Football Feed

Luis Alfonso Lacayo

Have you ever wanted to have a reliable and unbiased source where you can find out about events happening in the football world?  Well, if that is you, you’re in the right place! Hello, My name is Luis Alfonso Lacayo,  and welcome to the first edition of the Football Feed.  Some of the key topics we will cover today include  Mbappe’s current situation in Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo hitting the 900 goal mark, and the new Champions League format! 

After seven years of waiting Kylian Mbappe made the long awaited announcement that he would indeed not be continuing his contract with Paris Saint Germain, but instead joining Spanish football giants, Real Madrid. In Mbappes welcoming at Real Madrid he recreated many significant things from Cristiano Ronaldo’s welcoming. People started to compare Mbappe and Ronaldo, since they were both in similar ages when joining Real Madrid , and they both started with the same kit number (#9). With this in common, there was immense pressure on Mbappe to do well for Madrid in his first match. On the 14th of August 2024, Mbappe made his debut for Real Madrid vs Atalanta.  From the beginning of the game, Real Madrid was dominating over the Europa League champions, but they didn’t score until the 59th minute where Valverde scored inside the box. To this point,  Mbappe was playing quite well and the Real Madrid fans only needed to wait for 9 more minutes until Mbappe scored. After a great pass by Jude Belligham. The game ended 2-0 with Real Madrid winning and Mbappe winning his first trophy for Real Madrid. This form however , did not carry in the next 3 matches and Mbappe has been under a lot of pressure and criticism from the fans since he has not made a significant impact. To make it even worse, Real Madrid are now struggling in La Liga due to many injuries and Mbappe’s lack of goals. The Comparisons to Cristiano Ronaldo have only grown since then.

Speaking of Cristiano Ronaldo, on the 5th of September,  he scored his 900th professional career goal. He has been the all-time top goal scorer in football history for a long time now, but his 900th goal came against Croatia in the Nations League group stage. He scored the winning goal of the match in the 34th minute and fell on the floor overcome with emotions after reaching this incredible feat! This may not have been a trophy, but it is a milestone that will probably never be reached, much less broken by any other player. 

Finally, the Champions League adopted a new format. This is an exciting new format that will be implemented this season! Many people think that it is a confusing and unnecessary change to the competition we all know and love, but it has the potential to be even more entertaining. Here is a simplified explanation to ensure clarity for our readers, to make sure my brilliant audience can understand. The major changes are basically that there is no longer a group stage, but instead there is one big pot of all the teams, each team faces 8 other teams. They face 4 teams at home and 4 away. If your team finishes between 1st and 8th they go to the next round, while if they get anywhere between 9th and 24th they go to an elimination playoff and of course if you get between 25 and 34,  your team is eliminated. So it isn’t that complicated, the only downside is that now the players are going to get more tired and higher chances of players getting injured because now there are more matches. What team do you guys think will win the Champions League this year? Which team do you believe will emerge victorious?

So,  that is about it for today’s Football Feed, please share your thoughts on the following topics. What kind of legacy do you think Mbappe will leave in Real Madrid? What do you think about Ronaldo’s 900 goals? What are your thoughts on the new Champions League format? Thank you for your attention fellow reader, and I hope you stay tuned for my next Football Feed! 

 Works Cited Page:

1. Sriram, Siddarth. “Kylian MBAPPE Scores on Real Madrid Debut, Wins First Trophy with 2-0 Win over Atalanta to Seal UEFA Super Cup.” News18, News18, 15 Aug. 2024, www.news18.com/football/kylian-mbappe-scores-on-debut-wins-first-trophy-with-real-madrid-with-2-0-win-over-atalanta-to-seal-uefa-super-cup-9016359.html. 

2. Agencies. “‘emotional’ Cristiano Ronaldo Scores His 900th Career Goal.” Daily Sabah, Daily Sabah, 5 Sept. 2024, www.dailysabah.com/sports/football/emotional-cristiano-ronaldo-scores-his-900th-career-goal. 

3. UEFA.com. “New Format for Champions League Post-2024: Everything You Need to Know: UEFA Champions League.” UEFA.Com, 12 June 2024, www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/0268-12157d69ce2d-9f011c70f6fa-1000--new-format-for-champions-league-post-2024-everything-you-ne/. 

4. UEFA Champions League Roll of Honour: Real Madrid, AC Milan among Top Men’s Title Winners - Full List, olympics.com/en/news/uefa-champions-league-ucl-winners-list-football-club-teams. Accessed 16 Sept. 2024.