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...
Arsène Wenger is given a striking decision, Hugo Lloris climbs the wrong table and Christian Benteke’s woes rumble onAlexandre Lacazette heard one of the loudest cheers when he came on for Danny Welbeck against Stoke City. Arsène Wenger said Welbeck had hurt his back and so Lacazette’s return from a knee injury seemed even more timely – given Arsenal play CSKA Moscow in the Europa League on Thursday, for which Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is cup-tied. Wenger loved the gesture Aubameyang made towards the end, passing up a possible hat-trick by allowing the Frenchman to take their second penalty – from which he scored. The manager said it showed the strikers had a good understanding. But can they prosper together in the...
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...
José Mourinho could have Portuguese problem, Nathaniel Clyne might make return and will Arsenal rest their best?Poor José Mourinho! Once he was king but now he cannot even claim to be the Premier’s League best Portuguese manager. Carlos Carvalhal certainly has a stronger case for that accolade at the moment. It is hard to imagine that any other manager could have turned Swansea around as impressively as he has done since taking over in late December, when the Welsh club seemed doomed. Now they are out of the relegation zone and within reach of survival. Even Mourinho must admire the solidity that Carvalhal has introduced to Swansea, who will not give up chances easily at Old Trafford. Paul Pogba performed...
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...