Page 11 - Uefa Champions League

Real Madrid, Barca's hopes of European Super League are dealt fresh blow

A so-called European Super League was dealt a fresh blow on Saturday when Italian giant Juventus decided to rejoin the body of clubs opposing the controversial breakaway competition. Juventus had been with Real Madrid and Barcelona in pushing for a new competition that would replace the Champions League. But it will rejoin the European Club Association of 600 teams, which has fought strongly against attempts to create a Super League. They are back. It is great, ECA chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi said. The club has an amazing history. We are proud they are back to their family. I also call the others to be back." Madrid and Barcelona are now the only two clubs trying to form a proposed Super League, which has already had one failed launch after angry fan protests in 2021. Madrid president Florentino Perez has been determined to push ahead with plans to create a breakaway, despite the majority of Europe's leading clubs rejecting the idea. His position appeared to be strengthened in ...

Champions League final: Why a win for Real or Dortmund would defy the odds

Real Madrid is going for a record-extending 15th European Cup. Borussia Dortmund is aiming to pull off one of soccer's biggest upsets in recent memory. Whoever wins the Champions League final on Saturday will be defying the odds in their own way. Madrid's domination of European club soccer's biggest prize confounds belief. Its record of 14 titles is twice as many as its closest rival AC Milan. The club has created its history in this competition," coach Carlo Ancelotti says. Madrid's record in the Champions League era is even more impressive: Eight wins since the tournament was rebranded in 1992; three in a row from 2016-18 and five in the last 10 years. In the same period, Madrid has won La Liga only four times. Madrid has also been a semifinalist in 12 of the last 14 seasons. It's something special for the club, for all the madridistas (fans) and for us, who are also madridistas. It's a competition where we're more focused, says Ancelotti, who can win a record-extending fifth

Champions League final: Plenty of fear for Real Madrid coach Ancelotti

Carlo Ancelotti is going into his eighth Champions League final, having won all but one of them. He is the most successful coach in the competition thanks to four titles. He also lifted two European trophies as a player. There is no lack of experience for the veteran Italian manager. But there is still plenty of anxiety and fear for Ancelotti ahead of yet another big game. It's the same as it was the first time, the 64-year-old Ancelotti said as Real Madrid entered the final week of preparations ahead of Saturday's final against Borussia Dortmund in London. First there is the joy of being here, then the concerns will come and the fear will come, he said. But before they come we have to enjoy this week and I'm going to enjoy it. The cold sweat will arrive Saturday afternoon, it's normal, I'm already prepared for it. And this team gives me a lot of confidence, I see them focused on the match, they are in Champions (League) mode. Ancelotti won the Champions League with Madrid in 2022

Uefa CL Final: Dortmund seals sponsorship deal with arms manufacturer

Borussia Dortmund has signed a new sponsorship deal with German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall and will display the defense company's logo ahead of facing Real Madrid in the Champions League final. Dortmund said Wednesday the three-year deal with Rheinmetall includes wide-reaching advertising space, marketing rights and event and hospitality arrangements in the stadium and on the club grounds" starting from this week's buildup for the Champions League final Saturday. Rheinmetall is building a new plant in northern Germany to produce around 200,000 artillery shells per year as part of European efforts to increase weapons production against the backdrop of Russia's war in Ukraine. Security and defense are fundamental cornerstones of our democracy. That is why we believe it is the right decision to take a very close look at how we protect these cornerstones, Dortmund chairman Hans-Joachim Watzke said in a statement. Especially today, when we see every day how freedom must be defended in

Vinicius Junior injured in Real Madrid's Champions League QF match vs City

Vincius Junior was taken off injured in the Champions League quarterfinals second leg between Manchester City and Real Madrid on Wednesday. The Brazil winger appeared to hurt his groin during a race to the ball with City defender Kyle Walker in extra time at Etihad Stadium. He was holding the inside of his thigh and dropped to the ground in pain before being replaced by Lucas Vazquez in the 103rd minute. The game had gone into extra time after it finished 1-1 in regulation. The match was tied 4-4 on aggregate after the first leg ended 3-3 in Madrid last week. Rodrygo fired 14-time champion Madrid ahead in the 12th minute and Kevin De Bruyne leveled for City in the 76th. Real Madrid advanced to the semifinals after winning 4-3 on penalties. Antonio Rudiger struck the decisive spot kick after the game had finished 1-1 through extra time and 4-4 on aggregate.

Man City knocked out of Champions League 2024; Real Madrid seals SF spot

Real Madrid weathered the storm, silenced the crowd and ultimately ended Manchester City's brief hold on the Champions League. The all-time kings of Europe moved a step closer to a record-extending 15th title in the competition they have dominated after a 4-3 win Wednesday on penalties at Etihad Stadium. But not before being pushed to the limit by defending champion City. I was pretty much dead on my feet at the end, Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham said. It's so difficult. They are continuously probing with the ball and move you around. Most teams would fall apart when City get on top of you, but we stood up really well. The game had gone to the uncertainty of a shootout after ending 1-1 on the night and 4-4 on aggregate. City dominated the chances after going behind to Rodrygo's goal in the 12th minute, but only had Kevin de Bruyne's leveler in the 76th to show for its superiority, which included 64% of possession and 18 corners to Madrid's one through extra time. That counted

Uefa CL: Mbapp scores twice as PSG beats Barcelona to reverse 1st-leg loss

Playing with an extra man for more than an hour, Paris Saint-Germain rallied against Barcelona to reach the Champions League semifinals. Kylian Mbapp scored twice as PSG reversed its first-leg loss at home with a 4-1 win at Barcelona on Tuesday to advance 6-4 on aggregate and keep alive its hopes of a first European title in what is the France star's final season with the club. Former Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembl and Vitinha also scored for PSG, which took advantage of a 29th-minute red card to Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo after he fouled Bradley Barcola while trying to stop a breakaway. When it was 11 against 11 we were well organized. The sending off changes everything. The match changed completely, said Barcelona coach Xavi Hernndez, who was later sent off himself for complaining. We would have liked to play PSG 11 against 11. That should not have been a red card. Barcelona had gotten off to a good start and opened the scoring with a goal by Raphinha in the 12th, but the

Uefa CL 2023-24: Dortmund digs deep to beat Atltico 5-4 on aggregate

Marcel Sabitzer scored late and set up two goals to send Borussia Dortmund into the Champions League semifinals with a helter-skelter 4-2 win over Atltico Madrid on Tuesday. After losing the first leg of their quarterfinal 2-1 in Madrid, Dortmund had to come from behind twice over two legs to advance 5-4 on aggregate. Julian Brandt opened the scoring to level the tie before Sabitzer set up Ian Maatsen to give Dortmund a 2-0 lead on the night. Atltico coach Diego Simeone responded with three changes at the break and they all paid off. A Mats Hummels own goal and goal from substitute Joaqun Correa put the Spanish side back in front on aggregate. Then Sabitzer set up Niclas Fllkrug in the 71st minute for the Germany forward's first goal after nine scoreless games, and Sabitzer scored himself three minutes later to send Dortmund into the last four. That was a rollercoaster, a really great evening, Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke said. It's not always like that for Borussi

Uefa CL: Real Madrid and Man City draw 3-3 in frantic 1st leg quarterfinals

Three goals in the first 14 minutes. Back-and-forth attacking. Stunning second-half strikes. It was an instant classic between the newest Champions League rivals, with Real Madrid and Manchester City drawing 3-3 in a frantic first leg of the quarterfinals on Tuesday. I imagine the fans enjoyed a game like this, with six goals, City manager Pep Guardiola said. Both teams wanted to attack, doing it in different ways, a bit out of control." Federico Valverde scored a 79th-minute equalizer for Madrid after City had rallied with Phil Foden and Josko Gvardiol scoring goals five minutes apart midway through the second half at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. Bernardo Silva had put City ahead two minutes into the match, but Madrid rallied with an own-goal by City defender Rben Dias in the 12th and a score by forward Rodrygo in the 14th. We wanted to take at least a small advantage, but in the end we are satisfied because we competed well and gave our best, Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said.

Champions League QFs full schedule, live match time (IST), live streaming

Uefa Champions League 2023-24 quarterfinal draw: The first leg of the ties will be played on April 10 and 11 while the reverse leg will be played on April 17 and 18 respectively, according to IST

Champions League today's match: Atletico vs Inter time, streaming details

Atletico Madrid will take on Inter Milan at Civitas Metropolitan Stadium at 1:30 AM IST on Thursday, March 14, 2024. The match will be telecast live on Sony Sports and can be live-streamed on Sony LIV

UCL today's match: Barcelona vs Napoli live match begins at 1:30 PM IST

Barcelona will take on Napoli at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys on March 13, 2024 at 1:30 AM IST. The match will be telecast live on Sony Sports and can also be live-streamed on Sony LIV in India

Champions League today's match: Arsenal vs Porto live match time, streaming

Arsenal will take on Porto at the Emirates Stadium at 1:30 PM IST on Wednesday, March 13, 2024. The match will be telecast live on Sony Sports and can also be live-streamed on Sony LIV in India

Champions League QFs: Mbappe scores twice as PSG beat Real Sociedad

Kylian Mbapp led Paris Saint-Germain back to the Champions League quarterfinals on Tuesday, scoring both goals in a 2-1 win over Real Sociedad that kept alive the French club's hopes of winning the European title in its last season with the France forward. PSG advanced 4-1 on aggregate, with Mbapp also scoring one of the goals in the 2-0 win in the first leg in Paris three weeks ago. Mbapp has already told PSG he will not stay with the club after this season. Despite huge spending to try to win the Champions League for the first time, PSG had been eliminated from the last 16 five times in the last seven seasons, including the last two. It had made it to the semifinals in 2021 and was runner-up in 2020. We knew right away that we couldn't go to sleep, Mbapp said. If they had opened the scoring, they would have pushed on with their fans' backing. We had to dampen their hopes early on. That's what we did, and we're very happy to be back in the quarterfinals. Mbapp was the ...

Champions League 2023-24: Harry Kane steers Bayern Munich into quarters

He's done it again. Harry Kane scored twice to steer Bayern Munich into the quarterfinals of the Champions League with a 3-0 win over Lazio on Tuesday. Kane's 32nd and 33rd goals this season for Bayern ensured the Bavarian powerhouse recovered from losing the first leg of the last 16 tie 1-0 in Rome to win 3-1 on aggregate over two legs. A perfect night for us, said Kane, the man of the match. The win will ease the pressure on Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel, whose premature departure at the end of the season was announced by Bayern after the team's three-game losing run including the defeat in Rome. Bayern's new sporting director Max Eberl said before Tuesday's game that Tuchel would remain in charge afterward even if the team lost, but there had been a feeling defeat would bring forward the coach's exit. Bayern, which is 10 points behind Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga, was facing the prospect of just its second elimination in 12 appearances at this stage of the Champions League

English clubs' financial power is $25bn of European soccer economy: UEFA

The financial power of English soccer was detailed in a UEFA report Thursday analyzing the record 24 billion euros ($25.75 billion) economy of top-tier clubs across Europe. The 20 Premier League clubs' total revenue of 6.5 billion euros ($7 billion) in 2022 was almost equal to the next two richest leagues combined Spain's La Liga and Germany's 18-team Bundesliga each had about 3.3 billion euros ($3.54 billion). Those 20 Premier League clubs combined had as much revenue as all 642 clubs in the 50 countries outside the big five leagues of England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France, UEFA said. Closing the gap on English clubs' spending power had been cited in 2021 as a reason why clubs in Spain and Italy pushed hardest for the breakaway Super League project that failed. UEFA's annual review of club finances suggested the industry has recovered from lingering pandemic impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak that shut down European soccer in 2020. It predicted total revenue topping 26 billion

Champions League: De Bruyne inspires Man City to 3-1 win at Copenhagen

Kevin De Bruyne is so often Manchester City's man for the big occasion. He delivered again at the start of the Champions League's knockout stage. By scoring one goal and having a hand in two others, the Belgium playmaker inspired City to a 3-1 win at FC Copenhagen in the first leg of the round of 16 on Tuesday as the English champions resumed their quest to retain their European crown. It's an English-record nine straight wins in the Champions League for City stretching back to last season, and 10 victories in a row in all competitions over the past two months. It is going to take something special to stop Pep Guardiola's defending champions. Only a careless mistake from goalkeeper Ederson Moraes, which led to Copenhagen's equalizer in the 34th minute, prevented City from taking an even more commanding lead into the second leg in Manchester in three weeks. Still, few will give the Danish champions hope of turning this around. Not with De Bruyne seemingly back in top form already

Champions League knockout stage starts with Man City and Real Madrid games

The Champions League narrative is so often about Manchester City and Real Madrid. The past two champions of Europe were the only teams to sweep through the group stage with six wins. They also are first in action Tuesday when the most prized competition in club soccer resumes in the round of 16. Man City is away to a Copenhagen team playing in the knockout stage for the first time in 13 years and Madrid is at Leipzig for the first leg. The two teams favored to lift the trophy warmed up with comfortable wins Saturday and goals from signature players. Erling Haaland confirmed his return to form after a foot injury with both goals in Man City's 2-0 win over Everton, his first since Nov. 28 when Leipzig was beaten 3-2 in their Champions League group. Haaland has a Premier League-leading 16 goals and Madrid's Jude Bellingham has a La Liga-best 15 after also scoring twice in a 4-0 rout of second-place Girona, which is owned by the same Abu Dhabi group as Man City. But Bellingham has an

Champions League round of 16 draw: City play Copenhagen, Arsenal face Porto

Following a thrilling couple of months of group-stage action, the focus now shifts to the knockout rounds where 16 teams will fight it out to win the ultimate crown

Champions League 2023-24: England flop, Spain surge; Copenhagen surprises

So much for the English taking over European soccer. The final Champions League group stage in its current format ended with representation from the supposedly all-powerful Premier League cut in half as Manchester United and Newcastle United failed to advance to the knockout stage and were even knocked out of European competition altogether. Instead, there was a Spanish resurgence, a decent showing from the German contingent, and a couple of nice surprises making their way into the round of 16 in the form of Copenhagen and PSV Eindhoven. This was the last year of the 32-team, eight-pool group stage, with the Union of European Football Associations pivoting next season to a single 36-team league that will see clubs play eight games up from the current six. The top eight teams will advance automatically to the round of 16 knockout bracket and Nos. 9 to 24 in the standings go into a playoff round to decide the other eight qualifiers. So, what have we learned ahead of the round of 1