By the time Riyad Mahrez completed the counterattack that sealed Manchester City’s spot in a first Champions League final, it looked so effortless overcoming a Paris Saint-Germain lineup that lost its cool and composure.

“Then they lost their nerve and started to kick us and it was good,” Mahrez said.

It was the Paris-born winger who netted twice before PSG had Angel Di Maria sent off. City won 2-0 to eliminate last season’s finalists 4-1 on aggregate on Tuesday.

“They had the red card,” Mahrez said, “and after, it was more comfortable for us.”

It’s been anything but comfortable for City getting a shot at lifting European football’s top prize for the first time despite 13 years of lavish investment. Even reaching this semifinal required a fight in court to overturn a ban from this season’s Champions League for breaching UEFA’s financial rules.

And it’s only two weeks since the Abu Dhabi-owned team exposed itself to fresh sanctions for joining a brief, ill-fated bid to split to help form a breakaway European Super League.

Now City could win the competition it tried to leave in what could be an all-English final on May 29 in Istanbul if Chelsea overcomes Real Madrid on Wednesday. Chelsea and Madrid played to a 1-1 draw in the first leg.

“Of course, we’ve invested money in the last decade since Sheikh Mansour took over the club, but it’s not just about this,” City manager Pep Guardiola said. “If you want to think it’s just about money, it’s OK. But there is a lot of incredible things behind the scenes.”

It’s not just City that’s endured frustration in its quest to win the biggest prize in European football. Guardiola, a Champions League winner as Barcelona coach in 2009 and 2011, has been waiting a decade to return to the final. He fell short three times with Bayern Munich and has taken until his fifth season at City to even reach the semifinals.

“To reach the Champions league final is so difficult,” Guardiola said. “It’s the toughest one, but we did it.”

City is now accustomed to success — sitting on the brink of its third Premier League title in four seasons after already collecting the League Cup last month. But its only continental title came with the now-defunct European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1970.

“This club needed the final, these players needed the final,” City defender Kyle Walker said. “For these players to not be in a Champions League final is a disappointment every year.”

PSG missed out on a second shot at lifting a first European Cup after losing last season’s final to Bayern Munich, and Mauricio Pochettino’s lineup is even struggling to defend the French title.

“Disappointed and very sad,” said Pochettino, who lost the 2019 Champions League final as Tottenham manager. “We played well but we didn’t have the luck that you need in football.”

And in the clash of European football’s Gulf-funded big-spenders, it was the Qatari visitors from Paris on the backfoot quickly in Manchester.

After scoring City’s winner in Paris last week, Mahrez took only 11 minutes to score in the second leg. The move began with a long ball by defender Oleksandr Zinchenko running onto a long ball from goalkeeper Ederson.

“It’s something we work on all the time,” Mahrez said, “and today it worked good.”

Zinchenko passed to Kevin De Bruyne, whose shot was blocked by Keylor Navas but Mahrez was alert to the rebound to put the ball through the goalkeeper’s legs on a field covered in the remnants of a spring hailstorm.

Mauro Icardi was proving ineffective in a PSG attack shorn of Kylian Mbappé, who wasn’t fit enough to start and never entrusted with being deployed from the bench.

There were headers over from Marquinhos and Neymar but PSG could find no way past a defense that had Rúben Dias proving such a robust barrier.

The PSG back-line was easier to breach, which happened again in the 63rd minute. There was a surging run down the left flank by Phil Foden before a combination with De Bruyne and a cross delivered for Mahrez to sweep into the net.

“We fought to the end,” PSG midfielder Marco Verratti said. “When you play against big teams, it’s impossible to attack for 90 minutes without suffering. We have to accept that.”

The frustrations of PSG were clear, even without any crowd to create any intimidating atmosphere. The visitors finished the game with 10 men just like in the first leg after Di Maria was sent off with 20 minutes to go for kicking at Fernandinho.

PSG turned on the referee, with midfielder Ander Herrera in a post-match interview accusing Bjorn Kuipers of directing an expletive at PSG teammate Leandro Paredes. It wasn’t heard by Pochettino.

“Maybe UEFA will investigate the situation,” he said. “But now I think that is not an excuse.”

(AP)

JOSE MOURINHO TOOK just 15 days to find a new job after he was appointed Roma’s new head coach for next season.

The 58-year-old was fired from Tottenham on 19 April but will take over at the Serie A club from Paulo Fonseca for the 2021/22 campaign.

It sees a return to Italy for Mourinho following a triumphant spell with Inter Milan over a decade ago where he won the treble, including the Champions League.

However, he is unlikely to be dining at the top table next season, with the club heading out of the Europa League, trailing Mourinho’s former club Manchester United 6-2 after the semi-final first leg, and unlikely to reach Europe through their league position.

Mourinho, who endured a disappointing campaign with Spurs before his sacking six days before the Carabao Cup final, has been drawn to the Italian capital by the ambition of the club’s owners.

“After meetings with the ownership and (general manager) Tiago Pinto, I immediately understood the full extent of their ambitions for AS Roma,” he said on the club’s official website.

“It is the same ambition and drive that has always motivated me and together we want to build a winning project over the upcoming years. The incredible passion of the Roma fans convinced me to accept the job and I cannot wait to start next season.

“In the meantime, I wish Paulo Fonseca all the best and I hope the media appreciate that I will only speak further in due course. Daje Roma!”

Pinto said the Giallorossi could not miss the opportunity to appoint a manager of Mourinho’s pedigree. He said: “When Jose became available, we immediately jumped at the chance to speak with one of the greatest managers of all time.

“We were blown away by Jose’s desire to win and his passion for the game: no matter how many trophies he has won, his primary focus is always on the next one. He possesses the knowledge, experience and leadership to compete at all levels.

“We know that in order to build a successful sporting project it takes time, patience and the right people in the right positions. We are supremely confident that Jose will be the perfect coach for our project, for both our immediate and long-term future.

“Together with the vision and ambition of Dan and Ryan Friedkin, we will build the foundations of a new AS Roma.”

The Giallorossi have picked up just one point from their last four league games and sit seventh in the table, nine points behind sixth-placed city rivals Lazio with four matches remaining, prompting Fonseca’s departure.

Roma president Dan Friedkin said in a statement on the club website: “On behalf of everyone at AS Roma, we would like to thank Paulo Fonseca for the hard work and leadership shown during these two years.

“Paulo led the team through several challenges, including the Covid pandemic and a change of ownership, and he did so with generosity, fairness and great character.

“We wish him all the best in his future endeavours and we are confident that he will represent fantastic added value wherever he goes.”

Source: The 42.ie

Manchester United defender Eric Bailly has signed a new three-year contract that ties him to the Premier League club until 2024 with the option of a further 12 months.

The Ivory Coast international was due to be out of contract at the end of next season and there had been speculation he would leave Old Trafford after struggling to hold down a regular place.

The 27-year-old has struggled with several injuries since arriving from Villarreal in 2016, with Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof often Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s preferred centre-back pairing.

But he has delivered some of his best displays for United this season, reaching 100 career appearances for the club.

“I’m very happy. This decision is something I didn’t have to think about,” Bailly told United’s website on Monday.

“I love this club and I love playing for Manchester United. I’m happy and so are my family, everything is good.

“Now the moment with my injury has passed and I’m fit and feel good, and that’s it. A new contract is like a new challenge and I’m ready for this.”

United manager Solskjaer said: “I am pleased that Eric has signed this new contract. He is still learning and improving all of the time under the coaches here.

“Eric has improved his robustness since my time as manager and he will continue to play a significant part in the squad.

“He possesses fantastic speed, timing of tackle and has that aggression which, of course, you need as a centre-back.”

Source: AFP

Supporters of the six Premier League clubs leading the breakaway European Super League have slammed the controversial plan, branding it the “ultimate betrayal”.

Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham are all involved in the new competition, alongside Spanish trio Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Italian clubs Juventus, Inter Milan and AC Milan.

The founding sides will share 3.5 billion euros ($4 billion, £3 billion) for infrastructure investment and to offset coronavirus pandemic costs.

They are expected to receive a further 10 billion euros in “solidarity payments” over the life of the initial commitment, convincing them to turn their backs on the Champions League in favour of the new invite-only competition.

Reaction to the incendiary scheme has been furious, with football’s governing bodies FIFA and UEFA, as well as all the leading domestic leagues condemning the “cynical” plan.

While their clubs would gain financially from the move, supporters of the Premier League teams involved were united in their contempt for such a nakedly greed-motivated project.

Source: AFP

Jose Mourinho is one of Europe’s most successful club managers, but his trajectory at Tottenham Hotspur tracked a wearily familiar arc of initial promise followed by bitter recrimination.

For the first time since the early years of his managerial career in Portugal, the self-declared “Special One” leaves a club without silverware after he was sacked by Spurs on Monday.

The timing was a surprise coming less than a week before Tottenham have a chance to break their 13-year barren run, in Sunday’s League Cup final against Manchester City.

But notably, it came the day after the London club controversially set out its intent to join others in a breakaway European super league, with chairman Daniel Levy unhappy at how Spurs have become Premiership also-rans under Mourinho.

Yet again, the famously outspoken 58-year-old leaves under a shadow — at odds with senior players, with the media, and with fans.

A serial winner across Europe, Mourinho arrived at Spurs 17 months ago with a point to prove after his reputation was tarnished by a more than two-year spell in charge of Manchester United.

Tottenham’s swashbuckling credo is “to dare is to do”. But fans hungry for success swallowed their initial misgivings over the appointment of a coach who was ruthlessly pragmatic in his style of play.

“It’s not important how we play. If you have a Ferrari and I have a small car, to beat you in a race I have to break your wheel or put sugar in your tank,” he had said in 2010.

While he claimed three trophies at Old Trafford, including the 2017 Europa League, the end came with a dismal run of results and high-profile disagreements with players.

Much the same dynamic had played out in previous spells at Chelsea and Real Madrid, marked also by running feuds with opposition managers and the press, and a surly unwillingness to admit any shortcomings.

Despite brief periods of optimism this season at Tottenham, including beating United 6-1 at Old Trafford and briefly topping the Premier League table, a barren 2021 has seen the team repeatedly squander winning positions.

– ‘Don’t call me arrogant’ –

After a brief and undistinguished playing career in Portugal, Mourinho’s road to managerial success was paved by the arrival in 1992 of Englishman Bobby Robson to take charge of Sporting Lisbon.

Robson appointed the young sports science graduate as his interpreter, and Mourinho followed the former England manager to successive positions at Porto and Barcelona, becoming assistant coach.

By 2002, Mourinho had experience of the managerial hot-seat in his own right during spells at Benfica and Uniao de Leiria. But it was at Porto that his career truly took off.

In the first knockout round of the 2003-04 Champions League, Porto beat Manchester United with a last-minute goal, and Mourinho announced himself on the European stage by running dramatically from his dug-out to celebrate wildly with his players.

The Portuguese club went on to beat Monaco in the final, and Mourinho was now in the sights of Chelsea’s ambitious new owner, Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.

Mourinho paid short shrift to any notion that he might take time acclimatising to England’s ferociously competitive footballing scene.

“Please don’t call me arrogant, but I’m European champion and I think I’m a special one,” he said after taking over as Chelsea boss.

– The ‘Happy One’ –

He put Abramovich’s billions to spectacular use to end the Arsenal-Manchester United duopoly, winning the Premier League title in his first season and repeating the feat the following year before things turned sour.

Next stop was Inter Milan, who became the first Italian side to complete the treble of league, cup and Champions League.

At Real Madrid, he tussled with Pep Guardiola’s great Barcelona side, winning the league title in 2012. But he failed to lead them to European glory, the benchmark of success for Real.

In June 2013, Chelsea appointed Mourinho — now the “Happy One” — as manager for the second time.

He won a third Premier League title in his second season in charge, before a poor start to the next campaign cost him his job.

Even though he failed to win the league title at Manchester United, he still added the Europa League and the League Cup to United’s groaning trophy cabinet, before falling out with senior squad members and the club’s directors.

And with his stormy time in North London also now cut brutally short, Mourinho is in unknown territory, a managerial failure for the first time since leaving Portugal.

Source: AFP

Tottenham Hotspur have sacked Jose Mourinho as manager.

The Athletic understands Spurs have decided to dispense with Mourinho after just over a season and a half in charge.

Tottenham are in seventh in the Premier League and at risk of missing out on a place in the top four.

Twelve of Europe’s biggest clubs on Monday said they planned to launch a breakaway Super League, despite the threat of an international ban for them and their players.

The move sets up a rival to UEFA’s established Champions League competition and was condemned by football authorities and political leaders.

Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus are among the leading members of the new league but UEFA has threatened to ban them from domestic and international competition and vowed to fight the move.

French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson both issued statements condemning a breakaway and supporting UEFA’s position.

As well as United, Premier League clubs Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur have signed up to the plans.

Barcelona and Atletico Madrid from Spain join Real. AC Milan and Inter Milan make up the trio from Italy along with Juventus.

The Super League said that they aimed to have 15 founding members and a 20-team league with five other clubs qualifying each season.

The clubs would share a fund of €3.5 billion to spend on infrastructure projects and to deal with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The money would not be available to spend on players.

The League said they will make ‘solidarity payments’ to the rest of European football which will exceed those currently offered by UEFA and which “are expected to be in excess of €10 billion” over the 23-year commitment period the clubs have entered into.

“We will help football at every level and take it to its rightful place in the world. Football is the only global sport in the world with more than four billion fans and our responsibility as big clubs is to respond to their desires,” said Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, the first chairman of the Super League.

No German or French clubs have yet to be associated with the breakaway.

World soccer’s governing body FIFA expressed its “disapproval to a ‘closed European breakaway league’ outside of the international football structures”.

But noticeably there was no mention of a previous threat from FIFA to ban any players taking part in a breakaway from participating in World Cups.

The announcement came just hours before UEFA is due to sign off on its own plans for an expanded and restructured 36-team Champions League on Monday.

UEFA issued a strong statement jointly with English, Spanish and Italian leagues and football federations, saying they were ready to use “all measures” to confront any breakaway and saying any participating clubs would be banned from domestic leagues, such as the Premier League.

“The clubs concerned will be banned from playing in any other competition at domestic, European or world level, and their players could be denied the opportunity to represent their national teams,” UEFA said.

“We thank those clubs in other countries, especially the French and German clubs, who have refused to sign up to this. We call on all lovers of football, supporters and politicians, to join us in fighting against such a project if it were to be announced. This persistent self-interest of a few has been going on for too long. Enough is enough.”

‘Absolute disgrace’

The moves were condemned by football authorities across Europe and former players such as Manchester United’s ex-captain Gary Neville who called it “an absolute disgrace” and said the club owners were motivated by “pure greed”.

Reacting to an official Arsenal tweet saying: “We are one of 12 founding clubs of the European Super League,” Arsenal Supporters’ Trust wrote on Twitter: “The death of Arsenal as a sporting institution.”

Top French club PSG have not been reported to have signed up to the plan and Macron also raised his voice against the breakaway.

“The President of the Republic welcomes the position of French clubs to refuse to participate in a European football Super League project threatening the principle of solidarity and sporting merit,” the Élysée Palace said in a statement sent to Reuters.

“The French state will support all the steps taken by the LFP, FFF, UEFA and FIFA to protect the integrity of federal competitions, whether national or European,” the Élysée added, citing the national, European and global football governing bodies.

UK PM Johnson also opposed the move.

“Plans for a European Super League would be very damaging for football and we support football authorities in taking action,” Johnson tweeted.

“They would strike at the heart of the domestic game, and will concern fans across the country. The clubs involved must answer to their fans and the wider footballing community before taking any further steps.”

There have been reports of a breakaway for a number of years and they returned in January with several media reporting a document had been produced outlining the plans.

In October, then Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu said the club had accepted a proposal to join a breakaway league.

Those reports led FIFA and UEFA to warn that they would ban any players involved in a breakaway from playing in the World Cup or European Championship.

UEFA has proposed major changes to its Champions League which had received support from many clubs and organisations.

The changes would see the competition increase to 36 from 32 teams, and an overhaul of the group stage into a single table rather than the current groups of four clubs.

Teams would play 10 matches each in the group stage rather than the six they currently play and a playoff round would also be introduced before the last 16.

But while there has been a broad consensus about those reforms, the big clubs made a late push to have changes to the governance and control of the competition before making Sunday’s dramatic move.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)

Lionel Messi scored twice, including a stunning solo goal, as Barcelona blew away Athletic Bilbao to win the Copa del Rey on Saturday, consigning their opponents to a second final defeat in two weeks.

The cup was won and lost in a whirlwind 12 minutes in Seville, which saw Barca score four times to clinch an emphatic 4-0 victory, with Messi at his devastating best.

It remains to be seen if his seventh Copa del Rey triumph is the last trophy Messi lifts in Barcelona colours but if this was to be a final flourish, the 33-year-old crafted a fitting farewell.

“It’s very special to be captain of this team where I have spent my whole life and very special to be able to lift this cup,” Messi said.

His first goal, and Barca’s third, started with the Argentinian in his own half before a charging run down the right and a surge forward into the penalty area gave him the chance for a simple finish.

With the club’s new president Joan Laporta in the crowd, Ronald Koeman’s first title as Barcelona coach should also significantly boost his chances of remaining in charge beyond the summer.

“To win a title is important for me,” Koeman admitted afterwards.

Yet Laporta was noticeably evasive when asked about Koeman’s future.

“He is doing well,” he said.

Koeman took over a team at rock bottom, humiliated by an historic loss to Bayern Munich and wounded by the attempts of Messi to leave the club for free.

But this 31st Copa del Rey success for the club is a testament to progress made and Koeman will hope it not only helps convince Messi to stay but gives Barca momentum now in a neck-and-neck title race in La Liga.

“Despite the changes at the club and the young players, at Barca you have to always fight for trophies,” Koeman said.

“We have the first one and now we are going to fight to the last game in La Liga.”

‘Turned it around’

Gerard Pique said it felt like the club had been “reset”.

“Sometimes you fall down and you have to get up,” Pique said. “It has been a difficult year but the team has turned it around.”

Messi was sent off when Athletic Bilbao beat Barcelona, also at the La Cartuja, in January to win the Spanish Super Cup but they never looked like pulling off a repeat.

After Athletic lost to their Basque rivals Real Sociedad in last year’s postponed final only two weeks ago, lifting themselves for another showpiece in the same stadium and against a tougher opponent was always going to be a big ask.

“In both finals we played well below the level that we’re capable of,” said Athletic coach Marcelino Garcia Toral.

Barcelona were almost ahead after four minutes as Sergio Busquets played in Messi, who rolled back for Frenkie de Jong but his sidefooted finish came back off the far post.

Sergino Dest dragged wide while Inigo Martinez had Athletic’s best chance but as he stretched for the bouncing ball, he could only poke over.

Athletic seemed to have played their way into the match before half-time but Barcelona came out with renewed vigour, with Unai Simon making two brilliant saves to deny Antoine Griezmann and then Busquets, both from close range.

But when the resistance gave way, it became a collapse, with goals scored in the 60th, 63rd, 68th and 72nd minutes to leave Athletic’s hopes in tatters.

First, Messi slipped in Dest down the right and his cross was diverted in by Griezmann before the second came from the opposite flank, Jordi Alba curled in a cross for De Jong to nod in.

The third was a spectacular from Messi, who started the move in his own half, leaping over one challenge and dodging another.

He took the ball back from Dest and drove down the right wing, away from three opponents and inside.

Messi twice played off De Jong, the second time after motoring forward into the penalty area, where he darted between two last Athletic defenders and slid the finish into the far corner.

His second, and Barca’s fourth, was more straight-forward, Alba pulling a cross back for the Argentinian to tuck under a weak right hand from Simon and inside the post. For Athletic, there was no way back.

(AFP)

With their season on the line, Arsenal’s players produced a devastating first-half performance Thursday to beat Slavia Prague and reach the Europa League semifinals.

They’ll meet a familiar face there.

Arsenal’s 4-0 win in the Czech capital—secured courtesy of a three-goal burst in six minutes from the 18th—clinched a 5-1 aggregate victory and set up a last-four match against Villarreal, which is managed by Unai Emery.

The Spanish coach spent an underwhelming 18 months at Arsenal as Arsene Wenger’s replacement in 2018-19 and is rebuilding his managerial career at Villarreal, which beat Dinamo Zagreb 2-1 and advanced 3-1 on aggregate.

Manchester United and Roma complete the semifinal lineup.

United is back in the last four for a second straight season after beating Spanish team Granada 2-0 for a 4-0 aggregate win.

Roma drew 1-1 with Ajax to squeeze through 3-2 on aggregate.

Arsenal and Roma were under pressure to advance because the Europa League represents their only chance of winning a trophy this season and their only realistic route into next season’s Champions League, owing to their lowly current placing in their domestic leagues.

Arsenal is ninth in the Premier League and Roma seventh in Serie A.

The winner of the Europa League earns an automatic spot in the far more lucrative Champions League.

Sending a message

Arsenal sent a message before and during the win over Slavia.

The hosts learned the day before the game that their defender, Ondrej Kudela, had been banned for 10 games for racially abusing Rangers’ Glen Kamara during a round-of-16 game last month.

Before kickoff, as Slavia’s players stood in a line at the center circle, Arsenal’s players took a knee in a symbolic gesture in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, with Alexandre Lacazette doing so right in front of the Slavia team and staring at the players.

Arsenal responded to having an early goal by Emile Smith Rowe ruled out for offside by VAR by scoring three times in quick succession, first though Nicolas Pepe in the 18th and then Lacazette—from the penalty spot—and Bukayo Saka.

That meant Slavia, the runaway leader of the Czech league which hadn’t lost at home in nearly 18 months, needed to score four goals to qualify. By halftime, the hosts had essentially given up as they removed some of their key players to preserve their condition for the league.

Lacazette, continuing as striker with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang sidelined after contracting malaria, added a fourth in the 77th minute.

“The boys were really at it from the start,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said. “It is a really important win in a crucial moment. We won in a convincing way.”

Arsenal lost to Chelsea in the Europa League final in 2019.

Villarreal’s goals were scored by Paco Alcacer and Gerard Moreno at the end of the first half, with Zagreb — the last-16 conqueror of Tottenham — grabbing a consolation through Mislav Orsic.

Villarreal is in the semifinals of the Europa League for the first time since 2016.

Cavani milestone

Edinson Cavani scored his 50th goal in European competition to lead United to victory over Granada at Old Trafford.

The 34-year-old Uruguay striker met a flicked header back into the middle of the area by Paul Pogba with a left-foot volley into the bottom corner in the sixth minute.

A 90th-minute own-goal by Jesus Vallejo completed a second straight 2-0 win over Granada.

United lost in the semifinals to Sevilla last season and has been defeated at that stage three other times — twice in the English League Cup and again in the FA Cup — under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Roma will look to inflict another last-four loss on United after surviving a scare against Ajax, which took the lead through Brian Brobbey’s lobbed finish in the 49th to tie the score on aggregate at 2-2.

Edin Dzeko equalized in the 72nd and Ajax couldn’t find the goal that would have taken the match to extra time.

Solskjaer was part of the United side that beat Roma 7-1 at Old Trafford in the Champions League quarterfinals in 2007.

Source: AP

Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos, who was already out of this week’s Champions League meeting with Liverpool because of a calf injury, has tested positive for Covid-19, the club announced on Tuesday.

“Our player Sergio Ramos tested positive in the last Covid-19 test he performed,” Real Madrid said in a statement.

Ramos is the second case of coronavirus detected in the Real Madrid squad in a week. French defender Raphael Varane tested positive last Tuesday.

Varane has not yet been given the green light to rejoin his teammates.

Ramos injured his left calf while with Spain during the international window but he has been a vocal presence on the sidelines since.

The positive test means he has to stay away from his teammates until he tests negative.

The 35-year-old defender is going through one of the most difficult seasons of his career — he underwent knee surgery in February and, after returning in mid-March, missed the Liga game against Celta Vigo on March 20 because of a shin injury.

Ramos has still revealed his plans once his contract with Real Madrid expires on June 30.

Source: AFP