Breakfast Links - October 27, 2023
(image via Houston Dynamo FC)
Let the good vibes roll on a Friday. Here are your Breakfast Links as we are heading into the weekend!
Houston
The Houston Dynamo are just a few days away from their first playoff match since 2017. The club announced fan giveaways, entertainment, and the addition of new food and beverage options for the match on Sunday against Real Salt Lake. The first 5,000 fans to arrive at Shell Energy Stadium will receive a “Beer on Ben” as a special thank you for the support throughout the season thus far. Get your tickets, create the atmosphere, and celebrate. Let’s go Dynamo!
Make sure you check out the latest episodes of the Bayou City Soccer Podcast, available everywhere you get your podcasts as well as our YouTube Channel!
Major League Soccer
Midweek, the New York Red Bulls and Sporting Kansas City punched their tickets to Round One of the playoffs. Unfortunately, their next match ups are FC Cincinnati and St. Louis CITY SC, respectively, which will be more than interesting to say the least. Tomorrow, Philadelphia will face New England and LAFC will take on Vancouver. On Sunday, Houston will be the first match on the schedule, followed by the Cincinnati vs New York, and St. Louis vs Kansas City. Should be a fun filled weekend for us, the MLS sickos!
The other side of the coin is that many clubs have begun the offseason. The roster turnover is already in the works. The Colorado Rapids made two major offseason moves on Thursday, announcing they've parted ways with captain Jack Price and striker Diego Rubio. Price, who missed most of the 2023 campaign with a right Achilles tendon injury, had his option declined and departs after notching 2g/35a over six seasons at the club, where he became one of the league's best set-piece specialists. Rubio, for his part, was out of contract when Colorado made his exit official. After a three-year stint with Sporting Kansas City (2016-18), the 30-year-old Chilean international joined the Rapids in 2019. In five seasons, he amassed 38g/26g over 114 appearances.
Around the World
Jude Bellingham has said he's "excited" but not nervous to play in his first El Clásico -- a game he loved watching as a boy -- for Real Madrid against Barcelona in LaLiga on Saturday. Bellingham, 20, confirmed that he's fit and available after being substituted because of some discomfort he felt in Madrid's 2-1 Champions League win at Braga on Tuesday.
Barcelona welcomed Robert Lewandowski, Frenkie de Jong, Pedri and Jules Koundé back to training on Friday but coach Xavi Hernández remained coy over their availability for Saturday's Clásico. Raphinha also returned to training this week, with Sergi Roberto the only player definitely ruled out of Real Madrid's visit to the Olympic Stadium this weekend in LaLiga.
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has said that Casemiro is facing a race against time to be fit for the derby against Manchester City on Sunday. The midfielder missed the 2-1 win over Sheffield United because of an ankle injury picked up while playing for Brazil during the international break and was suspended for the 1-0 win over FC Copenhagen on Tuesday.
André Onana has defended Manchester United teammate Alejandro Garnacho after the English FA launched an investigation into a social media post made by the Argentinian featuring two gorillas above a picture of the Cameroon goalkeeper. Garnacho made the post on X, formerly Twitter, after Onana saved a stoppage-time penalty to earn United a 1-0 win over FC Copenhagen in the Champions League on Wednesday. It was deleted shortly afterward once the 19-year-old had been made aware by the club of possible racial connotations.
Bayern Munich goalkeeper and captain Manuel Neuer is in line to play for the first time since breaking his leg skiing last year, coach Thomas Tuchel said. Neuer last played at the World Cup in Qatar on Dec. 1 as Germany were eliminated in the group stage. The following week, he broke his lower leg while on vacation. Tuchel said that the 37-year-old will play against Darmstadt on Saturday "if nothing happens in training." He added that the long recovery from injury had been a test of Neuer's character and that "I am sure that he will get very quickly into the rhythm where he is at his best."
