..::Football III::..

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Paderborn 0-6 Bayern Munich: Lewandowski and Robben continue Bundesliga title march

Robert Lewandowski and Arjen Robben both scored twice as Bayern Munich romped to another one-sided victory with a 6-0 demolition of Paderborn.

The Bundesliga champions put eight past Hamburg last weekend and threatened to equal that scoreline in another emphatic attacking display.Lewandowski marked his recall to the starting XI, in place of Mario Gotze, with two goals in a first half of few chances.

And Bayern picked off the hosts almost at will following the dismissal of Paderborn's Florian Hartherz in the 62nd minute, as Robben scored twice either side of Franck Ribery and substitute Mitchell Weiser.

Paderborn remain in a position of great danger near the foot of the table, while Bayern hold an 11-point advantage at the summit ahead of second-placed Wolfsburg's meeting with Hertha Berlin on Sunday.

The visitors dominated possession from the outset, but were unable to fashion a clear sight of goal early on as Paderborn, adopting a 5-4-1 formation, packed men behind the ball and defended with discipline.

A 12th-minute counter-attack from Paderborn ended with Alban Meha sending an ambitious long-range effort narrowly wide of Manuel Neuer's left-hand post.However, Andre Breitenreiter's side fell behind 12 minutes later as Lewandowski converted Bayern's first chance of the game.

Robben was the creator, cleverly flicking on David Alaba's pass with a deft touch that enabled Lewandowski to run in on goal unchallenged before placing his finish through the legs of goalkeeper Lukas Kruse.

Lewandowski also accepted the next opportunity that came Bayern's way, prodding home a Ribery cross at the near post eight minutes before half-time after a shot from Thomas Muller had deflected into the path of the Frenchman.

Neuer was called upon to make a routine save from the recalled Lukas Rupp prior to the interval, while Robben saw a shot flash wide at the other end.

Holger Badstuber, who lined up alongside Jerome Boateng at the heart of Bayern's defence following the latter's recent suspension, made a fine last-ditch tackle to deny Elias Kachunga as Paderborn started the second half brightly.There was little else to concern Bayern, however, and their afternoon became much easier when Hartherz clumsily felled Robben as the forward attempted to convert a left-wing cross, earning a red card as a result.

Robben made no mistake with the resulting spot-kick and a fourth goal arrived in the 72nd minute when Ribery drilled home a first-time shot from 15 yards.

Weiser added a fifth two minutes after his 76th-minute introduction, lobbing Kruse for his first Bundesliga goal, and Robben capped off a thoroughly one-sided fixture by applying a finish to Ribery's cross with four minutes remaining.

 

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Atletico Madrid 3-0 Almeria: Two more for Griezmann as champions make the most of Barca slip

Antoine Griezmann scored twice as Atletico Madrid saw off Almeria 3-0 on Saturday.

Mario Mandzukic scored an early penalty before teeing up two first-half goals for strike partner Griezmann, as Diego Simeone's side cruised past their struggling visitors - although they played the last few minutes with 10 men after Guilherme Siqueira was sent off for a second booking late on.

It was still a welcome win for the champions, who currently sit third behind rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona having lost to Celta Vigo last time out.

They face Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday before back-to-back meetings with fellow top-four contenders Sevilla and Valencia.

The home side's intentions were clear from the outset, but the breakthrough came with the help of a contentious spot-kick.

Mandzukic and Griezmann demonstrated their developing partnership for the next two goals to put the result beyond doubt before half-time, allowing Simeone to rotate his squad after the break.

Almeria, meanwhile, saw their three-match unbeaten run end, meaning results on Sunday could drag them closer to the drop zone.

Simeone's side started the match with plenty of purpose and intensity to their play and got their reward in the 13th minute, albeit in controversial circumstances.

Diego Godin was adjudged to have been fouled in the penalty area while attempting to meet Gabi's floated free kick.

Mauro Dos Santos was identified as the chief offender, although he and his team-mates, two of whom also jumped with the Uruguayan, looked bemused at the penalty award.

Mandzukic ignored all of the arguments to coolly convert the spot-kick and give Atleti the lead.

Things got worse for the visitors in the 20th minute, and this time there were few doubts about the main culprit.

Fran Velez inexplicably played the ball to the feet of Mandzukic 40 yards from goal and the former Bayern Munich frontman was able to send his strike partner Griezmann through to double the lead with a composed finish.

The game was all-but over as a contest nine minutes later when Griezmann and Mandzukic combined once again to add a third goal.

The Frenchman managed to get the wrong side of his defender inside the six-yard box to latch on to Mandzukic's knockdown and fire past Julian on the turn, as Almeria failed to deal with another aerial ball.

Almeria did their best to respond in the opening minutes of the second half and did increase their tempo, but Atleti managed to maintain their superiority.

With one eye clearly on their return to European action, Simeone was able to withdraw Mandzukic and Griezmann to standing ovations in the second period, to be replaced by Fernando Torres and Raul Garcia.

Garcia almost marked his return from suspension with a goal, but he dragged his shot across goal from six yards out, after a strong surge into the box in the 77th minute.

That was as close as either side came to adding a second-half goal, and the only blot on otherwise fantastic outing for Atleti was the late sending off for Siqueira.

The defender was shown a second yellow card for deliberate handball on the half-way line, but it mattered little to the overall context of the match.

 

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Griezmann patta form 1kaka inne​

 

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Dyche 'would be surprised' if Barnes faced action for Matic clash

Sean Dyche does not believe Ashley Barnes will face retrospective action for his clash with Nemanja Matic during Burnley's shock 1-1 draw with Chelsea on Saturday.

Matic was sent off with 20 minutes remaining after reacting angrily to a seemingly high challenge from Barnes - a dismissal which will likely see the midfielder miss the upcoming League Cup final against Tottenham at Wembley.

Chelsea had taken the lead inside the opening 15 minutes through Branislav Ivanovic, but Ben Mee rescued a point for the Clarets after Matic had been given his marching orders.

Blues boss Jose Mourinho launched a cryptic attack on the officials after the game, but Dyche does not believe Barnes will be punished for his role in the Serbian's red card.

"I've only seen it as it happened," said Dyche of the incident. "I thought it was a coming together on an odd angle of two players.

"I thought Barnesy gets the ball, his foot follows through and their lad comes in underneath and it lands on his leg. That's how I recollect it as it happened.

"I must make clear that I haven't seen it again. And then he reacts in the way that he did.

"If that's a big talking point, I think there's more to the game than that because I thought we were excellent today."

Asked whether he felt Barnes could face retrospective action, Dyche said: "I have no clue. I haven't seen it again, so, on my recollection as it happened, I would be surprised.

"But who knows. The powers that be will decide that and I think there's probably other incidents in the game that they will also look at if that's the case.

"I'd be surprised if they didn't."

 

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Pardew: Officials cost us result against Arsenal

Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew took issue with both of Arsenal's goals in his side's 2-1 Premier League defeat at Selhurst Park on Saturday.

Santi Cazorla opened the scoring from the penalty spot despite Danny Welbeck appearing to be fouled outside the box, before Olivier Giroud doubled the lead prior to the break amid suspicions of offside.

While Glenn Murray pulled one back late on before hitting the post deep into stoppage time, Palace suffered a third defeat of Pardew's tenure but the former Newcastle United boss felt this was their best performance since he arrived in January.

"We took a tactical decision to take the game to Arsenal today," Pardew explained. "The first goal is a mistake by Pape [Souare], he should do better, and yet the call is tough on us because it looks like the incident happened outside the box.

"We find ourselves 1-0 down but we continued with the gameplan and I was pleased with the reaction. It's probably the best we've played since I've been manager.

"The second goal is offside and that should be made that call.

"I had more of a problem with the second goal than the first - it's a minute before half-time and you've got to get that call right.

"The one that hits the post and goes into the keeper's hands just summed our day up really, it wasn't to be."

 

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Manchester City can still catch Chelsea - Pellegrini

Manuel Pellegrini insists Manchester City have enough time to overhaul leaders Chelsea in the Premier League title race, having seen his side thump Newcastle United 5-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

Jose Mourinho's men were held to a 1-1 draw by struggling Burnley at Stamford Bridge earlier in the day, meaning City's victory saw them cut the deficit at the top of the table to just five points.

City's thumping win represented their first success on home soil in four attempts and followed a resounding 4-1 success at Stoke City in their last outing.

City came from behind late in the season to claim each of their two Premier League titles to date, and Pellegrini is optimistic that history will repeat itself in 2014-15.

"I'm very pleased because we returned to being a scoring team here at home and also because we didn't concede goals," he told BBC Sport .

"Of course if the other teams drop points it's better for us, especially Chelsea because we don't depend on just what we can do.

"All the other teams are behind us in the table, so it doesn't matter what they do if we continue winning. If we want to continue fighting for the title, we need Chelsea to drop more points, but we have to play [for] another 36 points more, so that's a lot of time."

Having seen his side open up a five-goal lead inside 53 minutes, Pellegrini was afforded the luxury of resting Sergio Aguero and David Silva for the final half-hour against Newcastle, with a Champions League tie against Barcelona only three days away.

"I think it's very important to arrive to that game winning," Pellegrini added.

"That's why for me it was so important during the week just to focus our minds on this game [against Newcastle] and now we have three days to prepare [for] the game against Barcelona."

 

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Simeone in talks with Atletico over new contract

Diego Simeone has confirmed that he is in talks with Atletico Madrid over extending his time with the club.

The Argentine watched his Spanish champions ease to a 3-0 La Liga victory against Almeria on Saturday which takes them back to within three points of second-placed Barcelona.

Reports in Spain have emerged in recent days to suggest Simeone will be offered a new seven-year at the Vicente Calderon, and he confirmed after the match that discussions are ongoing.

"It's clear that I'm very happy with the club, that I love Atletico Madrid," Simeone told a media conference following Saturday's victory."We are trying to continue this project started three years ago and we are evaluating the two parties with the same enthusiasm and the same inclination."

Simeone's contract was last renewed in March 2013, with that deal running until 2017.

But with interest in his services continuing to grow after Atletico secured their first league title since 1996 last season while also reaching the Champions League final, the club are believed to be keen on keeping Simeone in the Spanish capital beyond 2020.

 

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Manchester City clash the most important game of the year, says Pique

Gerard Pique has urged his Barcelona team-mates to turn their attention quickly to their Champions League clash with Manchester City.

The Catalans' recent superb run of from was brought to a shock end by Malaga on Saturday as they secured a 1-0 win at Camp Nou.

Barca now turn their attentions to a first leg with Manchester City in Europe's top competition in the coming week and Pique is eager for his team-mates to focus quickly on the trip to the Etihad.

"It was one of those where we just couldn't find the goal. But we have to turn the page because, on Tuesday, we play the most important game of the year," he told reporters after the match."The team are on track and we can't let this defeat get us down. All teams will lose points. We have to look at how we can get ahead."

City destroyed Newcastle on Saturday with a 5-0 win but, rather than fear the English champions' attack, Pique feels more attack-minded opponents could be to their advantage.

"City are a more attacking team and that can benefit us," he added.

 

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Bruce condemns 'ridiculous' Barton punch

Hull City boss Steve Bruce has labelled the actions of Joey Barton as "ridiculous" after the QPR captain was dismissed at the KC Stadium on Saturday.

Barton was sent off after clashing with Tom Huddlestone midway through the first half, following a challenge by young QPR debutant Darnell Furlong on David Meyler.

The former Newcastle United man then appeared to punch Huddlestone in the groin, leaving referee Anthony Taylor with no choice but to show the red card and although he admitted that he did not see the incident, Bruce was quick to condemn Barton's actions, while dismissing any suggestion that Furlong should have also seen red for the initial challenge.

Bruce said after the game: "I can honestly say that I didn't see the actual incident. I was applauding the initial tackle from both players.

"In my day both players would have picked each other up and said 'what a fantastic challenge that was'.

"I don't think it was a red card. If anything I think it was one of those fair challenges where both players were committed.

"So, I didn’t see the incident but everyone has told me what he [Barton] did and it's just ridiculous and one of those silly little moments."

A last-minute goal from Dame N'Doye ensured Hull capitalised on their numerical advantage, leaving Bruce delighted at the way his side persevered on what was threatening to be frustrating outing.

He added: "I think it's the first time we've put back-to-back wins together since last September [2013] and it's happened to us five or six times [conceding late in games] so it's about time it happened for us.

"There's nothing better when it happens. The relief more than anything, when Green makes the save 30 seconds before I'm thinking to myself 'Well it's one of them days'.

"Thankfully it was a wonderful cross from Robbie [Brady] and N'Doye was where every good centre-forward needs to be, six yards out, stuck it in the net for us."

 

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Blanc: PSG back on top could be a turning point

Laurent Blanc hopes Paris Saint-Germain's return to the top of Ligue 1 will provide them with the psychological boost to bolster their title bid.The two-time reigning champions went into the weekend in third place, having squandered a two-goal lead to draw with Caen last weekend.

But Blanc's men heeded the lessons of that result to beat Toulouse 3-1 thanks to two goals from Adrien Rabiot and one from Thiago Silva, after Wissam Ben Yedder had pulled one back for the lowly visitors.

PSG may only be on top until Marseille and Lyon are back in action on Sunday, but their coach was pleased with his side's overall display and wants them to recognise the scale of the task ahead.

"What I like is that we created chances and we scored goals, while having a good defensive base," he told francefootball.fr."There have been three or four times that we had the opportunity to take first place and we didn't.

"This may be a sign. Certainly, it is temporary, but it is perhaps a collective awareness that there are more points to lose. "It is always positive to be first and have 52 points in 26 games, it makes two points per game. At this rate, we're not far from the title.

"There is more to do, but despite some flaws in our game, poorly negotiated home matches and some dropped points before and after the Champions League, we are still there and it's very encouraging for the future."

 

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Silva the Premier League's best, says Dzeko

Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko believes in-form team-mate David Silva is the best player in the Premier League.

Silva and Dzeko were highly influential as City thumped Newcastle United 5-0 on Saturday to capitalise on leaders Chelsea's surprise draw with Burnley earlier in the day.

It was Silva who laid on Dzeko's first-half goal with a sublime lofted pass and the Spain international went on to score twice himself early in the second period, before being withdrawn ahead of Tuesday's Champions League tie against Barcelona.

Invited to comment on the quality of Silva's assist, Dzeko hailed his team-mate as the finest in the division.

He told Sky Sports: "The pass from David was first-class ... and for me he is the best player in the Premier League.

"To have him here with us is an amazing thing, because with David you can always score goals."

City, who have come from behind late in the season to claim each of their two Premier League titles to date, now trail Chelsea by five points with 12 rounds of matches remaining.

Saturday's thrashing of Newcastle followed a 4-1 win at Stoke City and Dzeko is confident his side can keep hold of their crown come May.

"Definitely we can. Maybe people think five points is a lot but if we can continue to play like today and the last game against Stoke we can definitely catch them [Chelsea]," he added.

"It was good for us to come into the game knowing that if we can win we can reduce the points [gap].

"We played an amazing game. The fans enjoyed this game and I did too."

Dzeko was preferred in attack to January signing Wilfried Bony, available for the first time following his participation in the Africa Cup of Nations, and the Bosnian played down the additional competition he now faces for a place in Manuel Pellegrini's starting XI.

"I think we are all playing for one team and I don't see him [Bony] as competition for me," said Dzeko.

"We all try to get results for Man City and he is very welcome. He will definitely bring much more to our team."

 

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Monk revels in historic double over Manchester United

Garry Monk says everyone at Swansea City should be proud after the club completed their first league double over Manchester United with a 2-1 win at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday.

Ki Sung-Yueng swiftly restored parity after Ander Herrera had given United a 28th-minute lead, before Jonjo Shelvey rifled a shot in the 73rd minute that deflected home off Bafetimbi Gomis for the winner.

United, who lost by the same scoreline at Old Trafford in August, dominated for long periods of the second half, prompting manager Louis van Gaal to suggest Swansea were lucky.

However, Monk was full of praise for his players' performance levels as he said: "I'd rather be lucky than good, but I wouldn't say that [we got lucky].

"Yes, we had to ride some pressure in the second half, but we're playing Manchester United.

"The squad that they have, the players that they have, they were always going to be able to create.

"But I think they only had one shot on goal in the second half.

"The first half was quite even, I thought. They scored the first goal, but I think we responded exactly how you'd want your team to respond.

"We got the goal straight back and we were pushing, so we were more than competing.

"I said to them [the players] at half-time that we had to do certain things a little bit better and that we were, at times, going to have to deal with a little bit of pressure.

"But I think all that pressure only really amounted to one shot on our goal.

"We got the second goal, which was deserved, and then we probably could have had a third towards the end with the breakaways that we had.

"We've created history today and I said to the players before the game, 'Anything that's going to make history is worth fighting for', and we did that today.

"To be able to do the double for the first time in the club's history is something everyone connected with the club should be very proud of."

Asked whether Shelvey should have been credited with the winner, Monk added: "It's Bafe's. Jonjo's given it to him.

"I thought Jonjo might fight a little bit harder to keep that one, but I think Bafe deserved that today."

 

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It's easy to play with Mandzukic - Griezmann

Antoine Griezmann was quick to pay tribute to strike partner Mario Mandzukic after Atletico Madrid's 3-0 win over Almeria.

The Croat opened the scoring for the champions before setting up Griezmann for two more first-half goals as Diego Simeone's side closed to within three points of Barcelona in La Liga."We're happy with the three points. We continue to show we're strong at home. We wanted another victory after the loss in Vigo," Griezmann was quoted as saying by AS.

"In truth, it's easy to get along with him [Mandzukic] because he is a great striker. It's the same with Fernando Torres and Raul Garcia."Atletico now turn their attentions to Bayer Leverkusen in next week's Champions League last-16 clash.

"We have to rest now and think about the Champions League game. We have to be on top form to face Leverkusen," Griezmann added.

 

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Van Gaal: 'Dominant' United were unlucky at Swansea

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal says his players were unlucky in their 2-1 Premier League defeat at Swansea City on Saturday.

Ander Herrera broke the deadlock against the run of play after 28 minutes, before Ki Sung-yueng restored parity two minutes later at the Liberty Stadium.

United put Swansea under sustained pressure for long periods of the second half, but were eventually undone by a Jonjo Shelvey strike that deflected in off Bafetimbi Gomis in the 73rd minute.

"It's not so important if you deserve more because in football only goals count and they scored the second goal," he said.

"Of course you can say that we dominated the game, but only the goals count.

"We were the unlucky team today."

Asked whether United created enough chances, Van Gaal added: "I think so, especially in the second half.

"I think also in the first half we were the dominant team and in the second half even more.

"We were not so lucky today."

The result represents United first defeat in five league matches.

 

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Van Gaal: 'Dominant' United were unlucky at Swansea

'Dominant'?Mona Dominant 1kakda?​

 

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Arsenal switched off and got lucky, admits Wenger

Arsene Wenger admitted that Arsenal were "lucky" to escape from Selhurst Park with a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace after the hosts went inches away from completing an incredible injury-time comeback.

Santi Cazorla opened the scoring from the penalty spot after Pape Souare lost possession and was adjudged to have fouled Danny Welbeck inside the area, while Olivier Giroud scored on the stroke of half-time to give the visitors control.
Palace rallied in the second half with Glenn Murray scoring in injury-time before his headed effort hit the post and rebounded into the arms of Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina in the closing seconds.

Wenger said his side were guilty of letting the Eagles back into the game, telling his post-match press conference: "It was about fighting and playing and Crystal Palace are a team who play with a big intensity. For us it was important to resist and we did that well, and at 2-0 at half-time we came out of the second half much more to protect our advantage, to continue to play and put them under pressure.

"We missed goal number three and of course they came back to 2-1, we were a bit lucky, a bit fortunate, but overall we did triumph and it was in the end a very important win for us.

Asked whether he thought his players had switched off in the final five minutes of the game, Wenger replied: "Certainly. You know in the Premier League it's never done, especially at 2-0, and with that effort [hitting the post] it was fortunate."

Wenger was then asked whether Welbeck was actually inside the box when fouled by Souare, to which he responded: "I don't know." As for whether the striker was offside during the build-up to Giroud's strike, he said: "I don't know if he was offside or not. I think as well Giroud when he went through in the second half, he was not offside, and I am sure of that.

"I believe that the players know they switched maybe a little bit too early, but our central defenders played very well today and a very direct and physical game at the back. Overall at the end of the day it is three points in a place like that.

"We now know we have played two more away games and it could be down to how strong we are at home, and let's just continue to fight and be tight until the end."

Palace manager Alan Pardew, meanwhile, bemoaned key decisions going against his side following the defeat, which still leaves the Eagles five points off the relegation zone.

Pardew believes referee Mark Clattenburg and his officials made incorrect calls on both Arsenal goals, saying: "We took a tactical decision to take the game to Arsenal today. The first goal is a mistake by Pape [Souare] and yet the call was tough on us because it looked like the incident happened outside the box.

"We found ourselves 1-0 down but we continued with our gameplan, I'm pleased with our reaction - it was probably the best we've played since I’ve been manager and I include our victories in that.

"The second goal is offside - that should be made, that call. I've got more of a problem with the second goal than the first. It's a minute before half-time and you've got to get that call right.

"Still, second half we continued with our gameplan, stayed on the front foot and took the game to Arsenal. The second one [Murray's effort] that hits the post and goes in the keeper’s hands summed up our day really, it just wasn't to be.

"What can I say? It's difficult because I'm asking this team to play a bit more than they used to, but within that team there were some great individual performances.
"Yannick Bolasie couldn’t have done any more… he was fantastic. If there is one criticism of us today, we should have taken the shot earlier, particularly in the first half - it's our final moment in that box that we need to improve. We're not far away from being a decent team."

Reflecting on Murray spurning a chance for an equaliser at the death, Pardew added: "It was a fast cross, I actually thought the spin on the ball was going to take it into the net, but it's gone straight into the keeper's hands."

 

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Van Persie leaves Swansea in protective boot

There are fresh injury concerns for Robin van Persie after the Manchester United striker left Swansea City wearing a protective boot on his right foot on Saturday.

The Netherlands international was back in the United starting XI after missing the FA Cup trip to Preston North End on Monday with a knock.

Van Persie struggled to make an impact in the 2-1 Premier League defeat at the Liberty Stadium and could now be facing a spell on the sidelines.

Manager Louis van Gaal did not withdraw Van Persie despite the issue, stating: "I had already changed three players and I cannot change four."

United face Sunderland in the Premier League next weekend.

 

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Barcelona 'deserved' Malaga loss - Luis Enrique

Luis Enrique admitted that his Barcelona side did not deserve to take anything from their 1-0 defeat to Malaga at Camp Nou.Juanmi capitalised on a poor pass back from Dani Alves to put the visitors in front in the first half and they held firm to dent the Catalans' bid for La Liga.

"It's a result that hurts," said the Spaniard. "Malaga played very well and I wish it was an accident, but I have to say we were beaten and maybe it was deserved.

"In the first half I thought we played well but Malaga took advantage of the one mistake that we made. Mistakes are mistakes; it wasn't our best day individually or collectively."We attacked too much in the centre of the pitch. We weren't effective in the final third and that was our biggest problem."

The result brought to an end Barca's 11-match winning run and saw them miss out on the chance to leapfrog Real Madrid at the top of the table.Sergio Busquets said it was important his side quickly move on from the defeat and focus their attention on Tuesday's Champions League clash with Manchester City.

"We conceded a goal and we struggled to respond. We tried a lot of crosses because they let us play the ball wide, but we had no luck. The league is very long. We have to fix things because we have an important game on Tuesday."

 

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My career could be over in two years - Podolski

Inter forward Lukas Podolski says his career "could be over in two years" and insists his future won't be motivated by money.

The 29-year-old is on loan at San Siro from Arsenal until the end of the season but has so far failed to make an impact under Roberto Mancini.Podolski was left out of the club's Europa League squad, with fellow January arrival Xherdan Shaqiri preferred in the selection.

But though Podolski would surely have no shortage of offers should Inter not take up their option to buy the player in the summer, the Germany star is adamant finances won't be decisive in his next move.

He told Gazzetta dello Sport: "What motivates me? The pleasure of being in contact with the football. In two years it could all be over and I don’t want to waste a single day. I don’t do this for money.”The former Cologne man also spoke about the difference in culture he has discovered in Milan in comparison to his native Germany.

"Compared to us Germans you are more easy-going and relaxed. I went into a restaurant at 19.00 and it was empty. I left at 22.00 and it was starting to fill up.”
Podolski has made seven appearances so far for Inter but is yet to score for the club.

 

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Chelsea enforcer Matic to miss League Cup final following red card

Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic could miss the League Cup final against Tottenham after being controversially sent off against Burnley on Saturday afternoon.

Matic was shown a straight red for shoving Ashley Barnes at Stamford Bridge, meaning he will also miss games against West Ham at Upton Park and the home clash against Southampton.

The Blues could well appeal the decision, though, as Matic had reacted to a bad challenge by Barnes which caught the Serb halfway up the shin.

Matic has missed just one Premier League match this season, which happened to be the Blues' first defeat of the campaign at Newcastle in December.

He has been an ever-present in the league and Champions League aside from that game at St James' Park, and has played the Blues' quarter-final and two semi-finals in the League Cup.

Barring the Football Association overturning the red card, however, he will play no part in the final against Mauricio Pochettino's side at Wembley.