It Could Be Worse. You Could Be Athletic Bilbao.

A tribute to this year's greatest losers.

Apr 19, 2021

Listen. It’s been a rough year for basically everybody. Global pandemic. Political unrest. The sports leagues and usual avenues of entertainment we as a public use for escape paused and/or shut down for extended periods of time. And despite what we all hope is better, brighter days ahead, we’ve still got pretty far to go to get there. Things still feel bleak for many. So let’s look at Athletic to make ourselves all feel better, shall we?

Athletic Bilbao were presented a wholly unique opportunity in the last month: play two Copa del Rey finals. The 2020 Copa del Rey final was postponed long enough that it nearly rear-ended the 2021 Copa del Rey final, with Athletic progressing so far in the latter competition that it created all manner of scheduling headaches to actually finish the former competition. That’s the dream though, right? Not only making it to two consecutive finals, but possibly experiencing the glory of winning not one championship, but two in the same month?

Then Athletic lost both of those finals by a combined score of five to zero. Not only did they lose the same competition, somehow, twice in a month, they scored no goals in said competition, and after a tight first final with Real Sociedad, were thoroughly trounced by Barcelona in the second go-round. And, to add even further insult to injury, Messi decided he was just going to go out and do this.

J. @MessiIizer

This view of Messi’s goal.. INSANE

This guy doesn’t even want to be playing for his club and he still goes out and does this to your team! He already has five billion trophies and he just couldn’t let you take one little one for yourself! And then he’ll probably end up at some European Super League club and you’ll be reminded, in addition to the multiple finals you lost in embarrassing fashion, that you’re also getting financially screwed over by a bunch of billionaires just because they can do it!

ILERISZN @KingPromzyy

Hope Athletic Bilbao printed and organized celebration kits for one of the finals because it would be sad if they did for both

AND DID THEY MAKE AND ORDER CHAMPIONSHIP MERCHANDISE FOR TWO DIFFERENT FINALS THAT THEY LOST IN THE SPAN OF A MONTH? They totally did, didn’t they? They must have. They might even have made some extra “back-to-back champs” merch. Everyone is sad here. The players are sad. The fans are sad. The front office is extremely sad. The equipment managers that are re-folding all of those t-shirts and stuff to be sent off to charitable organizations are sad.

Take it from me, a person that had a bad year: my year wasn’t nearly as bad as these last few days has been for Athletic. And yours maybe weren’t, either. And maybe, in the end, that’s the gift that the club has given to all of us. The antithesis of happiness that, in turn, makes us grateful. The Wheel of Fate turns and, as someone reaches the bottom, someone else reaches the top. A medieval way of understanding the laws of the universe, to be sure, but there might be something to it.

Or, the year just sucked and it still sucks. I’m not going to tell you how to live your life.

Things You Should Know: European Super League Edition

European Super League is apparently coming and… Arsenal and Tottenham are in it. HEY. Stop snickering in the back. We all know it’s funny. Just pipe down and do some reading on why it all sucks.

We also have a live show today at 2:00 EST/11:00 PST, which will undoubtedly tread ground on the European Super League. Come chat with Jimmy about it.

Check Out the Stream

All of This European Super League Talk Really Spoiled Jose Mourinho Getting Sacked

Fabrizio Romano @FabrizioRomano

José Mourinho on Instagram after being sacked by Tottenham today. ⚪️👇🏻 #thfc

Can you think of the last time Mourinho getting sacked wasn’t the leading news in the football world when it happened? Because I can’t. Now taking bets on which European Super League club hires him for their inaugural season.

Speaking of Mourinho, it’s time to check in with Chike Nwoye, who has more than a couple things to say about him.

STOCK UP

Nacho, Éder Militão and Thibaut Courtois - Real Madrid

It’s a day of firsts on today’s Stock Up/Stock Down. 3 Players from one team make the Stock Up while only one person makes the Stock Down (a big catch).

Real Madrid have been rocked hard by injuries over the past two months. From Eden Hazard getting injured again to the multiple COVID cases. Most notable, however, are the non-availability of first choice center backs, Sergio Ramos and Varane. In their absence, Militao and Nacho have both stepped up. Together, they’ve seen off Barcelona in El Clasico and Liverpool in the Champions League and should be extremely pleased with themselves.

Talks continue to circulate about Ramos not renewing his contract this summer and Varane moving to England. Perhaps with Militao and Nacho on form, plus David Alaba’s impending arrival this summer, Real Madrid can feel confident about their future.

Also, I have to reserve special praise for Thibaut Courtois who, on form, looks like the best goalie in the world. He’s really been that special.

Jose Mourinho - No Club

Is it possible for your stock to be down after getting a rumored $38m severance payment? I don’t know. But money aside, Jose Mourinho’s decline doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon. He’s...failed lately and there’s no way to sugarcoat it. He literally got on camera and begged for a job months after United fired him. Levy gave him a chance with Tottenham, which he has sadly failed to make the most of. It’s hard to see another top club not named Inter Milan giving him a shot at another job. By the way, if you needed further proof that the recently announced Super League will definitely be happening, it’s Daniel Levy’s willingness to part with $38m months after taking out a bank loan.