Manchester City 4, Borussia Monchengladbach 0: Sergio Aguero hat-trick leaves Pep Guardiola purring September 15, 2016 Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola hailed the majesty of prolific marksman Sergio Aguero after the Argentine’s hat-trick stoked his side’s Champions League hammering of Borussia Monchengladbach. Aguero struck his second treble of the season as substitute Kelechi Iheanacho completed the scoring in stoppage time in front of just 32,000 fans – a figure hit by [...]
Club Brugge 0, Leicester City 3: Claudio Ranieri on song as Foxes begin Champions League adventure with stunning victory September 14, 2016 Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri admits that he urged his side to savour and be inspired by the pre-match Champions League anthem as the Foxes began their European adventure with a crushing victory over Club Brugge. There was little evidence of first night nerves as winger Marc Albrighton opened the scoring within the opening minutes before [...]
Tottenham Hotspur 1, Monaco 2: Spurs’ Champions League return and record crowd spoiled by first defeat of the season September 14, 2016 Tottenham Hotspur 1, Monaco 2 Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino accused his team of lacking passion and refused to blame a temporary switch to Wembley after their return to the Champions League following a five-year absence ended in defeat on Wednesday night. First-half goals from Bernardo Silva and Thomas Lemar earned French league leaders Monaco a surprise win in [...]
Counties vote for domestic cricket shake-up and new city-based Twenty20 competition September 14, 2016 Domestic cricket is set for one of the biggest shake-ups in its history after counties voted to introduce a new eight-team city-based Twenty20 competition. First-class counties, along with law-making body the MCC, voted 16-3 in favour of the creation of the new tournament which will take place in addition to the existing 18-team T20 Blast. [...]
Eoin Morgan was brave to pull out of Bangladesh and it will be business as usual when he returns September 14, 2016 It was a brave decision for limited-overs skipper Eoin Morgan to opt out of England’s tour to Bangladesh on security grounds, but while a big deal is being made of it now I believe it will be business as usual when he returns to the fold. Lancashire’s Jos Buttler, who will deputise as skipper in [...]
New Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin issues immediate warning to big clubs over Champions League reform and Financial Fair Play September 14, 2016 New Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin has vowed that European football's governing body will take the fight to big clubs over the allocation of Champions League places and beef up financial fair play (FFP) rules. Ceferin, the little-known head of Slovenian football, comprehensively defeated Dutchman Michael van Praag 42-13 in Wednesday's vote to decide who would replace the disgraced [...]
BBC v Russia: Russian Embassy clashes with reporter over US athletes’ data leak September 14, 2016 Don't poke the bear. Especially not on Twitter. And especially not over doping in sport. You won't get away without an argument. The BBC's home affairs correspondent Daniel Sandford and the UK's Russian Embassy were engaged in an unlikely and bizarre social media spat over doping in sport that culminated in the latter being accused of [...]
Aleksander Ceferin elected new Uefa president — here’s where he stands on the key issues facing European football September 14, 2016 Uefa has elected slovenian lawyer Aleksander Ceferin as its new president to replace the disgraced Michel Platini. The 48-year-old will take control of European football's governing body until 2019, after routing rival Michael van Praag by 42 votes to 13 at the election in Athens. Read more: Uefa urged to consider alternative format to liven up low-scoring European [...]
Manchester United: Are the football finance kings in danger of becoming a busted flush with an ageing business model? September 14, 2016 Earlier this week, Manchester United announced a staggering £515m in revenues. I tip my hat to their commercial team, because whilst the TV money flowing through from the Premier League represents a significant chunk of this you have to admire how they have built competitive advantage on others. When you consider that their EBITDA figure is [...]
Paris Saint-Germain 1, Arsenal 1; Alexis Sanchez rescues Gunners as Arsene Wenger hints at his additional maturity point proven September 14, 2016 Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger revelled in the resilience of his side after the Gunners weathered a Paris Saint-Germain storm to escape from the Parc de Princes with a potentially pivotal Champions League point. PSG had copious amounts of chances to bury the Gunners but failed to add to Edinson Cavani’s first-minute opener, with the Uruguayan [...]