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...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...‘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...Champions League last 16: tie-by-tie analysis and predictions
Aston Villa and Arsenal will fancy their chances of progress, while Liverpool will face a challenge to oust in-form PSG
Villa produced probably their worst performance of the season in losing the meeting of the sides in the group stage, Brugge winning 1-0 with a penalty awarded after Tyrone Mings, not realising a goal-kick had been taken, picked up the ball. Villa may be grateful for that: had they taken a point from that game they would have been facing Bayern in the last 16. That said, as domestic form has stagnated, the victory over Bayern, a repeat of the scoreline from the 1982 European Cup final, probably represents the high point of their season so far. Domestically this hasn’t been a great campaign for Brugge either. They lie eight points behind Racing Genk but for them too the Champions League has provided salvation. They sneaked into the playoffs with three wins but then were much the better side against Atalanta, winning home and away.
Continue reading...Football Daily | Bigger Cup’s Bigger Draw serves up a buffet of fantasy football thrills
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A Bigger Cup needs a Bigger Draw. Last year Uefa set out the tournament brackets from the quarter-final onwards, showing Real Madrid which particular jails they might need to escape to win the competition for the 15th time. This year Uefa have gone one better by doing the draw for the rest of the tournament at the last-16 stage. It’s a punch up the bracket for Manchester City, who can now empathise with every failed Bullseye contestant. Look what they could have won: Atlético Madrid in the last 16, then Arsenal or PSV Eindhoven in the quarter-finals, then maybe Liverpool in the semis.
Continue reading...Liverpool face PSG as Champions League last-16 draw sets up Madrid derby
- Arsenal get PSV and Aston Villa play Club Brugge
- Europa League: Spurs v AZ, Man Utd v Real Sociedad
- Rangers face Fenerbahce; Chelsea draw Copenhagen
Liverpool will face Paris Saint-Germain in a Champions League last-16 tie that provides a significant hurdle in their attempt to lift the trophy for the first time since 2019.
It is the toughest-looking assignment of those presented to the Premier League’s three representatives. Arsenal will fancy their chances of overcoming PSV Eindhoven over two legs, while Aston Villa will be favoured to navigate a rematch with the surprise packages Club Brugge for a place in the quarter-finals. The standout tie by some distance, though, is a Madrid derby between age-old rivals Real and Atlético.
Continue reading...Europa League playoffs: Roma 3-2 Porto, Galatasaray 2-2 AZ and more – as it happened
Ajax sneaked through despite losing at home, while Shamrock Rovers were eliminated on penalties by Molde
45 min: Roma 2-1 Porto (agg: 3-2) Roma almost scored a third a moment ago, with a shot cleared off the line by Otavio. I didn’t see exactly what happened because THERE IS SO MUCH GOING ON.
Welcome to heaven. AZ Alkmaar are cruising into the last 16 of the Europa League, having done a helluva number on one of the tournament favourties. After a superb run from Ernest Poku, Gabriel Sara’s attempted clearance hit Seiya Maikuma and ricocheted into the net.
Continue reading...Champions League review: Club Brugge rise as Italians and Americans stumble
The last 16 beckons, and there were plenty of storylines to digest. We hand out honours and dishonours from the latest round of action
Feyenoord
Continue reading...Champions League roundup: PSV’s Ryan Flamingo dumps out Juventus
- PSV beat Juventus 3-1 after extra time in playoff
- PSG and Borussia Dortmund stroll into last 16
Ryan Flamingo scored in extra time to give PSV Eindhoven a 3-1 home win on Wednesday in the second leg of their Champions League knockout phase playoff against Juventus, overturning a first-leg deficit and putting them into the last 16.
The tie was level at 3-3 on aggregate after 90 minutes and went into extra time before Flamingo poached a 98th-minute winner as Juventus became the third Italian side eliminated from the competition, after Milan and Atalanta on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Atalanta’s Lookman hits out at manager’s ‘hurtful’ jibe after penalty is saved
- Gasperini calls him ‘one of the worst penalty takers’
- Striker’s spot-kick saved as side were beaten by Brugge
The Atalanta striker Ademola Lookman said comments by his coach, Gian Piero Gasperini, describing him as “one of the worst penalty takers” he had ever seen after Tuesday’s Champions League exit were “deeply disrespectful” and hurtful.
Club Brugge stunned Atalanta 3-1 in the second leg of their playoff to dump the Italian side out with a 5-2 aggregate win and reach the last 16. Lookman pulled back one goal for Atalanta when they were 3-0 down. However the London-born Nigeria forward, who has scored 15 times this season, then had a penalty saved by Simon Mignolet, after which Gasperini said Lookman was not supposed to take the spot-kick.
Continue reading...Bayern Munich 1-1 Celtic (agg: 3-2): Champions League playoff round, second leg – as it happened
An heroic Celtic performance ended in heartbreak when Alphonso Davies settled the tie with 30 seconds remaining
“Speaking of Father Ted,” begins Matt Emerson, “I see that Tom from Craggy Island has swapped his ‘I Shot JR’ T-shirt for an Ipswich Town kit and is going by the name of ‘Liam Delap’.”
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Milan and Atalanta dumped out of playoffs by Feyenoord and Club Brugge
- Feyenoord edge past Milan after Hernandez red card
- Club Brugge beat Atalanta 5-2, Benfica edge Monaco
Milan were left to rue Théo Hernandez’s sending-off following a dive as Feyenoord pegged them back on the night and advanced 2-1 on aggregate to the Champions League last 16 with a 1-1 draw in the second leg of their playoff.
Hernandez earned his second yellow card for the seven-time European champions for a dive in the 51st minute when Milan were dominating. The Italian side had cancelled out their first-leg deficit almost immediately, with forward Santiago Giménez striking against his former team in the first minute at San Siro.
From a short corner move, Christian Pulisic floated a pass towards the far post where Malick Thiaw placed a header back across goal and Giménez nodded the ball over the line. The Mexican declined to celebrate against the club he left in January, and soon after played in João Félix who put his effort over the bar.
Continue reading...Porto 1-1 Roma, AZ Alkmaar 4-1 Galatasaray, Twente 2-1 Bodø/Glimt: Europa League – as it happened
AZ Alkmaar stunned Gala, 10-man Roma held on in Portugal and 16-year-old Jorthy Mokio helped Ajax beat Union SG
Ajax lead in Belgium. A fine, end-to-end move was finished off beautifully by Christian Rasmussen, who clipped a first-time shot into the far corner from 19 yards.
It’s all going swimmingly for Jose Mourinho. Youssef En-Nesyri has put Fenerbahce 3-0 ahead with a mighty header from Sebastian Szymanski’s cross. He was about 15 yards out and powered it into the bottom corner at the near post.
Continue reading...Champions League review: a fired up Vinícius Júnior and McKennie’s screamer
The knockout stages are here, and there were plenty of storylines to digest. We hand out honours and dishonours from the latest round of action
Feyenoord
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