(GSM) Liverpool coach, Rafael Benitez believes Liverpool will land one of the most difficult trophies to win should they sign off the 2009-10 campaign with Europa League glory.
The Reds boss reckons the calibre of opposition his side will have to overcome makes it one of the toughest cup competitions around, with a potential final date with host club Hamburg on the horizon should they see off Atletico Madrid.
I think the Europa League is massive compared, say, to the Carling Cup because of the teams left, he said.
The best possible finish to the season for us would be winning the Europa League or being in the top four. If not, then you have to understand that a bad season is part of the game. I ve not had many bad seasons, so that is a problem for me.
The pain of losing last season s Champions League final still haunts Atletico Madrid head coach Diego Simeone, who revealed he feels pain when hearing the iconic competition anthem.
Atletico lost on penalties to city rivals Real Madrid after the 2015-16 showpiece ended all-square in Milan.
It was the second time in three seasons Atletico suffered defeat to Madrid in a European final, having lost 4-1 after extra time in Lisbon and it was a result that left Simeone doubting his future.
Every time I hear the competition hymn I feel pain, Simeone told Onda Cero.
For me Milan was a failure. For me failure is not to reach the goal and I had the goal to win that Champions League and not win and it hurt me a lot.
I knew that the following season was go…
Las Palmas have announced the signing of Alen Halilovic from Hamburg on an 18-month loan deal.
The 20-year-old Croatia international only moved to the Bundesliga from Barcelona in July but has struggled to settle in Germany and has not played since October 21.
The attacking midfielder has now returned to LaLiga on a temporary deal, although Las Palmas have an option to make the move permanent should he impress in Gran Canaria.
Las Palmas and Hamburg have reached an agreement for the transfer of Croatia international player Alen Halilovic until the end of the 2017-18 season, a club statement confirmed.
In the loan contract, the club has been granted a purchase option for the young player.
La UD Las Palmas acuerda con el Hamburgo la cesión de Ha…
Paris Saint-Germain sealed a clean sweep of domestic French trophies for 2019-20 as Keylor Navas and Pablo Sarabia wrapped up a 6-5 penalty shoot-out victory over Lyon after 120 goalless minutes in the last ever Coupe de la Ligue final.
Thomas Tuchel s men had already clinched the Trophee des Champions, Ligue 1 and the Coupe de France, and despite the absence of the injured Kylian Mbappe on Friday, PSG just about did enough to see off Les Gones.
While both sides crafted several half-chances, the match s tempo resembled that of a pre-season contest as opposed to a cup final, and PSG – who were 1-0 victors in last weekend s Coupe de France showpiece – perhaps unsurprisingly looked a little sharper.
A flurry of activity towards the end of the opening 45 minutes …
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Barcelona will take on Napoli at Camp Nou in the second leg of their Champions League Round of 16 tie this weekend. The first leg of the tie ended in a 1-1 draw in Naples in Italy, and the Spanish giants will confident of getting the job done in the second leg, which is slated to kick off at 8pm UK time on Saturday evening. Both the Blaugrana and Napoli are attack-minded teams, and there should be a few goals in the game at Camp Nou.
Barcelona
Barcelona failed to win La Liga this past season, with bitter rivals Real Madrid clinching the title with relative ease. There are boardroom problems at Camp Nou, and the future of superstar Lionel Messi is also wrapped up in uncertainty. The Blaugrana are reportedly looking to sell a number of thei…
Successful manager
Roy Hodgson did an absolutely wonderful job as the manager of Fulham and it was a devastating blow for the club to lose him to Liverpool.
I wondered if this could be a very bad time for Fulham because their success seemed intrinsically linked to Hodgson, in the way that Charlton flourished under Alan Curbishley and then plummeted when he left.
Secret
It is now a not very well kept secret that later this week the current Ajax boss Martin Jol will named as Hodgson’s replacement. This is great news for Fulham fans and I think this appointment is about as good as you could have had.
There were plenty of other managers linked to the role. Sven Goran Eriksson is believed to have talked to Fulham but is now talking about signing an ex…
Premier League club Liverpool could be bought by a Chinese business tycoon within days, according to reports here on Monday.
Kenny Huang, head of Hong-Kong based investment company QSL Sports Ltd, is reported to be in talks with the Royal Bank of Scotland with the aim of taking full control of the club which has been up for sale since April.
A deal has to be done before the transfer window closes (on 31 August), a source close to Huang told BBC Sport.
Huang has made a firm proposal. The club s board has to sanction the sale and it could be sewn up in days.
Huang is offering to clear Liverpool s debt to RBS and hand new manager Roy Hodgson funds to do business in the transfer window. The tycoon also plans to build the club a new stadium.
Kenny…
Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has insisted that Edin Dzeko will not be sold when the transfer window reopens, .
The Bosnia and Herzegovina international, who was handed a rare start at the weekend, scored the only goal of the game as City edged past Crystal Palace to briefly rise to the top of the table.
With Alvaro Negredo and the currently injured Sergio Aguero the club’s first choice strikers, speculation had arose around the former Wolfsburg man’s future, but Pellegrini is certain that he will not be allowed to leave amid rumours that Arsenal are interested in securing his services.
The 27 year old, who moved to Manchester for £27m in 2010, has scored fifty goals in one hundred and twenty-eight appearances.
He is likely to remain …
Lazio have been dealt a massive blow with Ederson to miss the rest of the season due to surgery for detached tendons in his thigh.
The Brazilian midfielder collapsed with what looked like a hamstring injury during Sunday s 3-2 win at Udinese.
But scans on Tuesday revealed tendons in his right thigh had become detached and surgery was the only option.
The 28-year-old suffered a similar injury to his left thigh in August 2010.
Unfortunately, the lad suffered the same lesion as in the past, but this time in his right thigh, doctor Roberto Bianchini told Lazio Style Radio.
He will need surgery and he asked for the same specialist who operated on him in Lyon. We agreed to have the surgery there.
It will be a long lay-off, about five or six m…
Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos insists he is not afraid of facing former club Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals.
The holders dispatched Napoli 6-2 on aggregate to book their place in the last eight for the seventh season in succession.
They will meet Bayern coached by former Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti in the tie next month, with the Bundesliga leaders having destroyed Arsenal 10-2 across two legs to keep their hopes of a treble alive.
Bayern have won 11 out of 13 games since the turn of the year and all of their last six, but Kroos who left the Allianz Arena for Madrid in 2014 is relishing the meeting.
I m not scared of Bayern Munich, the Germany international told Faz Sport. If you want to win the Champions League, you have to b…