us!

The 2019/2020 season of the Hungary’s National Football League (NB1) – being one of the first leagues to restart play - came to an end on 27 June. If a casual observer (for whatever reason) decides to check out the final standings, he would be not surprised at the first two positions: record-champion Ferencváros defended their title, while regional powerhouse Fehérvár (Videoton) came in second. However, the third place team, Puskás Akadémia FC might seem unusual and one could think that there is a story behind that. Is there a team named after Ferenc Puskás? Did some academy youths make an incredible run for the Europa League qualification? Well, the observer is right, there is a story behind all this, but it’s absolutely not a fun story. It’s a story about how one powerful man’s obsession with football stole a legend, misused state funds and killed the spirit of Hungarian football. (Warning: this is a long story, feel free to scroll down for a tl;dr. Also, I strongly advise checking out the links, those images are worth seeing).
Naturally, political influence in football has been present ever since the dawn of the sport and we know of numerous state leaders who felt confident enough to use their influence to ensure the successful development of their favored clubs – Caucescu’s FC Olt Scornicesti and Erdogan’s Basaksehir are well-known examples of such attempts. However, I fear that very few of the readers are aware of the fact that Puskás Akadémia FC is nothing but Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán’s grandiose project for establishing his hometown’s club as one of the country’s top teams. Considering that Orbán managed to achieve this goal using state funds in an EU member democracy in the 2000s, one might even say that it might be one of the most impressive attempts of cheating your way through Football Manager in real life. Now that Puskás Akadémia FC escaped the desolate football scene of Hungary and is getting ready for the European takeover, I feel that it’s high time to tell its true story.

Part 1: Part time striker, part time PM

Our story begins in 1999 when the 36-year-old striker Viktor Orbán (recently elected as the country’s Prime Minister) was signed by the sixth-tier side of Felcsút FC residing in rural Fejér County. It might sound surprising that an active politician would consider such a side job, but given that Orbán has been playing competitive low-level football throughout his whole life and has always been known as a keen football enthusiast, people seemed to be okay with his choice for a hobby. Orbán spent most of his childhood in the village of Felcsút (population: 1,800), so it seemed only natural that he would join the team after one of his old-time acquaintances became team president there.
Orbán’s arrival to the club seemed to work like a charm as Felcsút FC immediately earned a promotion to the fifth league. The Prime Minister’s busy program did not allow him to attend every training session and game but Orbán did make an effort to contribute as much as possible on the field – there is a report of a government meeting being postponed as Orbán was unavailable due to attending Felcsút FC’s spring training camp. The 2001/2002 season brought another breakthrough for the side as Felcsút was promoted to the national level of the football pyramid after being crowned the champion of Fejér County. Sadly enough for Orbán, he suffered a defeat on another pitch – his party lost the 2002 election and Orbán was forced to move to an opposition role.
No matter what happened on the political playing field, Orbán would not abandon his club. Just before the 2002 elections, Felcsút was surprisingly appointed as one of the regional youth development centers by the Hungarian FA. Orbán continued contributing on the field as well (he had more spare time after all) but his off-the-field efforts provided much more value for the team as he used his political influence to convince right-wing businessmen that they should definitely get sponsorship deals done with the fourth-division village team.
Club management was able to transform the influx of funds into on-field success: Felcsút FC was promoted to the third division in 2004 and achieved promotion to the second division in 2005. Although these new horizons required a skill level that an aging ex-PM is not likely to possess, Orbán regularly played as a late game sub and even appeared in cup games against actual professional opponents. The now-42-year old Orbán did not want to face the challenge of the second division, so he retired in 2005 – but this did not stop him from temping as an assistant coach when the head coach was sacked in the middle of the 2005-2006 season.
Success on the playing field did not translate to political success: Orbán lost the elections once again in 2006. However, this was only a temporary loss: the ruling party committed blunder after blunder and by early 2007 it became absolutely obvious that Orbán would be able return to power in 2010. Now confident in his political future, Orbán opted for the acceleration of football development in Felcsút – by late 2007 he took over the presidency of the club to take matters in his own hands. Sponsors seeking to gain favor with the soon-to-be PM were swarming Felcsút FC, so the club was able to stand very strong in an era where financial stability was a very rare sight in the Hungarian football scene, accumulating three medals (but no promotion) between 2007 and 2009.
On the other hand, Orbán realized the value of youth development as well, and started a local foundation for this purpose back in 2004 that gathered funds for the establishment a boarding school-like football academy. The academy opened its doors in September 2006 (only the second of such institutions in the country) and Orbán immediately took upon the challenge of finding an appropriate name for the academy.
He went on to visit the now very sick Ferenc Puskás in the hospital to discuss using his name, but as Puskás’ medical situation was deteriorating rapidly, communication attempts were futile. Luckily enough Puskás’ wife (and soon to be widow) was able to act on his incapable husband’s behalf and approved the naming deal in a contract. According to the statement, naming rights were granted without compensation, as “Puskás would have certainly loved what’s happening down in Felcsút”. However, there was much more to the contract: Puskás’ trademark was handed to a sports journalist friend of Orbán (György Szöllősi, also acting communications director of the academy) who promised a hefty annual return for the family (and also a 45% share of the revenue for himself). Ferenc Puskás eventually died on 17 November 2006 and on 26 November 2006 the football academy was named after him: Puskás Academy was born.
Orbán shared his vision of the whole organization after the opening ceremony: “It’s unreasonable to think that Felcsút should have a team in the top division. We should not flatter ourselves, our players and our supporters with this dream. Our long term ambition is the creation of a stable second division team that excels in youth development and provides opportunity for the talents of the future.” Let’s leave that there.

Part 2: No stadium left behind

Orbán became PM once again in April 2010 after a landslide victory that pretty much granted him unlimited power. He chased lots of political agendas but one of his policies was rock solid: he would revive sports (and especially football) that was left to bleed out by the previous governments. The football situation in 2010 was quite dire: while the national team has actually made some progress in the recent years and has reached the 42nd position in the world rankings, football infrastructure was in a catastrophic state. Teams were playing in rusty stadiums built in the communist era, club finances were a mess, youth teams couldn’t find training grounds and the league was plagued by violent fan groups and lackluster attendance figures (3100 average spectators per game in the 2009/2010 season).
Orbán – aided by the FA backed by business actors very interested in making him happy – saw the future in the total rebuild of the football infrastructure. Vast amounts of state development funds were invested into the football construction industry that warmly welcomed corruption, cost escalation and shady procurement deals. In the end, money triumphed: over the last decade, new stadiums sprung out from nothing all over the country, dozens of new academies opened and pitches for youth development appeared on practically every corner. The final piece of the stadium renovation program was the completion of the new national stadium, Puskás Aréna in 2019 (estimated cost: 575 million EUR). Orbán commemorated this historic moment with a celebratory video on his social media that features a majestic shot of Orbán modestly kicking a CGI ball from his office to the new stadium.
Obviously, Orbán understood that infrastructure alone won’t suffice. He believed in the idea that successful clubs are the cornerstone of a strong national side as these clubs would compete in a high quality national league (and in international tournaments) that would require a constant influx of youth players developed by the clubs themselves. However, Orbán was not really keen on sharing the state’s infinite wealth with private club owners who failed to invest in their clubs between 2002 and 2010. The club ownership takeover was not that challenging as previous owners were usually happy to cut their losses, and soon enough most clubs came under Orbán’s influence. Some clubs were integrated deep into Orbán’s reach (Ferencváros and MTK Budapest club presidents are high ranking officials of Orbán’s party) while in other cases, indirect control was deemed sufficient (Diósgyőri VTK was purchased by a businessman as an attempt to display loyalty to Orbán).
Pouring taxpayer money into infrastructure (stadium) projects is relatively easy: after all, we are basically talking about overpriced government construction projects, there’s nothing new there. On the other hand, allocating funds to clubs that should be operating on a competitive market is certainly a tougher nut to crack. The obvious solutions were implemented: the state media massively overpaid for broadcasting rights and the national sports betting agency also pays a hefty sum to the FA, allowing for a redistribution of considerable amounts. However, given that the income side of Hungarian clubs was basically non-existent (match day income is negligible, the failed youth development system does not sell players), an even more radical solution was desperately needed. Also, there was definite interest in the development of a tool that would allow for differentiation between clubs (as in the few remaining non-government affiliated clubs should not receive extra money).
The solution came in 2011: the so-called TAO (“társasági adó” = corporate tax) system was introduced, granting significant tax deductions for companies if they offered a portion of their profits to sports clubs – however, in theory, funds acquired through TAO can be only used for youth development and infrastructure purposes. Soon enough, it became apparent that state authorities were not exactly interested in the enforcement of these restrictions, so some very basic creative accounting measures enabled clubs to use this income for anything they wanted to. Companies were naturally keen on cutting their tax burdens and scoring goodwill with the government, so TAO money immediately skyrocketed. Opportunistic party strongmen used their influence to convince local business groups to invest in the local clubs, enabling for the meteoric rise of multiple unknown provincial teams (Mezőkövesd [pop: 16,000], Kisvárda [pop: 16,000], Balmazújváros [pop: 17,000]) into the first division.
Although it’s not the main subject of this piece, I feel inclined to show you the actual results of Orbán’s grandiose football reform. While we do have our beautiful stadiums, we don’t exactly get them filled – league attendance has stagnated around 3000 spectators per game throughout the whole decade. We couldn’t really move forward with our national team either: Hungary lost 10 positions in the FIFA World Rankings throughout Orbán’s ten years. On the other hand, the level of league has somewhat improved – Videoton and Ferencváros reached the Europa League group stage in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Too bad that the Instat-based top team of 2019/2020 Hungarian league consists of 10 foreigners and only 1 Hungarian: the goalkeeper.

Part 3: Small place, big game!

As seen in the previous chapter, Orbán did have a strong interest in the improvement of the football situation Hungary, but we shouldn’t forget that his deepest interest and true loyalty laid in the wellbeing of Felcsút and its academy. Now that Orbán had limitless means to see to the advancement of his beloved club, he got to work immediately. Orbán handed over formal club management duties to his friend / protégé / middleman / businessman Lőrinc Mészáros in 2010, but no questions would ever arise of who is actually calling the shots.
First of all, no club can exist without a proper stadium. Although in 2011 Orbán explicitly stated that “Felcsút does not need a stadium as stadiums belong to cities”, no one was really surprised in 2012 when the construction of the Felcsút stadium was announced. Orbán was generous enough to donate the lands just in front of his summer home in the village for the project, locating the entrance a mere ten meters away from his residence. Construction works for the stunningly aesthetic 3,800-seater arena (in a village of 1,800 people) started in April 2012 and were completed in April 2014, making Felcsút’s arena the second new stadium of Orbán’s gigantic stadium revival program.
The estimated budget of the construction was 120 million EUR (31,500 EUR / seat) was financed by the Puskás Academy who explicitly stated that they did not use government funds for the project. Technically, this statement is absolutely true as the construction was financed through the TAO money offered by the numerous companies looking for tax deduction and Orbán’s goodwill. However, technically, this means that the country’s budget was decreased by 120 million EUR unrealized tax revenue. Naturally, the gargantuan football stadium looks ridiculously out of place in the small village, but there’s really no other way to ensure that your favorite team’s stadium is within 20 seconds of walking distance from your home.
Obviously, a proper club should also have some glorious history. Felcsút was seriously lagging behind on this matter as though Felcsút FC was founded in 1931, it spent its pre-Orbán history in the uninspiring world of the 5th-7th leagues of the country. Luckily enough, Orbán had already secured Puskás’ naming rights and they were not afraid to use it, so Felcsút FC was renamed to Puskás Academy FC in 2009. The stadium name was a little bit problematic as the Hungarian national stadium in Budapest had sadly had the dibs on Puskás’ name, so they had to settle with Puskás’ Spanish nickname, resulting in the inauguration of the Pancho Arena. But why stop here? Orbán’s sports media strongman György Szöllősi acted upon the contract with Puskás’ widow and transferred all Puskás’ personal memorabilia (medals, jerseys, correspondence) to the most suitable place of all: a remote village in which Puskás never even set foot in.
While the off-field issues were getting resolved, Orbán’s attention shifted to another important area: the actual game of football. Although academy players started to graduate from 2008 on, it very soon became painfully obvious that the academy program couldn’t really maintain even a second division side for now. In 2009, Orbán reached an agreement with nearby Videoton’s owner that effectively transformed Felcsút FC into Videoton’s second team under the name of Videoton – Puskás Akadémia FC. The mutually beneficent agreement would allow Videoton to give valuable playing time to squad players while it could also serve as a skipping step for Puskás Academy’s fresh graduates to a first league team. The collaboration resulted in two mid-table finishes and a bronze medal in the second division in the following three seasons that wasn’t really impressive compared to Felcsút FC’s standalone seasons.
It seemed that the mixture of reserve Videoton players and academy youth was simply not enough for promotion, and although Orbán had assured the public multiple times that his Felcsút project was not aiming for the top flight, very telling changes arose after the 2011/2012 season. Felcsút terminated the Videoton cooperation deal and used the rapidly accumulating TAO funds to recruit experienced players for the now independently operating Puskás Academy FC (PAFC). The new directive worked almost too well: PAFC won its division with a 10 point lead in its first standalone year which meant that they would have to appear in the first league prior to the completion of their brand-new Pancho Arena. Too bad that this glorious result had almost nothing to do with the academy - only two players were academy graduates of the side’s regular starting XI.
Orbán did not let himself bothered with the ridiculousness of an academy team with virtually no academy players being promoted to the first division as he stated that “a marathon runner shouldn’t need to explain why the other runners were much slower than him”. Orbán also displayed a rare burst of modesty as he added that “his team’s right place is not in the first league, and they will soon be overtaken by other, better sides”.
The promotion of PAFC to the first division made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move. Supporter groups were united in hatred all along the league and not surprisingly, away fans almost always outnumbered the home side at PAFC’s temporary home at Videoton’s Sóstói Stadium (demolished and rebuilt in its full glory since then). One of the teams, however, possessed an extraordinary degree of anger against PAFC: supporters of Budapest Honvéd – the only Hungarian team in which Ferenc Puskás played – felt especially awkward about the transfer of their club legend’s heritage to Felcsút. Tensions spiked at the PAFC – Honvéd game when home security forced Honvéd supporters to remove the “Puskás” part of their traditional “Puskás – Kispest – Hungary” banner – the team answered the insult with style as they secured a 4-0 victory supported by fans chanting “you can’t buy legends”.
Despite Orbán’s prognosis, other better sides did not rush to overtake his team, so PAFC, now residing in their brand new Pancho Arena, came through with a 14th and a 10th place in their first two seasons. Naturally, conspiracy theories began to formulate, speculating that government-friendly owners would certainly not be motivated to give their best against PAFC. However, as the league size was reduced to 12 for the 2015/2016 season, PAFC found themselves in a dire situation just before the final round: they needed a win and needed rival Vasas to lose against MTK in order to avoid relegation. PAFC’s draw seemed to be unlucky as they faced their arch-enemy Honvéd at home, but Honvéd displayed an absolute lackluster effort – fueling conspiracy theories – and lost the fixture 2 to 1 against a home side featuring four academy players. Vasas, however, did not disappoint, their 2-0 victory resulted in PAFC’s elimination and a very relaxed sigh all over the football community.
PAFC’s relegation seemed to be in accordance with Orbán’s 2013 statement, so public opinion supposed for a while that Orbán’s project came to a halting point and the Academy would go on to actually field academy players in the second division (especially as rostering foreign players was prohibited in the lower leagues). However, if you have read through this point, you know better than to expect Orbán to retreat – obviously, PAFC came back with a bang. With a ballsy move, PAFC didn’t even sell their foreign players, they just loaned them across the league, promising them that they would be able to return next year to the newly promoted team. The promise was kept as PAFC went into another shopping spree of experienced players (easily convincing lots of them to choose the second division instead of the first) and easily won the second league.
Orbán – now aware of his negligence – opted for the doubling the team’s budget, making PAFC the third most well-founded club in the whole country (only coming short to his friend’s Videoton and his party minion’s Ferencváros). With an actual yearly influx from TAO money in the ballpark of 30-40 million EUR, PAFC management had to really work wonders in creative accounting in order to make their money look somewhat legitimate. The books were now full of ridiculous items like:

• Construction of a new tea kitchen for youth players for 650,000 EUR
• Construction of a new “sports and conference center” for 40 million EUR
• Employment of a 45 person “cleaning and maintenance staff” for the academy.

Naturally, in the country of no consequences, absolutely nothing happened: PAFC went on with its spending and signed 35 foreigners between 2017 and 2020. They did so because they could not hope to field a winning team in the first league consisting of academy players, despite the fact that Puskás Academy has been literally drowning in money since 2007. This seems to somewhat contradict Orbán’s 2013 promise, stating that “Puskás Academy will graduate two or three players to major European leagues each year”. To be fair, there have been players who managed to emerge to Europe (well, exactly two of them: Roland Sallai plays at Freiburg, László Kleinheisler played at Werder Bremen) but most academy graduates don’t even have the slightest the chance to make their own academy’s pro team as it’s full of foreigners and more experienced players drawn for other teams’ programs.
Despite their unlimited funding, PAFC could not put up a top-tier performance in their first two years back in the first division, finishing 6th and 7th in the 12-team league. Many speculated that the lack of support, motivation and even a clear team mission did not allow for chemistry to develop within the multinational and multi-generational locker room. Consistency was also a rare sight on the coaching side: club management was absolutely impatient with coaches who were very easily released after a single bad spell and there were talks of on-field micromanagement request coming from as high as Orbán.
Even so, their breakthrough came dangerously close in 2018 as PAFC performed consistently well in the cup fixtures and managed to reach the final. Their opponent, Újpest played an incredibly fierce game and after a 2-2 draw, they managed to defeat PAFC in the shootout. Football fans sighed in relief throughout the country as ecstatic Újpest supporters verbally teased a visibly upset Orbán in his VIP lounge about his loss.
Obviously, we could only delay the inevitable. While this year’s PAFC side seemed to be more consistent than its predecessors, it seemed that they won’t be able to get close to the podium - they were far behind the obvious league winner duo of Ferencváros and Videoton and were trailing third-place Mezőkövesd 6 points just before the pandemic break. However, both Mezőkövesd and PAFC’s close rivals DVTK and Honvéd fall flat after the restart while PAFC was able to maintain its good form due to its quality roster depth. PAFC overtook Mezőkövesd after the second-to-last round as Mezőkövesd lost to the later relegated Debrecen side. (Mezőkövesd coach Attila Kuttor was fined harshly because of his post-game comments on how the FA wants PAFC to finish third.)
PAFC faced Honvéd in the last round once again, and as Honvéd came up with its usual lackluster effort, PAFC secured an effortless win, confidently claiming the third place. PAFC celebrated their success in a nearly empty stadium, however neither Orbán, nor Mészáros (club owner, Orbán’s protégé, now 4th richest man of Hungary) seemed to worry about that. While Orbán high-fived with his peers in the VIP lounge, Mészáros was given the opportunity to award the bronze medals (and for some reason, a trophy) to the players dressed up in the incredibly cringe worthy T-shirts that say “Small place, big game!”. Big game, indeed: in the 2019/2020 season, foreign players’ share of the teams playing time was 43.6% while academy graduates contributed only 17.9%.
On Sunday evening, less than 24 hours after PAFC’s glorious success, György Szöllősi, now editor-in-chief of Hungary’s only sports newspaper (purchased by Orbán’s affiliates a few years back) published an editorial on the site, stating that “the soccer rebuild in Felcsút became the motor and symbol of the revitalization of sport throughout the whole country”. Well, Szöllősi is exactly right: Felcsút did became a symbol, but a symbol of something entirely different. Felcsút became a symbol of corruption, inefficiency, lies and the colossal waste of money. But, hey, at least we know now: you only need to spend 200 million EUR (total budget of PAFC and its academy in the 2011-2020 period) if you want to have a Europa League team in your backyard. Good to know!

Epilogue: What's in the future?

As there is no foreseeable chance for political change to happen Hungary (Orbán effortlessly secured qualified majority in 2014 and 2018, and is projected to do so in 2022 as well), PAFC’s future seems to be as bright as it gets. Although consensus opinion now seems to assume that Orbán does not intend to interfere with the Ferencváros – Videoton hegemony, we can never be really sure about the exact limits of his greed. One could also argue that entering the European theater serves as a prime opportunity for making splashy transfers who could be the cornerstones of a side challenging the league title.
However, as all political systems are deemed to fall, eventually Orbán’s regime will come apart. Whoever will take upon the helm after Orbán, they will certainly begin with cutting back on the one item on Orbán’s agenda that never had popular support: limitless football spending. Puskás Academy, having next to zero market revenue, will not be able to survive without the state’s life support, so the club will fold very shortly. The abandoned, rotting stadium in Felcsút will serve as a memento of a powerful man who could not understand the true spirit of football.
But let’s get back to present day, as we have more pressing issues coming up soon: PAFC will play their first European match in the First qualifying round of the Europa League on 27 August. We don’t have a date for the draw yet, but soon enough, a team unaware of the whole situation will be selected to face the beast. I hope that maybe one of their players does some research and maybe reads this very article for inspiration. I hope that the supporters of this club get in touch with Honvéd fans who would be eager to provide them with some tips on appropriate chants. I hope that other teams gets drawn as the home team so Orbán wouldn’t get the pleasure of walking to his stadium for an international match. But most importantly, I very much hope that this team obliterates PAFC and wipes them off the face of the earth. 5-0 will suffice, thank you.
And if this team fails to do that, we don’t have to worry yet. Due to our shitty league coefficient, PAFC would need to win four fixtures in a row. And that – if there’s any justice in this world – is a thing that can’t, that won’t happen. Ball don’t lie – if I may say.
TL,DR
Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán redirected some 200 million EUR of taxpayer money over 10 years to fuel his ambition of raising a competitive football team in his hometown of 1,800 people. He built a 3,800-seater stadium in his backyard, expropriated football legend Ferenc Puskás’ trademarks and heritage and built up a football league where almost all clubs are owned by his trustees. His team, Puskás Akadémia FC was originally intended to be a development ground for youth players graduating from Orbán’s football academy, but eventually the team became more and more result-orianted. Finally, a roster full of foreign and non-academy players came through and finished third in the league, releasing this abomination of a team to the European football theatre. Please, knock them out asap!

Introduction

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you took the great sides from yester-year and put them in the same league together? UEFA have been trying to do that recently with the much reviled UEFA Super League^TM and since it’s looking like that won’t happen I thought I’d simulate something similar but within the comfort of my home county: the EPL. What would happen if I put the 19 most dominant teams in EPL history into one league and simulated many seasons? Who would get the most points? Who would win the most seasons? Let's find out!

The Teams

The nineteen best teams in Premier League history by points totals according to the transfermarkt website are:

• Manchester City: 2011-12 (Pipped United to the title on the last day by Goal Difference), 2013-14 (A Yaya Toure masterclass and a Gerrard blunder gives City their second title), 2017-18 (Broke multiple records such as Most Points (100), Most Goals (106) and Highest Goal Difference (+79) in a league season), 2018-19 (Current Champions, beating Liverpool by a point).
  
• Liverpool: 2018-19 (The most points ever accumulated by a 2nd placed team (97)).
  
• Chelsea: 2004-05 (Conceded just 15 goals in a season, the lowest ever), 2005-06 (Won nine in a row to start the season), 2009-10 (Record number of home goals scored in a season – 68), 2014-15 (Topped the table for 37/38 matchdays), 2016-17 (Won 13 in a row under Antonio Conte).
  
• Manchester United: 1999-2000 (Fresh from winning the treble the previous season, this team hit 91 points in the league), 2006-07 (First of three successive titles for Ferguson’s men), 2007-08 (Ronaldo’s greatest season in England), 2008-09 (Ronaldo’s final season at United), 2011-12 (Lost out to Man City on Goal Difference on the final day), 2012-13 (Robin Van Persie scores 26 goals to win Ferguson’s final title).
  
• Arsenal: 2001-02 (Wenger’s 2nd Premier League title), 2003-04 (The “Invincibles” become only the second team in Top-Flight English Football History to go an entire league season without a loss).
  
• Tottenham: 2016-17 (Harry Kane scores 29 goals in the league to help Spurs reach 86 points).
  

For fun, I decided to complete the league with the infamous Derby County 2007-08 side that managed to accumulate just 11 points in an entire season, which is the record lowest points tally to this day. Would they be able to beat any of the monster teams listed above over a simulated season?

Methodology

(Skip to the Results section if you want to avoid reading the Mathsy stuff.)
A season in a 20-team league is composed of 380 matches, each of which is made up of a home team and an away team. The fundamental assumption I will be making is that the number of goals scored by a team follows a Poisson distribution with mean dependent on the teams’ attacking strength and the oppositions’ defensive strength. This is a reasonable assumption since the Poisson distribution is typically skewed towards lower numbers when the mean is small (and football is a low-scoring game). However it is not perfect – for example the occurrence of goals in a match is not independent from when the last goal occurred, also a goal being scored is a rare event in a football match and so you will run into sample size issues. A better compromise would be to use a shot-based metric like xG since shots are much more frequent events, though xG statistics were not available for some of the older teams in this list so that had to be abandoned. Since this is just for fun I decided not to look too far for the perfect model and stuck with what I had, which was simple to code.
The Home Field Advantage is a well-established phenomenon in football and so for each of the 20 teams I want to look at how they performed at home and away, treating each separately. Therefore for each team I need to find out four things: their home attack, home defence, away attack and away defence. To do this I need to look at the goal-scoring records for the 20 teams in their respective seasons:
Let’s consider Manchester City 2018-19 as an example.

• In the 2018-19 season Man City scored 57 goals at home in 19 matches. This is an average of 3.000 per match. So against an “average team” in the league (which may not exist) they are expected to score 3 goals at home. This number is Man City 2018-19’s home attack.
  
• Man City conceded 12 goals at home in 19 matches for an average of 0.632 per match. Relative to the hypothetical “average team” this is a factor of 0.533 times as many goals compared to what the average team in the league conceded at home in the 2018-19 season per match (1.186). So Man City’s home defence is 0.533.
  

Repeating this for all the other teams in the league home and away will give us the numbers needed to find the Poisson mean for both teams in a match. Let’s have a look at an example to see how these numbers are used to predict a match outcome:
Manchester City 2018-19 vs. Derby County 2007-08
The mean number of goals I expect Man City to score in this match is given by the formula:
MCI2018-19 home attack * DER2007-08 away defense = 3.000 * 1.583 = 4.749.
Similarly the mean number of goals I expect Derby to score in this match is given by:
DER2007-08 away attack * MCI2018-19 home defense = 0.421 * 0.533 = 0.224
So the expected scoreline in this match will be a 4.749 – 0.224 win in favour of Man City, i.e. roughly 5-0 on average. This is repeated for the remaining 379 fixtures in the season and from there a simulated table can be conjured up. Bear in mind that the goals scored in each match are all random and vulnerable to the variance of the Poisson distribution. Man City are expected to score 4.749 goals in the match against Derby but according to the Poisson distribution have a 0.86% chance of scoring zero goals! This could happen in our simulated season but it wouldn’t be representative of Man City’s strength as a whole. To counter this variance I used a Monte Carlo Method by simulating 10,000 seasons in R (I will spare you my inefficient code, though outputs are given at the bottom) to answer interesting questions such as:

• What was the Average Table over the 10,000 seasons? Which team placed the highest on average?
  
• Which team won the league the most? Which teams finished in the top 4 the most? Which three teams got relegated the most?
  
• Did Derby County ever finish a season above 20th Place?
  

Results

The Average Table (over 10,000 seasons)

Avg Pos.	Team	Pld.	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts.
4.3	Manchester City 2018-19	38	18.7	9.8	9.5	60.7	35.8	+24.9	65.8
4.5	Chelsea 2004-05	38	17.9	11.7	8.4	47.0	25.6	+21.4	65.4
4.9	Manchester City 2017-18	38	18.5	9.0	10.5	67.1	43.0	+24.1	64.5
5.2	Liverpool 2018-19	38	17.9	10.0	10.1	56.7	35.2	+21.5	63.8
7.0	Manchester United 2007-08	38	16.7	10.2	11.1	51.0	36.4	+14.6	60.3
7.2	Tottenham 2016-17	38	16.7	9.8	11.5	55.0	40.5	+14.5	59.9
7.8	Manchester City 2011-12	38	16.5	9.2	12.2	58.8	44.6	+14.2	58.9
8.3	Chelsea 2009-10	38	16.3	8.7	12.9	64.2	49.9	+14.3	57.8
10.4	Chelsea 2005-06	38	14.6	10.5	12.9	45.5	38.7	+6.8	54.3
10.4	Manchester City 2013-14	38	15.4	8.0	14.5	63.4	57.6	+5.8	54.3
11.0	Manchester United 2011-12	38	14.6	9.4	14.0	56.1	50.4	+5.7	53.2
11.3	Manchester United 2006-07	38	14.4	9.6	14.0	52.5	47.9	+4.6	52.7
11.5	Arsenal 2003-04	38	14.0	10.5	13.5	46.5	42.4	+4.1	52.5
12.5	Chelsea 2016-17	38	13.8	9.4	14.9	53.2	50.9	+2.3	50.7
12.9	Manchester United 2008-09	38	13.1	10.7	14.2	42.9	42.1	+0.8	50.0
14.7	Chelsea 2014-15	38	12.4	9.5	16.1	46.5	54.9	-8.4	46.8
14.9	Arsenal 2001-02	38	12.3	9.2	16.5	49.6	57.6	-8.0	46.2
15.0	Manchester United 1999-2000	38	12.8	7.7	17.6	59.6	69.3	-9.7	46.0
16.1	Manchester United 2012-13	38	11.6	8.2	18.1	53.7	66.4	-12.7	43.2
20.0	Derby County 2007-08	38	0.4	1.5	36.1	11.4	152.3	-140.9	2.6

• With the exception of Derby County it's quite clear that there is a lot of parity in this league with only 23 points separating 1st from 19th!
  
• Man City 2017-18 and 2018-19 backed up their record point tallies by finishing highly most seasons in this league of heavyweights. Chelsea 2004-05's incredible defense let them keep up the pace with Guardiola's teams as they finished a very close 2nd in the Average Table.
  
• Surprisingly Tottenham 2016-17 performed better on average than the champions of that season Chelsea in this league, due to their better goal scoring and conceding record for that year.
  
• It went about as well as you could have expected for poor Derby County who finished bottom of the table in every single season (see the Crosstable below), scoring just 11.4 goals on average and conceding 152.3 over the 38-game season. On average they earned fewer than three points over a whole season!
  

Crosstable (Probability of finishing in x^th position)

• Despite having two points fewer than the Centurions, Man City 2018-19 won the super league more often than any other team, they were crowned champions 2,195 times.
  
• Other regular winners were Chelsea 2004-05 (1,909 sims), Manchester City 2017-18 (1,781 sims) and Liverpool 2018-19 (1,420 sims) who complete the so-called "Big Four", sharing the league title 73.05% of the time between them.
  
• Along with Derby County, Robin Van Persie's 2012-13 Manchester United were relegated the most often (4,602 sims), with the 1999-2000 team the third most likely to get the drop (3,111 sims).
  
• With the exception of Derby County, every team won the super league in at least one season!
  

Fun Stats

Out of the 10,000 seasons (3.8 million games) these were some of the fun things I found:

Stat	Details	Simulation
Highest Scoring Game	17 Goals: Arsenal 2001-02 4-13 Tottenham 2016-17	5667
Biggest Home Win	Chelsea 2009-10 17-0 Derby County 2007-08	3948
Biggest Away Win	Derby County 2007-08 0-16 Manchester City 2011-12	4345
Most Points	95 - Manchester City 2018-19	9340
Most Goals Scored	101 - Manchester City 2017-18	4497
Most Goals Conceded	203 - Derby County 2007-08	1929
Highest Goal Difference	+62 - Manchester City 2017-18	431
Lowest Goal Difference	-194 - Derby County 2007-08	1929
Invincible Seasons	0	-
Zero-point seasons	1452 (all Derby County 2007-08)	-
Best Derby County Season	16 points	9256
Total wins for Derby County	3571/380000 (0.94% winrate)	-

A Season in the Life of Derby County 2007-08

Taken from the 10,000th simulation.
Derby's first fixture of the season was welcoming Jürgen Klopp's 2018-19 Liverpool to Pride Park. In the August sun the Reds ran out 0-3 winners over the Rams to leave them tied for bottom of the table after matchday one. The following week they were thumped 4-0 on their first visit to Stamford Bridge by 2005-06 Chelsea. This result would send Chelsea top of the table and also let Derby reach the dizzying heights of 19th place on Goal Difference after 2012-13 Man United were battered 6-1 by 2013-14 Man City.
Things were looking promising after an impressive 2-2 draw over the Cristiano Ronaldo inspired 2006-07 Man United nearly brought them out the relegation zone and had fans dreaming of survival. Unfortunately this would be a false hope as a 4-0 loss to 2014-15 Chelsea and a 2-5 home loss to 2008-09 Man United would follow. On their first visit to the Etihad they bowed out to 2011-12 Man City 3-1 before losing 0-5 at home against Conte's Chelsea. A 2-0 away defeat to fellow relegation candidates 2012-13 Man United saw the Rams already 9 points away from safety after just eight games, though they had scored more goals than the Arsenal Invincibles!
Current champions 2018-19 Man City were next to be welcomed at Pride Park, and Derby put up a good fight by only losing 0-2. Next week the cousins 2013-14 Man City were not so kind as they ran riot in a 7-0 thrashing. 5-0 and 1-8 losses were next dished out by 2007-08 Man United and 2009-10 Chelsea. Pochettino's 2016-17 Tottenham side also enjoyed a 5-0 win on Matchday 13. The lowest point of the season was a 0-8 home loss to 1999-00 Man United, their worst defeat of the year.The next home game was 2004-05 Chelsea, the team with the best defense in history. Derby County did themselves proud and managed to score twice but ultimately lost 2-7 in a crazy game.
The defense continued to ship goals over the Christmas period; a 5-0 loss to the Centurions, a 0-7 defeat to the Invincibles, a 4-1 loss to 2011-12 Man United and finally a 1-8 hammering to Ferguson's final United team saw Derby County firmly rooted to the bottom of the table at the halfway stage. Relegation was almost a certainty at this point, but all the other positions in the league were anything but certain!
The second half of the season was no better for the Rams, they lost every single game from here on out but did nearly keep a draw in a 1-0 away loss to 2016-17 Chelsea on Matchday 21. Finally on Matchday 28 the Arsenal Invincibles sealed their fate, defeating Derby 4-0 to ensure their relegation to the 10,001st simulation of the super league, it was still only February!
With Derby relegated, eyes turned to the title race. 2018-19 Man City had built up a healthy 9-point lead over 2007-08 Man United during the late winter months. That lead would be cut down to 6 points with 5 matches remaining as Tottenham's 2016-17 side proved to be surprise candidates off the back of five wins in a row.
Disaster would strike Man City as two draws and two losses in the next four matches saw Spurs leapfrog them into first place by a point going into the final day of the season. Not only was the title still up for grabs, there were five teams still fighting for two Champions League spots and any two of 2011-12 Man United, 2001-02 Arsenal and 2012-13 Man United would join Derby County in relegation!
Final Standings
On the final day of the season everything went 2016-17 Chelsea's way as they crushed 2011-12 Man United 4-0 to jump from 7th place into the top 4 on Goal Difference. All three of the relegation candidates losing meant the bottom of the table stayed as it was. 2018-19 Man City managed a 1-2 away victory over Man United's 2012-13 team but it was too little too late as a nervy 0-1 away win for Spurs over Mourinho's 2014-15 Chelsea side saw them clinch the title... for the 612th time!

Ballparking Derby's chances of winning the Super League

Even in Derby's best season they still finished 19 points adrift from 19th place, so it's clearly going to take a lot more than 10,000 simulations before we see them challenging for the league even once, but we can make some sort of an estimate. The mean number of points accumulated by the champions was 73.8, so you'd expect a team to win the league if they get ~25 wins or ~24 wins and a few draws. Let's say that in any season in which Derby get 25 wins they win the league just to be on the safe side.
Throughout the 10,000 simulations Derby won 0.94% of all matches, though we can presume most of these were against the weaker teams in the Super League and so their win rate against any particular team would probably be smaller, let's call it a round 0.9% for simplicity.
The probability that Derby will win 25 or more matches out of 38 with each match having a winning probability of 0.9% is 3.5 * 10^-42 or 0.00000000000000000000000000000000000000035%. In other words one would expect Derby County to win the Super League around once every 2.86 * 10⁴¹ simulations.
If every person on Earth ran a million simulations per second from now until the Sun swallows the Earth in 5 billion years they would still have only cooked up 1.21 * 10³³ simulations, a factor of 236 million fewer than the expected amount needed to see a win. i.e. we would need a quarter of a billion Earth's doing the task if you want to see Derby County sitting as champions before the Sun turns them all into plasma!

Conclusions

This was all a good bit of fun and a nice coding challenge for an amateur like myself. As mentioned before there are several big problems with the assumptions above though the biggest of all is probably the premise itself. It's unreasonable to assume that the average strength of the Premier League has remained constant over time, some teams may have been in a "harder" league and have reduced points tallies than if they were present in other years, meaning that the stats are out of their favour. As it is we can only use what we have, I think the end results are in line with what one might expect: the brilliant defence of Chelsea's 2004-05 side cancels out the terrifying attack of the recent Manchester City teams and both sit atop the rest as the best of the best.

Output folder

You can download the output folder for the 10,000 seasons [here], it contains the following .csv files:

• Teams: a folder containing the 20 teams in the league, each file has the 10,000 season end results for the respective team.
  
• 10000th season final table and 10000th season fixtures and results: full-season data on the subsection above.
  
• AvgTable: a raw copy of the Average Table.
  
• biggestawaywin, biggesthomewin, highestscoring: the biggest home/away wins and highest scoring matches for each of the 10,000 seasons.
  
• champions: A list of the 10,000 champions and the runners-up.
  
• crosstable: A raw copy of the crosstable.