He might be back in the country, but David Black is still reeling from the fact that Newcastle United might not be Champions League contenders after all. Therefore I have been you have been lumbered with this again this week. But, it being a European week an’all, it should be a good one, right? It might even write itself if I am really lucky.
Tuesday 26 Sep
If you want to be really obvious, you’ll enjoy the treats that Apoel Nicosia and Spurs might dish up or Manchester City versus Shakhtar or even Spartak and Liverpool. But, for me, if you are deadly serious about this column you will follow my advice and toss a coin between Dortmund’s home game with Real Madrid and Monaco welcoming Porto. That’s where the real football will be played. Alternatively, there is a full Football League programme for you to get stuck into where the standout game most certainly isn’t Morecambe vs Luton Town.
Wednesday 27 Sep
Wednesday has a lovely sample of Champions League football for you to get excited by. Atletico play Chelsea (will Diego Costa be in the stands?) PSG and Bayern get it on, Sporting CP welcome Barcelona and Manchester United have to head over to Russia. Less interestingly, both Sheffield clubs are back in action in the Championship.
Thursday 28 Sep
Thursday means Arsenal this season, and the Europa League will be in full flow. There are far too many matches and far too little personal interest in me going through them with you so do feel free to peruse the fixture list at your own leisure.
Friday 29 Sep
Friday night looks quite cool I have to say. La Liga, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, the Championship and the Scottish Premiership are your options and the pick of the matches has to be Monaco versus Montpellier. How have Monaco done since everyone jumped ship, do we know?
Saturday 30 Sep
We welcome the Premier League on Saturday, where Tottenham are lucky enough to be away from home again on telly. They are at Huddersfield. Chelsea bookend the day in a big match against Manchester City which BT Sport will be delighted to have ahead of Sky.Of course, you have all the usual European League action to choose from and PSG against Bordeaux is my pick just to see Neymar and Cavani have another fight over a penalty. There’s all the action from the Football League and the stuff North of the Border too, if you like your 0-0 draws a bit closer to home.
Sunday 1 Oct
A new month and how Super will Sky’s Super Sunday be this week? Arsenal play Brighton at the Emirates which, honestly, is about as Super as SuperGran and then Newcastle United welcome Liverpool in a game that would have been Super back in the 1990’s. I’d head over to La Liga where Barcelona and Real Madrid are in action or Serie A where AC Milan’s quickly assembled flat pack football team has been a bit wobbly of late. They play Roma.
Monday 2 Oct
Whoa there, I’m being told there are no matches on Monday? This cannot be right. Oh, everyone is buggering off on internationals again. There has to be something on TV somewhere in the world? Would you look at that! My beloved Real Oviedo just happen to be playing Real Zaragoza and I am sure you can stream that from somewhere if you try hard enough.