After beating Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, Borussia Dortmund got the better of the French club on social media as well. Dortmund celebrated Tuesday’s semifinal win by rubbing a bit of salt in PSG’s wounds with a tongue-in-cheek message posted on social networks on Wednesday. The German team posted an image of a hot air balloon in Dortmund’s yellow-and-black colours flying over a beach where a PSG towel is spread out on the sand. Also Read: Spaniard Rafael Nadal accepts challenge of being an underdog Written across the image was the French phrase for “Enjoy your vacation.” The message was a response to PSG’s tweet after beating Barcelona in the quarter-finals, which featured an image of a hot air balloon in the Spanish team’s colours sinking in the Seine river in front of the Eiffel Tower. Dortmund won 1-0 in the second leg for a 2-0 aggregate victory that left big-spending PSG still searching for a first Champions League victory. Mats Hummels scored the only goal of the second leg at the Parc des Princes to give Dortmund a chance to secure a second Champions League trophy after winning in 1997. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
09 May,2024 07:43 AM IST | Paris | AP | PTIFootball fans around the world will now have a day to celebrate the world’s most popular sport every year—May 25. The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution Tuesday proclaiming May 25 as World Football Day. Also Read: 'Nobody expected this' The day marks the 100th anniversary of the first international football tournament in history which took place on May 25, 1924 during the summer Olympic Games held in Paris. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
09 May,2024 07:38 AM IST | United Nations | AP | PTIBorussia Dortmund veteran Marco Reus said “nobody expected us to make it” as his side booked a return to Wembley’s Champions League final by beating Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday. Dortmund will return to the site of the 2013 Champions League final, when the then Jurgen Klopp-coached side lost 2-1 to German rivals Bayern Munich. Dortmund won this year’s semi-final second leg 1-0 at the Parc des Princes thanks to a header from Mats Hummels, who also played for Dortmund in the 2013 final. They go through 2-0 on aggregate, having won the first leg by the same scoreline. “Tomorrow nobody will ask how we did it. They will just see the name Borussia Dortmund in the final at Wembley,” Reus said to Amazon Prime. Crazy victory “Today it was clear that we needed to suffer and that we needed some luck, but what the lads did was crazy, crazy.” The 34-year-old, who announced on Friday he will leave his boyhood club at the end of the season, said the feeling of returning to European football’s showpiece event was “indescribable.” Also Read: Union Bank of India’s Trishul, Amid two good Marco Reus “Now we better win it, otherwise that would really suck,” said Reus. Reus re-joined Dortmund in 2012 having come through the club’s junior system before moving first to Rot-Weiss Ahlen aged 15 then to Borussia Moenchengladbach. “What a week for me personally. To finish in the Champions League final, where it all started for me in 2013—more than 10 years later!” A re-match with Bayern remains on the cards, with Thomas Tuchel’s side playing at Real Madrid in the other semi-final on Wednesday. Bayern and Real played out a 2-2 draw in the first leg. Dortmund rode their luck in both semi-finals, with PSG hitting the woodwork six times—including four times on Tuesday. Despite needing assistance from the goal frame, Dortmund’s central defensive pairing of Hummels and Nico Schlotterbeck kept PSG’s ace attacker Kylian Mbappe under check. Third final for BVB The final in Wembley on June 1 will be Dortmund’s third Champions League final, having won the competition in 1997. Mbappe denied dream PSG farewell Kylian Mbappe will not get his dream farewell from Paris Saint-Germain after their shock Champions League exit at the hands of Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday deprived him of playing his last game for the club in the final at Wembley next month. The 2018 World Cup winner will leave PSG after seven years when his contract expires at the end of this season, with Real Madrid his likely next destination. “I don’t really like to talk about bad luck. But this is life, we need to pick ourselves up,” said Mbappe after the match. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
09 May,2024 07:36 AM IST | Paris | AFPAfter a successful inaugural season, the Godfrey Pereira-backed franchise-based Mumbai Rink Football League (MRFL) returns with bigger prize money—totalling almost a million rupees. The five-a-side tournament across four categories—men’s open, women’s open, veteran men and boys U-17—will be held from May 18 to June 2 at the St Andrew’s Bandra turf. Also Read: Sanju fined 30 per cent match fees Interestingly, the prize money will be distributed among a larger base of teams through a unique format. Former India vice-captain Pereira explained: “The total prize money is R8 lakh and for the first time on Mumbai’s rink football circuit, we are introducing a structure wherein we distribute this prize money among almost all participating teams. For example, in the 12-team men’s open, while the winner’s prize purse is R1,20,000 and runners-up get Rs 80,000, the 3rd and 4th-placed teams will win Rs 60,000 and Rs 25,000 respectively, the 5th to 8th-ranked teams will get R10,000 and 9th to 12th-placed teams will get Rs 5,000 each.” The prize money will similarly be distributed in the other categories. “The top eight teams in the 10-team veteran men’s category and top four teams in the six-team women’s and boys U-17 categories will get cash rewards ranging from Rs 75,000 to Rs 5,000 depending on their final position in the points table. We want to promote the game among women and boys U-17 because there aren’t enough rink football events for them across Mumbai,” added Pereira.
09 May,2024 07:28 AM IST | Mumbai | Ashwin FerroJoel D’Souza scored the winning goal for GKW Rangers to snatch a 1-0 win over Worli SC in a First Division match of the Mumbai Football Association (MFA) League at the Neville D’Souza ground, Bandra, on Tuesday. After a barren first half, D’Souza scored the only goal of the match in the 67th minute to ensure Rangers pocketed three points. In another match, Youth Soccer Academy defeated Companeroes Sports Club by a comfortable 2-0 margin. The Academy scored one goal through Max Lakri and the second was an own goal by Companeroes defender Anuj Singh.
08 May,2024 07:21 AM IST | Mumbai | A CorrespondentSix-time Champions League winners Bayern Munich head into Wednesday’s second semi-final at Real Madrid ever more reliant on striker Harry Kane amid swirling off-field crises entirely of their own making. Bayern still do not have a coach lined up for next season, with reports emerging on Monday that Julen Lopetegui became the latest to knock back the German giants, with the Spaniard chosing West Ham instead. Bayern drew 2-2 at home against Real in the first leg and need a win to progress to Wembley, the site of their famous victory over rivals Borussia Dortmund in 2013. Even just appearing in a Champions League final, let alone winning a seventh crown, would change the narrative surrounding Bayern’s disappointing season. Kane, famously still without a team trophy despite a decade collecting individual honours, left Tottenham for the stability of serial winners Bayern last summer. After scoring from the spot to give Bayern the lead on Tuesday, Kane told reporters “of course I dreamed of playing in the Champions League final at Wembley. It’s 0-0 now, one game to take you to Wembley...It all comes down to next week and we have to perform on that big occasion so the opportunity is there.” This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
08 May,2024 07:19 AM IST | Berlin | AFPErik ten Hag took responsibility for Manchester United’s miserable showing in a 0-4 thrashing by Crystal Palace on Monday, but said he is still the right man to turn the club’s fortunes around. Palace completed a first ever league double over United in style as Michael Olise scored twice, while Jean-Philippe Mateta and Tyrick Mitchell were also on target for the in-form Eagles. Defeat left Ten Hag’s men eighth and at risk of both their worst ever Premier League finish and missing out on European competition next season. The Dutchman’s future is in doubt with structural change ongoing at Old Trafford since British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe bought a minority stake and took sporting control of the club earlier this year. “It’s clear and it’s obvious this is under-performing,” said Ten Hag. “We didn’t act how we want to do it and this is by far not good enough.” Ten Hag’s options were again limited by a mounting injury list. Captain Bruno Fernandes missed a club game through injury for the first time in his career, while England international duo Marcus Rashford and Harry Maguire were also absent. Worse could be to come for Ten Hag when title-chasing Arsenal visit Old Trafford at the weekend. United have never failed to finish in the top seven in the Premier League era and must do so or beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final to qualify for Europe. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
08 May,2024 07:16 AM IST | London | AFPReal Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said he was confident his side could overcome Bayern Munich on Wednesday to reach the Champions League final. The record 14-time winners snatched a 2-2 draw in the first leg of the semi-final clash in Munich with Vinicius Junior scoring a brace. “I am confident because this is Real Madrid, we have this squad, I’m confident in the fans who will help us,” Ancelotti told a news conference Tuesday. “We think we’ve got it better, but [Bayern coach Thomas] Tuchel will think he does too.” Carlo Ancelotti Ancelotti admitted German giants Bayern, six-time winners, were the superior side in the first leg draw at the Allianz Arena. “These are similar clubs, they have great history and a lot of success in the Champions League,” continued the Italian coach. “We respect them...they did better than us in the first leg.” The coach confirmed Andriy Lunin would start in goal despite Thibaut Courtois returning from injury and keeping a clean sheet as Madrid clinched their La Liga crown this weekend. The Belgian stopper had been out since last summer with a bad knee injury. “The plan for a player coming back from injury does not change because of one game,” said Ancelotti. “Courtois is doing well but he needs time to get back to his best self—he had an ideal game.” Madrid defender Dani Carvajal said the team were right to avoid celebrating their title success on Saturday. “Not celebrating was the best thing to do, there’s a vital game and there will be time to celebrate at the weekend, that’s why we took that decision,” said the Spain international. “We’re having a great year, we’re very excited for the Champions League, we’re two games away from lifting it again. “The dressing room knows it—in the streets they’re giving us encouragement so we can dream of our 15th,” Carvajal said. Various long-standing Madrid players could leave at the end of the season after years spent at the club, with Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Lucas Vazquez and Nacho Fernandez all out of contract in the summer. “It’s hard to know what will happen...I hope not, but some will be living their final Champions League match at the Bernabeu,” added Carvajal. “I hope it’s a Madrid victory.” This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
08 May,2024 07:13 AM IST | Madrid | AFPThe smile is back on Jurgen Klopp’s face, even if his Liverpool players seem intent on testing his nerves right to the end. The Premier League title may be all but beyond the Merseyside club, but that doesn’t mean the drama is over for Klopp, who will step down at the end of the season.Last week he was arguing on the sideline with Mohamed Salah as Liverpool effectively dropped out of the title race. And while Salah opened the scoring in a 4-2 win against Tottenham at Anfield on Sunday, it was Harvey Elliott who appeared to bring the broadest smile to Klopp’s face with a wonderful long-range goal. “What a goal,” the Liverpool manager said. “In the game you only see it flying in and I thought, That was a good shot.’ The goal I saw afterwards, there was not a lot of space left or right. It went exactly where it should be. Top goal.” Elliott’s strike, after goals from Salah, Andy Robertson and Cody Gakpo, fired Liverpool into a 4-0 lead before the game had even reached the hour mark. What followed was the unlikeliest of fightbacks from Spurs that might have made this another frustrating day in what has ultimately been a disappointing finale for Klopp at the end of nearly nine trophy-filled years. Goals from Richarlison and Son Heung-min made it a much closer contest than it had ever looked like being. “It’s a little bit of a mirror of the season. Really, really, really, good until we were really rubbish and then, we were okay again,” Klopp said. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
07 May,2024 04:32 AM IST | Liverpool | AFPCesar Luis Menotti, the charismatic coach who led Argentina to its first World Cup title in 1978, has died, the Argentine Football Association said Sunday. He was 85. The association did not give a cause of death. Local media reports said Menotti was admitted to a clinic in March with severe anemia. He reportedly underwent surgery for phlebitis in April and returned home after. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
07 May,2024 04:30 AM IST | Buenos Aires | AP | PTIParis Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe said on Sunday that his team will come back from their 0-1 defeat in the Champions League semi-final first-leg to Borussia Dortmund and qualify for the final. “We’re confident that we’ll come back from that score and reach the final,” Mbappe told reporters in Paris during an event with 2,000 children organised by his “Inspired by KM” association. Final at Wembley on June 1 PSG will host Dortmund in the tie’s second leg on Tuesday, with Niclas Fuellkrug’s goal in Germany last week meaning Mbappe and his team need to win in order to have a chance of reaching the final at Wembley on June 1. “There’s a lot of pressure, which is normal because there’s a place in the Champions League final at stake, which is very important. Especially when you consider the club’s record in the competition,” said 25-year-old Mbappe. High-pressure game “We’re aware of the pressure, but the group is extremely calm. We’re confident that we’ll come back from that score and reach the final,” he said, adding that “taking part” in this event with the children helped him prepare. “I’ve often had the same warning from the children. I’ve heard a lot of ‘You’ve got to win!’ And they’re right, we have to win. “In any case, a day like this is good for the development of the man I am. And I’m sure I’ll arrive at the match in a good mood, ready to defend my team’s colours and help us qualify for the final.” It will, in all likelihood, be Mbappe’s last chance to win European football’s biggest prize with hometown side PSG after the France captain told the club he would be leaving this summer at the end of his contract. The 2018 World Cup winner has not yet announced where he will play his football next season, but Spanish giants Real Madrid are the favourites to secure Mbappe’s signature. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
07 May,2024 04:28 AM IST | Paris | AFPADVERTISEMENT
