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There have been 48 video games throughout 13 days and similar to that, a frantic World Cup group stage has been and gone.
With it, now we have misplaced half the groups and half the gamers that started the match and there have been no scarcity of surprises all through, as Japan and Morocco topped their teams and Belgium and Germany have been despatched packing.
However, as we enter the spherical of 16 and past, which membership sides nonetheless have a powerful contingent of gamers toiling away on the World Cup and which have been capable of welcome some again forward of the resumption of their home campaigns in just a few weeks’ time?
Maybe unsurprisingly as three of Europe’s most profitable golf equipment, Barcelona, Manchester City and Bayern Munich went into the Qatar World Cup with essentially the most gamers of any facet.
Their sturdy Spanish core noticed Barcelona ship 17 to Doha, with Metropolis and Bayern every with one fewer.
Barcelona and Metropolis’s numbers have barely modified as we enter the knockout rounds, with both sides now with 14 representatives in Qatar. It’s a related story with one other European heavyweight, with Paris Saint-Germain solely seeing one among their 11 gamers return.
Germany’s exit after ending third in Group E behind Spain and Japan, nonetheless, has seen Bayern’s variety of World Cup gamers fall dramatically to simply seven. Leon Goretzka, Joshua Kimmich, Serge Gnabry, Manuel Neuer, Leroy Sane, Jamal Musiala and Thomas Muller have all headed house early as Germany failed to succeed in the knockout stage for the second World Cup in a row.
Borussia Dortmund, too, have seen their World Cup numbers fall resulting from Germany’s struggles. They despatched 11 gamers to Qatar and solely 4 stay after the conclusion of the group stage.
It’s a related story with host nation Qatar, who have been the primary workforce to be eradicated from the match after dropping their opening two group-stage matches.
Head coach Felix Sanchez named a 26-man squad made up fully of domestic-based gamers, which means Qatar’s greatest membership, Al-Sadd, have seen their representatives drop from 15 to 1 — solely South Korea’s Jung Woo-young stays in competition.
Alongside Metropolis, a number of different Premier League sides nonetheless have numerous gamers nonetheless competing.
Arsenal and Chelsea offered 10 and 12 gamers respectively to the World Cup. Two have returned for Arsenal — Ghana’s Thomas Partey and England’s Ben White — whereas Germany’s Kai Havertz has returned for Chelsea. Tottenham Hotspur additionally despatched a powerful cohort to Qatar with 11, however will solely have three returning early.
That arguably sees these Premier League sides at a drawback to their European counterparts — the place Bayern, for instance, enter into their conventional winter break on December 9 and don’t play till January 20, the English high flight resumes on Boxing Day, simply eight days after the World Cup closing on December 18.
Brighton & Hove Albion and Leicester City, although, will maybe be relieved after the tip of the group stage. These two groups despatched eight and 7 gamers to the World Cup however have solely three and two remaining respectively. Ecuador’s failure to qualify was a specific increase to Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton, with Pervis Estupinan, Jeremy Sarmiento and Moises Caicedo heading house early. These returners will little doubt be appreciated by their golf equipment, with Leicester in Carabao Cup motion on December 20 and Brighton enjoying a day later.
Whereas having gamers on the World Cup is undoubtedly signal of a membership’s pedigree and high quality, a lot of these with excessive numbers of gamers nonetheless on the match could really feel at a drawback forward of packed second half of the season…
(Photograph: Getty Pictures)
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