Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane defended forward Eden Hazard's mental fortitude after the forward picked up another injury, ruling him out of Tuesday's Champions League meeting with Shakhtar Donetsk.
Belgium national team doctor Kris van Crombrugge had suggested Hazard's injury issues since joining Real were down to mental stress, however Zidane refuted those claims.
By the standards of most clubs, second place in the Champions League group and a slim lead in the domestic table heading into December would represent an unqualified success. Alas, Paris Saint-Germain is not most clubs.
KYIV — An inexperienced Barcelona side missing Lionel Messi and many other first-team regulars eventually cruised to a 4-0 win away to Dynamo Kyiv on Tuesday to reach the Champions League knockout stages for the 17th consecutive season.
After a sluggish first half, the Catalans took the lead early in the second half as U.S international Sergino Dest completed a flowing move with a near-post finish, scoring his first goal for the club since joining from Ajax Amsterdam.
Sergiño Dest’s first Barcelona goal will immediately make him a favorite of culés everywhere as the 20-year-old American took matters into his own hands to end 52 minutes of futility against Dynamo Kyiv in the Champions League.
With Lionel Messi and Frenkie de Jong left in Barcelona to rest, manager Ronald Koeman elected to field a young starting 11 against Dynamo with Dest joined by Óscar Mingueza (21), Francisco Trincão (20) and Pedri (17). Antoine Griezmann, Jordi Alba and Ousmane Dembélé were left on the bench.
Hungarian club Ferencváros took a surprise lead over Italian giant Juventus 20 minutes into their Champions League Group G match. The goal scorer, Myrto Uzuni, celebrated by pulling out Cristiano Ronaldo’s iconic Sii celebration. You can probably guess what happened next.
Chelsea became the first team to officially book a ticket for the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League after a dramatic 2-1 victory against Rennes.
After defeating Rennes handily 20 days ago, the Blues looked to pick up right where they left off against the French underdogs. Chelsea should have taken the lead in the opening five minutes after Timo Werner had a golden opportunity. Chelsea’s $60 million man instead decided to generously give the International Space Station a souvenir.
Africa's oldest footballing rivalry has an elevated prize on offer on Friday when Egypt's Al Ahly meet their arch rivals Zamalek in the African Champions League final in Cairo.
Bitter adversaries for more than a century, Friday’s clash for the top club trophy on the continent is the 239th meeting between the two teams, each of whom can count their support in the Arabic speaking world in the tens of millions of fans.
Al Ahly dominate the past win count 102-58 but this is first time the Cairo clubs face off in a continental competition final.
A squabble over seating arrangements on the team bus cost Club Brugge forward Emmanuel Dennis a place in the squad for Tuesday's Champions League clash at Borussia Dortmund, Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws reported.
The 23-year-old Nigerian stormed off the bus after being told he was not allowed to sit in his preferred seat due to social distancing measures amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the report said, and he did not make the trip to Germany.
Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman has joined other managers in lashing out at the packed European football calendar after deciding to rest Lionel Messi for Tuesday's Champions League trip to Dynamo Kyiv.
Barca lost Gerard Pique and Sergi Roberto to serious injuries in Saturday's 1-0 defeat by Atletico Madrid in LaLiga, leaving them with only three defenders in the first team squad for the trip to Ukraine.
MADRID — The last time Atletico Madrid hosted Barcelona, Marcos Llorente spent the whole game sitting on the bench.
But in Saturday's match between the two La Liga rivals he will be one of his side's main goal threats after making an remarkable transformation from a little-used holding midfielder to a deadly forward, capable of turning big matches on his own.
Llorente truly announced himself as an unlikely hitman with two stunning extra-time goals in Atletico's 4-2 win over then Champions League holders Liverpool at Anfield in March.