Atletico Madrid’s last-gasp 2-1 win over Rostov on Tuesday which sealed a place in the Champions League last 16 was the latest demonstration that Diego Simeone’s side are even more determined to win the trophy that has twice slipped from their grasp. After losing to Real Madrid in the final last season on penalties and in extra-time in 2014, Atletico have got stronger in the competition, winning all four of their Group D games so far with only Leicester City matching their 100 percent record. Simeone’s men had beaten Bayern Munich, PSV Eindhoven and Rostov 1-0 but Tuesday’s dramatic late…
Author: David Folami
Playmaker Juan Mata says he did not lose any sleep over Jose Mourinho’s arrival at Manchester United despite longstanding and widespread rumours that the pair had fallen out when they were both at Chelsea. Mourinho dropped the Spaniard during his time at Stamford Bridge before selling him to United in January 2014 for a then club record fee of 37 million pounds ($45.24 million). Mata has been a key player for the Premier League club this season, however, scoring twice and racking up an assist in eight league games. “Too many things were said. Too many stories were created as…
Misfiring Manchester United and an Inter Milan who have fired coach Frank de Boer can take a welcome boost from the Europa League in matchday four of the group phase on Thursday. The epic Group phase of 12 round robin pools of four teams is remarkably close so far with only Zenit, Ajax, Shakhtar Donetsk and Schalke 04 eyeing qualification for the knock out round with Thursday wins. Much has been made of United’s 37 shots without a goal against Burnley at the weekend, the failure to hit the ground running of £89 million signing Paul Pogba and the sorrowful…
Embattled Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho will serve a one match touchline ban and pay a £50 000 fine after being punished by the Football Association over two separate incidents on Wednesday. The 53-year-old Portuguese received the ban for being sent to the stands during the 0-0 draw with Burnley last weekend and the fine for remarks he made ahead of the Premier League game with Liverpool. He also receives a mandatory £8 000 fine for being sent to the stands. “Jose Mourinho has been fined £50 000 in relation to media comments he made prior to Manchester United’s game…
Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, insists Kelechi Iheanacho is a young player still in the process of his footballing education. Iheanacho has impressed since breaking into the City team last season, weighing in with crucial goals. Guardiola says Iheanacho’s talent is unquestionable but must continue to keep his feet firmly on the ground while playing his part to complement the club’s number one striker, Sergio Aguero. “Kelechi is a young player – huge talent but he is still learning. Sergio is a special player. “We have to convince him how special player he is for us. We need him a…
Ilkay Gundogan scored twice as Manchester City sank Barcelona 3-1 in the Champions League on Tuesday to give manager Pep Guardiola an electrifying victory over his former club. Barca had won 4-0 when the sides met two weeks ago, but although Lionel Messi put them ahead, City stormed back in thrilling fashion as Gundogan scored twice either side of a Kevin De Bruyne free-kick. It ended Barcelona’s run of five successive wins over City and moved Guardiola’s side to within two points of Luis Enrique’s Group C leaders with two games remaining. “Our (first) goal here changed everything. Our players…
Barcelona will not be knocked off course by their 3-1 defeat at Manchester City in the Champions League on Tuesday despite being outplayed in the second half by Pep Guardiola’s fired-up side, the Catalan club’s manager Luis Enrique said. The Spanish champions are second in La Liga two points behind arch rivals Real Madrid and face a testing game on Sunday at high-flying Sevilla, who are a point behind them, with Luis Enrique declaring they would not dwell on the City defeat. “We have to get up and keep going. We never sit back when we win and we don’t…
Chelsea legend Pat Nevin is the latest to applaud Victor Moses over his impressive performance as a wing-back under Antonio Conte. Moses has nailed down a regular starting place at Chelsea with a series of impressive performances. His contribution as a wingback has helped Chelsea to four unbeaten games with clean sheets. Nevin described Moses’ performance as colossal and likened it to that of an Olympic 400 metre gold medallist. “Victor Moses was colossal and for me, he had his best game by far in a Chelsea shirt,” the former Chelsea player wrote in his column on the club’s official…
Stung by a chastening 4-0 defeat at the Camp Nou two weeks ago, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola makes a second attempt to outwit his former club Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday. Guardiola’s men were undone by the second-half dismissal of goalkeeper Claudio Bravo on October 19, when Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick to propel his side five points clear of City at the Group C summit. Another defeat would give Borussia Moenchengladbach and Celtic — who meet in Germany — an opportunity to overtake City and Guardiola knows his side face a major test of their nerve…
Jose Mourinho believes Manchester United’s derby victory over Manchester City can inject fresh life into his team’s spluttering Premier League title challenge. Mourinho’s side bounced back from a miserable 4-0 thrashing at Chelsea by defeating arch rivals City in the League Cup on Wednesday and the United boss hopes the momentum carries over into Saturday’s meeting with Burnley. Seeing off City, who had already beaten United in the league this season, was a welcome boost for Mourinho following his side’s spluttering start to the season, but he knows they can’t afford another to slip back into bad habits with table-toppers…
Claudio Ranieri wouldn’t mind if Premier League champions Leicester stopped paying him because what motivates the veteran manager is passion, love and a team who fight for each other. The 65-year-old — who was at the helm to guide 5000/1 outsiders Leicester to the Premier League title last season — told The Times he didn’t even know how much he is paid. “My motivation is not money,” he said. “Believe me. The money can stop now. My motivation is my love of football, my love of players. “To try to do the best? I don’t remember how much I earn…
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says Olivier Giroud will continue to answer his critics after the France forward ended his goal drought in style at Sunderland. Giroud climbed off the bench to score twice — his first Premier League goals since May — as the Gunners won 4-1 away to the bottom-of-the-table Black Cats on Saturday. Victory extended Arsenal’s unbeaten run in all competitions to 14 games. It also kept them in a three-way tie at the top of the table with Manchester City and Liverpool as they strengthened their bid for a first Premier League title since 2004. The 30-year-old…
Manager Slaven Bilic has urged West Ham United to take encouragement from Sunday’s Premier League defeat at Everton and to use the number of chances his side created as further motivation despite the “bitter taste” from the result. After a poor start to the league season, West Ham, fifth from bottom in the league standings, had secured consecutive wins before their 2-0 defeat at Goodison Park. “We played some good football at times, we created some chances, so I am happy about that. I felt that they were vulnerable at the back, particularly at the beginning of the game and…
Liverpool kept pace with Premier League top two Manchester City and Arsenal with a dramatic 4-2 success at Crystal Palace on Saturday. A breathless first half saw both sides take advantage of defensive errors, with Palace twice levelling through James McArthur after Liverpool took the lead with goals from Emre Can and Dejan Lovren. Joel Matip’s 44th-minute header gave the visitors a half-time advantage and Roberto Firmino’s second-half effort secured a win that left Jurgen Klopp’s men behind City and Arsenal on goal difference. While the Merseysiders’ vibrant display showcased their attacking talents – assisted by a generous Palace defence…
Antonio Conte insists it is too soon to label Chelsea as Premier League title contenders after his side maintained their impressive run with a 2-0 victory at Southampton. Conte’s team have reeled off four successive league wins for the first time in 18 months and they sit just one point behind leaders Manchester City following their no-nonsense display at St Mary’s on Sunday. Eden Hazard opened the scoring with a clinical strike in the sixth minute and Diego Costa’s sublime curler in the second half wrapped up the points for the Blues. Chelsea have double the number of points they…
Arjen Robben is relishing his return to PSV Eindhoven, 14 years after his Champions League debut, with Bayern Munich hunting a win to take them closer to the knock-out stages. Eindhoven host Bayern at PSV’s Philips Stadium on Tuesday. Robben, 32, was outstanding in Bayern’s 3-1 win at Augsburg on Saturday as he netted and provided both assists for Robert Lewandowski’s goals in a win which kept the Bavarian giants two points clear in Germany’s top flight. Robben joined Eindhoven as an 18-year-old, scoring 21 goals in 75 games for PSV, for whom he made his Champions League debut in…
Bayer Leverkusen star Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez has said that the best players he has played with and against have been Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, respectively. The 28-year-old Mexico international, who was sent on loan to Real Madrid during his final season at Manchester United, signed for Leverkusen for £7.3 million on a three-year deal in 2015 and has since gone on to score 33 goals for the club. In the short, six-question interview done by UEFA.com, Hernandez also revealed that if he could have chosen any other sport, he would have like to be an NFL…
Olivier Giroud looks set for his first start of the season when Arsenal take on Ludogorets in the Champions League on Tuesday, while Hector Bellerin was among four players who were left behind for the trip to Bulgaria. Manager Arsene Wenger said Bellerin, fellow full-back Nacho Monreal, midfielder Santi Cazorla and forward Theo Walcott all stayed home to recover from minor injuries ahead of Sunday’s crucial North London Derby against Tottenham. Monreal, Cazorla and Walcott also missed Saturday’s win over Sunderland in the Premier League, while Bellerin has played every minute of Arsenal’s Premier League and Champions League campaigns so…
Ivan Rakitic hopes that “one of the world’s best strikers” Sergio Aguero has an off day when Barcelona take on Manchester City in the Champions League on Tuesday. Aguero was surprisingly left on the bench when the two sides met earlier this month when Barca won 4-0 at Camp Nou, with Pep Guardiola explaining he wanted to have more bodies in midfield. However, the Catalan coach has already confirmed Aguero will start against the La Liga champions this week. The Argentine forward scored twice against West Brom in the Premier League at the weekend, leaving Rakitic hoping that they will…
Even in the helter-skelter, high-pressure world of elite football, I guess there will be a couple of quiet moments for several of Manchester City’s key men to reflect on “discovering” Lionel Messi before battle recommences on Tuesday night. I know there will be for Pablo Zabaleta, whether he plays or not. From executives via technical staff to players, the majority of City’s key men have seen Messi begin, grow and then demolish. He’s demolished City with regularity too, meaning there will be a mix of affection and apprehension around the blue half of Manchester before a Champions League group match…