Dele Alli, Harry Winks and Kieran Trippier showed no respect for reputations by forcing Toni Kroos into errors and putting Casemiro and co on their backsidesShortly before half-time on a thrilling, boisterous European night, there was a moment of rare comedy at Wembley. Tackling back in his own half, Harry Winks let an arm trail lightly across Casemiro’s shoulder, only for the Brazilian to reel back, stunned, tumbling over backwards desperately. Casemiro didn’t want the ball. He wanted a break. He wanted his free‑kick.Ten minutes into the second half something similar happened. As Marcelo rumbled upfield Dele Alli sprinted 40 metres in an arc to harry him and eventually concede another foul as Marcelo crumpled gratefully. Marcelo didn’t really want...
Zinedine Zidane’s side arrive in London after their worst start in the league since the José Mourinho era but the Champions League has often been their escapeOn the plane back from defeat in Girona on Sunday evening Zinedine Zidane went over the game again while in the rows behind him his players quietly watched films or TV series, keen to clear their minds of what had just happened. “It wasn’t a nice feeling,” Sergio Ramos admitted, and it didn’t make for good viewing either. “I’m not worried,” the Real Madrid manager had said as he sat in front of the media after the match; now, as he sat in front of his captain flying west, and with no need to...
Liverpool’s search for a penalty-taker goes on, Mauricio Pochettino appeared unruffled after defeat at Old Trafford and Manchester City don’t look invincibleNext Sunday, Manchester City host Arsenal at 1.30pm and Manchester United play Chelsea at 4pm; it really is amazing just how often the fixture list throws up these coincidences! And whatever happens in the first game, the pressure will be on those playing in the second, because if City win, those teams will be fighting to stay in touch; if they do not, they will be fighting to take advantage of a rare City slip. So how do Arsenal make that happen? Well, their attacking trident of Mesut Özil, Alexis Sánchez and Alexandre Lacazette are good enough to give...
It is early days but managerial stability is powering an upsurge in results which suggests the Premier League sides can threaten Europe’s bestThe Champions League group stage is now at its halfway point, each team having played three matches with three more to come, and before anything happens to spoil the effect it might be worth pressing the pause button for a moment to take in the unexpectedly fine view.Not only does the Premier League boast the impressive total of five entrants this time, thanks to Manchester United’s dogged perseverance in last season’s Europa League, but all five English clubs at present top their groups. The competition is still young, yet even though Tottenham have visited the Bernabéu and Chelsea...
Manchester United manager’s late show mindset, relying on exploiting errors, reaped rewards against Tottenham but he risks denting fortune-teller reputation‘Sometimes, it was as though he could see the future,” the former goalkeeper Vítor Baía said of José Mourinho, who coached him at Porto. “I remember a specific incident against Benfica, when throughout the week he prepared us for what we should do after we scored a goal … He told us that [the Benfica coach José Antonio] Camacho would make a specific substitution and change his tactics, which was what happened. So we already knew what to do when he did it; we were completely prepared for it. For the same match, we also prepared to play with 10 players...