Football: Uefa announces Champions League final hosts for next four seasons
GENEVA (REUTERS) – The next four Champions League finals from 2022-2025 will be hosted by St Petersburg, Istanbul, London and Munich respectively, European soccer’s governing body Uefa said on Friday (July 16). The Krestovsky Stadium in St Petersburg was scheduled to stage the 2021 final. However, due to the postponement and reallocation of the 2020... » read more
Football: Solskjaer hoping Europa League win acts as springboard to further success
GDANSK, POLAND (REUTERS) – Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hopes that winning the Europa League would be the start of “something more” for the club. United take on Spanish side Villarreal in Wednesday’s final in Gdansk, looking to win their first trophy since a Europa League success under Jose Mourinho in 2017. Having finished... » read more
Football: Arsenal’s Aubameyang reveals full extent of malaria scare
LONDON (AFP) – Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has revealed his family were scared by his weight loss after he contracted malaria while on international duty in March. The Gabon forward missed four games following the diagnosis after a feeling of lethargy left him questioning the cause. He returned off the bench in the Europa League... » read more
Football: Rashford and Fernandes ensure Man United brush off Granada in Europa League
MADRID (AFP) – Marcus Rashford’s brilliant finish and a Bruno Fernandes penalty handed Manchester United a 2-0 victory over Granada on Thursday (April 8), putting them firmly in charge of their Europa League quarter-final first leg. Rashford latched onto a long ball from Victor Lindelof in the first half, the striker injecting one bit of... » read more
Football: Real Madrid can host Liverpool in Spain after flight restrictions lifted
MADRID (REUTERS) – Real Madrid’s Champions League quarter-final first leg at home to Liverpool in April will not have to be moved abroad after the Spanish government said on Tuesday (March 23) it would lift restrictions on flights from Britain at the end of this month. The restrictions began in December over concerns about a... » read more
Foxes loss is my fault: Rodgers
LONDON • Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers shouldered the blame for his side’s shock exit from the Europa League after Thursday’s 2-0 home loss to Slavia Prague but vowed to “fight to be better next year”. Rodgers, who was without injured midfielder James Maddison and banned striker Kelechi Iheanacho, left 13-goal Harvey Barnes on the... » read more
Football: Arsenal, Spurs Europa League ties moved due to Covid-19 regulations
LONDON (REUTERS) – Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur had Europa League last-32 games moved to different venues on Friday (Feb 12) after Covid-19 regulations made travelling to and from their opponents’ countries impossible to manage. Both legs of Arsenal’s tie against Benfica have been moved to neutral venues due to travel restrictions in the United Kingdom... » read more
Football: Man United’s Solskjaer happy to switch to one-off European ties
LONDON (AFP) – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said he would be happy to switch to one-off European fixtures given the complications of two-legged ties during the coronavirus pandemic. After being knocked out of the Champions League in the group stage, Manchester United kick off their Europa League return against Real Sociedad next Thursday. Old Trafford will... » read more
Bale earns Mourinho’s praise with scoring display
LONDON • Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho heaped praise on Gareth Bale after the Welsh forward scored in Monday’s 4-1 victory at second-tier Wycombe Wanderers in the fourth round of the FA Cup. Bale started for the first time since Dec 23 and netted the equaliser in first-half stoppage time after Fred Onyedinma had given the... » read more
Poor scheduling compounded by Britain’s latest Covid-19 wave
On the face of it, the Premier League’s decision was an easy and an obvious one. Manchester City and Manchester United had finished last season late, thanks to their commitments in the Champions League and Europa League respectively. To ensure that both teams would have a similar break between campaigns as all of their rivals,... » read more
Europe presents teams with second tightrope
PARIS • In an unusually crammed season, the Europa League, which resumes today with 24 group games, presents clubs fighting for domestic glory with a tricky balancing act. Tottenham, Real Sociedad and AC Milan – the English, Italian and Spanish league leaders respectively – as well as Bundesliga high-flyers Bayer Leverkusen, have all slipped up... » read more