Morepork Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 I have a lot of spare time....  Been watching the games of these teams for a couple of months now since it started to look like there might be a bit of a story developing. Worth your time to watch if you get the chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kopparberg Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 I heard that Girona had either spent big or had some very clever investment at least  Leverkusen have the nickname ‘Neverkusen’ I think… so it’d be great for them to win the league. They look impressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morepork Posted January 21 Author Share Posted January 21 2 minutes ago, Kopparberg said: I heard that Girona had either spent big or had some very clever investment at least  Leverkusen have the nickname ‘Neverkusen’ I think… so it’d be great for them to win the league. They look impressive.  The "Neverkusen" tag feels like a pretty powerful curse.....it will take some shifting, people will dive on that first league defeat when it comes I'm sure. Bayern losing today has helped!! German football desperately needs a new champion IMO.  Girona seems to be clever tactics and some very astute recruitment. Dovbyk tge Ukrainian forward is immense, scored a hattrick in about 8 minutes earlier after they'd gone a goal down to Sevilla. The other standout would be the winger Savio who's on loan from Troyes. They are part of the City group but I think theres only one or two City players on loan there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McRightSide Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 If Bayern don’t win the league with Kane then we have to accept he’s cursed. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ever the pessimist Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 Boniface at Leverkusen is a hell of a striker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_1 Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 Are Leverkusen the German Tottenham? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiJ Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 5 minutes ago, Matt_1 said: Are Leverkusen the German Tottenham? Arguably worse, though it's a decent comparison. Â They've never won Bundesliga in its modern form. Â Won the Bundesliga North title once, a German cup and a UEFA Cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morepork Posted January 22 Author Share Posted January 22 2 hours ago, Ever the pessimist said: Boniface at Leverkusen is a hell of a striker  Pretty sure he's injured atm. Didn't play against RBL at the weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southie_Owl Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 Girona's coach must have something about him, 3 managerial jobs and won promotion to la Liga at each of them.  Now guided Girona to the top of the league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bannofan Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 4 hours ago, Morepork said:  Pretty sure he's injured atm. Didn't play against RBL at the weekend.  He's at the AFCON, playing upfront for Nigeria with Osimehn.  Girona are very interesting..part of the City group yes, but that's not reflected in the playing squad.  Paolo Gazzaniga in the net, Daley Blind in Defence and Cristhian Stuani upfront has a real ' Expendables' feel about it, but it's working.  Leverkusen just aren't losing. Managed so well by Xabi Alonso who has joined the ' Super Manager' bracket and will end up at Barca , Real, Liverpool..anywhere he wants really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheffield_dave Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 5 hours ago, Matt_1 said: Are Leverkusen the German Tottenham?  Football wise it's a fairly easy parallel to draw, although I think there's some important and more interesting context behind Leverkusen being a fairly small town (Wiki says 163,000 people), with the club set up and existing for most of its history as a sporting venture for the pharmaceutical company.  Other than Bayern winning it every year, German football is one of the more interesting leagues to follow I think, not just for the culture and fan ownership aspect but also for the way some clubs massively over (and under) perform. Leverkusen are undoubtedly one of the biggest clubs in Germany but they're probably punching above their weight, especially given their modest location (with places like Cologne, Dortmund and Dusseldorf not far away) and origins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danblakemore Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 (edited) Doesnt Peps brother own Girona? Edited January 22 by danblakemore Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ever the pessimist Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 1 hour ago, Bannofan said:  He's at the AFCON, playing upfront for Nigeria with Osimehn.   Heck of a pairing that. Only concern would be them be too similar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morepork Posted January 22 Author Share Posted January 22 2 hours ago, Bannofan said:  He's at the AFCON, playing upfront for Nigeria with Osimehn.  Girona are very interesting..part of the City group yes, but that's not reflected in the playing squad.  Paolo Gazzaniga in the net, Daley Blind in Defence and Cristhian Stuani upfront has a real ' Expendables' feel about it, but it's working.  Leverkusen just aren't losing. Managed so well by Xabi Alonso who has joined the ' Super Manager' bracket and will end up at Barca , Real, Liverpool..anywhere he wants really.  He is but he's injured. He looked a player last year at USG, astute transfer business, I can only imagine what that must feel like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oh_weds_we_love_you Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 How would Girona or Leverkusen winning their respective league stack up against Leicester winning the Premier League? Are we talking a bigger sporting achievement? I've not taken much interest in the German and Spanish leagues for a while, so have no idea. I know Barca and Madrid aren't what they once were, and that Bayern are still miles ahead of everyone else in Germany, but that's about it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southie_Owl Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 2 hours ago, oh_weds_we_love_you said: How would Girona or Leverkusen winning their respective league stack up against Leicester winning the Premier League? Are we talking a bigger sporting achievement? I've not taken much interest in the German and Spanish leagues for a while, so have no idea. I know Barca and Madrid aren't what they once were, and that Bayern are still miles ahead of everyone else in Germany, but that's about it!  I remember Leverkusen being good in 2000, they finished second in their league 3 times and reached the champions league final, losing to Madrid. As its been said they are probably like a Spurs in our country. So winning the league would be very unusual, but not completely shocking. Girona on the other hand would be like if the Man city owners bought a club like Millwall and helped them to win the PL.  Girona have historically been in the spanish 2nd to 5th tier of football.  1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukeyswfc Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 Would love them both to do it.  Girona should be looking at a top 2, but Real will probably win the league. Barca don’t look like getting close.  Leverkusen ending the 10 year title win the year Kane signs is hilarious. The mans cursed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oh_weds_we_love_you Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 3 hours ago, Southie_Owl said:  I remember Leverkusen being good in 2000, they finished second in their league 3 times and reached the champions league final, losing to Madrid. As its been said they are probably like a Spurs in our country. So winning the league would be very unusual, but not completely shocking. Girona on the other hand would be like if the Man city owners bought a club like Millwall and helped them to win the PL.  Girona have historically been in the spanish 2nd to 5th tier of football.   Thanks. I remember Leverkusen back then - a quality side with Lucio, Ballack, and Berbatov amongst the ranks from memory. Haven't seen much since the early 2000's though until now with Alonso looking like he'll be a top manager.  Wow, Girona would be some story then. Albeit owned by the City Group, they don't seem to benefit a great deal - on the pitch at least (got a defender on loan from Man City is all I can see) - from that, so it would be a pretty remarkable story if they can hold off Madrid! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnowyOwl13 Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 On 22/01/2024 at 15:10, sheffield_dave said:  Football wise it's a fairly easy parallel to draw, although I think there's some important and more interesting context behind Leverkusen being a fairly small town (Wiki says 163,000 people), with the club set up and existing for most of its history as a sporting venture for the pharmaceutical company.  Other than Bayern winning it every year, German football is one of the more interesting leagues to follow I think, not just for the culture and fan ownership aspect but also for the way some clubs massively over (and under) perform. Leverkusen are undoubtedly one of the biggest clubs in Germany but they're probably punching above their weight, especially given their modest location (with places like Cologne, Dortmund and Dusseldorf not far away) and origins. That area of Germany is a proper hotbed. Cologne, Dusseldorf, Leverkusen, Bochum, Dortmund, Schalke, Monchengladbach all there. And that's not including some of the lower league teams that pull in five figure attendances like Duisburg and Essen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheffield_dave Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 It's the underperforming clubs who fascinate me in Germany. Berlin has a weird history with its clubs and surely massively underperforms compared to clubs from other major capitals. Hamburg not having a Bundesliga club is mad although looks like St Pauli might change that (HSV seem perennially stuck in 3rd at that level). Schalke are struggling.. Kaiserslautern draw big crowds for the second and third tier.. Dresden has a similar population to Sheffield and they're down in the third (OK, maybe not too dissimilar then..) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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