...Barcelona, Pep and Jose have been getting on better than ever – maybe they loved each other all along?
WEIRD WORLD OF FOOTBALL
1 THE BERLIN WALL: 2022 EDITION
It’s been 18 months since Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho went head-to-head in the dugout – maybe absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Once colleagues at Barcelona, the duo became enemies when Mourinho joined Real Madrid – then more face-offs followed in England until Spurs sacked Jose, days before his supposed duel with Pep in the 2021 League Cup Final. The pair haven’t met since: Pep’s in the Champions League; Mourinho has kept himself busy in the Europa Conference League.
But now it seems they’re ready to kiss and make up – at least if a giant mural at Barcelona’s Primavera Sound Festival is anything to go by. The artwork was inspired by a famous mural painted on the Berlin Wall, depicting Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev kissing East German ally Erich Honecker, accompanied by the Russian words ‘My God, Help Me To Survive This Deadly Love’.
In the end, David Hasselhoff solved that situation – perhaps if we could get him crooning away in the technical area the next time Pep and Jose meet, the Barcelona mural might just become a reality.
2 MASKING THE ISSUE
Sure, your club’s summer shirt launch was probably very nice – but did it involve a scary bloke in a wrestling mask?
Club Tijuana’s did, as they unveiled their jersey at the ever-understated Triplemania XXX, the biggest event in Mexican wrestling. Tijuana endured a difficult 2021-22, finishing second bottom of the Liga MX, but spirits were lifted when masked grappler Rey Xolo showed off their new shirt in the ring at the Estadio Caliente.
Such pick-me-ups could work perfectly here, too: get Hulk Hogan in Scunthorpe’s new kit to lighten the mood after relegation. Maybe ailing clubs should avoid The Undertaker, though...
3 IT’S A GUY THING
What does a Premier League football commentator do during the off season? They lounge around in a psychedelic sombrero and don some extravagant pink sunglasses, obviously.
No, Match of the Day’s Guy Mowbray wasn’t launching a late attempt to get involved with Club Tijuana’s kit launch – he’s got almost zero experience as a pro wrestler for a start – although his new attire coincided with Glastonbury weekend, so he was possibly angling to replace Bez in the Happy Mondays or something.
Will this begin a trend of mic men in ludicrious headwear? Next up: Peter Drury dons a Moroccan fez, excitedly shouting ‘HAT FOR MOROCCO, HAT FOR ALL AFRICA!’ at anyone who’ll listen.
4 WIGGING OUT
If
