UEFA Champions League News
Treatment needed for ‘non-life-threatening injuries’
Chelsea fans report having knives pulled on them
Chelsea have told fans to take “extreme caution” in Naples after two supporters were treated in hospital there before their Champions League tie in the Italian city.
Napoli and Chelsea meet at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Wednesday night in the competition’s final round of group games.
Continue reading...English clubs stroll through Champions League group phase but fatigue tends to take its toll by the spring
Has there been a great game in the Champions League group stage this season? Probably not. Even if there had been, it almost certainly didn’t mean all that much. But that’s the way of the modern game: an extremely protracted clearing of the throat before the real business begins.
Uefa will proudly tell the world that only six teams have nothing to play for in the final round of games on Wednesday, but whether it was worth 126 games to get to the mild peril of Napoli or Club Brugge possibly going out, or the questionable thrill of finding out whether Tottenham or Atalanta will have to endure the playoff round, is debatable.
Continue reading...Arsenal remained on top of the Champions League on the penultimate matchday of the group phase, which also featured a targeted Jude Bellingham celebration
• Jonas Gahr Støre, the prime minister of Norway and the recent recipient of a Nobel peace prize-related missive from Donald Trump, took in a Champions League match on Tuesday. Bodø/Glimt’s stadium is more than 700 miles from Oslo but the prime minister’s long journey proved well worth it. Bodø beating Manchester City 3-1, a first-ever win in the group stage, was Norway’s greatest club football triumph since Rosenborg beat – and knocked out – mighty Milan from the competition in December 1996.
Continue reading...There are many ways to self-destruct on a football pitch but PSV Eindhoven chose one of the more obvious methods.
In opting to play out slowly from the back against high-pressing opponents possessing forwards blessed with the speed and skill of Yoane Wissa and Anthony Gordon, Peter Bosz’s team were always likely to come undone.
Continue reading...⚽ Champions League updates from the 8pm GMT kick-offs
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“Just a heads up that, while I would love it to be true, a win tonight for Newcastle doesn’t put us in the last 16,” writes David. “It puts us in the first round of 16, which is really the last 24 (playoffs), to then get into the actual last 16. Two extra matches just what everyone wants right now …”
Silly me. Thanks David.
Continue reading...Manager showed tactical bravery in darkest hour and like Postecoglou may find respite outside Premier League
Thomas Frank was backed into a corner on every level, including team selection. The Tottenham manager had next-to-no options, only 11 established outfield players for the Champions League home game against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday night.
The expectation was for an either/or choice between Djed Spence and Destiny Udogie at left-back. But when the teamsheets dropped, it turned out Frank had picked them both and left Randal Kolo Muani on the bench. It was the latest low point for Kolo Muani, who has to be regretting his decision to join on a season-long loan from Paris Saint-Germain.
Continue reading...Suárez hits late winner after Kvaratskhelia stunner
McTominay scores but Copenhagen peg back Napoli
Paris Saint-Germain slipped to a 2-1 defeat against Sporting in Lisbon, jeopardising their bid to qualify directly for the Champions League last 16 after Luis Suárez struck twice, scoring the winner in the final minute.
Sporting had gone ahead against the run of play in the second half through Suárez, despite sustained pressure from PSG. The French champions hit back quickly as Khvicha Kvaratskhelia levelled with a superb strike, appearing to salvage a point.
Continue reading...It was a contender for shock result of the season. Nobody had given Tottenham any hope after the Premier League disaster here against West Ham on Saturday, one which came coated in vitriol for Thomas Frank. The fans had demanded his immediate removal as the manager, only for him to stagger on.
The execution was stayed. But here were Borussia Dortmund, the Bundesliga’s second-placed team, who had lost only three games all season, to apply the final cut.
Continue reading...Spurs eased the pressure on Thomas Frank with a dominant first-half performance against Dortmund
The only player on a yellow card is the Spurs substitute Randal Kolo Muani.
The players emerge from the tunnel. It’s hard to make out the atmosphere because the Champions League music is blaring out around the ground.
Continue reading...Arsenal continued their 100 per cent record in the competition, while Real Madrid hit Monaco for six
In case you were wondering, Club Brugge won 4-1 away at Kairat earlier today.
Mikel Arteta does not look concerned.
Continue reading...Kasper Hogh scored a brace and Rodri was sent off as Manchester City were humbled by hugely impressive hosts on a freezing night in the Arctic Circle
Erling Haaland: Having grown up in Bryne, a mere 1,948 kilometres south of Bodo, this represents something of a homecoming for the Manchester City striker. The 25-year-old has scored five goals in the Champions League this season and will be hoping to add to his tally following an extremely fallow period in which he has scored just one goal, a penalty against Brighton, in his last seven games in all competitions.
Marc Guehi: The England defender completed a £20m move to Manchester City from Crystal Palace yesterday, with Pep Guardiola describing him as a high-class defender who is the “perfect age” and will provide an immediate boost owing to injuries. Sadly, the boost won’t be as immediate as Pep would like because his new recruit is ineligible to play against Bodo/Glimt. Jamie Jackson reports from just north of the Arctic Circle …
Continue reading...Brazilian striker yet to hold talks over new deal
Arteta keen to sustain Champions League form at Inter
Gabriel Jesus wants to fulfil his ambition of winning trophies with Arsenal and believes they are “getting closer” after three successive runners-up finishes in the Premier League.
Mikel Arteta’s side head into their meeting with Inter in Milan on Tuesday night top of the Champions League table after winning all six of their games, while Arsenal also have a seven‑point lead in the Premier League and remain in both domestic cup competitions. Jesus is the only member of Arsenal’s squad who has won the title having picked up four winners’ medals during his time at Manchester City.
Continue reading...Manchester City conquer the Bernabéu, Liverpool survive without Mohamed Salah and Atalanta find Chelsea’s flaws
• To say that Pep Guardiola and Real Madrid have history is to put it mildly. At Barcelona, Guardiola grew up amid an obsessive enmity on both sides, one deepened by his term as the Catalan club’s coach. They are highly familiar with Manchester City, too. City met Madrid for the fifth season in succession on Wednesday. Despite Madrid’s recent struggles under Xabi Alonso, winning at the Santiago Bernabéu is a huge result, a deserved win where City might have been out of sight by half-time. Rodrygo scored his habitual goal against City but one of Guardiola’s new generation in Nico O’Reilly equalised before a controversial penalty award, converted by Erling Haaland, decided the game. A player linked with a move to Madrid sometime in the distant future celebrated with a smirk; Jude Bellingham’s attempt to distract by trying to yank Haaland’s ponytail did not work. After the selection misstep that led to defeat to Bayer Leverkusen, Guardiola got it right in Madrid to leave a lifelong rival in flux. In acknowledging an opponent wracked by injury and infighting had made for an easier task than usual, high standards came to the fore. “I’ve been here [at the Bernabéu] many times in the last five years and we have played much better than today and not won,” Guardiola said. He talks – and his team plays – like he has his mojo back.
Continue reading...Ajax win 4-2 at Qarabag; Juventus edge out Pafos
Copenhagen stun Villarreal; Bodø/Glimt hold Dortmund
Benfica’s Richard Ríos scored one goal and set up another to seal a vital 2-0 victory against Napoli on Wednesday, boosting the Portuguese side’s hopes of reaching the Champions League knockout stage.
The result reignited Benfica’s European campaign, clinching a second consecutive win after a poor start and lifting them to six points and up to 25th place, just one point outside the playoff spots. Napoli slipped to 23rd on seven points.
Continue reading...City came from behind for a deserved win that puts Real coach Xabi Alonso under further pressure
1 min: A fierce old atmosphere in the Bernabéu. It’s Real Madrid in the Champions League after all. It’s Real Madrid versus a Pep team. And then …
Hats off to Erling Haaland, who goes out of his way to say hello to a couple of the tiny mascots and give them a high five. Once he goes off down the line, the little lads embrace each other with excitement, their day made. So sweet. Then City get the ball rolling.
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