Cristiano Ronaldo’s best performance for Juve in the Champions League, against Atlético, embodied our club’s ‘until the end’ motto – and the men can now go on to win itThe Juventus motto is “fino alla fine” – in other words, until the end. On Tuesday evening the men’s team proved these words are not empty but alive. Juve aspire to be a team who never give up, a team who burn with an indefatigable spirit, and this week it was there for all to see. Related: Cristiano Ronaldo: the king of Europe who has normalised the abnormal The following night, inspired and motivated by the performance of the men’s team, we won 2-1 at Milan in the Coppa Italia semi-final...
Jürgen Klopp’s side rise to the occasion with their Dutch factotum directing an almost dismissive victory over BayernOn German television they closed out the show with Hello Goodbye by the Beatles, which felt about right. Through mid-afternoon the grey stone squares of Munich’s old town had echoed with choruses of “Allez, Allez, Allez”, Liverpool’s own European anthem of the past two years.It is a sound that may just come to haunt this ageing Bayern era, which reached its own decisive goodbye on a chilly, luminous night at the Allianz Arena. Quietly, and always with a feeling of strength in reserve, Liverpool produced a performance shot through with the steel of the mature Klopp period. Related: Sadio Mané and Virgil van...
Pep Guardiola has played down City’s threat in Europe but this 7-0 hiding of Schalke means they must assume mantle of Champions League contendersThis last-16 tie was over by the interval, a feat achieved in seven minutes when Manchester City scored three times and did some of the growing up Pep Guardiola wants his team to do.This was his mantra going into the match: that to mature from “teenagers” to Champions League men Schalke had to be dispatched and the side secure their place in Friday’s quarter‑final draw. Related: Manchester City enjoy seven-goal stroll into last eight against limp Schalke Continue reading...
The humiliation by Ajax led to much mirth at Madrid’s expense but four Champions League crowns in five years is a period of dominance that history will look upon kindlyPlease allow me to introduce myself, I’m a man of wealth and taste. I’ve been around for … well, quite a long time as it happens, most notably as champions of Europe for the last thousand days, an era of oddly room-temperature dominance that has now come to an end.The period of public mourning has been notably brief. Instead Real Madrid’s ejection from the Champions League on Tuesday night was greeted not by tributes and tears, but with a chorus of crowing delight. Sympathy for the devil’s Meringues? There’s not much...
Manchester United’s interim manager gets what his club are all about – offering hope, excitement and a sense of belongingAt the final whistle inside the Parc des Princes, Manchester United’s players started running, haring across in a ragged, joyful cavalry charge towards the narrow band of their supporters at the far end.Shirts were pulled off and hurled in the air. Scott McTominay did a European-record triple jump through the centre circle. Halfway there Chris Smalling looked down, noticed he still had the ball in his hands and hoofed it so high into the air it’s probably still up there in the Paris skies, surfing on the weird voodoo of that moment. Related: Manchester United rock PSG, plus Football Leaks –...