Jeez, Turkey’s soccer President, have some class:
When is punching someone the solution? How much money did he lose on a bet? Why does he think he has immunity to punch a referee?
You in town for PSG?
I request a trip report. Thanks in advance.
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Correct.
Alright! Have fun!
Final matches this week, and in an interesting change to next season’s 36 teams, the two leagues with the highest UEFA Association coefficients for the year get an extra team. Early on Turkey was tops, but the top four teams have taken over now. And there are bonuses to get this week at the end of the group stages.
This ESPN article explains it pretty well:
England and Spain have a slightly harder road, as their total points are divided by 8 instead of 7.
(WHU won the Europa Conference League last year, but finished 14th in the EPL. Sevilla won the Europa League, but finished 12th in La Liga.)
And Spain already lost Osasuna in the Europa Conference League Play-off Round.
Anything that helps a 5th place Spurs’ finish qualify for a Champions League berth works for me.
In Dortmund city for a few hours prematch. Found an old restaurant for lunch that is festively decorated with Bundesliga on TV
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I felt something pushing on the back of my chair and turned as I thought perhaps someone was trying to get my attention. Sort of correct, as a large dog was peeking around my chair at me.
I’ve been to several top flight European matches, and tonight was both the best home crowd and best road crowd. Lots of fun!
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Things that were different here than some other European matches I’ve been to:
Getting to the bathroom was a contact sport
People were pissing everywhere outside. Our metro car let out at the stadium and at least 20 guys dashed to the adjacent bushes immediately and let fly. Same on the way back.
My experience in Craven Cottage earlier this year was very different but it is in an expensive part of London and is a smaller stadium with a long history. Maybe you were unlucky with the city and venue you chose rather than this being characteristic?
- Too much beer.
- Not enough urinals.
Bad combination imo
There is probably a sweet spot for optimal number of urinals based on male crowd and amount of beer sold. Also, for soccer, no breaks in action like time outs, commercial breaks for change of possession, injuries with a fixed time stoppage (soccer players have variable immaculate recovery times), etc. One halftime and that’s it. Then, match is over and a large proportion of the male crowd needs relief.
Got your wait time, your service time, number of urinals, etc. Makes for an interesting Operations Research project, back when that was an exam topic.
And, do note that the wait time also has a maximum.
I do agree its not characteristic. I did not experience this in the other Euro matches I went to including others in Germany (Munich).
You’d think number of bathrooms/urinals would be an important stat on the wiki page. Alas, it is not:
Maybe it’s only an issue when 81,000+ are in attendance?
I think that place always sells out, or close to always at least
I never visit the washroom at sporting events at the end of a period or at halftime because it is always lined up and chaotic. I prefer to quickly slip in and out when play is on and take my chances on missing a goal.
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I recall going to Dodger Stadium this past summer. In the restroom area, there are a few urinals right as you walk in, but deeper in there is a whole extra room with about 30 urinals, no waiting. I don’t think most people even ventured that far in.
Depends a bit on where I’m seated. For my football seats I am on the aisle. I can damn near miss nothing at all on a bathroom break during a TV timeout, and can miss nothing if there is a man down. I never go during halftime as a result.
In this case, we were deep in the row: probably needed to cross over 30 people or so to reach the aisle and then were 22 rows up from the exit. It would be hard to get out for a quick break, and would be more disruptive. I figured I’d rather face the traffic jam once.
At the 2 games I went to earlier this year, I laughed when everybody that was already half or totally in the bag, bought 2 beers at halftime after pissing. The amount of beer on the railings when the second half started could have filled an Olympic pool. And once you break the seal, the second piss comes quicker.