Category: Sport

According to reports, Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola has ‘agreed’ to offload two ‘dispensable’ stars in a deal to sign Florian Wirtz.

The Premier League holders are going through a mini-crisis as they have won just one of their past nine games across all competitions and are 19th in the form table.

Guardiola recently penned a contract extension and has a huge job as a big rebuild is required at Man City.

One of his priorities could be to replace Kevin De Bruyne, who is among the 20 best footballers who could become a free agent in 2025.

De Bruyne has been regarded as one of the best midfielders in the world, though he has been impacted by injuries in recent seasons.

The 33-year-old will be difficult to replace, but Wirtz has been mooted as a potential successor as he has sparkled for Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga.

READ: Pep Guardiola’s latest Manchester City loyalty pledge sparks fresh concerns as dour endgame awaits

The 21-year-old is regarded as one of the best young footballers in the world. This season, he has ten goals and five assists in his 23 appearances for Bayer Leverkusen.

A report in Spain claims Bayer Leverkusen have ‘set an incredible asking price’ as they want 130 million euros amid interest from Man City, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain.

Wirtz is deemed the ‘big favourite’ to replace De Bruyne, who has ‘received some very attractive offers’ from the Saudi Pro League.

Head coach Guardiola is said to be ‘insisting on signing Wirtz’ and has ‘agreed to include two players’ in a cash-plus-player deal as Oscar Bobb and James McAtee could leave.

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Man City reportedly ‘hope to get a head start on the auction and convince Wirtz as they have already started talks.

They are also trying to ‘land the player at a lower cost’ and ‘intend to include in the deal two players who have a clearly secondary role for Guardiola, and who are therefore completely dispensable’.

Regarding Man City’s intended ‘offer’ for Wirtz, the report adds.

‘This is the case of Oscar Bobb and James McAtee, who are two of the great talents that have come through the lower categories.

‘The incredible competition in the offensive area has caused them to be left without the opportunity to get minutes, and in Manchester they are willing to do without them to bring in Wirtz.

‘By including Bobb and McAtee in the deal for Wirtz, City hope Leverkusen will agree to a significant discount, lowering their demands from £130m to £80m. It could be one of the first bombshells of 2025.’

Famous Ukrainian Olympic athletes took part in a joint photo shoot with the military to create the calendar. The project involved 14 athletes, including Olga Harlan and Zhan Beleniuk.

A photo shoot of the Olympic champions and medalists of the 2024 Olympic Games together with Ukrainian defenders for the calendar took place, UNN writes with reference to the NOC of Ukraine and the Olympic team.

We took part in a photo shoot:

Ukrainian fencers Olga Harlan, Yulia Bakastova, Olena Kravatska, and Alina Komashchuk;

High jumpers Yaroslava Maguchikh, Iryna Gerashchenko, and shooter Serhiy Kulish;

Rowers Liudmyla Luzan and Anastasiia Rybachok;

Wrestlers Zhan Beleniuk, Iryna Kolyadenko, Parviz Nasibov;

Boxer Oleksandr Khyzhnyak;

Hammer thrower Mikhail Kokhan;

Vadym Gutzeit, President of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine.

Ukrainian athlete sets record time at prestigious Ironman in FloridaNov 9 2024, 02:56 AM • 20661 view

Sky Sports reporter Melissa Reddy has revealed another “reason” why Manchester United appointed Ruben Amorim to replace former head coach Erik ten Hag.

The 39-year-old took over at Old Trafford last month following the sacking of Ten Hag, who was dismissed with Man Utd placed 14th in the Premier League.

Amorim had a decent start at Man Utd. His first game in charge was a 1-1 draw at Ipswich Town and they then beat Bodo-Glimt and Everton. However, they have since suffered back-to-back defeats against Arsenal and Nottingham Forest.

This run of results leaves United 13th in the Premier League and they are eight points adrift of fourth-placed Man City before Sunday’s Manchester derby.

Following Amorim’s arrival, Man Utd have been linked with several potential signings. Despite this, it’s been reported that he has a ‘tight budget’ to work with in January.

Reddy confirms Man Utd “do not have money” in January and has revealed another “reason” why they appointed Amorim.

“Man Utd do not have money [to spend on transfers],” Reddy revealed on Sky Sports’ Transfer Talk podcast.

READ: Ratcliffe nothing but a ‘useful idiot’ at Man Utd as Glazers laugh

“It’s wild reading the transfer news and gossip on a daily basis and you see who they’re linked to and thinking ‘Where on earth are they going to get this money from for all these forwards?’

“They have made it quite clear – and it was communicated to Ruben Amorim – that the financial constraints are real. He has to extract the maximum from the talents at the club. That was part of the reasons they brought him in.

“He’s got a very good track record of individual development and developing the collective. We’ve seen teething issues with his structure so far, but over time they’re banking on him getting the right parts in place and really bringing it home.

“They have continuously said they won’t go on a spending spree like there was under Erik ten Hag and that they are going to operate in a much more sustainable approach.”

MORE MAN UTD COVERAGE ON F365…
👉 What one Man Utd player did to leave Ruben Amorim ‘furious’ against Everton
👉 Only Man Utd trio safe with ‘virtually every player’ for sale; INEOS ‘tempted’ to ‘cash-in’ on ‘favourite’
👉 Man Utd staff ‘disgruntled’ after new ‘brutal’ Ratcliffe ‘cut’ with situation ‘worse’ than under Glazers

Sky Sports are also reporting that ‘Marcus Rashford is among Man Utd stars available for transfer as INEOS look to raise funds’.

It is also noted that his ‘homegrown status makes him an obvious candidate’ to sell to increase funds ‘as his transfer would represent pure profit’. However, Reddy says there are currently “no suitors” for the England international.

“Now, if you look at that squad and you’re thinking, ‘where can they get that money from? Who is a good asset they can sell that they don’t actually need?’ You’re struggling,” Reddy added.

“And then you think of Marcus Rashford, because he could be banked as pure profit. There are no suitors for Marcus Rashford. There are none.

“Marcus Rashford, as with many of the squad, was someone they would have been open to offers for last summer, which we reported. There was no one knocking on the door.

“Unless there’s some massive shift in form and no more reports of off-the-pitch bad behaviour, I think that is going to remain the case.”

Sacking Ange Postecoglou makes no sense for Spurs mid-season, while we have stout defences of Manchester United.

Send your views to theeditor@football365.com

Why sack Ange in his second season?
The clamour for getting rid of Ange is increasing, but for many Spurs fans, in fact all the ones I know, the general consensus is “why bin him off now”?

It’s not news to anyone that Spurs sack managers around this time of year. Levy has form here. But what is the benefit of getting rid of Ange now? Who, really, would want to come to this circus who’s going to be a genuine upgrade?

Let the bloke see out the season; the club won’t get relegated, and finishing top four is becoming ever more unlikely. That said, we still have three chances of an Ange Second Season Trophy, and a group of players who, a few aside, are good at kicking a ball around. A young coach, tactically flexible and with a history of blooding youth players might well want to join come the summer.

I have my eye on McKenna at Ipswich. Seems to be grounded in the reality of Ipswich’s position in the Premier League unlike say, Russell Martin, and is acting accordingly, that is to say he plays the opposition as opposed to says ’this is who we are’, and is admired by the players he coaches (and coaching players to improvement is something I can’t say I see much of from Postecoglou).

But we can’t go around sacking coach after coach….after coach when we know the real issue is the bloke who keeps employing them.
Dan Mallerman

Man Utd optimism barring Bruno
Sweet Christ, Rami in with his latest wild hot take.

Yeah, we lost, with a corner again and two other poor goals conceded while we scored two decent enough ones. And let’s not forget, this Forest team has been flying. We’ve just changed manager. All new formation, players not all suited etc

Also, fairly critically, only 8 points back from 4th. Can we overcome that? Maybe, although I wouldn’t bank on it considering the teams in the top 4. But 6 from European places? Yes, that’s achievable. All the teams there have a good wobble in them.

Next, Ashworth hasn’t “walked away”; he’s been sent packing. Literally marched out of the front door. Bear in mind, he’s been here for 5 months, left Newcastle under a cloud and was leading the charge for us to sign Southgate in the summer. Certainly sounds like he didn’t align with the vision and won’t be missed, much less lamented. That last was a near sackable offence in itself!

Now, on to the players. There’s a solid core there but with some critical gaps (although not left back; we don’t play full backs in this formation…). We already knew this. Some players have been given the chance and failed. Others are being worked on. Others are waiting for their chance (i.e. not a match against 3 of the top 5). Still others are plugging a gap until the right option is there (*cough* Dalot *cough*). Some have surprised people. Talking players connecting, Rashford and Hojlund are often on the same wavelength and Amad is the key player for both but needs to be eased. We don’t need him or Mainoo crocked.

One thing that is definitely needed is someone else taking set pieces. Bruno is not and never has been it. So so many wasted opportunities as a result of a vague ball, if it even makes it past the first man. De Ligt is more than capable in the air, and obviously the slab is too. Hopefully Yoro as well.

But the biggest issue is not conceding from them. We lampoon thin-skinned Arsenal fans for being haters turned lovers of the corner routine, but it’s always been an important part of the game, and was for all of Sir Alex’s reign of terror. How many vital free kicks and corners from Beckham in 99 alone? If you can’t offer a threat at them, teams will be happy to give up free kicks and corners.

Again, Bruno is not that man. He’s also not good in the heart of midfield, he’s wasteful in possession, takes too many shots that have no chance and has an allergy to passing to strikers. However the biggest problem is that Mount is also not taking the chance to replace him. Nor is Garnacho. If we do pick up Angel Gomes and Edwards, or Mainoo moves forwards, then that could be an answer but right now he just needs to step down from set piece duty as without him at all we’re somehow worse.

I said before, we just need to get through these three games and see how things look. We had Arsenal neutralised until they started exploiting their corner routine. We shouldn’t have lost against Forest, and wouldn’t but for two bad mistakes (lovely swerve on that shot in terrible weather though – can we do a swap with Bruno?).

One thing is for sure though, the performances aren’t all bad. There’s good to build on, there’s issues to fix. The rest of December can set things right. I’m confident it will.
Badwolf

MORE MAN UTD COVERAGE ON F365…
👉 Ferdinand demands Man Utd sell their ‘s**t’ players in ‘brutal’ rant: ‘Get them the f**k out’
👉 Amorim wants Man Utd to get rid of £350k-a-week duo in January transfer budget ‘boost’
👉 Man Utd ‘nepo baby’ is ‘going around acting the big shot’ and Brailsford’s ‘bag man’

…Same old catastrophising on the United squad from the usual suspects. Many seem to understand or at least profess to understand that a new coach needs time to bring about changes with the team. Yet, as soon as a few results go awry the toys fly out the pram and we’re back to the drama, the crisis, and binning off 90% of the squad. I’m sat here just enjoying watching my team have a plan and some semblance of identity.

I’m sure improvements can be made in certain areas but it really isn’t that bad. This squad, when coached well, is certainly capable of challenging for 4th in the league. Amorim won’t have the opportunity to make that happen this season but 5th – 7th is well within reach. You have to give the guy time to coach his way. There’s already been signs of significant improvement and as that progresses your opinion of these supposedly useless players will change.

If we look at the squad reasonably then there is maybe one or two positions that need immediate attention with the rest to develop over time like every other team.

GK: Onana / Bayindir – good, no change

RCB: Yoro / Mazraoui – good, no change

CCB: Maguire / De Ligt – good, no change

LCB: Martinez / Shaw – this is a problem area especially as Martinez looks to be struggling with the amount of space he must cover. No immediate need but probably look to buy a starter in the summer.

RWB: Amad / Dalot – good, no change

LWB: Malacia / ??? – this is the major concern and needs rectifying in the January window.

CM: Ugarte / Mainoo / Casemiro / Eriksen – good starters bad backup. Kobbie is still very young so getting another similar player would probably help lighten his load plus a true DM as backup for Ugarte is required.

AM: Bruno / Garnacho / Rashford / Mount – ok for now but long term bringing in an elite no10 type player will be needed to really get the most from this system.

ST: Holjund / Zirkzee – the Dane looks good in this setup and back up will do in the short term. Looking at either an elite starter or veteran backup seems likely in the summer.

If we’re talking winning titles and reaching UCL finals then obviously more needs doing but that’s not where the team is at. The immediate goal is Champions League qualification and this is achievable with only minor changes and some more coaching.
Dave, Manchester (if Ashworth wasn’t working out seems smart to get rid quick, waste of money but it’s a below the fold story for any other club)

…I have to laugh/scroll-past people who make claims such as the whole squad needs a clear out, they’re all shit. Man Utd players are not shit just because of where they are in the table. Presumably the whole City squad are worthless now given their current run by the same logic?

If you look at the squad value in the premier league from transfermkt, Utd sit 5th behind (in order) City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool. (Premier League 24/25 | Transfermarkt)

On that valuation, 5th is a reasonable expectation of where they should be in the table with a few places above or below called over/under achieving. This tells me exactly what my eyes also tell me whenever I watch utd against whoever they are playing – Utd have the quality to be higher in the table but they are playing a lot worse than the sum of their parts – for years they have had no playing style, that is not going to be fixed overnight and a few shiny new players is not the answer either (although it is what the club have tried to do every year).

Amorin is using matches as his training and may well be rotating players more than he should but I’m backing him to turn things around and we’ll have much more of an idea after he’s got 15-20 games at utd under his belt. But don’t let that spoil a great opportunity for stupid knee-jerkery…

Also, if you look much further down the value table you see Bournemouth, Brentford and Fulham, squads valued at less than half of Utds, and are currently above Utd in the table. That is testament to how the circus at Old Trafford has been functioning. Rome wasn’t built in a day and the circus won’t be dismantled in a day either (although travelling circuses seem to do a good job of that – maybe Utd should get a new sporting director with an actual circus background…)

So please, laugh at us for a myriad of reasons but the quality of the squad does not excuse the league standing.
Jon, Cape Town

You can have Dalot
Neil, thanks so much for bringing some joy in these times of woe.

As a Utd ST holder I’ll happily drive him to Villa Park myself…I’ll even cover the fuel and rent till he finds somewhere to live. I guarantee after multiple high fives to team mates after his mistakes you will be regretting the no caveats

To paraphrase Joey Tribbiani ‘I’d happily rip off my arm just so i have something to throw at him’.
Red Red Robin

Man Utd are meme-tastic
Aside from the obvious why sign a DoF if you are only going to buy players to fit the manager, shouldn’t there be an overarching game plan in the first place?

I wondered as Van Nistelrooy got some decent results out of United during his interim spell – and getting a bit of a tune out of Leicester – whether a) he stole Amorim’s new manager bounce and b) whether they should have kept him on for the remainder of the year.

Of course, getting in a manager who simply gets something out of the current squad without a longer term goal isn’t the best long term plan. After all, that’s what happened with Ole. While it’s not clear if Van Nistelrooy has a philosophy or not.

The whole Ashworth saga does make a mockery out of the whole INEOS being clever sport managers. It’s one thing to show a certain business ruthlessness in making quick, tough decisions but the hypocrisy of the sheer waste of contract payouts compared to the money saving firing of low paid staff is stunning.

At first I thought Amorim’s statement of United ‘being a big club but not a big team’ was quite savvy – and then the Ashworth firing dropped. Makes one wonder how you measure ‘big club’ these days. Must be purely in memes.
Paul McDevitt

MORE MAN UTD COVERAGE ON F365…
👉 Ferdinand demands Man Utd sell their ‘s**t’ players in ‘brutal’ rant: ‘Get them the f**k out’
👉 Amorim wants Man Utd to get rid of £350k-a-week duo in January transfer budget ‘boost’
👉 Man Utd ‘nepo baby’ is ‘going around acting the big shot’ and Brailsford’s ‘bag man’

Chelsea might just have a plan
Is Chelsea’s current PL squad worth more than they paid for it? Probably yes.

Do Chelsea need to add many players over the next 5 years to keep progressing? Probably not.

What are the 5 biggest overspends in the current squad: Fofana, Cucu, Enzo, Mudryk, Disasi (cost €380m) currently worth? About €250m = Minus €130m

What are the 5 best value signings: Palmer, Sancho, Jackson, Tosin, Madueke (cost €150m) currently worth? About €400m = plus €250m.

What do Clearlake have to show for their crazy first year of spending? 5 or 6 current first team players.

Looks like those chimps down the bridge aint doing so badly after all!!
Ben Teacher

What about FFP?
With Chelsea playing so well I have one question to ask… when do they get their points deduction? Is it due this season or does it not start until after the City one finishes when hell freezes over? Is it like games in hand, where you have a points deduction in hand?

With tax exile Sir Jim, in between asking for taxpayers to fix his stadium, has got rid of concession tickets for the express purpose of giving pensioners’ money to millionaire footballers is it time to say bollocks to FFP? Its clearly not working.
Alex, South London

The Gravenberch turn
Responding to Mike, LFC, Dubai’s ask about worst takes in the mailbox we’ve come to regret… my regrettable entry is a view Mike himself might share: I said last year Bayern Munich fleeced us for Ryan Gravenberch, that he was a useless footballer incapable of graft, and that he was of the lowest technical ability. Hmm, I was a bit (more than a bit) misguided there.

Gravenberch is one of the first names on the team sheet and one of my favorite players to watch. My complete 180 on Gravenberch has actually given me a lot of pause; it’s fundamentally changed how I see footballers I perceive as “poor.” Like there are many, many awful players out there but now I’ll wonder if they also have a Gravenberch turn in them. By that I mean not only the spinny, juking midfield move he employs, but that any poor player could have a surprise turn, going from wretched to top class virtually overnight.
Eric, Los Angeles CA

Bad take
Leicester flavoured hot take for you. Patson Daka was going to be the new Jamie Vardy and rip sh*t up. To be fair, this was confidently stated after a 4 goal haul v Spartak Moscow in the Europa League the season he joined.
Rob, Leicester (the correct response was: who needs a new Jamie Vardy when we’ve got the old Jamie Vardy fuelled by a continuous reaction process involving red bull and skittles)

Commentary nonsense
Monday night’s Sky Premier league coverage featured some textbook commentating spam, perhaps best summarised by the following pearl from Andy Hinchcliffe:

“West Ham are going to struggle to get into the top half of the premier league this season, let alone the top 10 …”

Quality.

Hearing such gems helps to offset the innate anger I feel when someone says “he’s giving 110% !”

.. oh that’s nice of him, doing something that is totally impossible. I suppose for his next trick he might try a spot of walking on water or teleporting.
Sparky, LFC

Shakhtar's match against Bayern Munich at Arena AufSchalke was attended by 57,079 spectators. This is the largest number of fans at the home game of the Donetsk club in its entire history.

For the match of the 6th round of the UEFA Champions League "Shakhtar" – "Bayern" in the stands of the "Arena AufSchalke" in Gelsenkirchen 57,079 spectators, which is a record for the Donetsk team attendance at home matches in 88 years of history.

This is reported by The Press Service of Shakhtar Donetsk, reports UNN.

Details

The most visited home game in the 88 years of the club's existence. The match of the 6th round of the main stage of the UEFA Champions League "Shakhtar"-"Bayern" gathered 57,079 spectators in the stands of the Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen. This is a record attendance at home matches of the "miners" in the entire history of the club

– reported in the press service.

The club noted that the previous achievement was set on September 2, 2012, when 53,423 spectators visited the UPL match "Shakhtar" – "Dynamo", in which the "miners" won – 3:1, at the "Donbass Arena" in Donetsk.

addition

After the outbreak of hostilities in the Donbas, Shakhtar were forced to leave Donetsk. Now the team in the UPL plays at the arena Lviv, and in European competitions it plays at the Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen, because because of the war, Ukrainian teams cannot play in Ukraine.

The last time Donetsk played in European competitions was at the Donbass Arena on November 27, 2013, when Shakhtar defeated Real Sociedad 4-0 in the 5th round of the 2013/14 Champions League group stage in the 5th round of the 2013/14 Champions League group stage.

In the UPL, Shakhtar last played at their home arena on May 2, 2014 against Mariupol Ilyichevets (3:1), which later changed its name to Mariupol.since 2022, it has suspended participation in the Ukrainian football championship due to the beginning of a full-scale invasion.

In total, Shakhtar played 102 matches at the Donbass Arena. In these matches, the Donetsk team won 80 victories, drew 14 times, and suffered 8 defeats.

recall

In the 6th round of the main stage of the Champions League Shakhtar Donetsk lost to Bayern Munich" – 1:5.

Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham all scored in the same game for the first time to lift Real Madrid away from Champions League elimination.

The beautiful dream is over. Real Madrid are clear of the Champions League elimination places and normality has been restored insofar as normality puts Aston Villa and Brest among European football’s five best teams.

It was touch and go for a tantalising period of time as Real stumbled through increasingly damaging defeats to Lille, AC Milan and Liverpool to flirt with an early exit from a format designed specifically to prevent such elite embarrassment. And they barely merited this rejuvenating victory over Atalanta. But surely from here Real cannot fail.

It might not be a widespread problem but it has become difficult to watch this team without hearing Rio Ferdinand providing a two-word backing track throughout.

Kylian Mbappe follows a sumptuous first touch with a wonderful finish to open the scoring. Ballon d’Or.

Sead Kolasinac randomly rampages through and is vaguely clipped by Aurelien Tchouameni in the area, with Charles De Ketelaere despatching the penalty into the top corner. Ballon d’Or.

Vinicius Junior capitalises on a lucky break with a ruthless strike. Ballon d’Or.

Jude Bellingham opens up a fraction of space with a feint and sweeps his effort past the keeper. Ballon d’Or.

Ademola Lookman reprises his match-winning role from the Europa League final of Man Who Hits Football Really Sodding Hard. Ballon d’Or.

Atalanta contrive to barely give Lookman another meaningful touch in the ensuing half an hour spent searching for an equaliser, until suddenly his skill and cross creates a chance Mateo Retegui misses from about three yards out. Maybe not Ballon d’Or.

MORE REAL MADRID COVERAGE FROM F365
👉 Who will win the 2025 Ballon d’Or? Real Madrid trio in top six favourites despite boycott
👉 The ridiculous records of new Real Madrid signing Kylian Mbappe

It is always fairly weird to see Real engaging in anything resembling backs-to-the-wall defending but that is how this curious and absorbing game reached a pulsating climax. Atalanta had twice as many shots as their visitors, including seven without reply from the 72nd minute to full-time.

Lazar Samardzic’s introduction on the hour shifted momentum inexorably in their favour and Lookman was the game’s best player but Real eventually did what they always do in the Champions League: just enough.

The BMV initialism has performed appropriately below market value since being formed in the summer but this was the first match in which every member of that triptych scored. It rather summed up Real’s defence of this European crown that such a moment was soured by an injury to at least one of them: Mbappe was substituted at half-time and Vinicius looked barely half-fit.

Bellingham continued his personal run of scintillating form, that collective Liverpool no-show being the only one of his last seven Real appearances in which he has neither scored nor assisted after a stunted start to the season.

But after those three freak minutes in which he and Vinicius maximised their opportunities, Real were made to look decidedly ordinary once more. It came down to individual brilliance: Atalanta’s openings fell to Kolasinac, Retegui and Matteo Ruggeri and it ultimately showed as things became more frantic.

This is not a vintage Real side. Not yet. Even here when Mbappe, Vinicius and Bellingham underlined their excellence it was never really as a team. Things have still not clicked and mounting injury problems have exposed some uncomfortable weaknesses.

But this is a phenomenal Atalanta side, victory over whom is a mightily impressive feat which should not be understated. If this is Real still nothing close to their full potential then it is a foreboding sign ahead of their usual stride into imperious form.

READ NEXT: Liverpool duo facing inevitable exits after Girona win as Salah saves Slot’s side on uneasy night

Shakhtar opened the scoring in the 5th minute of the match against Bayern Munich in the Champions League. However, the German club scored five goals in response and won 5-1.

In the 6th round of the main stage of the Champions League, Shakhtar Donetsk lost to Bayern Munich. This is reported by the official website of UEFA, writes UNN.

Details

It is noted that the Ukrainian team quickly took the lead. In the 5th minute, Alexander Zubkov intercepted the ball on the right flank in the center of the field, gave a diagonal pass forward to Kevin, who beat the defender and hit the corner of the goal with a roundabout shot.

Bayern responded in the 11th minute with Konrad Laimer scoring. And at the end of the first half, the Germans took the lead, this time Thomas Muller scored.

The turning point occurred in the 70th minute. Mikael Olesya converted a penalty, which was awarded due to a foul by Alla Grama.

In the 87th minute, Jamal Musiala made the score 4:1. already in stoppage time, Mikael Alisa confidently passed the Shakhtar defense and scored a double.

For the first time without Messi and Ronaldo: the symbolic team of the best football players of 2024 is namedDec 9 2024, 05:24 PM • 18686 views

Kylian Mbappe had already won 17 trophies and scored 329 career goals before making his predestined move to Real Madrid. And he has started well enough.

Here are the Frenchman’s most ridiculous career statistics so far. He has joined the European champions.

* Kylian Mbappe has scored 343 and assisted 160 goals in 469 career appearances for club and country, winning 18 trophies.

* Kylian Mbappe has scored 19 career hat-tricks across seven different competitions (Coupe de la Ligue, Ligue Un, Champions League, Coupe de France, World Cup qualifying, World Cup and Euros qualifying) against Rennes, FC Metz (x2), Lyon (x2, one was four goals), Guingamp, Monaco, Club Brugge, Barcelona, Clermont Foot, Vannes, Lille, US Pays de Cassel (five goals), Stade Reims, US Revel, Montpellier, Kazakhstan (four goals), Argentina and Gibraltar.

* Mbappe ranks 7th for all-time French top-flight goals (191) but is a distant first for Ligue Un goals scored in the 21st century.

* Mbappe was Ligue Un top scorer in a record six consecutive seasons, a record for the competition.

* Mbappe was the first player to finish as top scorer and assist provider in the same Ligue Un season (2021/22).

* Mbappe is the only player to win the Ligue Un Player of the Year award in five consecutive seasons. He was also the first player to win it in three and four consecutive seasons. No other player has won it more than three times overall.

* Only seven players in Champions League and European Cup history have scored more goals in the competition than Mbappe (50), and of those just Ruud van Nistelrooy, Robert Lewandowski, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have a better goals-per-game record than the Frenchman’s 0.63.

* Mbappe has scored more Champions League or European Cup goals than Alfredo Di Stefano, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Eusebio, Mo Salah, Didier Drogba, Neymar, Alessandro Del Piero, Sergio Aguero, Ferenc Puskas, Gerd Muller, Samuel Eto’o, Wayne Rooney, David Trezeguet, Ryan Giggs, Luis Suarez and Romario, among many others.

* Mbappe was once the youngest player to score 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 Champions League goals, most of which have since been beaten by the equally ridiculous Erling Haaland.

* Mbappe was the second youngest player to score 50 Champions League goals, behind only Lionel Messi.

* Only Ruud van Nistelrooy (62 games), Lionel Messi (66) and Robert Lewandowski (77) scored their first 50 Champions League goals in fewer games than Mbappe (79).

* Mbappe is one of only three players to score a Champions League hat-trick against Barcelona, and the first to score four goals against the Catalans in a single Champions League campaign.

* Mbappe is Paris Saint-Germain’s record goalscorer in all competitions, despite being 25 and spending only six years there. He scored 256 goals in 308 appearances.

* Only five players have ever scored more Champions League knockout stage goals than Mbappe (20), who has more than Andriy Shevchenko, Raul, Neymar, Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba and any Liverpool player.

* Mbappe is the youngest player in Champions League history to score in both legs of a quarter-final, and to score at all in a semi-final, with those goals coming for Monaco in 2017. His first six Champions League career goals were all in the knockout stages.

* Mbappe is the youngest Champions League goalscorer for two clubs, which is ridiculous the more you think about it. He was quite inevitably the first teenager in history to score a Champions League goal for two different clubs.

* Mbappe is the highest-scoring teenager in Champions League history.

* Mbappe has already scored away at Camp Nou, the Bernabeu, Old Trafford, Anfield, the Etihad, the Allianz Arena, the Juventus Stadium, Signal Iduna Park and Celtic Park.

* Only five of the 26 teams Mbappe has played in Europe have prevented him from ever scoring. He has faced Lille, Bayer Leverkusen and Spurs just once, making CSKA Moscow and Napoli the only teams to come up against Mbappe twice in Europe without conceding to him.

* Mbappe has played 14 games against English clubs, scoring six goals and assisting three against Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham and Newcastle.

* Mbappe has scored more goals (15) against Montpellier than any other club, in 15 games. In the Champions League he has scored most of his goals against Barcelona (six).

* Mbappe was the most expensive teenager in football history and remains the second-most expensive player ever after his £166m move to Paris Saint-Germain in 2018.

* Mbappe has scored most of his goals for Thomas Tuchel, bagging 83 goals in 98 games during the German’s reign at PSG.

* At international level, only Olivier Giroud (56 in 127) and Thierry Henry (51 in 123) have scored more goals for the French national team than Mbappe (48 in 84), and only Just Fontaine has scored more goals for France at the World Cup. He is also the youngest French player to score at a World Cup.

* Only five players have scored more World Cup goals than the 24-year-old Mbappe (12): Lionel Messi, Just Fontaine (both 13), Gerd Muller (14), Ronaldo (15) and Miroslav Klose (16).

* Only five players have ever scored more goals in a single World Cup tournament than Mbappe’s eight in 2022: Gerd Muller (10 in 1970), Eusebio (9 in 1966), Just Fontaine (13 in 1958), Sandor Kocsis (11 in 1954) and Ademir (9 in 1950).

* No player has scored more World Cup knockout goals (last 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final) than Mbappe, who is level with Ronaldo on eight.

* Mbappe was the first player to score eight, nine, 10, 11 and 12 World Cup goals before their 24th birthday.

* Mbappe was the second teenager to score twice in a World Cup game and the second teenager to score in a World Cup final; Pele was first to do both.

* Mbappe is only the second player to score a World Cup final hat-trick, after Geoff Hurst in 1966.

* Mbappe is only the second player to score in consecutive World Cup final matches, after Vava in 1958 and 1962.

* Only four players have been top scorer at a World Cup tournament at a younger age than Mbappe (8 goals) in 2022: James Rodriguez was 23 in 2014 (6), Thomas Muller was 20 in 2010 (5), Mario Kempes was 23 in 1978 (6) and Florian Albert was 20 in 1962 (4).

* Mbappe is the top scorer in World Cup final matches with four goals in 2018 and 2022.

* Mbappe is the only player to score a competitive hat-trick for France in Mbappe’s lifetime. Before his four goals against Kazakhstan in a World Cup qualifier in November 2021, three against Argentina in the 2022 World Cup final and treble in a November 2023 shellacking of Gibraltar, the previous hat-trick for Les Bleus outside of friendlies was in 1985, by Dominique Rocheteau.

Ridiculous statistics: Sergio Aguero | Harry Kane

Alisson Becker put Caoimhin Kelleher in his box and Darwin Nunez may follow him out of the door after Liverpool sealed another win in the Champions League.

Arne Slot‘s unwavering insistence on playing his best available players with Liverpool sitting pretty at the top of the Champions League group stages haunted the Dutchman last month as Ibrahima Konate and Conor Bradley suffered injuries in the 2-0 win at Real Madrid.

Despite this, the Liverpool head coach revealed he would “start with a very good team” against Girona as there is “no reason to rotate” with “everyone ready”.

This proved the case as his four changes saw Luis Diaz, Dominik Szoboszlai, Trent Alexander-Arnold and an injury-free Alisson replace Cody Gakpo, Alexis Mac Allister (suspended), Jarell Quansah and Kelleher after the latter four players started the 3-3 draw at Newcastle United.

The weekend postponement of the Merseyside derby – that forced us to rely on AI for 16 Conclusions – provided Liverpool’s players extra recovery time after their intense thriller at St James’ Park, but it meant they were somewhat undercooked against Girona as the Spanish outfit provided a stern test for the visitors.

Liverpool dominated the opening ten minutes without causing the hosts too many problems, though the run of play was much different for the remainder of the half as Girona grew in confidence. They had more shots on goal in the opening half than any of the English side’s previous opponents mustered across the full 90 minutes of their other Champions League games.

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Relative minnows Girona are not as strong as last season after having one or two of their best players plucked away in the summer and their first XI was littered with Premier League has-beens. Former Watford attacker Yaser Asprilla sparkled, at least.

The best of Girona’s chances, unfortunately for them, fell to former Everton, Tottenham Hotspur and AFC Bournemouth winger Arnaut Danjuma, who remains just as rash in front of goal as he often was in the Premier League.

Liverpool were given a boost pre-match as Alisson returned to full fitness after being out since September with a hamstring injury.

Slot’s side managed just fine without one of the world’s best goalkeepers as they also have one of the world’s best backup keepers.

Barring a rare mistake in the draw at Newcastle, Kelleher did not put a foot wrong as he deputised for Alisson and kept five clean sheets to help Liverpool further establish their dominance in the Premier League and Champions League.

Kelleher has made it abundantly clear that he wants to be a No.1 and his stunning form for Liverpool in recent weeks increased the clamour from some quarters for him to remain between the sticks when Alisson returns.

Yet, to the frustration of the Republic of Ireland international, Slot restored Alisson to his starting XI at the first opportunity and the 32-year-old justified this decision against Girona.

A spirited performance from the Spanish side – plus Liverpool being slightly off their best – meant Alisson was busier than he perhaps would have expected in his first game back.

None of Alisson’s saves were breath-taking and he would have been criticised had he failed to stop any of the shots he faced, but he oozed calmness and did everything asked of him on an uncomfortable evening for him and his side. It was like he never went away.

Kelleher must have been watching on glumly from the bench knowing that another injury for the Brazil international is required for him to get another run in the team this season.

Harsh as it sounds, Kelleher will never consistently be Liverpool’s No.1 while Alisson – or his eventual successor Giorgi Mamardashvili – is around and the 26-year-old’s exit in 2025 remains inevitable.

The proposed Chelsea was initially scoffed at and deemed unfeasible, though this potential £35m deal could suit all parties and tick a box required for Enzo Maresca’s side to continue their charge to Premier League and European glory.

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Tuesday’s match in Girona was also concerning for striker Darwin Nunez.

The constant comparisons to Manchester City star Erling Haaland are as consistent as they are needless with the two forwards clearly very different types of strikers.

Nunez’s work rate is at a much higher level than Haaland’s, while the Man City player – even amid his and his side’s ongoing woes – is far more clinical in front of goal.

There was more evidence of Nunez’s wastefulness against Girona as he could and perhaps should have come away with a couple of goals.

His best chance came as a deflected looped cross from Szoboszlai gave the Uruguay forward a free header inside the penalty area, but he failed to get clean contact on the ball. Moments later, he was fed in on goal but former Spurs goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga – who had a good evening – stood firm to keep out the striker’s effort.

Nunez was withdrawn with 20 minutes remaining and this change could have easily come sooner as the forward – who is clearly devoid of confidence – failed to make the most of his opportunity from the start.

With Diogo Jota joining Alisson in returning from injury, Nunez looks certain to be Slot’s fifth-choice attacker during the festive period and it’s currently difficult to see him proving Jurgen Klopp right after Liverpool’s former boss defied a ‘data warning’ to sanction his £64m arrival en route to expected sanctioning of a cut-price sale for a sure-fire upgrade.

Nunez’s blushes were somewhat spared by Liverpool’s star man – Mohamed Salah – as his 63rd-minute penalty earned Slot’s side a narrow 1-0 win at Girona, who lacked the quality to break their superior opponents down while passing up several openings.

While certain performances in this match did not bode well for two Liverpool stars, Slot will be satisfied that his side – once again – managed to win ugly, did not pick up any injuries and built some momentum before an even tougher test at the weekend at home to Fulham.

The life of a footballer can be very difficult at times, especially when being hurled abuse at from the stands, and more frequently today, on social media.

Players can endure tough periods differently however, with failing a medical one of the reasons as to why a footballer could go into limbo.

A failed medical would have a player puzzles, not knowing what was next, and that was the case for Loic Remy after failing his Liverpool medical in 2014, though he signed for Chelsea just weeks later.

Remy tells the story of how he’d completed almost everything a player would ahead of a move, even taking the pictures where he held a Liverpool scarf.

Remy said: “Signing for Chelsea was the craziest move of my career, that’s for sure.

“I can remember being on holiday, back in my home country, on a small island, and my agent gave me a call to tell me that Liverpool wanted to sign me.

“They were training in Boston for pre-season. That was fantastic news for me, so I asked him about the next steps.

“My agent told me what I needed to do and where I needed to go, but at the time, I didn’t have my passport on me, so I couldn’t make it to Boston.

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“At the time, my agent was the same as Patrice Evra’s – so Patrice’s brother went to Lyon, my hometown, to get my passport, I then travelled all the way to Paris, and met Patrice’s brother there, he gave me the passport and I flew straight to Boston.

“We arrived, me and my agent, and it all felt like a dream – it was happening so quickly. I met all the guys, started doing my interviews, and had a medical, but something was wrong.

“I didn’t know what was wrong, but they said I just needed to wait for a couple of days. At this moment, I was a Liverpool player as far as I was concerned, because I’d done the interviews, and I still have a picture of myself on my phone, holding their scarf!

“It was a very proud moment for me, but two days later I found out that there was a problem with my medical, and the deal was off – they didn’t want to take the risk, and while I was so disappointed, I accepted it and went back to London, ready to start training with QPR again.

“And then, Chelsea called my agent and said they wanted to sign me. They asked if I was available, which I was, and so we went to Cobham to do my medical.

“It’s funny, because just before we signed, my agent had a call from Arsenal, who were asking whether I’d signed or not. “No, no, he’s on his way to sign now. Tell him not to sign – we want him!”

“My agent told me this, and the market was so close to closing, and so he gave me the choice between Chelsea and Arsenal.

“In the end, I went with Chelsea because I just thought that Arsenal should have manifested themselves long before the end of the transfer window.

“I was already at Cobham, ready to sign with Chelsea, had passed my medical, so I decided I wasn’t going to change my mind.

“A mistake, or not? I don’t think it was; at the end of the day, I won titles with Chelsea, but yes, it was a very complicated move behind the scenes!”

Despite Liverpool being the ones to trigger Remy’s £8.5m release clause, it was Stamford Bridge where the Frenchman ended up, scoring 12 goals in 47 games, winning the Premier League under Jose Mourinho.