Manchester United have tumbled out of the FA Cup, are about to exit Europe and their quest for Champions League qualification is hanging by a thread.

Photo by: Getty/Goal

A key question arising from Manchester United’s listless 1-0 defeat in the Champions League quarter-final first leg against Barcelona on Wednesday is what – if anything – would Jose Mourinho have done differently to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had he still been in charge?

Or – to expand that a little further – what could Jose Mourinho have done differently had he still been in charge? The answer to both queries is probably nothing.

Barcelona are just about favourites for the Champions League but with justifiable reason. They’ve got Lionel Messi for one thing and have dependable players in most positions, as well as the bench.

United – home or away – would be considered second best to Barca in any circumstance. In that regard, Solskjaer is extremely limited in what kind of game plan he can put together.

He – rightly – sees himself as custodian of the Ferguson flame. Beside him he’s got long-time Ferguson lieutenant Mike Phelan and plenty of other coaches who were working at Old Trafford in the Sir Alex days.

Solskjaer makes all the right noises about the United way and how they should be bowing down for no team. Whoever the opposition is, Solskjaer says, his United would go out like Ferguson’s United to try to win the game.

That’s what the crowd want to hear; it delivers them relief from what they saw as the gaslighting and monotony of the end-days of Mourinho.

But – as seen against Barca – it’s not borne out in practice. There were two centre-backs, three full-backs and two defensive midfielders on the field in midweek. Hardly swashbuckling. And still the team did not even achieve what they were sent out to do, namely earn a clean sheet.

But it is becoming increasingly evident that Solskjaer’s United play the same way against everyone. They are not, however, channelling some mythical force from the Ferguson era. They are playing percentage football, indiscriminately, against all teams; from Watford and Wolves to Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona.

The difference between Solskjaer and Mourinho is Solskjaer is allowed to get away with it. One, because he’s a club legend, having won them the Champions League in 1999 and two, because he’s been exceptionally lucky in the early part of his United managerial career.

Now that the luck has evaporated, United are regressing to pretty much what they were under Jose.

They have lost four games out of their last five. They have gone out of the FA Cup and slipped right out of contention for a return to the Champions League through their league position. They are on the brink of going out of Europe, with a battering at Camp Nou to look forward to.

Their season, in actual fact, is more or less where you’d expect it to be, whether Mourinho or Solskjaer were in charge.

One element perhaps sustaining Solskjaer through this results famine is the win against PSG achieved in the last round of the Champions League.

That victory – impressive in the sense that they overturned a 2-0 first-leg lead and won it right at the death – is seen as a hark-back to a time when United did it for fun under Ferguson. It got to the very root of the United identity and produced the magic once taken for granted.

What is overlooked is how fortunate United were. Not only were PSG without Neymar – which is like Barca missing Messi – but they either scored or won a penalty with every shot they had on goal.

The result was so beautiful – in a United sense – that Ed Woodward immediately furnished Ole Gunnar with a three-year contract. There is no question that he improved the mood at the training ground and gave everyone belief but it was a remarkably short-sighted decision, based on the flimsiest of evidence.

Currently, United are no better than a 50-50 shot to win any game they go into. It’s because they are in hock to the goalkeeping skills of David de Gea at one end and reliant on an unsustainable output in front of goal at the other.

That is scarcely different to the Mourinho days. Witness the heroics De Gea performed in the big game against Spurs at Wembley early in the Solskjaer reign. He made a career-high number of saves that afternoon in a display not dissimilar to the one the season before against Arsenal at the Emirates.

There was no grand plan behind the United win on either of those days. It was all down to De Gea and the hope of snaffling a goal on the break.

Furthermore, you could easily compare the win in Paris to the one Mourinho earned in the group stage against Juventus earlier this season. United were out-passed, outplayed but somehow came up with the result at the death.

They played that way against Wolves recently – where they lost – and against Watford – where they happened to win. Results are up and down but the performances have evened out. And it’s not good news.

Solskjaer has not yet come up with a way of taming opposition attacks and quite often results are decided by the equivalent of the flip of a coin. Either the ball goes in or it doesn’t. And, as proven against Arsenal, if De Gea slips up – as all goalkeepers are entitled to do – United are in big, big trouble.

United fans – and Woodward – were lured into a false sense of security due to the consistency of Solskjaer’s early results. But the honeymoon is well and truly over.

Some time between now and the start of next season, everyone will be confronted with the bleakness of the situation: Manchester United have just signed Molde’s manager and are expecting him to carry out a comprehensive overhaul in one of the club’s most important-ever transfer windows.

Barcelona have already signed Frenkie de Jong. Real Madrid have signed Eder Militao. Bayern Munich have signed Lucas Hernandez. These super clubs are not hanging around. They are repairing the defects in their squad.

United, on the other hand, are doing even worse than standing still. They are about to lose Ander Herrera – arguably their most successful signing since Ferguson left – on a free transfer and could see their only two world=class performers in De Gea and Paul Pogba follow him out the door.

Moreover, the contract they entered into with Alexis Sanchez – worth over half a million pounds every week – is not only a drain on resources but will be brought up in any negotiation or renegotiation they have. Why would Marcus Rashford, for example, undersell himself when he knows what Alexis ‘earns’?

It comes to down to a lack of structure and a lack of oversight. Solskjaer is in charge of a squad with three managers’ signings in it as well as a few left over from Ferguson’s day. He’ll need his own players too, sooner or later.

He gave United a boost at a crucial time, but the effect is wearing off. Instead of shaking his hand and thanking him for a job well done, they are now attempting to stretch out that dead-cat bounce over the long term. It won’t work.

Is there any difference between having Jose park the bus or having Ole at the wheel of it? Not really. United are still all over the place; a good run of results was not enough to cover that up.

Source – Goal.com

Tottenham have confirmed England captain Harry Kane has sustained a “significant lateral ligament injury to his left ankle”.

Kane tweeted about his injury on Wednesday

The 25-year-old striker suffered the injury in the 1-0 win over Manchester City in the Champions League quarter-final first leg on Tuesday.

Kane’s injury could rule him out for the rest of the 2018-19 season.

Spurs have also said England midfielder Dele Alli, 23, fractured his left hand during the same match.

A club statement said Alli will be assessed before Saturday’s home Premier League match against Huddersfield Town.

Kane, who has scored 24 goals for Tottenham this season, had slipped as he tried to block City full-back Fabian Delph’s clearance on the right touchline in the second half and was substituted immediately.

After Tuesday’s match, Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino said: “It’s a worry for us.

“We are going to miss him – maybe for the rest of the season. We hope it is not a big issue but there is not to much time to recover.”

Tottenham are fourth in the Premier League with six matches remaining, two points behind third-placed Chelsea – who have played a game more – and one point ahead of north London rivals Arsenal, who are fifth in fifth.

The second leg of their Champions League tie against City is on Wednesday, 17 April at Etihad Stadium.

Tottenham actually have a higher win percentage when Harry Kane is not playing this season

Kane has scored 22 goals in 37 appearances for England, who face the Netherlands in the semi-finals of the Nations League on 6 June.

The winners of that fixture will play either Portugal or Switzerland in the tournament’s final three days later.

Kane has missed 21 club games since the start of the 2016-17 season with ankle injuries alone.

He was ruled out for almost two months in January, missing seven games, when he damaged ligaments in the same ankle during their 1-0 Premier League home defeat by Manchester United.

He also missed a month of last season with a similar injury to the right ankle, and endured separate absences of six and four weeks during the 2016-17 campaign.

Source – BBC News

The Gunners midfielder – who the Italian outfit tried to sign last summer – was on top form as Unai Emery’s side sealed victory at the Emirates.

Photo by: Getty Images

How Napoli must hate Lucas Torreira.

For a time last summer, the Italians thought they had managed to prize the diminutive Uruguayan away from Sampdoria to help fill the void left by Jorginho’s departure to Chelsea.

But then Unai Emery and Arsenal’s former head of recruitment, Sven Mislintat, nipped in and convinced the midfielder that London was a better bet than Naples.

And as was evidenced on Thursday at the Emirates, Napoli’s loss has clearly been Arsenal’s gain.

Torreira has had a fabulous first season in England, but there is no doubt his performances have dipped somewhat since the turn of the year, which is perhaps no surprise given his exploits at the World Cup and having to adjust to a season with no winter break.

But in this absorbing Europa League quarter-final first leg he was back to his very best, bossing the midfield battle to remind Napoli what they could have had.

With Granit Xhaka once again missing due to the thigh strain he picked up on international duty, Torreira – who has missed the last three Premier League games due to suspension – was brought back into the midfield alongside Aaron Ramsey.

Emery then paired Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette together up front, with Mesut Ozil operating just behind the strikers.

It was the same way Arsenal had set up against Rennes in the second leg of their last-16 clash and, just as they did against the French side, the Gunners flew out of the blocks, playing with an intensity that made Sunday’s dire performance at Everton all the more baffling.

And it was the central midfield pairing of Torreira and Ramsey who were the driving force behind a 45 minute showing that blew Napoli away.

Ramsey had already given Arsenal the lead, finishing off a flowing move involving Ozil, Lacazette and Ainsley Maitland-Niles, before Torreira inflicted even more damage on the visitors.

Robbing Fabian Ruiz – the man Napoli signed in the summer having failed to land Torreira – he drove towards the edge of the box before showing his excellent footwork to earn himself a shooting chance.

His effort may have taken a huge deflection off the formidable Kalidou Koulibaly before beating Alex Meret, but that should not take anything away from the Arsenal man.

It was no more than Arsenal deserved and it is the goal that has given Emery’s side a commanding lead to take to Naples this week.

They had chances to extend that advantage, not least when Ramsey blazed over from 10 yards in the second half, but the Gunners have given themselves a golden opportunity of making the semi-finals for a second successive season.

There is stil work to be done in Naples, especially when you consider Arsenal’s miserable away form in 2019, but there is no doubt they are favourites to progress through to the last four.

And with Torreira in this sort of form, there is every chance they could go one better than last season and make the final.

Source – Goal.com

The chances of FIFA increasing the number of teams at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar from 32 to 48 are 50/50, president Gianni Infantino said on Wednesday.

Gianni Infantino says a 48 team World Cup would mean “more development and more passion for everyone”

Infantino, who was in Brazil for a meeting of the South American Football Confederation, told delegates he was working to ensure the increase for the Qatar tournament, which would mean a guaranteed two extra places for South American sides.

“We are working to see if we can get 48 teams in the 2022 World Cup because more participation means more development and more passion for everyone,” he said.

“We’ll see by June whether it is possible or not. (It’s) 50/50. What is 100 per cent is that the 2022 World Cup is going to be spectacular and a total success.”

A final decision on the number of teams for the 2022 World Cup will be taken at the FIFA Congress in Paris on June 5.

FIFA chose to host the 2022 World Cup for 32 teams in Qatar, although Infantino has sounded out neighbours over their willingness to host some matches in an expanded tournament.

FIFA has already agreed to increase the number of teams to 48 for the 2026 tournament being co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico but is keen to expand quicker than planned.

Source – Sky Sports

The Blaugrana enjoyed plenty of possession in their 1-0 win at Old Trafford but created few chances and needed an own goal to win the game.

Getty

It was more by luck than judgement but Barcelona earned a huge 1-0 victory over Manchester United on Wednesday which gives them a fine chance of overcoming their Champions League quarter-final hoodoo.

The Catalans won’t think the tie is over, though, far from it, after they were pinned back during an increasingly nervy second half at Old Trafford.

In the end, Barca’s backline held firm, with their hosts failing to even register a single shot on target. But that said more about United’s lack of incision, than the visitors’ solidity.

Beaten 2-0 at Atletico Madrid in 2016, 3-0 in Turin by Juventus in 2017 and, most painfully, 3-0 by Roma in the Italian capital last season, miserable away days have cost Barcelona dearly in the Champions League in the past three seasons.

And they could well have been punished for their sloppiness here had they been playing a top-drawer side. It was Barca’s good fortune that they were not.

United threatened on the counter at the start but Barcelona soon settled into their rhythm, seemingly unfazed by their three consecutive quarter-final knock-outs. The Catalans dominated possession, at one point boasting 85 per cent of the ball.

They took the lead with some typically excellent passing, too, Sergio Busquets lofting a brilliant ball into the box for Lionel Messi, who, without looking, pinged it to Luis Suarez at the back post.

The Uruguayan’s header was deflected in by the hapless Luke Shaw, and although Suarez wanted to claim it as his first Champions League strike on the road since September 2015, it went down as an own goal.

Ahead after just 12 minutes, Barcelona had their dream start, but they could not build on it.

Gerard Pique impressed in defence, showing good anticipation and timing, matching Marcus Rashford for pace, but Ernesto Valverde’s were shaky in general.

The goal should have given them confidence. They should have killed United off. Instead, they let them grow into the game.

Although United did not manage to create a clear chance, Barcelona hearts were in their mouths on a couple of occasions.

Diogo Dalot headed wide from a good position and Barcelona’s midfield trio were being outplayed by United’s, with Busquets particularly poor and fortunate to survive the encounter without a red card.

A foul on the excellent Scott McTominay went unpunished due to how early it was in the game, but Busquets was issued a yellow card in the 17th minute for a foul on Paul Pogba.

He followed that up with another trip on the Frenchman and then a handball, with United fans furious that the Catalan escaped dismissal.

After the break United grew and Barca faded further. Rashford slashed badly at a ball when he had more time, skewing it wide off his knee.

McTominay played in Anthony Martial but only a superhuman Pique lunge stole the ball from the Frenchman as he was posed to shoot.

Suarez should have finished off United but fired into the side netting after good work from Nelson Semedo.

In truth, Barcelona weren’t particularly good value for their 1-0 lead and 2-0 would have flattered them.

Valverde will argue that Marc-Andre ter Stegen went untroubled but Messi was left shaking his head at full-time. He knew that they had squandered an opportunity to bury United.

The Argentine barely appeared in the game after taking a whack in the head from Chris Smalling in the first half, which left him bloodied and bruised, and his dazed and confused facial expression at the end spoke volumes.

This was an unconvincing Barcelona performance, but nonetheless yielded an excellent scoreline to take back to Camp Nou for Tuesday’s second leg.

They will be confident of progressing, primarily because they will be confident that there’s no chance they will perform as sloppily as they did here.

Source – Goal.com

Pele arrived back in Brazil on Tuesday after five days in a Paris hospital and was taken to another hospital in his home country for further exams.

Brazilian football great Pele is back in a hospital in his home country. NELSON ALMEIDA/AFP/Getty Images

The 78-year-old football great is recovering from a urinary infection.

Doctors at the Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo said in a statement that Pele’s “infection has been quelled” and that he is in good shape.

The three-time World Cup champion landed in Sao Paulo shortly after 6 a.m. Sitting in a wheelchair while wearing a black jacket and carrying his bag on his lap, Pele said upon arrival he was thankful to fans that called to wish him well.

“Once more, thank God it was all fine,” Pele said at the airport.

On Monday, Pele said in a statement that he had undergone surgery in France for “a severe urinary infection,” but offered no other details.

Pele has been frequently hospitalised over the last few years for kidney and prostate procedures and was under care in Paris since last Wednesday.

He was taken to the hospital after an event with Kylian Mbappe, the France forward who has drawn comparisons with the Brazilian great after helping his country win the World Cup last year as a teenager.

In November 2014, Pele was in a hospital in Sao Paulo for two weeks, including some time in intensive care, also because of a urinary tract infection.

Source – ESPN

Had the Argentine converted his early penalty there would be few questions about his manager’s selections but Heung-Min Son’s goal has changed that.

Photo by: Getty

This will be one of those Champions League nights when Pep Guardiola’s every call is questioned, and while many of his pre-match selections were injury enforced, he will now have to come up with some answers if Manchester Cityare to reach the Champions League semi-finals.

That is because Tottenham, backed by a ferocious crowd in their new stadium, battled long enough and hard enough to earn a narrow 1-0 victory, courtesy of Heung-Min Son’s late strike.

Guardiola is never far away from questions about his approach in big games. Of course, when his unorthodox line-ups are successful, it is soon forgotten that he had mixed things up in the first place.

And it would be foolish to be too critical of the Catalan at this juncture, given what he has achieved with this City side since the start of last season, not to mention the fact that this would have all been different had Sergio Aguero converted an early penalty.

In the event the Argentine’s effort was saved by Hugo Lloris, and on such fine margins big games, big ties, are decided.

City were not their usual attacking selves but they never set out to be. Guardiola respected Spurs and perhaps that will be scrutinised, too, but it was clear that he did not want his team to be too open, which has been his undoing in European competition at both Bayern Munich and City. And when he has set up like that and been defeated, he has been reminded of his mistakes very quickly.

With Bernardo Silva suffering a slight muscle injury, Guardiola plumped for Riyad Mahrez, who has hardly set the world alight since his move from Leicester last summer.

And with Benjamin Mendy out of the squad despite starting at Wembley on Saturday, Guardiola decided not to move Aymeric Laporte to left-back, where he has had mixed success, and instead chose Fabian Delph, who many suspected had played his last game for the club after some rash mistakes in his recent outings.

Mahrez was clearly sent out with the brief to play from deep and track back, which presumably Leroy Sane was not trusted to do to similar effect.

Ilkay Gundogan started instead of Kevin De Bruyne, who has also been fighting fitness problems, and his deep role alongside Fernandinho also ensured this would be a tight game.

And had Aguero scored his penalty, City may well have won it. The striker has got lucky with a couple of recent efforts, namely when he hit the post at Swansea but the rebound went in off the goalkeeper, and at the Carabao Cupfinal at Wembley when the villain Kepa jumped over his bobbly strike.

But even with both of those he aimed low into the corner, as he usually does. Here, for whatever reason he went higher, into “good height for a goalkeeper” territory. Lloris palmed the ball away and the home fans roared. Aguero has now missed more penalties than anyone in the Champions League since his debut in the competition in 2008-09.

It was a close game after that, full of aerial duels and robust tackles. One of those could prove crucial, in fact. Harry Kane, who had battled with City’s centre-backs as well as anybody, went in strong and late on Delph, and ended up rolling his ankle. That could well keep him out of the second leg and that will no doubt be a huge boost for City.

But the fact is that Spurs scored after Kane went off, and they have generally coped well without him this season. Still, City will need all the boosts they can get. A goalless draw would have been precarious enough, given a score draw would send Spurs through, but a 1-0 deficit leaves no room for error.

That deficit came courtesy of Son, who ran in behind Delph and, by keeping the ball in play, immediately got the upper hand on the jumpy converted left-back. The South Korean made a move back inside, feinted to fool Delph, and then used the extra space to fire off a low shot that Ederson, who had earlier damaged his hip in a heavy fall, allowed to go through him.

A squad is only as strong as its weakest members and while City’s are hardly competition winners, Delph at left-back is probably as ‘weak’ as City get. He did not commit a heinous error, and in fairness any of City’s other left-backs are more than capable of being caught out in the space behind them, but he did not cover himself in glory either.

Moments like that, and of course the penalty, are what Guardiola keeps going back to when he discusses the difference between success and failure in this competition.

City had another 10 minutes to nick an away goal after that but Guardiola left it peculiarly late to bring on Leroy Sane and, especially, Kevin De Bruyne.

David Silva was not as precise on the ball as he is at his best and De Bruyne had looked an obvious replacement as early as half-time, but he and Sane were only introduced in the 89th minute. It was as if Guardiola had suddenly realised they were on his bench.

In the end they could not make a telling impact, their contributions in the final third as wayward as their team-mates’. Spurs continued to battle brilliantly and held on to what could be a precious advantage.

City are by no means out of this, and you would always back them to win at the Etihad Stadium, no matter who the opponent is.

Guardiola has a week to come up with the answers.

Source – Goal.com

Barcelona missed out on signing Paul Pogba from Juventus in 2016 due to Manchester United’s £89m bid, club president Josep Maria Bartomeu has revealed.

Paul Pogba has two years left on his deal at Old Trafford

The Spanish giants enquired about the midfielder’s availability when he was playing for the Serie A side in Turin, but were undone by a then-world-record transfer fee as Pogba returned to Old Trafford.

Pogba is expected to be pivotal to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s plans ahead of the two clubs meeting in the Champions League quarter-final, first-leg tie in Manchester on Wednesday, after he missed the incredible last-16 comeback win against Paris Saint-Germain through suspension.

“In the summer of 2015, Paul Pogba was playing in Turin and we simply told Juve that, if one day they decide to sell the player, we would be interested,” Bartomeu told ESPN FC.

“When they sold the player, they told us what the offer would have to be and we couldn’t afford that amount of money at the time.

“So he went to United, and he’s making them better as a team because he’s one of the stars of the world of football right now.”

Pogba returned to Manchester United in August 2016 after four years at Juventus

“In the summer of 2015, Paul Pogba was playing in Turin and we simply told Juve that, if one day they decide to sell the player, we would be interested,” Bartomeu told ESPN FC.

“When they sold the player, they told us what the offer would have to be and we couldn’t afford that amount of money at the time.

“So he went to United, and he’s making them better as a team because he’s one of the stars of the world of football right now.”

Pogba has been linked with a move away from United during the season and described the opportunity to join Real Madrid as “dream for anyone”last month, but Solskjaer played down fears over his future.

The 26-year-old has rediscovered his best form since the Norwegian’s arrival, scoring nine goals and making seven assists to help the club back into contention for a top-four finish in the Premier League.

United suffered a 2-1 league defeat against Wolves last week and are two points behind fourth-placed Arsenal in the table with six games left of their domestic campaign.

Source – Sky Sports

The Belgian got a wondergoal and dazzled Stamford Bridge for 90 minutes, and his showing won’t have been missed 784 miles away in Madrid.

Photo by: Getty Images

Sometimes it’s easy to take a footballer for granted, but a piece of magic against West Ham United reminded all who watch Chelsea that Eden Hazard is the Premier League’s most exciting footballer.

His 16 goals and 12 assists mean he has been the league’s most effective attacker this season, but it is his ability to bring the ‘wow factor’ that makes him one of the world’s most loved players.

A quick turn was followed by a turbo-charged dribble to break the midfield line controlled by Declan Rice and Mark Noble, before Hazard then switched it from his right to left foot to bamboozle West Ham’s centre-backs and blast a first-time left-footed strike past Lukasz Fabianski.

The goal will find a place among Hazard’s greatest hits alongside two away tremendous goals against Liverpool, one against Arsenal and the strike that ended Tottenham‘s title hopes here at Stamford Bridge back in 2016.

It was Hazard’s 108th goal in all competitions for Chelsea, matching the club’s ninth all-time top scorer George Hilsdon. It also ranks as his 85th in the league, putting him alongside the totals achieved by prolific goal scorers like Fernando Torres (85) and Cristiano Ronaldo (84) in this competition.

Now on 19 goals across the board, Hazard is near certain to finally break the 20 goal mark in all competitions for the first time since coming to west London.

It was a complete performance aside from his goal, with two wonderful balls giving his heir apparent Callum Hudson-Odoi chances to score on a surprise second start in two Premier League games.

Hazard could have had more goals, and brought the best out of a struggling Higuain as he elegantly moved across the pitch in a hope-boosting display in what has been an otherwise underwhelming season so far for the Blues.

If this continues from Hazard, then the now third-placed Chelsea must be considered favourites to achieve their goals of a top-four finish and qualify for the Champions League next season. His strikes were the only goals of a London derby in which there was no room for error for Maurizio Sarri’s side.

The goal served many further purposes away from getting the result as it reminded the Premier League what a joy it has been to watch one of the greatest dribblers of our time, with talk heating up over a probable summer move to Real Madrid.

Madrid are looking for a new Galactico to help rebuild after what has been a largely dismal season, having reintroduced legendary manager Zinedine Zidane to the Santiago Bernabeu dugout as they look to the future.

The former midfielder delighted world football for decades with his clubs and country and attracted a generation of admirers, including a young Hazard, who would emulate the Frenchman’s greatest moments as he looked to make it in the game himself.

Now back in the hot seat, he is targeting the 28-year-old who has just one year remaining on his current Chelsea deal, giving him the leverage he might need to force a move.

Madrid stated their intent this week as Chelsea hold out for £100 million for their most valuable and marketable player, whose talismanic displays they have come to rely on over the past seven years.

The Blues’ director Marina Granovskaia is famed in the football world for being a difficult negotiator and she will be considering adding a few million to any price tag after watching on tonight.

Chelsea want to renew Hazard’s contract, but it might be a summer of heartbreak that sees their decorated number 10 leave for another stage. He will have delivered five major honours, or perhaps six with a Europa League success this season.

There may be a heartbreak if he goes, but once the dust settles, Hazard will be considered a legend at Stamford Bridge, and it is moments like that which will inspire the next generation, just as Zidane did in his time at the top.

Source – Goal.com

Paris Saint-Germain’s Ligue 1 title celebrations were delayed on Sunday when they dropped their first points at home this season in a 2-2 draw against Strasbourg.

Dani Alves walks away as Strasbourg players celebrate after scoring a goal. Getty Images

Victory would have given PSG their eighth Ligue 1 title after Lille earlier drew 1-1 at Stade de Reims, but Sunday’s draw left Thomas Tuchel’s side on 81 points from 30 games.

Second-placed Lille have 61 points from 31 matches.

Eric Choupo-Moting’s early opener was cancelled out by Nuno Da Costa before Anthony Goncalves put the visitors ahead in the 38th minute.

Thilo Kehrer levelled in the 82nd minute but that was too little, too late for PSG, who until Sunday had won all of their 15 league matches at the Parc des Princes this season.

With Kylian Mbappe on the bench and Angel Di Maria, Edinson Cavani and Neymar all injured, Choupo-Moting was the only striker on the pitch and he opened the scoring after 13 minutes from inside the box.

He was later in the path of Christopher Nkunku’s delicate chip, farcically stopping the ball on the goal line to prevent his own side from moving 2-1 up after Da Costa’s equaliser from close range in the 26th.

Goncalves’s stunning volley from 18 metres put Strasbourg ahead seven minutes before the break against a PSG side who had previously been behind on the scoreline for only three minutes in Ligue 1 this season.

Tuchel eventually sent Mbappe on the pitch to take Choupo-Moting’s place and the France striker had an immediate impact, unsettling the Strasbourg defence with his devastating runs.

Dani Alves came close to an equaliser in the 69th minute, only for his spectacular overhead kick to crash on to the crossbar.

PSG made it 2-2 eight minutes from time when Kehrer headed home but despite the late efforts of Mbappe and Alves, the hosts were left frustrated.

They will wrap up their sixth title in the last seven seasons if they avoid defeat at Lille next Sunday.

Source – ESPN