UEFA Champions League
Gary Lineker’s instant reaction as Manchester City’s Champions League ban is lifted
Manchester City will be playing in the Champions League next season and in 2021-22 after the Court of Arbitration for Sports overturned their initial two-year ban from the competition. The Etihad Stadium outfit will now part with just a £9 million fine after they were initially fined £27 million, with CAS saying most of the alleged breaches reported were either not established or time-barred. City were accused of breaking the Financial Fair Play rules by overstating the sponsorship revenue in their accounts and in the break-even information submitted to UEFA between 2012 and 2016. Failure to play European football for the next two seasons would have dealt a huge blow on Man. City on so many facets, and manager Pep Guardiola, his players and the fans will be glad that the ban has been lifte...
Rating Bayern Munich’s chances of European success this season
The German Bundesliga became the first top-five league in Europe to return to action amid the coronavirus pandemic in May and they managed to successfully complete their remaining fixtures for the season. Bayern Munich went on to win their eighth straight league title with a healthy 13-point advantage over Borussia Dortmund. They continued their domination in the DFB-Pokal final, where they beat Bayer Leverkusen by a comfortable 4-2 score in Berlin. The Bavarian giants will be eyeing a second treble in their history when they embark on the final phase of their Champions League campaign next month. The club have not won the elite competition since the 2012/2013 season when they beat Borussia Dortmund in the final. Bayern’s chances of European success: Hansi Flick’s side have been in tremend...
Champions League: UEFA revamp sets up exciting fortnight of football
The announcement that this season’s Champions League will culminate with a ‘final eight’ tournament in Portugal is an exciting development for the competition. The implementation of a straight knockout format from the quarter-final stage changes the dynamic of the tournament and should prove to be hugely attractive for fans. Read on as we take a closer look at the revised format for the Champions League and predict who we think will contest the final. Champions League Schedule The remaining round of 16 ties will take place on August 7 & 8, with the four winners progressing to the quarter-finals. Those ties will be played from August 12-15 as single-leg fixtures which will be hosted in the stadiums of Benfica and Sporting Lisbon. The two semi-finals will be staged in the same venues on ...
Romelu Lukaku didn’t lay ‘a finger’ on Chelsea’s Champions League trophy
Romelu Lukaku admits to having not laid “a finger” on the Champions League trophy when Chelsea conquered Europe in 2012, with the Belgian still resenting Andre Villas-Boas for leaving him out of a successful squad. The potential of a powerful Belgian striker was bought into by the Blues following the appointment of the Portuguese coach who was intended to follow in the footsteps of Jose Mourinho. However Villas-Boas would last only a matter of months at Stamford Bridge, with Roberto Di Matteo eventually replacing him on an initial interim basis. Chelsea went on to claim a maiden continental crown under the Italian tactician who had become a firm fan favourite in his playing days. Lukaku, who was just a teenager and made only 12 appearances in his debut campaign, was invited to travel with ...
Didier Drogba: How Juan Mata helped me win Champions League trophy
Chelsea legend Didier Drogba has revealed how his former Blues’ teammate, Juan Mata, helped him win the 2012 UEFA Champions League. Chelsea defeated Bayern Munich 4-3 on penalties in the final to win their first Champions League trophy eight years ago at the Allianz Arena. Thomas Mueller put the host in front with eight minutes left to the end of the match before Didier Drogba equalised for the Premier League giant following an assist from Mata as the encounter ended 1-1 after 120 minutes. “Eight years ago, the manager [Andre Villas-Boas] had been sacked by the club and we, the players, had a team meeting where we recognised being partly responsible for his departure,” Drogba wrote on Twitter on Tuesday night. “The captain @johnterry spoke, @franklampard @petrcech and other leaders in the ...
Didier Drogba beats Zlatan Ibrahimovic as best Ligue 1 striker in last two decades
Former Marseille and Guingamp star Didier Drogba has been crowned Ligue 1’s greatest striker of the past 20 years, ahead of PSG legend Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Drogba was recognised by Ligue 1 on Saturday after collecting 51 per cent of the 40,094 votes cast by fans on social media. He spent two-and-a-half years in the French top-flight and played for Guingamp between 2001 and 2003 before moving to Marseille where he spent a season. The two-time African Player of the Year scored 39 goals in 81 Ligue 1 games – 20 goals at Guingamp and 19 efforts at Marseille while Ibrahimovic scored 113 goals in 122 Ligue 1 matches between 2012 and 2016 at PSG. On his run to the final stage, Drogba saw off competition from Fernando Morientes, Alexander Frei, Karim Benzema and Pauleta. The former Ivory Coast forw...
Jesper Gronkjaer: Hakim Ziyech will succeed in Premier League with Chelsea
Jesper Gronkjaer is backing Hakim Ziyech to succeed after his £37 million ($43m) move from Ajax to Chelsea. The Blues completed a deal in late February and the 27-year-old is set to link up with his new team-mates on July 1, with the Eredivisie season cancelled amid the coronavirus outbreak. Ziyech will join a group including Filipe Luis, Bertrand Traore, Mario Melchiot, Winston Bogarde and Gronkjaer himself in making the switch to Stamford Bridge having played at the Amsterdam ArenA. Moving to the Premier League will prove a step up for Ziyech and Gronkjaer believes he is the star player from the Dutch side’s run to the Champions League semi-finals in 2018. “Ziyech was the one who has caught my eye over the past two seasons even though he wasn’t produced by Ajax’s academy,” Gronkjaer told...
UEFA releases possible dates for Champions League games
UEFA’s plan to complete the Champions League and Europa League continues. The plan says that they will be played throughout the month of August once the leagues are done in July. UEFA have an idea which is to end the season by the end of August. Therefore, the domestic leagues need to be completed by the end of July. The proposal is for the remaining last 16 games to be played in the first week of the month. On 26th and 29th August, Gdansk and Istanbul will host the Europa League and Champions League finals respectively. ‘Marca’ says that they will try and stick to that instead of playing both the finals at the same venue. There are 17 Champions League and 27 Europa League matches left to play. Confirmation of the new calendar depends first on leagues getting back underway and then on the ...
