..::Football III::..

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Wenger: It is impossible for Chelsea to lose title now

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has conceded defeat in the title race after admitting it would be “impossible” for Chelsea to blow their lead following the 0-0 draw between the sides on Sunday.

The Gunners needed a victory over the Blues to stand any chance of catching the runaway Premier League leaders, but were unable to breach a staunch visiting defence.

The result extended Jose Mourinho’s unbeaten run over Wenger to 13 matches and the French coach admits his side struggled to break down the title-bound Blues.

“Yes, we know that now,” said Wenger when asked by Sky Sports if the title now belonged to Chelsea. “A win today [for Arsenal] was absolutely necessary. But, it’s impossible to lose it now.”

Questioned about his poor record against Mourinho, he continued: “Look, first of all I would say it is not about me it is about my team, and we wanted three points because it is a massive game.

“They are a good side, because they defend very well, in their recent games they didn’t concede goals and today again they defended very well.

“Firstly that was down to their quality in defending, and secondly maybe we lacked a little bit of freedom in expression in our offensive game.”

Arsenal have been noted for playing more intelligently in the second half of the season, but while Wenger was happy his side avoided being stung on the break, he felt they lacked the confidence to fully commit to their attacking game.

"I believe maybe in our head we played sometimes with the handbrake on because were conscious of their counter-attacking.

“Maybe it was a bit too much in our heads not to be naïve and maybe that took something away from us going forward.

“But overall I must say the team has progressed very well, improved a lot since the start of the season and we are still on a very strong run.”

 

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'Boring is 10 years without the title' - Mourinho hits out at Arsenal boo-boys

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho hit out after his side were booed off by Arsenal supporters following Sunday's 0-0 stalemate at the Emirates Stadium.

The Blues saw out their game plan perfectly in securing the draw that they needed to maintain a 10-point gap from their London rivals and take what captain John Terry described as a "big step" towards the title.

But Arsenal supporters let their feelings be known towards the end of the match, chanting "boring, boring Chelsea" as the game petered out.

Mourinho, however, responded in typically defiant fashion after the game by referring to the Gunners' failure to win the league title since 2004.

"I think boring is 10 years without the title," he said. "I think waiting, waiting, waiting for the title for 10 years is very boring.

"Maybe they were not singing to us. When you are playing at home and take your No.9 off ... maybe they wanted to see [Olivier] Giroud and [Danny] Welbeck together.

"The boring team has scored the second most goals in the Premier League and has the best goal difference.I think only top teams can be top of the league since day one."

 

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Terry: Arsenal draw a big step towards title for Chelsea

Chelsea captain John Terry says his side took a "big step" towards the Premier League title with their goalless draw at Arsenal on Sunday.

The Blues remain 10 points clear of second-placed Manchester City, and the third-placed Gunners, after playing out the stalemate at the Emirates Stadium, leaving them needing just six points to win the league.

Jose Mourinho takes his side to resurgent Leicester City on Wednesday and Terry, who was clearly delighted with the result at the full-time whistle in north London, knows the trophy is within touching distance.

"It's a big step to where we want to go," he told Sky Sports. "Mathematically, it's still possible for other teams to catch us but it's a big step.

"The big thing coming here today was not to let Arsenal gain points and we've done that today with a very, very good performance."

He added: "We're almost there, we've still got another tough game again on Wednesday, Leicester are fighting for points as well and are in good form.

"It's still not over as I said but the job's in our hands and if we can go there and pick up three points we move a step closer."

Chelsea nullified the threat of Manchester United to pick up a hard-earned 1-0 victory last weekend, but far from repeating the trick on Sunday, Terry believes that his side were far more open than they had hoped, especially in the first period.

"I think everybody expected us to come and sit like we did against Manchester United but we came and we gave it a go, it was end-to-end a little bit, probably too much... that's what we didn't want really.

"[In the] second half we were more in control, kept the ball a lot more, got the possession up which I think will please the manager!"

 

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Everton defeat a 'massive wake-up call' for Manchester United - Smalling

Manchester United defender Chris Smalling has described his side's 3-0 defeat to Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday as a "massive wake-up call".

Goals from James McCarthy, John Stones and Kevin Mirallas handed the Red Devils their fourth successive defeat at Goodison Park and gave the Toffees their biggest win over United since 1992.

Louis van Gaal's men still appear on course for a top-four finish, despite having suffered consecutive defeats, but Smalling says that they must improve as they seek to secure Champions League qualification.

"This is a massive wake-up call for us. We've got four games left and we need to play much better than we did," he told MUTV.

"We're very disappointed. They had more aggression and we were second best. We were off the pace."

Manchester United welcome West Brom next time out and the Baggies have a decent record against the Red Devils, having beaten then 2-1 on their last visit to Old Trafford.

Van Gaal's side needed a late equaliser from Daley Blind to salvage a 2-2 at the Hawthorns earlier this season but Smalling expects United to be a different proposition on at Old Trafford.

"We'll make sure we learn from this," the centre-back added. "I think you'll see a different Manchester United next Saturday."

 

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Bayern Munich crowned Bundesliga champions

Bayern Munich have been crowned Bundesliga champions for the third time in a row.

Pep Guardiola's men beat Hertha Berlin 1-0 on Saturday to move 15 points ahead of Wolfsburg, who were beaten at Borussia Monchengladbach 24 hours later, thus leaving the Bavarians with an unassailable lead with four rounds of the season remaining.

Bayern wrapped up the title in record time last season, with seven games to go, and while the confirmation this term comes much later, they have been just as dominant domestically.

Bayern have not been knocked off the top of the table since they moved into pole position in week five and have cruised to the title once again. If they win all of their remaining games, they will fall just two points short of last year's total of 90.

Guardiola's team are also on course to win a second European and domestic treble in three years as they remain in contention for the Champions League, where they face Barcelona in the semi-finals, and the DFB-Pokal, in which they will meet Borussia Dortmund in the last four on Tuesday.

 

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Congratulations Bayern!​

 

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Mourinho: Terry produced best ever display against Arsenal

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has hailed his captain John Terry, claiming that the defender put in his best ever display against Arsenal on Sunday.

Chelsea played out a goalless draw at the Emirates Stadium which moves them within two victories of securing the Premier League title, with Terry at the heart of their defensive efforts.

And Mourinho, who believes his team got what they deserved from the match, says that despite all the fine showings he has witnessed from the former England stopper over the years, the most recent of all tops the lot.

"We got what we got," he told Sky Sports when asked about the merits of the 0-0 draw. "I leave it for you to analyse.

"I just think my team performed very, very well against a very good team, against a team that is second in the table and a couple of minutes before the game started they [discovered] that their position in third is a little bit more comfortable because of Manchester United [losing].

"So they have nothing to lose and everything to win, but I think the game was under control, we played really well, in possession we played really well.

"I was telling John in the dressing room that he made fantastic performances with me in six years more or less that we are together but for me this was his best performance that I have ever seen from John Terry in a defensive point of view.

"This performance with a goal would be something from the moon, but even without a goal scored his defensive performance was absolutely amazing."

Chelsea saw three penalty appeals waved away in an action-packed first half, but while Mourinho does suggest that referee Michael Oliver made some mistakes, he preferred to focus on the performance of his team and again praised Terry.

Asked about the penalties, he replied: "I don't comment, I don't comment. I don't want to comment because you have the screen, you have the technology, the replays, you have the pundits to analyse and I don't want to analyse.

"I prefer to look to the performance and say that the referee's performance was good. Imagine John Terry makes a mistake, his performance would be amazing with a mistake and I think the referees had a very good performance... with a couple of mistakes.

"The game was a difficult game, because it was intense, it was fast, it had danger in both ends and I think Oliver and his assistants they made a good performance... forgetting the penalty appeals."

 

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'Ronaldo is defining a period in football history' - Alvarez

Celta Vigo goalkeeper Sergio Alvarez is well aware that he will have a serious job on his hands trying to keep out Cristiano Ronaldo at Balaidos on Sunday, admitting that the Real Madrid ace is defining an entire era with his remarkable goalscoring exploits.

Ronaldo, who has won the last two Ballon d'Or awards, has netted a staggering 302 times in just 292 games in all competitions since joining Los Blancos from Manchester United in 2009.

Alvarez thus feels that the Portugal international deserves to be rated as one of the best goalscorers the game has ever seen."Facing him is a challenge," the Celta shot-stopper stated. "We all know Cristiano scores in nearly every game and we’ll have to be more alert.

"He’s a goalscorer in every sense of the word. I don’t know if he’s the best goalscorer ever, but his consistency means it’s complicated to play him. "He’s defining a period in football history. We’ll try to enjoy it while we can and try to stop him in this game."

Sunday's Liga clash also represents an opportunity for Alvarez to measure himself against Madrid captain Iker Casillas - another player he has the utmost respect for.
Alvarez has been likened to the World Cup winner but the 28-year-old is embarrassed by such talk."Maybe we have some things in common, but he’s one of the best goalkeepers ever," he added. "Comparing us is a bit over the top.

"I hope I can play at the top as long as he has; that’s what every player hopes for."
Madrid will be going all out for victory at Balaidos, with Liga leaders Barcelona having pulled five points clear at the top of the table thanks to a 2-0 win at Espanyol on Saturday.

 

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Van Gaal slams unmotivated Manchester United

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has questioned his side's motivation after they fell to a 3-0 defeat at Everton.

The Red Devils would have climbed to second in the Premier League with victory but fell behind to James McCarthy's fourth-minute goal and struggled to find a way back into the match thereafter.

And Van Gaal revealed that his coaching staff were aware that something was not right in the pre-match warm-up but, by then, it was too late to solve the issue.

"It is the first time that I have seen that our motivation, inspiration and aggression was not as high as the opponent," he told reporters. "In sport, you shall always be compared to your opponent and that was the reason.

"I had already the feeling and my colleagues, Ryan Giggs and Albert [Stuivenberg], had the feeling because the warm-up was not as good as usual.

"Then you say that, in the last minutes before the game, you hope you can recover and stimulate your players but then it is too late.

"You have to prepare for the match two or three days before and Everton have done that and they have won because of that."

He added: "When you have a lot of time on the ball, you can also lose the ball easily and then you have to be very sharp in the duels. When you see the goal after four minutes, three duels in a row we lost and that is an example.

"In the first half we created a lot of chances - five, I think - but we never scored. When you see the shots on the goal it is also without conviction. That is not good."

The former Barcelona boss was hesitant to give a reason as to why his players may have struggled to get up for the match at Goodison Park, unsure if his side had grown complacent after moving ahead in the race for a top-four finish, but he insisted that he would do all he could to make sure it did not become a regular occurence.

"You cannot analyse exactly what is the reason. That is very difficult," he continued. "I think you only can notice that and you can see that and learn from it because Everton were highly motivated and you have seen that.

"The training sessions were alright. It is also a process because we are playing so well in the last six or seven games that also players think 'OK, it shall come', but it shall not come.

"You need the inspiration and the motivation and the aggression to win the second balls and to fight to the end. Many times I have said they have fought to the end and a manager cannot demand more.

"I am manager of Manchester United and the players shall use my words and think and communicate with each other. I hope it shall not happen again but, as a coach, I know it shall happen again."

 

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Hazard rejects Real Madrid link: I'm happy at Chelsea

Eden Hazard insists he is happy at Chelsea and has no intention of leaving the club despite links with Real Madrid and Paris-Saint Germain.

The Belgium international has helped fire the Blues to the brink of a first Premier League title since 2010 with 13 goals and eight assists, and is the favourite to be named as the Professional Footballers' Association Player of the Year on Sunday.

On Wednesday Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane revealed he is keeping an eye on Hazard, sparking renewed speculation that Chelsea could be set to receive a big-money offer for their star man this summer.

But Jose Mourinho claims Hazard would cost "£100 million, each leg" and the winger himself, who signed a new long-term contract in February, insists he is fully focused on building a long-term legacy at Stamford Bridge.

"I am happy here," he told Sky Sports. "I play with big players and the most important thing is I want to win trophies and with this club, it is possible.

"[The] Champions League is difficult. We play against a big team, but one day I hope I can win this trophy as it is the best.

"All the big players have won the Champions League and I hope I can bring, like Didier [Drogba] did, the Champions League to Stamford Bridge."

Hazard admits a key reason for his contentment at Stamford Bridge is the opportunity to work with Mourinho, a coach he believes has helped him make significant improvements to his game.

"I train well with him, we work well," the Belgian added. "But the most important thing for me is he lets me play, he just asked me to be the best and he doesn't give me pressure.

"So for the player we are free and this is good. Everybody knows I like to have the ball at my feet, but without the ball I try to give everything offensively, defensively.

"This is my job. But for me, the most important thing is to create something, to score for the team or create an assist."

 

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Pochettino: Tottenham must spend big to realise Champions League dream

Mauricio Pochettino is hoping for significant transfer activity this summer as Tottenham aim to return to the Champions League.

With four games of their Premier League campaign remaining, Spurs look set to miss out on a top-four finish.

Pochettino reiterated after Saturday's 2-2 draw at Southampton that qualification for the Europa League was "not my dream" and highlighted the need for his club to strengthen in order to regain a place among Europe's elite.

"It [the Europa League] is not the competition that is your dream, my dream is to play with Tottenham in the Champions League and for that we need to prepare, a big summer," the Tottenham boss told reporters.

"I think we need to build a strong team to be realistic and try to fight for the top four next season. Because I think our dream, for our supporters and the club, is to fight for the top four and try to reach the Champions League.

"After my experience here I think that it's very tough to play in the Europa League.

"I think for the players it's very, very tough. If we reach the Europa League we need to try to do better this season, to try and fight for the top four and to try to win the Europa League, but it is not my dream."

Pochettino was given cause for concern at St Mary's when Ben Davies was taken off on a stretcher in the second half with a shoulder injury.

But the Argentine afterwards revealed: "Ben is much better now. We hope that it's not a big issue. We need to assess him in the next few days, but we hope it's not a longer problem."

 

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Vermaelen gets medical all-clear to make Barcelona debut

Thomas Vermaelen has been cleared to make his long-awaited Barcelona debut after being given the green light by medical staff.

The former Arsenal captain has yet to play a competitive game for the club since his summer transfer, having battled a long-standing injury to his right hamstring.

The 29-year-old could now be set to play a part in the season run-in as Barca chase down a treble of Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League glory.

"Five months after the injuring his right leg, FC Barcelona's Belgian defender Thomas Vermaelen has received medical clearance. He underwent surgery back in December and will now be fully available for Luis Enrique in the home stretch of the season," the club confirmed on their official website."He was given the medical all-clear following Sunday morning's workout at the Ciutat Esportiva."

Vermaelen could return to action as early as Tuesday when Barcelona host Getafe at Camp Nou.

 

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Blanc: PSG have put Barcelona lesson behind them

Paris Saint-Germain coach Laurent Blanc believes his players proved they had put their Champions League exit behind them on Saturday.

Ezequiel Lavezzi netted a hat-trick as the Ligue 1 leaders thrashed Lille 6-1 at the Parc des Princes, just days after being eliminated by Barcelona in Europe.

Blanc believes his players have shown their powers of recovery and says they must now prepare for a "sprint finish" to the league season."It was very important to show tonight that we had overcome the Champions League elimination. We did that," he said.

"It's the sprint finish now, and we need to win as many matches as possible, especially at home.

"We were very wary of this Lille side, but scoring two goals inside the opening five minutes did us the world of good. Congratulations to my players for their match."
Blanc's men are three points clear of Lyon, who travel to Reims on Sunday looking to reclaim top spot.

 

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'Mateu always wants to be a protagonist' - Busquets slams 'absurd' Alba red

Sergio Busquets has hit out at the "absurd" red card issued to Jordi Alba against Espanyol, claiming the referee was looking to become involved in the action.

The Barcelona full-back was issued two yellow cards in quick succession for alleged dissent in Saturday's 2-0 victory, though he later insisted he was bemused by the decision.

Busquets has now accused referee Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz of wanting to be "a protagonist" in the game.

"To get a second card for that is absurd but we know Mateu, he wants to be a protagonist and that's what happened," he was quoted as saying by AS."We were much better in the first half. With the red card we lost a bit more of the ball, they had another chance but the important thing was the three points."

First-half goals from Neymar and Lionel Messi sealed the win for the visitors in the Catalan derby and Busquets admits confidence is high as they attempt to fend off Real Madrid in the title race.

"I'm good physically; I think the team is, too. We have a calendar filled with a lot of games but the team is good, we're going out there with positive feelings."We're close but it'll be difficult, we have a tough pursuer in Real Madrid."

 

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Monk revels in new Swansea City points record

Swansea City's 3-2 victory at Newcastle United saw them reach a new club record points haul in a Premier League season, with manager Garry Monk quick to hail his players after the game.

Goals from Nelson Oliveira, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Jack Cork sent the Swans to victory after they battled back from going behind to Ayoze Perez's 20th-minute opener at St James' Park.

Siem de Jong scored a second for Newcastle with three minutes to go to mark his first appearance since August, but Swansea held on to reach 50 points, surpassing their previous mark of 47 in their debut Premier League campaign in 2011-12.
"It's very satisfying," Monk said. "I'm extremely proud of the players and the staff, the fans - we should be extremely proud of this squad.

"I knew if we could get the players to commit we could achieve something special.
"Everyone plays their part, my job as manager is to make sure the football is right and make sure we compete."We've shown a lot of different sides to ourselves, but ultimately we've played some excellent football and I thought you saw that today, so I'm extremely proud of everyone."

Monk is, though, refusing to let up in the final few games of the campaign."I want more, I always push for more. I'm the type to demand more," he added.

"My job now is to make sure we finish this season with more wins and more points.

"There's no point just beating the record, we want to try and surpass it and make it difficult for anyone to try and catch or for us to surpass it the next season.

"I'm proud of everyone, the work that we've done and when people doubt you it's a real pleasing thing to prove those doubters wrong."

 

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Pochettino thanks Tottenham fans after Southampton abuse

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino thanked his club's fans for their backing after he came in for criticism on his return to Southampton on Saturday.

Spurs came from behind on two occasions, through Erik Lamela and Nacer Chadli, to claim a 2-2 draw against the club from whom the Argentine departed at the end of last season.

As a result, Tottenham remain above the Saints in the Premier League table and Pochettino was grateful for the support that he received after some home fans at St Mary's Stadium directed abusive chants towards him.

"I congratulate the players, I congratulate our fans - they touched me because they backed me a lot," he told BT Sport.

"I appreciate so much because it was a very tough game, an emotional game for me and difficult because I still love Southampton. I have very good memories here."

Pochettino acknowledged that Spurs were architects of their own downfall as they made errors in the build-up to each of Graziano Pelle's two goals for Southampton.

He added: "We conceded two goals from two mistakes. I am a little disappointed with that but, in the end, [I am] happy because, with a very young team today, we showed character."

 

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Inzaghi: I could have have made 10 substitutions

Filippo Inzaghi said he could've made 10 substitutions at half-time, such was his disgust at the performance of his AC Milan players in the 2-1 defeat to Udinese on Saturday.

Second-half goals from Giampiero Pinzi and Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu put Udinese in command at the Stadio Friuli on Saturday before Milan scored a late consolation through Giampaolo Pazzini.

The defeat further dented Milan's slim European hopes, with Inzaghi's men sitting six points adrift of Fiorentina in sixth place - which is likely to be enough to seal Europa League football due to Juventus and Lazio's presence in the Coppa Italia final.

The Rossoneri coach has tried to defend his players' poor performances in recent months but slammed the attitude of his team after the game and demanded a response on Wednesday against Genoa."The objective is to earn our place at Milan," Inzaghi told Sky Sport. "This was a bad performance and I was extremely angry at the attitude I saw.

"There are no excuses. In the other games Milan had always tried to fight, but this time I saw nothing. It looked like Udinese were playing a Champions League final compared to us.

"I can only apologise to the fans. Thankfully we'll be playing again in a few days and we must wipe this performance from the memory as soon as possible.

"If I could've made 10 substitutions at half-time, then I would've done. I have little else to say. We are Milan and cannot embarrass ourselves with a performance like this."

 

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'Nothing is lost' - Garcia hoping to salvage sinking Roma season

Roma coach Rudi Garcia has stressed that "nothing is lost" in their chase for a Champions League spot, despite losing 2-1 to Inter on Saturday.

Radja Nainggolan looked to have salvaged a point in the second half for the Giallorossi, who had gone behind early on to a Hernanes effort, but Mauro Icardi struck in the 88th minute to secure all three points for Roberto Mancini's men.

The win was the latest setback in Roma's awful 2015 so far, as they have fallen way behind Juventus in the Scudetto race and could be just two points ahead of fourth-placed Napoli if Rafa Benitez's men beat Sampdoria on Sunday.

Despite struggling to win matches in this calendar year, Garcia remains confident the capital club can see out the season to cling on to third place.

"The performance was good, we have to raise our head because in four days we play again," the Frenchman told Sky Sport. "You have to have confidence in both offensive and defensive to win games.

"The attitude of the team was good and we only conceded two goals because Inter are a strong side. Nothing is lost even if the end of the season is edging closer.

"A draw would've been a fairer result, but games are won and lost on small margins. In the second half we played the Roma way and were pushing to win the game, but ultimately we were the ones who conceded last.

"I've got nothing negative to say about my side's will to win and team spirit. Now we head to Sassuolo on Wednesday to recover."

 

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Manchester United rocked by Rooney knee injury

Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney suffered a knee injury as the Red Devils went down 3-0 to Everton.

The striker was substituted in the 88th minute by Robin van Persie on his return to Goodison Park after enduring a frustrating afternoon up against his former club.

And manager Louis van Gaal revealed that the England skipper had taken a knock, though he was unsure how severe the injury was.

"He [Rooney] had a kick through his knee. We will wait and see how heavy it is," he told reporters.

Van Gaal also revealed that he replaced another Everton old boy, Marouane Fellaini, at half-time as he was afraid the midfielder would be sent off.

The Belgium international picked up a booking early on and was involved in a number of altercations with Gareth Barry in midfield.

And former Barcelona coach Van Gaal felt his player was being provoked, though he felt he could easily have replaced others such was his side's performance level in the first half.

"The first reason was that he was booked and I found that the players from Everton provoked him. I was not so sure if he [would] end the match.

"That is a reason but also because of the result at half-time. Of course I could have changed more players."

 

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Get well soon Rooney!

Welawe hatiyata Rooney miss unoth loku paduwakinform attackers lagen inne Rooney witharai​