Champions stalked their rivals with intent and entitlement before pinning them into submission as they have done so oftenIt was an evening when we anticipated finding out how much things had changed. In the end it was an evening when it appeared nothing had changed at all. Borussia Dortmund, after succumbing to heavy defeats on their last three Bundesliga visits to the Allianz Arena (6-0, 4-1 and 5-1), were brushed aside by Bayern Munich in double-quick time, in the manner of a tiger swatting its paw at a fly.More than 200 countries watched on television and tickets changed hands for upwards of €400 on the walk up the gentle incline to the stadium but we ended up watching a pair...
Man City’s quadruple bid continues in FA Cup, Fabinho can prove his worth to Liverpool and a pivotal Klassiker in GermanyBrighton are unlikely to go into their first FA Cup semi-final since 1983 with high expectations. Chris Hughton’s players produced an incredible comeback to beat Millwall in the previous round, but they know the odds will be heavily stacked against them when they face Manchester City, who have already won three games at Wembley this season. City remain on course for a historic quadruple after 13 consecutive wins in all competitions and while Sergio Agüero is doubtful after picking up a minor injury at Fulham last Saturday, Pep Guardiola’s side have been boosted by the return to fitness of Kevin...
Max Rushden, Jonathan Wilson, Gregg Bakowski and Paolo Bandini discuss Manchester United’s stumble, Manchester City’s dominance, Fulham’s capitulation, grand stadium openings and racist abuse in ItalyJoin the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email.We look back at the last few days of football, starting with Manchester United’s 2-1 defeat at the hands of Wolves – a third defeat in the last four games for Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s team, their worst run of the season. Continue reading...
The Juventus captain’s claim that teammate Moise Kean shared the blame for monkey chants aimed at him against Cagliari felt staggeringly ill-judgedMassimiliano Allegri explained his decision to leave Moise Kean out of the Juventus starting XI that faced Empoli over the weekend as a move to protect the player. “My challenge is to understand when he’ll recover from this crush that the media has on him right now,” said the manager. “If he doesn’t touch the ball in the next game, they’ll make him into a donkey.”Kean came off the bench instead, scoring the game’s only goal with his first touch. Perhaps, after that, Allegri accepted that this hype train was already running beyond his control. Or maybe Juventus simply...
Villarreal v Barcelona was something wild and wonderful, a 4-4 draw that was as exhausting as it was exhilarating“A minute after the game, we could say a thousand barbaric things,” Vicente Iborra said, but none of them could ever express it as well as the look on his face as he stood there on the touchline trying to work out what had just happened and how. Behind him, Leo Messi hugged Santi Cazorla and, watching it, you kind of wished you could hug them too. “Peculiar,” Sergio Asenjo called it. “Mad,” Ernesto Valverde offered. “We’ve stabbed ourselves,” Iborra added. “Football’s given us quite a beating,” Javier Calleja said. Which was true, six points in three days somehow becoming just one,...