International Football
Champions League: Heavy Burden May Bundle Arsenal Out
Arsenal players are condemned to attack and attack if a UEFA Champions League ticket must be obtained this Tuesday. Coming at the back of a 1-3 loss last Sunday to Liverpool in the English Premiership, the woes of the London side are compounded by the heavy burden that Bayern Munich had put on Arsene Wenger and his wards.
Arsene Wenger must retrieve a 5-1 defeat to reach their first quarterfinal spot in seven years.
Getting into the quarterfinals seems impossible as only three teams in history ever overturned a four-goal first leg loss in the UEFA Champions League.
The three instances, sadly, are not in recent time. First, La Chaux-de-Fonds of Switzerland could not sustain a 6-2 first leg first round win in the 1961/62 European Cup Winners Cup defeat of Leixões of Portugal.
The Portuguese club upturned the table, 5-0 in the return leg. Next was Partizan of the then Yugoslavia (now Serbia) upturning a 6-2 loss to Queens Park Rangers in a UEFA Cup second round duel in 1984/85 season, winning 4-0 in Belgrade.
In similar circumstances, Real Madrid upturned a 5-1 loss to Borussia Mönchengladbach with a 4-0 win at home in the 1985/86 season. Will Arsenal perform the same feat on Tuesday? Can FC Barcelona which carries similar burden also upturn a 4-0 deficit on Wednesday against PSG?
Wenger seems to have come to terms with the burden he now carries. He told UEFA.com: “We have no choice – we have to attack and to try to score goals.”
Anything contrary to that will see Arsenal getting a seventh straight last-16 exit. As for Bayern, the last time it took a Round of 16 exit was in 2011.
The Germans seem to be the favourites to advance to the quarter finals which draws will hold in Nyon on March 17.
Arsenal: Ospina; Bellerín, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal; Coquelin, Xhaka; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Iwobi, Walcott; Sánchez.
Out: Özil (illness), Elneny (ankle), Cazorla (ankle), Mertesacker (knee)
Misses next match if booked: Xhaka
Bayern: Ulreich; Rafinha, Martínez, Alaba, Bernat; Kimmich, Thiago, Müller; Costa, Robben; Lewandowski.
Out: Lahm (suspended), Boateng (selection reasons)
Doubtful: Neuer (calf)
Misses next match if booked: Boateng
Well-travelled Portuguese coach Paulo Duarte has been named as Guinea’s new coach, less than a month before their next round of World Cup qualifiers.
Duarte, 56, has twice previously coached Burkina Faso and taken charge of Gabon and Togo, while also coaching at clubs in Portugal, France, Tunisia, Angola and Saudi Arabia.
Guinea’s football federation gave no contract details when they made the announcement on Monday, but said they would be looking for Duarte to “restructure their national team”.
Guinea trail leaders Algeria by eight points in their World Cup qualifying group with four games remaining, leaving them with only a slim chance of qualification.
They play Somalia away on September 5 and then Algeria at home on September 8 in their next two qualifiers although a stadium ban means Guinea have moved their home game to Casablanca, Morocco.
-Reuters
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Veteran coach Louis van Gaal says he has been cured of cancer and is keen for a return to the higher levels of the game.
The 73-year-old announced three years ago that he was suffering from prostate cancer, but told a Dutch television talk show, “I’m no longer bothered by cancer.”
When he announced his illness, Van Gaal was the coach of the Dutch national team, but he has not worked since the last World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
“Two years ago, I had a few operations. It was all bad then. But it all worked out in the end. I have check-ups every few months, and that’s going well. I’m getting fitter and fitter,” he said.
Van Gaal, whose career has included stints at Ajax Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, reiterated a lack of interest in returning to club management but said becoming the national coach of a top-tier country could tempt him back.
He now serves as a special advisor to Ajax.
-Reuters
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In a compelling twist of football destiny, Davide Ancelotti is stepping into his own spotlight as he begins his first head coaching role at Brazilian club Botafogo—just months after parting ways with his legendary father, Carlo Ancelotti, at Real Madrid.
The 35-year-old has been appointed as Botafogo’s new manager, the club announced on Tuesday, following the sacking of Renato Paiva. Davide, who has spent the last decade working alongside his father at some of Europe’s top clubs—including Bayern Munich, Napoli, Everton, and Real Madrid—has signed a one-year deal with the Rio-based team.
This marks a significant milestone for the younger Ancelotti, whose career has long been shaped by his father’s influence, but who now faces the challenge of carving his own identity on the touchline.
The move comes shortly after both father and son departed Real Madrid at the end of last season, with Carlo taking over the Brazilian national team. Now, in a poetic alignment, father and son find themselves on different paths within Brazilian football—one leading the Seleção, the other steering the fortunes of a storied domestic club.
Botafogo’s decision to appoint Davide follows a controversial parting with Paiva, who was dismissed just days after their exit from the Club World Cup. Though he oversaw a stunning win over Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain, a 1-0 extra-time loss to Palmeiras in the round of 16 proved to be his final act after just four months in charge.
As Davide Ancelotti begins this new chapter, all eyes will be on whether the son of one of football’s most decorated managers can step out from his father’s shadow—and perhaps, in time, build a legacy of his own.
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