Argentinian scores to give Barcelona the lead but apart from that Pep Guardiola’s side keep him under control and give their forwards the chance to shinePep Guardiola said it himself. Barcelona did not have to win this match. Manchester City did, or at least try to take something from it. But Barcelona had Lionel Messi, the one player in the world who seems capable of winning any Champions League match.No one needs to explain anything about Messi to anyone at City after all the previous meetings and the events at the Camp Nou, and though his appearance has changed considerably since the first glimpse in this country 10 years ago prompted Richard Williams of this parish to describe him as...
Marcus Rashford needs restoring to centre stage, Victor Moses is shining for Chelsea at last and David Moyes should be allowed to rebuild SunderlandThe splurge of title-winning questions after Liverpool’s breathless victory at Selhurst Park provoked a wonderfully enigmatic response from Jürgen Klopp. Can his team conquer the league playing in this wild fashion? “I’ve no idea,” he said. “It’s my first proper season in the Premier League. I have no idea what to do to win the Premier League. I’m pretty sure it was never decided at the end of October. We feel good in the moment, that’s all.” The notion that an experienced manager with 15 years on the job – who won the Bundesliga twice and has...
Most people’s ideal would be for a tight top-flight but part of football’s appeal is the drama – and that requires weakness as well as strengthWhat would you like a league table to look like at the end of the season? Forget who you support, forget who you dislike, forget personalities and tactics and prejudices, if you turned up in an alien land and were given a subscription to watch every game in their league season, what would be your ideal? Most people, I’m guessing, would want it to be tight, would want the season to go down to the wire to sustain the interest, maybe so that on the final day every team would have a chance of success....
Leicester’s Thai owners have been a success but there are others who have suffered with owners who do not have a club’s best interests at heartOn the eve of the home match against Crystal Palace last weekend, the players and staff of Leicester City interrupted their final training session to stand in a circle and observe a minute’s silence in memory of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, whose 70-year reign had ended with his death a few days earlier. The following day, on the pitch at their stadium, they posed for a rather unusual pre-match team picture. Front and centre, held by their captain, Wes Morgan, was a large gold‑framed photograph of the monarch. The players were wearing black armbands....
The Swedish striker was error prone in the first half but his improvement helped put Manchester City out of the EFL CupThe selection said it all. Ordering room service to a suite at the five-star Lowry Hotel may constitute a bit of a disaster for José Mourinho but losing to Manchester City for the second time in seven weeks at Old Trafford, and a weakened City at that, would have left the United manager fearing the walls were closing in. It was not a risk he was prepared to accept.Both managers were in urgent need of victory – Pep Guardiola to avoid the longest winless run of his illustrious managerial career and Mourinho to respond to growing doubts over his...