Page 11 - Uefa 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

Man United has to beat the odds and Bayern Munich to avoid CL elimination

The odds are against Manchester United as the three-time European Cup winners battle to avoid early elimination from the Champions League. United faces Bayern Munich at Old Trafford on Tuesday and needs to end the German giants' record 39-game unbeaten run in the group stages to have any chance of advancing to the knockout rounds. But even that might not be enough, with Erik ten Hag's team sitting bottom of Group A and also relying on a draw between Copenhagen and Galatasaray in the group's other game. What I know is I never think of a negative scenario, we think positive, we know what to do, we have to win to stay in Europe, it's about that, the United manager said Monday. We will prepare the team with that feeling, with that belief, we have shown in the last weeks when we are at our best we can do it. Consistency has been the biggest issue for Ten Hag this season. That was perfectly illustrated last week when United produced one of its best performances of the campaign to beat ...

Champions League: Guardiola walks off smiling as City stays perfect

On a night of unconvincing performances from Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan, Pep Guardiola walked off smiling following a comeback victory for Manchester City in the Champions League. Phil Foden inspired a second-half comeback as City beat Leipzig 3-2 on Tuesday to take first place in Group G and extend its perfect record to five wins in five matches. It's the seventh straight season that City has won its group. The defending champions trailed 2-0 at halftime but Foden scored one goal and helped to create two more to turn the match around and Guardiola had a smirk on his face when he shook hands with Leipzig counterpart Marco Rose after the final whistle. We had to be relaxed as possible and we reacted really well," Guardiola said. "We are first in the group and I am very satisfied for the reaction at the end. The team runs and fights and has spirit." Kylian Mbapp's penalty deep into stoppage time salvaged a point for PSG in a 1-1 draw with an injury-depleted but tenacious Newca

Sevilla held by Lens 1-1 at home in group stage of Champions League

Sevilla couldn't manage more than a 1-1 draw with Lens in their opening match of Group B in the Champions League. Lucas Ocampos put the hosts ahead with a header in the ninth minute on Wednesday. Angelo Fulgini equalized for the French club with a powerful free-kick strike in the 24th at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium. "We played better than they did," Ocampos said. "But these games are difficult. There's a reason they are in the Champions League, they are a great team." Sevilla was coming off its first win of the season in a match against Las Palmas in the Spanish league on Sunday. Lens was winless in its last five matches, with four losses and a draw. "My goal did us a lot of good because I think if we didn't equalize so soon we would have struggled," Fulgini said. "The goal came at a good time. The free kick came off for me and we can be pleased today." Former Spain and Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos made his 138th Champions League appearance, the first with Sevilla. S

UCL: Stoppage-time drama again as Bayern Munich beats Manchester United 4-3

Mathys Tel's stoppage-time goal proved enough for Bayern Munich to beat Manchester United 4-3 in their Champions League opening game. Tel scored with a spectacular finish in the second minute of injury time on Wednesday, restoring Bayern's two-goal lead just when United threatened to pull off another remarkable comeback after Casemiro scored in the 88th. Casemiro did score again in the fifth minute of stoppages with a header to Bruno Fernandes' free kick, but this time there was no fairy-tale ending for United, which beat Bayern with two late goals to win the 1999 Champions League final. United had forced the initiative early as the old rivals met again in the group stage, but Harry Kane's penalty in the 53rd for 3-1 seemed to be the final blow for an injury-hit team low on confidence after starting the Premier League with three defeats in five games. United was without the injured Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire, Tyrell Malacia, Mason Mount and Aaron Wan-Bissaka, and coach Erik ten Hag w

Arsenal makes winning return to Champions League, beats PSV Eindhoven 4-0

Arsenal made a stylish return to the Champions League by sweeping aside PSV Eindhoven 4-0 at Emirates Stadium after a six-year absence from the competition. Arsenal seemed determined to make up for lost time and jumped out to a 3-0 lead by the 38th minute on Wednesday with PSV goalkeeper Walter Benitez having made a couple of good saves by then to prevent an even bigger scoreline. In a game played in driving rain throughout, Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus all scored in the first half, before Martin Odegaard added the fourth with a long-range strike in the 70th. Arsenal qualified for the Champions League for 19 straight years under Arsene Wenger but had not played in the competition since 2016-17. PSV last played in it five years ago, and the two teams met in the group stage of the second-tier Europa League last season. Arsenal beat PSV 1-0 at home that time, but this was a far more one-sided affair. Saka opened the scoring in the eighth minute by slipping away fr

UCL: Bellingham's last-gasp goal give Real Madrid win over Union Berlin

Jude Bellingham keeps delivering for Real Madrid. This time the heroics came in his Champions League debut with the Spanish powerhouse. Bellingham helped extend Madrid's perfect start to the season by scoring a stoppage-time goal in the team's 1-0 win over newcomer Union Berlin in Group C on Wednesday. It was Madrid's sixth consecutive victory, with the other five coming in the Spanish league. The newly signed Bellingham scored his sixth goal in as many matches with Madrid by picking up a loose ball inside the area and firing it into the open net four minutes into stoppage time at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. "I'm not going to lie, I hope I keep on scoring goals in minute 94 or 95. Although it might do my heart, and the club, good to scorer earlier," said the 20-year-old Bellingham, who joined from Borussia Dortmund in the offseason and has been Madrid's hottest player early on. His winner against Getafe in the Spanish league had come five minutes into stoppage time, and against

Champions League: Manchester United vs Bayern Munich live match time today

Man Utd vs Bayern match in the Champions League will take place on September 21, or after midnight today.

Champions League 2023-24 full schedule, teams, live streaming in India

Arsenal and Manchester United make their Champions League comebacks as the group stage draws were announced on Thursday, August 31, 2023

No Ronaldo, Neymar, Benzema in Champions League: Uefa chief quashes rumours

Rumours circulating that Saudi Pro League teams could participate in the Champions League were quashed by Uefa chief Aleksander Ceferin

Juventus banned from UEFA Conference League 2023-24 for violating rules

The club would further have to pay an additional 10 million euros if it fails to comply with UEFA financial monitoring rules in future seasons

Confirmed! Barcelona to play in Champions League as Uefa suspends probe

The Union of European Football Associations confirmed Barcelona's place in the next UEFA Champions League on Thursday though said an investigation into more than USD 7 million paid to a refereeing official could be reopened if more evidence emerges. Barcelona's place in the Champions League group stage worth tens of millions of euros (dollars) earned by winning the Spanish league last season could have been at risk from the so-called "Caso Negreira" case. Court documents show Barcelona paid 7.3 million euros (USD 7.7 million) from 2001-18 to the company of Jos Mara Enrquez Negreira, the former vice president of Spanish soccer's refereeing committee. Prosecutors in Spain formally accused Barcelona of corruption in sports, fraudulent management and falsification of business documents. However, no clear allegations of any specific fixed games or referees who were influenced have emerged since UEFA opened its investigation in March. UEFA competition rules require teams to be removed

Champions League: More national derby games possible from 2024-25 - UEFA

Teams from the same country will have more chances to play each other when the Champions League and other European club competitions are revamped next year, UEFA said Monday. There will be an open draw for the round of 16 without so-called country protection and two teams from a high-ranked nation could also face each other in the new league stage to avoid a deadlock in the draw, UEFA acknowledged. Currently, teams from the same country are always separated in the traditional group stage and cannot meet in the knockout phase until the quarterfinals. That changes in the 2024-25 season when the Champions League, Europa League and re-branded Conference League each move to a 36-team format with a single standings table. Teams in the Champions League and Europa League will play eight games each in the league phase, which will end in January. Conference League teams will have six rounds ending in December. The extra games, drawn from four seeding pots each containing nine teams, means .

UEFA Euro Qualifiers: France emerge victorious, defeat Greece 1-0 at home

In the UEFA EURO Qualifiers match, France defeated Greece 1-0 in a thrilling encounter on Tuesday at the Stade de France stadium.

Man City celebrates winning treble win with open-top bus parade in rain

Champagne and rain poured as Manchester City's players celebrated winning the treble of major trophies with an open-top bus parade through the city centre in front of tens of thousands of fans. The start of the evening parade was delayed because of what City called "adverse weather conditions and lightning storms" but two blue buses complete with the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League trophies aboard eventually wound their way through the city streets, with the players and cigar-smoking manager Pep Guardiola wearing T-shirts bearing the words "Treble Winners." "It had to be the best parade with this rain, otherwise this is not Manchester," Guardiola said after the squad reached a stage on St. Peter's Square in the middle of Manchester, led by a shirtless Erling Haaland and Ruben Dias with three medals around his neck. We don't want sunshine, we want rain, so it was perfect." City beat Inter Milan 1-0 in the Champions League final in Istanbul on Saturday to complete the .

Pep Guardiola wins the treble again: Is he the greatest football manager?

By winning the UEFA Champions League final with Manchester City against Inter Milan on June 11, 2023, Pep Guardiola has become the first player to win the treble twice with two different teams