The clash of the bottom two in La Liga saw Javier Aguirre’s resurgent side overcome Espanyol – and Storm Fabien “This is the game,” Pablo Machín said but things weren’t going as planned, his weekend beginning badly and ending worse. Storm Fabien hit Spain, blowing through at 100km an hour, and east of Madrid an overhead cable came down, leaving him and his team trapped inside a train. Meanwhile, about the same time Espanyol were stuck in Guadalajara, pleading in vain for the league to delay the following morning’s kick off, Machín’s opponent was sitting with his feet up in front of the telly at home, the day’s problems slipping away. Which wasn’t the way Leganés manager Javier Aguirre planned...
The outgoing coach oversaw a wretched half-season but the club’s problems run deep – as his replacement soon found outGennaro Gattuso’s debut as Napoli manager had to be delayed by half an hour on Saturday after pieces of the Stadio San Paolo’s roof broke off amid a heavy rainstorm. When the game against Parma finally did begin, it took only four more minutes for his team to start to come apartA throw-in for the visitors inside their own half looked innocuous enough. The ball was launched towards Parma’s target man, Andreas Cornelius, but sailed clean over his head. It ought to have been straightforward for the Napoli centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly to bring it under control. But he misjudged the bounce,...
Manager trusted his youngsters and showed he may be more tactically astute than many believe in win over LeverkusenFortune favours the brave, they say. Maybe FC Köln had little option this weekend after six matches without a win, leaving them stuck in the relegation mud. In a city where the fortunes of Effzeh are felt so intensely, it hasn’t just been the shortcomings but the mood. After sweeping to the 2. Bundesliga title last season on the back of 84 goals scored, the 12 in 14 scored before this weekend meant that all the air had seeped out of the club’s post-promotion bounce. Something had to change. Related: European roundup: Lionel Messi hat-trick sends Barcelona top as Real chase Hoffenheim...
A thrilling finale left honours even but Valencia on their knees after the Real goalkeeper headed upfield and caused mayhem“I’m two metres tall; that frightens people,” Thibaut Courtois said. It was late, it was loud and he had nothing to lose, so there he was: Real Madrid’s goalkeeper, up the other end, running into the Valencia penalty area for one last shot at saving this, the fear he said his opponents felt about to become real. “It was his idea,” Zinedine Zidane admitted, and it was an idea that had been going around his head since the moment Carlos Soler had given Valencia the lead with 12 minutes left on Sunday night. “I thought: shit, the game’s escaping us, I...
For the third year in a row four Premier League clubs are in the last 16, with Manchester City perhaps the most likely winnersWell, fancy seeing you here. For all the pep and vim, the high-energy caffeine-football combinations of Red Bull Salzburg, there was a feeling of certainty about Liverpool’s progress to the last 16 of the Champions League.The ability of Jürgen Klopp’s team to win even when the opposition brings its A-game has been a feature of the season. A simple explanation, beyond luck and “LiVARpool” conspiracy theory, is that their base levels are just so high. This is a team of extreme qualities: physical strength, speed, attacking skills. They have more ways to win, more ways to wear...