..::Football IV::..

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Wenger: Top-three finish is crucial for Arsenal

Arsene Wenger admits finishing fourth in the Premier League could greatly affect his planning for next season, signalling a top-three finish is crucial.

Arsenal are third in the league standings, two points above fourth-placed Manchester City with four games remaining.Only the top three sides qualify directly for the Champions League group stage, while the team in fourth must go through a two-legged qualifying round.

And with a number of Arsenal stars set to play at Euro 2016 in June and July, Wenger is hoping to book a direct place in Europe's most prestigious club tournament.

"Top four is not Champions League, top three, yes,” the Frenchman said. "That's why it is important. "What has changed over the years is that the impact of the finances in the Champions League is not as big any more. For a period in the past the money was vital.

"But the sporting impact, the planning of the next season, of course it changes completely, especially when you have a big summer tournament like the Euros which is now like a World Cup.

"When you have to play Champions League qualifiers the European Championship is still going on."You can play teams in the qualifiers who are in the middle of their league championship because they have started already in June.

"We are not guaranteed a top-four [finish] and we have to fight for that."Arsenal face relegation-threatened Sunderland on Sunday as they look to consolidate third place.

 

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Van Gaal: Champions League qualification beats FA Cup success

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal feels winning the FA Cup would represent a successful season, but said Champions League qualification is more important.

Van Gaal's men take on Everton in a cup semi-final on Saturday but are fifth in the Premier League, two points adrift of rivals Manchester City in the race for Champions League football.

The Dutchman, however, said a trophy represents a successful campaign, although he knows the importance of a top-four finish."I think it is always a success when you win the title," Van Gaal said.

"For the club it is more important, I have said that already a lot of times, to qualify for the Champions League, because we have to show ourselves at the highest level. And that was also our aim."I think always when you win a title it brings again something where Manchester United stands for.

"We have had a period of winning many titles and we want to bring it back. When you win the FA Cup you have a title and a very respectable title in England - more than other countries."

Van Gaal's men are favourites to reach the FA Cup decider, taking on a struggling Everton side with manager Roberto Martinez under growing pressure.

Coming off a 4-0 Merseyside derby loss to Liverpool, Martinez's side are sure to be hurting, which leaves Van Gaal wary of the opposition."When I see the people on the streets, they are so excited. You can feel already for the fans that it is fantastic," he said.

"But we are only in the semi-final and not the final and I want to speak about Everton because it is not a piece of cake.

"We have to beat Everton and in spite of them losing 4-0, we have showed already this season that we have lost against Arsenal and the next match we have won.

"So Everton can do that also after Liverpool. And when you are winning, you can also lose. In spite of them having a lot of injuries, they still have the chance to beat us."

 

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Manchester United pay most in agent fees out of Premier League clubs

Manchester United spent significantly more on fees to agents and intermediaries earlier this season than any other Premier League club, the Football Association (FA) revealed.

The FA disclosed on Friday how much each top-flight club paid to third parties between October 1 last year and February 1, 2016.

Despite their struggles under manager Louis van Gaal this season, United spent over £10million to agents and intermediaries - close to double of any other club.Liverpool (£6,672,713) are the second-highest spenders but the Merseyside club still managed to spend just under £3.5m less than their rivals.

Manchester City were third with a total of £5,880,098, and then follows a significant gap to the rest of the Premier League pack.

Arsenal (£3,135,483) in typical fashion rounded out the top four, followed by fellow London clubs West Ham (£2,691,331), Tottenham (£2,562,853) and Chelsea (£2,214,227).

Premier League leaders Leicester City paid £936,004, while Everton were the lowest spenders, paying just £471,400.

 

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Barclays Premier League Fixtures 2016.04.23

Barclays Premier League Fixtures 2016.04.23

Manchester City Vs Stoke City

Aston Villa Vs Southampton

Bournemouth Vs Chelsea

Liverpool Vs Newcastle

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FA Cup Semi-Final Fixture 2016.04.23

FA Cup Semi-Final Fixture 2016.04.23

Everton Vs Manchester United

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Good Luck Manchester United!​

 

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La Liga Fixtures 2016.04.23

La Liga Fixtures 2016.04.23

Rayo Vallecano Vs Real Madrid

Atletico Madrid Vs Malaga

Barcelona Vs Sporting

Eibar Vs Deportivo​

 

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Serie A Fixture 2016.04.23

Serie A Fixture 2016.04.23

Inter Vs Udinese​

 

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Full Time
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Everton 1 Vs 2 Manchester United

Everton Goal(s)

Chris Smalling 75'(OG)

&

Manchester United Goal(s)


Marouane Fellaini 34'
Anthony Martial 90' +3'


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Congratulations Manchester United!

We are through to the FA Cup Final

Pattama gemak giya match 1kakDe Gea,Martial/Fellaini/Rooney superb!

& Godak kalekata passe Manchester United FA Cup final qualified une

Good luck for the final Manchester United!​

 

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Afellay ruled out long term after suffering cruciate ligament injury

Stoke City midfielder Ibrahim Afellay has been ruled out for several months after damaging knee ligaments in training on Friday, the club have announced.

The Netherlands international, 30, has made a positive impact in his first season at Stoke after joining from Barcelona in July 2015.But he will play no further part this term with Stoke also suggesting the injury looks set to keep him out for a "large part of the 2016-17 season".

Stoke boss Mark Hughes told the club's Twitter account: "It's unfortunate for Ibrahim. He twisted his knee in training. He'll come back stronger with our support."

It is the second time Afellay, who made his name at PSV, has suffered a cruciate ligament injury, the first coming in September 2011 when he played for Barcelona.
The setback hampered his progress at Camp Nou and he was sent on loan to Schalke and Olympiacos before moving to England.

 

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Ranieri hails Leicester City's 'Caesars'

Claudio Ranieri hailed his Leicester City "Caesars" as the club continue their push for a maiden Premier League title.The Italian manager finally admitted his side can win the league this season ahead of Sunday's meeting with Swansea City.

Leicester need to win three of their next four games to confirm their status as champions - if Tottenham win all four of their remaining fixtures.

However, Ranieri dismissed concerns over the absence of top-scorer Jamie Vardy, who will miss the game through suspension."I think I have 24 stars," he said. "I have 24 Caesars, that is our strength. "There isn’t just one Caesar, there’s the other 23."

He added: "Now is the right moment to say 'OK keep going - it is this season or nevermore'. Well done, we are in the Champions League. Try, believe, if winning the league happens - fireworks'.

"They believe. We have everything in our own hands, I prefer my position to Spurs'."It is not important what they do. It is important what we do."

 

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Ancelotti is like Heynckes, it will be good to work with him - Boateng

Bayern Munich defender Jerome Boateng is looking forward to working under Carlo Ancelotti and expects the Italian to be a similar coach to Jupp Heynckes.

Heynckes guided Bayern to a historic treble in 2012-13, before making way for Pep Guardiola, who has been able to lead the team to domestic success but is yet to replicate his predecessor's European dominance.

Ancelotti in turn will replace Guardiola as the man in charge ahead of the 2016-17 campaign and Boateng has little doubt the 56-year-old is the right man for the job.

"It's not like I started calling people right away to find out what kind of coach Ancelotti is," Boateng told Abendzeitung ."You simply know stuff like that already. Toni Kroos and Sami Khedira, who worked with him at Real Madrid, had already told me about him before.

"He is a bit like Heynckes. He is pretty calm, talks a lot to his players and has a good relationship with the team. And not a whole lot of coaches will be able to match him tactically.

"Ancelotti has seen and done it all, he has won a lot of silverware. It will be quite something to work with him and I am looking forward to it."

 

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Manchester City 4-0 Stoke City: Iheanacho scores twice as City strengthen grip on Champions League spot

Kelechi Iheanacho scored twice as Manchester City prepared for their Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid with a straightforward 4-0 Premier League victory over Stoke City on Saturday.With City's top-four status not yet secure, manager Manuel Pellegrini faces a difficult balancing act as he tries to juggle domestic and continental priorities.

While he opted not to make wholesale changes to his starting XI for the visit of Mark Hughes’ men, the Chilean rested Vincent Kompany and Kevin De Bruyne with one eye on Tuesday's first leg at the Etihad Stadium.

City did not miss the Belgian duo as they moved into a 2-0 half-time lead thanks to a 35th-minute Fernando header and a Sergio Aguero penalty, awarded following a Ryan Shawcross challenge on Iheanacho.

Stoke rallied after the break as they threatened to reduce the deficit, but Iheanacho put the match to bed when he buried a cutback from Pablo Zabaleta, who was making his 300th City appearance, and added further gloss to the scoreline with a fourth.

The result moves City third ahead of Arsenal's clash with Sunderland on Sunday, while local rivals Manchester United - not in league action this weekend - are now five points back in fifth.

Stoke were dealt a huge blow in the build-up with the news that Ibrahim Afellay would miss several months due to a knee ligament injury, and it was the hosts who posed the early threat through Iheanacho.

Aguero wriggled out of a tight spot on the right wing before feeding Iheanacho, who directed his low strike just wide of the left-hand upright.

The Nigerian forward was unable to bring the ball under control when played in by David Silva in the 12th minute, before Glenn Whelan almost caught Joe Hart off guard with an ambitious free-kick from distance – the goalkeeper pushing over his crossbar for a corner.

Shay Given gratefully collected the ball when it deflected kindly into his grasp off Nicolas Otamendi from a Jesus Navas free-kick, but despite their dominance of possession, City initially struggled to truly test their former keeper.

However, after Joselu proved unable to direct his headed effort goalwards from an inviting Marko Arnautovic cross, the deadlock was finally broken when Navas' corner was glanced beyond Given by Fernando.

Yaya Toure looked to have squandered a chance to double the lead when he opted against shooting from close range eight minutes later, but Iheanacho was ultimately pulled down by Shawcross as part of the same move, winning a penalty.
Aguero stepped up to confidently net his seventh goal in five Premier League matches from the spot.

A groin injury forced Stoke to replace Given with Jakob Haugaard at half-time, before Joselu failed to convert another Arnautovic ball into the box.
Mame Biram Diouf headed just wide as Stoke enjoyed a period of pressure, but the hosts' threat remained and Toure's side-footed effort was kept out by Haugaard.

Arnautovic, seemingly frustrated at his team-mates' inability to convert his deliveries, decided to go it alone when he forced Hart into a save after drifting in from the right, but Iheanacho ultimately put the result beyond doubt.

After firing home unmarked from the centre of the box following good work by Zabaleta, the 19-year-old rounded Haugaard having been played in by Wilfried Bony – his 10th and 11th goals for the club.

City's joy at the result was tempered somewhat by an injury picked up by Toure in the closing stages. The midfielder soldiered on to the final whistle, but there will be concerns over his fitness ahead of the Madrid double-header.

 

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Stuttgart 0-3 Borussia Dortmund: Tuchel's men keep Bayern waiting

Borussia Dortmund kept their Bundesliga title challenge alive for another week with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Stuttgart at the Mercedes-Benz Arena on Saturday.

Dortmund are now seven points adrift of table-topping Bayern with three games to play after Pep Guardiola's men beat Hertha Berlin on the same day, as it looks increasingly likely that next month's DFB-Pokal final will be Thomas Tuchel's side’s only chance of silverware this season.

Bayern will capture their fourth league title in a row if they manage to beat Borussia Monchengladbach next Saturday, regardless of how BVB get on against Wolfsburg.

Shinji Kagawa opened the scoring against Stuttgart midway through the first half, netting his 12th goal of the season when he tapped home from a sumptuous Henrikh Mkhitaryan cross.

Dortmund doubled their advantage on the stroke of half-time as 17-year-old Christian Pulisic grabbed his second career goal when he was quickest to react to Mkhitaryan's saved effort.

The Armenian playmaker soon netted a goal of his own early in the second half, slamming home the rebound from a parried Adrian Ramos header.Victory over Stuttgart extended Dortmund's unbeaten league run in 2016 to 14 games and condemned Jurgen Kramny's hosts to their third consecutive defeat to leave them hovering dangerously close to the relegation zone.

Tuchel continued his rotation policy of recent weeks, making four changes from the side which breezed past Hertha in the semi-final of the DFB-Pokal in midweek.

Top scorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang missed out again with a toe injury, while there was a starting place for teenager Pulisic, who scored his first Dortmund goal in their 3-0 win over Hamburg earlier this month.

The visitors took the lead after 20 minutes through Kagawa, the Japan international the grateful recipient of a superb far-post cross from Mkhitaryan which was tapped home.Pulisic made it 2-0 just before the break, pouncing on the rebound of Mkhitaryan's low drive from the edge of the area to convert.

And Mkhitaryan later became provider-turned-goalscorer for the away side after 55 minutes as he lashed home fiercely with his left foot after Ramos had seen his header kept out.

The winning margin could have been even greater as Dortmund were in control throughout, with Marco Reus and Ramos spurning presentable opportunities in the latter stages of the affair.

Stuttgart rarely troubled Roman Burki's goal throughout, although Georg Niedermeier will probably feel he might have done better after 72 minutes when his free header from a corner was easily saved.

Substitute Moritz Leitner – previously on loan at Stuttgart – should have made it 4-0 with minutes to spare as Mkhitaryan squared to him, but he slipped at the crucial moment as the midfielder's effort bounced back off the outside of the post.

 

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Hertha Berlin 0-2 Bayern Munich: Vidal and Douglas Costa on target as visitors edge closer to title

Bayern Munich moved to within one victory of a fourth straight Bundesliga title with a hard-fought 2-0 win over Hertha Berlin at the Olympiastadium on Saturday.

Arturo Vidal and Douglas Costa scored in the second half as Pep Guardiola's side maintained their seven-point lead over Borussia Dortmund - who won 3-0 at Stuttgart - with three matches remaining.

The Chilean found the net shortly after the restart with a deflected shot after a difficult first period, before Douglas Costa doubled his side's lead with a stunning long-range strike late on.

Hertha had arguably been the better side in the opening 45 minutes and felt they should have had a penalty after Medhi Benatia seemed to handle the ball inside his own area.

But Vidal's opener swung the momentum Bayern's way and they eventually pulled further clear through Douglas Costa to take the three points back to Munich.

Guardiola opted to leave Philipp Lahm out of his squad altogether with an eye on the first leg of the Champions League semi-final tie against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday, while David Alaba, Franck Ribery and Javi Martinez all started from the bench.

Bayern will now clinch the German title for the fourth time in succession if they beat Borussia Monchengladbach at the Allianz Arena next week.Douglas Costa carved out the first chance of the match after a good run from midfield, firing straight at Hertha goalkeeper Thomas Kraft from the edge of the box.

Hertha did well to keep Bayern at bay in the opening stages of the game, though, and they felt aggrieved not to be awarded a penalty midway through the first half when Benatia seemingly blocked Mitchell Weiser’s goalbound shot with his arm.

Thiago Alcantara came close to opening the scoring for Bayern shortly afterwards following a clever throughball from Douglas Costa, but Kraft denied the Spain international with a fine save.

Vidal eventually broke the deadlock in the 48th minute after some good work from Mario Gotze, beating Kraft with a shot from 20 yards that took a deflection off a Hertha defender.The Chile international's goal saw Bayern grab the initiative after an underwhelming first half, which had seen them fail to create any chances of note.

Douglas Costa made it two with a stunning strike in the 79th minute, though, cutting inside from the right before firing a left-footed shot into the top-left corner to effectively put the match to bed as Bayern cruised towards another season of domestic dominance.

 

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Rayo Vallecano 2-3 Real Madrid: Bale scores twice in five-goal thriller

Gareth Bale scored the winner on his return from a back problem as Real Madrid came from two goals down to beat Rayo Vallecano 3-2 and keep pace in the Liga title race, despite losing Karim Benzemato injury.

Madrid visited Vallecas without Cristiano Ronaldo because of a calf strain, but were able to welcome back Bale to the starting XI after he missed the 3-0 midweek win over Villarreal.

Zinedine Zidane's men were just a point behind leaders Barcelona going into Saturday's contest with their neighbours, but were quickly given a significant task to overcome as Rayo went 2-0 up inside 14 minutes.

Adrian Embarba broke the deadlock in the seventh minute for Paco Jemez's hosts – who were beaten 10-2 in December's reverse fixture at the Santiago Bernabeu – with Rayo's first real chance of the game.

Miku converted a corner to double Rayo's lead, but a header from Bale hauled Madrid back into the game before Benzema was brought off with an apparent injury, putting his participation in Tuesday's Champions League semi-final first leg with Manchester City in doubt.

Lucas Vazquez came on for Benzema and levelled matters in the 52nd minute with a fine header of his own, with Bale then pouncing on a stray Rayo pass to surge into space and fire under Rayo goalkeeper Juan Carlos to at least temporarily send Madrid top ahead of Atletico Madrid's clash with Malaga and Barca's game against Sporting Gijon.Bale went close to marking his return with a third-minute goal as his fierce low effort hit the outside of the post.

But Madrid fell behind four minutes later, Bebe working his way down the left and squaring for Embarba to open the scoring with a simple close-range finish.

Madrid quickly pressed for an equaliser, with Benzema acrobatically volleying over Mateo Kovacic's lofted pass into the area.However, Madrid's task was made more difficult in the 14th minute when Miku lashed home after Madrid had failed to deal with corner from the right.

Bale got the visitors back into the contest 10 minutes before the break by meeting Toni Kroos' right-wing corner with an excellent header into the bottom left of the net.

Benzema then came off, but Zidane's men piled on the pressure in search of the leveller, which almost arrived when Bale curled wide from the edge of the area.
Despite Benzema's withdrawal, Madrid restored parity seven minutes after the restart through his replacement.

Danilo did excellently dig out a superb right-wing cross that was met by Vazquez with a header that left the goalkeeper with no chance.Bale sent Jese through on goal with a flick-on, only for Juan Carlos to deny the forward with a one-on-one save.

Wales international Bale continued to cause Rayo problems and his low ball from the right would have resulted in Madrid taking the lead had Vazquez been able to get a touch.

But, after Rayo defender Tito was taken off on a stretcher, Bale was finally rewarded for his strong performance nine minutes from time as he took full advantage of the hosts giving the ball away in their own half to pile the pressure on Barca and city rivals Atletico.