MLS owners and executives have debated flipping their calendar to align it with global soccer, a potentially monumental change. But they couldn't reach an agreement to make the change now.
Football Daily | Aston Villa’s right royal Bigger Cup night at the Parc des Princes
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Whether it’s Ed Sheeran at Ipswich, Michael McIntyre at Spurs or Hugh Grant and the Osman brothers at Fulham, celebrity fans always need to be on their very best behaviour, given the almost psychopathic obsession TV directors have with cutting away to them as the action on the pitch unfolds. Last night it was the turn of Prince William to find himself under constant surveillance in his VIP seat in nominative determinism’s Parc des Princes, where he and his son, George, were forced to abandon any plans they might have had to pick their noses, flick Vs at Paris Saint-Germain players or offer home fans out for a scrap on the concourse, for fear of being caught on camera and enjoying a surge in public popularity that no end of gladhanding elderly war veterans or official visits to former colonies could ever provide.
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Continue reading...Vancouver Whitecaps to face Inter Miami in Concacaf semis after dramatic equalizer
- Tristan Blackmon scored late to eliminate Pumas
- Whitecaps will face Lionel Messi, Miami in next round
Tristan Blackmon scored a stoppage-time equalizer to help Vancouver Whitecaps earn a 2-2 draw with Pumas on Wednesday and book a spot in the Concacaf Champions Cup semi-finals against Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami.
Sebastian Berhalter put Vancouver ahead in the 33rd minute but the Mexican club responded with goals from Guillermo Martínez in the 37th and Ignacio Pussetto in the 88th to take a 2-1 lead. Blackmon sealed the semi-final spot three minutes into stoppage time as the Whitecaps advanced on away goals.
Continue reading...Champions League review: Kane v Martínez and Rice’s newfound skill
The quarter-finals got going with some sparkling highlights. We hand out honours and dishonours from the latest round of action
Arsenal
Continue reading...Paulo Fonseca: ‘They want to make an example of me for French football’
Lyon’s manager reflects on his nine-month domestic ban for confronting a referee and his Europa League hopes against Manchester United
“This kind of motivation can make miracles,” says Paulo Fonseca as he describes the glint in his Lyon players’ eyes before the visit of Manchester United. It is a clash of two giants who have lost their way – although something, at least, is stirring in France’s second city. They have won eight of their 11 games since Fonseca’s arrival less than two and a half months ago and that tells only part of a story with little precedent.
The Europa League quarter‑final first leg on Thursday will be a rare opportunity for Fonseca to do what he enjoys best: manage his team from the technical area, cajoling and tweaking from the sidelines. Early in March he was given a nine-month ban from domestic games for aggressively confronting the referee Benoît Millot towards the end of a win against Brest. He is barred from the dugout and from communicating with his bench until 30 November, but will be allowed access to the dressing rooms and tunnel area from 15 September. Recent Ligue 1 matches have been taken in from the press box. Uefa-run fixtures offer relief and he is still getting his head around a suspension with a duration which could have jeopardised his career.
Continue reading...Kvaratskhelia, PSG’s joyous throwback, delivers moment of old-school delight | Barney Ronay
PSG’s winger makes up his own moments – and he scored a beauty to set Luis Enrique’s side on course for victory
It took three minutes of the second half for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, perhaps the most watchable footballer in Europe right now, to confirm the way this game was going.
Unai Emery had sent on Axel Disasi for Matty Cash at the break, with the score 1-1 and PSG hugely dominant on every metric. Cash was effectively doomed in this game from the moment he was booked pulling Kvaratskhelia back, just trying to stop the pain on Aston Villa’s right side, and already facing a case of terminal neck-crick from staring down at those shuffling feet. That was Cash’s fourth foul with just 17 minutes gone. Tick tock.
Continue reading...Championship: Jamie Paterson strikes late to put Coventry in playoff places
- Sky Blues snatch late victory over Portsmouth
- Bottom club Plymouth well beaten by Swansea
Coventry moved into the Championship play-off places after a dramatic 1-0 victory over visitors Portsmouth.
The game seemed destined for a frustrating stalemate from the Sky Blues’ perspective, but Jamie Paterson had other ideas.
Continue reading...Barcelona 4-0 Dortmund: Champions League quarter-final, first leg – as it happened
Barcelona’s front three all scored, one of them twice, as they took control of their quarter-final against Borussia Dortmund
4 mins: Which is curled over the six-yard box and back out of play on the far side.
3 mins: Raphina finds space on the left, but Bensebaini clears his low cross for a corner.
Continue reading...PSG 3-1 Aston Villa: Champions League quarter-final, first leg – as it happened
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s magnificent goal symbolised an awesome PSG performance that overwhelmed Villa
Marquinhos’s suspension means there are no thirtysomethings in the Paris Saint-Germain XI. No galacticos either. The players may be younger, but the team is all growns up
“I realise PSG may well hand out a good tonking tonight, but Villa’s bench is looking strong at least!” says Rob Knap. “Is it the strongest bench among the eight teams in the quarter finals? I’m not sure on what basis you can measure that really - so I suspect some people reading this who have seen a lot of, say, Hector Fort and Pablo Torre might disagree with that idea.”
Continue reading...Lewandowski doubles up as Barcelona dominate Dortmund to close on semis
There is another game to be played but on this evidence Barcelona will do so just for the fun of it, and there may be no one having as much fun as they are right now. Their captain, Raphinha, refused to admit as much, flashing a knowing smiling as he said so, but a second Champions League semi-final in a decade is virtually secure already after all three of their fantastic forward line scored en route to a 4-0 victory against Borussia Dortmund at Montjuic. The last was taken by a 17-year-old who may already be considered the best player on the continent. And if he is not, perhaps it’s because a teammate is.
After all, while Lamine Yamal completed a near-perfect Barcelona performance with a gorgeous 14th goal of the season, Pedri continues to glide across a different plane and Robert Lewandowski, 20 years Lamine’s senior, scored his 39th and 40th. At 37, the Pole is the Champions League’s second top-scorer; the man above him is Raphinha, who also scored here as Barcelona reached 144 goals this season and almost certainly the next round, and perhaps beyond. They will take some stopping, that’s for sure.
Continue reading...Bukayo Saka’s welcome return opens up thrilling new possibilities for Arsenal | David Hytner
Arsenal’s ‘star boy’ is the player who epitomises Mikel Arteta’s team and he was hugely influential against Real Madrid
It was a brilliant teaser, one that had Arsenal fans smiling and shaking their heads, protesting loudly, essentially calling it immoral. Deal or no deal. They win the Premier League title. But they sell Bukayo Saka.
It was posted by the @goalglobal TikTok account at the start of last season and the reactions of those in front of the camera shone a light on just how loved Saka is at Arsenal. The consensus was no deal. It would not be worth it because some things just mean more. “That’s our star boy, that’s like your son,” one of the supporters said. The video was liked by 3 million people.
Continue reading...Ange Postecoglou hits back against ‘general sentiment’ he will be sacked
- Manager in spiky mood before visit of Frankfurt
- Claims critics ‘turn gold into crap when it’s Tottenham’
Ange Postecoglou has said the media believes he will be sacked even if Tottenham rescue their season by winning the Europa League.
The manager, who accused critics of always trying to “turn gold into crap”, was in spiky mood before his side hosts the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final against Eintracht Frankfurt and has clearly taken note of the talk over his future. Postecoglou has talked about ignoring external noise but he responded to a question about wanting to prove people wrong by picking out a reporter who wrote that success in Europe would not save the Australian’s job.
Continue reading...Matic calls Onana one of Manchester United’s worst goalkeepers after Lyon claim
- Onana said Manchester United were ‘way better’ side
- Keeper bites back that Matic won nothing with United
Nemanja Matic has described André Onana as one of the worst goalkeepers in Manchester United’s history after the Cameroonian claimed his team were far better than Lyon.
In an escalating row before the players face one another in the Europa League quarter-final opening leg at Lyon on Thursday, Onana responded by pointing out that Matic had won nothing as a United player from 2017 to 2022.
Continue reading...Premier League guaranteed five teams in Champions League after Arsenal win
- League gets one of two extra berths on offer from Uefa
- England could have seven clubs in 2025-26 tournament
The Premier League will be guaranteed at least five teams in the 2025-26 Champions League after Arsenal’s stunning 3-0 win over Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday.
The English top flight needed one win from its clubs in any of the three European competitions to secure one of two extra berths – on top of the four granted to the top four in the table – awarded to the highest-ranked countries in the Uefa coefficient table.
Continue reading...When Aston Villa lost to Juventus in their last European Cup quarter-final
The reigning champions were undone by Michel Platini, Zbigniew Boniek and Paolo Rossi in March 1983
Sometimes you have to hold up your hands and recognise that your defeat was more down to the skills of your opponent than your own failings. Take Aston Villa’s loss to Juventus in the quarter-finals of the European Cup in 1983. Thousands of fans left Villa Park after the first leg knowing their team’s grip on the European Cup had loosened. Villa were beaten 2-1 at home in the first leg and 3-1 away in Turin a fortnight later, but there was no disgrace in losing to that Juventus team.
When the draw for the last eight was made in December 1982, Villa were given one of the hardest possible tests Europe could provide. Liverpool, drawn against Polish team Widzew Lodz, were installed as 13-8 favourites to win the trophy, with Juventus priced at 11-4. Villa’s odds of 13-2 highlighted the task before them.
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