Gareth Southgate, the federal captain of the English national football team, will have a mixed feel of the Champions League in Madrid on Saturday, after nine players in the purely English finals can enter. In the Spanish capital, Tottenham Hotspur and FC Liverpool come together.
"It is a great opportunity for our young English football players to play on matches that really have a stake," the expert said, adding that the finale will help the English football in the long run.
In the short term, however, it may cause considerable trouble for Southgate, who would be preparing for the semi-finals of the League of Nations four-day finals five days later, which is still heavily arched. The Icelandic national team first meets the Dutch in the Portuguese tournament.
"The situation is somewhat complicated in our preparation," said the 48-year-old Southgate, suggesting that ten players (apart from the BL finalists Chelsea, Ross Barkley, who is interested in finishing the European league) are likely to enter the training camp just before the match. . "But this is a challenge we have to fight as a team."
NL's fourth finals are still hosted by Portuguese and Swiss participants, and the final and bronze match three days after the semi-finals.
(Source: sportrajongo.hu, m4sport, mti / photo: pixabay, mti)