EUROPA League
Balogun, Aribo with Rangers, join Barca in Europa Q’finals
Super Eagles duo, Leon Balogun and Joe Aribo on Thursday played vital role as FC Rangers reached their first European quarter-final in 14 years after a resilient second-leg showing at Red Star Belgrade sealed a landmark Europa League aggregate victory.
While inspiring midfielder, Aribo played for 68 minutes, his compatriot, Balogun was in action for the entire duration. Mirko Ivanic drilled in an early opener to give the Serbian champions hope at the hostile Rajko Mitic Stadium.
But Ryan Kent’s deflected second-half finish ended the tie as a contest after Allan McGregor made several key saves.
Ben Nabouhane grabbed a late Red Star consolation from the spot.
Rangers were rocked for spells with the aggregate scoreline at 3-1, but yet again their veteran keeper was on hand to deliver another outstanding performance in his 99th in European for the Scottish champions, ensuring their advantage was not reduced further.
The Ibrox side will discover their last-eight opponents in today’s draw, the first time they have reached this stage since their journey to the UEFA Cup final in 2008.
In another encounter, Barcelona had to come from behind to seal a 2-1 victory over Galatasaray and book their place in the quarter-finals.
Xavi’s men attempted to dominate possession early on but Galatasaray had the game’s first real chance. Through on goal, Bafetimbi Gomis but saw his shot repelled by a desperate lunge from Jordi Alba.
Frenkie de Jong found himself in a similar position a few minutes later. The Dutchman really should have scored but dragged his effort wide under little pressure.
The opener came shortly before the half-hour mark from Galatasaray captain Marcao, whose diving header nestled perfectly into Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s side netting. The defender booted the corner flag in celebration, breaking it and forcing a two-minute delay while it was fixed.
Pedri looked a real threat for Barcelona and netted his side’s equaliser ten minutes later. The young midfielder sat two defenders down before firing home from close range.
Barcelona nearly went ahead with the final kick of the first half. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was at full stretch to connect with a cross, but his looping header hit the top of the crossbar and went behind.
They would eventually get that go-ahead goal a few minutes after the break. Inaki Pena made two excellent saves to deny Sergio Busquets and Pedri, but he could not get to the final effort from Aubameyang, who tapped home to keep his outrageous run of form going.
That goal changed the tone of the whole game. Barcelona began to dominate possession and control everything about the match, and although clear-cut chances were at a premium, Barcelona looked comfortably on top.
Unfortunately, the game ended on a bit of a sour note. Alba’s perceived timewasting drew the ire of the home fans, who began launching missiles in his direction. The left-back responded by hoofing the ball into the crowd, kicking off a bit of an on-field skirmish.
Things soon calmed down and Barcelona should have killed the game off with a third, only for Ferran Torres to strike the crossbar with an effort that VAR probably would have ruled onside had he scored.
UEFA has decided to postpone its assessment of the multi-club ownership case involving Olympique Lyonnais and Crystal Palace until the French club’s relegation has been confirmed, European football’s governing body said on Monday.
The multi-club ownership regulations do not allow clubs under the same ownership compete in the same European competition, and American businessman John Textor holds a stake in both Palace and Lyon.
Palace qualified for the Europa League by winning the FA Cup last season while Lyon reached the competition by finishing sixth in Ligue 1 but have since been relegated to Ligue 2 by French football’s financial watchdog (DNCG).
Lyon are appealing the decision, which came following an audit of the club’s finances, and UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body will now await the outcome of the appeal before making its decision.
UEFA and Lyon reached a settlement agreement over the club’s breach of the financial sustainability requirements, and as part of the settlement, Lyon agreed to their exclusion from European competition should the DNCG confirm their relegation.
League of Ireland club Drogheda United lost an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport earlier this month over their exclusion from the Conference League, after falling foul of the multi-club ownership rules.
-Reuters
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Tottenham Hotspur have sacked manager Ange Postecoglou, the club said on Friday, little more than two weeks after the Australian guided the London club to a first major trophy in 17 years with victory in the Europa League final.
While Postecoglou’s fate has split opinion amongst the fans, the 59-year-old ultimately paid the price for an horrendous Premier League season which saw Tottenham finish 17th.
“The Board has unanimously concluded that it is in the best interests of the Club for a change to take place,” Tottenham said in a statement.
“Following a positive start in the 2023/24 Premier League (PL) season, we recorded 78 points from the last 66 PL games. This culminated in our worst-ever PL finish last season.”
Postecoglou leaves two years to the day after his appointment and 16 days after his side beat Manchester United 1-0 in Bilbao for the club’s first silverware since 2008, a win that also put them in next season’s Champions League.
The former Celtic manager has had to face questions over his future for several months, yet delivered on his claim early last season that he always wins a trophy in his second season in a job
He also took Tottenham to the League Cup semi-final but their league campaign was their worst since 1976-77, the last time the club suffered relegation from the top flight.
Several of the club’s first team have voiced their support for Postecoglou since beating United, but chairman Daniel Levy is now searching for his fifth full-time manager in six years since Mauricio Pochettino was sacked in 2019.
“At times there were extenuating circumstances — injuries and then a decision to prioritise our European campaign,” the club said. “Whilst winning the Europa League this season ranks as one of the Club’s greatest moments, we cannot base our decision on emotions aligned to this triumph.”
Several managers have been linked to the Tottenham job, including Brentford’s Thomas Frank and Crystal Palace’s Oliver Glasner.
GOOD START
Postecoglou will walk away with his pride intact and a handsome bonus, but his recent comment to fans at the Europa League victory parade that the third season of a TV series is always better than the second now looks hollow.
It all started so well for Postecoglou. He began the 2023-24 campaign by guiding Tottenham to their best start to a top-flight season since the 1961 title-winning team.
That form soon dipped though and despite finishing fifth in his first campaign the momentum had long since gone.
This season Tottenham earned only 38 points and lost 22 top-flight matches. They managed five points from their last 12 league games and the only win they earned during that run was against a Southampton side who narrowly avoided becoming statistically the worst team ever in the Premier League.
Postecoglou has pointed to a long injury list which denied him the likes of Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Dejan Kulusevski, Destiny Udogie, Dominic Solanke, James Maddison and Son Heung-min for significant periods.
But while it has clearly been one of long-serving chairman Levy’s toughest calls, he has concluded that Postecoglou is not the man to lead the club forward.
“We have made what we believe is the right decision to give us the best chance of success going forward, not the easy decision,” the club statement said.
“We have a talented, young squad and Ange has given us a great platform to build upon. We should like to express our gratitude to him. We wish him well for the future — he will always be welcome back at our home.”
Many fans reacted to the news of Postecoglou’s sacking with surprise, but England manager Thomas Tuchel said that sometimes even winning a trophy is not enough.
“I feel for every manager and I have huge sympathy for every manager in these moments because I was in the same spot,” the German, who was sacked by Chelsea despite taking them to the Champions League title, said on Friday.
“If the trust is not there anymore then sometimes it’s not enough to win a trophy.”
-Reuters
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UEFA apologised for running out of winners’ medals during the Europa League final trophy ceremony on Wednesday after more Tottenham Hotspur players lined up to receive their prizes.
Spurs captain Son Heung-min and two other players, the last to line up for individual medals, were left empty-handed after their team beat Manchester United 1-0 to win the club’s fourth European title on Wednesday.
Son lifted the trophy without a medal around his neck.
“To our great displeasure, we did not have enough medals available on stage during the trophy ceremony presentation due to an unexpected discrepancy in the player count …” British media quoted European soccer’s governing body as saying on Thursday.
“More team members – including injured players – participated in the ceremony than initially anticipated.
“The missing medals were promptly delivered to the winning team in the dressing room, along with our sincerest apologies for the oversight.”
-Reuters
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