History offers little hope for Man United, Porto to be wary of Dzeko – Champions League in Opta numb

Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Marco Verratti will train ahead of Tuesday s Champions League clash with Barcelona, which Mauricio Pochettino is approaching with calm despite the weight of history on his team s shoulders.

Last season s finalists will face Barca at the Camp Nou for the first time since their collapse in the second leg of the last-16 tie between the two teams in 2017.

PSG led 4-0 from the first leg at the Parc des Princes but astonishingly lost 6-1 in the second as Barca pulled off the greatest comeback in Champions League history.

The cast of characters has changed significantly for both clubs since then. Neymar scored twice that night but is now in his fourth season with PSG, though he will miss this meeting with a groin injury.

Angel Di…

Andres Iniesta is set to play in his final Clasico on Sunday as his glittering Barcelona career nears its end.

With little other than pride riding on the biggest club game in world football, Iniesta will likely have even more licence to mark his last appearance in the fixture with a flourish.

Should he be unable to do so, the 33-year-old Spain great will still have plenty of fond memories of games against Madrid to look back on. Here we reflect on five of his best Clasicos.

Ronaldinho rips apart Real November 19, 2005: Real Madrid 0-3 Barcelona

Introduced from the bench for Lionel Messi in November 2005, Iniesta was able bear witness to perhaps the defining performance of Ronaldinho s career as the Brazilian tore apart Madrid almost single-hand…

Thomas Tuchel s impressive start to life as Chelsea head coach continued with a 2-0 win over Everton at Stamford Bridge on Monday. 

The German has now overseen an unbeaten stretch of 11 games since taking over from Frank Lampard on January 26, with this result the Blues eighth win in that period. 

Ben Godfrey s first-half own goal put the hosts ahead before Jorginho s penalty after the break ensured Everton s winless run at Chelsea would stretch to 26 Premier League games.

Chelsea remain in fourth but move back to within three points of third-placed Leicester City winners against Brighton and Hove Albion this weekend  while the Toffees are now four points further back in fifth.

Two goals. Three points!

UP THE CHELS!

— Chelsea F…

Pep Guardiola has no doubt Chris Wilder would be challenging for Premier League glory if he managed Manchester City.

Wilder s time at Sheffield United looked to be coming to an end as Guardiola spoke out on Friday, with the Blades propping up the top-flight table after mustering just 14 points from 28 games.

That is a far cry from the situation with Guardiola s City, who have 68 points and look to be streaking towards a third championship in four seasons.

Yet Guardiola is known to rate Wilder, who led United to promotion in 2018-19 and to a ninth-placed finish in the Premier League last term.

If he would be here he would be fighting to be champion. If I would be in Sheffield maybe I would fight to not be relegated, Guardiola told a news conference.

…

Socceroos head coach Graham Arnold has included six debutants in his experimental Australia squad to face South Korea in next month s international friendly.

A-League trio Andrew Redmayne, Brandon O Neill and Lawrence Thomas, England-based pair Harry Souttar and Ryan Williams and Freiburg forward Brandon Borrello are in line to earn their first caps in Busan on June 7.

Arnold has rested Australia s big names for the trip to South Korea, with the Socceroos set to play for the first time since their AFC Asian Cup quarter-final exit in January.

The 24-man squad includes 11 A-League-based players, including Matthew Spiranovic, Craig Goodwin and Dimitri Petratos, while former Liverpool left-back Brad Smith – on loan at Seattle Sounders from Bournemouth – returns t…

Bayern Munich clinched their sixth European Cup/Champions League trophy on Sunday, as Kingsley Coman s goal saw off Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 in Lisbon.

It completed a wonderful season for Hansi Flick s side, who have completed a domestic and European treble.

Bayern s slender victory also saw the Bundesliga giants make history, as they became the first side to win every match on the way to triumphing in the European Cup or Champions League.

They may have been helped by the fact that – due to the coronavirus pandemic – Bayern only had to play four knockout games prior to the final, though it is still a remarkable feat.

Here is how their perfect run to Champions League glory panned out.

100% FC Bayern München are the first side in…

Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong says tactics have not changed much since Quique Setien took over as head coach from Ernesto Valverde.

Valverde was sacked following the 3-2 defeat to Atletico Madrid in the Supercopa de Espana semi-finals, with Setien – an advocate of Johan Cruyff s possession-based approach – named as his successor on a two-and-a-half-year deal.

The 61-year-old appears to have had a prompt influence on Barca s style, the Catalans enjoying 82.4 per cent of the ball in the LaLiga win over Granada and 78 per cent in Wednesday s Copa del Rey victory in Ibiza.

Barca only managed three goals across those two games, though, suggesting they are yet to find a fluency to their attacking play – something for which Valverde was often criticised.