Ralf Rangnick is asking his Schalke players to show they have learned the lessons from a one-sided first-leg defeat when they visit Manchester United for the conclusion of their Champions League semi-final. United counterpart, Sir Alex Ferguson, meanwhile, has a selection quandary. Sir Alex Ferguson, United manager I hope Manchester United don’t regard it as […]
Europe
All four Champions League semi-finalists lost over the weekend, with Tuesday’s opponents FC Barcelona and Real Madrid beaten in the same round of matches for the first time in two years and Manchester United following up a setback for rivals Schalke with their own loss at Arsenal. The celebrations were able to begin for Borussia […]
Lionel Messi extended his lead atop the ESM Golden Shoe standings to four points at the weekend after scoring in Barcelona’s 2-0 victory over Osasuna. Messi came off the bench to score, while his nearest challenger Cristiano Ronaldo, who also started on the bench at the weekend, failed to score in Real Madrid’s rout of […]
Schalke coach Ralf Rangnick has described his team’s semi-final against Manchester United as the biggest game of his, and many of his players’ careers. By contrast Sir Alex Ferguson pointed to his squad’s experience of this stage as a cause for confidence, along with their freshness, but admitted there was always apprehension with the final […]
Schalke are through to the Champions League semi-finals for the first time after a comprehensive 7-3 aggregate victory over holders Inter Milan. Raul’s 71st Champions League goal right before half-time killed off any faint hopes the Nerazzurri had of mounting an unlikely comeback from their 5-2 deficit. Thiago Motta equalised early in the second period, […]
The title races in both France and Germany took another turn this weekend, while AC Milan and Manchester United took anther step towards winning their respective championships. France The Ligue 1 title race tightened as leaders Lille were upset 1-0 by Monaco. Luckily for Lille, there other title contenders failed to take full advantage of […]
For fans looking for close, exciting ties, this weeks Champions League ties were a bit of a disappointment with three of the four quarter-finals essentially over after the first leg. Unfortunately, the Europa League quarter-finals tonight followed a similar path as Villarreal, Porto and Benfica all enjoyed impressive first-leg leads, while Braga secured an away […]
Pato scored twice as AC Milan increased their lead at the top of Serie A to five points with a 3-0 win against rivals Inter Milan, who played most of the second half with ten men following the 54th-minute dismissal of Cristian Chivu. Victory would have taken Inter top, but they quickly fell behind when […]
This weekend’s games in La Liga will go ahead as scheduled after a Madrid court upheld a challenge from six breakaway clubs and blocked proposed strike action. “The court decides the official calendar for the first and second divisions should remain unaltered for the next round of matches,” a statement from the court said today. […]