Jürgen Klopp has given Antonio Conte the template: Chelsea must banish defeatism and be ‘hungry, alert and aggressive’ in season-saving Champions League second leg at Camp NouPeople are predicting the end of the Premier League as we know it just because Chelsea showed so little ambition against Manchester City when they had a chance to at least lay a glove on the champions elect.It is one thing for a team such as Newcastle to attempt to keep the score down against top sides in the hope of a favourable goal difference at the end of the season but if the defending champions are now at it the game has obviously gone. Related: Why Chelsea’s supine surrender at Manchester City should...
Chris Hughton deserves plaudits, Sam Allardyce will not win Everton fans’ affections and Spurs look ready for JuventusThere is something striking about watching the defending champions cede their title to their successors, and this was a particularly mournful way to go about it. The last time a title-winning Chelsea team visited the side that was destined to succeed them they lost 2-1 to Leicester in December 2015 and promptly sacked their manager. This display is unlikely to accelerate Antonio Conte’s apparently inevitable summer departure, but a performance so stripped of ambition and attacking quality certainly reflected poorly on him. “My tactic was: don’t concede space between the lines,” he said. “If you concede space at Manchester City you risk losing...
Jürgen Klopp’s team struck the perfect balance in Porto with Jordan Henderson and James Milner assuming midfield control and Sadio Mané profiting from their dominanceHow many will Mohamed Salah get this season? Forty? Fifty? A tired puff of the cheeks by Porto’s Moussa Marega after his irresistible 30th said it all. There was half an hour on the clock inside the Estádio do Dragão when Salah opened his tally for the evening. Liverpool supporters idolise the man they call the Egyptian King but Salah seems to have grander plans, like conquering Europe, for starters. Salah provided the delicate touches on a night when Liverpool displayed an iron core and just what their manager, Jürgen Klopp, had requested – “a real...
Roberto Firmino is underrated no longer, Jonjo Shelvey’s calmness is key and Alexandre Lacazette is lacking confidenceThe Recap: sign up for the best of our sport coverageLet’s call it the Denis Irwin rule, the dictum that when a player is described as underrated so often then it’s probably no longer valid to call him underrated. It’s starting to happen to Roberto Firmino, whose all-round excellence for Liverpool has been recognised much more in recent times. The 26-year-old’s range of skills defy stereotypes. His Brazilian flair was evident in his ingenious flick for Mo Salah’s goal at St Mary’s, Liverpool’s second in a routine victory, and he has a resting heart-rate when all is manic in the opposition penalty area. Yet...
From Juventus and Spurs’ intriguing battle to Chelsea’s forbidding meeting with Barcelona and a likely stroll for Bayern, we look over all eight last-16 matchupsTuesday, St Jakob-Park and Wednesday 7 March, Etihad Related: New era edges closer as Tottenham seek to draw a line under austerity years | David Hytner Related: Antonio Conte will not resign as pressure builds on Chelsea manager Continue reading...