Napoli came agonisingly close to pulling off a dramatic Europa League comeback when they won 2-0 at RB Leipzig but went out on away goals at the last 32 stage on Thursday while Arsenal got through despite an embarrassing 2-1 home defeat by Ostersund. Borussia Dortmund snatched a late goal at Atalanta to progress with a 1-1 draw, while AC Milan and Atletico Madrid, both with three-goal leads from the away legs, completed the formality of qualifying with 1-0 wins at home on Thursday. The evening was marred by the death of a policeman in Bilbao after rivals fans fought in the streets before the match between local side Athletic and Spartak Moscow, won 2-1 by the Russian team who still went out 4-3 on aggregate.
Arsenal had a three-goal lead from last week’s win in Sweden but were rattled when Hosam Aiesh and Ken Sema scored twice in two minutes for Ostersund midway through the first half. The North London side were spared further humiliation, though, after Ronald Mukiibi miscued when trying to clear a cross and defender Sead Kolasinac thumped the ball into the net from close range two minutes into the second half. Napoli lost 3-1 in last week’s first leg against Leipzig with a performance that embarrassed coach Maurizio Sarri, though he has emphasised that winning Serie A is the priority. They restored some pride in the return as Piotr Zielinski scored from a rebound in the 33rd minute and Lorenzo Insigne turned in Jose Callejon’s cross with five minutes to go. That set up a rousing finale and Callejon could even have won the tie in stoppage time but his shot sailed over. LAST-GASP DORTMUND Atalanta scored against Dortmund when Rafael Toloi prodded the ball home at the far post after Mattia Caldara flicked on a corner in the 11th minute to make it 3-3 on aggregate. There were then chances at both ends until Dortmund’s Marcel Schmelzer snapped up the rebound, after Etrit Berisha failed to hold a Marco Reus shot, to put the Bundesliga side through. Lazio striker Ciro Immobile got a hat-trick in a 5-1 win over FCSB, formerly Steaua Bucharest, after a 1-0 first-leg loss. Russian pair Lokomotiv Moscow and Zenit St Petersburg both won at home in frigid conditions to also progress. Igor Denisov’s first-half goal gave Lokomotiv a 1-0 win over Nice, completing a 4-2 aggregate victory, while Zenit beat Celtic 3-0 to go through 3-1 with goals from Branislav Ivanovic, Daler Kuzyaev and Aleksandr Kokorin. “We dominated the game. We didn’t concede any chances until the 70th minute,” said Zenit coach Roberto Mancini after a match which kicked off in a temperature of minus 13 Celsius. “After 70 minutes we tired a bit but this is normal, but in the end we deserved to win.” Atletico Madrid, leading 4-1 from the first leg, completed their tie at home to FC Copenhagen when Kevin Gameiro’s early goal gave them a 1-0 victory and AC Milan beat Ludogorets by the same score with a Fabio Borini goal for a 4-0 aggregate win. Dynamo Kiev, Sporting, Viktoria Plzen, Olympique Lyonnais, Olympique Marseille and Salzburg also qualified and will go into the hat for the last 16 draw which will be made on Friday.
Bayern Munich, helped by two typical Thomas Mueller goals and two from Robert Lewandowski, romped to a 5-0 home win over Besiktas in their Champions League tie on Tuesday after the Turkish champions played nearly the whole match with 10 men. Besiktas defender Domagoj Vida was given a straight red card for tripping Lewandowski outside the penalty area in the 16th minute, the defining moment in the round of 16, first leg tie. Mueller, inelegant yet always effective, broke the deadlock with a miskick two minutes before halftime to break Besiktas’s resistance. Kingsley Coman and Mueller added two more before Lewandowski helped himself to a late brace, virtually assuring the Bavarians of a seventh successive quarter-final appearance.
“We began nervously and couldn’t find our rhythm,” said Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes after his side equalled a club record of 14 consecutive wins in all competitions. “The turning point was the sending-off and the goal just before the break.” Besiktas won all three away games in the group stage and came with the clear intention of attacking Bayern but their plans were torpedoed by Vida’s red card. A poor pass from Atiba Hutchinson went straight to Lewandowski, who burst past Vida and was tripped as he ran at goal with only goalkeeper Fabri to beat. Besiktas could still have snatched a priceless goal minutes later when Vagner Love got past two Bayern defenders to give himself a clear shot on goal but his effort was high and wide. COMPLETE CONTROL Bayern then laid siege to Besiktas and Fabri denied them the opening goal with a superb one-handed save at point-blank range to turn away Mats Hummels’s header. Having survived another scare when Ricardo Quaresma burst down the right and forced Sven Ulreich to save at his near post, Bayern broke the deadlock two minutes before halftime. Coman got to the byline and crossed, Alaba touched it on and the ball fell to Mueller who turned, failed to make proper contact but poked it home. It was a typically scrappy effort from a player once described on the German Football Federation’s Twitter feed as having the elegance of a swan on ice skates. There was an air of inevitability about the second half as Bayern took complete control. Coman sidefooted in from Lewandowski’s pass in the 53rd minute before Mueller struck again in the 66th, this time sticking his leg out to divert Joshua Kimmich’s cross past Fabri. Lewandowski got in on the act by snapping up a rebound in the 79th minute, before Mueller set up the Poland striker’s second and Bayern’s fifth. The second leg takes place in Turkey on March 14.
Zinedine Zidane has been questioned for his failure to repeat Real Madrid’s magnificent feats of last season but the Frenchman showed he still knows how to manage a big game as his side beat Paris St Germain 3-1 on Wednesday in the Champions League. Zidane was expected to match PSG’s 4-3-3 formation and field Gareth Bale in the last 16-first leg at the Bernabeu but instead opted to play Isco to give his team numerical superiority in midfield. “We wanted to control the game and we did that,” Zidane told reporters. “We did that by playing four in middle against their midfield three, Isco had a great game and gave us greater possession and the game went as we had envisaged it.” Real made the stronger start although they fell behind to Adrien Rabiot’s strike, which Cristiano Ronaldo cancelled out from the penalty spot. Zidane looked to his bench to win the game and made ultra-attacking changes by throwing on Bale and wingers Marco Asensio and Lucas Vazquez. The injection of fresh legs startled the tired visitors and after Bale came close to scoring from the right-hand side Asensio made two darting runs down the left which led to Ronaldo putting Real ahead in the 83rd minute and Marcelo’s late strike tightened their grip on the tie. “Despite all the speculation, we showed that you can never presume Real Madrid are dead,” Real captain Sergio Ramos said. After sweeping to the Liga and Champions League double last season and becoming the first coach to successfully defend the trophy since the tournament changed format, Zidane has seen his reputation as a coach nose-dive as his side fell way behind Barcelona in the Liga and were eliminated from the King’s Cup. Their hopes for the season entirely rested on the blockbuster tie against PSG and with their supporters fully behind them in a competition they have won an astounding 12 times, Real delivered. “The Champions League turns us on,” said Zidane. “This club has won this competition 12 times for a reason.” Marca newspaper hailed Zidane’s strategy.
“Zidane struck back and turned the tie on its head with a statement of authority from the tactical board,” the paper said. “It was a masterstroke which gave his team wings and came off perfectly.” The late goals gave Real a big advantage going into the second leg in Paris on March 6 and Ramos called on his side to produce a repeat performance to continue their quest for a third consecutive Champions League triumph. “We were effective in a way we haven’t been for much of the season and we played a complete game,” he said.
London: Newcastle United’s manager Rafa Benitez would have taken a victory against just about anyone on Sunday, such was his side’s predicament, but a 1-0 win over Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United would have tasted that bit sweeter. Huddersfield Town’s 4-1 home victory over Bournemouth earlier in the day meant Newcastle started their home clash against United in the Premier League’s bottom three. Yet they responded with a gritty display, riding their luck at times to take the points courtesy of Matt Ritchie’s 65th-minute winner which propelled them from 18th to 13th. The result also left second-placed United a whopping 16 points behind leaders Manchester City and looking anxiously over their shoulders in what looks like becoming a tense battle for the remaining Champions League places. Tottenham Hotspur’s 1-0 victory over Arsenal on Saturday had lifted the north London club to within four points of United and Liverpool sliced the gap to two after Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah scored in a nonchalant 2-0 win at Southampton in Sunday’s late kickoff. Fifth-placed Chelsea can move to within three points of United with victory at West Brom on Monday.
There was a warm handshake between Benitez and Mourinho when the final whistle sounded at a tumultuous St James’ Park to confirm Newcastle’s first home league win since October. But their previous history has been marked by frostiness -- a result of former Liverpool manager Benitez twice getting the better of Mourinho’s Chelsea in Champions League semi-finals. The fact that they have both managed Chelsea, Real Madrid and Inter Milan, with Mourinho enjoying a superior record, meant Benitez’s triumph on Sunday, only his second in the Premier League against Mourinho, had added meaning. Ritchie rifled a shot past David De Gea in the 65th minute to punish a profligate United side who wasted several good chances with Anthony Martial and Alexis Sanchez culpable. Newcastle dug deep for their manager and debutant keeper Martin Dubravka made several superb saves. “They fought like animals,” Mourinho said of Benitez’s side. “Newcastle’s players gave the sacrifices all managers like to see. Were they lucky? Yes. But sometimes you deserve that luck. They fought for their lives and that’s a beautiful thing.” TOO SLICK Martial was denied by a great save from Dubravka and had two efforts cleared off the line after the break. Sanchez inexplicably failed to fire into an empty net after rounding Dubravka, shortly before Ritchie struck the winner. “We had games in the past when we conceded late. We got lucky with some shots, but we showed the character, the commitment and the desire today,” Benitez said. Liverpool were too slick for a feeble Southampton as they condemned the south coast side to a place in the bottom three. Salah punished a mistake and squared for Firmino to score in the seventh minute and the livewire Egyptian then stroked home the second before halftime after a snappy passing move. United have 56 points, Liverpool 54 and Tottenham 52 with Chelsea on 50. It is equally tight at the bottom where the so-called trap door is looking more like a revolving door. Huddersfield escaped the bottom three on Sunday as they snapped a five-game losing sequence. Alex Pritchard fired Huddersfield in front after seven minutes and although Junior Stanislas levelled, the hosts were ahead again before the break thanks to Steve Mounie’s 27th-minute header from Aaron Mooy’s delivery.
Barcelona reached the King’s Cup final for a record fifth year in a row on Thursday with a 2-0 second leg win at Valencia in which Philippe Coutinho scored his first goal for the club as they secured a 3-0 aggregate semi-final success. Valencia bossed the first half at a packed Mestalla as the hosts chased down a 1-0 deficit but their hopes of a comeback were dashed when Brazilian Coutinho slid in to turn home a cross from his old Liverpool team mate Luis Suarez in the 49th minute. Coutinho, who joined Barca from Liverpool for a club record 142 million pounds ($197.66 million) in January, had been on the pitch less than three minutes when he scored, while Ivan Rakitic stretched the visitors’ lead eight minutes from time. Barcelona have won the trophy for the last three years and face Sevilla in the final on April 21, a re-run of the 2016 showpiece which the Catalans won 2-0 after extra time. Sevilla beat Leganes 2-0 on Wednesday in the other semi-final to advance 3-1 on aggregate. ”I feel very happy to be able to play in a final while being at the club for only a couple of months,“ Coutinho told reporters. ”We still have to play it and we’ve got a lot of things to do before the final.
”I have been trying to score since my first game and I‘m happy to have done that, although the most important thing is that the team won the game and we are able to leave here happy. “Everyone told me we could be the first team to reach five finals in a row, we all knew it and it’s a great achievement.” Valencia were looking to reach the final for the first time in a decade and coach Marcelino deployed an attacking 4-3-3 formation which helped his side put Barca on the back foot in the early stages of the game. Rodrigo Moreno came closest to scoring for the hosts when he crashed a header against the bar in the 13th minute and the Spain international was thwarted again later in the half by Barca goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen. “We played a very good first half and we had some very good chances to score and level the tie, but when you’re playing against these teams if you don’t score the chances you get you pay a price,” said Valencia keeper Jaume Domenech.
LONDON: Chelsea's troubled season hit a new low on Monday as the Premier League champions crashed to a 4-1 defeat at Watford that heaped fresh pressure on beleaguered boss Antonio Conte. Less than a year after being hailed as the mastermind of Chelsea's title triumph, Conte appears destined to become the latest high-profile boss to pay the price for failing to satisfy ruthless Blues owner Roman Abramovich. With fourth-placed Chelsea trailing 19 points behind leaders Manchester City, Abramovich is reported to be considering replacements for Conte, with former Barcelona coach Luis Enrique strongly linked with the job. Here is a look at the reasons for Chelsea's collapse: The champagne corks had barely finished popping at the end of Chelsea's title celebrations in May before Conte bizarrely lost his cool and set off down a path that now looks certain to end with his exit. Misjudging his power base, Conte felt winning the league should allow him much more say in who came and went from his squad -- and first in his sights was notorious malcontent Diego Costa.
Infuriated by Costa's mood swings and an attempt to engineer a move to China, Conte decided to sell the Spain striker even though his goals had been instrumental in the title success. But he hadn't reckoned on Costa going public with a text message from Conte telling him he is not in his plans for next season, a move that prompted the Chelsea boss to exile his forward from the squad. The situation quickly disintegrated as Costa refused to train with the reserves, leaving Chelsea struggling to find a buyer. Abramovich was said to be furious and, although Costa eventually got his wish to join Atletico Madrid, the Italian has been on a collision course with the club's hierarchy ever since. The breakdown in relations manifested itself in Conte dragging out negotiations over a new contract and when he eventually signed the improved terms, tellingly it didn't include an extension. Already grumbling about his lack of influence over transfers and complaining that Chelsea weren't spending as much as their rivals, Conte was livid when Abramovich sanctioned Nemanja Matic's switch to Manchester United. It didn't help that technical director Michael Emenalo left the club, leaving Marina Granovskaia, a close Abramovich aide, in charge of transfer deals, much to Conte's chagrin. Engaging in a petty feud with Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho only added to the perception that Conte was unravelling as Chelsea failed to keep pace with City in the title race. "That's the type of wretched result and performance that gets managers the sack," Henry Winter, chief football writer of The Times, said of the rout at Watford. Yet Conte has never seemed settled in England, with his family only joining him this year, and he seems unruffled by the prospect of leaving. "I'm not worried. I can be the Chelsea coach or not. What is the problem? My soul is clear," he said after the Watford game. From the very first day of the season, Chelsea, reflecting their manager's discontent, have seemed totally out of sync on the pitch. A shock 3-2 home defeat against Burnley on the opening weekend foreshadowed the problems to come, with Conte claiming it could take four years to build a team capable of consistently winning silverware. That downbeat assessment hardly inspired Conte's players, who were already reported to be chafing at his demanding training sessions and intense personality. A 3-0 loss at Roma in the Champions League in October exposed more fault lines in a team suddenly bereft of confidence, with the problems exacerbated by David Luiz clashing with the Italian after the defender criticised his tactics. Adding to Conte's woes, Tiemoue Bakayoko, signed from Monaco to fill the defensive midfield role vacated by Matic, has endured a dismal season, while Alvaro Morta, the Spain striker brought to replace Costa, has been inconsistent in front of goal and lacks his predecessor's intimidating physical presence. Numerous hamstring injuries to Chelsea players this season have led some to question whether Conte's training methods are culpable, yet he complained that the club had signed too many players, rather than investing their money in marquee recruits like City and Manchester United.
ZEIST: Ronald Koeman has been appointed as coach of the Netherlands national team up to and including the 2022 World Cup, the Dutch football association (KNVB) announced. The 54-year-old former international defender is the seventh coach in eight years for the Dutch team, who were runners-up at the 2010 World Cup and finished third in Brazil four years later but failed to qualify for the 2018 finals in Russia. He will be expected to help the Dutch to qualify for the next European Championship in 2020 and World Cup two years thereafter, reviving the team's fortunes in the process. Koeman, who earned 78 caps for the Netherlands, succeeds Dick Advocaat, who had been brought in midway through last year after the sacking of Danny Blind in March.
His first assignment will be a friendly against England at the Amsterdam Arena on March 23, followed by a meeting with Portugal in Geneva three days later. The Dutch are helping the two Russia-bound teams prepare for this year's World Cup. Koeman has been out of work since being dismissed by Everton last October after a poor run of form in the Premier League. He did, however, enjoy significant success as a club coach in his homeland winning three Eredivisie titles - two with Ajax Amsterdam (2001-02, 2003-04) and one with PSV Eindhoven (2006-07). He has also coached Vitesse Arnhem, Benfica, Valencia, AZ Alkmaar, Feyenoord and Southampton. His coaching career began as an assistant to Guus Hiddink with the Dutch side in 1997 but he left after a year to take up a similar role under Louis van Gaal at Barcelona. Former Dutch international Kees van Wonderen will be Koeman's assistant with Patrick Lodewijks as goalkeeper coach.
OSLO: Golf, cricket and soccer are suffering from wetter weather linked to climate change in Britain, the nation which laid down the modern rules for the games, a study said on Wednesday. More downpours meant pitches and fairways were more likely to be soggy or unplayable while sea level rise was also aggravating erosion of coastal golf courses in Scotland, such as Montrose which dates back to 1562, it said. The Climate Coalition, of 130 non-governmental groups in Britain, said its report underscored that warming threatens sports beyond those dependent on snow and ice on display at this month’s Pyeongchang Olympics. A main problem is that six of the seven wettest years on record in Britain have been since 2000, said Piers Forster, a professor of climate change at the University of Leeds who contributed to the study. “Britain is particularly susceptible to storms coming in from the North Atlantic,” he told Reuters. Rain, extreme weather and erosion meant “cancelled football matches, flooded cricket grounds and golf courses crumbling into the sea,” it said. Steve Isaac, director of golf course management at the R&A, the governing body for golf outside the United States and Mexico, said in the report that he reckoned golf was “more impacted by climate change than any sport aside from skiing”.
Coastal golf courses were suffering from storm surges and a rise in sea levels, caused by a melt of ice from Greenland to the Himalayas. Montrose, for instance, has moved tees and fairways inland because of erosion, said Chris Curnin, director at the Montrose Golf Links. Dredging and natural shifts in the North Sea explained some of the erosion, of 70 metres in places. “Climate change and rising seas are accelerating the retreat,” he told Reuters. U.S. President Donald Trump, who doubts that greenhouse gas emissions are the prime driver of climate change, owns two courses in Scotland. The England and Wales Cricket Board said it was suffering from less predictable weather. Twenty seven percent of England’s home One Day Internationals were played with reduced overs since 2000 due to rain disruptions, the study said. And for soccer, extreme weather events caused the cancellation of 25 Football League fixtures during the 2015-16 season, the study said. It did not give comparisons to other years.
Berlin: Bayern Munich dismantled third-tier Paderborn to sweep into the German Cup semi-finals with a thumping 6-0 win on Tuesday. The lower league side, who suffered successive relegations after playing in the Bundesliga three years ago, began brightly but were swiftly outclassed by visiting Bayern, who have won the competition a record 18 times. Kingsley Coman gave Bayern the lead after 19 minutes, sweeping home from close range after Arjen Robben had missed his kick, and the France forward then teed up Robert Lewandowski with a delightful pass for the second. Bayern effectively ended Paderborn’s resistance four minutes before halftime when a beautiful long ball from Mats Hummels found Joshua Kimmich, who beat the keeper at his near post with a calm finish.
Bayern landed a further blow 10 minutes into the second half when Corentin Tolisso headed home unmarked from a corner. Robben curled the ball home from the edge of the area and then tapped in from close range to complete an emphatic win late on. Bayer Leverkusen also reached the last four after fighting back from 2-0 down to beat Werder Bremen 4-2 after extra time. Max Kruse and Aron Johannsson had given Bremen a two-goal lead inside seven minutes, but Julian Brandt scored either side of halftime to drag Leverkusen back into the match. Karim Bellarabi and Kai Havertz then scored late in extra time to complete a superb turnaround. The semi-final lineup will be completed on Wednesday when last year’s runners-up Eintracht Frankfurt host Mainz 05 and VfL Wolfsburg visit Schalke 04 in the remaining quarter-final ties.
LONDON : Chelsea manager Antonio Conte goes into Monday’s Premier League game at Watford with mounting uncertainty over his future amid concern the champions may miss out on a Champions League spot next season. Fourth-placed Chelsea are one point ahead of Tottenham Hotspur after an unimpressive start to the year in which they were knocked out of the League Cup by Arsenal and beaten at home in the Premier League by Bournemouth. Conte has been the subject of persistent British media reports that he will leave the club at the end of the season after publicly criticising their transfer policy. Although the 48-year-old has been linked with a return to his former job as Italy manager, Italian football federation (FIGC) assistant commissioner Alessandro Costacurta said on Sunday that he has ruled himself out.
“As Conte reiterated the other day, he wants to continue working as a coach on a day-by-day basis at club level for at least the next 18 months, the length of his Chelsea contract, so he has pulled out of the running,” Costacurta said. Conte has called on the Chelsea board to end the uncertainty over his future by publicly confirming they trust in his work. One way or another he may well be disappointed. The only time Chelsea have done anything similar was in Oct. 2015 when they released a statement backing Jose Mourinho following Chelsea’s worst start to a season since 1979. Two months later the Portuguese was sacked. Conte’s methods underwent further scrutiny over the weekend when it was revealed that new signing Ross Barkley will miss Monday’s game at Vicarage Road after becoming the eighth Chelsea player to suffer a hamstring injury this season. Conte has consistently said his squad is not strong enough, although striker Olivier Giroud and defender Emerson Palmieri were recruited last week in an attempt to provide more options. Publicly at least, Conte is putting a brave face on the situation, refusing to confirm media reports he has been at odds with director Marina Granovskaia, one of owner Roman Abramovich’s most trusted employees, following November’s surprise departure of transfer chief Michael Emenalo. Conte maintains that he intends to stay until at least until next summer when his contract runs out. “We are doing the maximum for this club. If the club understands this and the club wants to extend a new contract, we can talk,” he said. “We can talk. Why not? My contract expires in 2019. My desire and my will are to continue to work with this club.”
GOA: Churchill Brothers surprised everyone by beating Minerva Punjab FC who were looking invincible until that point in the season have another big task to cut out as they’re now going to face defending champions Aizawl FC at the Tilak Maidan in Goa tomorrow. The Paulo Menezes-coached side who are coming from a stalemate against Chennai City FC would be wary of the Red Machines who are looking to be the team to beat at the moment. Aizawl have reasons to be worried as they are winless in their last five matches – counting the AFC Champions League game against Zob Ahan. The not-so-decent run of results has seen them slump to a lowly sixth on 16 points and Churchill Brothers are only three points behind the defending champions. Churchill Brothers are growing in confidence with each passing game and they have targeted a top half finish for the season. After the addition of players like Koffi Mechac, Kalu Ogba, Eldor Hussein and others, the Red Machines look like a different animal. “It is my belief that if we had this whole set of foreigners from the beginning, we could have been in the top two and even heading the league table with some distance. In the initial stages of the season, we lost five matches which is 15 points. So you see the recovery we had to make from the five defeats,” Churchill Brothers coach Alfred Fernandes suggested.
Even Aizawl coach Paulo Meneses agreed that this Churchill Brothers team is not the same as the side they had beaten in the reverse fixture. “You cannot compare this Churchill Brothers to the one that played in Aizawl with us. They have improved a lot. It will be a very tough game. We are ready to play against them but we know it will be difficult. They are a very competitive team and they are improving. It is not the same Churchill Brothers,” Menezes said. But Alfred Fernandes is prepared to face a backlash from Aizawl after their poor run of form. “That (backlash) is always expected, especially Aizawl being the defending champions. Being in mid-table, they will come out hard against us. Playing out a draw against bottom-placed Chennai City FC must have hurt them a lot. We have to be prepared,” Alfred Fernandes said. Menezes feels that the points table don’t justify their performances. “The chances that we create in every game, it was enough to be with much more points. Our problem is to score. Hopefully, we have a better chance,” he said. But the Portuguese coach feels that taking one game at a time is the best way forward right now. “It’s a chance, it is a game. Even if you play against East Bengal, you just get three points. Not 15 or 16 points. If you play against Churchill Brothers, you get only three points and not more. Or maybe less like one point or zero points. It is not the best chance to take three points, it is just a chance,” Meneses stated.
Chennai:It’s the showdown between two teams that have set the pace this season in the Hero Indian Super League. Even though both Bengaluru FC and Chennaiyin FC are comfortably settled in the top two positions in the league standing, there still will be a lot to play for when they square off at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Tuesday. Second placed Chennaiyin FC are currently four points behind table toppers Bengaluru FC but John Gregory's men have played one game less than their southern rivals. Chennayin had defeated Bengaluru 2-1 at their home and a win tomorrow will see the Chennai team cut the lead to just one point. But, it will not be easy. Bengaluru FC come into this game with three consecutive wins under their belt. And this time, Bengaluru will look to turn the tables on Chennai. Mindful of the task at hand, Chennaiyin FC coach John Gregory told reporters at the pre-match press conference that for him, the season actually starts now. "For me, the season starts tomorrow. This is when you find how good you are. Everything has just been jostling for positions. It just like practice lap in Formula 1. We are second in the grid and the race actually starts tomorrow. We have five games in 17 days that will determine if we make it to the play-offs," he added.
Talking about the team selection for tomorrow's big game, Gregory said, he has the complete squad to choose from but he'll make that decision only before the game. "Everyone is fit and healthy for this crucial period. I'm fortunate to have a good medical staff that has taken good care of the players," he added. Though Chennaiyin FC have the advantage of a 2-1 win over BFC in the last game, the Bengaluru head coach Albert Roca believes that their loss to Chennai in the previous encounter will have no effect on his players when they face Chennaiyin for the second time in the season. "I don't think it will play on our mind. Losing to Chennaiyin FC wasn't disastrous. Obviously, we want to win all games. Tomorrow, we need to be brave and try and get all three points," he said at the pre-match press conference. Bengaluru FC have been enjoying a great debut season in the ISL. Roca’s men have adapted to the new league with ease and are looking like title contenders. The Spanish tactician, however, feels it's too early for such claims. "It's not finished yet. First, we have to finish all our games, perhaps we can talk a little about it and even then we also have to go through playoffs. At the moment it's a pack of six teams looking to get into top four. So the first goal is to be in top four. If we take all three points tomorrow, we'll be close," he concluded.
PARIS: A superb Neymar free-kick helped Paris Saint-Germain to a 3-0 win at troubled Lille on Saturday as the Ligue 1 leaders began a decisive month as they mean to go on. The world's most expensive player netted the second goal at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy after Yuri Berchiche had opened the scoring just prior to half-time. Giovani Lo Celso's delightful chip secured the victory late on, with PSG now 11 points clear of Marseille at the top of the table. PSG have won 12 of their last 13 games in all competitions, including four in a row since a 2-1 defeat at Lyon last month. Their season-defining Champions League last-16 tie against Real Madrid is fast approaching, with the first leg to come in the Spanish capital on February 14. "The best preparation for the match in Madrid is to be competitive in every match and work on the things that we can improve," said PSG coach Unai Emery.
He will hope to have the likes of Adrien Rabiot, Julian Draxler and Thiago Motta back fit for that game, while Kylian Mbappe will almost certainly start at the Santiago Bernabeu. The teenage France forward was absent on Saturday due to suspension after being sent off in the 3-2 League Cup semi-final win at Rennes in midweek. "A lot of things can still happen. I cannot say today who is going to play in Madrid, that is impossible. I just hope the best is still to come," added Emery, whose team have a French Cup tie at Sochaux to come on Tuesday. In Mbappe's absence, Angel Di Maria again started alongside Neymar and Edinson Cavani in attack, but the Uruguayan was unable to add to his club record tally of 157 goals. Spaniard Berchiche was handed a start ahead of Layvin Kurzawa at left-back and he broke the deadlock right on half-time, drilling home after a poor attempted clearance by Junior Alonso fell to him. Lille are a club with serious off-field worries, concerns about their finances leading to them being handed a transfer embargo that prevented them from adding to their squad in January. Sports daily L'Equipe even reported on Saturday that the club had been told they face being relegated at the end of the season if their financial situation does not hugely improve, regardless of their final league position. Christophe Galtier's side had looked set to go into the break on level terms before Berchiche struck, and they were upset that Cavani was not flagged offside in the build-up to that goal. Just 13 minutes remained when Neymar effectively ended the game as a contest, finding the top-left corner with a free-kick from right on the edge of the area. It was the Brazilian's 18th goal in 17 Ligue 1 appearances, with seven of those coming in his last three outings. Lo Celso arguably topped Neymar's effort with his chip over Lille goalkeeper Mike Maignan, as the young Argentine again stood in well for the veteran Motta. The assist had come from new signing Lassana Diarra, on as a substitute for his league debut. Marseille claimed an extraordinary 6-3 win over bottom club Metz on Friday, with Florian Thauvin scoring a hat-trick. Fourth-placed Monaco host Lyon, who are third, in a key game in the battle for Champions League places on Sunday. Elsewhere on Saturday, Mathieu Debuchy scored on his debut for Saint-Etienne in their 2-0 win at Amiens. France right-back Debuchy signed a deal until the end of the season in midweek after being allowed to leave Arsenal. He was also involved in the build-up to Remy Cabella's goal that sealed the win.
MANCHESTER: Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, currently serving a ban from the sport, told Reuters on Thursday he is considering legal action against the global football body in an attempt to clear his name. Blatter, who led FIFA for 17 years, was handed a six-year ban for ethics violations, imposed amid the biggest corruption scandal to shake world soccer’s governing body in 2015. The 81-year-old Swiss said that while “for the time being there is no legal action”, he and his lawyers were working on a potential case. “My aim is to look into the decision of FIFA’s Ethic-Committee in view of informations, and even evidences that I have received, in the meantime, in connection with my suspension,” Blatter told Reuters via email.
“We are working on this case – and looking forward for development.” It is likely that any legal action from Blatter would take place in the Swiss civil courts. FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In December 2016, Blatter lost an appeal in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the suspension. CAS ruled that Blatter had authorised payments to Michel Platini, then the European football boss, worth over $2 million that amounted to “undue gifts” and therefore violated FIFA’s code of ethics. Blatter had resigned in June 2015 after several dozen football officials, including FIFA executive committee members and former members, had been indicted in the United States on graft charges, along with two sports marketing firms. The former FIFA president was not among those indicted, but became embroiled in scandal when he was banned from all football-related activity the following December by FIFA’s Ethics Committee along with Platini. The men were banned, initially for eight years, over a payment of 2 million Swiss francs ($1.98 million) that FIFA made to Platini in 2011, with Blatter’s approval, for work done a decade earlier. The bans were reduced to six years by FIFA’s appeals committee in February 2016. Blatter, who has denied all charges against him, had compared the FIFA Ethics Committee investigation to “the inquisition”. In 2015 Swiss prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into Blatter on suspicion of criminal mismanagement and misappropriation but no charges have yet been brought.
source: news agency
The January transfer window slammed shut on Wednesday after a frantic month of activity during which Barcelona completed the biggest deal by signing Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool and Premier League clubs spent heavily across the board. ENGLAND The Premier League clubs’ purchasing power was evident again in January but unusually the big money went on defenders. Early in the window, Liverpool made Virgil van Dijk the world’s most expensive defender by splashing out a world record 75 million pounds ($106 million) to sign the Dutchman from Southampton. Liverpool badly needed more quality in their back line but the improvement in the squad was undermined by the departure of Brazil attacking midfielder Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona for a transfer fee reported at about 142 million pounds. Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has also not been afraid to spend big on defenders - his signing of French centre-half Aymeric Laporte from Athletic Bilbao for a club record fee of 57 million pounds means they have spent more than 200 million pounds on defenders and a keeper since the end of last season. City lost out on some attacking talent, though, with Chile forward Alexis Sanchez, long linked with a move to The Etihad, opting instead to join rivals Manchester United with Armenia midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan moving the opposite way. City also failed to agree a deal with Leicester City for midfielder Riyad Mahrez. While Arsenal fans were disappointed to see Sanchez go, the London club splashed out a club-record transfer fee to sign Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for a reported 65 million pounds from Borussia Dortmund.
They also got a pleasant surprise when Germany midfielder Mesut Ozil signed a new contract until 2021, though their France striker Olivier Giroud was shipped out to rivals Chelsea. Tottenham Hotspur were also active on deadline day, signing Brazilian winger Lucas Moura from Paris St Germain for 25 million pounds. SPAIN Barcelona will feel the most pleased of all the Liga sides with their January transfer business after capturing coveted playmaker Philippe Coutinho for a club record 142 million pounds and signing Colombia defender Yerry Mina. The signings of Coutinho, 25, from Liverpool and Mina, 23, from Palmeiras will rejuvenate Ernesto Valverde’s ageing squad and buttress his already brilliant side, which has an 11-point lead in the table and look destined to win a 25th league title. Cup-tied Coutinho cannot help Barca in the Champions League but the Brazilian already looks to be on the same page as Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez and has been praised by team mates for his early performances, with Gerard Pique saying he has “Barca DNA”. Colombian defender Mina, 23, was signed as a direct replacement for the departing Javier Mascherano, who is 10 years his senior, while Barca have temporarily cut loose inconsistent winger Gerard Deulofeu, loaning him to Premier League Watford. Champions Real Madrid have strangely not boosted their squad to help their crumbling campaign, with coach Zinedine Zidane saying he did not want new signings despite his side sitting in fourth place an embarrassing 19 points adrift of Barca. The Frenchman’s stance may have blocked a move for Spain goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga who according to local media had passed a medical with Real and was on the verge of a move but eventually signed a new contract with Athletic Bilbao. Bilbao made their most expensive sale ever with French defender Aymeric Laporte moving to Manchester City for 65 million euros and then swiped Inigo Martinez from local rivals Real Sociedad for 32 million. Barca’s closest title challengers Atletico Madrid made no high profile signings in January but got a huge lift with Spain forwards Diego Costa and Vitolo able to play after the ban on the club registering new players expired. Costa has added extra aggression to their underperforming attack although he has also reminded Atletico of his infamous problems with fitness and discipline, getting sent off on his full debut and sustaining a muscle problem later in January. Perhaps the most eye-catching moves, however, saw Saudi Arabia’s Fahad Al-Muwallad, Yahia Al-Shehri and Salem Al Dawsari join Levante, Leganes and Villarreal respectively as part of an agreement between La Liga and the Arab state’s authorities. ITALY Serie A clubs largely stayed out of the transfer window in another indication of their relatively limited spending power. The main moves were outwards with AS Roma selling full back Emerson Palmieri to Chelsea for around 22 million euros and Genoa letting 16-year-old prodigy Pietro Pellegri leave for AS Monaco for slightly more, according to Italian media. Roma forward Edin Dzeko was also the subject of speculation over a move to Chelsea, with every game reported as being possibly his last, but that move fell through. Neither of the leading pair, Napoli and Juventus, made any signings although the former had been chasing Sassuolo winger Matteo Politano. AC Milan, having splurged 230 million euros in the summer, spent nothing at all in January after UEFA rejected the club’s request to waive its breakeven “Financial Fair Play” rules under a so-called voluntary agreement. UEFA cited “uncertainties in relation to the financing of the loans to be paid back in October 2018 and the financial guarantees provided by the main shareholder.” Neighbours Inter Milan, also being monitored by UEFA over the breakeven rule, had warned beforehand that there would be no spending spree on their part. Their only signings were Brazilian midfielder Rafinha and Argentine defender Lisandro Lopez on loan from Barcelona and Benfica respectively. They also chased Paris St Germain midfielder Javier Pastore without success. Underachieving Portuguese Euro 2016 winner Joao Mario was loaned out to West Ham United and forward Gabriel Barbosa to Santos, the club he arrived from 18 months ago, although the Brazilian had already been on loan at Benfica. “We can do better by making sure that our players play to their potential,” said Inter coach Luciano Spalletti. “That gets over difficult moments.” GERMANY The sale of Borussia Dortmund striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Arsenal for 56 million pounds ($79 million) dwarfed any signings made by Bundesliga clubs, again showing the remarkable spending power of their English counterparts. The biggest buys by Bundesliga sides were Dortmund’s 21.5-million-euros capture of Switzerland defender Manuel Akanji from FC Basel, and Germany forward Sandro Wagner’s move to Bayern Munich from Hoffenheim for 13 million euros. Wagner, 30, began his career at Bayern and returned after a 10-year absence, having played at half a dozen clubs, all in the Bundesliga. In a similar move, another veteran striker, Mario Gomez, returned to his first club VfB Stuttgart nine years after departing. Dortmund, who are sixth in the table and 19 points behind leaders Bayern, were the most active team, also signing Michy Batshuayi on loan from Chelsea while defenders Marc Bartra and Neven Subotic both left. Most other clubs forked out one or two million euros at most while RB Leipzig, Hoffenheim, Hertha Berlin, Borussia Moenchengladbach, Bayer Leverkusen, FC Augsburg and Hamburg SV spent nothing at all. Dutch midfielder Nigel de Jong, a player with a bruising reputation, signed for Mainz 05 at the age of 33 and the same club also signed Nigerian Anthony Ujah from Liaoning FC.
MADRID: Football clubs across the world splashed out a record $6.37 billion on players during 2017 with English teams again the biggest spenders, FIFA’s Global Transfer Market Report said. The total paid out was about 33 percent more than in 2016 as English clubs led the way with a net spend of $988 million on squad improvement. Deals such as Romelu Lukaku’s 75 million-pound move from Everton to Manchester United and Alvaro Morata’s 60 million-pound switch from Real Madrid to Chelsea put English teams at the top of the list. But those individual deals were eclipsed by Brazilian forward Neymar’s move from Barcelona to Paris St Germain in a world-record transfer worth 222 million euros ($263 million).
The fee was over double the previous record which took France midfielder Paul Pogba to Manchester United from Juventus for $126 million. “Spending growth is driven by a relatively small group of clubs,” the report said, with over two-thirds of the total amount spent by 50 clubs in 13 different countries. The average transfer fee for a player in the top 50 most-expensive moves was $48.4 million, up from $35.2 million in 2016. The report shows that only 15.8 percent of transfers involved fees being paid from one club to another. Fees paid to agents also increased significantly. English clubs forked out a reported $125.7 million on intermediary payments and $447 million was handed over worldwide – up from $387 million in 2016. Brazil was the country most involved in international transfers with 1,755 of their players switching teams in 2017. Two hundred and fifty four Brazilian clubs conducted international transfer deals with Germany (143), England (132), Argentina (111) and Spain (98) making up the top five. Spanish clubs received the most money in transfer fees ($840.4 million), but Portuguese ones posted the highest net receipts of $707.5 million.
PARIS: Holders Paris St Germain reached the League Cup final with a 3-2 victory at Stade Rennes on Tuesday although their France striker Kylian Mbappe was sent off just past the hour mark. PSG, aiming for a fifth straight League Cup triumph, had taken a 3-0 lead through Thomas Meunier, Marquinhos and Giovani Lo Celso when Mbappe was shown a straight red card. Rennes reduced the arrears thanks to late goals by Diafra Sakho and Sanjin Prcic but it was too late to stop PSG.
They went ahead in the 24th minute when full back Meunier struck a spectacular volley before Rennes’ Wahbi Khazri was denied an equaliser on the stroke of halftime for handball. The visitors doubled their advantage nine minutes into the second half when Marquinhos scored from close range. Four minutes later, Lo Celso scored PSG’s third goal when his shot was poorly handled by keeper Abdoulaye Diallo. Mbappe was sent off in the 63rd for a rough tackle on Ismaila Sarr and the 10 men allowed Sakho and Prcic to pull two goals back in the last five minutes but it was too late.
source: news agency
Arsenal suffered another painful Premier League defeat as Swansea City capitalised on some glaring errors to win 3-1 on Tuesday, boosting their survival hopes and denting the visitors’ top four chances. Swansea’s Sam Clucas struck either side of Jordan Ayew’s strike to give Swansea the points after Arsenal had taken the lead through full back Nacho Monreal. The visitors scored after 33 minutes but their advantage lasted just seconds as Mesut Ozil gave the ball away and Clucas equalised for the Welsh side. Worse was to come for Arsenal in the second half as keeper Petr Cech sliced an attempted clearance, leaving Ayew to fire home after 61 minutes before Clucas finished right-footed to grab his second of the night with four minutes remaining. “I felt defensively we were very poor and made big mistakes,” said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. “It’s better not to talk about the second or third goals.”
The defeat leaves Arsenal in sixth place, eight points adrift of Liverpool in fourth after the Merseysiders won 3-0 at Huddersfield Town, and they were left licking their wounds after one win in their last five league games. They have three wins and six defeats in their 13 league matches on the road this season and have gone five successive away games without a victory in all competitions. Swansea, however, have been rejuvenated by new manager Carlos Carvalhal and climbed out of the bottom three with the win, moving above Stoke City on goal difference. Having also beaten visitors Liverpool in the league last week, Swansea have won four and lost one of eight games in all competitions under the Portuguese coach. “We have a chance (of staying up). We are not in intensive care,” said Carvalhal. “We are not far away from the doctor saying we can go home.” Arsenal started with new signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan on the bench following his move from Manchester United as part of the deal that took Chile forward Alexis Sanchez in the other direction, but it was not long before they were ahead. Ozil’s superb ball over the defence found Monreal sliding in at the back post to score his fourth goal of the season. That lead was wiped out in a flash, however, as Ozil went from hero to villain, giving the ball away under pressure to Alfie Mawson, who slid it through for Clucas to score. Mkhitaryan came on to make his debut after an hour but moments later the hosts stunned the visitors by taking the lead thanks to another error, this time from Cech. Arsneal defender Shkodran Mustafi rolled the ball back to the keeper but he made a mess of his clearance, presenting a gift for Ayew to score before Clucas wrapped up the win by firing home after another superb run from Ayew.
Kochi: Kerala Blasters came back from behind to register a 2-1 win over Delhi Dynamos FC at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi, on Saturday. The home side desperately needed the three points to keep their hopes for a top-four place alive in the Hero Indian Super League and are now placed fifth with 17 points. Kalu Uche gave Miguel Angel Portugal's side the lead from the spot but Kerala Blasters found an unlikely hero in 19-year-old teenager, Deependra Singh Negi, who scored one and played a big part in his team’s second after the change of ends. Delhi Dynamos started on the front foot and after testing Kerala Blasters goalkeeper Subhasish Roy Chowdhury a couple of times early on, they deservedly took the lead in the 35th minute.
Deependra Singh Negi
Prasanth Karuthadathkuni's clumsy push on Seityasen Singh in his own box gave the referee a good reason to point to the spot. Kalu Uche took the responsibility and calmly slotted the ball past Chowdhury. Even after going a goal down, there was little reaction from the home side, and Delhi could have doubled their lead but Chowdhury came to his side’s rescue with a fingertip save to keep Mathias Mirabaje’s dipping shot out. Not happy with his team's performance, Kerala Blasters coach David James introduced 19-year-old teenager, Deependra Singh Negi early in the second half. It turned out to be a masterstroke. Barely minutes after coming on for his ISL debut, Negi brought the home side on level terms. In the 48th minute, Jackichand Singh’s corner was met by the youngster at the near post and it took a deflection of a Delhi player before going into the net. The goal gave Kerala a much need boost and they pushed on. Negi could have given the home side the lead 10 minutes later when Lalruatthara Lalruatthara’s cross from the right found him in the box. But he could only direct the ball wide of the post under pressure from defenders.
As the game progressed, there were chances created at either ends as both sides pushed for a winner. For Delhi, a couple of those chances fell to their main man Kalu Uche, but the big Nigerian failed to make them count. At the other end, Negi again stepped up for his side and won a penalty in the 75th minute. Pratik Chowdhary’s lunging tackle brought the youngster down inside the box and the referee had no hesitation in awarding a penalty for the second time in the game. Iain Hume did the rest from the spot to give the home side the lead much to the delight of their supporters.
New manager Ernesto Valverde deserves credit for FC Barcelona's improved performance, Lionel Messi has said. Under Valverde, who joined the club last summer, Barça have built a 11-point lead at the top of La Liga, reached the Champions League round of 16 and qualified for the semifinals of the Copa del Rey, Efe news report. "Since the new coach's arrival, he was very clear from the beginning about what he expected from the squad and we adapted fast to his instructions, ...," Messi said at a promotional event. "We became defensively stronger and in the attacking line we have high quality players," the Argentine superstar said.
Messi said that he was optimistic about Barcelona's season, noting that the club is still alive in all competitions. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner said that the squad was delighted with the arrival of Philippe Coutinho and Yerry Mina, who joined the club during the winter transfer window. Asked about the possibility of winning another Ballon d'Or, he said: "Individual awards are not my aims.
