Benfica vs PSG: Why On Earth Has This Game Been Moved To Sunderland? By Alex NethertonPosted on December 10, 2013 Benfica play Paris Saint-Germain tonight at the Stadium of Light. There has been relatively little, if any at all, outcry that UEFA have moved the game to Sunderland. For one, Sunderland is a long trip for all fans in Lisbon and Paris, and there is absolutely no connection between the city of Sunderland with modern European football or either of the clubs. Michel Platini has questions to answer now, and this will be followed up in a very strongly worded open letter that will soon be published as the splash page on Squawka. But letâs get back to the football. Benfica need to better the score that Olympiakos achieve, or theyâll fail to qualify. They will be helped by PSGâs decision to rest some of their better players now that they have achieved qualification from the group. Laurent Blanc decided that, having recently come to an outstanding unbeaten run at the hands of Evian, he will give some his best players a rest. PSG, after all, do not have the deepest of squads. So, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Marco Verratti, Alex, Thiago Silva and Gregory van der Wiel will not travel with the team. Benfica also go into the game with a reduced squad. Up front they will have to manage without Oscar Cardozo and Ola John, and also without Guilherme Siqueira and Ruben Amorim. Missing a striker of the quality of Cardozo will hamper Benfica when they could take advantage of Zoumana Camara in Parisâ defence. PSG still, clearly, have the quality to win the game despite choosing to drop players of the quality of Ibrahimovic and Verratti. Edinson Cavani, Jeremy Menez and Blaise Matuidi all pose a threat, and are able to create goals for others. While Benfica could only draw in their last league match, PSG beat Sochaux in an easy 5-0 victory. Benfica clearly have more to play for tonight, and that could still go someway to making up for the disparity in quality. So, PSG and Benfica will have made the arrangements. The flights to Sunderland, the hotels in Sunderland and the restaurant reservations will have been made long ago. Both sides will have to deal with a location which is less beautiful than their usual city surroundings, and both will experience a colder temperature that they will be accustomed to. The preview of the game is all very well and good, and the editorial that is planned is some way to make up for the problem. But it has to go on record that the choice by UEFA to move this match to another country, for absolutely no reason, is an utter, utter disgrace. The wait is over... The free Squawka football app is here TOPICS: BENFICA RELATED TEAMS: ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE, FRENCH LIGUE 1, PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN, SUNDERLAND More from around the web Barcelonaâs Best Plan B Might Be in Everton (The New York Times) How people are paying Less Than £43 for New iPads (LifeFactopia) George North Takes on the Red Bull Helicopter (Red Bull) Nike Football Debuts Brazil, France, and England Editions of the Premier Boot (Beauty and Style 365) More from Squawka Will Man United Regret Offloading The Winger Who Has Scored From All His Shots On Target? Man United âStep-Upâ Interest In French Wizard Whoâs Scored In 72% Of Games Why The âSpanish Keaneâ Should Still be Manchester Unitedâs No. 1 Target Rodgers: Liverpoolâs £22m Superstar Is Irreplaceable what's this?
Eh? Is this true??? Sounds riddiculous. Someone just getting their stadiums mixed up because of the name? Have any of our natives seen any beret wearers about?
I think its a mag looking at any cheap swipe at Sunderland due to the "no connection with modern European football". You think they'd be busy celebrating qualifying for the last 16 of the champions league, I've heard Newcastle are favourites to win it.
Joe Kinnear organised the match !. And Benfica should have named their new stadium 'the new stadium of light' to make things easier, or our ground should have been named wear mouth stadium..
