Top 10 fallouts of 2017

Records were broken – Real Madrid are the first and only team to retain their crown in the new Champions League format (which began in 1993), while Manchester City are showing signs of eclipsing the Invincibles' unbeaten streak.

Underdogs toppled heavyweights – Monaco put Tottenham, Manchester City, and Borrusia Dortmund to the sword on their way to their first Champions League semi-final appearance in 13 years (since 2004), and Hearts ended Celtics’ 69-game unbeaten run.

Certain teams and players rose from the ashes like the mythical phoenix – Ashley Young, Raheem Sterling, Simone Zaza, Ciro Immobile, Valencia FC, Manchester City, Inter Milan, and Adrien Rabiot all seem reborn; their improved performances attest to that.

Players scored jaw-dropping goals – Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Olivier Giroud scored from scorpion kicks, Rooney scored from inside his half for Everton, and De Bruyne keeps thundering 'em goals in with his left foot.

All these are just some of the beautiful moments the football world witnessed in 2017.

However, the ugly side of the game reared its head on many occasions, as manifested in clashes among players, managers being at loggerheads, and clubs at one another’s throats. Now, let’s get right down to ten of the most unpleasant football moments of the year 2017.

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#10 Leicester City and Claudio Ranieri

Ranieiri was voted the 2016 FIFA Men's Coach of the Year

Ranieri achieved the biggest football miracle witnessed in the United Kingdom by guiding an almost-relegated Leicester City to their first Premier League title. This he accomplished not by spending boatloads of money, like the big European teams. Consequently, Ranieri was correctly lauded by the whole world for his feats.

Further to this, the season after that saw Leicester City deviate from a counterattacking brand of football (which brought them unprecedented success) to a more attractive style, which negated the strengths of the likes of Vardy, Drinkwater, and Mahrez.

As a result of this change in tactically blueprint, relationships soon deteriorated, and eventually, the senior men of the Leicester City dressing room met with the club owners and demanded Ranieri be removed from his managerial position.

So, that was how one of the most beautiful sporting stories ended in bitterness, backstabbing, guilt, and severed ties.

#9 Lewandowski and Bayern Munich

Robert Lewandowski celebrates after scoring

Lewandowski is just a moaner, and that’s the reason he has clashed with Bayern twice in less than four months.

First, he accused his teammates of not helping him win the 2016/2017 Bundesliga golden boot. The hypocrisy of this statement is that Lewandowski missed a staggering 27 clear-cut chances, the most in Bundesliga last season.

Also, he seldom scored solo goals, meaning he couldn’t have scored 28 goals inside the box had his teammates not assisted him; he scored just two from outside the 18-yard area. Besides, with the almost unlimited amount of service he received from crosses last season, he only scored two with his head.

Fast forward a few month later, and Lewandowski had something on which he criticised Bayern. In a flagrant condescension on his old and (especially) new teammates, Lewandowski castigated Bayern’s transfer policy.

He believed Bayern should have signed world-class players (as if the Bayern players are anything but) as an alternative to bringing in Corentin Tolisso, Niklas Süle, and James Rodriguez.

His outburst in September elicited a rebuke from Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, and Stefan Effenberg thought the club should cash in on the Polish goal machine.

Ultimately, there is nothing wrong with Bayern’s transfer policy as reflected in the signings of Boateng, Hummels, Vidal, Kroos, Robben, Ribery, Thiago, Alonso, and many more. Hence, it is safe to assume that Lewandowski does not know better than Bayern’s decision-makers.

#8 Mauricio Pochettino and Pep Guardiola

Not on very good terms

There is nothing more insulting to a squad than pundits and sports writers claiming a player ‘singlehandedly’ won a match. How could a player singlehandedly facilitate a win in a sport that needs 11 players to claim victory over opposition? Therefore, it’s only rational that Pochetino felt insulted when Guardiola called Tottenham ‘the Harry Kane team’.

Whether it was a slip of the tongue or an attempt to play ‘mind games’, that was an unsporting and a low moment for Guardiola. Though Pochetino rightly didn’t take that comment lying down. He went on a rant which made headlines, but not as devastating as referring to his team as a ‘one-man’ team; football is surely not a game for lone wolves.

#7 Cameroon and Joel Matip

Joel Matip challenging Tottenham Hotspur's Christian Eriksen for the ball

Honestly, it was karma that got Joel Matip. While many good footballers would be proud to play for their country, Matip heard the call of the Cameroonian coach Hugo Broos, but he didn't heed.

He didn’t fancy Cameroon’s chances at the 2017 African Cup of Nations. Instead, he chose to stay at Liverpool on the pretext that he was trying to earn his place in the team, while his teammate Sadio Mane packed his bags and joined the Senegalese national team.

So, in a that-serves-you-right episode, Liverpool picked up league two points in the four league matches played during the 2017 African Cup of Nations (14 January – February 5) and Cameroon went on to win the African Nations championship.

Matip started two of these (2-0 loss against Hull City and a 1-1 draw with Chelsea), was a 94th minutes substitute in one (Liverpool’s 2-3 home loss to Swansea City) and wasn’t named in the matchday squad of the other one (a 1-1 stalemate against Manchester United).

With the perfect opportunity to gloat, the Cameroonian coach mocked Matip’s cowardly decision.

To everyone concerned, Matip’s days in the Cameroonian colours seem over.

#6 Massimiliano Allegri and Leonardo Bonucci

Allegri and Bonucci having an animated conversation

It all started with substitutions. Mario Lemina (now a Southampton player) replaced the injured Sami Khedira in the 46th minute and Stefano Sturaro left the field for Juan Cuadrado with 20 minutes left of regular time.

However, the substitution of Claudio Marchisio for Tomás Rincón was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back because it ignited animosity between a subordinate and his master.

Despite being three-nil up, Bonucci questioned Allegri’s decision to substitute players, something which is entirely at the discretion of the manager. Moreover, since no top manager tolerates insubordination (Beckham caught a boot to his face when he disrespected Sir Alex Ferguson), Allegri berated Bonucci (including calling him ‘d*ckhead” and even telling him to 'f*ck off)'.

Afterwards, Allegri threatened to resign unless Juventus suspends Bonucci. The club acquiesced to Allegri’s demands and duly suspended Bonucci and also forced him to apologise to Allegri in front of the entire squad.

This whole development strained the Juventus-Bonucci-Allegri relationship triangle. Thus, Bonucci ditched the dominant Juventus for a promising (or, in hindsight, not so tantalising) project in Milan.

#5 Donnaruma Gianluigi and AC Milan fans

A weeping Donnarumma Gianluigi being consoled by Milan captain Leonardo Bonucci

Bursting onto the Milan scene as a 16-year old, Donnaruma is the real deal. And due to strings of world-class performances, Donnarumma caught the eye of many European giants. Consequently, his agent (Mino Raiola) used the said interest to negotiate a new deal for his client.

So, following a piece of advice, which is brilliant financially and horrible in a sporting sense, Donnaruma clamoured for a move. His public request for a transfer angered the Milan faithful, leading to an unhealthy fan-player relationship.

After relations were briefly patched, Donnarumma last week shredded any bond he had with Milan fans by claiming he signed a new deal in June under duress and by demanding the club annul his agreed extension. To demonstrate their distaste for Donnaruma’s action, some Milan fans unfurled an unsavoury banner, which made Donnaruma weep.

#4 Neymar and Barcelona

Neymar now a PSG player

Many claimed Neymar had already told some of those present at Messi’s wedding that he would be joining PSG. In fact, he was said to have advised Dani Alves not to renew his contract at Juventus and instead sign for PSG, because he (Neymar) wants them both to play for the same side.

However, telling friends about his potential move is one thing, getting arguably the greatest team in the world to part with their second most important player is more complicated. So, to engineer a move away from Barcelona, Neymar tried to burn bridges.

The metaphoric bridge-burning started with Neymar picking a fight with new signing Nelson Semedo. After a rash tackle from Semedo, Neymar physically attacked the former, removed his bib, and stormed out of the training session. Due to his actions, Neymar’s teammates thought he was the guilty party of that scuffle.

After securing his move, Neymar also traded words with Barcelona president, which deteriorated to the point where both parties tried to initiate lawsuits against each other, on account of broken promises by both sides.

#3 Neymar and Edison Cavani

Neymar discussing spot-kick duties with Cavani

For all his talents, Neymar is not known for his humility. His on-and-off-pitch antics are also intolerable, and that's the reason his name has appeared twice on this list. But Barcelona put up with his shenanigans because he delivered his quota on the football field.

Naturally, it was his performances that made PSG pay such outrageous sum for him. So, once he arrived at the Paris-based club, Neymar knew he would be the leading man.

But he didn’t take into account another big fish in the pond: Edison Cavani. The Uruguayan played second fiddle to Zlatan Ibrahimovic until the latter’s departure to Manchester United; in fact, Ibrahimovic was PSG's first choice penalty taker then.

So, when Ibra left, Cavani became the designated penalty taker until Neymar thought he was more deserving of that role; that was after becoming the top man for corner kicks and free kicks.

In his now-expected petulant way, Neymar picked the ball to take a penalty (against Lyon) without prior agreement with Unai Emery or Cavani (the number one spot-kick taker).

However, Cavani was having none of Neymar’s insolence, and wrestle the ball off Neymar, a move that nearly resulted in an on-pitch scuffle between Cavani and Neymar; fortunately, common sense prevailed.

The pair’s relationship has suffered ever since, and even goal celebrations seemed pretentious on their parts.

It is worth noting that to prevent him from sulking, Cavani once allowed Neymar to take one of the penalties won by PSG.

#2 Sergio Ramos and Cristiano Ronaldo

Ronaldo at the FIFA World Club Cup

After Real Madrid trounced Barcelona to win the Spanish Super Cup, Gerard Pique reluctantly admitted Real Madrid’s superiority. He had to; Madrid played scintillating football in both legs of the tie. In short, Madrid were in imperious form.

However, things went from bad to worse when Ronaldo shoved the referee, therefore, earning himself a five-match ban. Ronaldo’s suspension coincided with Real Madrid’s downward spiral in form. Even when Real Madrid were later able to name Ronaldo on the team sheet, the desired results still evaded them.

As a result of that unwanted change in fortune, Ronaldo felt his current teammates were not good enough, and castigated the club hierarchy’s decision to sell Alvaro Morata and James Rodriguez. Though club captain Sergio Ramos took exception to those comments by publicly dismissing Ronaldo's remarks.

C.Ronaldo and S.Ramos celebrating a goal when Real Madrid were winning regularly

Interestingly both Ramos and Ronaldo were right. With Benzema struggling in front of goal and Bale being injured with alarming regularity, one could argue that Madrid should not have let go of these exceptional players; after all, the club conquered Europe because they had fringe players who have the potential to play for any top team in the world.

On the other hand, Ronaldo waited until things changed for worse before he went public with his criticism. Also, as a leader, Ronaldo’s words could erode confidence in the youngsters tasked with filling Morata and Rodriguez’s shoes.

#1 Ligue 1 and La Liga

La Liga logo

This is the most significant fallout in 2017 because it is both comical and strange since it happened between two league associations. Everyone knew PSG had money, but no one expected them to have that kind of money. So, In wanting to make a ‘statement’ signing, PSG shocked the world by paying €222 million to trigger Neymar’s release clause.

However, the Spanish league governing body wasn’t going to allow the Ligue 1 outfit to poach one of their ‘brand’ players. So, La Liga refused to accept PSG’s deposit. In fact, La Liga president called PSG ‘financial dopers’, claimed they are breaking FFP rules, and threatened to report the club to UEFA.

LFP logo. Image courtesy Paris Supporters

In a countermove, LFP (Ligue 1 governing association) officials released a statement admonishing La Liga and warned them to abide by the regulations and responsibilities of FIFA.

Eventually, LFP and PSG got their wish because the right to sell or retain a player rests solely on the club.

Well, it is going to be a long time before the football world witnesses another tug-of-war between associations of two countries.