Hello Madridistas! The Open Thread/Daily Merengue is a place where you can discuss anything and everything related to football. Feel free to discuss the topics presented here, or start your very own discussions! The Open thread will be posted every day by one of the mods you would absolutely have a snack over a FIFA tourney with: Valyrian Steel, Felipejack, YoSnail, Ezek Ix or yours truly.

Ødegaard to get a chance under Ancelotti

There’s this article over at Marca, highlighting Martin’s similarities to James Rodriguez - a player Carlo Ancelotti loved to coach wherever he was. Both players are primarily attacking midfielders, both are left-footed and their set piece deliveries are red hot. Sure, the Ø is not a copy of James and their styles often differ - for instance, James is more of a goalscorer - yet one cannot deny the similarities, as well as the fact that Carlo Ancelotti likes to utilise AMs. It will be interesting to see how The Eyebrow uses Ødegaard, whose caliber is certain, as it was reported earlier this week by the man himself, that Los Merengues asked for his return (and yes, we have heard that before). Do you think Martin will get his chances under the new coach?

EURO Knockouts Day 2

So plenty of you - likely to everyone’s surprise - predicted that Wales would win this edition of EURO 2020. That didn’t go too well now did it. Wales were embarrased by possible dark horses Denmark who beat them 4 goals to nill. Bale didn’t do much to say the least, which is a disappointment. Welsh star Ramsey was also largely anonymous.

Anyway, today’s another day to enjoy football! The matches in store for us are:

• Netherlands VS Czech Republic
• Belgium VS Portugal

While both games ought to be fun, the second one, which will see the legendary white talisman Cristiano Ronaldo’s star-studded Portugal NT take on a strong Belgiun team boasting his successors to the No 7 shirt, Eden Hazard and his bum. This is a match most madridistas will be beyond eager to watch.

Speaking of Ronaldo...

What do you think? Who’s edging this one?

The obligatory you-know-who news

It seems that, according to Cadena SER, Real Madrid have ruled out a move for their No1 target for this summer.

Join the discussion regarding the games in our open thread and have fun chatting. Have a great day and may the madridismo be with you.