Page 16 - Uefa Champions League

UEFA strips Russia of Champions League final, summit clash moved to Paris

Russia was stripped of hosting the Champions League final by UEFA on Friday with St. Petersburg replaced by Paris after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Scotland in joint bid to host Euro 2028 with UK and Ireland

While the bid to host Euro 2028 has been launched, the nations have agreed not to submit a bid for the 2030 World Cup

UEFA human rights, environmental strategy ready to meet challenges

UEFA set itself a goal of ending racism in European soccer by 2030 as part of a human rights and environmental strategy that had an uneasy launch. Other long-term targets include zero episodes of child abuse, embedding rights principles into all strategic decisions, reach "net zero carbon by 2040 collaboratively across European football, and eliminating plastic waste. It's an ambitious target but we are looking to do it, Michele Uva, director of the UEFA sustainability project, said of the headline goal on racism. The challenges were clear even as UEFA formally launched its Strength Through Unity document. The Sports & Rights Alliance group distanced itself from involvement with a project it said places human rights solely as a public relations matter. No matter what UEFA claims, the development of its human rights strategy did not entail a legitimate consultation process and it does not meet any international or European standards, said Minky Worden of Human Rights Watch. UEFA'

European powers joined by Sporting in Champions League last 16

The parade of European powers advancing to the Champions League knockout stage was disrupted by Sporting Lisbon completing a stunning turnaround to join them

Man United, Chelsea advance in Champions League; Barcelona made to wait

Energized by a change of manager and another opportunistic finish by Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United qualified for the knockout stage of the Champions League with a game to spare. Another newly appointed coach sill has work to do, though, to get Barcelona into the last 16. United was led for the first time by Michael Carrick following the weekend firing of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and, just like his predecessor, the interim manager was left to be thankful for a goal by the Champions League's record scorer. Ronaldo produced a sublime lobbed finish to put United ahead against Villarreal on Tuesday and a 90th-minute strike by Jadon Sancho his first goal since joining for $100 million in the offseason sealed a 2-0 win to secure progress as the winner of Group F. Ronaldo has scored in all five group games so far, and now has a record-extending 140 Champions League goals in his career. Another English team, defending champion Chelsea, also advanced on the back of a 4-0 win over ...

Xavi looks for 'positive' Barca to seal place in Champions League last-16

FC Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez insisted that "every game" the club plays is vital as he prepares for the Champions League clash at home to Benfica late on Tuesday

Barcelona loses again in Champions League with 3-0 defeat to Benfica

After yet another demoralising loss, struggling Barcelona faces a grim future in the Champions League. The Catalan club followed its 3-0 opening loss against Bayern Munich with another 3-0 defeat at Benfica on Wednesday. Bottom of its group, Barcelona suddenly sees itself in danger of not reaching the knockout stage for the first time since 2000-01. "We are in a critical situation," Barcelona captain Sergio Busquets said. "We have zero points after the first two rounds." Darwin Nuez scored twice including three minutes into the match and Rafa Silva added another goal at the Stadium of Light to help Benfica end a 60-year winless streak against Barcelona. It was its second victory in eight matches against the Catalan club. Bayern cruised past Dynamo Kyiv in Germany in the other Group E match to reach six points from two matches. Benfica, which had opened with a draw at Dynamo, has four points, three more than Dynamo. Barcelona stayed on zero points ahead of consecutive matches aga

Ronaldo breaks record for most appearances in Champions League

Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo has created the record for making the most appearances in the history of the UEFA Champions League

Ronaldo's brilliance helps United defeat Villarreal in thrilling encounter

Cristiano Ronaldo's goal in the dying minutes of the game helped Manchester United defeat Villarreal in Group F encounter of the UEFA Champions League here at Old Trafford.United defeated Villarreal 2-1 and now the side is at the third spot in Group F with three points from two games.The first half of the game did not see any goals and at halftime, the scoreline remained 0-0.In the second half, Villarreal took the lead as Paco Alcacer registered the goal in the 53rd minute. However, seven minutes later, United managed to equalise through Alex Telles.It was looking like that the match will end as a draw, but Ronaldo's brilliance in the dying minutes ensured that the Red Devils walked away with a thrilling 2-1 victory.In other matches, Bayern Munich defeated Dynamo Kyiv 5-0 as Robert Lewandowski scored a brace.Barcelona suffered a 0-3 defeat at the hands of Benfica while Juventus registered a 1-0 win over Chelsea.

Newcomer Sheriff stuns Real Madrid 2-1 in Champions League

The start to life in the Champions League couldn't be going much better for Moldovan club Sheriff. Sbastien Thill scored a 90th-minute winner as the newcomers stunned Real Madrid 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabu Stadium on Tuesday. Thill netted with a powerful shot into the top corner from the edge of the area to give Sheriff its second consecutive victory. It leads Group D with six points, three more than Madrid and five more than both Shakhtar Donetsk and Inter Milan, which drew 0-0 in Ukraine in the other group match. Sheriff beat Shakhtar Donetsk 2-0 in its opener at home, while Madrid won 1-0 at Inter. "For us this is a dream come true to have won here," Sheriff captain Frank Castaeda said. "We're so happy, and just enjoying it. We have full faith in what we've been doing and things are going well for us. We didn't just come here to sit around, we know how good our players are and luckily for us Madrid weren't able to take their chances and we took ours. Sheriff is the first clu

Champions League: Lionel Messi scores as PSG defeat Man City

Idrrisa Gueye and Lionel Messi got among the scoring chart as Paris Saint-Germain defeated Manchester City in the Group A encounter of the UEFA Champions League

Lionel Messi may return for PSG against Manchester City in UCL

Paris Saint-Germain head coach Mauricio Pochettino has admitted that his star-studded team is still under construction, on the eve of hosting Manchester City in their Group A match in Paris on Tuesday

Biennial World Cup?

Critics of the biennial idea - principally UEFA and Conmebol, the South American federation - say it is "unviable"

Salah equals Gerrard's record for scoring most UCL goals at Anfield

Egyptian and Liverpool star Mohamed Salah has equalled Steven Gerrard's record of scoring most Champions League goals at Anfield

Champions League: Messi and PSG held by Brugge; City, Liverpool, Madrid win

Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbapp and Neymar lined up together in the near-perfect attack for Paris Saint-Germain and still could not score or deliver a win in the Champions League

UCL: Lewandowski strikes twice as Bayern Munich defeat Barcelona

Robert Lewandowski scored a brace as Bayern Munich defeated Barcelona 3-0 in the UEFA Champions League Group E match on Tuesday (local time).Apart from Lewandowski, Thomas Muller also got on the scoring sheet as Bayern outclassed Barcelona.Muller registered the first goal of the match in the 34th minute and Lewandowski followed with two goals in the second half.Lewandowski registered goals in the 56th and 85th minutes of the game respectively.Bayern Munich will next lock horns against Dynamo Kyiv on Wednesday, September 29.In another game, Manchester United suffered a 1-2 defeat at the hands of Young Boys while Chelsea defeated Zenit 1-0 in the UEFA Champions League.

UEFA compensates dropped Euro 2020 hosts with Europa League finals

UEFA compensated Dublin and Bilbao on Friday for dropping them as European Championship hosts by awarding each city a future Europa League final

Hopeful of new era, Bayern presents coach Julian Nagelsmann

Bayern Munich has won an unprecedented nine straight Bundesliga titles, five German Cups and the Champions League twice in the past decade. It isn't enough. Bayern CEO Oliver Kahn and sporting director Hasan Salihamidic said Wednesday they wanted to start a new era as they presented new coach Julian Nagelsmann. Expectations are not small at Bayern Munich, said Kahn, who took over the club's top position from former executive board chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge last week. Kahn, a former goalkeeper who helped Bayern win 23 titles between 1994 and 2008, said the club had watched Nagelsmann's progress at rivals Hoffenheim, then Leipzig and seen that he has the quality to take teams to the next level. Nagelsmann's predecessor, Hansi Flick, left after claiming back-to-back Bundesliga crowns, and a clean sweep of every possible title in his first season. But well-publicized disagreements with Salihamidic contributed to his decision to leave despite having a contract for two more ...

Ex-Madrid captain Sergio Ramos signs 2-year deal with PSG

Obsessed with winning the Champions League, Paris Saint-Germain added precious experience to its squad by recruiting former Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos on Thursday

UEFA abolishes away-goals rule in club competitions

The away-goals rule was abolished on Thursday by UEFA after 56 years as a fundamental way of deciding matches in its European club competitions. The move was often proposed in recent years by club coaches who felt an idea from the 1960s was no longer relevant. Games now tied on aggregate score after the regulation 90 minutes in the second leg will go direct to extra time and then to a penalty shootout. UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin cited the "unfairness, especially in extra time, of obliging the home team to score twice when the away team has scored." UEFA cited several factors that "blurred the lines between playing at home and away" including more television coverage to better understand opponents' styles, comfortable travel and better playing surfaces. Ceferin said the rule outlived its usefulness and inhibited home teams from attacking "because they fear conceding a goal that would give their opponents a crucial advantage.