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Nagelsmann’s schadenfreude well-earned

There’s a German word for what Julian Nagelsmann is feeling right about now.

Barely two months ago, while skiing in Austria, the 35-year-old learned through social media that his tenure as Bayern Munich manager was about to end both abruptly and prematurely. He raced back to Bavaria to save his job, but by then club CEO Oliver Kahn and sporting director Hasan Salihamidžic had decided to replace him with Thomas Tuchel.

The decision, rash as it seemed — and has since proved to be — shocked the team, the city, the Bundesliga and European football generally.

Nagelsmann had been, and certainly remains, a coaching prodigy, and having won the title in his debut season at Allianz-Arena it seemed inevitable that he’d accomplish great things — revolutionary things — at the country’s biggest club. When he departed, he had more than three years left on his deal.

Coupe de France final likely to light up Paris sky

PARIS — This place is well-accustomed to fireworks, as we’ve recently been reminded. The smoke bombs, flares and pyrotechnics of protest, passion and fanaticism are so familiar in this sky that they add to the glow of the City of Light.

So it’s hardly surprising that FC Nantes would feel sufficiently at home here that they’d want to come back.

It was just about a year ago that the Pays de la Loire outfit beat OCG Nice in Saint-Denis to win the Coupe de France—their first trophy in more than two decades. It was a triumph that won’t be soon forgotten. Such was the sizzle of the ultra supporters that the club received a €50,000 fine and a stadium ban for February’s quarter-final tilt with Lens.

The punishment followed a UEFA sanction of only a week prior in which the Loire Stand (think Kop or Yellow Wall) was closed to the ultras for a Europa League play-off with Juventus, following a rather fiery lights show against Freiburg in the fall.

Man City treble would be a triumph of unlimited spending

There has never been much mystery behind the recent success of Manchester City.

Their partisans might point to the 2012 appointments of CEO Ferran Soriano and director of football Txiki Begiristain, and the ex-Barcelona pair has undoubtedly helped turn the 11-times relegated outfit into a bona fide juggernaut. But neither executive would’ve so much as considered the club to be a serious employer were it not for the resources backing it.

No, the foundational transformation at Eastlands came almost 15 years ago when Sheikh Mansour and his Abu Dhabi United Group purchased the club and injected unprecedented sums into its playing personnel. They’ve since filled the cabinet with six Premier League titles, two FA Cups, six league cups and three Community Shields.

Begiristain, to his credit, has spent the Abu Dhabi money remarkably well, and it’s also true that manager Pep Guardiola has his sides playing some of the most reliably watchable stuff in Europe. But the primary takeaway from the City project is nevertheless the quite predictable confirmation that money can buy pretty much anything, and lots of money can buy lots of everything. Maybe even the Champions League.

The football world has had enough of Ronaldo

When Cristiano Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr in December, he likely didn’t think he’d be trained by a manager whose most recent first-team experience was in the Croatian second and third divisions.

Expectations high for revamped Valour FC

Valour FC is set to begin its quest to end a franchise-defining playoff drought.

Women’s soccer plagued by unnecessary adversity

It is a vital match that almost didn’t happen. In the month-and-a-half since it was scheduled, Canadian soccer has been shaken to its core.

ALPHONSO Davies has returned to a different Bayern Munich.

Hiebert climbing to great heights in MLS

If 2016 was Kyle Hiebert’s rock bottom, 2023 may just be his trip to the summit.

Reinvigorated FC Schalke will provide a real test for Dortmund

Most rivalries in team sports require the opponents to be at least somewhat competitive.

FIFA Club World Cup a gem of a competition

The FIFA Club World Cup gets a bad rap. And not without cause.

Pele’s legacy will live forever

There are times when it seems history weighs especially heavy, when a number of transformative events happen quickly one after the other, or when something so significant takes place that it becomes a point of demarcation. Or both.