Pep Guardiola’s safety-first approach handed the initiative to Liverpool and they seized it with vigour on another momentous European night at AnfieldThis was the wrong time and place for making concessions. The team coaches were re-routed away from the King Harry pub on safety grounds by Merseyside Police but Manchester City were still ‘welcomed’ to Anfield with bottles, flares and a public apology from Liverpool. Pep Guardiola made one of his own, sacrificing the penetrating speed of Raheem Sterling for the more measured influence of Ilkay Gündoğan, but that backfired, too, as Liverpool blitzed the runaway leaders of the Premier League in the Champions League quarter-final first leg.Only Jürgen Klopp held firm with his tactics and approach. Only his team...
Max Rushden and co discuss Dele Alli, the wonder of Zlatan, Premier League survival and death by nostalgia Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts,Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email.Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Paul MacInnes and Lars Sivertsen for a look back on all things football over the Easter weekend. Continue reading...
Both the German and Pep Guardiola are likely to be adventurous in a Champions League quarter-final that will revive Liverpool memories of great European battles of the pastTimes have certainly changed since the September night in 1978 when Nottingham Forest’s team coach rolled up late to a European Cup tie at Liverpool with Bill Shankly sat up front alongside Brian Clough. The players who usurped Liverpool as European champions that season never asked Clough why he invited the Anfield icon on board, though suspected it was part of their manager’s attempts to defuse the tension and animosity that surrounded the visit to Bob Paisley’s holders. All-English European ties have tended to carry a similar edge ever since. Anfield on Wednesday...
With Real Madrid facing Juventus and Manchester City taking on Liverpool, there is hardly a weak link in the last eight in a way the old competition rarely achievedFew are likely to complain about Uefa abandoning the principle of players moving between Champions League clubs in January being cup‑tied for the rest of the season – the transfer window itself already does quite a good job of keeping the leading contenders honest – though it was interesting to read in the small print the justification for the change.In reality, it probably had something to do with Philippe Coutinho having to sit out the rest of Barcelona’s Champions League programme because some months ago he had appeared in earlier rounds for...
Away from the Neymars and Coutinhos, the continent’s top clubs are increasingly targeting players between 16 and 18, such as Jadon Sancho and Willem GeubbelsJadon Sancho’s move last summer from Manchester City to Borussia Dortmund made a clear statement: here was an elite prospect who would no longer wait patiently for an opportunity to play senior football.Sancho exploded on to the scene at youth international level last year while also proving his quality for City’s various development squads and the reason the 17‑year‑old swapped England for Germany was clear: he felt he was ready to play first-team football. It was a statement that resonated around Europe. Related: How Premier League starlets are cutting ties and going to Germany and Portugal...