Champions League January Debut

GM football fans. It’s Tuesday, Jan. 21 - the first Champions League games to be played in January, Prince William’s Aston Villa burner account, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.

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FIXTURES

Champions League: Monaco vs Aston Villa, 17:45 / 12:45. Monaco have struggled for consistency, with only five wins in their last 16 matches across all competitions. Meanwhile, Villa have kept four clean sheets in six UCL matches this season. Atletico Madrid vs Bayer Leverkusen, 20:00 / 15:00. Atletico have won seven of their last eight home UCL matches, but Leverkusen are currently on a 12-match winning streak in all competitions. Liverpool vs Lille, 20:00 / 15:00. Lille have only won one of their 10 games against English sides in the Champions League, losing each of the last six in a row. See the Champions League league phase table here.

Plus…

• Premier League: Chelsea 3-1 Wolves (Match Report)

• La Liga: Villarreal 4-0 Mallorca (League Table)

• Serie A: Como 4-1 Udinese (League Table)

TOP TALKING POINTS

January Champions League

The first Champions League games to be played in January begin on Tuesday (21. Jan). With two games remaining in the league phase, the top eight in the standings at the end of the month will advance to the round of 16 that starts in March.

It’s thought that 16 points are needed to finish in the top eight, while 10 points would be enough to hold a top 24 place to feature in the play-off round. See the current Champions League league phase table here.

Liverpool and second-place Barcelona are the only two teams already certain to finish in the top 24. They also have a 99% and 90% chance of going through to the last 16, respectively. Opta’s latest projections say that Arsenal, Inter, Bayer Leverkusen, Lille, Aston Villa, and Bayern Munich will join them.

Other predictions give Real Madrid, Manchester City and PSG under a one per cent chance of finishing eight or above. PSG currently lie in the elimination zone, while City are just one point above them. Despite their precarious situation, all three are predicted by Opta to enter the play-off round.

Perez Re-Elected

Florentino Perez has been re-elected, unopposed, as Real Madrid’s president for the next four years. The 77-year-old has been Madrid president in two spells, between 2000 and 2006, and since 2009.

In recent years, there has been little change in the club’s top structure. But Real have appointed four new board members until 2029, all of which will be monitored to potentially succeed Perez.

According to reports from Spain, the club’s manager Carlo Ancelotti has decided that he will leave Real Madrid at the end of the season. The 65-year-old is the most decorated manager in the club’s history. The same outlet reports that Xabi Alonso is the leading candidate to take over from Ancelotti.

Prince William’s Burner Account

Prince William has confessed to regularly contributing to Aston Villa fan forums, using a pseudonym to hide his identity. One Villa fan, who met Prince William in a pub, told The Athletic that William “keeps abreast of Villa gossip because he is on all the fans' forums. He goes under different names.” 

William started supporting Villa during his time at school because, in his words, he “wanted to have a team that was more mid-table that could give me more emotional rollercoaster moments.” His earliest experience of supporting Villa was the FA Cup semi-final win over Bolton Wanderers on penalties at Wembley in 2000.

Last year, Prince William was made the Patron of the Football Association. The role had previously been filled by Queen Elizabeth II—the prince's grandmother—before her passing in September 2022.

See which clubs other celebrities support here.

POLL

ON THE BALL

Europe

> Manchester City complete the signing of Abdukodir Khusanov from Lens (More) | Manchester United have scheduled a meeting with Lecce in Italy regarding Patrick Dorgu; the full-back is valued at more than £25m (More) | Chelsea have agreed a fee in the region of £11.9m for Strasbourg centre-back Mamadou Sarr (More)

> Barcelona and Real Madrid remain on track to meet in the Copa del Rey semifinal or final after avoiding each other in Monday's quarterfinal draw (See full draw)

> AC Milan are considering loan moves for Chelsea's Joao Felix and Manchester United duo Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund (More)

> Porto have sacked manager Vitor Bruno after just six months in charge (More)

Americas

> Neymar Jr is reportedly working on a move to rejoin boyhood club Santos; Inter Miami head coach said it would be unlikely that Neymar would join the MLS considering the roster rules (More)

> USA defender Naomi Girma, widely considered one of the best footballers in the world, is attracting interest from the biggest clubs in women’s football (More)

Rest of the World

> The Saudi Pro League is debuting Legends Week, honouring players and coaches who have contributed to the league (More)

> Adelaide United move into the top spot in Australia with a 3-2 win over Melbourne Victory to take full advantage of Melbourne City's 3-0 defeat by Auckland FC (More)

ROUTERS’ VOICE

Yesterday’s Poll: Do you think long-term contracts for star players are a good or bad idea?

🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ 🤩 Good... (42%)

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🙅 Bad... (53%)

⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other... (3%)

Your punditry takes:

• 🤩 C.N.A: “Having a star on your team helps to build a following, and also encourages other good players to want to play with the star and improve on the quality of the team.”

• 🙅 D.W: “Clubs only introduced these to try and overcome FFP regulations. It is not good for the player, it is not good for the clubs, but moreover, it sends the wrong message to the academy players; ‘we have signed our best players on a long-term contract, therefore, you will become surplus to requirements.’”

• ✍️ R.G: “Yes and no. Not all players have a Messi or Ronaldo mentality. Others get a big bump up the wage structure and rest on their laurels as they've reached the promised land. Then if they fall out with the manager or he implements a system that doesn't favour the player it could be impossible for the club to move them on.”

EXTRA TIME

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Bruno Fernandes’ brother scores a worldie.

Carragher and Petit debate the Premier League title race.

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Curtis Jones says Hazard is a better footballer than Mo Salah.

Is this really the worst Man United team in history?

GAME FACE ON

Question: The European Cup has been won only once by a team from Romania. Can you name them?

Scroll below for the answer.

ON TODAY

Champions League

• Atalanta vs Sturm (17:45)

• Monaco vs Aston Villa (17:45)

• Atletico vs Leverkusen (20:00) 

• Benfica vs Barcelona (20:00)

• Bologna vs Dortmund (20:00)

• Club Brugge vs Juventus (20:00)

• Liverpool vs Lille (20:00)

• Red Star vs PSV (20:00)

• Slovan vs Stuttgart (20:00)

Europa League

• Galatasaray vs Dynamo Kyiv (15:30)

*All time in UK. ET -5. CST -6. PST -8. MST -7. CET +1.

Answer

Steaua Bucharest (now FCSB) won the European Cup in 1986.