UEFA Competitions
Emi Buendía also on target in 2-0 win at Feyenoord
Rangers lose 2-1 at Sturm Graz; Celtic beaten by Braga
Emi Buendía and John McGinn struck second-half goals as Aston Villa beat Feyenoord 2-0 in Rotterdam to make it back-to-back Europa League wins.
Villa, who beat Bologna 1-0 in their opening game last week, held their nerve at De Kuip after coming under heavy first-half pressure, with Buendía and then McGinn scoring for Unai Emery’s side.
Continue reading...There was a compelling clash of heavyweights in Catalonia, some unhappy rumblings at Real and a legend of Azerbaijani football roared
• The viewers. Barcelona v Paris Saint-Germain was the final many wanted last season. Wednesday’s group-stage meeting showed why. The fixture did not disappoint, even if, with red tape delaying the opening of the renovated Camp Nou, it was played in the less atmospheric Lluís Companys Stadium. Luis Enrique’s young Parisians staged a comeback in Catalonia, thanks to their coach’s expert use of his squad. Senny Mayulu, 19, upstaged Lamine Yamal by scoring the equaliser – Wednesday was the first match this season Yamal had failed to either score or contribute to a goal. Instead, the resurgent Marcus Rashford set up Ferran Torres’s opener for Barça. PSG were shorn of Ousmane Dembélé, Désiré Doué and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, the forward line that claimed last season’s crown. No matter: 23-year-old Bradley Barcola stepped up as the senior forward and ravaged Hansi Flick’s high-line, high-wire defence. The youngsters kept coming for PSG: 17-year-old Ibrahim Mbaye was replaced by another teenager, Quentin Ndjantou, to play alongside the lively Lee Kang-in. In the end, Achraf Hakimi supplied the assist for Gonçalo Ramos, another sub, to score the 90th minute winner and inflict Barcelona’s first loss this season. “If you’re the best team, you have to show it on the pitch, and not talk,” said Ramos, who habitually scores late goals off the bench. “We are the champions of Europe.”
Continue reading...Goals from Gabriel Martinelli and late on from Bukayo Saka landed a second group-stage win for the Gunners
Charles Antaki gets in touch: “Yes, no rush. Arsenal fans remember starlets who looked terrific and got the pulses going, only for the sparkle to fade (Charlie Patino) or injuries to rub it out (Krystian Bielik), or just regression to the mean to take over (many, many others). Nwaneri and Dowman’s prospects will be all the firmer for being eased into it.”
Bielik was a decent player for Birmingham and is now at West Brom. Patino is at Deportivo La Coruna, though sadly not a Diego Tristan, Djalminha and not the superb Juan Carlos Valeron quality of team. They’re in the Segunda.
Continue reading...Newcastle got off the mark in this year’s league stage with an easy but nevertheless impressive win in Belgium
6 min: USG launch it long down the right. Botman attempts to hook back upfield, but only succeeds in kicking the ball into his own face and out for a corner. The set piece comes in from the right. Leysen, in the centre heads it back to the near post, from where Rodriguez eyebrows over the bar. That was a decent chance, and Newacstle were fortunate the USG striker didn’t get that on target. Had he done so, Pope was most likely picking the ball out of the net.
4 min: Tonali and Elanga combine well down the inside-right channel. The latter works himself a little space to shoot … but not enough so his eventual effort doesn’t get blocked the moment it leaves his boot.
Continue reading...Harry Kane and Bayern Munich punish Pafos 5-1
Atalanta fight back to defeat Club Brugge 2-1
Kylian Mbappé scored a hat-trick as Real Madrid eased to a 5-0 away win against the Champions League debutants Kairat Almaty on Tuesday.
Xabi Alonso’s side bounced back in style from their humbling 5-2 La Liga defeat by Atlético Madrid on Saturday, with Mbappé taking his Champions League tally to five goals in two European games this season.
Continue reading...Victor Osimhen’s first-half penalty and a late VAR intervention condemned disjointed Liverpool to defeat
1 min: Liverpool have stationed Szoboszlai at right back, with Frimpong up in Salah’s usual position … and the latter wins a corner after 49 seconds. The former to take.
Liverpool huddle, the Gala fans whistle their displeasure, and then the visitors get the ball rolling. Roar! Growl! Bedlam!
Continue reading...Mourinho back at Stamford Bridge with Benfica
‘I will always be a blue. I am part of their history’
José Mourinho called himself “the biggest one” as he reflected on his record-breaking Chelsea history before his latest Stamford Bridge return. The self-styled “special one” is back with Benfica for Tuesday night’s Champions League tie and he repeated another famous old line of his to set the scene.
Mourinho anticipates no hostility from Chelsea’s supporters as he seeks to ignite his Benfica tenure, having only joined them 11 days ago after his sacking by Fenerbahce at the end of August.
Continue reading...The comparison with Mourinho’s glory days will be clear as he returns with Benfica, but Stamford Bridge hierarchy is firmly behind their current man
Only league champions get their picture on the wall in the Drake Suite at Stamford Bridge. The room is named after Ted Drake, the author of Chelsea’s first title, and features images of a host of club legends: a beaming Carlo Ancelotti, one of Antonio Conte kissing the Premier League trophy and, as Enzo Maresca no doubt noted as he arrived to preview his young side’s Champions League tie with Benfica, three photographs of the manager whose latest return to west London conjures wistful memories of the days when Chelsea were the most feared team in England.
Here comes the Special One. José Mourinho, who won three league titles across two spells at Chelsea, is in town with Benfica and will surely enjoy a wonderful reception. Maresca, meanwhile, inspires less warmth. He has taken Chelsea back into the Champions League, along with winning the Conference League and the Club World Cup, but does not have his name sung by fans and was booed after losing 3-1 to Brighton on Saturday.
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Seven games into the season and Aston Villa finally have a win on the board. And while it may have come in Bigger Vase, a competition they probably resent having to play in after being robbed of a lucrative Bigger Cup place by some overzealous refereeing in their final match of last season, it at least gives Unai Emery a platform on which to build, even if his players have yet to produce a performance even remotely fit to lace the steel-toed boots of all those geriatric rockers who joined Ozzy Osbourne at Villa Park for his summer farewell. Despite last night’s win, Emery’s side continue to look a pale facsimile of the one that pushed the tournament’s eventual winners, PSG, all the way over two legs in their Bigger Cup quarter-final last season. Something is definitely not quite right at Villa Park, a state of affairs perhaps best illustrated by the fact the assist for their winner came in the form of a comedy air-shot by the desperately out-of-sorts Morgan Rogers.
The story of Lewis White going to the wrong Bury (yesterday’s Football Daily, full email edition) reminds me of my first stag do, when I dragged all my London mates up to Manchester and to a home game at Gigg Lane, in the fancy hospitality section (well, fancy by Bury standards). We were late getting to the game and as we were walking from the tram stop to the ground, my best man got a call from the club asking if we were on our way. They were clearly so excited at the prospect of a large group who had travelled all the way up from London that they wanted to make sure we made it. If only the lads at Bury Town had extended the same courtesy to Mr White” – Tom Dowler.
In 1994 pop singer Lena Fiagbe was booked to appear at the Radio One Roadshow in Bangor to perform her hit single (the, as it transpired, somewhat unfortunately titled) ‘Gotta Get It Right’. After a long trip to north Wales with her entourage, and some time fruitlessly looking for the park that was meant to be hosting Bruno Brookes et al, Lena’s manager placed a call to Radio 1 to ask for directions, only to be told they were expected in Bangor, Northern Ireland” – Tim Grey.
I admire Robbie Keane and wish him well in his role as manager of the legendary Hungarian club Ferencvaros, but I wish he would be more adventurous, tactically. I mean, just yesterday in Bigger Vase he parked Dibusz” – Peter Oh.
I read your story about Marko Arnautovic and his signing for Red Star (yesterday’s Football Daily). I must admit that, as a Serb and a cynic, I think that – apart from his huge love for Red Star and all the promises he made to the late Sinisa Mihajlovic – it certainly helps that Marko’s yearly salary is reportedly something like €2.5m, in a country where the average monthly wage is no bigger than €800” – Bogdan Kotarlic.
Continue reading...More punishment for Rangers at the hand of a Belgian opponent. A familiar combination of self-destruction and the poor defending endemic under Russell Martin deepened Ibrox’s gloom. Reduced to 10 after Mohamed Diomande’s reckless first-half challenge, insult was added by Genk’s goal being scored by a former Celtic striker in Oh Hyeon-gyu.
Martin has talked of “results coming through difficulty” but could not have chosen to manage a club where poor results will cause more difficulty. Ibrox was undersold, just 38,000 present, though in attendance was Andrew Cavenagh, the chairman gladhanding fans before kick-off. The American co-owner’s scheduled visit to Glasgow has allowed him to experience what fans have been served during the new ownership’s choice of manager. “I’ll find out in about 15 minutes,” said Martin, asked if he had yet received Cavenagh’s verdict. “I look forward to seeing him.”
Continue reading...John McGinn’s goal gave Aston Villa a win over Bologna – their first of the season – while Rangers were beaten at home by Genk
Emery tells TNT that Martinez is injured, then explains that this is a good opportunity for Malen. Otherwise, he says Villa have been good at home, but European games are always difficult. It’s their dream to play in Europe, but they’ll have to do well to get a result.
I wonder if Emery spoke harshly about his players because he thinks they should win tonight; if he does it and they don’t, what else can he then say? I think they’ll have too much in midfield for Bologna, and if they can just get that first win, they’ve got more than enough to have a decent season.
Continue reading...The impressive Igor Jesus scored twice for Forest, who were denied a winning return to Europe by Antony’s late goal
Wonder what Nuno is up to tonight. I don’t mean that flippantly. This is a landmark night for Forest, one that he engineered, and he won’t be involved in it.
Full time: Midtjylland 2-0 Sturm Graz
Continue reading...Striker could yet replace Leoni in league phase squad
Italian relishing chance to thank fans for their support
Federico Chiesa has outlined his determination to play his way into Arne Slot’s Champions League plans and to repay Liverpool fans for their unwavering support during a difficult debut season at Anfield.
The Italy international impressed in his first start of the season on Tuesday with two assists in the 2-1 Carabao Cup third-round win against Southampton. Chiesa has also made an impact in four substitute appearances in the Premier League this season and says he feels “better physically and mentally” compared with his first campaign as a Liverpool player.
Continue reading...Transfer spending curbs and a grim start weigh on Sunday’s Sunderland trip. Could the Europa League offer a boost?
The statistic doing the rounds this week was that Chris Wilder has been sacked and reappointed as the Sheffield United manager since Boubacar Kamara scored Aston Villa’s last league goal four months ago. Villa have been slow out of the blocks and this is unusual territory for Unai Emery, who has spent the best part of three years almost exclusively exceeding all expectations, elevating a team who were near the bottom of the Premier League into one capable of bloodying the noses of European superpowers in the Champions League.
But a sticky start, of four Premier League matches without a victory or goal – they are the only team in the English professional pyramid to carry that ignominious mantle – and a midweek Carabao Cup exit, has been rather in keeping with a difficult few months. Villa headed into the summer knowing incomings would be limited owing to the financial picture and they sold Jacob Ramsey, a homegrown and well-regarded player, plus some on the fringes, to help balance the books. But uncertainty lingered around key players until the September transfer deadline, none more so than their goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez, who had been keen to move. The additions of Harvey Elliott, who will join permanently next summer, Jadon Sancho and Victor Lindelöf belatedly provided a much-needed boost.
Continue reading...PSG brushed aside Atalanta despite mounting injuries, Belgium’s clubs stole a march on Dutch rivals and Marcus Rashford reminded Barcelona of his worth
The defending champions, Paris Saint-Germain, got off to a stylish start in beating Atalanta 4-0, though their injury problems continued. Joining a lengthy casualty list is João Neves, who limped off with a thigh problem. Luis Enrique’s team are suffering the wear and tear of last season’s triumph being followed by summer endeavors at the Club World Cup. Désiré Doué, Lucas Beraldo and Ousmane Dembélé, the latter the Parisian lobby’s chosen candidate for Monday’s Ballon D’Or award, were missing. Without them, PSG still showed the same form as last season, with 19-year-old Senny Mayulu in attack. Atalanta looked much reduced without the coaching of Gian Piero Gasperini, now at Roma, after a summer of sales and discontent, with Ademola Lookman exiled after being denied a move.
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