Champions League – The News Desk

How can you tell if a football manager is actually good at their job?

9Apr

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How can you tell if a football manager is actually good at their job?

An important thing to remember about Andre Villas-Boas is that he had ridiculously good hair.You don’t spend a record-shattering €15 million (£12.9; $16.3m) fee to sign a rookie manager away from Porto unless you’re pretty sure you know what you’re getting, and one thing Chelsea knew for certain, back in the heady days of 2011, was that the man with a swirling, fox-red side-parting looked impossibly cool getting tossed in the air during trophy celebrations. Villas-Boas at Porto in 2010 (Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images)Hair like that had sexy new ideas — a philosophy, perhaps. It had the sort of rakish sweep that could command a press conference, smouldering volcanically above the jagged peaks of an unbuttoned collar. But when the 33-year-old prodigy conducted his first i...

Free agents in 2024 – the players who can now sign pre-contract transfer agreements

2Jan

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Free agents in 2024 – the players who can now sign pre-contract transfer agreements

This season’s winter transfer window is now open, meaning clubs can officially start the scramble to add reinforcements or offload players deemed surplus to requirements.Premier League sides can do business until 11pm GMT on Thursday, February 1 — and, following discussions with the major leagues around Europe, that will also be deadline day in La Liga (Spain), Serie A (Italy), Ligue 1 (France) and the Bundesliga (Germany).But while clubs who want to sign players under contract must negotiate and, usually, pay a transfer fee during a FIFA-determined transfer window, wise forward planning allows ‘pre-contract agreements’ in some circumstances.The Athletic explains what these are and which players due to be out of contract in the summer could now step up transfer plans…What is a pre-contrac...

One year of Cristiano Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia

31Dec

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One year of Cristiano Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia

It was one of those rare days when nothing comes off for Cristiano Ronaldo and he cannot conceal his rising frustration.An offside flag denied him a goal and a VAR intervention denied him a penalty before he sent a wild shot and two headers off target in the closing stages of a crucial game. At one stage, he wrestled an opponent to the ground and was perhaps lucky to avoid a red card. As the game slipped away, he kept grimacing, looking to the heavens in disgust, as if to ask what he had done to deserve this.It was another blow for Al Nassr’s Saudi Pro League title hopes and, walking off the pitch at the final whistle, Ronaldo heard mocking chants from the jubilant Al Hilal supporters. “Messi, Messi,” they shouted, trying to taunt him with the name of his great rival.Grinning, he twice gr...

Champions League draw: Man City thrilled, Barca-Napoli dream tie, quarter-final predictions

20Dec

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Champions League draw: Man City thrilled, Barca-Napoli dream tie, quarter-final predictions

The draw for the last 16 of the Champions League was made in UEFA’s Nyon headquarters this morning and Europe’s big guns will have largely liked the outcome.England’s two remaining representatives, Arsenal and Manchester City, were handed kind draws in Porto and Copenhagen, while Real Madrid were paired with RB Leipzig.Of the more established big guns, Barcelona face arguably the toughest task, having been paired with last season’s Italian champions Napoli.Here, our experts cast their eye over the draw and what could happen next.Which game are you most excited about?Oliver Kay: Napoli vs Barcelona. Both clubs are experiencing hangovers from last season’s title success, but what better than a tie like that to get them going? In terms of individual talent, tactical intrigue and the atmosphe...

Marie-Louise Eta, Union Berlin’s quiet Champions League trailblazer

1Dec

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Marie-Louise Eta, Union Berlin’s quiet Champions League trailblazer

This season, The Athletic is following Union Berlin, a Bundesliga club from the former East Germany who were playing regional-level football less than 20 years ago, on their inaugural Champions League journey for our series Iron In The Blood.GO DEEPERIs the Premier League still on course for an extra Champions League spot?As Union Berlin’s players drifted down the tunnel and the stands in Braga’s Municipal Stadium emptied to the tune of one last song over the PA system, Marie-Louise Eta stood alone by the side of the pitch for a moment, lost in her thoughts.Union had just picked up a second successive point in the Champions League on the road — that was the good news.The bad news was that Union had carelessly squandered a lead against a team that had played with 10 men for more than an ho...

How they carved SC Braga’s stadium into a granite hillside

26Oct

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How they carved SC Braga’s stadium into a granite hillside

The most significant of Braga’s many hilltops is the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and place of pilgrimage for Christians who climb the white and gold zig-zag staircase to its doors.Six kilometres west, planted upon Monte do Castro as if a piece of Lego, sits another monument that is both incongruous yet completely natural in a way that suggests the divine played a part here too.But SC Braga’s Municipal Stadium was designed, engineered and built by man — and on Tuesday, it will host one of the greatest club sides in the world, Real Madrid.Braga will become the 152nd different club Real have played in 68 years of continental football, but never will the 14-time European champions have played at a stadium with a backdrop quite like this.At the end of the spiralling ro...

Saudi influence in Newcastle: A story of property, prosperity and power

8Oct

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Saudi influence in Newcastle: A story of property, prosperity and power

Newcastle is changing.It is happening on the pitch — from rock bottom to the Champions League, matches at the San Siro and Parc des Princes, meting out 4-1 thrashings to European heavyweights.It is happening at St James’ Park — exploratory conversations to expand the stadium, Strawberry Place back in club hands with planning permission granted for a fan zone, optimism paved into the walk up the Gallowgate.And change is happening in the city too. Not just in hearts and minds, but in steel, cement and stonework. Buildings are sprouting along Pilgrim Street, £1.5billion ($1.8bn) of investments has been promised by the city council. While, across the Tyne, the regeneration of the Gateshead quays continues apace.On Saturday, it will be two years since a takeover led by Saudi Arabia’s Public In...

Celtic vs Lazio: The Champions League tie that became a political powderkeg

7Oct

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Celtic vs Lazio: The Champions League tie that became a political powderkeg

In April 1945, in the last months of World War II in Europe, Benito Mussolini, the leader of Italy, was captured by Italian partisans near Lake Como. Mussolini was executed and his body was taken to Milan and hung upside down in a square where a year earlier his Fascists had similarly displayed 15 local Resistance fighters. Two days later, Adolf Hitler committed suicide in Berlin.Granted, it’s not 4-4-2.And this may seem an odd way to introduce a Champions League match; it’s just that when Celtic host Lazio tonight, the image of Benito Mussolini and his name will again be prominent. Celtic-Lazio has become more than a game, more than a Group E qualifier: it is a clash between two fanbase cultures.When the two clubs met in the Europa League four years ago, Lazio ultras marched through Glas...

Xabi Alonso and why everyone wants Bayer Leverkusen head coach

1Oct

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Xabi Alonso and why everyone wants Bayer Leverkusen head coach

From the relegation zone to being level on points with Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga, Xabi Alonso has led Bayer Leverkusen on quite the ride in his 12 months as manager. Some sort of rebound was almost inevitable given the team’s talent, but the complete change in the team’s attitude under the Spaniard has been nothing short of remarkable.Ever since the club acquired the unwanted “Neverkusen” moniker following three runners-up spots in 2002, Bayer had been a byword for underachievement and lack of resilience. Now though, they are coming back from a late goal away to serial champions Bayern to score an even later equaliser and generally play with a swagger that befits the most balanced, confident team in the league.Sporting director Simon Rolfes makes no effort to underplay th...

Harry Kane to Manchester United – the deal that did not happen

21Sep

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Harry Kane to Manchester United – the deal that did not happen

There were staff at Manchester United who believed signing Harry Kane would transform their team into title challengers. Erik ten Hag’s thinking was along the same lines. That’s why, as striker options were being assessed towards the end of last season, Kane was top of the United manager’s list.But on Wednesday night, when United face Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena to start their Champions League group campaign, Kane will be playing for the serial German champions rather than Ten Hag’s side, giving immediate cause for reflection about why the much-touted transfer never happened.United had looked at a move for Kane at various stages over the last few years but, back in May, the stars finally seemed to be aligning. Kane was about to enter the final year of his Tottenham Hotspur contract...