The Chilean forward is the latest scapegoat at Manchester United but the real problems come from the very topWith 32 minutes gone at Old Trafford an unusual event took place. Alexis Sánchez did something. Not something to make the highlights reel. Or indeed to pay back any significant part of the £130,000 of actual human wealth Sánchez earned for being a Manchester United player on Tuesday .With the score 0-0 and the game drifting – unless specifically stated otherwise, this game was always drifting – United won a free-kick 30 yards from goal. Sánchez spotted it, paused, then punted the ball hard and flat on to the head of the nearest defender. Related: José Mourinho says he was happy with...
The European Cup was the brainchild of two French journalists but the nation which invented the competition has only enjoyed one controversial success, and that was 25 years agoWhat jolly scenes those were in the Stade de France last week as Les Bleus’ World Cup-winning squad and 80,000 fans serenaded N’Golo Kanté, football’s most self-effacing superstar and, apparently, its most adorable card cheat. Yes, it’s been all whoops and giggles in France since Didier Deschamps’ team added a second gold star to the nation’s shirt this summer. But the return of the Champions League this week is a reminder of a sorrier facet of the country’s football history – its incorrigible haplessness in European club competition. Related: Champions League is...
Pep Guardiola’s team have yet to reach a Champions League final but the bookmakers fancy them to halt Real Madrid’s hot streak and outpace Spurs, Liverpool and Manchester UnitedThe Champions League is back this coming week, and easily the most striking aspect of the competition before the group stages commence is that Manchester City are the favourites to win it. With all respect to Pep Guardiola’s expensively assembled side, this seems odd. City have yet to even reach a Champions League final, yet bookmakers give them a better chance of carrying off the spoils this season than Real Madrid, who just happen to have won the last three finals and are looking to extend their record to four.Perhaps there are...
Paul Scholes was mystified at Karius, Carvajal and Salah’s tears but the former Manchester United midfielder’s past suggests a sympathetic soul lurks beneath the gruff exteriorA week on from a Champions League final that proved remarkable on many different levels and the tears have, presumably, dried. When they had been seen streaming down the faces of Loris Karius, Mo Salah and Dani Carvajal, among other grief-stricken footballers, it was intriguing that Paul Scholes found himself at something of a loss. A star guest at a viewing party in London, the former Manchester United midfielder wasn’t so much critical of these grown men being so publicly reduced to sobbing wrecks, as generally bemused by their ostentatious displays of emotion. Related: Mohamed...
The Champions League triumph against Liverpool showed that Real Madrid’s most obvious quality is simply that they win. Inexplicably at times, but remorselessly“We are Real Madrid,” Marcelo said boldly after Real Madrid had – just – held off Juventus’s fightback in the quarter-final. The reference was clear: they were not Barcelona, not the sort of team to go giving away three-goal leads as their great rivals had against Roma the previous night, not the sort of side who countenanced failure. Whether that is arrogance or a necessary mindset for winning probably depends on perspective, but what is true of that Madrid is that their most obvious quality is simply that they win. Inexplicably at times, but remorselessly.Madrid are only the...