Month: November 2024

An all-English Champions League final could be in the offing as Manchester City and Chelsea look to progress from the last four.

The two Premier League sides each have the edge going into the second leg of their respective semi-final ties with Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid.

And history is in their favour as they set their sights on the final in Istanbul on May 29.

Here we preview the two second legs using Opta numbers.

Manchester City v Paris-Saint Germain: Guardiola s men eye European history

It is advantage City after a dramatic first leg at the Parc des Princes, a second-half fightback and 2-1 win meaning PSG will have to score at least twice to progress.

Should Pep Guardiola s men knock out last season s finalists, they will r…

Newcastle United kept their European hopes alive as they ended the 2023-2024 Premier League season with a thrilling 4-2 victory at Brentford.

The Magpies will qualify for the Europa Conference League if Manchester City beat cross-city rivals Manchester United in Saturday s FA Cup final.

After a positive start from Brentford, the visitors took the lead on 21 minutes through Harvey Barnes header, and their advantage was soon doubled through Jacob Murphy.

Alexander Isak slotted beyond the goalkeeper to make it 3-0 before half-time, but the hosts responded after the interval thanks to goals from Vitaly Janelt and Yoane Wissa.

Bruno Guimaraes got Newcastle s fourth in the 78th minute to ensure the Geordies claimed the three points as they end the season in sev…

The Champions League returns this week after a short hiatus, with beaten finalists Paris Saint-Germain looking to get back up and running – and exact a measure of revenge – against Manchester United.

Juventus begin European competition under new head coach Andrea Pirlo, who faces one of the most experienced coaches in the game in Mircea Lucescu.

Barcelona will endeavour to banish memories of August s 8-2 obliteration by Bayern Munich when they face Ferencvaros for the first time, while Chelsea will hope to improve the poor record Premier League teams have had of late against Sevilla.

Here s the key data from Tuesday s matches in Europe s elite competition

 Great goals by Ronald Koeman! | |

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) <…

On Saturday evening at the Olimpiastadion in Berlin, Bayer Leverkusen bounced back from their Europa League disappointment to land the domestic double by defeating Kaiserslautern in the DFB-Pokal final.

The only goal of the game was the work of Granit Xhaka, an accurate shot from outside the box in the 17th minute. Despite going a man down in the 44th minute when Odilon Kossounou picked up a second yellow card, the difference in quality between the two sides was enough to prevent the Bundesliga 2 team from making a significant effort to get back to level terms.

Leverkusen justify favourites status

Apart from the obvious, there really isn t much to be said about the game itself. As the newly crowned Bundesliga champions and Europa League runners-up, Leverkusen entered t…

The new Women’s Super League season begins on October 1.

Here, the PA news agency looks ahead to the season in numbers.

4 – consecutive titles for Chelsea, with a record six in total.

4 – teams to have won the WSL, with three titles for Arsenal, two for Liverpool and one for Manchester City – who have been runners-up on five occasions.

58 – Emma Hayes’ side set a new record points total in last season’s success. Manchester United’s 56 was also the most without winning the title.

11 – the last two relegated teams, Reading last season and Birmingham in 2022, have recorded just 11 points, the lowest in the current 22-game season format.

0 – Reading went through the campaign without picking up a single point away from home.…

Atletico Madrid were denied the opportunity to restore their 10-point lead at the LaLiga summit after Facundo Ferreyra s 89th-minute equaliser sealed an unlikely 2-2 draw for Celta Vigo on Monday. 

Wins for Real Madrid and Barcelona over the weekend put the pressure on Diego Simeone s men, who lost Thomas Lemar and Hector Herrera shortly before kick-off after positive COVID-19 tests were confirmed.

They started poorly at the Wanda Metropolitano and slipped behind to Santi Mina s third top-flight goal of the season, but Luis Suarez levelled matters in the 45th minute with a simple finish at the back post. 

The former Barcelona striker repeated the trick five minutes after the interval, but Los Rojiblancos were denied a ninth consecutive top-flight win when Ferre…

Title-holders Bayern Munich face a repeat of last season s final against Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals of the 2020-21 edition.

While the Parisians will be sure to test their title defence, Bayern have won each of their previous four knockout encounters with French opposition in the Champions League, including August s final.

Real Madrid and Liverpool will face each other in a two-legged knockout tie for only the second time – the first saw the Reds inflict Los Blancos biggest-ever aggregate defeat (5-0) in 2008-09.

Similarly, Jurgen Klopp has faced Madrid more often than any other opponent in the Champions League (seven), with only Ottmar Hitzfeld (12) managing against them more often in the competition.

5 In their only previous meeting in a…

Simone Inzaghi did not hide his frustration at Romelu Lukaku s struggles in front of goal after Inter lost 1-0 to Fiorentina on Saturday.

Inter s losing streak in Serie A was extended to their worst in six years as Giacomo Bonaventura s second-half header proved decisive at San Siro.

The Nerazzurri have now lost three straight top flight matches, with Bonaventura s winner coming shortly after a woeful miss from Lukaku.

Having rediscovered his goalscoring touch while on international duty with Belgium, Lukaku was unable to transfer that form across to his club side as he failed to hit the target from close range with the goal gaping.

No Inter player had more shots than his three, with Lukaku not managing to get any of them on target, despite accumulating 1…

Gareth Bale has scored five goals in Euro 2016 qualifying and will be hoping to add to that tally this evening as Wales visit Cyprus

Down the years the story of the Wales national football team has been one of close calls and heartbreak. However, all those years of near misses could be forgotten, as the Dragons close in on qualification for Euro 2016.

Close

Wales are just two wins away from securing their place in France for next year’s competition, as Chris Coleman’s side prepare for a visit to Cyprus this evening.

A win in Cyprus and then a victory at home to Israel next week will seal the Dragons place in their first major international tournament since the 1958 World Cup in Sweden.

Rise

Wales are no longer whipping boys in world f…

Manchester United are reportedly keeping a close eye on Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar as a possible transfer target following the expected change of ownership in coming months.

Neymar, 31, is one of the biggest names in the sport, boasting over 100 goals for both former club Barcelona and with Paris Saint-Germain, as well as 77 goals in 124 international caps for Brazil – tying Pele for the country s international goals record.

While his resume as an all-time great is secured, Neymar is battling injuries yet again this season, with a serious ankle injury in February marking a premature end to his campaign.

After becoming the most expensive transfer in world football history back in 2017, Neymar holds all the cards for when, and if he will leave Paris, but he …