Real Madrid slumped to a 3-1 defeat at Real Sociedad on Sunday as Zinedine Zidane‘s men confirmed third position in La Liga with their 11th loss of the campaign.

Real Sociedad enjoyed a fine afternoon as they swept Real Madrid aside. ANDER GILLENEA/AFP/Getty Images

Zidane returned as manager in March after a nightmare run of form that resulted in Madrid’s title challenge falling away as well as elimination from the Champions League at the hands of Ajax. But Sunday’s defeat was the club’s third in Zidane’s second spell as manager, with the club having one more match to play, at home to Real Betis, in what has been a testing season.

Brahim Diaz gave Madrid the perfect start with a sensational solo strike on six minutes but Mikel Merino equalised with a left-footed effort that arrowed into the net.

Things went from bad to worse for the visitors when Jesus Vallejo was sent off for handling the ball on the goal line, but Thibaut Courtois saved the resulting penalty from Willian Jose.

Madrid fell behind on 57 minutes when Joseba Zaldua headed home as Courtois lost his footing and Ander Barrenetxea made it 3-1 on 67 minutes.

Madrid started their penultimate match of the season off the back of a 3-2 win over Villarreal last time out and they were soon ahead thanks to former Manchester City man Diaz. After some neat skill down the left, Diaz cut in and finished superbly from an acute angle to put Madrid in front.

Sociedad were level on 25 minutes when Willian Jose found Merino, and he drove his effort past Courtois to peg Madrid back, before Zidane’s side went down to 10 men. Willian Jose met Mikel Oyarzabal‘s pass and looked certain to make it 2-1, but Vallejo blocked his effort on the line.

Replays showed Vallejo handled the ball and the referee pointed to the spot before brandishing a red card but Sociedad could not capitalise. Willian Jose blasted the ball but Courtois guessed the right way and saved his spot kick.

Madrid were stretched with a man light in the second half and the home side went in search of a second, with Igor Zubeldia forcing Courtois into a smart stop six minutes after the re-start. Aihen Munoz was next to go close, but his effort whistled past the post.

Zidane responded by taking off Isco for Luka Modric but soon after the change, his side fell behind. Zaldua planted a header into the corner but it should have been routine for Courtois, who slipped at the crucial moment and saw the ball bounce in.

Courtois was again at fault when Barrenetxea’s effort squirmed underneath his grasp to deepen the gloom on Zidane’s men.

Source – ESPN

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino says he would be “stupid” to stay at the club if they expect similar levels of success without changing the way they are run.

Mauricio Pochettino is looking for his first trophy as a manager, having previously been in charge of Espanyol and Southampton

The Champions League finalists have not signed a player since 31 January 2018.

Pochettino plans talks with chairman Daniel Levy this summer after five years in charge.

“I am not open to start a new chapter with no plan, with no clear idea, with not being transparent,” he said.

Pochettino, who has four years left on his contract, hinted before Wednesday’s stunning Champions League semi-final second-leg victory over Ajax that he could quit and go home to Argentina if they won the competition.

He has turned Spurs into a regular top-four team during his time in charge, while spending less money than their rivals – and nothing in the past two transfer windows.

The last player he bought, almost 16 months ago, was Lucas Moura, who scored a hat-trick – including an injury-time winner – against Ajax to set up a Champions League final with Liverpool in Madrid on 1 June.

Spurs moved to their new £1bn, 62,062-seater Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last month.

“I know very well how this business works,” Pochettino said. “And we know we need to operate in a different way – that doesn’t mean to spend more or less money.

“But if we expect every season to be in the final of the Champions League, we need to create a plan. And the plan maybe is different to what has happened in the last five years.

“If we believe that if we operate in the same way that we have operated in the last five years we are going to be every season in the final of the Champions League, and in the top four and competing against projects like Liverpool or Manchester City or Manchester United, I think we are very naive,” he said.

“If you want to expect the same from Liverpool, from Manchester City or Manchester United and Chelsea, and you put the same expectation on Tottenham, give me different tools to work.

“If not, I see the people working in the same way, in the future I’m going to be this guy. I am the most stupid person to work.”

Spurs are fourth in the Premier League table going into their final game against Everton, but could only lose their top-four spot if they lose and Arsenal win at Burnley with an eight-goal swing.

Source – BBC News

The World Cup winner continues to face questions of his contribution, but he believes that is down to the impossible standards being set by others.

Photo by Getty/Goal composite

Paul Pogba has suggested that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are partly to blame for the criticism that continues to come his way at Manchester United.

Despite being a World Cup winner and a player proven at the very highest level, the France international has seen his contribution at Old Trafford questioned on a regular basis.

He has recorded a new personal best in terms of goals this season, with the target found 16 times across all competitions.

Pogba has also registered 11 assists, but his future is the subject of much speculation amid ongoing concerns regarding his consistency.

The 26-year-old believes his contribution would have been lauded not all that long ago, with the exploits of star turns at Barcelona and Juventus pushing expectation levels up for everybody else.

Pogba told Icon Magazine: “Football has changed a lot. I grew up watching the exploits of great champions, real legends like [Alessandro] Del Piero, [Luis] Figo, [Francesco] Totti and many others.

“All have been champions, the best in the world, but perhaps many of them did not achieve more than 20 goals per season.

“Now the data, the statistics, the numbers, often seem to have become the only parameter of judgment.

“That, on the one hand, is good, it is part of the evolution of modern football and the desire to play the ball more and more. But we often tend to forget how difficult it has always been to score more than 20 goals, even for the big players.

“And today perhaps even more so, because the distance between the teams of high level has been reduced, especially in big competitions.

“Messi and Ronaldo have shown in recent years: doing what they did, maintaining those stats – that is the exception, not the norm.

Pogba added: “If an attacker today scores ten or 15 goals, he is likely to be told that it is not enough. But the player’s work must be judged with perspective.

“You have to remember that someone like Pavel Nedved won the Ballon d’Or without his team winning the Champions League or without having scored much himself. He was simply the best in his role and was rewarded for what he was capable of doing on the field.”

Position is another issue that has followed Pogba around of late, with Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer considered to have struggled to find the best role for a mercurial talent.

A man who has operated in a number of different posts throughout his career does not see the problems that others are keen to highlight, with it his opinion that he can flourish anywhere.

Pogba added: “[I can play] on the right, on the left, in front. I don’t really care.

“I can play behind the attackers, in front of the defence. It depends on the ideas of the coach, the style and the philosophy of the team that I play in.

“Because we can never forget that football is a team game and if the team works well together, we will all have more fun.

“Paul here or Paul there: Paul is a midfielder and his task, more than ever, is helping the team do what they set out to do – beyond the obsession with the goal, especially in front of the players of my position. Luckily, I also score goals, but that’s not what matters in my case.”

Pogba has one more outing to take in, against Cardiff on Sunday, before United’s campaign comes to a close and he heads towards the summer transfer window being heavily linked with the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Source – Goal.com

The Argentine superstar receives most of the praise for his team’s triumphs and should be assigned blame for their failures, believes the Brazil great.

Photo by Getty Images

Lionel Messi should be assigned as much blame for Barcelona’s failures as he is praised for their success, according to Brazil legend Ronaldo.

The Argentine was near his brilliant best in the first leg of the Champions Leaguesemi-final against Liverpool, scoring two goals, including an exquisite free-kick from distance to help his side to a 3-0 advantage at Camp Nou.

But Barca’s dream start finished in a nightmare as Liverpool struck back at Anfield for a 4-0 victory thanks to doubles from Divock Origi and Georginio Wijnaldum to oust the Liga champions.

Messi was among the litany of Barca players who struggled in the defeat, with the star man unable to reach the heights he had in the first leg or throughout the course of the season.

It was the second straight campaign the Catalan club was knocked out of the Champions League after squandering a three-goal first leg advantage, and head coach Ernesto Valverde’s position has come under scrutiny.

In addition, players like Philippe Coutinho have been blamed for the performance, but debate surrounds Messi’s culpability in the defeat.

And former Barca and Real Madrid forward Ronaldo believes that if Messi is given the lionshare of the credit when Barca triumph, then he must share with team-mates and coaches in the failure.

“It is unfair to point the culprits to a defeat,” Ronaldo said at a Santander event. “I see that Barcelona has a great team and has the best player in the world, which is Messi.

“The other day I read that other players lost and Barca wins [because of] Messi. It is a tremendous injustice to all the players and the coaching staff.

“Barcelona is a great team with great players and very good coaches. You should be a little more careful with criticism.”

Asked about the result of the tie itself, Ronaldo believes Liverpool’s performance was worthy of advancing, and thinks even Barca’s mistake on the tie-clinching goal by Origi would not have saved them from eventual elimination at Anfield.

“[Liverpool] had more motivation, intensity and desire,” Ronaldo added. “In the first part, Barcelona had chances to score a goal that would have changed everything. But Liverpool deserved it. They have shown strength and emotional intelligence.

“In the fourth goal there was a mistake, but I think that if it had not [been scored], it would have arrived in a different way. They played the game of their lives.

“It’s a shame for Barcelona, because they played a great game in the first leg, we all enjoyed Messi.

“It’s a pity that there is not a Spaniard in the final, but Liverpool deserved it more.”

Source – Goal.com

English clubs have created European football history by taking all four final spots in the continent’s two major competitions.

Tottenham, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal will represent England in European finals this season

Arsenal won in Valencia and Chelsea beat Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday to reach the Europa League final.

That followed dramatic wins for Liverpool over Barcelona and Tottenham against Ajax in the Champions League.

It is the first time all four finalists in Europe’s top two competitions have come from one nation.

There have only been two all-English finals before, with Tottenham beating Wolves in the 1971-72 Uefa Cup and Manchester United beating Chelsea in the 2007-08 Champions League.

Spain had three teams in the finals of the two competitions in 2015-16, with Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid contesting the Champions League trophy and Unai Emery’s Sevilla winning the Europa League.

“In England the level is very high and the Premier League is the best championship in Europe,” said Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri.

Arsenal and Chelsea will meet in Baku, Azerbaijan – 2,468 miles from London – on 29 May, with a Champions League spot at stake for the Gunners, who could become the fifth English side to qualify for next season’s competition. Chelsea are already assured of their place after cementing a top-four finish in the Premier League.

Baku’s Olympic Stadium has a capacity of 68,700 but Uefa has allocated only 6,000 tickets to each club, a decision Arsenal described as “disappointing”, adding that it presents them with “extreme difficulties” in how to allocate tickets”.

Tottenham and Liverpool will meet in Madrid on 1 June, with fans of those clubs also facing travel issues of their own, with direct flights from the UK reaching £1,300 and some airlines being accused of “profiteering”.

The Premier League clubs’ achievements means there will also be an all-English Uefa Super Cup in August. That game will be played in Istanbul, Turkey.

Source – BBC News

The Gunners booked their spot in the Europa League final with a 4-2 second leg win against Valencia on Thursday.

Photo by Getty Images

When Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang crashed home his third goal of the night in the final minute to seal Arsenal’s 4-2 win at Mestalla, even the Valencia fans stood and applauded.

There was nothing else they could do. They had done their best all night to knock the Gunners out of their stride, but in the end they had to stand and admire a striking performance as good as you will see in Europe all season.

Arsenal arrived in Spain with their season on the verge of collapse, but thanks to Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette they are now in their first European final for 13 years and just 90 minutes away from a return to the Champions League.

This has been the week of the comeback. We saw it and Anfield on Tuesday night and again in the Johan Cruyff ArenA 24 hours later.

So it was perhaps understandable that many Arsenal fans made their way to the intimidating Mestalla with a feeling of trepidation about what could be to come, despite having the comfort of a 3-1 lead from the first leg.

This cathedral of football in Valencia has, of course, been an unhappy hunting ground for the Gunners in the past, with painful memories of John Carew still fresh in the minds of many who made the trip to Spain in 2001.

And those memories would have come flooding back when Kevin Gameiro tapped the ball into an empty net to give the hosts the lead inside 11 minutes.

There is no roof on Mestalla, and that is perhaps a good thing as it would have come right off when the French striker finished off a low cross to reignite the tie.

The Valencia fans had packed the streets outside the ground two hours before kick-off and welcomed their team’s coach with a cacophony of noise. It was entirely different welcome for Arsenal, however.

This was as hostile an atmosphere as the Gunners have faced in recent years, and given how things have gone in the Premier League in recent weeks, they could have easily have crumbled after going behind.

We have seen it before, but not tonight. Not with Aubameyang and Lacazette in this sort of form. Together they silenced Mestalla and booked Arsenal’s spot in Baku on May 29.

Within six minutes of Gameiro opening the scoring, Aubameyang had levelled with a stunning half volley from 20 yards, set up, of course, by Lacazette.

It was a fabulous finish from the Gabon international, and things could have got even better soon after when his thrilling run down the right set up a chance for Lacazette, who clipped the post.

Given how clinical he usually is in front of goal, it was a surprise to see the France striker miss the target, but he did not make the same mistake five minutes after the restart when he buried a fine effort past Neto into the bottom corner to all but finish the tie.

Valencia did level eight minutes later through Gameiro again, but any hope of a dramatic comeback was soon snuffed out by Aubameyang, who brilliantly stabbed in Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ cross to make it 3-2 on the night and 6-3 on aggregate.

He then rounded off the night in magnificent style, crashing a thunderous effort past Neto in the final minute to complete his hat-trick.

The Mestalla had started the night as a fearsome cauldron of noise, but it ended with the home fans showing their respect for as good a performance from a striker as you will see across the continent all season.

The 2,600 delirious Arsenal fans who packed into the top tier behind one of the corner flags quite rightly sang the names of their two star strikers as the clock wound down.

Where would Arsenal be with them? Not on their way to Baku, that’s for sure.

Source – Goal.com

Chelsea will take their appeal against a two-window transfer ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport after it was rejected by FIFA.

FIFA have thrown out Chelsea’s appeal against their two-window transfer ban

Football’s world governing body have upheld the ban they handed Chelsea in February after an investigation into the club’s signing of foreign U18 players.

The rules state no player under 18 is allowed to move to a club in a different country unless their parents are moving there for non-footballing reasons, or unless they are aged 16-18 and moving within the European Economic Area.

As it stands, Chelsea can still buy players but would not be able to register them until the summer of 2020.

Christian Pulisic is still free to join Chelsea in July despite the transfer ban

However, the club maintained its innocence and stated they will exercise the option to go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne to see if the ruling can be overturned or frozen.

“Chelsea FC has today received the decision of the FIFA Appeal Committee,” said Chelsea in a statement on Wednesday afternoon. “The club is very disappointed that the transfer ban of two consecutive registration periods was not overturned.

“Chelsea FC categorically refutes the findings of the FIFA Appeal Committee. It acted in accordance with the relevant regulations and will appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).”

Chelsea’s last purchase, Christian Pulisic, will not be affected as he was registered by the club in January and loaned back to Borussia Dortmund, but permanent moves for loan signings Mateo Kovacic and Gonzalo Higuain are not possible at this stage.

The Appeal Committee determined the ban will only apply to the senior team and players under the age of 16 and from the UK can still be acquired by Chelsea.

The ban will also not apply to Chelsea Women or Futsal team.

Source – Sky Sports

What Mauricio Pochettino’s side did goes a long way to eclipsing what Liverpool did against Barcelona, stunning the Dutch in a second-half comeback.

Photo by Getty

Half an hour after the full-time whistle and some Ajax fans still haven’t moved. They are rubbing their faces and this nightmare is running through their minds on a loop.

The floor underneath is now sticky. It’s been pelted with gallons of beer that’s dried in. There’s a reason they serve it in plastic cups in stadiums.

You might expect anger but there’s none there, yet. They will be angry when they come to terms with it. They will look back on posts hit and spaces emptied and mistakes made.

They will wake up for years to come in the dead of night and ask themselves why? And how?

Ajax played this season’s Champions League with a sense of destiny. They were everyone’s second favourite… everyone’s other than the fans of the teams they were playing.

Tottenham knew that they were up against that and a whole lot more.

They were up against a fresh team whose title challenge in the domestic league was put on hiatus so they could better concentrate on winning the Champions League.

The last time they walked off a field it was with the Dutch Cup held aloft. The last time Tottenham walked off it was against Bournemouth where they’d just been beaten and there were only nine of them.

You cannot for a second take your eye off the ball, you cannot take it for granted. You cannot – with only 45 minutes to go and with a three-goal headstart – assume anything.

Because if you do you will be attacked by mentality giants . It’s not just Liverpoolwho can claim to have that in this season’s Champions League. What Spurs did goes a long way to eclipsing what Liverpool did against Barcelona.

Maybe it was nerves for Ajax; maybe it was that they realised they were tantalisingly close to the most important match this club has played in the best part of a quarter century.

Whatever it was, they came down suddenly with what will henceforth be known as a case of the Wijnaldums; succumbing to two pistol-shot goals at the start of the second half of a Champions League semi-final which threaten to invert the order of things.

For Gini last night, read Lucas Moura tonight.

But where Liverpool had largely played the better football over two legs, Spurs were given a runaround. Where Liverpool were unlucky, Spurs only had themselves to blame.

They lost two first-half goals here in Amsterdam and the jig appeared up.

It’s sometimes hard to pinpoint exactly where matches like this are won and lost. But for sure Ajax were looking at the big stadium clocks and hoping the seconds would go by twice as quick. They tried coming out, they even hit the post.

But there was a sense of inevitability from the moment Lucas swept a ball home on the break. He was found expertly by Dele Alli, both of whom now have a chance of being recognised as this competition’s best player.

Andre Onana’s mix-up gave the Brazilian the chance to repeat the trick and ensure Spurs needed only one.

That’s when the beer showers started. The anger in the stands was showing and the mentality on the field was a long way away from what was required.

The board went up. Five minutes. Onana was handed an under-inflated ball to restart play with a late goal kick. Ajax made another mess of holding possession and Lucas had his chance.

The pocket of Spurs fans in the corner could scarcely believe what they were seeing. Their team had just earned a place in their first-ever Champions League final.

And how? Who knows.

Their form lately has been nothing short of woeful. They are slipping to defeat after defeat to teams they should be battering in the Premier League.

Their injuries are stacking up. The fit ones are playing badly. They are lucky the season is ending on the home front because if it were to go on any longer they would sink like a stone.

They survived thanks to VAR against Manchester City. The control they exerted in the first leg against City stands alone as their best moment of football since the quarter-finals began.

The second leg was a mess and they were hammered by a City team who did exactly enough on their own soil. It slipped from their grasp in London.

And that’s where Ajax ran them ragged. Spurs fans bickered over who should be dropped or sold quickest. You wouldn’t find a Spurs fan here who genuinely thought there was something in it for them tonight.

But the way they up-and-undered Ajax last week set the template. They located the great hope’s weak chin. Tonight they knocked him out.

Fernando Llorente was unmanageable. Lucas eluded too many of those in white and red. Alli and Christian Eriksen were penetrative. The clock wound down but Ajax fans knew it was coming.

Tottenham, Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham, are in the Champions League final.

How? Who knows.

Source – Goal.com

The Swiss star started the second leg of the semi-final tie as Anfield witnessed one of the greatest nights in the club’s history.

Photo by Getty Images

Xherdan Shaqiri is targeting Champions League glory after helping Liverpool to the most memorable of comebacks against Barcelona.

The Swiss star made his first start since January as the Reds produced a monumental effort to defeat the Liga champions 4-0 on a remarkable night at Anfield. Jurgen Klopp’s side progress to next month’s final in Madrid, where they will meet either Ajax or Tottenham.

Shaqiri has won the Champions League before, with Bayern Munich in 2013, and after Tuesday’s game he spoke of his desire to add another medal to his collection.

“I know what it is like to win this title,” he said. “It is the biggest one there is to win. It is the football stage in Europe, everyone watches you – everyone wants the trophy.

“I want to win it a second time. We are there in the final and I want to win it with Liverpool. After what we did against Barcelona, we all want to win it. But there is a long way to go. It is difficult to speak about the final now as we still have one more Premier League game.”

Shaqiri, like his team-mates, struggled to find the words to describe Liverpool’s fightback against Barca. Trailing 3-0 from last week’s first leg at Camp Nou, Klopp’s team tore into the Catalans. Two goals from Gini Wijnaldum, bookmarked by a brace from Divock Origi, made the impossible possible.

“It is so difficult to explain what happened in the game,” smiled Shaqiri. “Unbelievable! Unbelievable performance, unbelievable atmosphere.

“We knew everyone had written us off because of what happened in the first leg. It was an incredible performance. If you believe – if you believe in life – anything and everything can happen. The fans they pushed us to the end. They wouldn’t let us stop.

“Honestly, it is just belief. I say it, always in life you have to believe that you can achieve special things. Sometimes, you will not get there but we believed in life and we got there.

“We got what we deserved. We scored the first one; we got to half-time and then the second one came straight after. We knew that Barcelona were nervous and when you are in Anfield, anything can happen. What an unbelievable night – maybe the best night there has ever been here.”

The scenes which followed the final whistle against Barcelona will live long in the memory, as Liverpool’s players were serenaded by a jubilant Kop.

Shaqiri, grinning from ear to ear as he left the ground, revealed there had been plenty of emotion in the dressing room afterwards too.

“Crazy!” he said. “Everyone was shocked, like they couldn’t believe it. We were celebrating, some of the guys were crying.

“Me? No! I am just so happy, so happy to have helped. We have achieved something special. The manager didn’t change things a lot. He just told us to perform, to keep going. We knew everything could happen and we are really proud of what we have achieved.”

Source – Goal.com