..::Football IV::..

[Wolverine GTR]

Don't call Bayern Champions League favourites - Rummenigge

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is keen for his Bayern Munich to avoid being billed "favourites" for the Champions League after they trounced Arsenal 10-2 on aggregate.

The German giants eased into the quarter-finals in style, as they swept Arsenal aside with 5-1 wins both at home and away.Tuesday's demolition job at the Emirates Stadium saw Bayern once again live up to their tag as many people's favourites for the competition.

But club chairman Rummenigge insists they are in no position to start dreaming just yet, preferring that the team avoids getting carried away and keeps its feet on the ground instead.

Speaking at Bayern's post-match meal at their hotel in London, Rummenigge said: "It will do us good not to be seen as the favourites in the Champions League."We're in the quarter-finals now but every other team that has, or will, qualify will provide tough opposition.


"We shouldn't start dreaming but instead wait patiently to see who we draw in the quarter-finals."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

What a crappy performance by psg Specially after cavani scored they literaly had the game in hand. Barca's moral was down and they had 2 clear one to one opportunities to finish the game of. One with di maria and the other with cavani. They both blew them.


Yeah there were some crappy decisions by the refrees but come on! How would you blow a 5-3 on agrregate with one away goal when they was only 5 minutes to be played?

I'll tell you how. By being too cocky. PSG were already in wonderland thinking that they have gone through. specially after cavani scored. Trapp didn't even move to save that free kick by neymar. Which could;ve easily been avoided. The penalty was too soft but again could've been avoided. And even after that, I eman come on!! last minutes of the game can't you even fucking defend properly?


PSG absolutely deserved this the way they played. Specially trying to be cocky
​

Ow bro.PSG la easy gatthaCavani ge away goal 1ken passe hithuwe naha comeback 1kak wei kiyalath.​

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Blind eager for return of 'very smart' Mkhitaryan

Henrikh Mkhitaryan could make his return from injury in Manchester United's Europa League trip to Rostov on Thursday and Daley Blind is delighted to have the "very smart" Armenian back in contention.

United were without the services of the attacking midfielder for the 3-2 EFL Cup final triumph over Southampton and their disappointing 1-1 draw at home to 10-man Bournemouth on Saturday after he picked up a hamstring problem against Saint-Etienne.

Mkhitaryan may not be risked in Russia, with manager Jose Mourinho unimpressed by the state of Rostov's pitch, but he has travelled and looks likely to be involved in Monday's FA Cup quarter-final at Chelsea.Regardless of whether the former Borussia Dortmund star does feature on Thursday, Blind is happy to have him back.

"Micki [Mkhitaryan]'s a very smart player," he said. "You can always reach him – he always makes good runs. It's a pleasure to play with him."I'm very happy Micki is back; he's a great player with a lot of qualities, so of course we're happy that he's back on the pitch again with us."

United's hosts are the possessors of a fine record at home, having lost just one of their last 31 competitive matches at Olimp-2, though Blind is eager to put a dent in that run.

"We're here to win," added the Dutchman. "We want to get a good result, but we know in our minds it's over two games, so we have to be smart and adapt in the game if that's needed.

"We know there is always a second leg at home at Old Trafford – we are aware of that but the first thing is we want to win here and score a goal. That's how we look at it."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Dzeko: This is my best season ever

Roma forward Edin Dzeko believes he is having his "best season ever" as he prepares for a Europa League clash with Lyon.

The 30-year-old is enjoying his second campaign in Italy, having signed from Manchester City in 2015, and has scored 29 goals in all competitions this term.

Eight of those have come in Europe – including two hat-tricks – and, ahead of facing Lyon in their last-16, first-leg clash, Dzeko spoke about hitting his peak.

"I'm 30, nearly 31, and I admit that this is maybe my best season ever," he told UEFA.com. "I do not feel 30 years old."I'm fit and I am ready, but it's no accident – I work a lot, before and after training.

"Scoring three goals in one game is not easy, but when I do it in the Europa League it motivates me because I know I've achieved something big."It motivates me to keep scoring. I think those are my only two hat-tricks in the Europa League and I hope there are many more to come."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Five-match ban for Mings after Ibrahimovic stamp

Tyrone Mings has been banned for five matches following his clash with Zlatan Ibrahimovic during Bournemouth's match with Manchester United last Saturday.The Football Association (FA) confirmed the defender's punishment after an Independent Regulatory Commission hearing on Wednesday.

Mings appeared to stamp on Ibrahimovic's head towards the end of the first half and was charged with violent conduct by the FA, who recommended a stronger punishment for Mings when he and the United striker were charged on Monday.

The FA submitted a claim that a standard punishment would be "clearly insufficient" given the offence.

Bournemouth reacted angrily to the suspension in a statement which read: "Bournemouth are extremely disappointed with the FA Regulatory Commission's decision to find Tyrone Mings guilty of the charges against him and impose a five-game suspension, following Saturday’s incident at Old Trafford involving Zlatan Ibrahimovic."We will study the detailed reasons of the commission once they become available but find it extraordinary that the charges can be described as 'proven' when there is absolutely no evidence to prove the incident was intentional.

"It is our strongly held belief – backed up by our relationship with the player, and knowledge of his background and character – that it was an accidental collision."Tyrone twice apologised to Ibrahimovic during the match for the accidental collision and also reiterated that there was no intent straight after the final whistle in a series of television interviews.

"We fully support our player. Tyrone has an excellent disciplinary record and has not been sent off in 75 matches as a professional. During that time he has only received 13 yellow cards – the last of which came in April 2015."

Mings, 23, is due to miss Premier League matches against West Ham, Swansea City, Southampton, Liverpool and Chelsea.Ibrahimovic was banned for three matches for elbowing Mings moments after the apparent stamp.

In a hugely contentious 1-1 draw at Old Trafford, those incidents were followed by Andrew Surman's sending off for a second yellow card after shoving the former Sweden forward.

Ibrahimovic later missed a penalty and claimed after the match that Mings had "jumped into" his elbow as he tried to protect himself.Mings insisted he would never deliberately stamp on another player after calls from United captain Wayne Rooney for him to be punished for the action.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Borussia Dortmund 4-0 Benfica (agg. 4-1): Aubameyang and Pulisic see hosts through

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang put his first-leg horror show behind him, netting a hat-trick as Borussia Dortmund secured a 4-0 win over Benfica to progress to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

The Gabon international missed a penalty and two more gilt-edged chances as Thomas Tuchel's side lost 1-0 in Portugal three weeks prior, but they made light work of Wednesday's return back on home turf.

Visiting coach Rui Vitoria had expected an onslaught and that was exactly what Dortmund provided, despite the absence of Marco Reus through injury, as Aubameyang nodded an early opener.

While Benfica stood firm for the remainder of the first half, Christian Pulisic, having assisted the first goal, doubled Dortmund's lead to take control of the tie with just over half an hour remaining.

And Aubameyang, who had never previously scored in the tournament's knockout stages, added his second of the game just two minutes later, before completing his treble five minutes from the end.

Dortmund can now look ahead to the last eight of the competition and the writing was seemingly on the wall after it took Aubameyang just four minutes to banish memories of a nightmare first leg and draw Dortmund level.

Ousmane Dembele delivered a corner from the right for Pulisic to flick a header towards the far post, where Aubameyang was left unmarked to nod into the net.

The hosts were clearly in the mood as Dembele bent a shot wide from an Aubameyang-powered counter-attack, but Benfica responded with Franco Cervi striking low into the arms of Roman Burki.Luisao then nodded straight at the Dortmund goalkeeper, before Pulisic tested Ederson with a header of his own at the other end.

Cervi had another opportunity to score shortly after half-time, but Lukasz Piszczek recovered to make a magnificent block after slicing a clearance straight to the visiting winger.

Dortmund's best moments, meanwhile, were coming from set-pieces, with Aubameyang twice meeting Gonzalo Castro free-kicks to volley wide and then, from an offside position, straight at the sprawling Ederson.Those efforts started to pile the pressure on the away defence, though, and their resistance was soon broken.

Ederson blocked brilliantly from Aubameyang, but, with Benfica unable to fully get the ball clear, an excellent Piszczek pass into the box found Pulisic, who lifted a phenomenal finish over the advancing keeper for his first Champions League goal.

And, with Vitoria's men still rocking, Aubameyang then steered Marcel Schmelzer's cross past the helpless Ederson from the next attack.

Castro volleyed wide and Marc Bartra nodded narrowly off target as Dortmund kept pushing, with a fourth goal putting the icing on the cake, Aubameyang converting Erik Durm's low centre to complete a deserved hat-trick.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Barcelona 6-1 Paris Saint-Germain (agg. 6-5): Catalans complete fairytale comeback

Barcelona claimed a scarcely believable Champions League victory against Paris Saint-Germain that will go down in history as one of the all-time great comebacks, Sergi Roberto netting in the fifth minute of stoppage time to seal a sensational 6-5 aggregate triumph after they had trailed 4-0.

It had looked as though Edinson Cavani's away goal would prove pivotal after Barca had raced into a three-goal lead, but the hosts scored three times from the 88th minute onwards at Camp Nou to complete the biggest turnaround ever seen in the competition.

After being thrashed in the first leg of the last-16 tie, Barca appeared set to fall agonisingly short of a famous recovery in what transpired to be a classic encounter.

Luis Enrique's side were three goals up within 50 minutes and did not allow Cavani's intervention to foil their bid for a slice of history, Neymar scoring twice before setting up Roberto in astonishing scenes, the second leg ultimately finishing 6-1.Two scrappy first-half goals – one from Luis Suarez in the third minute – and a Layvin Kurzawa own goal gave a rocking Camp Nou hope of a reversal in the tie.

The home side reduced the deficit further early in the second half when Lionel Messi scored his 11th goal of the competition this season from the penalty spot after Neymar was fouled by Thomas Meunier.

But a great finish from Cavani just after the hour mark – his eighth of a Champions League campaign that has been his most prolific – seemed to have made the difference, before the late heroics from Neymar and Roberto.The crushing defeat sees PSG beaten by Barca in the knockout stages again having suffered the same fate in 2013 and 2015.

Barca, meanwhile, reach the quarters for the 10th straight season, meaning they are still in with a chance of a treble in Luis Enrique's last season at the helm.Hopes of a remarkable comeback were stirred after only 150 seconds, Suarez getting the goal.

The Barca forward climbed above indecisive goalkeeper Kevin Trapp and sent a close-range header beyond Meunier on the line after Marquinhos and Marco Verratti had both failed to deal with Rafinha's cross.

PSG had a penalty claim rejected when Julian Draxler's cross struck the arm of a sliding Javier Mascherano, who was in as one of three Barca changes from the first leg.

But the hosts kept up the pressure, with Messi sending a free-kick just over and Neymar seeing a curling effort go just wide.

Lucas Moura, starting for PSG with Angel Di Maria only fit for the bench, sent an effort straight at Marc-Andre ter Stegen, but that was as good as it got from the visitors as Barca struck again five minutes before the break.

It was another scrappy goal, with poor defending from Marquinhos allowing Andres Iniesta to chase down Suarez's flick-on in the area and send a clever back-heel across goal which was sliced into his own net by Kurzawa.

The night went from bad to worse for PSG within three minutes of the restart when referee Deniz Aytekin pointed to the spot after consulting with one of his fellow officials.

The Barca award came when Neymar had surged into the area and been felled by Meunier's head after the defender lost his footing, with Messi stepping up and blasting past Trapp from 12 yards.

PSG almost got a priceless away goal in response when Meunier beat Neymar at the other end and squared for Cavani, whose sliding left-footed effort struck the post from six yards.Unai Emery then brought on Di Maria for Lucas in desperate search of a goal that did arrive after 62 minutes.

A deep free-kick from Verratti led to Kurzawa getting above Ivan Rakitic to head back into path of Cavani and he dispatched a magnificent dipping finish into the roof of the net, sparking ecstatic scenes from Emery and the away supporters.

Ter Stegen made a key save from Cavani a few moments later after Draxler's throughball sent the PSG striker clear to keep Barca – who now needed a further three goals – alive.

Substitute Arda Turan had a shot cleared off the line by Marquinhos and Messi fired wide from a presentable opening, but Cavani's strike appeared to have stalled the hosts' momentum before a frantic finale.

Barca got a fourth with two minutes left, Neymar finding the top corner with an impressive free-kick that left Trapp rooted to the spot.He struck again from the penalty spot in the first minute of added time, sending Trapp the wrong way after Suarez had been fouled by Marquinhos.

PSG then had to keep out Barca for the remaining four minutes of the five added, but could not do that as Barca rocked the football world.

The LaLiga side threw Ter Stegen into attack to add to the drama, which saw them seal one of football's most stunning victories when Roberto volleyed in Neymar's pass, sending Luis Enrique, the players and Camp Nou into ecstasy.

It was another scrappy goal, with poor defending from Marquinhos allowing Andres Iniesta to chase down Suarez's flick-on in the area and send a clever back-heel across goal which was sliced into his own net by Kurzawa.The night went from bad to worse for PSG within three minutes of the restart when referee Deniz Aytekin pointed to the spot after consulting with one of his fellow officials.

The Barca award came when Neymar had surged into the area and been felled by Meunier's head after the defender lost his footing, with Messi stepping up and blasting past Trapp from 12 yards.

PSG almost got a priceless away goal in response when Meunier beat Neymar at the other end and squared for Cavani, whose sliding left-footed effort struck the post from six yards.

Unai Emery then brought on Di Maria for Lucas in desperate search of a goal that did arrive after 62 minutes.A deep free-kick from Verratti led to Kurzawa getting above Ivan Rakitic to head back into path of Cavani and he dispatched a magnificent dipping finish into the roof of the net, sparking ecstatic scenes from Emery and the away supporters.

Ter Stegen made a key save from Cavani a few moments later after Draxler's throughball sent the PSG striker clear to keep Barca – who now needed a further three goals – alive.

Substitute Arda Turan had a shot cleared off the line by Marquinhos and Messi fired wide from a presentable opening, but Cavani's strike appeared to have stalled the hosts' momentum before a frantic finale.Barca got a fourth with two minutes left, Neymar finding the top corner with an impressive free-kick that left Trapp rooted to the spot.

He struck again from the penalty spot in the first minute of added time, sending Trapp the wrong way after Suarez had been fouled by Marquinhos.PSG then had to keep out Barca for the remaining four minutes of the five added, but could not do that as Barca rocked the football world.

The LaLiga side threw Ter Stegen into attack to add to the drama, which saw them seal one of football's most stunning victories when Roberto volleyed in Neymar's pass, sending Luis Enrique, the players and Camp Nou into ecstasy.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Manchester City 0-0 Stoke City: Sane misses sitters as hosts remain third

Leroy Sane missed a great chance to score the winner as Manchester City were held to a 0-0 draw against Stoke City on Wednesday.

The Germany international, who came into the match at the Etihad Stadium having netted in three consecutive appearances, was once again a livewire down the wing.
However, he was left holding his head when he skied his shot after Kevin De Bruyne's cross escaped Joe Allen's reach and found him on the hour mark.

Sane's chance proved to be one of City's best chances of the night, with the youngster unable to make contact with a great delivery for what would have been a guilt-edge chance in stoppage time.

David Silva – introduced for the ineffective Jesus Navas – had already spurned a glorious chance 18 minutes from the end, though he did make a big difference to City's attacking play.

But ultimately Guardiola introduced Silva too late and Stoke held on for a draw despite City's desperate late onslaught.

Stoke were much quicker out of the blocks than their hosts and should have taken an early lead through Mame Biram Diouf when the Senegal forward scuffed a first-time effort straight at Willy Caballero from Erik Pieters' cross.The visitors continued to look bright in attack and caused problems again in the 15th minute.

Ramadan Sobhi cleverly turned Nicolas Otamendi on the left side of the area and darted towards the danger zone, but Bacary Sagna made a vital intervention before Diouf could pounce.

Diouf was then involved at the other end shortly after, tracking the run of Leroy Sane and producing a marvellous last-ditch tackle to deny him a clear run at Lee Grant and the Stoke goal.

Otherwise, Stoke did a fine job of keeping City at bay, with only an Aleksandar Kolarov free-kick – which Grant saved comfortably – troubling them.City attacked with more intent after the break and crafted a good opening early on, but Sergio Aguero – captain on the night – saw his 20-yard effort deflected just over after being picked out by Sane.

The in-form German winger then went close with a chance of his own in the 60th minute, receiving De Bruyne's cutback and blazing over from 12 yards as Silva's entrance injected a little more urgency to City's attack.

Silva went close twice in quick succession as the match approached its final 15 minutes – first agonisingly missing the bottom-right corner from just inside the box, before drilling wide of the opposite post from distance.

Aguero almost stunned Stoke at the death when slipped into the left side of the box, but the Argentinian could only find the side-netting as Stoke secured a solid point.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Barcelona complete greatest comeback in Champions League history

Barcelona made Champions League history on Wednesday, overcoming a four-goal first-leg deficit against PSG to advance to the quarter-finals.

Luis Enrique's side were the first in Champions League and European Cup history to rally back from four down after the opening match.

Sergi Roberto was the hero for Barca, scoring in the 94th minute to complete what many viewed as an unrealistic feat before the match began.Neymar had a double, while Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez also found the net for Barcelona. PSG's Layvin Kurzawa was credited with an own goal.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Luis Enrique: Everything is possible when you're Barcelona

Luis Enrique says Barcelona proved their mettle as winners after going through to the Champions League quarter-finals with their "impossible" comeback against Paris Saint-Germain.

The Spanish champions progressed from the last 16 in the 10th consecutive season against all odds, winning 6-5 on aggregate and overturning a 4-0 deficit from the first leg in France.

Needing to score at least five goals, Barcelona were 2-0 up at half-time after Luis Suarez's opener and Layvin Kurzawa's own-goal, before Lionel Messi put them further in front.

Edinson Cavani thought he had dashed hopes of a fightback when he netted a crucial away goal for PSG but Neymar had other plans as he played a crucial part in three Barcelona goals in seven agonising minutes to rescue the tie, scoring twice and assisting Sergi Roberto's clincher.

And Luis Enrique revealed after the match that he was always confident in the quality of his players and their ability to go through, hailing their winning mentality in the end.

"It was an incredible night. We won a game that I thought was impossible," the coach told Mediaset Premium. "When they made it 3-1, it looked over but the end of the game was spectacular. We are very happy. "When you have a team like this, made up of champions, that have won every title, everything is possible."

The landslide loss at Parc des Princes several weeks ago had been a major catalyst in Luis Enrique's announcement that he would be departing the club at the end of the season.

But, despite the turnaround, the 46-year-old insists he will not renege on his decision that he needs a sabbatical after his three-season spell in the Camp Nou dugout."Convince me to stay on? That decision is done!" he concluded.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Guardiola congratulates Barcelona for 'amazing result' against PSG

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola hailed his old club Barcelona for their staggering 6-5 aggregate victory against PSG in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Neymar inspired Barcelona to an unbelievable comeback, the Brazilian scoring twice as his club overturned a 4-0 first-leg defeat in style thanks to Sergi Roberto's injury-time winner.

Guardiola won the Champions League title twice with Barca, in 2008-09 and 2010-11, and while he could not watch the 6-1 victory as he was managing City to a 0-0 draw in the Premier League, he praised the LaLiga giants."I'd like to congratulate Barcelona, it’s an amazing result they got tonight," said Guardiola after his side missed the chance to narrow the gap to leaders Chelsea to eight points.

"It is incredible and I celebrate it especially for Luis Enrique. Also for this generation of players, who are doing so many good things. I am curious to see the game repeated, calmly, when I have time."

In contrast to the Camp Nou goalfest, with Barcelona 6-1 winners on the night, it was a tale of frustration for City, who would have moved above Tottenham into second with a victory, and Guardiola accepted Stoke City made it hard for his team.

"They defended deep and it was complicated to find the players between the lines," Guardiola said. "We were there in the last minutes. I don't have regrets about how they ran, how they fought.

"It’s not easy when the opponents are there. We created a lot of situations for the last pass and sometimes we missed it. When [David] Silva came in, we created a few more chances. When you analyse the chances we had, I don't really remember more than one Stoke chance."

Guardiola gave Raheem Sterling the night off and Silva started on the bench as City plan ahead for an FA Cup tie against Middlesbrough and a second-leg Champions League last-16 meeting with Monaco and the manager said he will continue to make changes.

"The priority is the next game," he said. "In two and a half days, we have another game. In three or four days, we travel to France to play Monaco and then we have another game against Liverpool.

"We have to make rotations when we play a lot of games. The gap [to Chelsea] was big and is still big. We have to focus game by game."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

'We saw the real Aubameyang' – Tuchel hails hat-trick hero

Borussia Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel was pleased to welcome back the "real" Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in his team's thrashing of Benfica.

A hat-trick from Aubameyang saw Dortmund to a 4-0 win at home on Wednesday, completing a 4-1 success on aggregate in the Champions League last 16.

Aubameyang was criticised after the opening leg, during which he missed a penalty, and Tuchel was thrilled to see improvement.

"If I say that I expected this result it would mean that we have a lack of respect for Benfica. You cannot expect that you will score four goals against a team like them," he said, via UEFA."We had the self-confidence to turn the tie around and the team demonstrated that, especially in the second half."We saw the real Aubameyang [as opposed to the first leg].

"Benfica are a great, proud club and we have huge respect for them but we played two great games and I think we deserved to go through. If you are into the last eight you want to go to the last four and that's what we will try hard to do."

Aubameyang struck in the fourth minute before Dortmund took control in the second half, the impressive Christian Pulisic doubling the lead before the Gabon international completed his hat-trick.

Benfica coach Rui Vitoria rued going behind early and felt his team had enough chances to reach the quarter-finals.

"We did not start well into the game, conceding so early," he said."But we did well after that and played nicely, until we allowed them to score two within a few minutes.

"Everyone could see that the game went well for us and that we could have gone through, we did have our chances after the break and didn't use them. Then we were hardly able to react."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

UEFA Europa League Round of 16 1st Leg Fixtures 2017.03.09

UEFA Europa League Round of 16 1st Leg Fixtures 2017.03.09

Apoel Vs Anderlecht

Copenhagen Vs Ajax

Rostov Vs Manchester United

Gent Vs Genk

Celta Vigo Vs Krasnodar

LYON Vs Roma

Olympiakos Vs Besiktas

Schalke Vs Monchengladbach

​

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Good Luck Manchester United!​

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Rostov Vs Manchester United

Rostov Starting Line-up

Nikita Medvedev
Vladimir Granat
Miha Mevlja
Cesar Navas
Fyodor Kudryashov
Timofei Kalachev
Aleksandr Gatskan
Christian Noboa
Alexandr Erokhin
Aleksandr Bukharov
Dmitriy Poloz

&

Manchester United Starting Line-up

Sergio Romero
Marcos Rojo
Chris Smalling
Daley Blind
Phil Jones
Marouane Fellaini
Paul Pogba
Ander Herrera
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Henrikh Mkhitaryan
Ashley Young
​

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Good Luck Manchester United!
​

 

[Alucard_SxE]

Good Luck Manchester United!
​

hard to see a united win. rostov are a pretty good team. one of my favourite russian teams. they play somewhat like a russian atletico and scored mostly from free kicks and set pieces.​

 

[JCT]

hard to see a united win. rostov are a pretty good team. one of my favourite russian teams. they play somewhat like a russian atletico and scored mostly from free kicks and set pieces.​

Yeah they kicked bayern's asses back in november

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Half Time

Rostov 0 Vs 1 Manchester United

​

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Full Time

Rostov 1 Vs 1 Manchester United

Rostov Goal(s)

Bukharov 53'

&

Manchester United Goal(s)

Mkhitaryan 35'
​