The last 16 started with a host of intriguing fixtures. We hand out honours and dishonours from the latest round of action
Arsenal
Continue reading...PSG 0-1 Liverpool: Champions League last 16, first leg – as it happened
PSG dominated, creating chance after chance, but came up against Alisson in inspired form, eventually succumbing to Harvey Elliott’s late smash-and-grab winner
2 min: Ruiz hassles Gravenberch down the PSG left but the Liverpool midfielder holds firm and buys a cheap free kick. PSG soon try again, this time down the right, Hakimi nearly getting the better of Diaz, but again the Liverpool player sticks to his guns and Hakimi runs the ball out for a goal kick.
1 min: An instant blast of jeering as Liverpool start with some midfield possession.
Continue reading...Raphinha strikes to give 10-man Barcelona last-16 edge over Benfica
Raphinha struck a second-half winner to give Barcelona a lion-hearted 1-0 victory at Benfica on Wednesday as they overcame a red card for Pau Cubarsí early in the game to steal an advantage in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.
Barcelona’s teenage defender Cubarsí was given a straight red card for a last-man foul on Vangelis Pavlidis in the 22nd minute, but the visitors hung on with goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny putting in a brilliant performance.
Continue reading...Champions League: Bayern Munich 3-0 Leverkusen, Benfica 0-1 Barcelona – as it happened
Harry Kane scored twice for Bayern as Raphina’s goal grabbed a first-half lead for ten-man Barça.
Jeyland Mitchell caught Thuram’s heel – VAR calls over the German ref, and it’s awarded.
Bayern Munich v Bayer Leverkusen teams
Continue reading...‘A league of passion’: José Mourinho open to managing Rangers or Celtic
- Mourinho states he is not looking to leave Fenerbahce
- Takes aim at sacked Clement before Europa League tie
José Mourinho has not ruled out managing Rangers or Celtic. The Fenerbahce head coach is preparing for Thursday’s Europa League last-16 first leg in Istanbul against Rangers, who have Barry Ferguson in interim charge after the sacking of Philippe Clement.
Mourinho, whose Porto side beat Celtic after extra time in the 2003 Uefa Cup final to secure his first European trophy, took some of his coaching badges in Ayrshire in the 1990s. Asked whether coaching in Glasgow appealed to him, he said: “In this moment, no, because I have a job that motivates me and a job that demands loyalty. But why not in the future? People can say that the Scottish League is a league of two teams, but it’s a league of passion.
Continue reading...Football League: Burnley concede at last but win anyway; Birmingham lose
- Clarets beat Cardiff despite clean sheet run ending at 12
- Bolton stun League One leaders; Wycombe close gap
Burnley’s run of Championship clean sheets finally came to an end on Tuesday night, but they kept the heat on in the promotion race with a 2-1 win at Cardiff.
Yousef Salech’s firm header in the 42nd minute was the first goal the Clarets had conceded in 1,132 minutes of league action, a run of 12 consecutive clean sheets broken. But by the time Salech scored it, early goals from Josh Brownhill and Maxime Estève had already put Scott Parker’s side in charge, and the win puts them two points behind second-placed Sheffield United.
Continue reading...Club Brugge 1-3 Aston Villa: Champions League last 16, first leg – as it happened
A late own goal from Brandon Mechele and a Marco Asensio penalty give Villa the edge
Unai Emery: “We know their potential and we know we have to be strong, defensively, offensively, tactically. We have to try to stop their gameplan and skills. We have to try to win the match, not concede. This is our challenge.
“We try always to improve. It is a good experience we had here. They deserve to be here, we deserve it, too, but today will be a different match. Hopefully we can show our best performance collectively and individually.”
Continue reading...How United Soccer League plans to launch a new top division
The USL, which oversees more than 50 lower-tier teams, has plans to launch a 14-team top division a year after the World Cup. It won't be easy.
Messi’s missed game causes MLS stir, Ricardo Clark talks MLS transition & can Man City salvage their season?
Christian Polanco and Alexis Guerreros react to the Houston Dynamo’s public apology after Lionel Messi was absent from their game. Should MLS try to market the sport outside of Messi to fans? Christian and Alexis then chat with for 2010 World Cup USMNT midfielder, Ricardo Clark, about his transition from MLS star to MLS NEXT head coach. Later, Christian and Alexis bring back Rápido Reactions and react to Manchester United’s struggles & La Liga’s tight title race.
‘I respect him a lot’: Ancelotti relishes Simeone rivalry in Champions League
- Atlético travel to Bernabéu for last-16 first leg
- ‘It’s a special match in terms of emotions and pressure’
As Real Madrid prepare to host Atlético Madrid in a city derby in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday, Carlo Ancelotti said he is looking forward to another battle against his rival Diego Simeone.
Heading into their 27th clash, with the two managers having faced each other more often than any other rival in their careers, they are tied at nine wins each along with eight draws.
Continue reading...Where are you? Delia Smith no longer on Norwich’s board after takeover
- Norfolk Holdings completes majority takeover
- Smith and husband Wynn Jones step down from board
Norfolk Holdings has completed its majority takeover of Norwich City, with Delia Smith and her husband, Michael Wynn Jones, no longer part of the club’s board.
It was announced in August that Norfolk Holdings, led by the Milwaukee Brewers owner, Mark Attanasio, was set to increase its shareholding to around 85%, which would result in Smith and Wynn Jones stepping down as directors and becoming honorary life presidents.
Continue reading...Manchester United’s collapse leaves the FA Cup nearly free of superclubs | Jonathan Wilson
Exiting the FA Cup on penalties at home to Fulham is a new low in a season full of them for Ruben Amorim’s side
What links Jack Robson, Lal Hilditch, Herbert Bamlett and Ruben Amorim?
They’re the only permanent managers in Manchester United history with a career negative goal-difference. Other than Amorim, the other three worked between 1914 and 1931. Sunday’s FA Cup exit against Fulham, admittedly, did not contribute to that. It was possible, even, in the aftermath of a penalty shootout defeat, to argue it had been one of United’s better recent performances. They’ve only lost two of their previous eight games. But it’s also just 3 March and United already have no chance of winning any domestic competition this season.
Continue reading...‘The ball performs well’: FA hits back at Guardiola after FA Cup complaints
- Manchester City boss complained ‘ball is not proper’
- Arteta also complained about one used in Carabao Cup
The FA Cup ball criticised by Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola “delivers against all of the testing requirements”, the Football Association has said.
Guardiola compared the ball negatively to those used in the Premier League and Champions League after his side’s fifth-round victory over Plymouth on Saturday and said it was “not proper”.
Continue reading...Philip Billing goes from Bournemouth backup to Napoli hero in title clash | Nicky Bandini
Internazionale still top the table after draw but leveller restores belief that Antonio Conte’s side can reel in leaders
Billy Gilmour or Philip Billing? That was the dilemma facing Antonio Conte for a season-defining fixture: his second-placed Napoli taking on the Inter side who had just overtaken them with 12 rounds to go. Should he trust in a midfielder who had started only five Serie A games since arriving from Brighton last summer, or one who spent the first half of this season as a backup at Bournemouth?
“I’ve been thinking about it all week,” Conte said with a chuckle at his pre-game press conference, “and I still have 24 more hours to decide.”
Continue reading...FA Cup fifth round: talking points from the weekend’s matches
What Ruben Amorim should do now, Danny Welbeck and an unlikely England call, and why Michael Oliver was right
“Pick the kids!” is a frequent cry when a team are playing poorly, and generally speaking it’s an incorrect one: the last thing a young player needs is to be hurled into a mess of the sort Manchester United are in. But sometimes it works – Mikel Arteta, for example, struggling at Arsenal, eventually promoted Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe because he had no other choice, and hasn’t looked back since. Now Ruben Amorim must make a similar call. A lack of alternatives forced him to persevere with Rasmus Højlund, but over the past week Chido Obi-Martin has earned a chance, contributing at Everton before asserting properly against Fulham, on both occasions more dangerous than Højlund, in less time. And, given United’s league season is over – and, given also, their lack of pace in defence – it might be worth seeing what Ayden Heaven can do, seeking to inject momentum and good feeling into a two-month stretch that threatens to be enervating in the extreme. Daniel Harris
Match report: Manchester United 1-1 Fulham (aet, 3-4 pens)
Match report: Newcastle 1-2 Brighton
Match report: Crystal Palace 3-1 Millwall
Match report: Manchester City 3-1 Plymouth Argyle
Match report: Preston 3-0 Burnley
Match report: Bournemouth 1-1 Wolves (aet, B’mouth win 5-4 on pens)
Match report: Aston Villa 2-0 Cardiff City
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