Champions League

  • 'Ronaldo plan going perfectly for Juvent...

    Juventus’ project with Cristiano Ronaldo is “going perfectly”, says Alessandro Del Piero, with both sides of the stunning agreement expected to get the Champions League success they crave. The Portuguese superstar was taken to Turin in the summer of 2018 after nine record-breaki...

    'Ronaldo plan going perfectly for Juventus' - Del Piero expecting Champions League triumph

    Juventus’ project with Cristiano Ronaldo is “going perfectly”, says Alessandro Del Piero, with both sides of the stunning agreement expected to get the Champions League success they crave. The Portuguese superstar was taken to Turin in the summer of 2018 after nine record-breaking seasons at Real Madrid. His capture, even at the age of 33, was considered to be a major coup for Juve and Serie A. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner has not disappointed in new surroundings, netting 24 goals in 36 appearances. His haul has included a remarkable hat-trick in a meeting with old adversaries Atletico Madrid, which carried the Bianconeri through to the quarter-finals in Europe’s elite club competition. Del Piero told Marca of Ronaldo’s exploits: “That's what Juventus bought him for. “He is a champion who has won this title and who knows what it's like to play these difficult matches, with good football and by scoring goals. “He is focused on the objective. Juventus signed him for this and the plan is going perfectly so far.” Quizzed on whether it would be a failure if Massimiliano Allegri’s side missed out on the Champions League crown this season, Del Piero added: “Failure is a really big word. I wouldn't use it. “The project is about winning the Champions League with Ronaldo and he signed for four years. If you can win it in the first year then even better.” An iconic figure from Juve’s past believes that continental glory will be delivered and that Ronaldo made the right choice in heading for Italy after calling time on a memorable spell in Spain. Asked if he was surprised that such a move was made, the former Italy international said: “Yes, a little, but not too much. “Ronaldo could pick whatever team he wanted to go to in the world and it was a good piece of business that he picked Juventus.” Ronaldo has not had things all his own way since linking up with Juventus, but Del Piero claims that is to be expected and that any criticism is merely a result of the standards set by one of the finest talents to have ever played the game. He added: “When you have a player who scores a goal per game on average and then has a match when he doesn't score then something's missing. It can happen. “There isn't a rule that says you have to score all the goals. For me, it's part of the game and you should leave it because you'll score again in a game or two.” Ronaldo is currently away on international duty, having returned to the Portugal fold for the first time since the 2018 World Cup, but will be back in domestic action on Saturday when Juve play host to Empoli.

  • Guardiola won’t leave Man City until he ...

    Former Manchester City defender Joleon Lescott has said he cannot see Pep Guardiola leaving the club in the foreseeable future. The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich head coach has been linked with a move to Juventus next summer amid reports that City could face a transfer ban ...

    Guardiola won’t leave Man City until he has ‘dominated Europe’ - Lescott

    Former Manchester City defender Joleon Lescott has said he cannot see Pep Guardiola leaving the club in the foreseeable future. The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich head coach has been linked with a move to Juventus next summer amid reports that City could face a transfer ban for breaching Financial Fair Play regulations. While Guardiola himself denied these rumours, Lescott has stated he also believes they have no merit and hinted he thinks the manager may not leave the club until they have won the Champions League. “I don’t believe Pep Guardiola will move on until he has dominated Europe with Manchester City," Lescott told Sporting Bet. "You could say it’s unfinished business as he bids to take their football to a global level. Pep has created so much success at Manchester City in such a short space of time and I believe there’s more success to come. “Everyone associated with the club wants Guardiola at Manchester City and there would be a lot of disappointed fans, staff and players if he left. I don’t expect Guardiola to look to move anywhere until his contract is up in two years, at least,” he added. The City boss has previously won the Champions League with Barcelona in 2009 and 2011 respectively, but in three years at Bayern he failed to win the competition. Guardiola has also faced frustration in the Champions League with City and after being eliminated in the last-16 stage in 2017, failed to progress past the quarter-finals last season, when they lost to Liverpool over two legs. This year, after navigating past Schalke in the previous round, City face Tottenham in the last eight and will be hoping to win the tournament for the first time. Lescott believes his former side have the quality to win the Champions League, but might struggle with the lack of European experience in the squad. "I think Man Utd have potentially cleared the way for Man City to win the Champions League when they knocked PSG out of the tournament," said Lescott.  "I believe PSG were the biggest threat to Man City’s potential success in the Champions League this season. "Man City could still slip up in the latter stages of the tournament through lack of experience within the squad because not many of the Man City players have as much experience within the Champions League semi-finals. It would be a shame as they are definitely ready to win the Champions League." Should City win the competition, it might be as part of an historic treble, which the reigning Premier League champions could claim in 2018-19. City have already wrapped up the Carabao Cup and will return to the summit of the Premier League should they win their game in hand over Liverpool. Guardiola’s men also face Brighton in the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

  • Liverpool can easily win the Premier Lea...

    Ex-Liverpool winger Patrik Berger has aired his belief that his old club can finish the season with a double haul of silverware in the form of Premier League and Champions League titles. Berger, who bagged an FA Cup and UEFA Cup double during his time at Anfield, watched as his ...

    Liverpool can easily win the Premier League & the Champions League, says Berger

    Ex-Liverpool winger Patrik Berger has aired his belief that his old club can finish the season with a double haul of silverware in the form of Premier League and Champions League titles. Berger, who bagged an FA Cup and UEFA Cup double during his time at Anfield, watched as his former team fell at the final hurdle in Europe last season, ultimately losing to Real Madrid in Kiev. In addition – despite Mohamed Salah's incredible goal return of 32 across the season – the Reds could only muster a fourth-place finish on domestic soil, but defensive reinforcements in Virgil van Dijk and Alisson have seen a porous back line improve significantly this term. As a result, with his former side currently sitting at the summit of the Premier League and having drawn Porto in Europe, whom Jurgen Klopp's side beat 5-0 on aggregate last season, Berger believes it is entirely possible that Liverpool can finally deliver for their fans. “I think they can easily win the league and they can win the Champions League too,” the 45-year-old told Sky Sports. “They're in a good spot in both competitions. “Porto is a very good draw for them. It's still going to be tough but I think the boys can do it. I think they are going to do it and they will be in the semi-final of the Champions League. “Obviously in the league, they have to play every game as a cup final in order to be the champions at the end of the season. I think they need to win every single game. “[But] they can win the league and the Champions League. I don't see why they can't win the double this season.” Salah's strike rate of late has caused concern among fans after having had such a prolific campaign last year, but Berger is not overly concerned about the Egyptian's struggles due to squad depth and others stepping up to the plate. “We have a great goalkeeper and defensively they are not really conceding many goals,” he said. “Going forward they have Salah, [Roberto] Firmino and they are really solid in the middle. The balance is really good but it's all about scoring goals and [Sadio] Mane has been on fire in the last few games. “It's great that if Salah is not scoring as much as he did last season there are other players that can score – and that's exactly what the boys need to do.”

  • PSG dub themselves 'champion' of Instagr...

    Paris Saint-Germain may have suffered Champions League elimination at the last-16 stage for the third successive year, but they can console themselves with the self-proclaimed title of Instagram 'champion'. The Ligue 1 giants were dumped out of Europe's elite competition this mo...

    PSG dub themselves 'champion' of Instagram

    Paris Saint-Germain may have suffered Champions League elimination at the last-16 stage for the third successive year, but they can console themselves with the self-proclaimed title of Instagram 'champion'. The Ligue 1 giants were dumped out of Europe's elite competition this month by Manchester United, with Marcus Rashford's controversial late penalty securing the Red Devils a 3-1 win in Paris which saw them progress on away goals. Despite the shock exit, PSG are still bringing in followers on social media and they dubbed themselves the 'champion' of Instagram after surpassing the 20-million mark on Friday. "The Parisian club is making dazzling progress and exceeds the milestone of 20 million followers," their statement read. The announcement came on the same day star man Neymar – who was injured for the defeat to United – was charged with "insulting/molesting acts against a match official" on the same social media platform after Rashford's contentious spot-kick. To compound matters, PSG are also seven million followers behind United on the photo and video-sharing social networking service. But even the Red Devils' follower count pales in comparison to Spain's Clasico contestants. Barcelona have more than three times the Parisians' Instagram audience with 67 million followers while Real Madrid trump that with 70 million followers.  And PSG are still a long way off their own star man Neymar who boasts 112 million followers, 47 million less than Cristiano Ronaldo (159 million), but the same number as his former Barcelona team-mate Lionel Messi.  The platform got Neymar's Brazil team-mate Marcelo into an awkward altercation with a Real Madrid fan last month when he wrote "It's all my fault" in reply to a statistical comparison between bad results and the 30-year-old's game time. Marcelo's performances under recently sacked head coach Santiago Solari were heavily criticised, with Solari often favouring young defender Sergio Reguillon over the experienced Brazilian.  Real, like PSG, were knocked out of the Champions League in the round of 16 after an embarrassing second-leg defeat to Ajax - ending the defence of their title. Both clubs are now without a fixture until March 31 due to the international break.

  • Neymar charged for 'go f*ck yourselves' ...

    Neymar has been charged for comments made following Paris Saint-Germain's dramatic Champions League exit at the hands of Manchester United. Following the side's elimination from European competition, the Brazil international voiced his opinions online and posted 'go f*ck yoursel...

    Neymar charged for 'go f*ck yourselves' outburst following PSG's Champions League exit against Man Utd

    Neymar has been charged for comments made following Paris Saint-Germain's dramatic Champions League exit at the hands of Manchester United. Following the side's elimination from European competition, the Brazil international voiced his opinions online and posted 'go f*ck yourselves' on his Instagram. The forward, who was sidelined with injury for the match, took issue with the tie-winning penalty that was awarded in dubious circumstances. With the tie hanging in the balance near the end of the second leg, Diogo Dalot's shot was blocked at close range by Presnel Kimpembe. And while the referee thought the VAR review was enough to award the match-winning spot-kick, Neymar took issue, posting: "That is a disgrace! And UEFA still pick four guys who know nothing about football to review the VAR decision in slow motion... that handball simply doesn't exist! "How do you handball behind your back? Ahh.. go f*ck yourselves." The charge was confirmed on Friday, with a UEFA statement reading: "Disciplinary proceedings have been opened following the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 second leg match between Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United FC (1-3), played on 6 March in France.   "Charges against Paris Saint-Germain: Player Neymar Junior - Insulting / molesting acts against match official (statements made by the player following the above-mentioned match) - Art. 15 (1) (d) of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations. "The case will be dealt with by the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body with the date of the hearing yet to be confirmed." Neymar has been out of action since January 23 after suffering a foot injury in PSG's 2-0 victory over Strasbough in Ligue 1. He looks set to return in the coming weeks as the Paris club look to secure their sixth Ligue 1 title in the last seven seasons, but will now not have the opportunity to claim the Champions League trophy. However, the forward could be forced to sit out further matches if UEFA decide to hand the him a match ban. But, any suspension handed to the 27-year-old will have to wait until the 2019/20 campaign when PSG are back in European competition.

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