04/25/24
October 10, 2014
SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle:
A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.
Maybe Ligue 1 invites FC Barcelona to join them if they get dropped from La Liga. If one foreign team can play in that league, surely another would be allowed.
It's pretty much the same flying distance between Barcelona and it's closest Ligue 1 city (Toulouse) as it is between Bastia and it's closest Ligue 1 brother (Nice).
posted by grum@work at 02:02 PM on October 10, 2014
J.J. Watt was unbelievable on the pick-6 last night. No defensive end should be able to run that fast.
posted by rcade at 03:39 PM on October 10, 2014
No defensive end should be able to run that fast
posted by BornIcon at 04:11 PM on October 10, 2014
Call me crazy but... Will Catalonian independence spur knock on effects in world football? FC Barcelona said today that independence is more important than the threat of expulsion of La Liga. But where would the team play if not Spain? Catalonia could hardly support a domestic league with enough quality to keep Barca among European elite.
Instead, would such a change be the last straw needed to push the G14 to break away and form the European super league that almost came about in the early '90s? UEFA was able to head off the change with the Champions League, but recent comments from the likes of AC Milan execs about "big clubs" needing a way to have European football regardless of domestic form make me think it's no longer sufficient.
FIFA (and UEFA) would likely try to block an ESL since it could destroy domestic leagues--imagine Span without Barca and Real, Italy without Juventus and Milan, Germany without Bayern and Dortmond. FIFA threatens to blacklist any players from FIFA-sanctioned matches (e.g., World Cup) but the clubs wave enough money at them and the players play.
No more problems about World Cup '22 in Qatar, eh?