HEADLINES
Solskjær grateful to Ronaldo for Man United’s winner
Ronaldo becomes all-time Champions League appearance maker
De Jong insists Barcelona should not sack Koeman despite abysmal form
Solskjaer applauds Man Utd star De Gea after Villarreal heroics
Tuchel admits Chelsea were ‘not good enough’ in Juventus defeat
Solskjaer admits Man Utd were ‘lucky’ to beat Villarreal
Koeman insists he still has Barcelona players’ backing after Benfica defeat
Ben White in line for England recall as injuries hit Southgate plans
Declan Rice insists he is happy at West Ham
Saudi Arabia takeover of Newcastle United will be decided in January
STATISTICS ARENA
Barcelona have lost their first two matches in a UEFA European campaign for only the second time in their entire history, after their two defeats in the UEFA Cup first round tie with FC Porto in 1972-73 and suffering elimination.
Barcelona’s last five Champions League matches:0 wins1 draw4 defeats2 goals14 goals conceded
Barcelona’s Champions League debacles in recent years: PSG 4-0 Barcelona, Juventus 3-0 Barcelona, AS Roma 3-0 Barcelona, Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona, Barcelona 2-8 Bayern Munich, Barcelona 0-3 Juventus, Barcelona 1-4 PSG, Barcelona 0-3 Bayern Munich, Benfica 3-0 Barcelona
Robert Lewandowski has scored 119 goals in his last 100 matches for Bayern Munich, while he has scored six more goals than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues in all competitions in 2021 (41).
Cristiano Ronaldo (36y 236d) is the second oldest Man Utd player to score a goal in European competition at Old Trafford after Bryan Robson (36y 282d) vs Galatasaray in 1993.
This is only the fourth time Juventus have won their first two matches of the Champions League group stage without conceding a single goal: the last two (this year and 2018/19) have been under Allegri.
Cristiano Ronaldo has made his 178th UEFA Champions League appearance, overtaking Iker Casillas as the player with the most appearances in the competition’s history. Domain.
Federico Chiesa has scored the fastest Juventus’ Champions League goal since the beginning of the second half (10 seconds).
Julian Nagelsmann has won nine of his first 10 games in all competitions as manager of FC Bayern – in professional football, this is the most any Bayern manager has won in his first 10 games in charge.
Federico Chiesa became the first Italian to score in four consecutive UEFA Champions League starts for Juventus since Alessandro Del Piero in November 1997.
Chelsea had 16 attempts at goal against Juventus, the most they’ve had in a UEFA Champions League away game without scoring since Opta began recording this data (2003-04).
No player has scored more 90th minute winning goals in Champions League history than Cristiano Ronaldo (3, level with Sergio Agüero).
Most UCL games won in the Champions League era:166 – Real Madrid156 – Barcelona 153- Bayern 122 – Man Utd113 – Cristiano Ronaldo106 – Juventus
SPANISH PAPERS
Ronald Koeman believes he still has the support of his players despite Barcelona’s 3-0 Champions League defeat to Benfica, casting further doubt over his future
Frenkie de Jong: “We started awful in the Champions League, we have to win the rest of the matches in order to qualify.”
Koeman: “The team played well until the 2-0. The big difference is that they have scored and we have not. We had four clear chances to score. That’s the big difference.”
Ronald Koeman on his future immediately after tonight’s defeat to Benfica in Lisbon. “I can’t say anything about my future because I don’t know how the club thinks in that sense. I don’t want to answer any more questions about this because it’s not in my hands. We’ll see.”
Barcelona’s last 5 Champions League matches: aggregate score of 14-2.
3-0 defeat to Juventus4-1 defeat to PSG1-1 draw with PSG3-0 defeat to Bayern Munich3-0 defeat to Benfica
Miralem Pjanić has liked a post on Instagram suggesting that it’s game over for Ronald Koeman.
Ronald Koeman could be sacked today. The problem is that Laporta does not know who will be the replacement. The options are Pirlo, Xavi and Robert Martinez.
Joan Laporta’s brother-in law, Alejandro Echevarría, has been in close contact with Xavi almost every day. Xavi has asked for a new medical staff and coaching team. This could be an economic problem for the club, but it can be negotiated.
La Liga squad spending limits for 2021/22:
Real Madrid: €739 million, Sevilla: €200 million, Atlético Madrid: €171 million, Villarreal: €159 million, Real Sociedad: €127 million, Athletic Club: €111 million, Barcelona: €97 million, Valencia (the lowest): €30 million
FRENCH PAPERS
Olivier Giroud will again be absent from the France squad for the next international break, to be announced today.
Six PSG fans and one Manchester City supporter were arrested in the aftermath of Tuesday’s match for various offences.
GERMAN PAPERS
Robert Lewandowski is the first player in Champions League history to win 18 consecutive games in the competition, overtaking Manuel Neuer (17).
Leon Goretzka on the other result of the group (Benfica 3-0 Barcelona): “That doesn’t interest us. We are focused on ourselves. We want to win our games and continue to develop. Other results don’t matter to us.”
ITALIAN PAPERS
Max Allegri insists Federico Chiesa ‘is nowhere near at 100 per cent’ after his winner against Chelsea and the Juventus winger will ‘become a centre-forward’ in future, following his father Enrico’s footsteps.
After their win over Chelsea, Juventus manager Max Allegri has compared himself to a sailor who is guiding the ship out of a storm.
Wojciech Szczesny assures Juventus ‘really enjoyed defending’ in their 1-0 Champions League victory over Chelsea, in which he barely had a save to make.
BRITISH EXPRESS
MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said that Manchester United were fortunate to beat Villarreal in their Champions League group stage meeting on Wednesday night.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hails Ronaldo’s last-minute winner for saving ‘lucky’ Manchester United against Villarreal. “When you have Cristiano you always have a chance.”
Rio Ferdinand has revealed Cristiano Ronaldo texted him insisting he knew he would score against Villarreal after netting a last-gasp winner for Manchester United.
Donny Van de Beek left furious after being left on the bench in Manchester United win over Villarreal, as he is consoled by team-mates before throwing away his chewing gum.
LONDON FOOTBALL
Thomas Tuchel has admitted Chelsea were simply not good enough in the shock 1-0 defeat at the hands of a struggling Juventus on Wednesday evening.
Former Inter Milan boss Antonio Conte claims Chelsea Don’t Know how to use Romelu Lukaku and says Thomas Tuchel is failing to get the best out of the £98m striker after three goalless games
Rio Ferdinand says Antonio Rudiger has been the ‘best defender in the league’ under Thomas Tuchel, as Joe Cole insists Chelsea MUST tie the centre back down to a new contract.
LONDON EVENING STANDARD
Gareth Southgate sweating over Harry Maguire’s fitness ahead of England’s World Cup qualifiers, with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Reece James already major doubts for Andorra and Hungary clashes
Ben White is set to be included in England’s squad to face Andorra and Hungary because of a defensive injury crisis.
Premier League players who are not fully vaccinated face being excluded from plans to relax red-list overseas travel rules.
BRITISH MIRROR
The proposed Saudi Arabian-led takeover of Newcastle is set to be either approved on denied in January
Chelsea are considering bringing Villarreal defender Pau Torres to the club. Manchester United were also interested in the Spaniard.
Arsenal will offer France forward Alexandre Lacazette to Sevilla as part of a deal to sign 25-year-old Morocco striker Youssef En-Nesyri.
Leeds United are poised to open talks over a new contract with Kalvin Phillips after speculation over a possible offer from Manchester United.
Barcelona have had their wage cap slashed to around £84m by La Liga, some seven times less than rivals Real Madrid and below reported figures for Premier League new boys Watford.
Manchester United target Pau Torres has left the door open for a departure from Villarreal after turning down offers from Premier League clubs last summer.
Bernd Leno is looking for a way out of Arsenal after being given “no clear reason” for being dropped in favour of summer signing Aaron Ramsdale.
Gareth Southgate has agreed to Manchester United’s request not to include Mason Greenwood in his squad for October’s qualifiers.
BRITISH MAIL
Bayer Leverkusen teenager Florian Wirtz could be the next big-money arrival in the Premier League from Germany with Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool all keeping tabs on him.
David Seaman is back with Arsenal, having taken on an informal coaching role working with the club’s young goalkeepers at their London Colney training complex.
Mikel Arteta is “not worried” about transfer speculation swirling around Bukayo Saka, who is reportedly being scouted by Juventus.
Fiorentina have offered a contract worth £35m to striker Dusan Vlahovic to fend off interest from the Premier League but are frustrated at a lack of progress in talks.Tottenham are on high alert after Lorenzo Insigne revealed he is yet to sign an extension to his soon-to-expire contract at Napoli.
Arsenal’s Granit Xhaka out for three months after scans show ‘significant knee injury’ picked up during the win against Tottenham.
Barcelona are “desperate” to keep hold of teenage superstar Ansu Fati and offered him a lucrative new contract earlier this month.
