31 h. ago Arsenal ease past Leuven but settle for Women’s Champions League playoffs

Arsenal secured a seeded spot for the Women’s Champions League knockout playoffs with a comfortable 3-0 victory away at OH Leuven. Olivia Smith, Beth Mead and a Saar Janssen own goal helped Renée Slegers’ team end the league phase in fifth place.Slegers was delighted with her side’s maturity in front of a raucous crowd at the Den Dreef as they earned their fourth win of the campaign against the plucky hosts. Continue reading...

Sport

8 d. ago OL Lyonnes show their WCL credentials and outclass Manchester United

Manchester United endured a second consecutive Champions League defeat as they were second best against the French giants OL Lyonnes, whose attacking midfielder Melchie Dumornay capped off a fine display with two sumptuous late goals.Dumornay’s superb efforts produced a margin of victory that was no less than Lyonnes deserved, on a night when United failed to lay a glove on their opponents. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago Grimaldo’s late strike for Leverkusen denies Newcastle comeback victory

Eighty-eight minutes had passed and Newcastle fans were already in party mode when Alejandro Grimaldo collected Ibrahim Maza’s pass and concluded a move he had initiated courtesy of a glorious run and dummy.As the Spain left wing-back’s shot slid beneath Aaron Ramsdale’s body and his Bayer Leverkusen teammates celebrated an arguably deserved equaliser, North Rhine-Westphalia suddenly felt a much colder place for Eddie Howe’s players. Continue reading...

Events

8 d. ago Haaland seals Manchester City win at Real Madrid to leave Alonso on brink

For Xabi Alonso, the slide towards the abyss has looked sudden from the outside. Everything was fine at the beginning of November, the results excellent. Since when precious little has gone his way. The Real Madrid manager desperately needed something here. When this latest game eluded him, it was easy to fear the worst. Time is not a commodity afforded to men in his position.Alonso has now won only twice in eight matches in all competitions and if his pain was deep, there was simply satisfaction for Pep Guardiola. The Manchester City manager had arrived in Madrid – the scene of so much emotion for him over the years – needing a response to the home defeat to Bayer Leverkusen in his club’s previous Champions League game. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago Chelsea bounce back and hit Roma for six in Women’s Champions League rout

Millie Bright had dismissed any suggestions that Chelsea were in crisis after a first league defeat in 34 games, and six goals in a comprehensive victory against Roma in their penultimate game of the Champions League group phase put those thoughts to bed.An own goal broke the fight of Roma early on, with further goals by Wieke Kaptein, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd, Sjoeke Nüsken, Maika Hamano and Lucy Bronze. Continue reading...

Sport

8 d. ago Madueke and Martinelli magic makes it perfect six for Arsenal at Club Brugge

This was an evening of notable milestones for Arsenal and Gabriel Martinelli, although there was no smile broader than Noni Madueke’s. The England forward was subjected to a ridiculous online petition that opposed his move across London from Chelsea in the summer. But on a rare appearance on the right flank as Bukayo Saka was given a welcome rest, Madueke scored a fantastic individual goal before adding a second after half-time to set up a comfortable victory for Mikel Arteta’s side.It means Arsenal have become only the fifth English team to win their opening six matches of a Champions League or European Cup campaign and now need only a point from their remaining two to rubber stamp their progress directly to the last 16, even if in reality it is already a formality thanks to their superior goal difference. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago Noni Madueke sends reminder as Arsenal romp to big Champions League win

CLUB BRUGGE 0-3 ARSENAL: Noni Madueke's brace either side of half-time and a goal from Gabriel Martinelli ensured a sixth straight Champions League win for the Gunners

Sport

8 d. ago ‘Worse than we expected’ – Mikel Arteta confirms Arsenal injury crisis as yet another big name set for spell on sideline

WHEN it rains, it pours for Mikel Arteta after he revealed another player faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines. Although his Arsenal side are top of both the Premier League and Champions League tables, injuries are starting to mount up. It was reported yesterday that Declan Rice, Leandro Trossard and William Saliba all missed...

Events

9 d. ago Dominik Szoboszlai holds his nerve to give Liverpool late win at Inter

The Liverpool hierarchy protected Arne Slot’s authority by axing Mohamed Salah from the Champions League trip to Milan. The Liverpool team followed suit by inflicting a first European home defeat on Inter since September 2022 courtesy of Dominik Szoboszlai’s 88th-minute penalty. A brooding superstar with a bruised ego looked on from afar.Salah would have been on penalty duties had he not talked himself out of a showpiece occasion at the San Siro, another legend of the game that is showing its age. Instead it fell to Szoboszlai, the friend he argued should not be playing on the right ahead of him, to give Slot a precious victory after Alessandro Bastoni was penalised for pulling Florian Wirtz’s shirt in the box with minutes remaining. Liverpool had been resolute and fiercely committed to that point, well worthy of the point that was heading their way until the video assistant referee sent German official Felix Zwayer to the pitch-side monitor to review Bastoni’s foul. Continue readin...

Politics

9 d. ago Szoboszlai steps up in place of Salah to sink Inter as Liverpool fans sing Slot’s name

First the Liverpool hierarchy protected Arne Slot’s authority by axing Mohamed Salah from a daunting Champions League assignment in Milan. The Liverpool team then followed suit by inflicting Inter’s first European home defeat since September 2022. A brooding superstar with a bruised ego watched from afar while Liverpool fans serenaded Slot at San Siro.Salah might well have taken the decisive 88th minute penalty had he not talked himself out of the trip to San Siro, another legend of the game that is showing its age. Instead it fell to Dominik Szoboszlai, the friend Salah had effectively argued should not be playing on the right ahead of him, to deliver a precious victory for Slot after Alessandro Bastoni had been penalised for pulling Florian Wirtz’s shirt in the box. Continue reading...

Politics

9 d. ago Spurs ease pressure on Frank as Simons rounds off easy win against Slavia Prague

The difficulties in trying to find meaning in much the new version of the Champions League has to offer before the knockout stages arrive makes it premature to assume that Tottenham are on their way to becoming a winning machine at home. They did not have to extend themselves to defeat moderate opposition on a sentimental evening and although a second triumph in front of their supporters in the space of four days was welcome Thomas Frank would be wise not to read too much into victory over a Slavia Prague side who looked as if they would be better off in the Europa League.Frank, of course, is entitled to cling on to signs of progress after a tough few weeks. This was only the sixth home win in all competitions for the Dane this season and he will not mind that it arrived with the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium close to 15,000 below capacity. It was still an enjoyable performance from Spurs to see off the Czech champions, who remain winless after six games of the league phase, and it matt...

Events

9 d. ago Beth Mead fires Arsenal past Twente to book place in WCL knockout stage

Arsenal have qualified for the Champions League knockout phase after a narrow but industrious victory over Twente thanks to Beth Mead’s first-half finish.Arsenal’s inconsistent form in the Champions League this season – two wins and two defeats – had placed extra importance on their final two games of the league phase with elimination from the competition not out of the question ahead of the penultimate matchday. They will have been well aware of the threats posed by the visitors who earned a point off Chelsea in their opener. While Corina Dekker’s side have only secured two points in the competition, they boast a developing group of young players who have been catching the eye. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Arne Slot’s woes deepen as awful Liverpool are thrashed by PSV at Anfield

Nine defeats in 12 games. A 75% loss rate since Eddie Nketiah scored a stoppage-time winner for Crystal Palace on 27 September and instigated a collapse that no one at Liverpool, no one in football in fact, could have seen coming. Unbelievable indeed. Arne Slot’s team are stuck in reverse.PSV Eindhoven became the latest grateful recipients of woeful Liverpool defending and aimless attacking play to inflict a comprehensive and damaging Champions League defeat on the Anfield side. Liverpool have suffered three successive defeats by a three-goal margin and show no signs of conjuring the recovery that Slot desperately needs to prevent a crisis undermining his hold on the job. There were boos around Anfield as the final whistle sounded on another terrible defeat for the Premier League champions. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Arsenal go top as Martinelli puts finishing touch to win against Bayern Munich

This was billed as a clash of two of the best teams in Europe and for most of a cold evening in north London it felt like it. An absorbing game which ebbed and flowed throughout saw Bayern Munich’s rising star Lennart Karl cancel out Jurriën Timber’s opening goal from a corner before Noni Madueke and Gabriel Martinelli sealed a deserved win for Mikel Arteta’s side to maintain their 100% record in the Champions League so far and go top of the table. A place in the knockout stages now seems a mere formality.Harry Kane let it slip in the buildup to this match that scoring against Arsenal gives him “a bit more joy” than any other club. But the England striker barely had a sight of goal as a Bayern side that had also won their first four matches in the Champions League group stage were taught a lesson. Arteta resisted the temptation to make wholesale changes before Sunday’s top-of-the-table clash with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. He opted to start Cristhian Mosquera in central defence rat...

Politics

3 w. ago Arsenal evolution in full swing as Mikel Arteta rolls the dice to down Bayern Munich

ARSENAL 3-1 BAYERN MUNICH: The Gunners kept up their perfect Champions League record as substitutes Noni Madueke and Gabriel Martinelli secured the three points

Politics

3 w. ago Aubameyang fires Marseille to win as Newcastle fail to heed Howe’s warning

Newcastle cannot complain they were not warned. Eddie Howe had cautioned his players that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was “as good as ever’ and would need to be “controlled” but ultimately they proved powerless to prevent the 36-year-old transforming both the match and Marseille’s Champions League ambitions.While Aubameyang fulfilled the soaring expectations of a raucously loud audience at this stupendously designed, wonderfully atmospheric arena, Howe’s team started well but ended up mugged in the manner of naive tourists who had wandered into the wrong arrondissement of this beguiling yet sometimes brutal city. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Estêvão wonder goal lights up Chelsea’s statement win over 10

The jeers when Lamine Yamal trudged off with 10 minutes left said it all. It was billed as an epic showdown between two of the best young players in the world but in the end it was barely a contest. Lamine Yamal was shoved to the margins by Marc Cucurella, who could not have done a better job in neutralising the Barcelona winger, and was powerless to stop himself being left in the shade by Chelsea’s boy from Brazil.This will go down as the night when Estêvão Willian proved that he is the real deal. There have been flashes from the 18-year-old Brazilian since he joined Chelsea from Palmeiras for £52m last summer but nothing quite on this level. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Grimaldo and Schick shock understrength Manchester City in Bayer Leverkusen win

You had to go back to September 2018 for the last time Manchester City lost a Champions League group match at home, when Pep Guardiola was in the stands due to a ban, and Nabil Fekir’s winner gave Lyon a 2-1 victory.Guardiola stood down all but one of the team that lost at Newcastle United and witnessed Bayer Leverkusen end a 23-match run in the type of off-colour display reminiscent of last season. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Pep Guardiola only has himself to blame as Man City gamble leads to new humiliation

MANCHESTER CITY 0-2 BAYER LEVERKUSEN: Pep Guardiola changed nearly his entire team on Tuesday night but his side fell to their first Champions League defeat of the season against the Germans

Politics

3 w. ago Champions League reporter SKIS down the sideline hours before clash takes place in snow

A FOOTBALL reporter was filmed SKIING down the touchline just hours before a Champions League game on Tuesday. Severe weather conditions were forecast in Norway ahead of the European clash between Bodo/Glimt and Juventus at Aspmyra Stadion. A blanket of snow covered the pitch in the hours leading up to the game - and one...

Sport