soccer 7
Las Vegas - Super Bowl might rule in the United States, but soccer RULES the rest of the world. Super Sunday usually attracts more than 100 million viewers, while the UEFA final has had between 100 and 300 million eyeballs. And you can forget about the World Cup, which brings in north of THREE BILLION viewers. So, with that, on to the first quarter final matchup between Paris Saint-Germain and Atalanta. Careful, because it's AT A LANTA from Italy, and not the ATL in Georgia. PSG is the big name and one of the best clubs in Europe, but Atalanta ain't gonna hide. This is a one off match, at a neutral site, Lisbon, Portugal, as we start the quarters in the UEFA Champions League.
Les Parisiens are the better team on paper, and boast some of the biggest names in the soccer world with Neymar and Kylian Mbappe leading the charge. However, Mbappe had a pretty serious ankle injury, and could be a NO GO.
Angel di Maria and Marco Verratti will also miss this match.
La Dea from Italy, which means The Goddess, will be without their leading scorer, Josip Ilicic. Goalie Pierluigi Gollini has been ruled out with an injury and will be replaced by Marco Sportiello, who made just five league starts this season. That's like an MLB team replacing a top line starter with a bullpen guy. NOT good!
So many questions, but gotta go with the quality, which is PSG for the win. They were MONSTERS in France's Ligue 1, scoring 105 goals and allowing just 35 for a RIDONKULOUS +70 goal differential. PLUS SEVENTY!!! Atalanta filled the net 98 times and allowed 48 for a superb +50 goal differential. Notice the 105 goals for PSG and the 98 for La Dea? Yea, we did too and that's why we gotta throw a handful of chips at the Over, which is three goals.
On the ice, the Flyers are the KINGS of the restart. They won all three, and BREEZED against the top teams in the East. It was 4-1 over the Bruins, 3-1 over the Capitals and 4-1 over the Lightning. Montreal beat the Penguins in the qualifying series, but it wasn't a Pittsburgh team that would scare anyone. The Canadiens are built for speed, and Philly is one of the top teams at denying entry, which denies Montreal’s speed. If the Canadiens can’t use speed, they certainly can not OUT-HEAVY the Flyers. Light play to Philly in game one, and a few more chips on the Flyers to win the series.
Staying on the ice, the game will not be in the Rockies, but rather in Edmonton, and even without home ice, we still like the Avalanche to post a W in the opener against the Coyotes.
To fill out a fabulous day, gonna rock the Rockies but only if the D'backs send Luke Weaver to the bump.
Just one pitching change to report. The Dodgers will change from Urias to Gonsolin.
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