Champions League

De Bruyne defends Haaland from criticism: ‘We don't need to complain about Erling in any way’

MANCHESTER, England - Pep Guardiola has won nine major trophies at Manchester City but the Spaniard said his managerial era at the Premier League club will be defined by whether he delivers their first Champions League title.

Guardiola has won four Premier League titles, one FA Cup and four League Cups at City but European success has eluded the manager who won the trophy twice as Barcelona manager, with the English club's best finish being runners-up in 2021.

Richarlison puts Conte on blast for Tottenham's "s***" season

LONDON - Tottenham Hotspur forward Richarlison criticized manager Antonio Conte following Wednesday's Champions League last-16 exit, questioning the Italian's decision to bench him while declaring the north London club has had a "shit" season.

Spurs were knocked out of Europe's premier cup competition by AC Milan after failing to score in both legs as the Serie A club progressed 1-0 on aggregate.

Wild 20 seconds sees Spurs almost equalize and AC Milan hit the post at other end

LONDON — Seven-time winners AC Milan reached the Champions League quarterfinals for the first time in 11 years as a disciplined display earned them a drab 0-0 draw at Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday and a 1-0 aggregate victory.

On a freezing night in north London the Italians comfortably protected the slender advantage they established in the first leg of their last-16 tie at the San Siro as Tottenham huffed and puffed to little effect and exited with a whimper.

Farewell Messi-Neymar-Mbappé, you were far better in theory than in practice

For the second consecutive season, a Paris Saint-Germain club entirely hellbent and solely existing for Champions League glory has failed to advance beyond the competition's last 16.

PSG now faces over six months of deep contemplation before the start of the 2023-24 UCL group stage, and although they'll rue Vitinha's inability to score on an open net/Marco Verratti carrying on the club's tradition of having the softest midfielders in the game, those failures should only emphasize how the entire squad needs investment. 

Which MLS teams are best set up for CONCACAF Champions League success?

For MLS teams who are just beginning their domestic seasons, the Champions League can act as a distraction or a potential hurdle to not be taken out by. Injuries are to be avoided and as we saw last season when Seattle won the entire tournament, becoming the first team in league history to do so, they struggled to continue that form after reaching their continental pinnacle. 

Gonçalo Ramos shows why he's worth $130M by firing Benfica into the UCL quarters

We haven't covered Gonçalo Ramos much since the 21-year-old took Cristiano Ronaldo's spot at the World Cup and promptly fired Portugal into the quarterfinals with a hat-trick, but we've got to speak about his outrageous talents again because he's just put Benfica into the quarterfinals of the Champions League with two goals and an assist on Tuesday.

Pulisic returns to Chelsea squad for clash with Gio Reyna's Borussia Dortmund

LONDON - Chelsea boss Graham Potter has urged fans to turn up the volume at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday as his side look to erase a 1-0 deficit in their Champions League last-16 tie against in-form Borussia Dortmund.

The Germans have won their last 10 games in all competitions, including eight in the Bundesliga where they are second on goal difference behind Bayern Munich.

Champions League panic rankings: How each team's feeling before second legs

Domestic action returns to the fore with the FA Cup, Copa del Rey and Coupe de France dominating the midweek action, but the Champions League is set to return with the Round of 16 second legs on March 7/8-14/15. 

We've got some dynamite return legs brewing with five of the eight matches separated by one goal or less, and who knows, maybe Liverpool can finally deliver some excitement now that nothing's expected from them. 

Pulisic returns to training with Major Leeds Soccer clash just 9 days away

We haven't seen Christian Pulisic in action since his latest injury setback at Chelsea on Jan. 5 when the American hurt his knee against Manchester City with "a couple of months" out prescribed as the recovery tonic.  

Carragher calling Real Madrid the ‘luckiest’ UCL winners ever was too perfect

Jamie Carragher should probably be fired as an analyst after questioning Real Madrid's manifest destiny in the Champions League.

The 14-time winners appeared to live a charmed existence during last year's run to the title — coming back from 2-0 down in the final 30 minutes against PSG, coming back from 4-3 down in the final 10 minutes against Chelsea and coming back from 5-3 down in the final mere minutes against Manchester City before Thibaut Courtois' heroics in the final — but those are probably best analyzed as simply "Real Madrid things."

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