Arsenal look to end Bayern jinx, Ronaldo poised to break rare drought – Champions League in Opta num
History is very much against Arsenal as they prepare to visit Bayern Munich in the first leg of the Champions League s round of 16 on Wednesday, as Real Madrid seek to improve on an unhappy knockout record against Italian opponents.
Despite some encouraging performances in Group A, topping the table ahead of Paris Saint-Germain, it will not get any easier for the Gunners at Allianz Arena.
Holders Madrid meanwhile, who were second in Group F behind Borussia Dortmund, will host Napoli in their first leg.
We look at the best stats from the two fixtures, courtesy of Opta.
Bayern Munich v Arsenal:
4 Bayern Munich and Arsenal are facing each other in the Champions League for the fourth time in the last five seasons (round of 16 in 2012-13, r…
ES Setif secured a spot in the semi-finals of the CAF Champions League on Saturday, simultaneously ending ES Tunis bid with a 2-2 draw.
Tunis led early in Algeria through Ahmed Akaichi but a brace from Akram Djahnit saw Setif take control at home.
Akaichi then registered a double of his own with 18 minutes remaining at the Stade du 8 Mai 1945 to equalise but Tunis were unable to find a winner, ensuring the Tunisian powerhouse failed to reach the final four of the African continental competition for the first time since 2009.
The draw saw second-placed Setif move to nine points in Group B of the Champions League, one point adrift of leaders CS Sfaxien.
Tunis moved off the bottom of the standings above Al Ahli Benghazi on goal difference but have just four …
Lionel Messi backed up his Clasico heroics with two more goals as Barcelona dispatched lowly Osasuna 7-1 to pile further pressure on Real Madrid in LaLiga s title race.
Messi capped a virtuoso individual display with an injury time winner at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday, moving Luis Enrique s men back to the top of the table on goal difference.
Madrid will hope to quickly close up a three-point deficit when they face Deportivo La Coruna later on Wednesday, after which they will still have a game in hand on their rivals.
Messi also reached 500 goals for Barcelona with his Clasico brace and a huge banner at Camp Nou honoured his achievement before kick-off.
He made it 501 in the 12th minute and scored a wonderful second after midfielder Andre Gomes nette…
Cheltenham Town have parted company with manager Mark Yates after a run of four consecutive defeats saw them drop to 18th in League Two.
A former player and promotion-winning captain at the club, Yates returned to Whaddon Road in December 2009.
Yates led the team to the League Two play-offs in 2011-12 and 2012-13, but has paid the price for Cheltenham s poor recent run of form, which has seen them win just two and lose eight of their past 12 league fixtures.
Chairman Paul Baker released a statement on Monday expressing his concern at the results, and made reference to underlying issues , without expanding further.
On Tuesday, Cheltenham confirmed that Yates had left the club, with an announcement on a new manager expected on Thursday.
It was the …
Cristiano Ronaldo has turned 30 and his list of achievements is enough to make most people his age feel a little inadequate.
Cristiano Ronaldo will go down as one of football s all-time greats. To mark the Real Madrid and Portugal star s 30th birthday, we look at his career in numbers.
£12.24million Manchester United parted with a sizeable sum to bring Ronaldo from Sporting Lisbon in August, 2003. Ronaldo ran the show for Sporting in a 3-1 friendly win against the English giants and boss Alex Ferguson later claimed his players urged him to sign the attacker after his stunning performance.
28 The number Ronaldo requested to wear at United. That was turned down by Ferguson, though, who wanted him to wear the club s number seven shirt made famous by the likes o…
Casemiro has called on Real Madrid to put their Clasico thrashing firmly in the past when they travel to face Eibar on Sunday.
A 4-0 defeat to Barcelona last Saturday has left Rafael Benitez s side six points behind the champions in La Liga and increased the pressure on the head coach s position.
Madrid responded with a 4-3 win over Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Wednesday, in which they almost allowed a four-goal lead to slip in the final 15 minutes after Cristiano Ronaldo had scored twice and set up the other two for Luka Modric and Dani Carvajal.
Casemiro returned to the side for that victory in Lviv after missing the Clasico, but the Brazilian insists he was not angry at sitting out the Barca defeat and has urged his side to put it behind them.
Cristiano Ronaldo has won the UEFA Best Player in Europe award for the third time in four years.
Barcelona star Lionel Messi and Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon were beaten to the accolade by Ronaldo.
The Real Madrid star, 32, scooped the honour after helping his side to Champions League glory in 2016-17, scoring 12 goals in the competition.
A magnificent campaign from Ronaldo saw him score a total of 42 goals across all competitions as Madrid added a LaLiga title to the defence of their European crown.
[My goal is] the same every year the same challenge to win everything, if possible, with my club and the national team, Ronaldo said.
As I said before, I m so glad to be here. It is an honour to win this trophy again. I have to say thanks to…
Rudi Voller believes England and Belgium are capable of challenging a Germany team he feels is capable of becoming just the third nation to successfully defend the World Cup.
Germany remain the top-ranked side in the world having lifted the World Cup for the fourth time in 2014.
They are unsurprisingly the favourites to retain the title but Voller expects 2010 winners Spain and Euro 2016 finalists France to be in contention, along with England and Belgium.
England have not reached the quarter-finals of a World Cup since 2006 and were stunningly beaten by Iceland in the knockout stages of Euro 2016.
However, they went through qualifying unbeaten and held Germany to a 0-0 draw at Wembley on Friday.
Belgium, quarter-finalists at the last World Cup an…
Verdict: Zlatan Ibrahimovic to score anytime
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Premier League heavyweights Manchester United travel to Switzerland to finish the job in the group stage and secure their place in the knockouts. Jose Mourinho’s troops only need a point to secure the top-table finish but they will know better than to underestimate the Basel side.
Basel
If anyone knows how to stage an upset against Manchester United than that’s definitely Swiss giants Basel. It was in Switzerland that Basel knocked Manchester United out of the group stage of Europe’s elite competition following the scintillating 3-3 draw, back in the 2011/12 season.
Manchester United have moved past on that disappointing times and changed quite a bit, but so did Basel who …
Everton are interested in signing Folarin Balogun from Premier League rivals Arsenal in the summer transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that although the Gunners do not want to sell the striker at the end of the season, if the youngster does push for a move away from the Emirates Stadium, then Arsenal could ask for around £30 million in transfer fees for him.
Balogun is on loan at Reims at the moment. The 21-year-old striker moved to the French club on a loan deal in the summer of 2022 and is scheduled to return to his parent club Arsenal at the end of the season. The England Under-21 international striker has made 27 starts and three substitute appearances in Ligue 1 for Reims so far this season, scoring 18 goals and providing two assists in the process.
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