Open Thread : 31 January 2022

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: Valyrian Steel, Felipejack, Kung_Fu_Zizou, Ezek Ix or NeRObutBlanco.

Greatness must be recognized.

Forgive me for straying into the realm of other sports but this does concern one of our greatest club members. Rafael Nadal is now the GOAT after he picked up his 21st Grand Slam at the Australian Open. The Spaniard conjured up some of that ‘Hasta El Final’ spirit to come back from 2 sets down to beat Daniil Medvedev 2-6, 6-7, 6-4-6-4, 7-5. Amazing effort especially coming back from injury and at the age of 35. The club immediately tweeted its congratulations.

Will they wont they........Arrive in time for the Copa Del Rey

I have no idea how the logistics will work but apparently the plan is for both Vinicius and Casemiro to be available for the game on Thursday. Militao has already been granted permission to return given that he was suspended for Brazil’s game after picking up a yellow card.

Will Ramos and Neymar feature against Los Blancos?

As reported by Lucas Navarrete, Sergio Ramos has injured his right calf and is now a doubt for the titanic fixture. Wishing a speedy recovery to our Legend but perhaps he can recover just after we play them. Another less likable character is also racing or rolling to be ready for the game. Neymar. Pochettino offered an update on the player. 16 days to go until the game.

Get it done Carlo.

In other news....