Tottenham’s support had to contemplate failure in Barcelona until Lucas Moura suddenly turned the evening on its headTottenham’s fans had just been asked to stay in their seats after the final whistle when Érik Lamela collected the ball on the left and saw Harry Kane move ahead.It was more than an hour since Ousmane Dembélé had scored the opening goal at the Camp Nou and 15 minutes since the news had come in from Milan, where their fate was also being decided and where Mauro Icardi had scored. There were six minutes to go now, Internazionale were level against PSV Eindhoven, and Spurs were out. High in the east stand, a long wait lay ahead, 6,000 of them, sitting there...
The Egyptian just keeps on keeping on, and does so with a rare lightness, hinting at what may be to come in the next monthsJust past the half hour at a chilly, angsty Anfield Mo Salah was suddenly free in space on the edge of the Napoli box, scampering in on goal in that bouncy style, hair flapping, legs whirring like a cartoon kangaroo. Salah had time to look up, pause and nudge a doomed pass across the six-yard box in the vague direction of Sadio Mané. There was a groan from the stands, but not much of a groan. The one thing they know for sure about Salah around here is that he just keeps on keeping on. Some...
Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning, Andy Brassell and Reshmin Chowdhury discuss the Premier League teams in Europe, diving galore, David de Gea, Mr Blobby as physio and faking a death to dodge a fixtureJoin the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email.We look back at the last few days of football, starting with Liverpool’s Champions League defeat at PSG, which leaves them in danger of crashing out of the competition they made it to the final of just six months ago. We ask what more Marco Verratti could have done to get himself sent off and whether it’s time to judge Neymar on his own merits, rather than the circus surrounding him. Continue reading...
The Brazilian scored PSG’s winner in perhaps his most effective high-profile performance since leaving BarcelonaWith Neymar the questions have always been along the same kind of lines. How far? How good? To what height can the broad wings of his own attacking talent carry him? At a slightly wild Parc des Princes, Liverpool lost an exciting, slightly fractious Champions League game 2-1, menaced throughout by a star striker intent on posing two very different sets of questions.For the opening 40 minutes, Liverpool felt the force of what was surely Neymar’s most effective high-profile performance since his Barcelona days. This was followed by the beta version: a second half of circus play and indulgence on the ball, with Neymar tumbling to...
The Manchester United manager’s latest antics have again seen him dominate the fallout from Tuesday night’s game and it feels like we have all been here beforeJosé Mourinho is in trouble again, as you might have heard. What has he done this time? Well, just from Manchester United’s game against Young Boys on Tuesday night the charges are as follows:1: Suggesting some of his players might prefer to watch on television if they are unable to handle the Old Trafford pressure. 2: Selecting the most expensive bench in United history, with big-money buys Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku among the substitutes and top earner Alexis Sánchez not even in the squad. 3: Turning his back and shaking his head at...