European Leagues

Mbappe destroys Barca as PSG win fiery Champions League clash

Barcelona saw red three times and Kylian Mbappe scored twice as Paris Saint Germain knocked the Spanish giants out of the Champions League.

Barcelona had to play with ten men for an hour after defender Ronald Araujo was sent off in the first half. And Romanian referee Istvan Kovacs also showed red cards to Xavi and his goalkeeping coach Jose Ramon De la Fuente as the French team won 4-1 on the night and 6-4 on aggregate.

Araujo left the field indicating that his team had been robbed. And it was with the same complaint that Xavi was sent from his technical area.

The big calls went against them and PSG took advantage with Ousmane Dembele superb against his former club and Mbappe lethal when he had to be.

Barcelona made it 1-0 on the night on 12 minutes with a goal scored by Raphinha but made by Lamine Yamal.

Araujo played a long crossfield pass to him and for the first time in the game the teenager took on Nuno Mendes. The PSG left-back had no chance as Yamal dropped a shoulder and accelerated past him to the byline from where he pulled the back for Raphinha to covert past Gianluigi Donnarumma at the near post.

It was the perfect start for Barcelona but the complexion of the game changed dramatically on the half hour when Araujo was adjudged to have brought down Bradley Barcola just before he burst into the area.

Kovacs sent him off and it was a win-win for PSG because Xavi immediately substituted Yamal so he could bring on Iñigo Martinez.

Five minutes before the break PSG were level on the night. Barcola crossed from the left. It flashed past Kylian Mbappe but Ousmane Dembele arrived down the right to smash it into the roof of the net.

It was now 4-3 and Dembele almost levelled on aggregate but volleyed just wide on half time. The more hostile the home crowd against the former Barcelona forward the more he seemed to be up for the game.

PSG levelled on aggregate on 54 minutes when Vitinha’s shot fizzed through a crowd of players from the edge of the area and past Ter Stegen. The next decision that went against Barcelona provoked Xavi to kick a hoarding and he was shown the red card.

That meant he wasn’t in his technical area to see Mbappe make it 4-5 on aggregate from the penalty spot after Joao Cancelo had chopped down Dembele. De la Fuente was the next to be sent off before the villain of the first leg for PSG Gianluigi Donnarumma became PSG’s hero of the second saving from Lewandowski.

That chance seemed to be the catalyst for Barcelona to find their belief once more. The home supporters chanted: ‘yes, we can’ just as they had done back in 2017 when they won 6-1 to go through, and for all that Donnarumma had made a big save he still looked a liability from crosses.

PSG were close but panicking and one loss of possession gifted Lewandowski with another chance to equalise the tie but Marquinhos slid-in and sent the ball out for a corner. Raphinha almost scored directly from that corner but Donnarumma tipped it over for another corner and when that was cleared PSG broke to put the tie beyond doubt.

Ter Stegen saved brilliantly twice but when the ball came back out to Mbappe he got his second goal of the night and deliver the final fatal blow to Barcelona’s Champions League aspiration. For PSG the dream of a first European Cup survives into a semi-final against Borussia Dortmund.

LaLiga

What To Look Out For As Barcelona Take On Atletico Madrid In Huge La Liga Clash

La Liga’s best attack vs La Liga’s best defence

Saturday’s match sees La Liga’s best attack go up against the division’s best defence in a huge match between Hansi Flick’s wobbling Barca and a red-hot Atletico.

The Catalans giants have bagged 50 goals in just 18 games this season – making them La Liga’s most prolific attack – but they were surprisingly kept out by Leganes last time out.

Atletico will hope to do the same on Saturday as La Liga’s best defence – which has conceded just 11 goals – comes to Montjuic.

Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha will be the main goalscoring threats for Barcelona and will come up against a defence that may well include a familiar face.

Clement Lenglet is being tipped to start against his parent club as there’s no fear clause in his contract.

The Frenchman has made eight starts this season for Simeone’s side in La Liga, including last time out in the win over Getafe, and is enjoying life in Madrid at the moment.

The Yamal Factor

Barcelona will be without Lamine Yamal for the game which is a tremendous blow, particularly when you consider their poor record without the teenager this season.

The teenager is out with an ankle problem, giving manager Hansi Flick something of a headache ahead of the game when it comes to his line-up.

Yet it’s a game Flick really can’t afford to lose if his team are to go on and challenge for the title this season – as the stats show.

Ferran Torres currently seems to be the most likely option to come into the team after scoring four goals in five games since returning from injury. The only thing is, he seems much better as an impact sub than a starter.

The stats show that Atletico are currently the most in-form team in Europe after winning their last 11 games in a row, but they head to Barcelona with a terrible record. They have not won any of their last 18 away games against Barcelona and have not even scored in their last four games.

Watch out for Griezmann & Sorloth

Antoine Griezmann will take on his former club in spectacular form after scoring seven goals in his last six matches for Atletico. And some of those have been pretty special you have to say.

The Frenchman has never scored against his former team and will want to put that right on Saturday. In fact he’s scored against 29 of the 30 opponents he’s faced as an Atletico player in La Liga – with Barca the only team missing from that list.

Alexander Sørloth will also pose a threat, albeit most likely off the bench. The Norwegian has scored 24 goals in La Liga in 2024 – only Robert Lewandowski has more – and has netted more headed goals than anyone else in La Liga over the last 12 months.

Barca’s defence has looked a little insecure recently with Flick’s famously highline having been found out a little bit by opponents. Fatigue also appears to be an issue – but Barca know this is just one last push before a period of rest over Christmas.

European Leagues

David Moyes Drops Julen Lopetegui Sack Verdict As West Ham Prepare For Busy Festive Period

Ahead of the busy festive period of Premier League matches, former West Ham manager, David Moyes, has given his opinion on whether his successor, Julen Lopetegui, should be sacked by the Hammers after a poor start to his time at the London Stadium.

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The Scot left West Ham at the end of last season after the Premier League club had decided that there needed to be a fresh voice in the dressing room.

Julen Lopetegui perhaps wasn’t a universal choice and here we are a few months after his appointment with the West Ham manager one game away from the sack.

David Moyes’ strong opinion on Julen Lopetegui
David Moyes was almost Leicester City’s new manager, though in the end that job went to Ruud van Nistelrooy, and the Scot knows exactly what the pressure is like in the Hammers hot-seat.

It’s perhaps with that in mind that he’s given Lopetegui his backing.

“I watch West Ham all the time. Look, they’ve got a great group of players, a fabulous squad of players, lots of really talented players and I think they need to make sure they give everyone time, give the manager time to settle in there,” he said to Sky Sports.

“But overall you know, the league is difficult, the Premier League at the moment is so hard for, you know some of the teams that are doing so well this year are making it tough.

“But look, they’re beginning to pick up, they’re beginning to get some results West Ham so let’s hope that continues.”

Julen Lopetegui must turn West Ham’s form around

Moving forward, should West Ham continue to look to Lopetegui rather than replacing him in the dugout, the Spaniard has got to find the sweet spot and get things right with his team.

Though there’s no deadline that has been made public knowledge as to how long the club will give him before they decide to replace him, it’s clear results need to change sooner rather than later.

If not, Lopetegui could find that he goes the way of David Moyes and is eased out of the London Stadium exit door.

European Leagues

Manchester City In Injury Crisis As They Are Dealt Another MASSIVE Blow

Manchester City are officially in an injury crisis with five of their big stars now out for an unknown period.

The crisis deepened against St Polten in the Women’s Champions League with captain Alex Greenwood stretchered off the pitch with a suspected knee injury. Fans had to wait nervously for an update with concerns the injury is an ACL rupture.

However, the club have now confirmed Greenwood has had surgery on a medial collateral ligament in her knee which she is now rehabbing.

Manchester City: What has Gareth Taylor said about injuries?

City have also recently been without Bunny Shaw. Vivianne Miedema and Lauren Hemp are also out with knee injuries, while Chloe Kelly is returning to play after concussion.

Manager Gareth Taylor gave updates on the fresh injury concerns to Shaw and Greenwood.

Taylor said on Jamaica international Shaw: “I’m not too sure [what the injury is], we’ve had multiple scans on the area that she has the issue with, we’ll have to wait and find out. I don’t think we’ll see her until the new year which is a shame for us because she was in a really good vein of form.”

He had said on England international Greenwood, who won the Euros in 2022, before her injury was confirmed: “We’ll have to assess. Alex doesn’t normally come off unless it’s an issue, hopefully it’s nothing too bad because we could do without it, we’re missing so many players.”

City are also currently without Naomi Layzell and Sandy McIver. He added: “We’re really up against it player-wise.”

The club do not have anymore games left of 2024 with the WSL break now in place. The 14/15 December was the last round of the WSL until the league returns on 17 January.

The final games of 2024 saw City record back-to-back defeats to Everton and Barcelona.

The loss to Barca, which is FourFourTwo’s view would have been a lot worse had it not been for the saves of goalkeeper Khiara Keating, means City no longer top their group in the European competition.

The impact of this means they will face one of the group winners in the quarter-finals. The draw for those fixtures is taking place on the 7 February.

Barca are one of the group winners with Chelsea, Arsenal and Lyon the other three.