Category: Football (Soccer)

Football (Soccer) News

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Champions League roundup: Bayern’s Kim Min-jae leaves PSG in trouble

  • PSG outside playoff places after 1-0 defeat by Bayern Munich
  • Inter top after beating Leipzig; Barcelona best Brest 3-0

Bayern Munich battled past 10-man Paris Saint-Germain 1-0, thanks to Kim Min-jae’s winner, to improve their chances of automatic qualification and leave the visitors in trouble after a third defeat in the competition.

With PSG’s only win so far coming against Girona in their opener they were desperate for points, but Bayern struck first with South Korea’s Kim heading home from close range after the goalkeeper Matvei Safonov fluffed a corner in the 38th minute.

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Manchester City blow three-goal lead as Feyenoord produce stunning fightback

Manchester City’s losing sequence is over – just. But they remain a listing ship that can go down at any moment. “Fragile” was Pep Guardiola’s summation of his team’s state, and a clue to the manager’s own mood was the cut to his nose he stated was self-inflicted, by a finger, due to the contest’s travails.

City were 3-0 up after 75 minutes but a late horror show ceded the advantage as Feyenoord preyed on home nerves via Anis Hadj Moussa, Santiago Giménez and David Hancko, who drew Feyenoord level to earn a well-fought point.

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Slot claims Salah’s Liverpool contract dispute may be bringing best out of him

  • Manager says absence of contract offer is not distraction
  • Alexander-Arnold not fit to start against Real Madrid

Arne Slot has claimed Mohamed Salah’s contract standoff with Liverpool may be bringing the best out of the forward and is not a distraction from a hugely important week for the club.

Salah’s admission that he is “more out than in” at Liverpool owing to the absence of a contract offer has overshadowed the buildup to Wednesday’s Champions League game against Real Madrid and Manchester City’s visit in the Premier League on Sunday.

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Brendan Rodgers wary of Brugge threat but backs Celtic Park’s power

  • Hoops chasing fourth straight home win in Europe
  • Champions League progress will define club’s season

Caution from Brendan Rodgers over Celtic’s prospects in the Champions League is perfectly understandable. Thoroughbred racehorses know how to time their run. That Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, Milan, Benfica and Paris Saint-Germain started this week behind Celtic in the newfangled version of European football’s premier club competition is likely to prove a temporary impasse. Celtic, despite a hugely promising start, were 15th before Tuesday evening’s fixtures. The Scottish champions have not altered their goal of reaching the playoff round. Seven points from a possible 12 has not changed aspirations that existed before a ball was kicked in anger.

Rodgers revelled in Celtic’s dismantling of RB Leipzig in the last round. Pre-match media duties for the subsequent Scottish Premiership stop at Kilmarnock were dominated by what had transpired days earlier. This was fair; Celtic have taken such public kickings for failures in Europe over recent years that they were entitled to purr over happier times. The performance against the German club was exceptional and a justification of Rodgers’ decision to return for a second Celtic tenure in 2023.

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Real Madrid’s Vinícius Júnior to miss Liverpool clash with leg injury

  • Brazilian out of Wednesday’s Champions League match
  • Fears that forward could miss up to seven games

Vinícius Júnior will miss Real Madrid’s Champions League game at Liverpool on Wednesday after sustaining a leg muscle injury in Sunday’s 3-0 La Liga win at Leganés, the Spanish club have said.

Sources close to the player said that Vinícius is expected to be sidelined for three to four weeks. It means he could miss up to seven games before the winter break.

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David de Gea is reborn and central to Fiorentina’s Serie A renaissance | Nicky Bandini

Goalkeeper is at heart of team reviving and defying expectations thanks to seven straight Serie A wins

David de Gea said on day one that he wanted to “make history” with Fiorentina. Three months later, you could make a case he has already succeeded. The Viola won their seventh consecutive Serie A game on Sunday, 2-0 away to Como. Only once before – back in 1960 – have they achieved such a run in the Italian top-flight.

The Spaniard has been essential. De Gea collected his fifth clean sheet against Como, more than any other goalkeeper has managed since he made his league debut on 15 September. He is having to work for them, too.

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First Premier League weekend on Bluesky was nice and soft but X hard-edges remain | John Brewin

Discourse on social media platform lacked toxicity of the old place but there were signs it will eventually go that way

Hello, I’m new here, though you might know me from the other place. The sun is shining in the sky, there ain’t a cloud in sight, I’m here for good humour and polite social media intercourse. Thanks for the starter pack. Welcome, then, to Bluesky, where the algorithm isn’t jammed hard-right, the self-policing not too strong-arm, though there was that strange chap who listed the schools everyone attended.

After the Twitterectomy (to use Nick Cave’s indelicate term for this liberal migration) to a promised land where Elon Musk doesn’t quote-tweet articles on the Great Replacement Theory as being “interesting”. Now, how would this new Xanadu shape up when placed into the hottest kiln of public debate known to humankind? Forget geopolitics and burning social issues, forget even Donald Trump, the truest test is a Premier League weekend.

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Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action

Amad Diallo shows versatility, Ethan Nwaneri offers plenty of potential and Danny Welbeck’s role is key for Brighton

For the established full-back, a wing-back role must be liberating, permission granted to embark on an adventure in the other half. Amad Diallo was faced with the less desirable situation against Ipswich, a forward forced to track back as he slotted in on the right of Ruben Amorim’s 3-4-2-1. Diallo retained his attacking aggression, immediately rampaging forward and evading challenges to set up Marcus Rashford’s early opener. He was responsible in defence and one of United’s brightest performers in a mostly bleak display, even threatening to deliver a late winner when cutting inside into the box to let fly. Diallo is most likely just a stopgap in the position but his adaptability has some worth as Amorim searches for his best XI. Taha Hashim

Match report: Ipswich 1-1 Manchester United

Match report: Manchester City 0-4 Tottenham

Match report: Southampton 2-3 Liverpool

Match report: Arsenal 3-0 Nottingham Forest

Match report: Leicester 1-2 Chelsea

Match report: Fulham 1-4 Wolves

Match report: Aston Villa 2-2 Crystal Palace

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The night when Tony Morley’s magic and Aston Villa faced the very best

Juve’s visit to Villa Park this week conjures memories of when both clubs were at the centre of the football world

The champions of Europe side by side with more than half the champions of the world.” The first line of Barry Davies’s Sportsnight commentary is so succinct that, 41 and a half years later, there is no need for a new introduction. Aston Villa’s European Cup quarter-final against Juventus in 1983 had a unique selling point.

The clubs meet again on Wednesday in the Champions League but back then Villa were the holders of the trophy – although six of the Juventus team had started for Italy when they beat West Germany in the 1982 World Cup final. And they had the best player from the teams that finished third and fourth, France’s Michel Platini and Poland’s Zbigniew Boniek.

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