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The UEFA Champions League was once a competition that had potential for a team like Celtic. Former winners of the European Cup, they have a history with the trophy that has provided the club decades of fearlessness when it comes to facing off against European giants, such as tonight’s opponents Bayern Munich.

However, in recent years, it has rapidly become a two-tier affair, with the continent’s richest clubs consolidating their wealth and exerting more and more power not just on the pitch in a footballing sense, but on the entire structure of the competition.

Since the birth of the group concept in the 90s, the biggest, wealthiest clubs have more often than not risen to the top, but underdog stories are now few and far between and the ever expanding scorelines in matches between the super-elite and the rest are threatening to make the entire thing irrelevant for clubs like Celtic in a competitive sense.

Even the Hoops, almost at the peak of their abilities under Brendan Rodgers, have suffered heavy defeats from the likes of Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, highlighting how difficult it is to pierce through the status quo and achieve something in the group stages. Gone are the days that Celtic fans dream of finishing second, it’s all about that race for third now and dropping into the UEFA Europa League.

Can the Hoops lead the way for the small cabal of historic, prestigious clubs who dominate their domestic leagues but miss out on the riches of TV money, or has the competition purely become a vehicle to ensure that a similar disparity exists in their own nations?

Celtic’s own monopoly

For two years running Celtic have qualified for the group stages of the Champions League, netting upwards of £60m in European cash alone. That’s a number that dwarfs anything any other Scottish club can generate and it, of course, is not even the extent of the Hoops’ revenue with season ticket sales, profit on player sales and all the rest of the commercial activities adding up to a turnover that other clubs can’t compete with in Scotland, even Rangers.

It’s not a criticism, nor is it unique to Celtic. Take Dinamo Zagreb for instance, between 2005 and 2016 they won their league an incredible eleven times, banking the riches of Europe in each season whether from the groups of Champions League or Europa League. It was money that allowed them to stay ahead of the rest in Croatia and continue the cycle of success year upon year, without ever actually achieving anything in continental competition.

This is what the Champions League has become for Celtic, providing a consistent level of cash that allows them to be the biggest and best club in Scotland, by a distance, with Europe becoming a place of frustration for fans who are looking for the club to be competitive.

Breaking through

Celtic though are one of the teams who can prove that, in a competitive sense, there is still life in the Champions League yet for clubs outside of the established top twelve to sixteen. They have some unique attributes that can allow them to break through to the other side and perhaps do something a little bit special and upset the big boys, if not this year, then next.

In Celtic Park they have one of the biggest and noisiest stadiums in Europe and, while it doesn’t quite have the same reputation as a continental fortress it did a decade ago, it’s still a place where magic undoubtedly can happen.

In Brendan Rodgers they have a coach who is trying to bring the mentality that the super-elite clubs have to players who have long lacked confidence at this level. He’s brought expectations back to getting results away from home in the competition which even under Martin O’Neill, Gordon Strachan and Neil Lennon was something that Celtic could rarely do. He’s here for another few years at least and it appears his main focus is on building Celtic back into a European force. On multiple occasions this season already he’s rotated his side massively to p provide a boost in Champions League fixtures. There’s ambition there.

Whether that ambition can result in real progress in the competition remains to be seen. Tonight’s match against Bayern Munich will be a key indicator of what stage the club are at right now.

The Champions League is in serious danger of becoming a closed shop and unless teams like Celtic can do something about it, it’s a competition that will soon have no meaning at all for a club that once prided itself on being the European elite.

Liverpool are interested in signing former Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas, according to The Sun.

What’s the word?

The Spanish shot-stopper has been at Porto for the last two years after ending his 16-year-old stint at the Bernabeu.

The 36-year-old was a regular at the Portuguese club, but in the last two games he has been relegated to the bench, making way for Jose Sa.

According to The Sun, Liverpool as well as Newcastle United are keen to sign the experienced goalkeeper.

Casillas’s current contract at Porto expires at the end of the season.

Is Casillas the answer?

Liverpool’s current goalkeeping options of Simon Mignolet and Loris Karius have shown that they have mistakes in them.

A club rarely wins titles without a world-class man between the sticks, and Casillas has certainly proved that he is cut from that cloth.

However, Liverpool’s problems extend beyond the goalkeeper, and while having confidence in the shot-stopper is important for defenders to do their job, it is not enough.

At the moment, Jurgen Klopp does not have a good enough player sitting in front of the back four to protect them.

Jordan Henderson and Emre Can have their qualities, but they have been unable to fill that role.

It could be argued that the Reds’ defenders, who have shipped 16 goals in the Premier League this season, would feel more secure with a goalkeeper of Casillas’s quality, but he will not solve all their problems.

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It has been a long time coming, but Everton fans are finally celebrating.The Toffees are in a transitional period following the sacking of manager Ronald Koeman, who oversaw just two wins in nine Premier League games this season.Under-23s coach David Unsworth is in temporary charge, but he too got off to a poor start.The 44-year-old oversaw defeat to Chelsea in the Carabao Cup, as well as a loss to Leicester City in the league and elimination from the Europa League as the team were beaten 3-0 by Lyon.On Sunday, though, the Toffees performed a comeback by responding to being 2-0 down against Watford.Second-half goals from Oumar Niasse and Dominic Calvert-Lewin pulled Everton level with the Hornets at Goodison Park, but it was Leighton Baines’s 91st-minute penalty that turned out to be the winner.Everton were given a slice of luck when Tom Cleverley squandered the opportunity to level things up for Watford by missing from the spot.After the match, Idrissa Gueye, who played the full 90 minutes, sent a message to the fans.

Liverpool won their third Premier League match in a row for the first time this calendar year on Saturday, blowing away Southampton at Anfield with a 3-0 victory.

It was a confident performance from Jurgen Klopp’s side, moving to within just a point of fourth placed Tottenham Hotspur in the league table.

The star of the show was undoubtedly Mohamed Salah, scoring a double to move top of the Premier League scoring charts. He’s now netted 13 goals in all competitions for the Reds, proving himself to be one of the best signings of the summer transfer window.

Philippe Coutinho was also back to his best on the afternoon, setting up one of Salah’s in the first half before netting himself after the break.

Supporters were blown away by the performance of Salah with some even suggesting he could be the best signing the club has ever made.

They took to Twitter to share their thoughts…

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Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg stunned fans when he admitted that “allowed” Tottenham Hotspur to “self-destruct” against Chelsea in their 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge in the 2015-16 campaign.

While speaking on NBC’s Men In Blazers podcast, the County Durham-born referee revealed that he purposefully did not send off any Spurs fans during the game as he did not want to be blamed for the club’s title demise.

The contest was a fiery affair between the London rivals, who broke out into two mass melees during play.

Nine yellow cards were brandished to Spurs players, who handed the English crown to shock winners Leicester City as a result of failing to beat Chelsea.

Clattenburg’s claims have caused quite a stir, but Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has refused to be drawn into the debate.

According to Sky Sports, when asked about the remarks, the Argentine told reporters:

“No comment. Two years ago, no comment. Sorry I’m not going to say anything.”

Pochettino did, though, answer when asked if referees should speak about the matches that they oversee.

“I don’t know. It’s so difficult to talk about that subject. My position now is I want to be away and I don’t want to talk about the decision of the referee. I don’t want to talk about their behaviour. I don’t want to talk about if they were good or no good.

“I understand that it’s so difficult. It’s not easy to be a referee. We can see in every single training session when I’m in the middle of two groups when they are competing it’s so tough to say ‘foul, no foul’, ‘handball, no handball’, ‘penalty, no penalty’ or ‘it wasn’t a red card, it’s a yellow card’.

“We are the first to know their job is so difficult but I think I try to help them. It’s better to stay quiet and say nothing because I’m not going to help if I say some comments.”

Despite having already added Issa Diop and Ryan Fredericks to his squad, West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini could look to bring in a couple more defenders with another centre-back possibly being lined up.

The Breakdown

Corriere dello Sport (via Sport Witness) are reporting West Ham are interested in signing Spartak Moscow central defender Ilya Kutepov to further strengthen the heart of their backline which already consists of Diop, Winston Reid and Angelo Ogbonna.

Kutepov has clearly made an impression with Russia at the World Cup with the likes of Fiorentina, Lyon and RB Leipzig also said to be targeting the 24-year-old. A bidding war is now likely to ensue and if West Ham miss out on Kutepov, then the club should continue the ambitious approach they’ve shown in this transfer window and make an enquiry for Barcelona’s £8.1m-rated (via Transfermarkt) Yerry Mina.

Mina, who has scored three goals at the World Cup for Colombia, has really struggled at Barcelona since making his move to the Camp Nou from Palmeiras back in January. The 23-year-old, as reported by outlets such as Marca, has since been linked with a move away from the La Liga champions and his performances in Russia have now likely caught the attention of many.

At 6’5″, Mina, as he’s shown at the World Cup, is practically unchallengeable in the air, and in general, has the characteristics to be a top Premier League defender.

Even if West Ham are leading the race for Kutepov, the east London club should try their luck with Mina first.

According to reliable club insider @ExWHUemployee on Episode 94 of The West Ham Way radio show, West Ham United are lining up a summer move for Lyon attacker Memphis Depay.

What’s the word, then?

Well, @ExWHUemployee said on the radio show that the Irons want to bring the former Manchester United flop back to England, and the Dutchman is believed to want a return to the Premier League to prove himself.

With a deal for Lazio’s Felipe Anderson proving problematic, Manuel Pellegrini could choose to switch his attentions elsewhere, and a move for Depay would certainly be exciting given his record for the Ligue 1 outfit last term.

The 24-year-old scored 22 goals and provided a further 17 assists in 51 appearances in all competitions, to help his side finish as runners-up to Paris Saint-Germain in the French top flight.

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Would he be a good signing for West Ham?

Even though he only scored seven goals and provided a further six assists in 53 outings in total for the Red Devils, his record last time out shows that he has clearly improved and matured since his time at Old Trafford under Louis van Gaal.

Meanwhile, another former Red Devil in Hernandez struggled in his debut campaign at the London Stadium and often found himself behind Marko Arnautovic in the pecking order, and much of that may have been down to the lack of a wide player that can get the ball into the penalty area where the Mexican is.

However, Depay showed last time with his 17 assists that he can put quality deliveries into the box, and knowing how good Hernandez’s movement is he could get on the end of them and become a regular starter under Pellegrini to finally ignite his Hammers career.

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Eberechi Eze, Matt Smith and Ilias Chair were all on the scoresheet as Queens Park Rangers recorded a 3-0 win over Barnet in a pre-season friendly earlier this week.

It was a strong performance from QPR, but there is absolutely no doubt that one player in particular caught the attention of the club’s supporters.

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Eze opened the scoring with a wonderful effort in the first period, and it led to the QPR fans demanding that their club secures the future of the 20-year-old.

Eze, who has previously been on the books of Arsenal, Fulham and Millwall, scored twice in 16 Championship appearances for the R’s last season.

The midfielder also spent time on loan at Wycombe Wanderers in League Two last term, and managed five goals in 20 league appearances for the club.

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Eze’s current deal with QPR is due to expire in the summer of 2020, and it would be fair to say that the club’s fans are desperate for an extension.

The London-born midfielder will certainly be looking to continue his impressive form during pre-season ahead of the 2018-19 Championship campaign, which starts next month.

A selection of the Twitter reaction from the QPR supporters can be seen below:

Manchester United have already made a good plunge into the transfer market this summer, with Jose Mourinho already adding the likes of Fred and Diogo Dalot to the ranks.

The Red Devils simply must get closer to rivals City next season to appease growing fears among fans that the club are going to end up falling somewhat short in coming years in terms of winning silverware.

Here in the Tavern, we think a new striker should be on the shopping list, and we think German forward Timo Werner, a player who is valued at £54m by website Transfermarkt, would be a superb addition.

Werner has seen his stock rise over the last few seasons and once again was in impressive goalscoring form last term, knocking in 21 goals in all competitions. A fully fledged member of the German squad now, Werner will no doubt get his move to one of the giants of the game at some point, and despite failing to impress in Russia this summer, there will be plenty of interest in the youngster.

While United do have the likes of Marcus Rashford and Alexis Sanchez in the squad, another striker can never hurt, and a player of Werner’s quality and potential would be a superb addition for the Old Trafford club.

United fans, what do you think? Good signing? Let us know in the comments!

It’s been quite a summer for Nuno Espirito Santo. After storming to the Championship title last season, Wolverhampton Wanderers have wasted no time this summer is adding some serious quality to their squad. 

The calibre of signings made by Wolves shows a signal of intent that they are not just in the Premier League merely to survive next season. Signings such as Ruben Vinagre and Rui Patricio are not the signings you would expect of a newly promoted side. Of all the promoted sides, Wolves certainly look the favourites to have a comfortable season next term.

The West Midlands outfit already look strong, but another quality addition could put them on the verge of doing something special in the coming season.

With that in mind, 22-year-old winger Andrija Zivkovic would be the perfect addition for Wolverhampton Wanderers. The winger, who is valued at £16.2m by Transfermarkt, is a hugely exciting talent.

After seriously impressing at a young age for Partizan, the Serbian made the switch to Benfica. He has already been capped eleven times for his country. The young winger has pace, technical ability and an excellent cross into the box. If Wolves could lure him to Molineux, he would only improve with regular Premier League football under his belt.

Defensively, the West Midlands outfit look very solid. Particularly with Portugal international Rui Patricio between the sticks commanding his area. Likewise, up top having players such as Leo Bonatini, Wolves look incredibly strong. However, the prospect of having Helder Costa on one wing, and Zivkovic on the other would strike fear into any Premier League defence, and would be an addition worth shelling out on.

Wolves already have a very strong squad going into next season, but they should drop everything now and go for one more high quality addition. Zivkovic could provide that extra piece of magic which is the difference between finishing mid-table, and being on the verge of challenging for a European place. With the signings the Molineux outfit have so far made, the sky is the limit in the coming season.