Category: Football

Robert Lewandowski struck twice for Barcelona as they demolished Young Boys 5-0 in a one-sided Champions League clash on Tuesday.

The Catalan giants, five-time winners, made amends for their defeat by Monaco in their first match by thumping their Swiss visitors.

Raphinha and Inigo Martinez strikes as well as an own goal helped Hansi Flick’s side secure a sizeable victory and boost their goal difference significantly.

“We knew after the game against Monaco in the Champions League we had to give a quick reply in the next game, which was this one, and we did that well,” Raphinha told Movistar.

“A couple of days ago we lost a game in La Liga too (at Osasuna) and we had to give a quick response, and we did that. It’s much easier playing here at home because of the joy (the fans) give us.”

Raphinha said that the expanded Champions League format and one table for all the teams were useful in building a good goal difference.

“It’s important to score so many goals because at the end of the eight games, it will be handy,” he added.

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Young Boys are in the relegation zone of their domestic league with just one win in eight games and were thrashed at home by Aston Villa on their European debut this season.

It took Barcelona just eight minutes to move ahead, with Robert Lewandowski applying a poacher’s finish to Raphinha’s cross-shot.

Jules Kounde hammered over and Ferran Torres had a shot saved as Barcelona dominated, but Young Boys carved out a first opening after 30 minutes when Ebrima Colley pulled an effort wide.

Raphinha, enjoying a strong start to the campaign, doubled Barcelona’s lead from close range after Pedri’s shot was blocked but the ball ricocheted to his feet.

Centre-back Martinez headed home Barca’s third from Pedri’s free-kick shortly afterwards as the Catalans overran their ragged visitors.

Torres wasted a fine chance for the fourth when he fired straight at Young Boys goalkeeper Marvin Keller when well-placed to score.

Lewandowski netted his second with a close-range header after Martinez had nodded Lamine Yamal’s corner back across the face of the goal as Barcelona began the second half just as they finished the first.

Barcelona fans were pleased to see Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong come on as a substitute for his first appearance since an ankle injury in April as the game petered towards a close.

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Star Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo on Monday, hinted at retirement from professional football, stating he “does not have much time left on the pitch”.

After leading Al-Nassr to a 2-1 win over Al Rayyan in the AFC Champions League, Ronaldo asserted that he does not care about individual records anymore and is solely focused on enjoying playing football.

“I’m just enjoying playing football now as I know I don’t have much time left on the pitch. It is not important to me now to be the best player or to win awards. What is important to me now is to enjoy and help my team,” Cristiano Ronaldo said after the game.

Earlier this month, the star footballer had said that retirement would not be a difficult decision to make.

“When the time comes, I’ll move on. It won’t be a difficult decision to make,” Ronaldo said ahead of Portugal’s Nations League clash with Croatia in Lisbon.

“If I feel like I’m no longer contributing anything, I’ll be the first to leave,” he added, citing the example of his former team-mate Pepe, “who left through the front door” after announcing his retirement from the game last August at the age of 41.

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Prior to that, Cristiano Ronaldo said that his retirement decision from the national football team would be spontaneous and he would not share it with anyone.

“When I leave the national team, I won’t tell anyone in advance and it will be a very spontaneous decision on my part, but also a very well thought-out one,” said Ronaldo.

“Right now what I want is to be able to help the national team in their upcoming matches. We have the Nations League ahead of us and I would really like to play.”

“At the moment, I’m not thinking about being a coach of the first team or any team. It doesn’t even cross my mind, I’ve never thought about it. I don’t see my future going through that. I see myself doing other things outside of football, but only God knows what the future holds.”

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Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is set to miss a couple of weeks after his club diagnosed him with a hip muscle injury.

Spanish media estimate he will return in mid-October after the impending international break, missing the Champions League visit to Lille on Wednesday and next weekend’s home La Liga match against Villarreal.

“After tests carried out today on our player Thibaut Courtois by the Real Madrid Medical Services, he has been diagnosed with an abductor injury in his left leg. His progress will be monitored,” the club said in a statement.

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Courtois sustained the injury during Madrid’s derby 1-1 draw at rivals Atletico in La Liga on Sunday, a match in which he was also targeted by home fans of his former club who threw objects including lighters at him.

The Belgian goalkeeper spent most of last season out with a severe knee injury but returned in time to start in Madrid’s Champions League final triumph.

Ukrainian goalkeeper Andriy Lunin is poised to fill in for Courtois as he did last season.

It’s worth noting that Real Madrid are currently standing in the second position in the La Liga points table behind Barcelona with a difference of three points.

READ: PSG axe Dembele for Arsenal clash over disciplinary reasons

Ousmane Dembele was axed from Paris Saint-Germain’s (PSG) squad for Tuesday’s Champions League clash against Arsenal because he did not “comply with or respect the expectations of the team”, coach Luis Enrique said.

It follows reports in French media that the 27-year-old winger had a heated exchange with Luis Enrique following PSG’s 3-1 win against Rennes on Friday, in which Dembele was substituted late on.

Dembele has been one of the team’s stand-out players so far this season and featured in PSG’s Champions League win against Girona earlier this month.

But Luis Enrique, speaking at the Emirates in London on Monday, said the France international had not travelled with the squad from Paris.

“If someone doesn’t comply or respect the expectations of the team, it means they are not prepared to play,” he said.

“The match tomorrow is very important and I want all my players to be ready, so as a consequence I have left him (Dembele) out. I want the best for my team and that is my job.”

The former Spain manager said he was “100 percent” sure of his decision.

“It doesn’t mean this is irreversible, but I took the best decision for the team and that is why I signed here, to create a team that has a strong identity and has a lot of character,” he added.

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Asked to explain the altercation with Ousmane Dembele, Luis Enrique replied: “I am very honest and I will be honest, but I am not going to create a soap opera out of this.

“There are no problems between us. That is completely false. This is simply about the responsibilities of the player.”

Without the in-form Ousmane Dembele, who has four goals and as many assists in six league games this season, PSG will rely more heavily on Bradley Barcola.

Barcola is the leading scorer in the French top flight this season with six goals, two of which came in the victory over Rennes.

Luis Enrique praised Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta, hailing his former Barcelona team-mate as one of the best managers in world football.

“He is one of the best coaches on the market at the moment,” he said. “He changed Arsenal’s fortunes from a somewhat winless streak to one of the best teams in the world that is competing for titles.

“I would go as far as to say they are the best team in Europe playing without the ball. He is a great coach and a great person.”

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Argentina’s World Cup-winning goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez has been banned for two matches by FIFA for “offensive behaviour”, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) announced on Saturday.

The 32-year-old Aston Villa star was also found guilty of “violating principles of fairplay” in two separate episodes.

Martinez was found to have violated FIFA’s code of conduct when holding a replica of the Copa America trophy to his groin after the World Cup qualifier win over Chile on September 5.

It is not the first time Emiliano Martinez has performed such an action having also done it with the Golden Glove trophy for best goalkeeper after Argentina beat France on penalties in the 2022 World Cup final.

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FIFA also sanctioned him for hitting a TV cameraman’s camera with his gloves after their 2-1 defeat by Colombia on September 10.

The AFA expressed their dissatisfaction with the FIFA ruling.

“It should be noted that the Argentine Football Association expresses its absolute disagreement with the decision taken by the FIFA disciplinary committee,” they said in a statement.

As a result of the decision Emiliano Martinez — also a key member of the Argentina side that won the Copa America in July, as well as the 2021 edition — will miss the World Cup qualifiers against Venezuela on October 10 and Bolivia on October 15.

Argentina are top of the South American qualifying table with 18 points after eight matches. Colombia are just two points behind.

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Manchester City midfielder Rodri will miss the rest of the season with a serious knee injury, dealing a huge blow to their hopes of winning a fifth straight Premier League title.

City manager Pep Guardiola said the Spain international, who suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in last week’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal, had gone under the knife on Friday.

“He had surgery this morning, ACL and some meniscus,” he said. “So, next season he will be here. This season is over.”

Rodri is one of City’s most important players and his loss will be keenly felt by Guardiola, who is also seeking to regain the Champions League crown.

The City boss, speaking on the eve of his team’s Premier League match against Newcastle, said it was the worst news possible, underlining the importance of the defensive midfielder he has called “irreplaceable”.

“We have to do it as a team and find a way to play during a lot of months without an important player for us,” he said.

“Everybody knows it. Speedy recovery and next season he will compete against them.

“We are stronger with him, we’re stronger with Nathan Ake, we are strong with Oscar Bobb.

“All the injuries we did not want it, but football happens.”

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Rodri played a key role as City held off Arsenal to win a fourth straight Premier League title last season and was named player of the tournament at Euro 2024 as Spain emerged triumphant.

Each of City’s past four Premier League defeats have all come when the former Atletico Madrid player has not featured in the side.

The 28-year-old, touted as a potential Ballon d’Or winner, is unbeaten in his past 52 Premier League appearances, a run stretching back to February 2023.

Guardiola, whose team are top of the Premier League, said he had a number of alternatives among his group of “magnificent players”, including Mateo Kovacic, a like-for-like replacement.

“Gundo (Ilkay Gundogan) can play in that position. John Stones and Manu (Manuel Akanji) have played in that position. So we have an alternative to do it,” he said.

Guardiola was asked whether City would dip into the transfer market in January.

“We’ll talk today with Txiki (Begiristain, the director of football), we’ll see how it’s going on,” he said.

“It’s closed until January, so we’ll have time and see potential problems we have, and after we’ll see.”

Rodri, who joined City in 2019, had already had a frustrating start to the season, missing Manchester City’s first four games, including the Community Shield, after suffering a hamstring injury.

Only last week he joined a host of high-profile players to speak out about the ever-increasing fixture workload facing the game’s top stars, and said he thought players could be “close” to striking because of the overloaded calendar.

City will also be without Belgium midfielder Kevin De Bruyne for their trip to Newcastle as he continues to recover from injury.

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Robert Lewandowski continued his fine form and helped La Liga leaders Barcelona earn a 1-0 victory over Getafe on Wednesday.

The Polish forward struck from close range in the first half to maintain Barcelona’s 100 percent record in the league so far this season with their seventh victory.

Barcelona dominated despite not being able to add to their lead and restored a four-point advantage over Real Madrid, who beat Alaves on Tuesday.

“You can’t always win by a lot of goals,” defender Jules Kounde told Movistar. “I think the important thing is we made a lot of chances again and took the three points… Getafe is always a tough team to handle.”

Coach Hansi Flick started Inaki Pena in goal for the stricken Marc-Andre ter Stegen, out for months with a severe knee injury, and brought Marc Casado and Alejandro Balde back into the side.

The reserve goalkeeper, who conceded 32 times in 17 matches across all competitions last season, heard his name chanted supportively by fans behind his goal and saved an early header from Carles Perez.

By contrast his opposite number David Soria’s weak touch on Kounde’s cross led to Barcelona’s opener on 19 minutes, the ball falling perfectly for Lewandowski to finish from close range.

The 36-year-old striker has seven goals in La Liga this season and leads the scoring charts, seemingly rejuvenated under Flick after struggling at times last season.

“For me, he’s the best number nine of the last 10 years,” Flick, who also coached him at Bayern Munich, told reporters. “His job is in front of the goal, in the box, and he’s doing that great.”

Teen starlet Lamine Yamal might have doubled the lead moments later when Raphinha played him in, but he nudged inches past the post.

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Soria made a good save from Raphinha, who collected the August Player of the Month award before kick-off, and soon sent another effort skidding wide.

Yamal almost bent home a delicious curling strike from a distance before the hour, but Soria tipped it over the crossbar.

The Getafe goalkeeper also palmed a dangerous Raphinha free-kick around the post as Barcelona pushed for a second to put the match to bed.

Spain’s Euro 2024 hero Yamal clipped the top of the crossbar with a vicious effort from a distance, as Barca started to grumble about Getafe’s persistently heavy challenges.

Raphinha missed a golden chance in the final stages, heading wide after a clever dart into the box but Barcelona were not punished for their profligacy.

Getafe, 19th, are still winless and wasted a fine chance of their own at the death when Borja Mayoral failed to get a shot away when well placed and free inside the box.

“We didn’t put away our chances… we have to be more decisive in the area,” said Getafe midfielder Luis Milla.

The Madrid club have found the net on just three occasions so far this season.

The leaders next travel to face Osasuna on Saturday, before second-placed Real Madrid face rivals Atletico Madrid in a derby clash on Sunday.

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Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe has sustained a thigh injury ahead of this weekend’s La Liga derby with Atletico, his club said on Wednesday.

The French superstar was taken off during the 3-2 win over Alaves on Tuesday and appeared to be suffering some discomfort.

Spanish media suggest Mbappe will miss around three weeks injured.

“Following tests carried out today by Real Madrid’s medical services on our player Kylian Mbappe, he has been diagnosed with an injury to the biceps femoris in his left leg,” said the Spanish champions in a statement.

Mbappe scored a superb goal in the thriller at the Santiago Bernabeu with Alaves and has netted five times this season in seven league appearances.

Asked about Kylian Mbappe’s condition after the game, Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said: “He’s fine, he’s fine, a little overloaded, he asked me for the change to avoid problems.”

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Madrid, a point behind leaders Barcelona ahead of the Catalans’ match on Wednesday against Getafe, visit the Metropolitano stadium on Sunday to face rivals Atletico.

Los Blancos have not been beaten in La Liga for 39 games, since a defeat at Atletico a year ago.

The striker is also set to miss the visit to Lille in the Champions League next week and potentially October’s Nations League matches against Israel and Belgium with France.

Mbappe joined Real Madrid this summer at the end of his Paris Saint-Germain contract, fulfilling a long-held dream.

The 25-year-old hit his stride in recent matches after taking a few games to find his footing in the Spanish capital.

Kylian Mbappe has seven goals in nine appearances for Real Madrid across all competitions, scoring in the UEFA Super Cup victory over Atalanta in August and on his Champions League debut.

READ: Pakistan storm into SAFF U17 Championship semi-final

THIMPHU: Subhan Kareem’s brace helped Pakistan to a crushing 5-1 victory over Sri Lanka in their final group-stage fixture and qualify for the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) U17 Championship semi-final.

The Green Shirts, who had four points in two matches, needed at least a draw in their last group match against Sri Lanka, who were at the bottom of the standings.

Pakistan U17 team, however, had their sights set on the victory as they took the lead just 20 minutes into the game, courtesy of in-form Subhan Kareem.

Mohammad Talha doubled their advantage just 10 minutes later while Subhan struck again at the 36-minute mark, lifting Pakistan to a 3-0 advantage over Sri Lanka.

Pakistan’s three-goal lead persisted till the half-time.

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The first-half thrashing took a toll on Sri Lanka’s defence so much that they scored an Own Goal to further increase Pakistan’s command on the game.

Abdul Ghani then added further to the misery of Sri Lanka by finding the back of the net in the 56th minute, extending the Green Shirts’ lead to 5-0.

Sri Lanka, who were struggling for the majority of the game, had a moment to cherish when they scored their lone goal in the 76th minute.

Pakistan’s opponent for the SAFF U17 Championship semi-final will be announced in due course.

Pakistan Squad for SAFF U17 Championship

Defenders: Abdul Rehman, M. Husnain Saleem, Najeem Khan, Sameer Ahmed, Ubaid Ullah Khan, Majid Ali, Syed Muhammad Aabis Raza and Umar Javed.

Midfielders: Abdul Samad, Muhammad Faraz, Farhad, Haroon Rashed, Hikmat Ullah, Khobaib Khan, M. Shahab Ahmed and Muhammad Khan.

Forwards: Abdul Ghani, Subhan Karim, Shahraf Khan and Muhammad Talha Khan. Goal Keepers: Aadil Ali Khan, Ghulam Abbas and Kashif.

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Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen could miss the rest of the season injured after the Catalan club said Monday he had completed knee surgery following a tendon rupture.

The 32-year-old German international was taken off on a stretcher after falling awkwardly during his team’s 5-1 La Liga victory over Villarreal on Sunday.

“(Ter Stegen) has a complete rupture in the patella tendon in his right knee,” said Barcelona in a statement, with the club later confirming the goalkeeper had been successfully operated on.

Spanish reports suggest he will miss around eight months, which means he is unlikely to appear for the club again in the current campaign.

Ter Stegen, who was criticised after making a mistake in Barcelona’s 2-1 Champions League defeat at Monaco on Thursday, suffered the injury before half-time at Villarreal’s Estadio de la Ceramica.

“I think it will be a huge injury when he lay down on the field… you can see it directly,” Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said after the game.

Inaki Pena replaced Ter Stegen and is set to fill in for the German, although Barcelona may look to sign a replacement.

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Flick said it was too soon to comment on the issue. “I don’t know if I like this question directly after the match,” said Flick.

“I just want to see how Marc is, he’s our captain and is a very important player for us,” he added.

Pena, 25, made 12 La Liga appearances for Barcelona last season while Ter Stegen was sidelined with a back problem.

Ter Stegen started two Nations League matches for Germany in September after Bayern Munich veteran Manuel Neuer’s retirement from international duty in August.

Germany could turn to Stuttgart’s Alexander Nuebel, on loan from Bayern Munich, or Hoffenheim veteran Oliver Baumann as their number one.

“The news of Marc’s injury came as a great shock to us. He will be sorely missed in the national team, both on and off the pitch,” said Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann. “We will always be there for him on his road back.”

Ter Stegen was also offered support by Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti. “I want to say that I’m really sorry for Ter Stegen… I hope he can recover soon,” Ancelotti told reporters.

“He’s one of the best goalkeepers in the world. I hope his recovery is as quick as possible.”

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