Page 10 - Football

ISL: Bengaluru FC qualify for play-offs with 1-0 win over Chennaiyin FC

Bengaluru FC secured qualification to the play-offs and ended Chennaiyin FC's race for the top six after a 1-0 win in their Indian Super League match here on Tuesday. Chennaiyin FC, who now have 24 points from 22 games, will not make the playoffs, whereas the Blues see themselves at the third spot courtesy 37 points as a result of this triumph. The Gerard Zaragoza-coached side held 57.1 per cent of the possession and were constantly in the hunt for goals, though their only strike of the night came through Rahul Bheke's emphatic finish inside the box in the first half. Prior to that, though, Chennaiyin FC had nearly cracked the code to carve open the Bengaluru FC defence in the ninth minute, with Jiteshwor Singh leading the move down the centre of the park before distributing the ball to the flanks to try and spot openings inside the home team's defensive third. The Marina Machans moved the ball slickly on the up from the right flank before Connor Shields glided in and hurled a cros

Russian soccer set to give up UEFA committee seat in April elections

Russia will no longer have a seat on the influential UEFA executive committee after the European soccer body's elections in six weeks. Also, Norwegian official Lise Klaveness is the only candidate for a new quota place for women, UEFA said on Monday. Alexander Dyukov, the chief executive of Russian oil firm Gazprom Neft, was not on the list of candidates published by UEFA for its election meeting on April 3 in the Serbian capital Belgrade. Dyukov was first elected to UEFA's ruling committee in 2021 and said in an interview two years ago he would seek another four-year mandate. His absence from the UEFA candidate list was unexpected three weeks after he was re-elected president of the Russian soccer federation he has led since 2019. UEFA said Dyukov did not apply to retain his executive committee seat and had not been ruled ineligible. All candidates for elections in Europe to the ruling committees of UEFA and FIFA must pass mandatory checks by governance experts. Dyukov continued

Manchester United to axe 200 more employees under transformation plan

Manchester United expects to make up to a further 200 jobs redundant as part of cost-cutting measures after five straight years of losses, the club said Monday. United made around 250 roles redundant in a first wave of savings last year after British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe paid $1.3 billion for an initial 25% stake in the club and assumed control of its soccer operations. Now, as part of what United called a transformation plan," the club anticipates that approximately 150-200 jobs may be made redundant, subject to a consultation process with employees. We have a responsibility to put Manchester United in the strongest position to win across our men's, women's and academy teams, United chief executive Omar Berrada said. We are initiating a wide-ranging series of measures which will transform and renew the club. Unfortunately, this means announcing further potential redundancies and we deeply regret the impact on those affected colleagues. However, these hard choices are necessar

Mohun Bagan SG become first team to defend Indian Super League title

Mohun Bagan Super Giant on Sunday became the first team in Indian Super League (ISL) history to defend the title with a 1-0 win over Odisha FC here. By virtue of clinching the ISL Shield, MBSG also booked a berth in the AFC Champions League 2, the continent's second tier club competition. After the win in their 22nd league game, Mohun Bagan Super Giant secured 52 points and emerged Shield Winners with two matches to spare. Their nearest rivals, FC Goa, have collected 42 points from 21 matches, and they cannot catch MBSG even if they win all their remaining three matches. MBSG had won the 2023-24 season League Shield with 50 points.

Premier League: Manchester City vs Liverpool live match time, streaming

City will not be easy opponents, especially if they can replicate the high level of play they demonstrated in their impressive 4-0 victory over Newcastle United last weekend.

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot on pressure, inspiration, and fans' support

When asked about his football idols, Slot shared, "It started off with Marco van Basten. Then Dennis Bergkamp became my inspiration when I was a kid, around 7-10 years old.

Barcelona beat Las Palmas with the help of a late winner from Dani Olmo

Dani Olmo scored after coming off the bench to help Barcelona win 2-0 at Las Palmas on Saturday and stay top of the Spanish league. Lamine Yamal linked up with Olmo to find a seam in the hosts' defense in the 62nd minute. Olmo took Yamal's threaded pass, shifted the ball to his left foot to open an angle around a defender, and fired the ball in off the underside of the bar. While Olmo went on at halftime, Ferran Torres only played the final minutes and drilled in a second goal from angle in stoppage time. Las Palmas is a team that defends well and closes down the interior passing lanes so we had to remain patient, Olmo said. In the second half the spaces opened up and we were able to score and take the three points. Barcelona avenged a shock home loss to the Canary Islands club in November as it ensured it will spend another week atop the standings. The team coached by Hansi Flick is one point ahead of Atletico Madrid, which won 3-0 at Valencia earlier on Saturday. Real Madrid is

Premier League highlights: Arsenal lose at home to West Ham United

Arsenal's Premier League title challenge was dented by an unexpected 1-0 home loss to West Ham on Saturday that featured a fifth red card of the season for Mikel Arteta's team. Second-place Arsenal squandered a chance to trim the gap to Liverpool to five points as Jarrod Bowen's first-half header secured a win for West Ham, which arrived at Emirates Stadium with just one victory in its last eight games. There was worse to come for Arsenal, with left back Myles Lewis-Skelly handed a red card following a video review for his foul as the last man. The team's disciplinary record under Arteta has come under scrutiny this season and might yet cost the Gunners the title, along with key injuries to their attack. With the likes of Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus out injured, Arsenal had only two shots on target against West Ham. It leaves Liverpool with an eight-point cushion, having played the same number of games as Arsenal, and that advantage could grow wh

UEFA Champions League Round of 16 draw Highlights: Real Madrid to play Atletico Madrid in Ro16

The live streaming of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 draw will be available on the SonyLIV app and website in India.

UEFA Champions League Round of 16 full schedule, live time and streaming

From the knockout play-offs onward, the tournament follows a bracket system, with potential opponents for the last 16, quarter-finals, and semi-finals already pre-determined.

Ex-Spain football boss Rubiales guilty of sexual assault; fined for WC kiss

Former Spanish soccer boss Luis Rubiales was found guilty of sexually assaulting player Jenni Hermoso on Thursday for kissing her after the 2023 Women's World Cup final. He was fined more than 10,000 euros ($10,400) in Audiencia Nacional court and ordered not to get within 200 meters of Hermoso or communicating with her for a year. Rubiales was cleared of the charge of coercion for trying to downplay the kiss on the lips of Hermoso during the awards ceremony after the final in Sydney. The kiss sparked outrage in Spain and marred the celebrations of Spain's first Women's World Cup title. Rubiales said Hermoso consented to the kiss but she denied it. Three other former Spanish federation members accused of coercion former women's team coach Jorge Vilda, sports director of the men's team Albert Luque, and head of marketing Ruben Rivera also were cleared. Hermoso said during her testimony she felt disrespected by Rubiales after winning the World Cup. She said she was pressured into

UEFA Champions League Round of 16 draw: Full list of qualified teams

The draw for the round of 16 will take place on February 21, 2025. Teams from the group stage, who finished in the top 8, are seeded, while the four knockout phase playoff winners will be unseeded.

Real Madrid vs Man City Highlights, Champions League 2025: Mbappe's hattrick knocks City out of UCL

Live streaming of Manchester City vs Real Madrid playoff tie will be available on the SonyLIV app.

Real Madrid vs Manchester City Champions League Head-to-Head statistics

While Manchester City has finally clinched the prestigious European Cup after enduring years of heartbreaking exits, they still have a long way to go before catching up with Real Madrid.

Will Jude Bellingham be available for Real Madrid vs Man City UCL 2nd leg?

Despite his denial, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has handed Bellingham a two-match suspension as a result of the incident.

Champions League 2025: Real Madrid vs Man City live match time, streaming

The live streaming of the UCL playoff between Real Madrid and Manchester City will be available on the SonyLIV app.

Spanish ref who sent off Bellingham under scrutiny for business activities

The referee who sent off Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham for cursing at him has denounced what he calls a false accusation by local media that has led to him being temporarily sidelined by the Spanish soccer federation. The federation said Tuesday that Jos Luis Munuera would not be named to referee games until it concludes its analysis of a report by online newspaper El Espaol that alleged Munuera had business relations with officials in the Spanish league. The focus of the report is Talentus Sports Speakers, a company which Munuera participates in that offers motivation talks by sports figures. Munuera responded to the media report with a statement saying that Talentus Sports Speakers has never invoiced any quantity from any sporting institution, whether it be a club, a federation or a company linked to sports. He added that he would take legal action against media outlets that have intentionally or due to negligence spread false or incorrect information about him or the refereei

UEFA Champions League playoffs: Matches on Feb 19 night (India time)

Real Madrid and Manchester City, who will meet in a highly anticipated second-leg match on Wednesday, have come to expect progression into the round of 16. However, this year, with Manchester City's 1

Champions League: Who will Bayern Munich or Celtic face in Round of 16?

If Bayern are to make it through to the UCL Round of 16 after getting past Celtic at home in the 2nd leg, they be facing either German champions Bayer Leverkusen or Spanish giants Atletico Madrid.

Bayern Munich vs Celtic Champions League playoff live time and streaming

The Bavarians have been nearly invincible at home in the Champions League, having not lost a home game since April 2021.