Outside of America, Brits and Arabs are about the only people who play football over the holidays. Everyone else has a midwinter hiatus; in Europe it's the season's halfway point, a time to take stock of the first half, and re-evaluate the goals and possibilities for the grueling second half. So what do we see, looking around Europe? Fat-cat defending champs way out front in
every top league, and precious few close races anywhere.
Lyon will win France for the fifth straight year;
Juventus will take their fourth in five in Italy;
Chelsea has a stranglehold in England. It's as if we're coming into the All-Star break in the baseball season and the Yankees are 10 games out in front in all six divisions. One charming exception: the almost comically underachieving
Real Madrid, still floundering around the middle of the Spanish table.
If you're thinking of going to Germany this summer for the World Cup, your last best chance to buy World Cup tickets expires this weekend. FIFA, which controls all WC ticketing, is selling some 250,000 tickets, to all games but the opening match. They'll be distributed via a lottery system; you can request up to four tickets a game, for up to seven games, but the deadline is Sunday, Jan. 15. See www.fifaworldcup.com for info or to order.