Bayern Munich are laughing all the way to the bank after earning 25 million euros ($27.35m) so far following the best Champions League group stage campaign in the club’s history. With 15 points, from a possible 18, and 19 goals scored with just three conceded in five wins and a single defeat, Bayern had already won their group before Wednesday’s 2-0 victory at Dinamo Zagreb. “We are top of the group and have achieved a great goal,” said Bayern captain Philipp Lahm after two Robert Lewandowski goals wrapped up the victory in Zagreb. “We have so far put in a…
Author: David Folami
Nigeria shockingly defeated the Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations hosts Senegal 1-0 to reach the final of the tournament on Wednesday. Oghenekaro Etebo’s goal in the second half proved good enough to see Samson Siasia’s men not only earn a place in the final of the competition but also qualify for the men’s football event of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Siasia’s men had barely gone through the group stage and had the odds stacked against them since the Senegalese breezed through their group with a 100 percent record. Nigeria were without their suspended captain Azubuike Okechukwu…
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique is not happy Neymar may be set for a lengthy lay-off after the Brazilian superstar injured his groin before their final Champions League group match. The defending champions were already through to the Champions League’s last 16 for the 12th year in succession and ended their group campaign on Wednesday with a 1-1 draw at Bayer Leverkusen. Enrique named a mainly second-string team at the BayArena by including only four first-choice players in Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Ivan Rakitic, Jordi Alba and captain Lionel Messi. An early Messi goal was cancelled out by Javier Hernandez’s equaliser, but…
European soccer giant Barcelona lost a bid to trademark the shield-shaped outline of their club crest on Thursday when EU judges ruled that was not distinctive enough to be linked only to the Catalan club. The crest itself, based on a design in 1910 by one of their own players of the time, is familiar to Barca’s global fan base. It features the letters FCB and a football over the flags of the city and Catalonia and the blue and red stripe of team’s strip. But Barcelona also sought to protect the empty shield shape, which has extra points of…
Barcelona are likely to fly off to the Club World Cup with a narrow lead at the top of La Liga but the Spanish and European champions could find themselves playing catch up when they return from Japan. With just over a third of the season played, coach Luis Enrique’s team are two points clear of second-placed Atletico Madrid, with Real Madrid lurking curiously a further two points adrift in third. Barca host Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday and will not play their game at Sporting Gijon, scheduled for the following matchday, until mid-February. Atletico host Athletic Bilbao on Sunday…
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said on Tuesday that he feels he retains the support of owner Roman Abramovich despite the high risk of Champions League elimination. The misfiring Premier League champions face a make-or-break home game with Mourinho’s former club Porto on Wednesday, when they need a draw to rubber-stamp their place in the Champions League last 16. Chelsea remain 14th in the Premier League after Saturday’s shameful 1-0 loss at home to Bournemouth and Mourinho refused to speculate about what might happen if they fail against Porto, saying only “there are no ifs”. But he issued an eye opening…
Jose Mourinho hopes Chelsea’s progress to the Champions League last 16 will bring back his side’s gone confidence and help save his job. Mourinho was close to being sacked until Chelsea avoided elimination from Europe’s elite club competition with a 2-0 win over Porto at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday. Needing one point to ensure they made it to the knockout stages, Chelsea got a timely piece of good fortune through Ivan Marcano’s early own goal before Willian’s second half strike completed a victory that lifted the west Londoners to the top of Group G and eased the pressure on Mourinho.…
Arsenal knew they would get their “massive” win in Greece if they could impose their brand of football on the game, Petr Cech has said after the club ensured their last 16 place in the Champions League with a 3-0 win over Olympiakos Piraeus on Wednesday. The Gunners went into the game knowing they needed to win by any scoreline apart from 1-0 or 2-1 to qualify for the knockout stages for a 16th consecutive year. “Well, we could! We were searching for it and we knew if we played our game, if we have a great team performance and…
Winger Jesse Lingard has urged his Manchester United teammates to ignore the criticism coming their way and focus on the remainder of the season after crashing out of the Champions League. United crashed out of Europe’s premier competition with a 3-2 defeat at VfL Wolfsburg on Tuesday and manager Louis van Gaal was heavily criticised for a perceived negative playing style by several pundits and former players. “Playing for Manchester United comes with a lot of pressure,” Lingard was quoted as saying by the club’s website (www.manutd.com). “If you’re out of a competition, you’re going to get critics, they’re going…
Leicester City Manager Claudio Ranieri is loving life at the top of the Premier League and is eager about what high-flying Leicester City can achieve although he still refuses to look beyond ensuring their survival this season. The Foxes top the division and are just eight points short of the 40 that guarantee them top-flight football next season. “Everybody knows us a little more. It’s good for the club, the city and the fans,” Ranieri told reporters at his pre-match news conference ahead of Monday’s visit of champions Chelsea. “Let me achieve 40 points and then I can tell you…
Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny is the best defender in the Premier League, according to former England and Manchester United centre-back Rio Ferdinand. Ferdinand also hailed the Gunners back four in Wednesday’s impressive 3-0 Champions League win over Greek champions Olympiakos Piraeus, which ensured their progress to the knockout stages for a 16th consecutive year. “Laurent Koscielny, when he’s on form, he’s the best defender in the league for me. He’s one of those you don’t want to play against – he’s quick, he’s aggressive,” Ferdinand was quoted as saying by British media. “You need a platform at the back, you need…
Liverpool need to tailor injury-prone striker Daniel Sturridge’s rehabilitation process after his latest injury case to try and keep him fit for what remains of the season, manager Jurgen Klopp has said. Sturridge will miss Thursday night’s trip to Sion in the Europa League after picking up a hamstring injury when he came on in the second half of Liverpool’s 2-0 defeat at Newcastle United on Sunday. He has managed about 110 minutes of competitive football in the 12 games since Klopp took charge at Anfield, starting only one. “It’s a hamstring and it’s not easy to say when he…
Manchester United midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger is likely to appeal after being charged with violent conduct by the Football Association. The 31-year-old was charged on Monday after catching West Ham’s Winston Reid with his left arm as they waited for a free-kick to be taken during Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Old Trafford. The Germany international will face a three-match ban if found guilty. He has until 12:00 GMT on Thursday to respond to the charge. Referee Mark Clattenburg spoke to both players after the incident, but did not mention it in his post-match report. “The matter was referred to a panel…
The head of Fifa’s medical committee says he will support Eva Carneiro in her legal case against Chelsea. Former Blues doctor Carneiro is suing the club for constructive dismissal, while Blues boss Jose Mourinho is the subject of an individual legal action. Carneiro was dropped from first-team duties after Mourinho said she was “naive” for treating Eden Hazard during a draw with Swansea. “Of course I support Eva Carneiro,” said Fifa chief Michel D’Hooghe. “She did her job, she did her duty – when somebody is medically in trouble she has to intervene. Of course she has my support and…
West Bromwich Albion and Tottenham Hotspur have been charged by the FA with failing to control their players in Saturday’s heated 1-1 Premier League draw, it said in a statement on Wednesday. The charge relates to an incident around the 84th minute of the game, when West Brom’s James McClean picked up a booking for a rash two-footed challenge on Mousa Dembele. The Ireland winger, who scored West Brom’s equaliser, was high and late with his challenge, which his manager, Tony Pulis, later admitted he was reckless, but referee Jon Moss showed him only a yellow card after consulting one…
Louis van Gaal has repeated his criticism that Germany captain Bastian Schweinsteiger is not the player he was at Bayern Munich after Manchester United’s Champions League exit. United crashed out of Europe’s top domestic competition on Tuesday with a 3-2 defeat at Wolfsburg, which left them third in the group to drop into the Europa League. In the wake of the defeat, Van Gaal repeated his pre-match comments that Schweinsteiger, 31, is not playing as well as he did during his 14 years at Bayern, who he left for Old Trafford before the start of the season. Schweinsteiger was taken…
Gary Monk’s reign as Swansea boss came to a painful end this afternoon as both parties parted ways after a string of poor results for the Welsh club. Swansea City Chairman Huw Jenkins confirmed the decision in a statement issued on the club’s website: “The decision has been made very reluctantly and with a heavy heart. “To find ourselves in our current situation from where we were in the first week of September, and considering the drop of performance levels and run of results over the last three months, it has brought us to this unfortunate decision today. “Garry took…
A Javier Hernandez strike gave Bayer Leverkusen a 1-1 draw against Group E winners Barcelona but it was not enough for them to reach the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday. In-form Hernandez netted his 12th goal in 11 games just three minutes after Lionel Messi had given a weakened Barca side the lead after 20 minutes. Leverkusen were guilty of missing several good openings in the second half especially by Hakan Calhanoglu when a win would have seen them qualify for the next round. However, the draw meant they finished third in Group E level on six points with…
Bayern Munich eased into the Champions League’s last 16 after a second-half double by top scorer Robert Lewandowski gave them a 2-0 victory at Dinamo Zagreb in their Group F match on Wednesday. Bayern, who had already secured top spot in the group, finished with 15 points from six games, six ahead of Arsenal, who booked their berth with a 3-0 win at Olympiakos Piraeus. After a drab first half, Bayern coach Pep Guardiola brought on Thomas Mueller into his makeshift side at the interval and Germany’s 2014 World Cup winner made a telling impact despite missing a 90th-minute penalty.…
Unlike Manchester united players Olivier Giroud grabbed a fantastic hat-trick as Arsenal crushed Olympiakos Piraeus 3-0 to seal their place in the Champions League’s last 16 with an inspiring demolition job that ended the hopes of their Greek opponents on Wednesday. With Arsenal needing a victory like that to make it out of Group F, France forward Giroud produced a classy display of finishing to ensure the English club finished second, level on nine points with Olympiakos, but ahead by virtue of their better head-to-head record. Giroud opened the scoring with a powerful header in the first half, doubled Arsenal’s…