UEFA Champions League
MAN CITY HUNGRY BUT LYON WON’T BE EASY MEAT IN LAST-8 CLASH
Despite winning every domestic trophy since the Abu Dhabi takeover in 2008, the biggest slight on Manchester City has been their lack of European pedigree.
Aside from winning the now-defunct Cup-Winners’ Cup in 1970, the English Premier League side have never tasted success on the continent.
Even the injection of funds to become the world’s first billion-dollar football club has not helped City shed their underachieving tag in Europe, having only once reached the last four of the Champions League in 2016.
But there may be no better year than this for City to finally stamp their mark as three of the four semi-finalists will be seeking their maiden European Cup.
Admitting they need to win the trophy to truly establish themselves as European powerhouses, defender Kyle Walker told the club website: “If you had asked me two years ago when I signed here (from Tottenham), I would have probably said that the Premier League was the big one for me, having not won it before.
“Now I have collected two of them and a number of others and this (the Champions League) is the one that I want. I can probably speak on behalf of the whole squad and Manchester City as well for what they need to put them onto that next pedestal.”
Last Friday, Pep Guardiola’s men eliminated 13-time champions Real Madrid 4-2 on aggregate in the last 16 and are firm favourites heading into today’s quarter-final clash against Lyon.
Walker, though, has warned his side not to overlook the Ligue 1 team, who are brimming with confidence after knocking out Serie A champions Juventus on away goals.
“Lyon have got good players. Knocking out Juventus speaks volumes. You need to be a very good team, very disciplined to beat Juventus over two legs,” he said.
The England international has every reason to be cautious. In the previous competition, they played each other in the group stage and Lyon were unbeaten both times, winning 2-1 at the Etihad and drawing 2-2 at home.
The bulk of that Lyon side is still intact and while their days as France’s dominant team have become a distant memory since the 2011 Qatari takeover of Paris Saint-Germain, Rudi Garcia’s unheralded team should not be underestimated.
They were seventh when the Ligue 1 season ended with 10 rounds left in late April because of the coronavirus pandemic.
That means unless Garcia’s men can lift their first Champions League title, they will not be playing in Europe next term for the first time since the 1996-97 season, and that hunger to put things right is fuelling them.
Only once have Lyon made it beyond this stage – they lost to Bayern Munich in the 2010 semi-finals, but their French coach feels they are here on merit.
“We wanted to get to the ‘Final Eight’ in Lisbon and here we are,” said Garcia. “We are the outsiders now but that suits us.”
Their best player, as was the case two years ago, remains former Manchester United forward Memphis Depay, who has scored six goals in as many appearances in Europe this campaign, and sporting director Juninho Pernambucano believes the team “are ready to do great things”.
Beating City would fall into that category, and they have done that before.
AFP/Reuters
UEFA Champions League
Osimhen and Aubameyang: Africa’s First Men of the Match in 2025/26 Champions League
The Champions League has barely started and already African fans have something to be proud of.
Two of the continent’s biggest names, Victor Osimhen from Nigeria and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Gabon, have become the first African players this season to be named Man of the Match.
For Osimhen, it was a night to remember in Istanbul. Galatasaray were up against Liverpool, a team with a European pedigree and needed someone to step up. Osimhen did just that.
His goal gave Galatasaray a 1-0 win but it was more than just the goal. His energy and how he kept Liverpool’s defenders on their toes all night made him the best player on the pitch.
So his winning of the UEFA Man of the Match award. Galatasaray fans had proof they have a striker who can change games at the highest level.
Meanwhile, on the same night in Marseille, Aubameyang was showing why he has been Africa’s most reliable goal scorer for over a decade.
At 36, some wondered if he still had it on nights like this. His answer was a thunderous “YES.”
Marseille tore Ajax apart in a 4–0 demolition that saw Aubameyang seal his stature as the orchestrator and heartbeat of the French club’s attack.
His movement, his composure and his leadership stood out. So much so that he too was rightfully awarded the Man of the Match.
The fact that these two happened on the same night made it even more special for African football fans.
Osimhen represents the new generation: quick, hungry and with still a few years ahead to make history.
Aubameyang is the veteran still out there to prove – even though he really has nothing to prove anymore – that experience and class don’t fade easily.
Together, they gave African football fans a double reason to smile.
For Nigeria and Gabon, these awards are more than individual trophies. They are ultimately a reminder of how much African players contribute to the Champions League season in, season out.
And the tournament is still in its early stages. So there’s every chance more players from the continent will follow in their footsteps before the Budapest finale in 2026. Only good omens for the 2025 AFCON that starts in a few months.
-Morocco World News
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In his glory days, Jose Mourinho celebrated dramatic goals from his teams by sprinting down the touchline, sometimes sliding on his knees for extra euphoric effect.
On Tuesday, back at his former club Chelsea as the new coach of Benfica, Mourinho’s most eye-catching intervention was down the touchline again, but this time his run was to urge his team’s fans to stop hurling objects onto the pitch.
Benfica under Mourinho, in his fourth game in charge, were defeated 1-0 by an under-strength Chelsea side in the Champions League after a fist-half Richard Rios own goal.
The self-declared “Special One” was lauded by the home fans with a few choruses of “Jose Mou-rin-ho” in recognition of his successes – three Premier League titles and four other trophies – which no other Chelsea manager has come close to matching.
Mourinho, 62, acknowledged the chants with a gentle wave, got a cheer when he ventured onto the pitch to clear a spare ball and quickly vanished down the tunnel at the final whistle after shaking the hand of Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca.
It was all a far cry from the fervour of 20 years ago when Mourinho – having led Porto to an unlikely Champions League triumph – turned Chelsea into English champions for the first time in 50 years in 2005 and won the title again a year later.
After a collapse of form, Mourinho departed in 2007 but he won the Champions League again, this time with Inter Milan in 2010, knocking out the Londoners on the way to the final.
He went on to manage Real Madrid before returning to Chelsea where he claimed a third English title and then had spells at Manchester United, London side Tottenham Hotspur – an unforgivable move for many Chelsea fans at the time – and Roma.
As the big offers dried up, Mourinho went on to coach Fenerbahce in Turkey where he lasted little more than a year before his return to Portuguese football with Benfica.
Asked after Tuesday’s defeat by Chelsea if he still had the drive of the early days of his career, Mourinho insisted he felt more motivated.
“If I am in a job it’s because I like to put myself on the line every day,” he told reporters. “I am desperate to win the next match.”
Mourinho said he thought Benfica had deserved more from the game. “We started well, we controlled well. I don’t know if I can say big chances but we had chances for sure.”
Chelsea’s Maresca said he was relieved to secure a win – albeit a scrappy one – after two consecutive defeats in the Premier League and a 3-1 loss at Bayern Munich in the his side’s Champions League opener.
“Sometimes you need to learn to win in another way,” he said of Chelsea’s improved defensive performance. “At least we learned how to win a game with a red card.”
Striker Joao Pedro was dismissed for a second yellow card after coming on as a substitute, the third time in four matches that Chelsea have finished with 10 men
-Reuters
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Hosts Eintracht Frankfurt scored four times in 29 minutes to bounce back from a goal down and hammer Galatasaray 5-1 in their Champions League opener on Thursday.
The Turkish sides are without their talismanic striker, Victor Osimhen who was injured while on international duty with Nigeria.
The Turks had hit Frankfurt on the break with Yunus Akgun completing the move from a Leroy Sane assist in the eighth minute. Germany international Sane, who joined from Bayern Munich this season, became the only player in Champions League history to play for four or more clubs and score or assist on his debut for each of them.
Frankfurt, competing for only the second time in the Champions League main round, struggled to break through Galatasaray’s defence until a defensive error from Akgun in the 37th. Ritsu Doan pounced, charged into the box and Davinson Sanchez deflected the Japanese winger’s shot in for an own goal.
The hosts took the lead in first-half stoppage time when 19-year-old Turkey international Can Uzun scored a superb goal on his Champions League debut after fine control and a quick turn in the box. The hosts netted again before halftime with Jonathan Burkardt’s well-timed glancing header putting them 3-1 up.
With the visitors forced to take more risks after the break, Frankfurt found space and Burkardt completed his dream Champions League debut with another header in the 66th for his second goal of the evening. Ansgar Knauff completed the rout in the 75th.
Frankfurt next travel to Atletico Madrid on September 30 when Galatasaray host Liverpool.
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