Soccer Match News

[Red]

The world will stop to watch Real vs United tie: Mourinho
Last updated on: March 5, 2013 09:56 IST

Jose Mourinho hopes he is still managing in his seventies like Manchester United's Alex Ferguson, the Real Madrid boss said as he prepared to face him in a Champions League clash "the world will stop to watch".

-Preview: Mourinho, Ferguson resume CL battle

-Photos: United to welcome Ronaldo while plotting goodbye

At 50, the Portuguese has a couple of decades to go if he is to still be working at 71 like Ferguson, whose side host the Spanish champions in their eye-catching Champions League last 16 second leg on Tuesday.

"I think it's the kind of job where the older you are the better you are because it's the kind of job where the experiences you live and the thoughts you give to your experiences makes you better," Mourinho told a news conference on Monday.

"So yes I (can) imagine (it) ... and I would love that God gives me health so I can do it. Sir Alex is unique, I don't have any words to add to what everybody says about him and respect he has from everyone."

 

[Red]

Barca coach Vilanova could be back with club soon
March 05, 2013 10:10 IST

Barcelona [ Images ] coach Tito Vilanova [ Images ] may have finished his cancer treatment in New York and be back with the squad by the end of March, president Sandro Rosell said on Monday.

-Bleeding Barca need rapid recovery before Milan tie

Vilanova, 44, needed a second round of surgery in December following an operation to remove a tumour from his saliva glands in November 2011 and his assistant Jordi Roura has taken charge until he is well enough to return.

Although they are still 11 points clear at the top of La Liga [ Images ], Barca have stuttered in recent weeks - losing 2-0 at AC Milan [ Images ] in last month's Champions League [ Images ] last 16, first leg and going down twice to arch rivals Real Madrid [ Images ] last week.

Rosell said the coach was midway through a course of chemo- and radiotherapy and when he visited him in New York last week was "in very good spirits" and "very involved in the day to day activities of the club".

"There is no doubt that a group gets weaker when they lose their leader," Rosell told a news conference following a routine meeting of the Catalan club's board of directors.

"Sports psychologists say, and I suppose there is a scientific explanation to it, that after 30 days the group's shape weakens," he added.

"We have been without our leader for a long time now and it is normal to see this happening.

"He is longing to come back, hoping for the process to finish, which is due at the end of March.

"The other day he told me he was happy because he could start the countdown as he is over half of the process and he has less than 50 percent of it left.

"That is very good for his state of mind. He wants to come back and we want him back."

Some media reports in Spain have suggested Barca were considering bringing in a temporary replacement coach but an emotional Rosell categorically ruled it out.

"The absolute priority of the club this season is for Tito Vilanova to get his health back and everything else is of secondary importance," he said.

"I want to thank Roura for his work, he is a hero. We must thank him enormously for what he is doing because it was not his responsibility.

"Also, the players who are suffering this burden and are still top of the league.

"Nothing will change here until Tito returns even if it costs us all our titles this season.

"I would consider it a successful season if Tito was back to full health by the end of it."

Barca have a La Liga game at home to bottom side Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday before they host Milan at the Nou Camp on March 12.

 

[Red]

Kompany nears return as City wall keeps title hopes alive
March 05, 2013 17:02 IST

For all the millions splashed out by Manchester City's [ Images ] Abu Dhabi owners on attacking talents, it is the English champions' grit in defence that is keeping them in the Premier League title hunt.

City are 12 points behind neighbours Manchester United [ Images ] after Monday's 1-0 win away at Aston Villa [ Images ] and will in all probability lose their crown as English champions given the league leaders' present form.

However, they will not go down without a fight and nine clean sheets in 11 fixtures so far this year, despite the absence of captain and central defender Vincent Kompany since late January, has kept manager Roberto Mancini [ Images ] in a positive mood.

"We don't have Vinnie at the moment and he's very important to us but Matija (Nastasic) is playing very, very well at the moment," Mancini said of Serbian defender Nastasic.

"We had three or four games like QPR, West Ham, Chelsea [ Images ] where we deserved to win and missed chances to score but sometimes it's enough to win 1-0 like tonight and to fight for every ball," he told the club's website (http://www.mcfc.co.uk).

The City manager said Kompany was in line for a return in the FA Cup quarter-final against second-tier Barnsley at the weekend or the March 16 league clash with Everton, though there was bad news when Jack Rodwell limped off against Villa.

"Jack is very unlucky because he was playing really well, it looks like he will be out for another three or four weeks," said Mancini.

With 10 games to go it will take a remarkable turnaround for City to retain their title but Mancini, whose side were eight points behind United with six games remaining last season, knows better than to concede defeat too early.

"We must keep on winning and you never know, this is football," said the Italian.

"We know it will be difficult but we must try - we hope that they (United) can lose a point or two before the derby, that would be better for us."

City and United meet in the Premier League on April 8 after which the current pacesetters must play Arsenal [ Images ] and fourth-placed Chelsea.

 

[Red]

Why didn't Ronaldo celebrate his goal?
Last updated on: March 6, 2013 13:55 IST

Cristiano Ronaldo seems to have popularised the new trend of not celebrating goals.

The Real Madrid talisman did it again at Old Trafford on Tuesday night.

Ronaldo slid the ball into the net at the far post off a pass from Gonzalo Higuain and thus nailed the victory for Real.

 

[Red]

Mourinho, Real march on towards elusive 10th title
March 06, 2013 14:09 IST

Jose Mourinho has been on the ropes at times this season as Real Madrid's [ Images ] La Liga [ Images ] title defence stumbled but the Portuguese coach delivered knockout blows to heavyweight opponents this week that kept the Spanish club's hopes of silverware very much alive.

-Photos: Ronaldo knocks out United after Nani sees red

Real have upped their game at exactly the right moment and Tuesday's 2-1 comeback victory at 10-man Manchester United [ Images ] sent them through to the last eight of the Champions League [ Images ] 3-2 on aggregate and put them a step closer to a 10th European crown.

Success at Old Trafford came hard on the heels of last Tuesday's 4-2 aggregate victory against Barcelona [ Images ] in the semi-finals of the King's Cup and Real followed that up with a 2-1 win at home to their arch rivals in La Liga on Saturday.

"Three victories, what a week!" Real's Germany [ Images ] playmaker Mesut Ozil wrote on his Twitter feed.

Real are 13 points behind leaders Barca in third in La Liga and have written off their chances of closing the gap over the remaining 12 matches, leaving Europe's elite club competition as the overwhelming priority.

Winning a third Champions League with a third different club is a personal obsession for Mourinho and it is widely thought that if Real lift the trophy at Wembley in May he will feel his job in Madrid is done and move on.

The 50-year-old former Chelsea [ Images ] manager left Inter Milan [ Images ] to join Real in 2010 after leading the Italian club to their first European crown in 45 years. He also won the competition with Porto in 2004.

Mourinho certainly rode his luck against United as Real were trailing 2-1 on aggregate until Nani's harsh dismissal in the 56 minute transformed the game.

He immediately sent on Luka Modric and the Croatia [ Images ] midfielder cracked in the equaliser seven minutes after replacing fullback Alvaro Arbeloa [ Images ].

Mourinho was then poised to replace Gonzalo Higuain [ Images ] with strike partner Karim Benzema but Cristiano Ronaldo's [ Images ] 69th-minute goal against his former club edged Real in front and defender Pepe was deployed instead.

United made a brave effort at a comeback and troubled Real goalkeeper Diego Lopez several times but the visitors held on reasonably comfortably and went close to extending their lead on a number of occasions.

"Modric was crucial because he changed the match and the sending-off also changed the match because they were left a man down," Mourinho said.

"Modric gave us creativity and movement. He was thinking about rapid, vertical movement and changed the flow.

"When the equaliser came, I was going to put on Benzema for Higuain. I was going to risk everything. History is full of teams who have got results with 10 men."

Real, who celebrate their 111th birthday on Wednesday, will find out who they will face in the quarter-finals when the draw is made on March 15.

"Going through gives us confidence to get the tenth title," Brazil [ Images ] playmaker Kaka [ Images ] said.

"We have not won anything yet but it is a step forward," he added. "In football you never know what will happen and we still have a chance to win a double."

 

[M.J.Sadiq]

Rooney's future under scrutiny after Madrid snub

Emboldened by comparisons with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney was in such a position of strength at Manchester United in 2010 that he took on manager Alex Ferguson and won a lucrative new contract.

At that time, Rooney was at the peak of his powers, easily English football’s star player. He seemed to believe he was too good for United, that the club wasn’t matching his ambitions.

Less than three years later and the opposite may be true.

Ferguson’s decision to drop Rooney now behind Robin van Persie in the pecking order for Tuesday’s Champions League match against Real Madrid has left some to question the striker’s future at Old Trafford.

Ten years ago, David Beckham was snubbed by Ferguson for a big Champions League match against Madrid and then left United for the Spanish team at the end of the season. Ruud van Nistelrooy was left out of United’s side for the 2006 League Cup final following an apparent rift with Ferguson and wasn’t at the club the following campaign.

Rooney’s plight missing out on arguably United’s biggest match since the 2011 Champions League final was overshadowed by the game-changing red card awarded to Nani and the fact that Ronaldo scored the winner against his former club on an emotional night at Old Trafford.

Yet, it could well prove to be an intriguing side-issue for the rest of the season, for Rooney will never be short of suitors. British bookmaker William Hill has odds of 7-2 on Rooney leaving in the offseason, with Manchester City the favourite to sign him.

The reasons behind Ferguson’s selection must be galling for Rooney. The coach suggested the player’s fitness was an issue “Wayne Rooney needs a game or two” despite Rooney having played 90 minutes against Norwich on Saturday, scoring a fabulous late goal and setting up two others in an impressive display.

Ferguson also said Danny Welbeck was the attacking player more suited to the defensive duties of shackling Xabi Alonso, the deep-lying playmaker who starts many of Madrid’s attacks.

“Big decisions have to be made,” United assistant manager Mike Phelan said.

And Ferguson has shown down the years he is not afraid to make them.

Until Nani was sent off, the tactics worked perfectly. Welbeck was United’s best player, stunting Alonso’s influence but also looking like his team’s most dangerous player going forward.

Rooney, brooding while sitting in United’s dug-out, came on as a 73rd-minute substitute, all fired up. But couldn’t change the game, missing a good chance when he hooked a close-range volley over.

As United’s players trudged off the pitch aggrieved at a sense of injustice by a refereeing call, Rooney could have been hurting for another reason.

Rooney has had to accept he is no longer the main striker at United since Van Persie’s arrival in August and his contribution to United’s surge to the Premier League title has been fleeting.

It’s getting to the stage where pundits are applauding his determination and ability to track back to help his defence more than his impact as a goal scorer. Rooney has been playing on the left wing, behind the striker even in central midfield this season and he surely sees himself as more than simply a glorified utility player.

Rooney’s actions and body language are sure to be followed with increasing interest for the remainder of the season.

 

[Karthik]

FA cup finals : Man.city vs Wigan on may 11th.