Friday, April 04, 2025

The Latest Football News and Opinions From 90 Minutes Online

Money to burn

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Manchester United, Inter Milan and Barcelona all scooped their domestic league titles last weekend. To achieve the feat the three clubs spent in the region of €200m between them on new players in 2008-2009. Little wonder then that they emerged victorious. But, in fact, the vast majority of that money was wasted on poor and ineffective signings. That they still emerged victorious after such large financial blunders tells of the pre-eminent clubs’ dominance.     

 

Barcelona get more than their fair share of plaudits, but amid all the talk of their home-grown talents – Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi (sort of) – they were second only to Manchester City in terms of money spent last year.

 

 

Uefa Cup bites the dust

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So it came to pass that Wednesday night was the final, final of the Uefa Cup. Europe's second major competition had been in this guise since 1971, when it replaced the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. From next season it will be in it's third generation and will be known as the Europa League, which when analysed doesn't seem to be any less convoluted than the Uefa Cup is now. Let's hope it's not a revamp that flatters to deceive as its name suggests it might.

Anyway, as for last nights send off for the Uefa Cup, it was keenly contested by two of the less glamorous or at least well known teams in this years competition: Werder Bremen and Shakhtar Donetsk. Both teams had to negotiate some considerable opposition to get to the final and should be commended for surmounting the large number of games it can take to do so.

 

Luis Figo and some other stuff

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If I said the words “Luis Figo”, “non-alcoholic beer”, “street” and “drinkers”, how would you pin the four together?

Has the former world player of the year got himself into a sticky street fight after a gaggle of English hoodlums mocked him for drinking alcohol-free booze? Has he started a campaign to push the zero percent stuff onto trampy bastards out on the piss all night?

No, he’s actually decided to gang together with a group of non-alcoholic beer drinkers to take on a team of “football stars” headed by Rui Costa in a game of street football.

 

What is the pull of football?

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I have to say that in my twenty odd years as a football fan I’ve never enjoyed a season as little as I’ve enjoyed this one.

I fully blame it on the Portuguese league, which is, to put it bluntly, a shower of shite at the best of times.

 

There’s so little flair, so few clinical passes, so few great goals, and most noticeably so little pace.

 

Spot the footballer

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After a couple of weeks off everyone’s seventh favourite competition is back.

Back like a bitter local rival with vengeance on its mind, back like a journeyman striker putting in a final stint before hanging up his boots, or back like the rear part of your body with a spine running down the middle of it? You decide.

More Articles...

  1. Europe: Heartache for McClaren, but great prizes beckon for Wolfsburg and Bordeaux
  2. Porto scoop the gong
  3. The referee's a...
  4. Bundesliga battle will not let up!

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