Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu wants Europe’s biggest clubs to be given wildcard entry into the Champions League February 23, 2016 Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has backed the idea of the Champions League offering wildcard entries to elite European clubs who fail to qualify for the competition. Members of the European Club Association (ECA), the representative group of the continent's biggest clubs, tabled the idea of offering wildcards as a way of ensuring well-supported teams [...]
Shrewsbury Town 0, Manchester United 3: We needed help from Europa League conquerors FC Midtjylland to make FA Cup progress, admits Van Gaal February 22, 2016 Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal admitted that playmaker Juan Mata’s contentious free-kick was stolen from Europa League conquerors FC Midtjylland after the 11-time FA Cup winners cruised past League One strugglers Shrewsbury Town. A second-half strike from Jesse Lingard complemented goals in the opening period by Chris Smalling and Mata as United set up [...]
Arsenal v Barcelona: Arsene Wenger admits Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez-inspired Catalan giants are almost perfect but insists the Gunners can cause a Champions League upset February 22, 2016 Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admits his team must rediscover their ruthless streak if they are to pull off a Champions League upset on Tuesday against a Barcelona team he rates as “not far from perfect”. Barca, propelled by the free-scoring triumvirate of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez, are strongly fancied to condemn the Gunners [...]
Liverpool hoping for £90m Anfield main stand sponsorship from Chinese firms February 20, 2016 Liverpool are looking to the cash-rich Chinese market for a potential buyer of the naming rights to Anfield's new main stand, valued up to £9m a season by the Reds. The club's chief commercial officer Billy Hogan has reportedly travelled to China to meet firms interested in having their branding on the expanded main stand, which [...]
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger tells Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham to forget about loaning his players February 19, 2016 Arsene Wenger has warned Arsenal's rivals at the top of the Premier League they can forget about taking any of his players on loan. The Arsenal boss admitted he blocked a loan move for right-back Mathieu Debuchy to Manchester United last month, and suggested he would never lend one of his players to a direct [...]
Fiorentina 1, Tottenham Hotspur 1: Pochettino warns Alli to cool it and learn self-control February 18, 2016 Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino insists teenage midfielder Dele Alli must learn to curb his devilish streak after escaping with a yellow card following a petulant kick at defender Nenad Tomovic during his side’s draw with Fiorentina last night. Spurs will take a potentially critical away goal into next week’s second leg after midfielder Nacer Chadli [...]
FC Midtjylland 2, Manchester United 1: Van Gaal blames Murphy’s Law for Old Trafford avalanche of woe February 18, 2016 Beleaguered Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal hid behind the adage of Murphy’s Law after the avalanche of woe at Old Trafford intensified with defeat at Danish champions FC Midtjylland last night. A strike from £31m forward Memphis Depay gave United a crucial away goal before Midtjylland, who were only formed in 1999, stormed back [...]
Football betting: Chelsea cup win a priority against under-strength Manchester City February 18, 2016 It might be over-selling things to say that Chelsea’s season rests on Sunday’s FA Cup fifth round match against Manchester City, but it means a lot more than it would in any other year. Premier League failings and Champions League struggles means the most realistic chance of silverware for the Blues this term comes in the [...]
Football betting: up-for-the-FA Cup West Ham fancied to run riot against Blackburn February 18, 2016 West Ham boss Slaven Bilic never won the FA Cup as a player, but he’s got it firmly in his sights as a manager. The Hammers overcame Liverpool in the last round after Angelo Ogbonna’s 120th-minute winner, and Bilic has said he’d rather win the cup than qualify for the Champions League. Standing in his [...]
Leicester City’s owner will be able to sell club for more than 10 times what he paid for it if Foxes win the Premier League February 18, 2016 A debt-laden, second tier club who had never won the top-flight title may have not appeared to be the most failsafe investment when Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha bought Leicester City for £39m in 2010. But if the Foxes, who have provided the story of the season so far with an unlikely charge to the top of the [...]