For a long time, we witnessed the domination of the English and especially, the Spanish teams in European competitions. It seems that 2020 isn’t fitting the above-mentioned pattern.
After being used to see several clubs from these countries in the closing stages of these two competitions, now we have just Sevilla in the Europa League finals.
Not so long ago, Spain had two UCL finalists and a winner of the EL in one cycle, but things changed rapidly. England had both finalists in the UCL last year.
Whether is that because their domestic leagues are much tougher than others, which hurts their teams once entring the continental scene, or due to the drop in the quality, we don’t know.
But what is sure is that England and Spain are no longer holding all the cards in their hands when talking about club football in Europe.
Sevilla has the chance to defend the honor of Spanish football, but they are not the favorites in the finals, as in previous years. With 5/2, they are the underdogs against Inter Milan, whose odds for winning are 23/20.
A draw in this one is 23/10. Nerazzurri have the edge when it comes to lifting the trophy, 8/13, while Sevilla sits at 13/10. Over 2.5 goals are 1/1 and under 4/5. Here you have a nice offer if you want to bet on this match.
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The biggest disappointments in the UCL were Barcelona and Manchester City. The first were humiliated in the semis against Bayern, 8-2, while on the other side, the Citizens didn’t manage to pass Lyon, ending the campaign the one step before the finals, again.
Now, Barca already fired its coach, Quique Setien, setting their sights on Ronald Koeman, while on the other side, Pep Guardiola’s destiny is still unknown.
He was in talks with Juventus previous summer, and it seems that he might leave Etihad anytime soon. If that happens, a list of potential replacements is pretty long.
Mauricio Pochettino is no.1 with 6/4 per oddsmakers. Patrick Viera follows the former Tottenham boss at 5/1, and after that comes Brendan Rodgers with 11/1, ahead of Laurent Blanc 15/2 and Gian Pierro Gasperini 20/1.
Antonio Conte has some disputes in Inter, and according to many sources close to the Citizens, they are keeping an eye on the Italian, who proved himself in England already. Odds on him landing in Manchester are 25/1 also.
City’s summer might be pretty interesting, with several players already announcing their desire to leave the club. David Silva, as a matter of fact, already jumped back to Spain.
But that won’t be anywhere near Barcelona’s summer. There is a real possibility of seeing a nuclear explosion at Camp Nou. Lionel Messi, one of the best players ever, is now happy in Blaugrana for quite some time, and per several insiders, he wants to leave the club.
All the rumors about his departure are increased after the Argentinian bought a house in Milan near Inter’s facilities.
Right now, Messi has four UCL titles, and he craves for the fifth one but experiences massive frustrations in the recent few years on that field.
Eliminations against Roma and Liverpool were something which definitely created a rift between him and the board, and the most recent humiliation against Bayern was the last straw apparently.
He isn’t willing to waste any of his time in Barcelona, who isn’t capable of making him a team worthy of winning the most prominent club competition in the world.
The bookies have already set the odds for Messi’s future possible destinations. Going to Manchester City is priced at 5/2, signing for Inter Milan 7/2, PSG 9/1, and joining Liverpool is at 10/1.
For the 33-year old to go back to South America, regardless of the team is 16/1. If he gets back to his Newells Old Boys, your stakes could be multiplied 18 times.
A lot is at stake here for Barca.
After all these potential turmoils happening in the next few weeks, we have to ask ourselves whether is the period of domination of the Spanish and English teams in Europe over? Or is this just one-year spark of all the others. Time will tell.