Barcelona found its scoring touch again to reach the round of 16 of the Europa League with a 4-2 win over Napoli on Thursday, while Rangers knocked out Borussia Dortmund in Glasgow.
Frenkie de Jong scored with a long-range curler and newly signed striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netted again for Barcelona, which had been held 1-1 at home in the first leg. The Spanish giant has struggled badly in its first season since the departure of Lionel Messi and was demoted to the Europa League after failing to advance to the Champions League knockout stages for the firs time since 2004.
Dortmund is also a Champions League regular but couldn’t come back from a 4-2 home loss in the first leg as a 2-2 draw at Rangers saw the German team eliminated in one of eight playoffs between third-place finishers in the Champions League groups and Europa League group runners-up.
On a night when Europe was rocked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian midfielder Ruslan Malinovskyi scored a couple of goals to lead Atalanta into the round of 16.
Malinovskyi netted twice in a two-minute span in the second half for a 3-0 win over Olympiakos as Atalanta advanced 5-1 on aggregate.
After scoring, Malinovskyi lifted his Atalanta jersey to show a message reading “No war in Ukraine” on his undershirt.
Real Betis also advanced after a 0-0 draw with Zenit St. Petersburg that was enough for a 3-2 aggregate victory after the Russian team had a late goal overturned by VAR.
Ten-man Sevilla eliminated Dinamo Zagreb 3-2 on aggregate, Porto knocked out Lazio 4-3 on aggregate and Leipzig won 3-1 at Real Sociedad to reach the next round 5-3 on aggregate.
In the playoff matches to reach the last 16 of the inaugural Europa Conference League, Leicester advanced with a 7-2 aggregate victory over Denmark’s Randers.
The other biggest teams in the playoff round, Marseille and PSV Eindhoven, also advanced while Norwegian upstart Bodø/Glimt knocked out Scottish giant Celtic.
EUROPA LEAGUE
Barcelona jumped out to a 2-0 lead within 13 minutes as Jordi Alba finished off a counterattack after a corner kick at the other end in the eighth minute and de Jong doubled the advantage five minutes later with a sublime strike into the top right-hand corner.
Lorenzo Insigne halved the deficit from the penalty spot before Gerard Piqué restored a two-goal lead in the final minute of the first half.
Aubameyang added the fourth in the second with his fourth goal in five games since a move from Arsenal, while substitute Matteo Politano netted a late consolation goal for Napoli.
James Tavernier netted both goals for Rangers, putting the Scottish side in front from the penalty spot and then netting the equalizer after Jude Bellingham and Donyell Malen had given Dortmund a 2-1 lead.
Portuguese side Braga won a penalty shootout 3-2 against Moldovan side Sheriff a 2-0 home win made it 2-2 on aggregate.
Willi Orbán and Andrés scored to give Leipzig a 2-0 lead and Emil Forsberg added the third from the penalty spot after Real Sociedad pulled one back through Martin Zubimendi.
Lazio striker Ciro Immobile returned from injury to score the opening goal in the 19th with a low shot past goalkeeper Diogo Costa, a minute after he had a goal disallowed due to offside. But Porto forward Mehdi Taremi equalized from the spot and Matheus Uribe gave the Portuguese team a 2-1 lead at Stadio Olimpico in the 68th. Lazio substitute Danilo Cataldi’s goal in stoppage time came too late.
Mislav Oršić scored the lone goal for Dinamo from the penalty spot in Zagreb for a 1-0 victory over Sevilla.
EUROPA CONFERENCE LEAGUE
Midfielder James Maddison spearheaded Leicester’s dominant display at Randers with two second-half goals within four minutes and Harvey Barnes also scored with a curling right-foot attempt from inside the box on the way to Leicester’s 3-1 victory on the night.
After winning the first leg 3-1 in Glasgow, Bodø/Glimt dominated again at home with another 2-0 victory even though the Norwegian champions are between domestic seasons.
PSV held Maccabi Tel-Aviv 1-1 to advance 2-1 on aggregate while Marseille won 3-0 away at Qarabag to complete a 6-1 rout.
Slavia Prague earned a second straight 3-2 win over Fenerbahce, Vitesse beat Rapid Vienna 2-0 to erase a 2-1 deficit from the first leg and Partizan Belgrade advanced with a 2-1 over Sparta Prague. PAOK eliminated Danish side Midtjylland on penalties after a 2-2 aggregate score.
Barca advances in Europa League, Rangers knock out Dortmund
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Barca advances in Europa League, Rangers knock out Dortmund
Kosovo players walk off in Romania game after ‘Serbia’ chants
Bucharest: A Nations League game between Romania and Kosovo in Bucharest was suspended on Friday in injury time after fans in the crowd shouted “Serbia!.”
The Kosovo players left the pitch after the chants, leading to the game to be paused with the score 0-0.
Animosity between Kosovo and Serbia has persisted since the war between Serbian forces and ethnic Albanian insurgents in the late 1990s.
Kosovo and Serbia do not play each other in UEFA and FIFA tournaments.
Football’s world governing body opened disciplinary proceedings against Serbia during the 2022 World Cup after the team hung a flag in their changing room depicting Kosovo as part of Serbia.
Kosovo joined FIFA and European confederation UEFA in 2016.
When Romania played in Pristina, they beat Kosovo 3-0.
Ronaldo shines as Portugal rout Poland to reach Nations League last-eight
PORTO, Portugal: Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as Portugal staged a second-half supershow to crush Poland 5-1 and reach the Nations League quarter-finals on Friday.
Portugal join France, Germany, Italy and Spain in the last-eight while Poland’s hopes of going through from Group A1 were ended.
Having struggled to plant a shot on target in the first half, Portugal stepped on the accelerator after the break.
Rafael Leao broke the deadlock in Porto just before the hour mark after starting and finishing the move.
The AC Milan striker raced away and passed to Nuno Mendes whose cross from the left was headed powerfully past Marcin Bulka in the Portugal goal.
Thirteen minutes later, skipper Ronaldo got his name on the scoresheet, converting a penalty after Jakub Kiwior was penalized for a handball in the area.
Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes made it 3-0 in the 80th minute, scoring after a clever run by Vitinha.
Pedro Neto added the fourth three minutes later after Ronaldo’s fine pass which left the Polish defense stranded.
As Polish spirits sank, Ronaldo added his second and Portugal’s fifth in the 87th minute with a spectacular overhead kick before Dominik Marczuk tucked away a consolation goal for the visitors.
Poland had enjoyed the better chances before falling behind but their potency in front of goal was blunted by the absence of record goal-scorer Robert Lewandowski who was sidelined with a back injury.
Moments before Leao’s goal, Portuguese keeper Diogo Costa pulled off a fine save to deny Marczuk having also been alert to deny Nicola Zalewski in the first half.
Portugal’s best chance in the first 45 minutes had fallen to Ronaldo who fired a close-range effort over the bar from close range.
Japanese soccer player Kazuyoshi Miura says he will play next season at age 58
- Miura will turn 58 in February
- He intends to play next season for his fourth-tier Japanese club, Suzuka
TOKYO: Japanese soccer player Kazuyoshi Miura is several generations older than his teammates. His contemporaries retired decades ago. Lionel Messi is 37, and Cristiano Ronaldo is 39 — mere youngsters compared to Miura.
Miura will turn 58 in February, and the Japanese news agency Kyodo reported this week that he intends to play next season for his fourth-tier Japanese club, Suzuka. It will be his 40th season playing in professional soccer.
Miura is widely listed as the oldest active professional soccer player.
Miura scored 55 goals in 89 appearances and was a star with Japan’s national team in the 1990s.
He has played professionally in Brazil, Italy, Croatia, Australia and Portugal. He made his debut in 1986 with Brazilian club Santos, a side made famous by Brazilian star Pelé.
Japan beat Indonesia 4-0 to extend group lead in Asian World Cup qualifying
- Japan tops the group on 13 points with five games remaining in the round.
- Australia, Saudi Arabia and China all have 6 points, followed by Bahrain with five and Indonesia with 3
JAKARTA: Japan defeated Indonesia 4-0 on Friday to move seven points clear at the top of Group C in the third round of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
Two goals in each half mean the Samurai Blue stays on course for an eighth successive World Cup appearance.
After a bright start from the home team, the 78,000 fans at a sold-out Gelora Bung Karno Stadium were silenced after 35 minutes as Daichi Kamada broke down the left and sent a cross which defender Justin Hubner put into his own net from close range.
Takumi Minamino then scored from inside the area off Kaoru Mitoma’s pass to extend the lead five minutes before the break.
Hidemasa Motira took advantage of an errant pass from Indonesia’s goalkeeper to make it 3-0 early in the second half and Yukinari Sugawara rounded out the scoring in the 69th minute.
Japan tops the group on 13 points with five games remaining in the round. Australia, Saudi Arabia and China all have six points, followed by Bahrain with five and Indonesia with three.
The top two from each of the three groups will be guaranteed a place at the World Cup, with the third- and fourth-place teams progressing to the next stage.
Pogba and Juventus end contract mutually before he returns from doping ban
- The Serie A club never seemed overly enthusiastic about welcoming Pogba back
- “Juventus Football Club and Paul Pogba announce that they have reached a mutual agreement for the termination of their contract as of Nov. 30, 2024,” the Bianconeri said
TURIN, Italy: Paul Pogba will no longer be a Juventus player from next month.
Juventus announced on Friday they came to “a mutual agreement” with Pogba to cancel his contract despite the France World Cup winner having a ban for doping slashed last month.
The Serie A club never seemed overly enthusiastic about welcoming Pogba back after his four-year ban for doping was reduced to 18 months following an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The 31-year-old Pogba, who will be free to resume his career in March 2025, had said he was ready to give up money to play for Juventus again.
“Juventus Football Club and Paul Pogba announce that they have reached a mutual agreement for the termination of their contract as of Nov. 30, 2024,” the Bianconeri said in a brief statement. “The club wish Paul the very best for his professional future.”
Pogba tested positive for testosterone in August last year and the Juventus midfielder was handed the maximum punishment by Italy’s anti-doping court.
But CAS judges cut Pogba’s ban as they acknowledged a lack of intent and said his positive test was the result of erroneously taking a supplement prescribed to him by a medical doctor in Florida.
Pogba’s contract with Juventus was set to expire in June 2026.
“My time at Juventus has come to an end. It has been a privilege to pull on the shirt of the Bianconeri and to share so many special memories together,” Pogba said in a statement.
“I cherish the memories we made. They live on. Even in the most difficult moments over the past year, your support was crucial and I want to thank Juve fans around the world for their compassion.”
Pogba was the most expensive soccer player in history when he joined Manchester United from Juventus for a fee of 105 million euros ($113 million) in 2016.
He starred in France’s World Cup triumph in 2018 and returned to Juventus as a free agent in 2022. But injuries limited him to just eight Serie A appearances in his second spell at the club before his ban last year.
“I am looking forward to the next chapter of my career and to stepping out on the pitch with my next club,” Pogba added.
