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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Why Tottenham and West Ham’s stadium experiments could count against them – and what decided the Manchester derby September 13, 2016 It would be a very different mood at Tottenham going into their opening Champions League game against Monaco on Wednesday if they had not beaten Stoke so soundly on Saturday. A draw or defeat would have compounded concerns about a hangover from last season’s failed Premier League title challenge and a slow start this term, [...]
Who will be Uefa’s next president? Aleksander Ceferin and Michael Van Praag fight over future of European football in bids to replace Michel Platini September 13, 2016 The future path of European football will become clearer on Wednesday after governing body Uefa elects a new president to replace the disgraced Michel Platini. Slovenian lawyer Aleksander Ceferin and Dutch administrator Michael Van Praag are duking it out at the 12th Extraordinary Congress in Athens for the potentially poisoned chalice of leading Uefa as [...]
Eric Dier backs Tottenham to thrive on Wembley setting for Champions League adventure – unlike north London rivals Arsenal September 13, 2016 Tottenham midfielder Eric Dier believes that playing their European home games at Wembley Stadium will work better for them than it did for north London rivals Arsenal. Staging Champions League fixtures at the national stadium was seen as a gamble that backfired for the Gunners, whose two seasons there – 1998-99 and 1999-2000 – both [...]
The Football Pools sale: Sportech plans disposal of betting game for nearly £100m to Burlywood Capital September 13, 2016 The Football Pools, the 93-year-old sports lottery, is being sold by owners Sportech to investment fund Burlywood Capital for just shy of £100m. Burlywood Capital, a venture capital firm focused on gaming and gambling, plans to list a new company created for the Football Pools on the AIM exchange. Shares in Sportech have jumped by 9.3 [...]