The start of major European leagues looms and fans are anxious to see how their teams fare on opening weekend. But how much does the first match even matter? After all, it's a long season and teams have plenty of time to rebound from week one losses. Or do they?
Looking at the statistics, it appears that the first game can set the tone for an entire season. It can either give a burst of confidence or present an omen of troubles ahead.
On one hand, preseason friendlies definitely do not matter. On the other hand, preseason friendlies between teams like Chelsea and Bayern Munich definitely matter.
Not for any competitive reason, of course. When Bayern and Chelsea met in the International Champions Cup Tuesday, Munich's 3-2 win wasn't predictive of anything. No, the Chelsea-Bayern friendly definitely mattered because we hadn't seen elite soccer in a while and missed players doing things like what Thomas Muller did.
Everyone knows Christian Pulisic is the light and the salvation, but VfL Bochum were reminded of that fact on Saturday during a preseason friendly draw.
Chicharito is on his way to West Ham for a medical, and if everything is good and cool there he will become a West Ham player. He will return to the Premier League after two seasons with Bayer Leverkusen. During his first season in Germany, Chicharito lit the world on fire with 26 goals in 40 appearances. During the second season he was good but not great, but he still had some pretty cool goals.
AC Milan have confirmed that they’re currently in talks with Bayern Munich regarding a possible two-year loan deal for 19-year-old Portuguese midfielder Renato Sanches with the option to sign him permanently for €40 million.
It didn't take Christian Pulisic long to show his new boss what he can do with the ball at his feet. In Borussia Dortmund’s first match of the International Champions Cup against renovated AC Milan in China, Pulisic had two assists and drew a penalty as the Germans cruised to a 3-1 win.
New Dortmund coach Peter Bosz will likely have few complaints with the 18-year-old American, who was subbed off in the 74th minute. Bosz was brought in from Ajax in June after guiding the Dutch team to the Europa League final.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is still a Borussia Dortmund player. This despite constant speculation involving PSG, AC Milan, Chelsea and Tianjin Quanjian of the Chinese Super League.
Tianjin Quanjian is said to have offered the Borussia chiefs over 70 million pounds for the striker. But a stay in Europe is the likely preference for a player still in his peak years.
Well, I guess today is a holiday. Bayer Leverkusen has declared today, July 14, as international Chicharito day. The Mexican forward has scored 39 goals in 76 appearances for the German club, and that should probably be celebrated. Why not today?
The James Rodriguez experiment at Real Madrid is all but finished. The 25-year-old Colombian attacker is moving to Bayern Munich on a two-year loan deal with an option to buy.
Not coincidentally, Bayern are now coached by the man who brought Rodriguez to Real Madrid in the first place, Carlo Ancelotti. Rodriguez moved to Madrid from Monaco after the 2014 World Cup, at which he won the Golden Boot, but he failed to consistently crack Real Madrid's starting lineup. Bayern Munich now have two World Cup Golden Boot winners, as Thomas Muller won the award in 2010.