comment by Culèr: The Evolving Brand ✅ (U9489)
posted 9 seconds ago

I’m not even saying it either just because we’re in the Europa, even if we were in UCL I’d admit the Europa is better this year.
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That's very fair of you.

I mean just look at the history of tonight's game.

Sociedad, a team from the Basque region; a region which was battered by Franco's fascist bombs in the Spanish Civil war, facing off against the juggernauts Manchester United. There is more prestige about the Europa this season and I now genuinely believe we are in the stronger tournament.

I fancy us too. 3-1 United.

Same difference, but most of the bombs were actually Hitler's.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condor_Legion

comment by it'sonlyagame (U6426)
posted 1 minute ago
Same difference, but most of the bombs were actually Hitler's.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condor_Legion
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Franco's order mate. His destruction...

Hence my saying "same difference". Just thought a cultivated fellow like yourself with a refined eye for detail would appreciate the additional information.

I'd also add that the bombing campaigns centred mainly on the province of Vizcaya, which is in fact Athletic Club territory rather than Real Sociedad's.

Vizcaya, of which Bilbao is the capital, housed most of the region's heavy industry. That was the main reason it was targeted, although Gernika -the subject of the famous Picasso painting housed in Madrid's Reina Sofía museum, was a singularly symbolic target that has its own place in Basque history and tradition.

Donosti/San Sebastián, however is in the neighbouring province of Gipuzkoa. While its inland valleys are generally considered the core Basque heartlands, the capital itself was an important summer retreat of the Spanish aristocracy, and had even been one of the sites of the initial military uprising. Following the fall of Irún, it was actually taken quite easily.

comment by it'sonlyagame (U6426)
posted 5 minutes ago
Hence my saying "same difference". Just thought a cultivated fellow like yourself with a refined eye for detail would appreciate the additional information.

I'd also add that the bombing campaigns centred mainly on the province of Vizcaya, which is in fact Athletic Club territory rather than Real Sociedad's.

Vizcaya, of which Bilbao is the capital, housed most of the region's heavy industry. That was the main reason it was targeted, although Gernika -the subject of the famous Picasso painting housed in Madrid's Reina Sofía museum, was a singularly symbolic target that has its own place in Basque history and tradition.

Donosti/San Sebastián, however is in the neighbouring province of Gipuzkoa. While its inland valleys are generally considered the core Basque heartlands, the capital itself was an important summer retreat of the Spanish aristocracy, and had even been one of the sites of the initial military uprising. Following the fall of Irún, it was actually taken quite easily.
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The reality is the entire region was decimated by the bombs of Franco and his fascist regime. Stop trying to undermine my comments which were historically accurate.

The fact Sociedad, Bilbao, Alaves and Eibar all managed to survive as clubs after that destruction is superb and it only adds to the prestige of the Europa League.

You even fail to mention that Sociedad and Bilbao used to share a stadium back then, in Bilbao, which was destroyed....

I was unaware of that, but back when? You mean during the war?

At the time of the bombings mate

The bombing of Vizcaya, I suppose. I think the province of Gipuzkoa fell first, as one of the Nationalists' first goals was to cut off Republican communication routes to France.

So I'd imagine that many members of the R. Sociedad team might have fled to Bilbao, but I wasn't aware that they were actually playing games at the time, whereas I think the Nationalist rebels did organise a competition of sorts in the part of the country where they'd succeeded.

From what I recall reading, virtually all the squads disbanded at the outbreak of the war, and at the end of it had huge difficulty putting a team together.

I am right trust me. Read about it or read the book about Eibar by Euan McTear

Thanks, I'll look that up.

Really good read. Eibar have a great story that’s literally unbelievable at times. He has another book about when Atletico won their first title under Simeone which I will read too.

Barca vs United in the Europa!

With a whopping 14 European honours between them, this is a tie that is befitting of a truly elite European stage.

Not like the tripe of the UCL, with teams like Napoli and Brugge playing.

Europa is stronger this year

Think your content creator is scraping the barrel a bit with this one, Culèr. If he doesn't up his game, you might have to fire him.