#match thoughts

[katelynnwrites]

this lineup worries me. i am scared.

[newbie9034]

I truly don’t understand the kissassery surrounding CK. I really don’t. Why people behave as though she’s gods gift to wingers, I don’t understand

She’s fine. She’s sometimes got good shots and crosses. She certainly takes wild shots, but she’s not so much better than anyone else

These commentators are obsessed

[mcwfcmess]

match thoughts (from home):

much better the. last week, everyone seemed to know their roles a lot more

still not a lover of this back 4 but it’s working for now

thought blinky was miles better tonight, managed to stay on her feet and not be overly noticeable ( not an insult)

the goal was definitely something that shouldn’t have been conceded, grace, jade and khiara have to do better there

do wonder if bunny’s role now will be to draw the defenders out so someone else can score? would be frustrating to loose her as a predominate goal scorer but logically get it ig

loving seeing subs be brought in at reasonable times of the game

[speedservescore]

Real Madrid vs Barcelona

King Abdullah Sports City, 12th January 2025 Supercopa de España - Final 2-5 (5' Mbappe, 22' Yamal, 36' Lewandowski (P), 38', 48' Raphinha, 45+10' Balde, 60' Rodrygo)

Barça's on fireeeeee, and Real Madrid's defence is terrifying — for all the wrong reasons. As the commentators noted during the first half, "defence makes the difference," and that sentiment perfectly describes the opening half. Both sides contain some of the most formidable attacking talent in the world, so when the offensive level is matched, it's the backline that determines success. Unfortunately for Real Madrid, their defensive display has been absolutely horrendous.

From the start, Barcelona looked rapid and quite satisfying in attack. Within the first few minutes, they created two very close chances that exposed Madrid's shaky defence. That being said, Mbappé's early goal came from a defensive lapse on Barcelona's part. Poor marking left him and Vini with all the space in the world, so conceding there was not a surprise. Stupid, but not a shock. Although the goal did seem to spark some confidence in Madrid's attack, particularly Bellingham, whose late run past the Barcelona defence was stunning to watch. As someone who doesn't watch much of La Liga, I hadn't seen him do that before, but it's clear why he’s so highly regarded.

From this point on, however, the match belonged to Barcelona. After Raphinha wrapped up his part-time referee shift, Barça finally put one past Madrid. It was a stunning touch of class from Lamine Yamal, receiving a brilliant pass from Lewandowski, and displaying such incredible composure to cut back across the goal to score. Barcelona's next goal came from a penalty conceded by an unnecessary challenge from Camavinga who caught Gavi's thigh with his foot. While I do think there was a bit of strategic diving from Gavi, it was a fair penalty, and Lewandowski, calm as you like, stepped up and obviously scored.

Real Madrid’s defence completely collapsed from there. They were caught napping when Raphinha made a sharp run behind their line to head in a sensational cross from Koundé. From then on, the game descended into chaos, as is often the case in El Clásico. Rudiger clattered Lewandowski twice within five minutes which although funny, was lowkey elder abuse.

I suspect the referee was an agent of  Florentino Perez because there's no other reason for Camavinga not being sent off. He was holding onto Lamine for dear life and managed to dodge a second yellow card. But Real Madrid quickly received karma in the from Balde scoring off the break after a wasted Madrid corner to cap off a cracking first half. Going into the second half, I was confident Barcelona had secured the win, but Real Madrid last minute black magic is a very real threat. Raphinha made it 5 for Barcelona with ease, cutting across acres of space, and chants of  "Visca Barça" echoed through the stadium. I'm pretty sure the Madrid defenders had gone home at this point. However, the game's dynamic shifted dramatically when Szczesny was sent off for a risky challenge on Mbappé, allowing Rodrygo to score from the subsequent free kick. From that moment, Madrid became the more dominant side, understandably so. And of course, the sketchy referring continued because how on earth did Vini also dodge a yellow card for dragging his studs down Kounde's Achilles.

The end of the match regained some life with a bit more sporadic play, but the last real threat — a late chance from Mbappé — proved futile. Without the red card, Madrid should be grateful, as this match could easily have ended 6-2 or even 7-2 in Barcelona’s favour. In the end, it was another El Clásico humiliation for Madrid and Hansi Flick’s first trophy with Barcelona. Fun fact: Flick has never lost a final, so perhaps Barça were destined to win all along!

favourite tweets:

[silverxxs-world]

Dante v. Orange

I will make a taz bingo card

No more pockets

I’m still waiting for heel Cassidy

And heel danhausen

The Dusty chant💛🖤

Orange doing some heel shit

What are they doing

Just Supplex them

Dante dribbled oranges head

Hitting orange with soft style

Ok that was actual heel stuff orange

The diving ddt killed him

“WWE is fake” guy stop walking with your sign

Dante wtf

Ok who is actually going to dethrone Cassidy

OMG HOOK HI

“He’s the one with the face paint “ taz about danhausen

Why is top flight’s music playing

Wait-

PRIVATE PARTY!!!!!!!!

SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS

Quinn is back!!!

Wait the Hardy’s

They forgot about house of black

SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS

Action did not just drink another water bottle??





[theroleofimagination]

Had such a great time at the game today - so so good to be back watching Arsenal live! I sat with @liawaelti, @vandewilliamson, and their non-tumblry friends and had a very lovely time with them - thanks girls!

Some random highlights that I remember:

Viv wandering off, not paying any attention, when they were lining up for the starters photo and Katie having to pull her into the picture. A couple of moments from this by Kunjan Malde:

Setting up for our first corner and Liv saying to me "what do we think, on Jen's head?" and then Katie putting in a perfect ball right onto Jen's head and her scoring! You should have seen our faces 😂

Singing "We've got McCabe" after she was yellow carded for time wasting. And then in the next break in play Katie arguing with the ref that she'd been tying her shoelaces and hadn't been given enough time for the throw in so hadn't deserved the card!

Mana slipping down by the corner flag and then just lying there for a bit. See also: Kim being taken down and just sitting in the middle of the pitch for a moment watching the rest of the game carry on.

Of course, the continued existence and brilliance of 'Meadema' - looking forward to the stats at the end of the season as to how many times they've assisted each other tbh.

Have to say, Reading improved massively in the second half and Canada's Deanne Rose was a big part of that. If they can get their new players embedded into the team quickly then they could cause some serious issues for a lot of teams.

Thought we could have had a few more goals tbh, some really brilliant combinations at times but obviously very happy with 4 great goals! A fair amount of last ditch defending in the second half as well frankly but we kept a clean sheet - woo!

Great to see lots of sensible (and reasonably early) subbing - saw this stat earlier and think it shows that rotation is happening a lot more this season and hopefully to the good of all the players:

Unfortunately we were told we couldn't use our cameras and although I'd taken a few before that I don't think they've come out very well. If any are ok I'll post them tomorrow.

[leaschuller]

Game thoughts:

Some really sloppy play especially in the midfield, caused by a big change in tactics? Maybe.

Janina Leitzig is going to be so great one day, such a modern keeper, cool calm and collected for her age.

Defending was not there today, hopefully to be sorted out before we face the NWSL team.

Saki Kumagai is already doing really well.

We took some decent penalties today, surprising because they are not our strong point at all! And most of our PK takers are out.

Chesky please don't ever ref one of our games ever again wtf.

[uptheredslfc]

Martin you’re so beautiful and talented can you not play for arsenal anymore