Luiz Adriano, left, and Willian are just two of the Brazilian products that made their European debuts at Shakhtar.
Willian scored a brilliant goal for Chelsea against Barcelona in the first leg at Stamford Bridge and struck the post twice. Doug…
Alexis Nunes and Shaka Hislop predict the biggest ties in the last 16 of the Europa League, including the big clash between Arsenal and Milan.
Shaka Hislop and Mark Donaldson react to the UEL round of 16 draw, and touch on Milan sporting director Massimiliano Mirabelli’s odd retort directed at Arsenal.
Russian clubs are usually expected to experience difficulties in Europe in February after the long winter break, but this season the script has been totally different. All four representatives won their respective fixtures in the return leg of the Europa League round of 32.
For Spartak Moscow, beating Athletic Bilbao 2-1 away wasn’t enough, as they lost 3-1 in the first leg and went out 4-3 on aggregate, but Lokomotiv Moscow, CSKA Moscow and Zenit St Petersburg all advanced.
The last Russian triumph…
Felipe Anderson has a goal and four assists in Lazio’s last two games.
Felipe Anderson looked finished at Lazio. Sent to train with the reserves following a home defeat to Genoa at the start of the month, few would have thought he would have been at the heart of the club’s upturn in form in the past week.
But the 24-year-old has been revitalised, with a goal and four assists in the Europa League win over FCSB and the Serie A victory at Sassuolo. Next up it’s a trip to AC Milan in the semifinals of the Coppa Italia with the tie goalless after the first leg.
He…
Craig Burley and Ross Dyer go head to head in predicting the outcomes of Bayern-Besiktas, Chelsea-Barca, Sevilla-Man United and Shakhtar-Roma.
Check out the key stats and big stories before Sevilla and Manchester United square off in the last 16 of the Champions League.
When Sevilla play Manchester United in the Champions League last-16 fixture Wednesday night, the Andalusians’ star Pablo Sarabia will not only meet the side that considered signing him twice in the past. He is also about to face the coach who put an end to his most sacred dream.
It was Jose Mourinho who sanctioned selling Sarabia from Real Madrid to Getafe in the summer of 2011 for €3 million. “Mourinho spoke to me before I left, but I won’t reveal what he said. He gave me my debut for Real,…
Get everything you need to know between Basel and Manchester City before Tuesday’s kick off.
Manchester City are most vulnerable when they are attacked at speed in transition. That was clear in the 4-3 defeat at Anfield and Jamie Vardy’s strike for Leicester on Saturday served as another good example. That is why Basel coach Raphael Wicky might be tempted to gamble on Dimitri Obertin when he faces Pep Guardiola’s team on Tuesday in the Champions League round-of-16 clash.
It would be very difficult to find a faster player than Oberlin, and the whole world sat and took notice of his ability…
Frenkie De Jong’s skilful play has elicited comparisons to some of Europe’s all-time greats.
“I want to be Frenkie De Jong,” Dutch columnist Frank Heinen recently headlined an article about the Ajax prospect.
Those feelings are shared by many fans throughout the Netherlands. Football purists are falling in love, head over heels, and it is easy to understand why. With the Netherlands’ national team in such disarray, it’s easy to see why many see such hope in this under-21 international.
If you don’t follow the Eredivisie, you probably haven’t heard of De Jong yet, but scouts from…
The FC crew discuss Chelsea’s striker issue.
No Chelsea player will understand how far Emerson Palmieri has come better than Marcos Alonso, the very man he will fight against for a place in the starting lineup on the left flank.
Few would have imagined that Alonso wpuld become such an important star at Stamford Bridge when was struggling to get a game at the beginning of his Bolton career, or sat on the bench for Fiorentina in 2013. Emerson has also had to overcome significant doubts regarding his quality before finally getting an opportunity…
Pietro Pellegri brought a youthful fire to Genoa and will strive to do the same with Monaco.
When Monaco paid Genoa €25 million for Pietro Pellegri, the 16-year-old striker became the world’s most expensive footballer born in 2001. That is not his most impressive record, though, as the young prodigy had shattered some ancient statistics in Italy.
For starters, Pellegri is the youngest-ever debutant in Serie A. When he stepped onto the pitch towards the end of the fixture at Torino in December 2016, the forward was 15 years and 280 days old — breaking the record of Roma legend Amedeo…
Shaka Hislop and Ross Dyer sift through the latest transfer rumours from around world football, including Man City’s chances of landing West Brom’s Jonny Evans.
There are two teams called Benfica in Lisbon. One is SL Benfica, the Portuguese champions famous around the globe. The other is CF Benfica, a tiny club established about three decades later in 1933, known locally as Fofo and totally unrelated to the Eagles.
If fact, CF could claim to be the true bearers of the name, because they are actually situated in the Benfica district. It is a relatively poor area, heavily populated by immigrants, and thus CF Benfica offer an opportunity to the kids who polish…
Gomez has never taken anything for granted and is currently seizing his opportunity at Celta Vigo.
On Sunday, Maxi Gomez did it again.
The burly striker from Uruguay scored a dramatic equaliser for Celta Vigo against Real Madrid, earning his team a well-deserved 2-2 draw. That is exactly what he accomplished at Camp Nou in December, netting the last goal in another 2-2 draw, ruining Barcelona’s perfect home record and out-shining his role model, Luis Suarez.
“[Suarez] is my idol. I admire him a lot for the way he works. People in Uruguay say that I am going to be his successor in the national…