Tag: Bayern Munich

Sergio Ramos got mad and shoved a photographer

The defender was not happy after PSG’s loss to Bayern Munich

Sergio Ramos was not happy after PSG’s defeat to Bayern Munich, and he took out some of his frustration on an unsuspecting photographer.

PSG fell 1-0 to Bayern on Tuesday night in the Champions League last-16 first leg, as Kingsley Coman’s goal settled the match at Parc des Princes.

The result leaves PSG needing to win at the Allianz Arena on March 8 or suffer yet another major disappointment in European competition.

Following the disappointing performance, PSG’s players went to their home fans to thank them for their support. Amid a crowd of photographers looking to get up close and personal with some of his teammates, Ramos was visibly annoyed.

After telling off one photographer, the defender was brushed against by a second. That clearly set him off, as he gave the photographer a hard, two-handed shove that sent him stumbling backwards before regaining his balance.

PSG has now lost three matches in a row in all competitions.

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Slumping PSG on the verge of another Champions League disappointment

PSG is looking at yet another early Champions League exit

What if Paris Saint-Germain added a fourth player who at some point was in the argument for the world’s best player? Would that work?

Something has to give for PSG, whose Champions League disappointments may well continue after they fell to a 1-0 home loss to Bayern Munich in their round of 16 first leg match on Tuesday.

Despite their many superstars, PSG have suddenly lost more games in the last six days than they had all season.

The latest defeat almost felt expected. With Kylian Mbappé only able to play 33 minutes off the bench, PSG looked flat from kickoff and seemed to be hoping to simply get through this first leg with a chance to take the tie with a second-leg win. They may have been lucky that Bayern decided to approach the match with patience rather than firing on all cylinders.

In the end, Kingsley Coman’s 53rd minute goal sneaked past Gianluigi Donnarumma, leaving PSG — even with Mbappé, Leo Messi, and Neymar all in the fold — staring at the massive disappointment of an early Champions League exit.

PSG has now lost three straight matches, falling 2-1 at Marseille in the Coupe de France on February 8, and then being beaten at Monaco 3-1 in Ligue 1 three days later. That hasn’t happened since 2020, when they fell in the final game of the 2019-2020 season and then lost their first two matches after the abbreviated break between seasons.

If they can’t figure out how to win at the Allianz Arena on March 8, it’ll be the latest European disappointment for a team built to, you know, win the Champions League.

Round of 16 exit not acceptable

Mbappé, Messi, and Neymar are joined by Donnarumma, Sergio Ramos, Achraf Hakimi, Fabián, Marco Verratti, and one of Europe’s great young prospects in Warren Zaïre-Emery in the kind of squad assembled when you expect to win everything. Another failure may result in Christophe Galtier becoming the latest high-profile manager to fall short at PSG, where winning Ligue 1 is considered a matter of course at this point.

The fact is, though, that PSG has a long history of not making it happen on the European stage. Their only trophy in UEFA competition remains the 1995-1996 Cup Winners’ Cup, a competition so old that it is literally defunct. The only other European adventure that went well for them was the 2001 Intertoto Cup, a competition that was really little more than an expanded qualification process for the old UEFA Cup.

Last year, PSG saw a 2-0 aggregate lead disappear at this same stage, with Karim Benzema scoring a hat trick in the final 30 minutes to send Real Madrid through instead. In 2020-21, PSG got as far as the semifinals, but were brushed aside by Manchester City. A year earlier, this same result — 1-0 against Bayern, with Coman scoring in the final of the pandemic-shortened version of that year’s Champions League (which was the first game in the aforementioned previous three-game losing streak for the club).

Mbappé’s second-half return from injury will probably mean a quick reversal in their overall form. Without the France star, they scraped out a 2-1 win over Toulouse before beginning this three-game losing streak. And sure enough, even looking less than 100%, the PSG attack suddenly found more space due to the threat of Mbappé’s runs in behind.

Still, while Mbappé’s return will most likely change PSG’s poor form in French play, it seems like it’ll take more than that to end whatever the hex is that hangs over them once the opening chords of the Champions League theme starts to ring out on matchday.

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Canada got some pretty good news on Alphonso Davies’ injury

Canada’s worst fears have been averted

Bayern Munich has offered a positive injury update on Alphonso Davies, saying the Canada star is not in danger of missing the World Cup despite suffering a hamstring strain.

Davies limped out of Bayern’s 3-2 win over Hertha Berlin on Saturday, holding the back of his right leg in what appeared to be a nightmare scenario for Canada just two weeks ahead of the World Cup.

But a day later, Bayern issued an update on the 22-year-old star that eliminated fears of a worst-case outcome.

“FC Bayern will be without Alphonso Davies for the two remaining Bundesliga games prior to the winter break,” a club statement said.

“The 22-year-old fullback suffered a hamstring strain in the 3-2 win at Hertha BSC on Saturday. The diagnosis was confirmed by the German record champions’ medical unit. The Canada international’s participation in the World Cup in Qatar is not at risk.”

Though Davies will be available for Canada’s first men’s World Cup since 1986, it is decidedly not ideal for one of the country’s most vital players to be working his way back to fitness as such a late stage.

Davies has 34 caps and has scored 12 goals for Canada.

Crépeau broken leg confirmed

In less positive injury news, Canada Soccer confirmed that goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau suffered a broken leg in MLS Cup and will miss the World Cup.

The LAFC goalkeeper very clearly suffered a serious injury when he came off his line in extra time, colliding violently with Philadelphia Union forward Cory Burke.

As Fox opted not to show the replay, Crépeau was shown a red card for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity before he was stretchered off.

Crépeau has been capped 15 times by Canada, and was set to serve as backup to Milan Borjan at the World Cup. In his absence, Minnesota United’s Dayne St. Clair looks set to take over as Canada’s backup.

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Canada holds its breath as Alphonso Davies picks up hamstring injury in Bayern win

Canada’s worst fears ahead of the World Cup might be coming true

Canada’s return to the World Cup is at real risk of happening without their best-ever player.

Alphonso Davies left Bayern Munich’s 3-2 win over Hertha Berlin in the 64th minute holding the back of his right leg. Julian Nagelsmann said after the match that Davies has suffered a hamstring strain of unknown severity.

“According to the doctors, at first glance, it is at least a muscle tear. We’ll have to wait for further tests,” Nagelsmann told reporters following the match.

Canada has just eight days between Davies picking up his knock on Saturday and the FIFA-mandated deadline to submit their final World Cup squad, which falls on November 13. Bayern will have to run scans on the injury, which could be a minor strain that requires nothing more complicated than a few days off and some massage treatment.

It could also be more severe situation that keeps him out for weeks or even months, which would prevent John Herdman from bringing Davies to Qatar.

Canada needs good news

For Canada, losing Davies would be a potential catastrophe. They managed to get through much of the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying cycle without the 22-year-old, as a bout with Covid-19 became a struggle with myocarditis that lasted for four months earlier this year.

However, no team wants to enter a World Cup without their biggest star, and that’s especially so for a team that hasn’t played in the tournament in 36 years. The work-around for going without Davies is not simply plugging in another player on the left flank. Raheem Edwards or Richie Laryea would be solid options for that job, but Canada’s attacking threat in transition would take a significant step back without the next-level ability Davies has on the ball.

A Canadian team without their star would have to spread that attacking responsibility around the team. Tajon Buchanan’s success would be that much more important, while young midfielder Ismaël Koné’s ability to drive forward from central midfield will become all the more vital.

Even if Herdman can shuffle the deck without Davies, Canada’s chances in Group F are surely stronger with him than without. The coming days will be telling for their hopes.

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Barcelona on the brink of Champions League elimination after astounding Inter draw

Barca’s in trouble even after a wild late comeback

Say what you will about them, but Barcelona doesn’t do boring.

Staring Champions League elimination in the face, Barca scraped out a 3-3 home draw with Inter despite having trailed both 2-1 and 3-2 after the 80th minute. Robert Lewandowski pulled the Catalans level in the 82nd minute, and then had to do it again in stoppage time after Robin Gosens had taken the lead back for Inter on an 89th minute counter-attack.

Ousmane Dembélé had given Barca a first-half lead in a game that they more or less had to win to stay alive, only for Nicolò Barella and Lautaro Martínez to give Inter the lead by the 63rd minute.

Lewandowski’s brace, on either side of Gosens’ strike, cemented a high-scoring draw that could have easily seen a few more goals. Inter manager Simone Inzaghi was sent off in stoppage time, while Barcelona were very lucky that Kristjan Asllani wasted a golden chance to finish them off, choosing not to pass to a wide-open Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the game’s dying moments.

Scenarios are looking grim

The result still isn’t particularly good for Barcelona, who now need a miracle to stay alive in Group C. Namely, they need Viktoria Plzen — who have lost all four of their matches in the Champions League so far, and have given up an average of four goals per game — to go to the San Siro in two weeks’ time and get at least a point against Inter.

An early exit would be a repeat of last year, when Bayern and Benfica both finished ahead of them in Group E.

If the Italian side wins that match, Barcelona will be dumped into the Europa League. With the first tiebreaker being head-to-head, and Inter having beaten Barca 1-0 in Italy earlier in the competition, there would be no way for the Blaugrana to get ahead of them.

Even if Barcelona gets the unlikely help from Plzen, they’d still have to beat Bayern Munich, who amid all this chaos have calmly strolled to four wins from four games in the competition. Theoretically, Barcelona could stay alive with a draw against Bayern, but it would require a Plzen win over Inter, and it would still leave Barca needing a win and an Inter loss on the sixth matchday.

Barcelona is under immense pressure to somehow wriggle out of this jam. There is the customary aspect of being a big club that is expected to get to the knockout rounds in every edition of the Champions League, but Barcelona has more than their pride under threat.

The club’s flailing attempts to register their summer transfers meant leveraging their financial future for the present, and getting to the knockout round comes with some potentially major prize money. Simply getting through Group C would bring in €9.6 million, while the eventual tournament winner will get €68.2 million in rewards from UEFA.

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Oliver Kahn hace berrinche viral tras empate del Borussia al Bayern

Partidazo en la Bundesliga este fin de semana entre Borussia Dortmund recibiendo al Bayern Munich con berrinche de Oliver Kahn incluido

Partidazo en la Bundesliga este fin de semana entre Borussia Dortmund recibiendo al Bayern Munich que terminó 2-2 con gol del Dortmund de último minuto que provocó un berrinche de Oliver Kahn que se hizo viral.

Los fanáticos del Borussia Dortmund estallaron de júbilo en el Signal Iduna tras el empate en tiempo de compensación luego de ir perdiendo 0-2 ante el odiado rival, el poderoso Bayern Munich y rescatarlo en el último momento.

Pero fue la reacción del director general del Bayern Munich, Oliver Kahn la que enamoró a los fanáticos del Borussia pues el emblemático portero del equipo bávaro hizo un berrinche de tal magnitud que las cámaras no pudieron dejar pasar la oportunidad de mostrarlo en la repetición del gol.

Kahn y su equipo no la están pasando muy bien en la Bundesliga y el triunfo era indispensable para alcanzar el segundo puesto general y no seguirse rezagando en el campeonato pues el equipo no convence a la afición y marchan en tercer sitio.

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Dortmund produce stunning comeback in Der Klassiker draw vs. Bayern

Scenes at Signal Iduna Park!

The latest edition of Der Klassiker produced some classic late drama.

Borussia Dortmund — with Gio Reyna not in uniform, and trailing 2-0 in the 73rd minute — came back to snatch a point, with Anthony Modeste nodding home an equalizer in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

Bayern had taken the lead in the 33rd minute, with Leon Goretzka’s 24-yard shot sneaking through traffic before getting under Alexander Meyer’s dive. Early in the second half, Leroy Sané doubled the lead, overpowering Meyer with another long-range rocket.

Dortmund, in truth, didn’t look likely to get back into the game, with Bayern coasting to what looked like an eighth straight win in Der Klassiker across all competitions.

However, the home side caught Bayern flat-footed in the 74th minute, with Modeste slashing in behind the defense before squaring to 17-year-old Youssoufa Moukoko, who finished the chance to give Dortmund some hope. In scoring, Moukoko become the youngest-ever player to score a Der Klassiker goal.

Dortmund were pushing to get level, but even Kingsley Coman being sent off in the 90th minute for picking up a second yellow card seemed irrelevant. Modeste had a glorious 83rd minute chance, but somehow contrived to never make clean contact with the ball from six yards out, turning a sitter into arguably nothing more than Manuel Neuer calmly picking up a cross.

With just eight seconds left in the four minutes of stoppage time given, Karim Adeyimi — the Dortmund player furthest from the Bayern goal, as Meyer had come forward for a set piece moments earlier — lobbed a desperate ball into the area, but it ran long. Bayern were surely walking out with a win.

However, Nico Schlotterbeck didn’t accept that outcome, and just barely managed to keep the ball in bounds, falling over in the process. With no one able to close him, Schlotterbeck scrambled to his feet and tried to clip the ball to the back post. Josip Stanišić arrived to attempt a block, but the ball appeared to glance off of his thigh and into a perfect spot for the charging Modeste, who headed the ball down to set off wild celebrations at Signal Iduna Park.

The comeback, per ESPN, was the first time Dortmund had gotten even a point against Bayern after trailing 2-0 since 1989. It also came with additional bad news for Die Roten, who saw Alphonso Davies leave the match at halftime after taking a high boot to the face.

Watch all the goals from Dortmund vs. Bayern

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Matthijs de Ligt decided to kick Juventus while they’re down

As if things weren’t bad enough in Turin right now

Juventus is going through something of a crisis right now.

The club has won just two of seven Serie A games to start the season, and has lost both of its Champions League matches. After falling to newly promoted Monza over the weekend, the calls for manager Massimiliano Allegri to be sacked have grown increasingly louder.

With all that as the backdrop, Matthijs de Ligt decided to kick his former side while they’re down.

De Ligt, who left Juve over the summer to join Bayern Munich, has accused his old team of lacking the required ambition to win the Champions League.

“I really enjoyed my time at Juventus, but felt the time had come for a fresh challenge,” De Ligt told NOS while on international duty with the Netherlands.

“Juve are a great team, but coming here was another step up for me, because Bayern have the ambition to win the Champions League. I didn’t get the sense of that at Juve.”

That comment will especially sting Juventus, which has been desperately seeking a Champions League title after not winning the competition since 1996.

The club had a run of nine consecutive Serie A titles snapped in 2020-21, when Inter won the Scudetto.

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Hinchas del Bayern Munich protestaron por retrasos tras muerte de Reina Isabel II

La muerte de la Reina Isabel II del Reino Unido conmovió a todo el mundo y la UEFA se ha visto afectada por las actividades protocolarias

La muerte de la Reina Isabel II del Reino Unido conmovió a todo el mundo y la UEFA se ha visto afectada por las actividades protocolarias cancelando juegos, algo que no gustó nada a los hinchas del Bayern Munich quienes realizaron una protesta.

Durante el juego de ayer en la Champions League ante el Barcelona en el Allianz Arena, el grupo más radical de hinchas del Bayern Munich desplegó un mensaje en unas mantas donde condenan los retrasos y cancelaciones de partidos tras la muerte de la Reina.

¿Retrasos y prohibiciones de último minuto en los partidos debido a la muerte de un miembro de la realeza? ¡Respeten a los fanáticos!, dijeron los hinchas del Bayern.

 

Foto ESPECIAL

Y es que no solo fue la Premier League la que canceló los partidos del fin de semana, el futbol en el Reino Unido ha visto comprometidos sus duelos y la Champions ya se vio afectada debido al protocolo tras la muerte de la Reina.

El duelo entre el Rangers de Escocia y el Napoli fue reprogramado para el día de hoy debido a las restricciones con los recursos policiales para salvaguardar la seguridad de los asistentes al estadio.

Pero no solo eso, UEFA determinó impedir el acceso a los hinchas visitantes del Napoli en una resolución unilateral donde salen afectados cientos de napolitanos que ya tenían pasajes de avión y hospedajes reservados en la ciudad de Glasgow.

El Napoli ha anunciado que reembolsará las entradas a los hinchas, sin embargo ¿quién va a pagar los vuelos y hospedajes cancelados? La misma resolución impedirá a los hinchas del Rangers hacer el viaje al sur de Italia al estadio Diego Armando Maradona con el mismo problema. Hinchas de Glasgow ya tenían reservados pasajes, entradas y hospedajes para acompañar a su equipo a Nápoles.

La Europa League también se ha visto afectada por esta situación, pues ya se canceló el duelo programado para la noche del jueves entre el Arsenal y el PSV Eindhoven sin que se haya anunciado la nueva fecha.

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¡Amargo regreso! Lewandowski y Barcelona caen ante Bayern Munich

No fue el regreso que Lewa esperaba en la que fuera su casa, Barcelona compitió, se vio competitivo pero no fue suficiente

El regreso de Robert Lewandowski al Allianz Arena del Bayern Munich no fue el que esperaba, pues su equipo Barcelona cayó 2-0 ante el multicampeón bávaro y prolongó su invicto en Champions League.

La afición del Bayern Munich ovacionó a su ídolo que recibió una calurosa bienvenida a la casa donde lo ganó todo, sin embargo el futbol no alcanzó y l racha de victorias del Bayern sobre el cuadro Culé se extendió.

Barcelona planteó un primer tiempo muy interesante, cerrando los espacios a Sadio Mané que no encontró los hilos del equipo alemán y mientras se apoyó en el gran refuerzo que es el polaco Robert Lewandowski para generar peligro en el arco de Neuer.

sipa-usa

Pero las fallas frente al arco le impidieron a Xavi y sus dirigidos irse al vestuario con un mejor resultado que un empate sin goles y pagaron caro el precio de perdonar al cuadro de Munich.

Comenzando la segunda mitad el Bayern Munich pegó dos veces, las necesarias para liquidar el encuentro. Primero con Lucas Hernández tras un tiro de esquina y posteriormente Leroy Sané en una descolgada letal para enterrar las aspiraciones blaugranas.

No fue el regreso que Lewa esperaba en la que fuera su casa, Barcelona compitió, se vio competitivo pero no fue suficiente y sumaron su primera derrota en el torneo que sumado con el triunfo del Inter, ya igualan en puntos en el segundo puesto del Grupo C de la Champions League.

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