How is Jack Grealish’s cat doing? Grealish, we remember, maybe he too, had recently poured Manchester City’s Champions League victory like no other, sorry, enjoyed it. There were some nice shots – but we don’t want to raise our fingers too warningly, the pandemic is only just over.
Let’s look at the statistics instead. Sober figures that say something about the ideal world we live in, where football is always played, even after a Champions League final. Which is why players are dutiful and coaches caring.
So Jack Grealish made his way to the England side, for all we know, without a safety vest but in full outerwear, and Gareth Southgate, the manager, a gentleman through and through, left him on the bench and made a substitution against Malta on Monday against North Macedonia in the 58th minute.
The ball is rolling again
The English won 7-0 in Manchester, a Grealish cross made it 6-0. The next day the Germans lost 2-0 to Colombia. With Ilkay Gündogan, Manchester City, as captain, who had previously said he was at an age where he could no longer celebrate several nights at a time.
But enough celebrations, let’s get to work. A sober look at the game board reveals the unforgiving world we live in. The ball keeps rolling. And with the semi-finals of the pre-qualification straight into the next Champions League season, which will kick off almost exactly 400 hours or two and a half Jack Grealish parties after the old whistle in the Atatürk Stadium in Istanbul in the Kopavogsvöllur Stadium in Iceland.
A comment by Daniel Theweleit Published/Updated: , Christoph Ehrhardt, Christoph Becker and Anno Hecker Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 8 A comment by Christoph Becker Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 7
Tuesday, June 27, 2023, 3 p.m.: Atletic Escaldes vs. Buducnost Podgorica. 9pm: Tre Penne Galazzano vs UMF Breidlavik Kopavogur. Final on Friday, Shamrock Rovers from Ireland are waiting for the pre-qualification winner on July 12th.
You can find it funny or interesting, but in fact the side effects of European club football kick their way through the summer as accessories, because the organizer of this competition, the European Football Union UEFA, has to claim equal opportunities, during which the only relevant participants have at least a few days lying on the beach trying to enjoy what they accomplished last year. Nothing is as certain as the next game and nothing as false as the fairy tale of equal opportunities in Europe.
