After a winter of discontent, the Premier League champions return from Seville with something to cling to in their Champions League last-16 tieMaybe there is another chapter left in the Leicester City fairytale after all. On a balmy evening in Seville, where Leicester welcomed the opportunity to dance to a different tune, the English champions rediscovered some of that courageous spirit from last season and also rode their luck.The Champions League anthem provided the soundtrack to a night that had threatened to turn into an exercise in damage limitation for Leicester yet somehow ended with the 3,000 or so travelling fans singing loudly and proudly in a stadium that had long since emptied. Rarely has losing a game felt so...
With the La Liga club struggling, the local-born manager who took them back to the top has departed, saying the team do not reflect him any moreThe revolution ended in tears. “This is hard,” Abelardo Fernández said, voice breaking, fingers rubbing at his eyes and kneading at his temples while the president gently laid a hand on his neck. “I’m not crying because I’m no longer the coach of Sporting Gijón,” he insisted, “I’m crying because of the affection I have for everyone here.” Wednesday morning at Mareo in the green, rolling hills south of Gijón where cowbells ring, and the man who declared “Sporting are revolutionary, like Asturias” , who rescued and represented the club, who often seemed to...
Real Madrid were set to extend their unbeaten run to 41 matches until a late own goal, against his old club, by Sergio Ramos sparked Sevilla’s comebackZinedine Zidane smiled that smile, the one that has served him so well. What had his team lacked, he was asked; what was it they had needed? “Five minutes,” he said gently. Not long, but long enough to change everything. No one had beaten Real Madrid in 40 matches, going back nine months, 30 teams and five competitions, but Sevilla beat them in five minutes. “We knew that this would happen one day,” Zidane said. He just didn’t expect it to happen like this; by 10.30pm on Sunday, he didn’t expect it to happen...
Real Madrid ought to have too much for Napoli, but there are tough challenges ahead for Arsenal, Leicester and Paris Saint-Germain Related: Champions League final: Ronaldo ‘had feeling’ he would score winner Related: Arsenal better set for deep run in Champions League, says Arsène Wenger Related: Juventus 1-3 Barcelona | Champions League final match report Continue reading...
Jorge Sampaoli’s side are on the up and a breathless, brilliant display threatened to deflate Barcelona until the Catalan side’s Argentinian talisman sprang into lifeSamir Nasri has finished training, his heart monitor laid on the window ledge with the others. The scans say he shouldn’t play but he says he will and his manager appreciates it. He’s perhaps La Liga’s best midfielder so far; the man his coach says makes the team breathe. Steven N’Zonzi, perhaps the second-best, ambles by in flip-flops and baggy shorts. Lifesized inflatable footballers lean against the fence; actual footballers ride buggies, alighting at the gym. Sergio Escudero grins and staff embrace him. News just in: he’s in the Spain squad. The groundsman, in cricketer’s shirt...