..::Football III::..

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'Benitez's relationship with Real Madrid's stars is broken'

Steven Gerrard believes Rafa Benitez’s relationship with his Real Madrid stars looks “broken” and insists the Spaniard must adapt to managing his top players.

Benitez was given a vote of confidence by the Madrid board on Monday following the club’s humiliation in the Clasico at the hands of Barcelona.

Several reports have claimed that Cristiano Ronaldo is unhappy with Benitez’s leadership - a claim that the club deny - but Gerrard believes the 55-year-old needs to improve his man-management with some of the club’s leading players.

“He’s had a vote confidence, they are usually deadly at Real Madrid, we’ll just have to wait and see,” the former Liverpool captain, who won the Champions League with Benitez, told BT Sport.

“Rafa’s a good manager, for me, I just have to wonder what his relationship’s like with the big players in the dressing room. It looks at bit broken at the moment, from the outside. Time will tell how long it lasts.

“It’s difficult to put your finger on it, but Rafa’s all about team, he’s not really a fan of individual players, he’s all about his philosophy as a team, but you’ve got to manage individuals different, especially at Real Madrid, it is all about Ronaldo and the big players. Rafa’s got to adapt to them, rather than vice versa.”

 

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'Benitez's relationship with Real Madrid's stars is broken'

1ka heavy defeat 1kak una kiyala mehema dewal nam wenna one naha.thawa try karanna puluwan nehanith 1ka hadama paradinneth naha hamadama dinanneth naha.​

 

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Pellegrini: Silva & Bony could face Southampton

David Silva and Wilfried Bony will sit out Manchester City's Champions League match away to Juventus on Wednesday but could return for the visit of Southampton in the Premier League, according to manager Manuel Pellegrini.

Silva and Bony are currently sidelined with respective ankle and hamstring injuries and Eliaquim Mangala, Vincent Kompany, Samir Nasri and Pablo Zabaleta will also miss the clash in Turin.

City have the chance to seal top spot in Group D with a victory over last season's finalists and are looking to bounce back from their surprise 4-1 defeat to Liverpool on Saturday.

"We have a difficult situation with too many injured," Pellegrini told reporters. "In defence, we have Zabaleta, Kompany and Mangala injured. In midfield, Nasri and Silva, while in attack, Bony is out.

"I hope that David could be involved in the game at the weekend. I'm not 100 per cent sure but he has improved a lot in the last two days – I also hope Bony will be fit.

"It will be difficult for Vincent and Mangala to be ready for then and Samir is out for four or five months."

Sergio Aguero came back from his latest injury setback to score a superb individual goal against Liverpool and Pellegrini hopes the Argentina star's persistent fitness woes are behind him.

"Without doubt this team with Sergio is a better team, so of course if he can play all the games it is better for us," he said.

"We play so many games with an important amount of injuries at this stage of the season. We must manage the minutes of all of the players in the squad, not just Sergio."

 

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UEFA Champions League 2015.11.25 Group Stage Fixtures

UEFA Champions League 2015.11.25 Group Stage Fixtures

Astana Vs Benfica

CSKA Vs Wolfsburg

Malmo Vs PSG

Shaktar Vs Real Madrid

Manchester United Vs PSV

Atletico Madrid Vs Galatasaray

Borussia Monchengladbach Vs Sevilla

Juventus Vs Manchester City

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Manchester United Vs PSV

Manchester United Starting Line-up

David De Gea
Marcos Rojo
Chris Smalling
Daley Blind
Matteo Darmian
Memphis Depay
Wayne Rooney
Morgan Schneiderlin
Bastian Schweinsteiger
Jesse Lingard
Anthony Martial

&

PSV Line-up

Jeroen Zoet
Héctor Moreno
Santiago Arias
Jeffrey Bruma
Joshua Brenet
Davy Propper
Andrés Guardado
Jorrit Hendrix
Luuk de Jong
Luciano Narsingh
Jurgen Locadia
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Good Luck Manchester United!

Ada match 1kath kohomahari win karamu

 

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Half Time

Manchester United 0 Vs 0 PSV

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Manchester United 1st half performance hari naha

Set wena chances hariyata take karanne naha
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2nd Half improve wela play kaloth hodai

Good Luck Manchester United!
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FullTime

Manchester United 0 Vs 0 PSV

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Anthima chater Manchester United play karapu widiyanamteam 1kata mona welada mandawin karanna thibba match 1kak draw karagatthe

Set wena chances hariyata take karanneth naha & amadiwata Rooney left back position 1ke 2nd half

meh widiyata play karalanam Wolfsburg match 1ka gana hopes thiyaganna bari wei
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Astana 2-2 Benfica: Jimenez at the double to earn a point for visitors

Benfica fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Astana and close in on a place in the Champions League knockout stages.

Headers from Patrick Twumasi and Marin Anicic had the hosts comfortably ahead in Kazakhstan, before Raul Jimenez pulled a goal back for Benfica just before half-time.

Jimenez then struck again with a low finish 18 minutes from time to eliminate Astana, who drew all three of their home matches in Group C.

Benfica are now three points above Atletico Madrid and six clear of third-placed Galatasaray, and any result but a victory for the Turkish side when those two sides play later on Wednesday would send Rui Vitoria's team through to the last 16.

A header from Lisandro Lopez and a long shot from Goncalo Guedes forced home goalkeeper Nenad Eric into early saves.

Astana responded when an excellent cross from Foxi Kethevoama found Twumasi at the far post but the Ghanaian could not control to get a shot away despite being completely unmarked at the far post.

Moments later, though, Twumasi made no mistake. Junior Kabananga whipped in a brilliant cross from the left and the forward firmly planted a header back across keeper Julio Cesar and into the net from close range.

Astana doubled their lead on 31 minutes. Kethevoama whipped in an in-swinging free kick to which Anicic - who looked to be marginally offside - got the faintest of touches, with an indecisive Cesar unable to keep it out.
Eric made a strong two-handed save to deny a sweetly struck left-footed half-volley from Pizzi, before Jonas lashed a brilliant long-range shot just wide.

Benfica got back into the game four minutes before half-time when Jonas latched on to Silvio's throw-in to deliver a first-time cross from the right that was headed home powerfully by Jimenez.

Astana wanted Lopez sent off after he cynically brought down Twumasi as he raced through on goal, but the defender instead received a yellow card from referee Ruddy Buquet.

Twumasi was then only just off-target with a thumping shot from distance as a thrilling first half came to an end.
After the break, Guedes could not beat Eric after latching on to an excellent Renato Sanches pass while Kethevoama had an effort saved at the other end.

Kabananga had a good opportunity to seal the points after surging forward after receiving Serikzhan Muzhikov's pass but Cesar saved his left-footed shot with his trailing leg.

And that proved costly with 18 minutes remaining when Jimenez steered a clever first-time finish in off the far post from Andre Almeida's cutback to move his side one step closer to the last 16.

 

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CSKA Moscow 0-2 Wolfsburg: Schurrle gives visitors vital three points

Wolfsburg remain on course to reach the Champions League round of 16 after substitute Andre Schurrle's double earned a 2-0 win away to CSKA Moscow on Tuesday.

Defeat for the Russian side eliminates them from the competition and they were the architects of their own downfall as goalkeeper and captain Igor Akinfeev's painful individual error saw him concede for the 36th European match in succession – with Schurrle the beneficiary.

Schurrle added a second in the 88th minute to make sure of all three points for the Bundesliga side.

The away win sees Wolfsburg climb to first place in Group B on nine points, two ahead of Manchester United and three ahead of PSV ahead of their match at Old Trafford later in the day.

CSKA remain bottom on four points and are left to contend for a place in the Europa League round of 32 by finishing third, provided PSV do not win at Old Trafford later on Tuesday.

A scrappy start to the game produced few decent chances, Bas Dost heading narrowly wide after meeting Christian Trasch's cross from the right flank seven minutes in.

CSKA were made to wait until the 26th minute for their first sight of goal, Alan Dzagoev sending Wolfsburg goalkeeper Diego Benaglio scrambling with a good shot from outside the area.

Naldo had to be alert five minutes later after his centre-back partner and fellow Brazilian Dante, receiving a heavy pass from left-back Marcel Schafer, gave the ball away in a dangerous area with Seydou Doumbia lurking.

Dost should have given the visitors the lead in the 33rd minute, but he failed to connect with Schafer's dangerous ball across the face of goal from the left.

Ahmed Musa then shot wide of the near post from inside the area, but it was Wolfsburg who looked the more threatening of the two sides, Max Kruse stinging the palms of Akinfeev with nine minutes remaining in the half, following good work by Schafer and Dost.

CSKA began the second half with more purpose, and Zoran Tosic came within inches of giving the hosts the lead in the 62nd minute, hitting the crossbar after being teed up by Dzagoev on the edge of the Wolfsburg area.

Failing to capitalise on their improved showing proved costly for CSKA when the visitors took the lead against the run of play in the 67th minute.

Left-back Kirill Nababkin failed to clear Dante's long ball, allowing Schurrle to gather possession on the right side of the penalty area and fire a shot across the face of goal which appeared to going wide, only for Akinfeev to make a mess of his attempted save and deflect the ball across the line.

The hosts' hopes were extinguished two minutes from time as Schurrle drilled home from just inside the area, eliminating CSKA from the competition and putting Wolfsburg in command of their fate ahead of a matchday six meeting with United.

 

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Ramos set to miss Madrid's next eight matches

Sergio Ramos could miss Real Madrid's next eight matches due to an ongoing shoulder problem, Goal can reveal.

The 29-year-old injured himself in the Champions League clash with Shakhtar Donetsk in September and has been struggling for the last two months.

Rather than take the necessary time to recover, Ramos has continued to play due to the importance of many of Madrid’s recent fixtures.

He was only able to feature against Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Celta Vigo, Sevilla and Barcelona thanks to pain-killing injections, though.

This eventually caught up with the Spain international and when he fell awkwardly in the recent loss to Sevilla he did further damage to the injury.

Another injection helped him through the Clasico last weekend, but he will now take time out of the game in a bid to put an end to the problem which has plagued his season so far.

However, for now at least, the decision has been taken to avoid surgery.

Medical sources have told Goal that these type of injuries usually require at least a one month rest - although that depends on the patient and the severity of the damage.

Presuming that is the case, Ramos will be out of action until late December.

During this time he would miss the following eight matches: Shakhtar Donetsk, Eibar, Cadiz, Getafe, Malmo, Villarreal, Cadiz and Rayo Vallecano.
In comparison to recent fixtures for Rafael Benitez’s side, that run of games is more favourable.

Ramos could then reappear against Real Sociedad at the end of December for the final game of the year.

Los Blancos are also without Marcelo for Wednesday’s Champions League match against Shakhtar.

The Brazilian hurt his thigh muscle in the loss to Barcelona, but there has not yet been any information regarding how long he will be out for.

 

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Scholes surprised Madrid replaced Ancelotti with Benitez

Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes has expressed surprise that Rafael Benitez was appointed as Real Madrid’s manager in the summer.

The Spanish coach was chosen by Florentino Perez to take over from Carlo Ancelotti, who fell short in La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League last season.

Benitez’s appointment raised eyebrows and his brief time in charge has been laced with criticism for his perceived defensive tactics.

He’s also had to deny dressing room unrest and is currently dealing with the fall-out from Saturday’s four-goal loss to Barcelona in the Clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu.

"I was surprised he got the job to be honest with you,” Scholed told BT Sport.

“I thought Ancelotti was a brilliant manager and whenever you speak to a player who's played under Ancelotti, they love him.

"If you're going to sack a manager at least get an upgrade, and I don't think Benitez was."

Madrid are currently six points behind Barca in the table following back-to-back defeats in La Liga.

However, they top their Champions League group and have already secured qualification into the last 16, and a win against Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday will seal top spot.

 

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‘Ibrahimovic not even on Neymar or Bale’s level’

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is not even on the same level as Gareth Bale or Neymar, according to former Manchester United centre-back Rio Ferdinand.

The 34-year-old has won league titles in Spain, Italy, France and Netherlands, while Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the only current players to have scored more goals than the Swede in the Champions League.

But Ferdinand believes that Ibrahimovic’s lack of impact in the latter stages of the competition counts against him.

“There’s no doubting his ability but I wouldn’t put him up there with Messi and Ronaldo, and I wouldn’t even put him on the Suarez, Neymar, or the Bale level, to be honest,” Ferdinand told BT Sport.

“In this competition, when he’s been called upon, he’s been needed in the knockout stages, I don’t think he’s really stepped up to the plate and be that man, and I think you need to do that.”

 

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Klopp downplays fears over Anfield form

Jurgen Klopp does not want Liverpool’s home form to morph into “a bigger point than it is” as the club face two consecutive clashes at Anfield.

The Reds entertain Bordeaux on Thursday, before welcoming Swansea on Sunday hoping to replicate their away brilliance in front of their own fans.

Liverpool have recorded just three wins on their turf in 10 fixtures this season, with the 48-year-old suffering his first defeat in charge against Crystal Palace prior to the international break.

However, Klopp believes his side are more than ready to improve on their return at Anfield.

"Usually in football it’s not the biggest difference [between home and away] and you should not make a bigger point of [home form] than it is," the manager said at Melwood.

"We knew about the results, but that’s all. What we have to develop, in the first case, is our performance, and that's what we did in the last weeks.

"Football is a results game and everybody is talking about the result against Palace and I heard that Crystal Palace deserved to win.

"If they make two goals and you make one goal then maybe right. But you saw the game and only the first 15 minutes were bad, the rest was okay or better, enough to usually win.

"Many things we saw in the game were better than things before. Our 30 minutes after the start were better and that's what you have to take in a long way of development.

"We have to talk about the bad things but also talk about the good things and keep the good things and try to bring them to the next game. "There's not the biggest difference between home and away games and it means that we are in a good way to play better at home.”

Klopp highlighted Liverpool’s chance creation at Anfield, as well as their ability to restrict the attacks of visiting sides. His charges need to be more clinical though, as well as work on their deficiencies from deadball situations. They have had 238 shots at goal in their 10 home matches, but only managed to score 11 times.

In the hosting of Southampton and Palace under Klopp, the Reds ultimately relinquished points owing to a free-kick and a corner.

"We created chances, that’s the most important thing. It’s not easy to play against us - most goals we conceded were set plays - it's not easy to create chances against us,” said the German.

"That's important so you can take more and more stability and you can play football and that's what we try to do... We know what we have to do tomorrow."

 

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Juventus 1-0 Manchester City: Mandzukic sends Italians top

Mario Mandzukic's first-half goal secured a 1-0 victory for Juventus over Manchester City and sent the Italians through to the knockout stage and back into first place in Group D.

Mandzukic got Juve's first goal when they came from behind to secure a 2-1 win in Manchester on matchday one and the Croatia striker's 18th-minute strike was enough to seal the points this time around.

Having made sure of their own last-16 berth with a superb 3-1 win at Sevilla in their previous game, City manager Manuel Pellegrini urged his team to grab top spot with victory in Turin.

On the back of their humiliating 4-1 loss to Liverpool on Saturday, the Premier League side turned in a much-improved showing but lacked a cutting edge to lend Juve the advantage in the battle for a seeded place in the knockout draw.

Juve only need a point from their final match at Sevilla to finish first ahead of City, who have been dumped out by Barcelona in the past two seasons as second-place qualifiers and will now fear a similar fate against a European heavyweight.

Substitute Raheem Sterling passed up a glorious chance to equalise in the closing stages before a miserable night for Pellegrini was compounded by an apparent groin injury to Joe Hart.

City had little to show for patient build-up play during the opening stages until Kevin De Bruyne's cross from the left broke for Fernandinho, a goalscorer against Sevilla, who blazed wastefully over on this occasion.

It was a miss the visitors would regret almost instantly as Paul Pogba orchestrated a Juventus break, skipping past De Bruyne to feed Alex Sandro before the wing-back's measured delivery was slotted home on the volley by Mandzukic.

A stunning reaction save by Hart prevented Mandzukic from adding a second on the end of Stephan Lichtsteiner's 28th-minute knockdown.

A woeful backpass from Claudio Marchisio almost let City striker Sergio Aguero in for an equaliser ahead of the interval but veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon stood firm.

Another wonderful Sandro cross was impressively cleared by Nicolas Otamendi with Mandzukic lurking early in the second half before City came agonisingly close to an equaliser.

Fernando guided De Bruyne's left-wing corner towards the bottom corner, where Buffon touched his header onto the base of the post and gathered with Yaya Toure lurking.

Once again, City were at their most vulnerable having almost scored - Alvaro Morata, on for a limping Mandzukic, broke free of the away defence and his lofted attempt over Hart was turned on to the post by Stefano Sturaro.

Aguero, largely starved of service, had a 67th-minute volley deflected wide before making way for Sterling and Pellegrini's new attacking spearhead endured a moment to forget 10 minutes from time.

The England forward looked set to keep City in control of the race for top spot but he scuffed a left-footed shot wide from De Bruyne's low cross with the goal gaping.

 

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Manchester United 0-0 PSV: Wasteful Red Devils sweat on qualification

Manchester United's hopes of reaching the Champions League knockout stages were severely dented by a goalless draw with PSV at Old Trafford.

The Red Devils headed into their penultimate Group B fixture knowing three points would secure a last-16 spot, yet now likely need a win away to leaders Wolfsburg on December 8 to progress following Wednesday's disappointing stalemate.

Louis van Gaal, perhaps keen to avoid heading to Germany requiring a victory, named an attacking United line-up featuring former PSV star Memphis Depay, Wayne Rooney, Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial in a four-man attack.

The quartet's fluidity caused plenty of problems for PSV early on, although the home side failed to break the deadlock in the first half as Martial missed two good opportunities.

United's frustration only mounted in the early part of the second period as they struggled against the Eredivisie outfit's resolute backline.

And the visitors' resilience paid dividends, with a point meaning PSV will progress if they overcome CSKA Moscow at home and Van Gaal's men fail to beat Wolfsburg.

The game featured a poignant moment in the seventh minute as supporters displayed mobile-phone lights in a tribute to United legend George Best, who died 10 years ago to the day.

PSV's cause was not helped by being forced into an 18th-minute change, Gaston Pereiro replacing the injured Luciano Narsingh.

The hosts began to grow into the game thereafter, epitomised by Matteo Darmian delivery a fizzing cross that narrowly evaded Rooney.

United almost forced a deserved opener in the 31st minute when Jeroen Zoet denied Morgan Schneiderlin's sliding effort after the midfielder met Daley Blind's corner.

That seemed to awaken the visitors, who fashioned an opening of their own as Jorrit Hendrix forced a save from David de Gea.
A glorious chance came United's way soon after as Lingard's blocked shot found its way to Martial, whose low effort was kept out by Zoet.

The PSV goalkeeper denied Martial again on the stroke of half-time, saving a stinging strike low at his near post.

United flew out of the blocks after the break, with Lingard heading inches wide before Depay forced another stop from Zoet.

That wave of pressure seemingly did not sufficiently impress Van Gaal, who introduced Marouane Fellaini and Ashley Young in the 59th minute.

Another sitter went begging in the 74th minute when Young's deflected effort rolled into the path of Lingard, who curled over with the goal gaping.

That proved the final opportunity, though, as United ran out of ideas to ensure an uphill task awaits in Germany.

 

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Okkotama kalin January wala Striker kenek ganna wei.nathuwa meh walen nam goda enna baha.Finishing melo rahak naha​