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Champions League draw to include 14 former winners as PSV Eindhoven beat Rangers in playoffs

PSV Eindhoven's Dutch forward Luuk de Jong (C) heads the ball to score his team's third goal during the UEFA Champions League play-off football match between PSV Eindhoven and Rangers FC at The Phillips stadium in Eindhoven on Wednesday. (AFP)
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Updated 31 August 2023
AP
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Champions League draw to include 14 former winners as PSV Eindhoven beat Rangers in playoffs

  • PSV’s single European title means winners of 48 of the 68 editions of Europe’s most prized club title will enter the draw
  • They include record 14-time champions Real Madrid and defending champions Manchester City, who won their first title in June
Updated 31 August 2023
AP

MONACO: There will be 14 winners of the Champions League, or the old European Cup, in the 32-team group stage draw Thursday after PSV Eindhoven advanced in the qualifying playoffs.

PSV, the European champions in 1988, beat Rangers 5-1 in their playoff second leg Wednesday to complete a 7-3 aggregate score.

Royal Antwerp had not played in the competition since 1957 yet also sealed their place in the draw by winning 2-1 at AEK Athens. The champion of Belgium advanced 3-1 on aggregate.

Copenhagen completed the lineup with a 1-1 draw at home to competition debutant Rakow Częstochowa having already won 1-0 in Poland.

PSV’s single European title means winners of 48 of the 68 editions of Europe’s most prized club title will enter the draw. They include record 14-time champions Real Madrid and defending champions Manchester City, who won their first title in June.

FINAL FORMAT

This Champions League is the 20th and last in the familiar format of eight round robin groups of four teams each, sending the top two into a 16-team knockout bracket.

Next year the Champions League expands to 36 teams, playing eight games instead of six, ranked in a single standings. The top eight will advance direct to the round of 16. Teams ranked No. 9 through 24 go into a knockout playoffs round to decide the other eight places in the last-16.

The final edition in the established format starts Sept. 19 and group-stage games finish Dec. 13. The knockout stage starts in February and reaches the final at Wembley Stadium in London on June 1.

PRIZE MONEY

UEFA has €2 billion ($2.2 billion) prize money for the rest of the competition. Each of the 32 gets a basic €15.64 million ($17.1 million) plus shares of a €600 million ($656 million) fund distributed according to clubs’ historic record in UEFA competitions.

Top-ranked Real Madrid’s share will be about €36.4 million ($40 million) and about €1.14 million ($1.25 million) to the lowest-ranked team, Lens, which have not played in European soccer for 16 years.

UEFA also will pay teams €2.8 million ($3.1 million) per win and €930,000 ($1 million) per draw in the group stage, escalating payments for advancing through each knockout round, plus a share of the TV money paid by rights holders in their home country.

Real Madrid were the highest earnesr with €133 million ($145 million) from UEFA when they won the 2022 title — the last figures published by UEFA. Moldovan champion Sheriff’s €23.7 million s ($26 million) was the lowest UEFA payout that season.

NOMADIC SHAKHTAR

Shakhtar Donetsk have had several adopted home cities in Ukraine and abroad since losing access to their stadium in 2014 because of Russian-backed conflict and then war in the Donbas region.

Last season Shakhtar used Legia Warsaw’s stadium in Poland for their three “home” games in the group stage.

Shakhtar will now play in Hamburg at the Volksparkstadion that is one of Germany’s host venues for the 2024 European Championship. The club said last week it already sold 30,000 ticket packages.

Russian clubs, including champions Zenit St. Petersburg, are banned for the second straight season.

MULTI-CLUB OWNERSHIP

UEFA has had rules for more than 20 years limiting owners from having decisive influence over two or more clubs which can meet in the same European competition. They were designed to protect the integrity of games on the field.

Still, the trend toward multi-club ownership projects has intensified since a UEFA ruling in 2017 let Leipzig and Salzburg both enter the Champions League despite sharing deep ties to the Red Bull brand. The two clubs are in separate draw pots Thursday and can meet in the group stage.

Paris Saint-Germain can be drawn in the same group as Braga despite taking a 22 percent ownership stake in the Portuguese club last year.

CLUB WORLD CUP

The 32 teams also are playing for entry to — and more prize money from – the inaugural expanded FIFA Club World Cup in June 2025 hosted by the United States.

Europe will send 12 teams to that 32-team lineup including the past three Champions League title holders — Man City, Real Madrid and Chelsea — plus the winner of this edition.

Other places should go to teams with the best overall record in the four Champions League seasons from 2020-24.

That’s good for consistent performers Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Benfica. Not so much for clubs which missed qualification in at least one recent season, like Manchester United, Arsenal and now Juventus.

Draw Seedings

Pot 1: Manchester City (England), Sevilla (Spain), Barcelona (Spain), Bayern Munich (Germany), Napoli (Italy), Paris Saint-Germain (France), Benfica (Portugal), Feyenoord (Netherlands).

Pot 2: Real Madrid (Spain), Manchester United (England), Inter Milan (Italy), Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Atlético Madrid (Spain), Leipzig (Germany), Porto (Portugal), Arsenal (England).

Pot 3: Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine), Salzburg (Austria), AC Milan (Italy), Braga (Portugal), PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands), Lazio (Italy), Red Star Belgrade (Serbia), Copenhagen (Denmark).

Pot 4: Young Boys (Switzerland), Real Sociedad (Spain), Galatasaray (Turkiye), Celtic (Scotland), Newcastle (England), Union Berlin (Germany), Royal Antwerp (Belgium), Lens (France).

Topics: PSV Eindhoven Rangers Champions League playoff

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Troubled Manchester United humiliated by Bournemouth

Updated 22 December 2024
AFP
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Troubled Manchester United humiliated by Bournemouth

  • Second successive flop for Amorim’s side following 4-3 League Cup quarterfinal exit at Tottenham
  • Bournemouth win came a year after securing first ever victory at Old Trafford
Updated 22 December 2024
AFP

MANCHESTER: Manchester United crashed to a humiliating 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth on Sunday as Ruben Amorim lost for the fourth time in his nine games in charge of the troubled Old Trafford club.
It was a second successive flop for Amorim’s side following their 4-3 League Cup quarter-final exit at Tottenham on Thursday.
Bournemouth took a first-half lead through Dean Huijsen before Justin Kluivert and Antoine Semenyo netted after the interval to complete a dismal afternoon for Amorim, who replaced the sacked Erik ten Hag in November.
A year after securing their first ever victory at Old Trafford, Andoni Iraola’s Cherries triumphed by the same scoreline as they inflicted the biggest blow of Amorim’s short reign.
Huijsen became the latest player to capitalize on United’s woeful set-piece defending, before a Kluivert penalty and a Semenyo strike sealed a stunning win that brought boos from the home fans at full-time.
The result leaves United marooned in 13th over Christmas and marked an alarming fall from grace after last Sunday’s 2-1 derby win at Manchester City.
Amorim had always warned there would be bumps in the road but this fourth defeat in his ninth match in charge further underlined the issues at hand.
Marcus Rashford’s absence from a third consecutive matchday squad had dominated the pre-match discussion as Amorim made six changes.
United offered little attacking threat without Rashford and their glaring deficiences at the back were ruthlessly exploited by a Bournemouth side who are now up to fifth place.
Tyrell Malacia was furious to be adjudged to have fouled Adam Smith and Huijsen easily beat Joshua Zirkee to head home the resulting free-kick from Ryan Christie in the 29th minute.
Amorim brought on Leny Yoro for Malacia at half-time and soon made two further changes, with Rasmus Hojlund and Alejandro Garnacho replacing Zirkzee and Manuel Ugarte.
The changes made no difference and Noussair Mazraoui conceded a careless penalty when he brought down Kluivert in the 61st minute.
The Netherlands international stepped up to send Andre Onana the wrong way as he stroked home from the spot.
United’s capitulation was complete two minutes later.
Kobbie Mainoo’s pass was cut out and Bournemouth broke as Evanilson slipped in Dango Ouattara, whose cutback was driven home by Semenyo.
Jubilant Bournemouth fans chanted “Man United, it’s happened again” in reference to last year’s victory, while the dejected home supporters flooded toward the exits.

Topics: football soccer England Premier league Manchester United AFC Bournemouth

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Balotelli almost scores first goal for Genoa but Napoli hold on to lead Serie A again

Updated 22 December 2024
AP
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Balotelli almost scores first goal for Genoa but Napoli hold on to lead Serie A again

  • Lazio rebounded from a dismal 6-0 thrashing at home to Inter Milan by winning at lowly Lecce 2-1
  • Bologna had a penalty saved but won at Torino 2-0
Updated 22 December 2024
AP

MILAN: Mario Balotelli almost scored his first goal back in Serie A while Napoli returned to the top after withstanding a late siege from Genoa to hold on for a 2-1 win on Saturday.

Balotelli returned to Serie A after more than four years in October and has made six appearances totalling just 57 minutes.

The 34-year-old was sent on with seven minutes remaining against Napoli and almost had an immediate impact as Andrea Pinamonti’s glancing header clipped Balotelli’s knee but goalkeeper Alex Meret managed to push it off the post.

It was one of several decisive saves by Meret in the second half as Genoa came out fighting after going into the break two goals down following headers from Frank Anguissa and Amir Rrahmani.

Pinamonti got Genoa back into it six minutes into the second half with a fine finish into the bottom right corner but the home side went on to suffer its first defeat since hiring Patrick Vieira as coach last month.

It was also Genoa’s first match since coming under the ownership of Romanian businessman Dan Șucu.

The loss left Genoa 13th in Serie A but only two points above the relegation zone.

Napoli moved a point above Atalanta, who host Empoli on Sunday.

10-men Lecce almost hold out

Lazio rebounded from a dismal 6-0 thrashing at home to Inter Milan by winning at lowly Lecce 2-1 but it was far from convincing despite Lecce playing the entire second half with 10 men.

Lecce’s chances of getting something from the match appeared to evaporate on the stroke of halftime.

Taty Castellanos’ first shot was parried brilliantly by Wladimiro Falcone and his follow-up was cleared off the line by the hand of Lecce defender Frédéric Guilbert, who was shown a straight red card.

Castellanos fired the resulting penalty into the bottom left corner.

Tete Morente volleyed Lecce level five minutes after the break and it seemed as if the 10 men were going to hold out for a point but substitute Adam Marusic — who had only just come off the bench — scored the winner three minutes from time.

Lecce almost leveled in stoppages but Mohamed Kaba’s header came off the crossbar.

Lazio moved to fourth while Lecce remained two points clear of the drop zone.

Bologna had a penalty saved but won at Torino 2-0.

Topics: Serie A Mario Balotelli Napoli genoa

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Wirtz, Schick star for Leverkusen in rout of Freiburg and keep pressure on Bayern

Updated 22 December 2024
AP
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Wirtz, Schick star for Leverkusen in rout of Freiburg and keep pressure on Bayern

  • Leverkusen resume their league defense at Borussia Dortmund on Jan. 10, while Bayern visit Borussia Mönchengladbach on Jan. 11
  • Brazilian goalkeeper Kaua Santos endured a game to forget as his Eintracht Frankfurt was shocked by 10-man Mainz 3-1
Updated 22 December 2024
AP

BERLIN: Florian Wirtz starred and Patrik Schick scored four goals as Bayer Leverkusen routed Freiburg 5-1 on Saturday to keep the pressure on Bundesliga leader Bayern Munich over the winter break.

Wirtz, who has yet to extend his Leverkusen contract, set up a hat trick for Schick and scored his seventh league goal of the season.

Leverkusen dominated but needed patience before Schick broke the deadlock with a chip over the goalkeeper right before the break.

Wirtz, who’d played Schick through, score after the break when he displayed brilliant close control to elude a defender before firing the ball inside the near post from a narrow angle.

Vincenzo Grifo pulled one back four minutes later, but Wirtz floated in a precise cross for Schick to head Leverkusen’s third in the 67th, then laid the ball back for Schick to fire Leverkusen’s fourth in the 74th.

“For a striker, it’s a dream to have this player behind you,” Schick said of Wirtz.

Schick scored again with a header to a corner three minutes later — the only goal that didn’t involve Wirtz.

Leverkusen stayed four points behind Bayern after its eighth straight win across all competitions.

Leverkusen resume their league defense at Borussia Dortmund on Jan. 10, while Bayern visit Borussia Mönchengladbach on Jan. 11.

Frankfurt goalkeeper’s woes

Brazilian goalkeeper Kaua Santos endured a game to forget as his Eintracht Frankfurt was shocked by 10-man Mainz 3-1.

Frankfurt had 34 shots at goal compared to nine by the visitor, which played with a man less from the 21st after captain Nadiem Amiri was sent off for catching Ellyes Skhiri’s right ankle with his studs.

Santos had already conceded an unfortunate own goal. The ‘keeper played out a short pass to Skhiri, who was immediately under pressure from two Mainz players. Skhiri sent the ball looping back toward Santos, who deflected it onto the crossbar, from where it rebounded back off Santos’ arm and in.

Mainz’s Paul Nebel then scored with a deflected shot for 2-0, and Santos was at fault again when a botched pass invited another Mainz attack. Nebel grabbed his second goal in the 58th.

Rasmus Kristensen, who struck the crossbar in the first half, scored Frankfurt’s consolation in the 75th.

“We were already there for Kaua as a team on the field,” Frankfurt defender Robin Koch said of Santos’ bad day. “He’s a young player, these things happen. But he’s a good guy, he’ll come out of it and the same will help him with his development.”

Regular goalkeeper Kevin Trapp and reserve Jens Grahl were out with illness.

Stuttgart stunned at home

Johannes Eggestein fired promoted St. Pauli to a 1-0 win at Stuttgart, last season’s runner-up. Stuttgart had won their last four games across all competitions.

Union Berlin’s winless run stretched to nine games across all competitions as Bo Svensson’s team slumped to a 4-1 defeat at Werder Bremen.

Holstein Kiel ended their five-game losing run by routing Augsburg 5-1, and Borussia Mönchengladbach won at Hoffenheim 2-1.

There were tributes with silences before all the games for the victims of an attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg the night before.

“There are always more important things than football,” Freiburg coach Christian Günter said.

Topics: Bundesliga Bayer Leverkusen Freiburg Bayern Munich

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Atletico snatch late win at Barca to top La Liga

Updated 22 December 2024
AFP
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Atletico snatch late win at Barca to top La Liga

  • Barcelona started the season in superb form but have stumbled in recent weeks and have now won just one of their last seven league games
Updated 22 December 2024
AFP

BARCELONA: Atletico Madrid came from behind to snatch a last-gasp 2-1 victory over Barcelona and claim leadership of La Liga on Saturday.
Pedri sent the Catalans ahead but second-half goals from Rodrigo De Paul and Alexander Sorloth helped Diego Simeone’s side move three points clear at the top of the table, having played one match fewer than Barca.
Hansi Flick’s side dominated at the Olympic stadium but Atletico clung on before claiming a 12th consecutive victory across all competitions with Sorloth’s stoppage-time strike.
Barcelona started the season in superb form but have stumbled in recent weeks and have now won just one of their last seven league games.
Champions Real Madrid face Sevilla on Sunday and can also move ahead of Barcelona with a victory.
Barcelona controlled the first half, with their press suffocating Atletico, but struggled to construct many chances.
Raphinha missed with an early header and had another effort blocked, while Jan Oblak fielded a stinging Inigo Martinez effort.
The hosts appealed for a penalty when the ball struck Giovanni Simeone’s arm in the area but it would have been a harsh punishment for the Atletico coach’s son.
Barcelona took the lead after 30 minutes with Pedri both the architect and scorer of the goal.
The Spain midfielder burst forward with the ball and fed Gavi, who tried to turn and inadvertently nudged the ball back to the surging Pedri, who entered the box and slotted past Oblak.
Barcelona should have doubled their lead early in the second half, with Fermin Lopez denied by Oblak’s legs before Raphinha hit the crossbar.
Pedri played in the Brazilian winger with a fine pass over the top and Raphinha lofted the ball over the goalkeeper but it struck the woodwork on its way down.
Moments later Atletico were level, with Marc Casado’s misguided backheel clearance falling to De Paul on the edge of the area.
The in-form Argentine midfielder finished with a firm low effort into the bottom corner for his third goal in his last four league games.
In the final stages both teams tried to snatch a winner, with La Liga’s top goalscorer Robert Lewandowski missing from point-blank range, although Ferran Torres appeared offside in the build-up.
At the other end Inaki Pena made a fine save to keep Pablo Barrios at bay, while Oblak saved from Raphinha after another superb Pedri ball.
The outstanding Canarian midfielder had a chance to score himself but Oblak again proved too hard to beat, and his efforts did not go unrewarded.
Deep in stoppage time Nahuel Molina crossed for regular super-sub Sorloth to strike and ensure Atletico will be top of the pile at Christmas.

Topics: La Liga Atletico Madrid Barca

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Newcastle deepen Ipswich woes with thumping win at Portman Road

Updated 21 December 2024
AFP
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Newcastle deepen Ipswich woes with thumping win at Portman Road

  • Isak volleyed Eddie Howe’s team ahead in the first minute
Updated 21 December 2024
AFP

IPSWICH: Newcastle deepened Ipswich’s plight and lifted themselves to seventh in the table with a 4-0 win at Portman Road.

Isak volleyed Eddie Howe’s team ahead in the first minute and Jacob Murphy doubled their lead before Isak side-footed in from close range just before the break.

The Sweden international scored his third nine minutes into the second half, poking the ball home after more fine work from Murphy.

It was a ninth defeat in 17 games for Ipswich since they returned to the Premier League and they remain in the relegation zone, two points from safety.

Topics: football soccer England Premier league Newcastle United Ipswich Town

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