Ajax became just the third team to win the away legs of their last-16, quarter-final and semi-final Champions League ties in a single campaign.
Donny van de Beek scored the only goal against Tottenham in London on Tuesday as surprise semi-finalists Ajax seized a 1-0 first-leg lead in the last four.
And that victory came after winning away in stunning fashion at both defending champions Real Madrid – a staggering 4-1 success – and Cristiano Ronaldo s Juventus.
Ajax join Bayern Munich, in the 2012-13 season, and last term s Madrid side in achieving such a run of results on the road.
3 are the third team to win their round of 16, quarter-final and semi-final away game in a Champions League season, after FC Bayern in 2012-13 and Real Madrid in 2017-18. H…
Alexis Sanchez may be on his way out of Arsenal, but the club found goals easy to come by on Saturday thanks largely to the unlikely figure of Nacho Monreal.
With Sanchez absent ahead of his expected move to Manchester United, Monreal put Arsenal in front in their Premier League match against Crystal Palace with a simple header before adding another two assists in the first 15 minutes.
The left-back set up Alex Iwobi for Arsenal s second and diverted the ball to his defensive colleague Laurent Koscielny to tap in a third Gunners goal.
Unfortunately for Monreal, after Alexandre Lacazette added a fourth for Arsene Wenger s rampant side, he limped off in the 34th minute due to an injury.
Our left back in the first 13 minutes of :
5th minute: Goal…
League titles have already been decided in England, Germany and France, while Barcelona are expected to be crowned LaLiga champions this weekend, leaving the Serie A race as the most exciting among Europe s elite.
Juventus are chasing a seventh consecutive Scudetto but they are being hunted down by Napoli, with Maurizio Sarri s side trying to win the league for the first time since the 1989-1990 season, when Diego Maradona s goals fired them to glory.
The battle between the two clubs has been in the balance for much of the season, with Napoli s 1-0 win in Turin last weekend ensuring they are just a point behind Juventus with four rounds of Serie A games still to play.
Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri believes Napoli are Scudetto favourites because of their fixture…
Jurgen Klopp admits Liverpool are still not the finished article after a week of setbacks provided a dose of reality.
After snatching a late draw against newcomers Luton last weekend, a much-changed side slipped to their first Europa League defeat at Toulouse in midweek.
Liverpool have failed to win only five of 17 matches this season and they have have a 100 per cent record in eight at Anfield in all competitions but Klopp knows they have to avoid unnecessary hiccups like those of the last few days.
“Things are going in the right direction but we are not there yet. We are not as stable as I wish but that’s normal as well,” he said.
“Generally we are in a positive situation and it is important to learn to deal with that. There has been a lot of pr…
Mohamed Salah became the fastest player to reach 50 Premier League goals for Liverpool as he helped fire the Reds back to the top of the Premier League on Friday.
The Egypt forward netted 10 minutes from time to put Jurgen Klopp s men 2-1 up at Southampton, before Jordan Henderson added a third as the visitors moved two points clear of Manchester City having played a game more.
Salah s brilliant breakaway goal ended a run of eight games without scoring in all competitions and also took him to a milestone, reaching a half-century of league strikes for Liverpool.
In doing so in his 69th match in the competition for the Reds, the former Chelsea and Roma man pipped the previous benchmark of 72 games set by Fernando Torres.
Luis Suarez, the star of Liverpool…
Luis Suarez is set to win his 100th Uruguay cap as he bids to make amends for past World Cup misdemeanours against a Saudi Arabia side still reeling from a thrashing in their opening fixture.
Suarez was sent off for the handball that denied Ghana a goal in the quarter-finals of the 2010 tournament in South Africa, leaving the suspended striker to watch from the sidelines as La Celeste lost 3-2 to Netherlands and missed out on a place in the final.
In Brazil four years ago he was banned from all football activity for four months and suspended for nine international matches after biting Italy s Giorgio Chiellini in the group stage, leaving his team-mates to bow out at the hands of Colombia in the round of 16.
That notorious incident did not prevent him moving from …
Union Berlin are believed to be interested in signing Robin Gosens from Inter Milan. The initial claim of that interest came from Italian outlet Gazzetta dello Sport, but it has since been confirmed for Sky in Germany by Florian Plettenberg.
Union surprised many in 2022/23, finishing the season in fourth place in the Bundesliga table and qualifying for the Champions League next term. It is understandable for them to be seeking for high-quality reinforcements with participation in UEFA s elite competition on the horizon, and targeting players who have strong competition for their respective roles at current clubs certainly makes sense. Gosens is such a player, sharing the left wing-back responsibilities at Inter with Federico Dimarco.
However, the 28-year-old is believed…
The last time Fernando Torres crossed the touchline at San Siro, he was being hauled off in the Milan derby. On Saturday, he returns for the Champions League final, and the chance to realise a boyhood dream against the old enemy. Comeback tales do not get much grander.
Written off by most when he left Chelsea and by everyone else when AC Milan could find no use for him in a miserable six-month spell Torres swansong is now in full voice. He has scored 10 in his last 13 starts and boasts his best goalscoring run in league football for six years.
A goal against Barcelona and an assist versus Bayern Munich in the previous two rounds have earned his side a shot at vengeance over Real Madrid, even if they did come at the cost of a red card and a missed penalty.
His…
Carlo Ancelotti was impressed by Endrick during his Real Madrid debut despite losing 1-0 to Milan in Chicago on Wednesday.
Samuel Chukwueze scored the winner for the Rossoneri, finishing off a wonderful team move in the second half, making it two wins from two under new manager Paulo Fonseca.
Madrid are without big stars Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo after their international exploits, leaving the way for Endrick to get his first minutes for Los Blancos.
The 18-year-old played the first half, and created one chance, though he did not manage a single shot or touch in the box.
Ancelotti was pleased with what he saw from his new signing though, particularly his skill.
He [Endrick] is someone who has something truly spec…
England were applauded for taking a knee at the start of their World Cup Group B opener against Iran at the Khalifa International Stadium on Monday.
Three Lions manager Gareth Southgate confirmed in his pre-match press conference a day earlier that England had decided to perform the gesture at the World Cup.
Kneeling before a game was initially adopted on a regular basis in the Premier League following the death of George Floyd in the United States back in 2020.
Despite it being a show of solidarity against discrimination, it was an initiative that was not universally applauded, with several Premier League clubs jeered for taking part.
It was scrapped as a regular feature ahead of this season, with the Premier League instead announcing the gesture would b…