Real Madrid s 3-1 loss to Tottenham at Wembley was their heaviest Champions League group-stage defeat in nine years.
Two goals from Dele Alli and a Christian Eriksen strike secured a famous win for Spurs and sent them into the knockout phase.
For the holders, it was their biggest defeat at this stage of the competiton since a 2-0 loss to Juventus in November 2008.
It was also their first loss in the group stage since a 2-1 defeat to Borussia Dortmund in October 2012.
1 Tottenham s 3-1 victory was Real Madrid’s biggest loss in a CL group game since November 2008, losing 2-0 against Juventus. Slump.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe)
Zinedine Zidane s side, who lost 2-1 to Girona in LaLiga at the weekend, have now suffered back-to-back defeats in al…
Jesse Marsch revealed a joke with his former Salzburg striker Erling Haaland ahead of Manchester City s visit to Leeds United on Wednesday.
Haaland – who spent half a season under Marsch before joining Borussia Dortmund in 2020 – has scored 18 Premier League goals this season, six more than his closest rival Harry Kane.
The Norway international was born in Leeds, where his father Alfie Haaland spent three years as a player before himself joining City in 2000.
Haaland was perhaps the most high-profile player not to feature at the recent World Cup in Qatar, and Marsch is concerned about what that could mean for Leeds when they resume their Premier League campaign against the champions.
Asked if he had been in contact with Haaland ahead of the game, Leed…
Barcelona have expressed their support for Lionel Messi following the Spanish Supreme Court s decision to reject his appeal against a suspended 21-month prison sentence for tax fraud.
The Argentina international was handed the jail term last July after being found guilty – alongside his father Jorge – of three counts of tax fraud relating to earnings from image rights which was deemed to have defrauded Spain of €4.1million between 2007 and 2009.
Messi s appeal against the verdict has now been turned down, but Barcelona stick by their star player and his family.
The club reiterates, once again, its full support for Leo Messi, his father Jorge Messi, and his family, spokesman Josep Vives said.
Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu contacted t…
Juninho is close to being appointed the new sporting director at Lyon, according to the club s president Jean-Michel Aulas.
The former Brazil international played for the Ligue 1 club between 2001 and 2009 during their most successful era, the midfielder featuring for Vasco da Gama over two spells in his homeland before retiring in 2013.
Juninho was one of Lyon s star names as the club dominated French football in the 2000s, winning seven league titles in a row, while he also claimed the Coupe de France once.
And Aulas believes the 42-year-old, who was renowned as one of the world s finest free-kick specialists in his playing days, can be persuaded to take the sporting director post at Lyon.
We are not far from succeeding. At least I hope so, Aula…
Best odds: 13/10
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FSV Mainz 05 and Borussia Dortmund are set to do battle at the Mewa Arena in Mainz on Wednesday afternoon in the 17th round of the Bundesliga campaign, in what is surely an important match for both sides as they strive to avoid some unwanted scenarios at the end of the season. The Jurgen Klopp derby, as the fans of the charismatic Liverpool boss like to call this fixture, as both clubs enjoyed rather successful spells under his command in the past.
Mainz 05
Mainz go into the final match of the first half of the Bundesliga campaign in 13th place, with 20 points to their name. As things stand at the time of writing, that s five points more than VfB Stuttgart in 16th, the spot that leads to the relegation play-offs, six more than Hertha…
Erik ten Hag said Ajax can reach the Champions League semi-finals if they have 100 per cent belief following their 1-1 draw with Juventus.
The Cinderella story of this season s competition, Ajax produced another impressive performance in Wednesday s first-leg quarter-final clash in Amsterdam, where David Neres cancelled out Cristiano Ronaldo s opener.
Ajax – who stunned three-time reigning champions Real Madrid in the last 16 – were dominant against Juve at the Johan Cruijff ArenA, with the Dutch giants unfortunate not to add to Neres 46th-minute equaliser.
After Frenkie de Jong and a youthful Ajax side starred again, head coach Ten Hag told reporters: I think we pushed our boundaries again this night. But if we want to reach the semi-finals, we have to put i…
Verdict: Home win
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In-form Austria may not have qualified for the 2018 World Cup finals, but they will give their best to prove their worth against some of world’s top sides over the next two weeks. World Cup hosts Russia, on the other hand, desperately need to make amends for heavy losses to Brazil and France, with this being their penultimate warm-up game.
Austria
The Austrian national team have shown a great deal of promise over the last decade or so, but they have yet to impress at major competitions. While they were unfortunate to crash out in the group stage at the Euro 2008 and Euro 2016 in spite of some very good showings, Das Team have now failed to qualify for five successive World Cup finals, last appearing on the big…
A second-half double from substitute Jamie Gittens earned Borussia Dortmund a 2-0 home win over Eintracht Frankfurt in their first Bundesliga game of the season.
Dortmund, who finished fifth last season, broke the deadlock in the 72nd minute on Saturday after struggling to find their rhythm against a feisty Frankfurt side, who contained their opponents with high pressing.
England under-21 international Gittens scored with a superb strike from a tight angle that sailed into the top far corner after cutting inside the box from the right.
Frankfurt came close to a late equaliser but saw their hopes of salvaging a point dashed as Gittens scored his second after a quick counter-attack in stoppage time.
The result earned Nuri Sahin his first three points at the…
I know that in our transfer market we are going just to react to things that can happen to us in the market. Like I was saying if some player leaves we need to adapt to it.
But we are never going to be the kings of the market, attacking important targets, fighting with clubs that are ready by their profile and philosophy to splash the cash and to go to the important targets.
But in January, in February, we are going to have a little bit more time to try to improve it.
Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho has noted that he is fairly with his squad, seemingly indicating that he might not see a January transfer window full of business from the Portuguese boss.
Spurs have had a mixed start to the campaign as well as a mixed start to their te…
David de Gea insists Manchester United must make their presence felt in this season s Premier League title race.
United will go top of the table if they avoid defeat against Burnley at Turf Moor on Tuesday, a feat that would make Sunday s showdown with reigning champions and bitter rivals Liverpool all the more mouthwatering.
De Gea was part of the last United side to win a championship as Alex Ferguson retired in a blaze of 2012-13 glory.
Since then, they have tended to exist on the margins of the Premier League s big six and this is something the Spain goalkeeper is keen to change.
Yes I have been fighting for the title in a couple of seasons when Sir Alex was here. Now we are there again and it’s taken us a lot of time to get there to be honest an…