..::Football IV::..

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'Liverpool running into Bayern at the wrong time' - Hamann predicts Champions League exit


Liverpool are facing the very real prospect of an early exit from the Champions League at the hands of Bayern Munich, according to Dietmar Hamann.

Jurgen Klopp's men were held to a 0-0 draw at Anfield in the first leg on February 19, in a contest which failed to live up to its pre-match billing.The Reds have suffered a dip in form over the last few weeks, securing just two wins from seven matches across all competitions.

Manchester City have overtaken them at the Premier League summit as a result and they have also been labelled as underdogs heading into their latest European clash on Wednesday.Meanwhile, Bayern have won five of their last six matches and reignited their Bundesliga title hopes, moving level on points with leaders Borussia Dortmund.

Hamann, who won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2005, feels Bayern are in pole position to qualify for the quarter-finals of this year's competition at the expense of another of his former clubs.“They will feel they are in a decent position after the 0-0 draw at home and with Virgil van Dijk returning – but I still prefer Bayern," Hamann told the Racing Post.

"The potential loss to injury of Kingsley Coman is a blow for the German side but they are in superb form, unrecognisable from the first couple of months of the season. Their confidence will contrast with the mood at Liverpool and I’ll take Bayern in another tight, low-scoring encounter.”“Liverpool are definitely running into Bayern at the wrong time with a new belief pulsing through the Bavarian ranks."

Bayern have recovered from an early-season slump under Niko Kovac, re-emerging as a major force after many experts had written them off as a squad past their prime.

Hamann went on to insist that the Bavarians can still mix it among the best clubs in Europe over the next few years, despite key stars Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery seemingly set to move on at the end of the season.

"It has been a tough first season for Munich boss Niko Kovac," he added. "But he has kept his cool, even when fans were calling for his head in the autumn. Fast forward a few months and they are looking unbeatable and favourites to retain their title.

"They’ve done all this despite Bayern boasting one of the oldest squads in the Bundesliga but that doesn’t mean it’s the end of an era if they go out.’"Players such as Mats Hummels, Jerome Boateng and Thomas Muller seem to have been around forever and have been axed from the Germany squad by Joachim Low but none of them is more than 30 and they all have a couple of seasons left.”

"Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka, David Alaba and Kingsley Coman are players you can build a team around, though Kovac will have to be clever in the transfer market."Bayern are still a European giant – Liverpool are all too aware of that – and they won’t be disappearing without trace any time soon.”

Before heading to Germany, Liverpool must first negotiate a home game against Burnley in the Premier League on Sunday.Klopp's men cannot afford to lose any more ground on City, who are in front of them by a single point in the current standings.

Bayern are also in domestic action this weekend, with Wolfsburg due to arrive at the Allianz Arena on Saturday afternoon.

 

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Rashford urged to become Man Utd's next one-club man after Giggs, Neville & Scholes


Marcus Rashford has been urged by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to follow in the footsteps of Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes, and become Manchester United’s next one-club icon.The Red Devils boast a rich history when it comes to legendary figures that spent their entire senior careers at Old Trafford.

Not many players achieve such a feat in the modern era, with the demand for immediate success and emergence of exciting prospects pushing more seasoned professionals towards the exits.

Rashford is, however, just getting going at 21 years of age and has many years at the highest level ahead of him.

Solskjaer is hoping to see at least a decade of service spent at United by the England international, with it possible that he could eventually hang up his boots while still at the Theatre of Dreams.“That’d be fantastic,” the Red Devils’ interim boss said of a home-grown academy graduate.

“We have had a lot of legends at this club that have stayed so long and been one-club players and we hope Rashy is going to be one of them.“It’s up to him and us, but if he keeps producing then he’ll stay in the team and then it’s up to him.”

Solskjaer has helped to make Rashford a talismanic figure at United, with rapid improvement having been made in his game over recent months.Having been stuck on the wings or the bench under Jose Mourinho, a confident frontman is now thriving in a central striking role.

He is firing on all cylinders at present, with his nerve held when crashing home a decisive penalty at the end of a thrilling Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain, but Solskjaer believes there is even more to come.

“You don’t see too much change in a player in three months but he’s 21 and you’re excused if sometimes you hit the highs and are then a bit off the pace,” said a man being widely tipped to take the Red Devils’ managerial reins on a permanent basis.

“Rashy doesn’t expect consistency yet but he’s got quality finishing ability. He can be prolific and we keep battering him with the fact that he should score more goals like Rom [Lukaku], simple tap ins.

“Rashford’s goals are sometimes worldies and he does have a sensational strike but you saw the improvement and maturity and change in Cristiano [Ronaldo’s] goals from young to now and that’s what Rashy has to improve as well.“Stay in the box, maybe not get away from the centre-backs so much, just get those five or 10 extra goals. He’s been told that.”

 

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Barclays Premier League Fixtures 2019.03.09

Barclays Premier League Fixtures 2019.03.09

Crystal Palace Vs Brighton

Cardiff City Vs West Ham

Huddersfield Vs Bournemouth

Leicester City Vs Fulham

Newcastle Vs Everton

Southampton Vs Tottenham

Manchester City Vs Watford

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LA Liga Fixtures 2019.03.09

LA Liga Fixtures 2019.03.09

Alaves Vs Eibar

Atletico Madrid Vs Leganes

Barcelona Vs Rayo Vallecano

Getafe Vs Huesca​

 

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Serie A Fixtures 2019.03.09

Serie A Fixtures 2019.03.09

Parma Vs Genoa

Chievo Vs AC Milan​

 

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Bundesliga Fixtures 2019.03.09

Bundesliga Fixtures 2019.03.09

Bayern Vs Wolfsburg

Dortmund Vs Stuttgart

Leipzig Vs Augsburg

Freiburg Vs Hertha Berlin

Mainz Vs Monchengladbach​

 

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Chievo 1 AC Milan 2: Rossoneri maintain form ahead of derby

AC Milan extended their unbeaten streak to 10 matches and strengthened their Champions League qualification prospects with a 2-1 win at Chievo on Saturday.Lucas Biglia marked his first Serie A start since October with a brilliant first-half free-kick before the prolific Krzysztof Piatek struck the winner after the interval.

Perparim Hetemaj broke Chievo's month-long goal drought in between those strikes but the top-flight strugglers were unable to deny the Rossoneri a four-point lead over fourth-placed Inter ahead of next weekend's Derby della Madonnina.

Gennaro Gattuso's dismissal from the touchline proved the only other setback for the visitors, his side now sitting a comfortable seven points inside the top four.

Milan got on top early and opened the scoring in supreme style in the 31st minute, midfielder Biglia curling an excellent free-kick into the top-left corner.It was not all plain sailing, though, with Gattuso sent to the stands after taking issue with a tackle on Lucas Paqueta.

His mood would only have worsened when Hetemaj headed Chievo level from Mehdi Leris' cross four minutes before half-time.

Nerves creeped into Milan's play and they needed Gianluigi Donnarumma to prevent Hetemaj's left-sided delivery from creeping inside the right post.Piatek eased the concern in the 57th minute, albeit in slightly controversial circumstances.

Samu Castillejo's header fell kindly for the striker to poke home the decisive goal following a goalmouth scramble, during which he looked to have made contact with a defender while attempting an overhead kick.

Franck Kessie and Alessio Romagnoli might have extended the margin later in proceedings, but Milan did enough to wrap up the victory.

 

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Manchester City 3 Watford 1: Sterling treble boosts champions' lead

Raheem Sterling's quickfire second-half hat-trick pulled apart stubborn Watford's resistance as Manchester City went four points clear at the top of the Premier League with a 3-1 victory.Javi Gracia made seven changes to his Watford XI but the visitors proved miserly opponents as they frustrated Pep Guardiola's defending champions during the opening 45 minutes.

The opening goal came within a minute of the restart and amid considerable offside controversy.


Sterling pounced with Watford still reeling from falling behind, netting from close range in the 50th minute and completing his treble before the hour.Watford substitute Gerard Deulofeu reduced the deficit midway through the second half – something Liverpool must now do when they host Burnley at Anfield on Sunday.

City were forced to be patient when confronted by a heavily manned defence, although Sergio Aguero should have done better when he powered wide from Bernardo Silva's 29th-minute delivery.Daryl Janmaat completed a brilliant last-ditch tackle on Sterling and those two were involved in the game's most contentious and pivotal moment.

Following prolonged discussions between the match officials, the goal was awarded despite Sterling being in an offside position when Aguero touched the ball into his path, because Janmaat played it against the England winger's shin for the ricochet into the net.There were no qualms when David Silva and Mahrez sliced their way down Watford's left channel, however, and Sterling tapped in the former Leicester City man's cross.

David Silva slid Sterling through to cut inside Janmaat and Christian Kabasele to complete his hat-trick and he received a rapturous reception when he made way for Leroy Sane shortly afterwards.

Gracia's changes proved more impactful, though, as Troy Deeney and Deulofeu were introduced, the pair combining with their first touches for the latter to score 17 seconds after his introduction – the goal offering a tantalising glimpse of what a more expansive Watford might have been able to accomplish.

 

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Barcelona 3 Rayo Vallecano 1: Below-par Blaugrana come from behind

Barcelona restored their seven-point lead at the top of LaLiga as they came from behind to beat Rayo Vallecano 3-1 at Camp Nou on Saturday.With the gap earlier cut to four points after Atletico Madrid beat Leganes 1-0, Barca went into the contest under pressure and were a long way from their best in the first half.

And Rayo threatened to hand Atleti's prospects of overhauling the defending champions a boost when they opened the scoring through Raul de Tomas' fine strike.


However, Gerard Pique levelled in the 38th minute before Lionel Messi's penalty and a late third from Luis Suarez ensured Barca still have plenty of breathing room at the summit.
Rayo started brightly and were denied what looked a decent shout for a penalty when Pique appeared to pull down De Tomas just inside the area.Only the fine reflexes of Stole Dimitrievski prevented Suarez from opening the scoring as the Macedonia international turned his low effort behind, and the Camp Nou crowd was then silenced as his counterpart at the other end was beaten.

De Tomas cut in from the left and took on Pique and Nelson Semedo before unleashing a powerful bending effort beyond Marc-Andre ter Stegen and into the bottom-right corner.Pique wasted a gilt-edged chance just after the half hour, sending a close-range header well wide, but atoned for that miss as the centre-back nodded home Messi's right-wing free-kick.

And the turnaround was completed six minutes after the restart, Messi casually beating Dimitrievski from 12 yards, punishing Jordi Amat for an ill-advised challenge on Semedo on the right side of the box.

Jose Pozo flashed an effort wide as Rayo sought a leveller and, though Alex Moreno did well to head a seemingly goal-bound Messi free-kick behind, Rayo could not prevent Suarez from tapping in a third after combining superbly with Ivan Rakitic.

 

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Newcastle United 3 Everton 2: Perez inspires stunning Magpies comeback


Ayoze Perez scored a late double as Newcastle United produced a remarkable second-half comeback to beat Everton 3-2 at St James' Park and take a huge step towards Premier League survival.

The Magpies had won their last four home games in succession but looked poised for a defeat as first-half efforts from Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison looked to have the Toffees on course for victory.

Those goals were sandwiched by Jordan Pickford's penalty save from Matt Ritchie in what was a dismal first half from Newcastle. However, their second-half showing could hardly have been more contrasting.


Salomon Rondon gave them hope with a goal excellently set up by Perez, who pounced on a rebound to level matters before then being teed up by Rondon to lash home a late winner that keeps Newcastle six points above the bottom three.
Questionable goalkeeping from Pickford led to the game's first real chance, the England shot-stopper punching a deflected cross straight to Perez, who could only loop his header over the crossbar.

It was poor play at the back at the other end that saw the deadlock broken, however, as DeAndre Yedlin left Lucas Digne unmarked out wide and the Frenchman dinked a cross in for Calvert-Lewin to rise above Jamaal Lascelles and glance into the bottom-right corner.

Thirteen minutes later Newcastle wasted a huge opportunity to level as Pickford spilled a left-wing cross into the path of Rondon and hauled the Venezuela striker to the ground to prevent him levelling matters.

With Pickford appearing to not play the ball, there could have been a debate over whether Lee Mason should have dismissed him, but he made the most of his fortune by keeping out Ritchie's penalty down the middle with his legs.

And the Newcastle winger's profligacy was swiftly punished by Everton, who doubled their lead as Ritchie was outmuscled by Andre Gomes, and Martin Dubravka tipped his pull back to Richarlison, who made no mistake from point-blank range.

Newcastle improved after the interval and Rondon looped an effort over the onrushing Pickford before he halved the deficit with a fine volley after combining superbly with Perez.

Chances at either end for Paul Dummett and Calvert-Lewin were spurned, with the latter paying the price for not putting the game to bed when Perez followed up Miguel Almiron's long-range effort.

Dummett saw a near-post strike superbly saved by Pickford, but the former Sunderland keeper could do nothing to prevent Perez from completing a terrific turnaround after Everton failed to clear a corner.

 

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Atletico Madrid 1 Leganes 0: Rojiblancos keep pressure on Barca

Atletico Madrid kept the pressure on LaLiga leaders Barcelona with a routine 1-0 win over Leganes at the Wanda Metropolitano.

Substitute Saul Niguez buried the rebound from his saved second-half penalty to temporarily reduce Barca's lead to four points, with the champions hosting struggling Rayo Vallecano later on Saturday.

Diego Simeone, who removed Antoine Griezmann after a goalless first 45 minutes, will now turn his team's attention to Tuesday's crunch trip to Juventus in the Champions League.


The Rojiblancos take a 2-0 advantage into the second leg of that last-16 tie, along with an imposing five-match winning streak in all competitions.
Atletico were without two injured left-backs and the suspended Diego Godin but Jan Oblak went untested until Martin Braithwaite's tame attempt in the 33rd minute.

Leganes did succeed in limiting the hosts to long-range efforts, their nerviest moment of the first half coming when Kenneth Omeruo sliced over his own crossbar in clearing Jose Gimenez's header.Simeone, who left the in-form Alvaro Morata on the bench, surprisingly withdrew Griezmann at the interval, though his gamble was justified in the 50th minute.

Omeruo tripped Angel Correa in the box and midfielder Saul, one of two half-time changes, tucked away the loose ball after Andriy Lunin blocked his weak spot-kick.

Thomas Partey almost doubled the margin with deflected shot that dipped against the crossbar, before goalkeeper Lunin – on loan at Leganes from Real Madrid – tipped a Thomas Lemar free-kick against the upright.

Atletico encountered few concerns at the other end as a fifth straight clean sheet helped move them eight points ahead of Real Madrid, who meet Valladolid on Sunday.

 

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Southampton 2 Tottenham 1: Ward-Prowse brilliance leaves Spurs stunned

Tottenham have now gone four games without a win in the Premier League following a 2-1 defeat to Southampton at St Mary's Stadium.

Harry Kane's first-half goal looked likely to give the visitors all three points, as Mauricio Pochettino, serving a two-game touchline ban for confronting referee Mike Dean after losing to Burnley two weeks ago, watched from the stands.

But Yan Valery, who scored his first senior goal against Manchester United last week, scrambled home an equaliser with 14 minutes of normal time left before James Ward-Prowse's stunning free-kick snatched the win.


Some wayward shooting from Kane underlined a scrappy opening 20 minutes, before Maya Yoshida fortunately saw the ball strike the Southampton post when he cut out the England striker's cross.
Christian Eriksen then rattled the crossbar with a free-kick, but Kane at last broke the deadlock 26 minutes in, gathering Dele Alli's fine floated pass and slotting the ball beyond Angus Gunn for his 200th career goal.Saints improved after the break and should have levelled through Nathan Redmond, the winger shooting into the side-netting after finding space to the right of Hugo Lloris.

Redmond then wasted another good opening by clipping the outside of the net on the other side of the box, but Valery at last bundled in an equaliser when Danny Rose allowed Stuart Armstrong's cross to go through his legs.

Ward-Prowse then completed the unlikely turnaround with a strike from 25 yards out that curled away from Lloris and into the net, just a week after a similar effort eluded David de Gea at Old Trafford.

 

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Leicester City 3 Fulham 1: Vardy reaches landmark in Foxes win


Jamie Vardy passed a century of goals for Leicester City as his late double secured a 3-1 Premier League victory over Fulham in Brendan Rodgers' first game in charge at the King Power Stadium.

Rodgers suffered a last-gasp defeat in his maiden game at the helm last weekend at Watford and his side had to work hard to secure maximum points against a spirited Fulham side, who are now 13 points from safety.

On-loan Monaco midfielder Youri Tielemans was the Foxes' stand-out player and he got them on their way with a simple finish midway through the first half, only for Floyd Ayite to pull the Cottagers level with their first effort on target in the 51st minute.


As the Foxes looked to be heading for a frustrating draw, Vardy powered through and unleashed an unstoppable drive into Sergio Rico's bottom-right corner to reach his personal landmark - then followed that up with another cool finish four minutes from time to wrap up all three points.
After dominating the early stages, Leicester forged ahead in the 21st minute.Wilfred Ndidi released Jamie Vardy after picking Calum Chambers' pocket in the middle of the park, the striker teeing up Tielemans, who took a touch before stroking into an empty net.Harvey Barnes then fired over, while James Maddison flashed wide from distance as the hosts threatened to run riot.

Fulham caretaker boss Scott Parker's decision to replace Ryan Sessegnon with Ayite at the interval paid off within six minutes. After beating Ben Chilwell to Havard Nordtveit's long pass on the right touchline, the Togo international surged into the penalty area and beat Kasper Schmeichel with a deflected shot.A superb Rico save denied Barnes' whipped effort shortly after the hour mark before a full-stretch Schmeichel tipped Aleksandar Mitrovic's header past the post.

The stage was then set for Vardy. The striker reached 100 goals in all competitions for the club with a typically direct run and unerring finish 12 minutes from time, while he added another to his impressive tally by scuffing home Barnes' pull back in the 86th minute.

 

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Bayern Munich 6 Wolfsburg 0: Lewandowski breaks Bundesliga record as champions go top

Robert Lewandowski became the leading foreign goalscorer in Bundesliga history as Bayern Munich hammered Wolfsburg 6-0 to leapfrog Borussia Dortmund and move top of the table.

Borussia Dortmund beat a struggling Stuttgart side 3-1 but Niko Kovac's team collected their 12th win in 13 league games to ensure they became the new league leaders on goal difference.

Bayern have never lost at home to Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga and first-half goals from Serge Gnabry - who signed a new contract this week - and Lewandowski set up a comfortable victory at the Allianz Arena on Saturday.


After the break James Rodriguez, Thomas Muller and Joshua Kimmich added to the scoreline, with Lewandowski scoring his second, and Bayern got the perfect boost ahead of a Champions League second leg against Liverpool by moving above BVB despite their win.
Lewandowski hit five goals in nine minutes off the bench against Wolfsburg in the 2015-16 season but he wasted an early chance by failing to control a lofted Muller pass.

Yannick Gerhardt headed Maximilian Arnold's corner over the crossbar, then Bayern took the lead in the 34th minute.Kimmich's stepovers left Arnold dazzled and Muller pulled the ball back for Gnabry to nudge in from close range, the winger then creating a second goal within three minutes.

A throughball from James found Gnabry and he unselfishly squared for Lewandowski to tap in and pass veteran former Bayern forward Claudio Pizarro on the list of foreign goalscorers.James scored the third himself in the 52nd minute, beating Koen Casteels with a placed 20-yard finish, the goalkeeper later making a fine save to tip over Muller's drive.

But the Bayern forward would not be denied again in the 76th minute, slotting home Franck Ribery's pass to end a week that saw him dropped from the Germany squad on a high.

And although Dortmund got back in front against Stuttgart, Kimmich and Lewandowski added late headers from Ribery centres to boost Bayern's more impressive goal difference further.

 

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Solari vows to fight on at Real Madrid as he arrives 80 minutes late for press conference


Santiago Solari insists he will give his all to turn Real Madrid's fortunes around, amid talk that he will be sacked this weekend.

Goal understands that Jose Mourinho is being lined up to replace the Argentine in an interim role after a wretched 11-day period that some critics have dubbed the worst in Madrid's history.

A 3-0 Copa del Rey second-leg defeat to Barcelona, which saw them exit at the semi-final stage, was followed by a 1-0 Clasico loss in La Liga that has left Madrid 12 points behind the leaders with 12 games to go.

To compound the disappointment of seeing their domestic double chances disappear, Madrid were humbled by Ajax in the Champions League on Tuesday, losing 4-1 in the last-16 second leg to crash out of the tournament.

The fact all three defeats happened at the Santiago Bernabeu has intensified the scrutiny on Solari's future, with former boss Zinedine Zidane another tipped as a leading candidate to take over regardless of Sunday's result against Real Valladolid.Solari, though, is simply concerned with giving his all for the good of the club, and not the rumours around his position.

"I give you [the] same answer as my first day here: we are all passing through here, and the most important for any coach, any team, is the next game. It is an honour to serve this club," he told reporters."These are not assessments I have to do. I'm the coach and, like everyone, I try to give the best I have.

"It's not the best moment. The objective is always the next game, always. There are judgements I have to accept, but my job is to carry on."I'm going to give my best, as I have done since the first day I came here."

Solari was around 80 minutes late to his news conference, prompting some to speculate that he had held a discussion with senior players following an argument between captain Sergio Ramos and president Florentino Perez.When asked about meeting with his players, Solari replied: "Things that happen in private should stay there.

"We're very harsh in our self-criticism, not only at the specific moment of a defeat. We do it day-by-day, even more so in victory. The hard part is finding the bad things in the good times."

Solari did state he has been clear with those players who have not performed to the standards he expects, but he has called for unity ahead of the trip to Valladolid.

"The majority have been. The ones who haven't, I have told them," he said when asked if his squad had been up to scratch recently."In adversity, you see the character of people: the one who stands up, the one who hides, who is rebelling, who isn't, who is happy or sad..."We have to keep working to add points until the end. The key is to play as a team."

 

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Manchester United manager job has always been my secret dream - Solskjaer


Ole Gunnar Solskjaer revealed he always wanted to be Manchester United boss, saying he believed he could be a better manager than player.

Solskjaer has impressively helped turn United's season around, guiding the club to 14 wins from 17 matches since replacing Jose Mourinho on an interim basis in December.The Norwegian is tipped to become United's full-time manager, particularly after seeing them past Paris Saint-Germain in a stunning Champions League last-16 tie.

Solskjaer, whose side visit Arsenal on Sunday, said he was now in a position he always dreamt of.

"I think I've been secretly always wanting to do the job I'm doing now," he said."And I probably believed more that I could be a football coach and a manager than a player, because it took me a few years to get to the level I wanted to be as a player."Solskjaer enjoyed a fine playing career, claiming six Premier League titles and scoring the winner for United to secure the Champions League in 1999.Asked if managing was more satisfying, the 46-year-old said there were upsides to both.

"Both yes and no really, because the best thing in the world is to play football. That was the best job ever," he said."You just concentrated on yourself, your own lifestyle, do the X amount of minutes that the gaffer asked you to, come into training, rest, recover, do everything that you can to do the job that he wants you to do and just enjoy it.

"Of course, I feel honoured and privileged to be the one who makes the decisions, and I think I prepared all my life to make decisions like this, because ever since I was a kid I played all these computer games and [had] written all the teams, selected teams with my mates, in the good old teams with Zico and [Diego] Maradona and [Marco] van Basten, all them teams that I used to pick."

 

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'I don't know why we are playing on Sunday' - Klopp fumes at Liverpool fixture schedule


Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has expressed his displeasure at the Premier League fixture schedule, asking why his team has been forced to play Burnley three days prior to a crunch Champions League fixture.

The Reds saw Manchester City extend their Premier League lead to four points thanks to a 3-1 victory over Watford on Saturday. They will have the opportunity to once more cut the deficit 24 hours later, when Burnley travel to Anfield.

That game, however, falls just over 72 hours prior to Liverpool's second leg against Bayern Munich in Champions League, with the tie poised at 0-0.And Klopp has questioned the virtue of setting his side's fixture a day later, while insisting he is not making excuses."I don't think anyone at the Premier League thinks about that. It is not interesting to them," the German said to reporters.

"Of course there is a difference between playing on a Saturday or Sunday. If we had three days, we would do recovery on Sunday morning, Monday you can have a little session, Tuesday a proper session and Wednesday you play."Now it's Sunday, so Monday is recovery and Tuesday is some kind of session. You usually train in the stadium so you can do nothing, shake your legs a bit. It's a different situation.

The manager suggested that television demands were behind the curious scheduling."That is why we will do it a bit different this time and train Tuesday morning here.But it is only the second day after the game and you can not have everybody fully (flat out)," he added.

"People think we are looking for excuses, we don't. We accept how it is but somebody else has to think about it. Somebody else who makes decisions."I don't know exactly why we play Burnley at 12 o' clock on Sunday and not Saturday at 3pm. Ask BT (who are showing game live)."

Liverpool will follow the Bayern match with a Premier League clash against Fulham next Sunday before heading into the international break, but will return with another crunch showdown against Tottenham to end the month.

 

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'He's absolutely top class' - Rodgers hails 'unselfish' Leicester centurion Vardy


Brendan Rodgers described Jamie Vardy as a "wonderful striker" and praised his unselfishness after he passed a century of goals for Leicester City in Saturday's 3-1 Premier League win over Fulham.

On-loan Monaco midfielder Youri Tielemans got the Foxes on their way with a simple finish midway through the first half after being teed up by Vardy, only for Floyd Ayite to pull the Cottagers level with their first effort on target in the 51st minute.

As the Foxes looked to be heading for a frustrating draw in Rodgers' first game at the King Power Stadium, Vardy unleashed an unstoppable drive into Sergio Rico's bottom-right corner to reach 100 goals for the club - then followed that up with another cool finish four minutes from time to wrap up all three points.

Rodgers was fulsome in his praise of the 32-year-old - who became the seventh Leicester player to reach the landmark and first since Gary Lineker more than 30 years ago – taking time to highlight his all-round contribution.

"I care for him because he is an absolutely top-class striker," Rodgers told a media conference."I think the first goal we scored tells you everything because he is clean through for his 100th goal and he squares for Tielemans, who is getting into the box.

"That tells you everything about how unselfish he is and what a team player he is. I am very happy he is here because my teams always have a striker at the top who can press and understand the game."What has surprised me since I arrived is he is tactically very good and understands to start the press. He is a wonderful striker and scored two wonderful goals."

Other than a 20-minute spell at the start of the second period, Leicester were comfortably the more dominant side and Rodgers says he is already starting to see his vision of fluid, attacking football starting to take shape."I always like the players to be within 10 to 15 metres of each other," he explained.

"When the attacking players try what I am asking them to do and it breaks down there are players close enough to then go and win the ball back and counter press the game.

"You have Jamie up there but then you have the two attacking midfield players up there and the wingers to support them."When you have the potential these young guys have then it can be exciting. The guys connected the game well at times. With a lot more work and ideas then that will improve."

 

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Barclays Premier League Fixtures 2019.03.11

Barclays Premier League Fixtures 2019.03.11

Liverpool Vs Burnley

Chelsea Vs Wolves

Arsenal Vs Manchester United

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Big match ekakada result ekath godak wadagath top 4 race ekata

Good luck Manchester United!​