Juventus shares plummet after shock Champions League defeat to Ajax April 17, 2019 Juventus shares have plunged 17 per cent this morning as investors reacted to the Italian football giant’s heartbreak in the Champions League last night. Read more: Juventus FC to offer €165m bonds The Old Lady of Italian football crashed out 3-2 on aggregate in the quarter finals to a resurgent Ajax team, who have now [...]
Barcelona 3-0 Manchester United: Lionel Messi magic and individual errors prove toxic combination for United April 16, 2019 On a night when they needed perfection, United were hindered by their limitations and overwhelmed by their opposition’s class. Lionel Messi magic and individual errors is a dangerous combination and in the end a four-minute spell was all it took for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s dreams to turn to dust as his side were unceremoniously dumped [...]
Trevor Steven: Manchester City’s make-or-break week in their quadruple bid starts against Tottenham April 16, 2019 Last week I was lucky enough to visit Manchester City’s training facilities and witness how they are building not only success on the pitch but also a global brand. It was mind-blowing; they are so ahead of the game, I have never seen anything like it. Winning the quadruple would be the ultimate endorsement of [...]
Watford 0-1 Arsenal: Gunners win ugly to end terrible away record and move into fourth place in the Premier League April 15, 2019 Arsenal fans won’t mind how it came. This was all about improving their dreadful record away from home and moving back into the all-important top four of the Premier League. Viewed through that narrow prism it was mission accomplished, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang closing down Ben Foster to score early on, secure a 1-0 win and [...]
Barcelona v Manchester United: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer focuses on recent exploits rather than club’s past glories to motivate players April 15, 2019 The comparison is almost too obvious, but certainly unavoidable. Twenty years on, the same club return to the same stadium and the same man is at the heart of it again. Manchester United revisit Camp Nou tomorrow for their Champions League quarter-final second leg against Barcelona 1-0 down and needing a turnaround akin to the [...]
Liverpool 2-0 Chelsea: No slip-ups as Mane and Salah blitz leads Reds back to the Premier League’s summit April 14, 2019 No slip-ups this time. The build-up to the match was dominated by what happened five years ago, but Andy Robertson briefly losing his footing was the closest Liverpool came to a repeat of their infamous meeting with Chelsea which shaped the 2014 Premier League title race. Instead of an unfortunate mistake defining their season, it [...]
Crystal Palace 1-3 Manchester City: Sterling clinches vital win as Guardiola’s rotation pays off at Selhurst Park April 14, 2019 Relentless. That’s the word that best describes Manchester City’s pursuit of the Premier League title and their performance against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. Their Champions League hopes – and therefore those of completing a quadruple – may look slightly precarious after a 1-0 quarter-final first-leg defeat by Tottenham, but judging by this display their [...]
Arsenal reap rewards of Unai Emery’s boldness to beat Napoli and near Europa League last four April 11, 2019 Unai Emery can appear a man struggling to contain a thousand competing impulses but if the Arsenal manager erred towards conservatism when he first arrived in England then he has surrendered to his more attacking urges lately. And it feels good for the Gunners, who reaped the benefits of another bold Emery selection that contained [...]
Liverpool will face the ghosts of their 2014 Premier League title bid slip up against Chelsea April 11, 2019 It was this very fixture in April five years ago that saw one of the cruellest twists in English football history. Steven Gerrard’s rallying cry to team-mates just a few days earlier that “this does not slip” played out with the captain losing his footing and allowing Chelsea a decisive goal that would cost Liverpool [...]
Manchester United 0-1 Barcelona: Red Devils need to produce a third Champions League comeback after Barca grind out win April 10, 2019 Barcelona came to Manchester in-form, as second-favourites to win the Champions League and with the best player in the world in their side, but in the event United were far from out-classed. The Spanish giants huffed and puffed and had the better chances, but their narrow 1-0 win – their first in the Champions League [...]