Month: April 2019

Spurs lost 4-3 in their quarter-final second leg at the Etihad Stadium but made it through to the last four on away goals.

The game was an incredible spectacle and it looked like Mauricio Pochettino’s men had lost it at the death but Raheem Sterling’s stoppage-time strike was ruled out for offside after a tense VAR check.

It means Spurs are one more triumph away from a first ever European Cup final with Dutch side Ajax, who have beaten Real Madrid and Juventus in the knockout stages, standing in their way.

The triumph is also a massive psychological hurdle cleared by Spurs with the perception among some football fans that they crumble during the big games.

The defender was so sure Salah would score his one-on-one against Porto he started celebrating before the forward had even taken his shot.

The Reds cruised through to the semi-finals of the Champions League with a 6-1 aggregate win over the Portuguese side.

Sadio Mane put Liverpool 1-0 up after 25 minutes before second half goals from Salah, Roberto Firmino and Van Dijk sealed a 4-1 victory at the Estadio do Dragao.

The Egypt international ended any hope of a Porto comeback by putting Jurgen Klopp’s side four goals up in the tie.

He was played through on goal by Trent Alexander-Arnold and Salah made no mistakes with just the goalkeeper to beat.

Van Dijk can be seen raising his arms on the halfway line before Salah has even taken his shot.

It was his 23rd goal in all competitions this season for the Reds and he also has netted 67 times in 98 appearances.

In an incident which mirrors Geoff Shreeves’ infamous conversation with Branislav Ivanovic after Chelsea made the 2012 Champions League Final, the interviewer asks Son how he feels about his suspension, to which the South Korean replies, ‘I didn’t know!’

Tottenham edged out City in a seven-goal thriller on Wednesday night, advancing on away goals after City’s dramatic 4-3 victory.

Son played his part in the Champions League triumph, netting twice inside the opening ten minutes.

However, he received his third European booking of the season after tugging Kevin De Bruyne’s shirt just after half-time.

The Gunners won the quarter-final first leg 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium and know they’ll have to be at their very best to secure a place in the last four.

And despite acquitting himself well in the first leg, Ozil has been named on the bench while Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang start up front together.

Elsewhere, Sokratis Papastathopoulos returns to the starting XI as his suspension only applies to domestic matches.

The hosts have named a strong line-up which features the likes of Kalidou Koulibaly and Lorenzo Insigne but striker Dries Mertens is on the bench. Below you can see the confirmed line-ups for both sides.

Neither side is relenting in their quest for top spot and separating the pair is proving almost impossible.

As it stands, Liverpool are top and clear by two points.

However, they have played a game more. So if City were able to beat bitter rivals Manchester United next Wednesday, they would be one point clear.

With Tottenham Hotspur and Ajax leading the way in the Champions League, the policy of spending big to win big seems a touch outdated.

And in the Premier League, City and Liverpool are two of the biggest. So how have the respective mangers spent their money since taking charge?

Here at talkSPORT.com, we wanted to examine how both managers have used the considerable transfer funds at their disposal to propel their sides into the reckoning for the top prize in the English game.

With Klopp taking over in 2015 and Guardiola arriving just a year later, the time frame for comparison is almost identical.

JURGEN KLOPP STATS

The German is not afraid to splash the cash…

• Date joined: 7/10/15
• Players signed: 13
• Total amount spent on transfers: £398,475,000
• Average transfer fee per player: £30,651,923

*stats courtesy of transfermarkt.co.uk

To describe Brendan Rodgers’ transfer policy at Liverpool as erratic would be fair and his sacking saw the Fenway Sports Group search overseas for his successor.

Klopp’s self-imposed sabbatical from Borussia Dortmund was soon over and the German was tasked with getting the Reds back to the pinnacle of world football.

With a second successive Champions League Final almost delivered and a first ever Premier League title within his grasp, it’s fair to say the 51-year-old has succeeded.

TRANSFER MISSES

Since his first transfer window in January 2016, Klopp has altered his transfer policy somewhat. At Dortmund, he brought through a team of academy graduates and bargain buys to Bundelisga glory. Signing Robert Lewandowski for just €4.5million was a particularly shrewd move.

His attempt to be as frugal on Merseyside was not a complete success, to put it politely, as the likes of Ragnar Klavan, Marko Grujic and Loris Karius proved to all be poor signings.

While it is perhaps too early to judge him, Naby Keita has not had the impact many had hoped, nor that his early form promised.

TRANSFER HITS

In all honesty, the German has worked wonders with his business dealings since taking over at Anfield.

By changing from his bargain hunting style to an all-out charm offensive, Klopp has welcomed some of the biggest names to the red half of Merseyside.

Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Fabinho have all proved invaluable to Liverpool’s title challenge and Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker are arguably the best in the world in their respective positions.

PEP GUARDIOLA STATS

The Spaniard has inspired a revolution with City's riches…

• Date joined: 30/6/16
• Players signed: 22
• Total amount spent on transfers: £539,721,000
• Average transfer fee per player: £24,532,773

*stats courtesy of transfermarkt.com

After performing footballing miracles at Bayern Munich and Barcelona, the Manchester City board finally convinced Pep Guardiola to try his hand in the Premier League.

An indifferent debut season saw the Spaniard show his ruthless side as he completely revamped City’s defence by cutting out the likes of Gael Clichy, Pablo Zabaleta and Joe Hart – all firm fan favourites.

However, his methods clearly deliver results and last season’s record-breaking Premier League title success is proof of that. But the lack of Champions League success will irk the former Barca captain.

TRANSFER MISSES

Guardiola has spent big during his time at the Etihad, but you cannot fault his efficiency.

After deciding the aforementioned Hart was not technically gifted enough, he immediately shipped the England intentional out tin place of Claudio Bravo. However, the arrival from La Liga proved to be a flop and Guardiola was forced to delve into the transfer market 12 months later.

Another player from that first window who could not cut it was Nolito, a player who promised a lot but delivered little. And the jury is out on Riyad Mahrez still – a player lacking consistency and the pedigree in big games.

TRANSFER HITS

Like Klopp, when Guardiola gets it right in the transfer window, he gets it very right.

Leroy Sane, Bernardo Silva, Ederson and Gabriel Jesus can form the spine of this City team for years and the mix of decorated players from across the continent yet to hit their prime like Ilkay Gundogan and Benjamin Mendy also makes for a great squad.

The Spaniard has also spent well when bargain hunting. Oleksandr Zinchenko has developed into a Premier League standard defender while Jack Harrison (on loan at Leeds United) could well become a regular in years to come.

The Welshman, who is heading to Juventus on a free transfer this summer, withdrew from the Stadio San Paolo pitch on 34 minutes with what appears to be a hamstring injury.

It’s not clear at this stage how long Ramsey, who was replaced by Henrikh Mkhitaryan, will be out for but Gooners will be hoping the 28-year-old’s career at the club has not come to such an abrupt end.

Ramsey has been in brilliant form this season with many pundits left wondering why the club have allowed him to leave so easily including talkSPORT’s Adrian Durham.

However, Unai Emery’s men didn’t let Ramsey’s injury put them off from the task in hand as they secured a 1-0 victory at the Stadio San Paolo, going through 3-0 on aggregate.

The Kilmarnock striker joined talkSPORT to share his reaction to the news of the manager’s sacking on Thursday afternoon.

McLeish’s second spell in charge at Hampden Park has come to an end following their disastrous start to their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign – suffering a humiliating 3-0 defeat to Kazakhstan.

They followed that up with a 2-0 win over San Marino but the SFA have taken action, saying the team’s performances over the past year have been below expectations and that Scotland are ‘capable of achieving more’.

McLeish’s exit is a surprise to no one. The manager came under heavy fire from fans following the Kazakhstan defeat – regarded as one of the worst in the national team’s history by many including talkSPORT’s Alan Brazil and Ally McCoist.

But Boyd insists McLeish deserves respect and recognition from supporters given his achievements as a player.

The former Chelsea starlet joined the Blues from Genk in 2012, but found himself sidelined under manager Mourinho.

In 2014, Wolfsburg parted with £18million to sign the Belgian ace and, after being crowned German Footballer of the Year, he then moved to Manchester City for a club-record fee.

The decision by the Blues to sell their prodigious midfielder will surely irk fans who grown tired of watching Jorginho struggle to deal with the pace of the Premier League.

But the situation could have been avoided had the Portuguese sanctioned a loan deal to Borussia Dortmund instead of a permanent one.

“When I was at Chelsea, there was so much in the press about my relationship with José Mourinho,” the midfielder wrote in the Player’s Tribune. “But the truth is that I only ever spoke to him twice.

“The plan was always for me to go on loan for a bit. So I went to Werder Bremen in 2012, and that season went great. When I came back to Chelsea the next summer, a few German clubs wanted to sign me.

“Klopp wanted me to come to Borussia Dortmund, and they played the kind of football that I enjoy. So I thought maybe Chelsea would let me go.

“But then Mourinho texted me, “You are staying. I want you to be part of this team.”

“So I thought, O.K., great. I’m in his plans.

“When I arrived for preseason, the vibe was good. I started two of the first four games of the season, and I thought I played O.K. Not brilliant, but pretty good. After the fourth game, that was it.

“I was on the bench, and I never really got a chance again. I didn’t get an explanation. I was just out of favour for some reason.”

The move to the Bundesliga was the making of the Belgium international; he scored 13 goals in 51 games and equalled the record number of assists in a single season.

Manuel Pellegrini convinced the Manchester City board to part with £54million to sign the starlet and the rest, as they say, is history.

Mourinho was sacked midway through De Bruyne’s first season at the Etihad and the 27-year-old credits the former Manchester United boss for giving him ‘life-changing moment’.

He continued: “José called me into his office in December, and it was probably the second big life-changing moment for me. He had some papers in front of him, and he said, ‘One assist. Zero goals. Ten recoveries.’

“It took me a minute to understand what he was doing.

“Then he started reading the stats of the other attacking forwards — Willian, Oscar, Mata, Schürrle. And it’s like — five goals, 10 assists, whatever.

“José was just kind of waiting for me to say something, and finally I said, “But … some of these guys have played 15, 20 games. I’ve only played three. So it’s going to be different, no?”

“It was so strange. We had a bit of a conversation about me going back out on loan. And Mata was also out of favour at the time, so José said, ‘Well, you know, if Mata leaves, then you will be the fifth choice instead of sixth.’

Think Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole, Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, how about Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic?

And this season, it is Bournemouth who have the most productive duo, in the form of Callum Wilson and Ryan Fraser.

The two men played a crucial role in the 5-0 drubbing the Cherries dished out on their travels at Brighton, with Wilson setting up Fraser for their second before the diminutive attacker returned the favour for Wilson to make it four.

Barcelona are reportedly planning a £100m move for Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford, 21, who has just one year remaining on his Old Trafford contract. (Daily Mirror)

Chelsea may target Barcelona midfielder Philippe Coutinho if the Blues’ transfer ban is lifted this summer. The former Liverpool star has ruled out a move to Manchester United. (Sport)

Eden Hazard, Paul Pogba and Sadio Mane continue to be linked with moves to Real Madrid. Reports in Spain claim Los Blancos chiefs have two transfer plans this summer – Plan A, featuring the signing of Chelsea star Hazard, and a ‘luxury’ Plan B includes the double signing of Manchester United midfielder Pogba and Liverpool forward Mane. (El Confidencial)

However, United are said to have told agent Mino Raiola that Real Madrid would need to pay €150m (£129.34m) to sign World Cup winner Pogba. (Marca)

Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany has told talkSPORT he WILL be at the club next season, despite not yet signing an extension to his contract which is currently set to expire in the summer – FULL STORY

Arsenal’s on-loan midfielder Denis Suarez is unlikely to make his move from Barcelona permanent as he is being troubled by a persistent groin injury. (Daily Mail)

Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Everton are all interested in signing Ajax’s 22-year-old Brazilian forward David Neres Campos this summer. (The Sun)

Arsenal may trigger a buy-back clause in Algeria midfielder Ismael Bennacer’s contract, with the 21-year-old attracting interest at Italian side Empoli. (Le10 Sport)

Manchester United are set to lose out to Juventus in the race to sign Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti. (AS)

Instead, United are prepared to pay the £31m release clause to sign Roma’s Greek centre-back Kostas Manolas. (Leggo)

Manchester City’s Germany midfielder Ilkay Gundogan is a target for Inter Milan. (Tuttosport)

Newcastle United striker Dwight Gayle has hinted he wants to remain at on-loan club West Brom next season. (Shields Gazette)

Meanwhile, the Magpies have joined Arsenal, Everton and Manchester City in showing an interest Burnley’s English midfielder Dwight McNeil, 19. (Daily Star)