Friday, May 12, 2017

Bailly out of Europa League final after red card


Bailly out of Europa League final after red card
Eric Bailly will miss the Europa League final after being sent off in Manchester United's semi-final second leg clash against Celta Vigo on Thursday night.

The Ivorian defender was dismissed after putting a hand to John Guidetti's face, with Facundo Roncaglia then also seeing red for retaliating in the aftermath.
United were not punished, however, with John Guidetti missing a late chance to send Celta into the final at the home side's expense.

Thursday, May 11, 2017

BARCA EYE ROMEU RETURN

Oriol Romeu Southampton Premier League
Barcelona are considering a move to bring Oriol Romeu back to the club from Southampton this summer, according to Marca .

The midfielder graduated through Barca's academy but is only now starting to realise his potential at St Mary's, and would cost at least €15 million to acquire after being named the Saints' Player of the Year.

Atletico Madrid 2 Real Madrid 1 (2-4 agg): Calderon comeback falls short as Isco sets up Juventus showdown

Atletico Madrid's last Champions League game at Vicente Calderon ended in victory, but Real Madrid will meet Juventus in the final.
Sergio Ramos and Isco celebrate for Real Madrid against Atletico Madrid
Real Madrid reached a third Champions League final in four years after seeing off Atletico Madrid despite a 2-1 defeat in the second leg of their semi-final tie on Wednesday.
Two goals in the first 16 minutes from Atleti threatened to produce another memorable comeback in this season's tournament, until Isco's strike just before half-time effectively ended those hopes and sealed a 4-2 aggregate win.
The players were greeted with a tifo from the home fans proclaiming 'proud to be different to you' as they walked out onto the pitch for the last European game at Vicente Calderon, but Atletico's electric start was very much in the mould of Madrid's in the first leg.
Saul Niguez thumped in a header with 12 minutes gone before Antoine Griezmann converted a penalty to get Diego Simeone's side believing in a turnaround.
Madrid have made a habit of digging deep to salvage results this term, though, and Isco's finish from close range on 42 minutes – his first in the Champions League this season – handed Zinedine Zidane's side a crucial away goal.
Atleti persevered but there was little real hope in their second-half efforts, as they suffered European heartbreak against their city rivals for the fourth time in as many seasons.
Madrid's hopes of becoming the first team to defend the Champions League remain intact, however, and they will face Juventus – the team Zidane left as a player to move to Santiago Bernabeu, who knocked out Monaco on Tuesday – in next month's final in Cardiff.
Atletico went in hunt of the opening goal from kick-off and it took a fine low save at the near post from Keylor Navas to stop Koke's prodded effort from giving the hosts the lead after only five minutes.
Jan Oblak was equally impressive at the other end to keep out Casemiro's header with a flying one-armed stop, but Atleti's pressure on the Madrid defence told in the 13th minute, as Saul rose highest to power a header beyond Navas from six yards out from a Koke corner.
Madrid's defence had not settled and Atleti took advantage again on 16 minutes. Raphael Varane's clumsy challenge felled Fernando Torres in the penalty area, allowing Griezmann - who missed from the spot in normal time of last year's final - to double the lead, even though Navas got a hand to his effort.
Madrid began to dictate possession without creating much of a threat as the first half descended into a scrappy affair in which five players were shown yellow cards, including captains Sergio Ramos and Gabi, both for dissent.
With three minutes to play before the interval, Madrid's increasing control bore a priceless away goal. Karim Benzema's magnificent footwork saw him beat three players as he cut into the area from the left, and although Oblak saved Toni Kroos' shot from the striker's cut-back, Isco was on hand to turn in the rebound.
The visitors suddenly looked comfortable, with Isco and Luka Modric taking command of proceedings, and another fine piece of skill from the former sent Madrid on their way to a promising attack early in the second half that finished with a wayward first-time strike from Cristiano Ronaldo.
Atleti's attack was lacking the intensity they showed in the first but Navas was needed to stop the home side grabbing another lifeline, making a good low block to deny Yannick Carrasco before scrambling up to turn substitute Kevin Gameiro's rebound wide of the goal.
Madrid had the ball in the net again after Ronaldo scuffed Modric's mishit volley into the bottom corner, only for an offside flag to be raised, before Benzema's diving header rippled the side-netting following a fine Marcelo cross.
A late push from Atleti was not enough to threaten the result as they missed out on a return to the final, while Madrid remain well placed to secure a league and Champions League double.

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

CONTE GIVEN FULL BACKING

Antonio Conte Chelsea Premier League
Chelsea's board are prepared to offer Antonio Conte a new, improved contract deal and will back the Italian boss completely in the transfer market, the Mirror  reports.
The Blues are keen to see off interest from Inter, who are prepared to offer the manager a £10m-per-year deal, and will sanction bids for Alexis Sanchez, Romelu Lukaku and Virgil van Dijk.

Pogba shows off Man Utd's 2017-18 away kit inspired by 1992 team

The midfielder modeled the club's new jersey based on one that "defined football shirt design for an era" when they won the European Cup Winners' Cup
















Manchester United have revealed their away kit for the 2017-18 campaign.
Declaring it "inspired by 92", the new Red Devils jersey is based on the one the team wore on their journey to the European Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA Super Cup and League Cup.
Darker than the original, the new jersey has a similar pattern on it to the 25-year-old one that Sir Alex Ferguson's successful team wore and is vastly different from their current solid blue away shirt.
"Manchester United fans of all ages will recognise the bold graphic pattern from the 1990-92 away jersey that defined football shirt design for an era," the club said via their website. "Connecting the past to the future, the new kit pays homage to the historic design, celebrating the rich history of the club.
"The graphic design of the original kit has been reimagined on a black backdrop with white hues, with the classic adidas three stripes, club badge and adidas logo all in white. A crew-neck collar gives the kit a modern makeover, making it a jersey that’s as much at home on the streets as it is on the pitch.
"The kit features all the technological innovations of adidas’ jersey technology used by the world’s leading clubs, including breathable fabrics and mesh engineering."
Paul Pogba, Ander Herrera, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and David De Gea showed off the new version which Jose Mourinho's side will sport as they look to challenge for the Premier League title next season. 
The jersey is made by Adidas and is already available to order, but costs £89.95 (€119.95) for the authentic version, though a replica is available for £54.95 (€69.95)

Paul Pogba transfer: FIFA confirms investigation into Man Utd signing

The world football governing body has confirmed reports that it has launched a probe into the midfielder's world-record move from Juventus last year
Paul Pogba transfer: FIFA confirms investigation into Man Utd signing
FIFA has confirmed that it is investigating Paul Pogba's record-breaking transfer to Manchester United last summer.
The news was broken by Football Leaks, AFP and other European news outlets claiming that Pogba's agent, Mino Raiola, was at the centre of the €105 million transfer probe.
Documents purportedly relating to the France international's move showed that Raiola stood to benefit to the tune of £41m off the deal.
A FIFA spokesperson told Omnisport: "We can confirm that FIFA TMS [Transfer Matching System] has been requesting information on this matter. 
"We have no further comment at this stage."
The deal that took Pogba back to United from Turin saw him become the world's most expensive player, breaking the previous record of £86m set by Gareth Bale's move from Tottenham to Real Madrid.
Raiola also represents a host of other high-profile players, including Pogba's United team-mates Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, as well as the likes of Romelu Lukaku and Mario Balotelli.
Man Utd and Juventus are yet to comment on the allegations, which surfaced at the start of the Champions League semi-final between the Italian giants and Monaco on Tuesday.

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Juventus 2 Monaco 1 (4-1 agg): Alves leads serene charge into Champions League final

Juventus secured simple passage to their second Champions League final in three years as a 2-1 win over Monaco secured a 4-1 aggregate win.

Juventus full-back Dani Alves celebrates goal against Monaco

Dani Alves orchestrated another brilliant Juventus performance in this season's Champions League as a 2-1 win over Monaco on home turf secured a 4-1 aggregate triumph and a place in the final.
Juventus' half-decade dominance of Serie A is yet to translate into success on the continental stage, but the Bianconeri have never looked better placed to win a third European crown than Massimiliano Allegri's current crop do.
Along with Sami Khedira and Mario Mandzukic, Alves is one of just three players in this squad to have won the big trophy and the Brazilian followed up two assists at Stade Louis II with another star turn, helping Mandzukic to the nerve-settling opener before blasting in before the break to allow 45 minutes of joyous celebrating and frantic seeking of hostelries in Cardiff.
Kylian Mbappe's zip and zeal was rewarded with a second-half goal that rounds off a stunning debut season for the 18-year-old.
Though Monaco's brilliant babes will not share a European crown before they are sold off to the highest bidder, they are tantalisingly close to the Ligue 1 crown, and surely the likes of Bernardo Silva, Thomas Lemar and Mbappe will have greater tales to tell in this competition over the next decade.
But those prodigies and their wise old figurehead Radamel Falcao barely laid a glove on Juve over two legs and the determined, drilled - and occasionally dastardly - trio of Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini will relish a showpiece battles of 'BBC' line-ups, with Real Madrid - of Bale, Benzema and Cristiano - 3-0 up on neighbours Atletico in the other semi-final.
The Juve defence is still to be breached from open play in this season's competition and, having played the underdog to Barcelona two years ago, Allegri's stronger, slicker side may well head to the Welsh capital as favourites this time around.
Defiance rumbled down from the stands pre-match as the home fans bellowed 'CHAMPIONS' amid the pre-match anthem and a 'Time for Cardiff' banner greeted the players out of the tunnel and a nervy opening was ridden out in typically stubborn fashion.
Gianluigi Buffon stretched out a tweaked back in the warm-up and flapped at an early cross before Mbappe beat him to a high ball and struck a post amid the raising of an offside flag and there were further signs of danger for Juve when Khedira twanged a hamstring and had to be replaced by Claudio Marchisio.
But as the storm passed, Juventus thundered back into the contest, Kamil Glik and Danijel Subasic desperately denying Gonzalo Higuain and Mandzukic before the Croatian striker finally found a way through.
As in the first leg, Alves found the key to unlock Monaco, his pin-perfect cross finding Mandzukic, who lashed high into the net after Subasic brilliantly denied his initial header.
Juve smelled blood and Higuain was denied a goal by the assistant's flag before Chiellini celebrated a geometrically thrilling goalline clearance as if he had scored - soon the stadium would do so again.
Subasic denied Paulo Dybala one-on-one but was left flailing when he punched the resulting corner onto Alves' right boot and the three-time Champions League winner returned with interest, smashing a laser-guided volley into the net.
Buffon was beginning to look unbeatable as he sprawled to deny Mbappe one-on-one but the teenager would have his goal soon after as he turned in from inches after Joao Moutinho got to the byline from a short corner.
Higuain was left enraged after collecting some war wounds from former Torino defender Glik as the visitors grew tetchy in the closing stages, but the Argentine will recover for another assault on a major final where he will look to improve on a desperate record with Argentina.
Poorer omens follow in Juve last beating Monaco at this stage of the Champions League before losing to Real Madrid in the 1998 final, but Allegri's vintage are made of the stern stuff required to turn history on its head.