Vesper

that's dirt cheap £21.6m to £25.9m

David Squires on … the final day of the 2020-21 Premier League season Our cartoonist looks back at the season finale, including a fairytale finish for the ESL clubs, some goodbyes and a tooth being lost https://www.theguardian.com/football/ng-interactive/2021/may/25/david-squires-on-the-final-day-of-the-2020-21-premier-league-season

Aurélien Tchouaméni is 1st team all league DMF and best young player Already voted best Young Player of the Season in Ligue 1, the Monegasque midfielder has also been named to the UNFP Team of the season! https://www.asmonaco.com/en/aurelien-tchouameni-in-the-ligue-1-team-of-the-season/

CMF's I rate (and are potentially available) Eduardo Camavinga (DMF as well) Houssem Aouar Marco Verratti Saúl Ñíguez Youri Tielemans Sergej Milinković-Savić Nicolò Barella Rodrigo de Paul Jude Bellingham (DMF as well) let him sit and play more at Dortmund Carlos Soler Bruno Guimarães (DMF as well) Ryan Gravenberch Weston McKennie (DMF as well) Rodrigo de Paul, had a monster year (9 goals, 11 assists) since he switched from wing to CMF and bulked up (he is a bull now as you can see), Conte is going bonkers trying to get him

if so, then we dam well better be putting a bid in there only around 20 or so paradigm changer players (and some of those are at point of being too old for the cash after thsi window, and maybe even now) who are actually (perhaps) available, and some of those are also so young and I am going off potential Kylian Mbappé (I would go ALL out for him, he is a combo (CF and either wing) and is the best player on the planet as soon, as Lewa slows a bit. Håland is the oly one who could catch him atm. Harry Kane Erling Håland Mohamed Salah (he will never come here, and this is last year on the list, due to age) Jadon Sancho Jan Oblak (last year on this list, due to age and cost for that age, as he turns 30 in midseason 2022-23, and wants 7 year contract) Romelu Lukaku Lautaro Martínez Marquinhos (combo, as is WC DMF as well) Raphaël Varane Eduardo Camavinga (SIGN HIM, he can play CMF too) Declan Rice Dominic Calvert-Lewin Alessandro Bastoni (next WC Italian CB for the next decade IMHO) Theo Hernández Jude Bellingham (give him another year to play and mature at Dortmund) Saúl Ñíguez Marco Verratti (last year on the list due to age) Achraf Hakimi Lewa (too old for the cash, but would be immense for 2 teats

these stated ''this is what we want' prices for these players coming from these clubs are delusional madness £200m for Kane? LOLO 100m euros for Camavinga? LOLO look at what is actually happening in the COVID-fucked market a really class, title winning GK, only 25yo, Mike Maignan just was sold for only 12.9m WITH all fees and bonuses included

Independent sources state that £200m is the minimum Spurs want to part ways with their iconic no.10.

12.93m quid including bonuses is a fucking steal for Maignan

Edouard Mendy named Premier League Goalkeeper of the Season https://www.sportsmole.co.uk/football/Chelsea/end-of-season-awards/news/edouard-mendy-named-premier-league-goalkeeper-of-the-season_448926.html Chelsea's Edouard Mendy has fought off fierce competition from Emiliano Martinez and Ederson to win the Premier League Goalkeeper of the Season award in the annual Sports Mole Reader Awards. Mendy only joined Chelsea in September, quickly usurping Kepa Arrizabalaga as number one and going on to keep 16 clean sheets during his debut Premier League campaign. Only Manchester City's Ederson kept more clean sheets, but the Golden Gloves winner has to make do with third place, garnering 24% of your votes. Aston Villa's Martinez kept 15 clean sheets and finished second in the voting, narrowly above Ederson with 24.6% of the votes. However, both trailed Mendy, whose efforts to help earn Chelsea a top-four finish won him 29.3% of the votes. Liverpool's Alisson Becker, who scored a crucial goal in the run-in, was fourth with 13.8% of the votes, while Kasper Schmeichel earned 8.4%. PREMIER LEAGUE GOALKEEPER OF THE SEASON RESULTS 1. Edouard Mendy (Chelsea) - 29.3% 2. Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa) - 24.6% 3. Ederson (Manchester City) - 24% 4. Alisson Becker (Liverpool) - 13.8% 5. Kasper Schmeichel (Leicester City) - 8.4%

Mbappe is damn close, lolol (well, I think he will get even better, perhaps even to CR7/Messi level) but other than him, correct

Riyad Mahrez Phil Foden granted not full season minutes (3420 max possible), BUT that also is what hurts Rüdiger's and De Bruyne's cases

The CIES Football Observatory’s best 11s for the big-5 With the five major European leagues ended, issue number 339 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the best line-ups for each championship. Players were selected according to the CIES performance index developed using data from OptaPro. Only footballers fielded for at least two thirds of domestic league minutes were included in the line-ups. The formation selected for the English Premier League is a 4-2-1-3, with Bruno Fernandes as an attacking midfielder behind Harry Kane and besides Raheem Sterling and Mason Mount. The defense is made up of three Manchester City players (Ederson Moraes, Rubén Dias and João Cancelo), plus Victor Lindelöf and Andrew Robertson, with Rodri Hernández and Granit Xhaka as holding midfielders. Some outstanding but not yet very known players are included in the line-ups for the remaining leagues. We notably find Ridle Baku (Wolfsburg) as right full-back in the German Bundesliga’s best 11, Aurélien Tchouaméni (Monaco), Farid Boulaya (Metz) and Romain Faivre (Stade Brestois) in the French Ligue 1 selection, Domenico Berardi (Sassuolo) in Italy and Javi Galan (Huesca) in Spain. Absolute JOKE that Lindelöf was picked over Slabhead (and I hate Slab), we all saw how important he was when he was out, he was Manure's 2nd best asset, after PGMOL, as Bruno had a meh 2nd half of the league season, and so many of his goals were pens. Rüdiger would be the CLEAR 2nd CB, except Lamps sat him on the bench for months. Sterling (wtf, he had a shit season, only 10 league goals, and ONE since mid February) over Salah (who fucking carried Pool) ????? and XHAKA (what the fuck X 1 million) over Kante (or move Mount to MF and put Son at winger. De Bruyne missed 43% of the league season, so it is understandable why he was left out.

Shock, horror and grief: relegated Werder Bremen get what they deserve https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2021/may/24/shock-horror-grief-relegated-werder-bremen-bundesliga The Bundesliga giants can no longer cling to the past after they were relegated in humiliating style on the season’s final day In some ways, it was like so many other key moments in the history of Werder Bremen. It wasn’t supposed to happen now, though, and not like this. Thomas Schaaf was on the touchline, a reassuring silhouette in cap, glasses and beard but having presided over so many life-affirming moments that gave the team from the Weser worldwide renown, this time he was stuck, left holding the baby. At the end of an agonising Saturday afternoon the shock and horror was real, after defeat at home to Borussia Mönchengladbach condemned Werder to a second-ever relegation, and their first for 41 years. It was real from former stars like Johan Micoud, the playmaking prince from the 2004 Bundesliga/DfB Pokal double winners (“I want to cry,” he tweeted), Mesut Özil and Davy Klaassen, who was still a Werder player in autumn and escaped to a double-winning season back home at Ajax. It was certainly real outside the Weserstadion, where the outpouring of grief after the match turned to anger in some quarters, prompting the police to advance a water cannon, deploy pepper spray and the players to sneak out of a back entrance to avoid a confrontation. Blame can’t be attached to Schaaf, the club’s technical director who replaced Florian Kohfeldt for this game as a final throw of the dice. He is part of Werder and the club part of him, serving continuously for four decades as academy scholar, player and coach between 1972 and 2013. That attachment was as apparent as ever in both the emotion steeping through his customary stoicism after the final whistle (“I find it difficult to speak right now,” he said) and in that he had taken on this rescue mission in the first place. “Schaaf hadn’t been able to say no when Werder had asked him,” wrote Weser Kurier’s Carsten Sander. “[He] agreed because he didn’t want to be accused of running away from responsibility.” Schaaf knows Werder like the back of his hand and knew he had to work on the fundamentals of his squad’s shattered confidence. He even called Kohfeldt to get some insight into the players’ difficulties. It wasn’t enough. The game was two minutes and 40 seconds old when Gladbach’s captain, Lars Stindl, steered in Stefan Lainer’s cutback from the right, and the sinking feeling set in for Bremen. Gladbach pulled away at the beginning of the second half and it was 4-0 and over before Milot Rashica and Niclas Füllkrug belatedly troubled the scorers. Still, even amid the one-way traffic, Bremen were stumbling towards a repeat of last year’s relegation play-off and a potential reprieve. That all changed with four minutes to go, when Sebastiaan Bornauw’s emphatic header for Köln lifted them above Bremen, prompting ashen faces among substitutes and staff in the stand. This time, there was no escape. Lessons were not learned after last season – although the club has been circling the plughole for a while, with not a single top-seven finish since the last qualification for the Champions League in 2010 – and one point taken in the last 10 games of this season tells its own story. “You have to be honest,” lamented the captain, Niklas Moisander. “It’s difficult to say we deserved to stay up.” The increasing sentiment is that at all comes back to another man steeped in Bremen history, the sporting director, Frank Baumann, a mainstay of Schaaf’s double winners and other famous triumphs. “I’m not someone who runs away from difficult situations,” Baumann said after the game when asked about his future. Yet he was not ready for the last difficult situation, when he chose not to fire Kohfeldt a month ago after a seventh straight Bundesliga defeat at Union Berlin, losing vital time to regroup. Baumann and the supervisory board chairman Marco Bode, another club legend, are under huge pressure from supporters. Next season’s renewal of the Nordderby with Hamburg should make Werder look closely in the mirror. Their rivals are facing a fourth consecutive season in the second tier after unsuccessfully attempting a series of short-term fixes, and Bremen need culture change. Debts of €75 million demand it, and with Rashica, Ludwig Augustinsson and others needing to be sold, one wonders how competitive a team they can construct. Veterans Moisander and Theodor Gebre Selassie (the latter has been at Werder for nine years and was in tears at full time) are out of contract and will leave. Perhaps the only silver lining is that the misfiring Davie Selke will also leave at the end of his 18-month loan spell. He would have had to been signed permanently had Werder stayed up at a €12 million cost they can scarcely afford. Given that the last three coaches have come from within the inner circle (Viktor Skripnik, another of the 2004 side, Alexander Nouri and Kohfeldt), it seems logical that outside influence is required. Who will be brave enough to take it on is another question. What is certain is that clinging to the past will no longer do for Werder Bremen.

A tip of the sombrero to James Ward-Prowse and Pierre-Emile Højbjerg West Ham fans try to spot their Big Vase heroes somewhere in the distance. Photograph: James Griffiths/West Ham United/Shutterstock Barry Glendenning @bglendenning AND BREATHE After 380 matches the Premier League season many thought might never end is finally over. At least 164 of those matches seem to have been contested by Crystal Palace and Burnley, often at a time when most normal folk are watching Pointless or Home and Away, wondering what to have for dinner and if perhaps it’s a little too early to uncork a bottle. The Fiver has long been of the opinion that it is never too early to uncork a bottle and what better reason does one need than to toast the efforts of players from Crystal Palace, Burnley and every other team, many of whom were flogged to within an inch of their lives for our amusement. Yes, they are all mollycoddled, handsomely remunerated and had it a lot easier than most throughout the pandemic but footballers also like to watch Pointless and their often heroic efforts during such a tedious time of uncertainty should not be taken for granted. A tip of the sombrero rim to Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse and Tottenham’s Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, the only two outfield players to participate in all 3,420 minutes (plus added time) of their respective team’s top-flight campaigns. In stark contrast the comparatively idle Tomas Soucek could only manage a paltry 3,419 for West Ham. Chelsea lucky to make Champions League, admits Thomas Tuchel Read more Manchester City are worthy champions, their conspicuous dodgy spell doing less harm to their title-winning chances than the early-season torment endured by Chelsea and Liverpool’s at times baffling middle-season ennui. Beyond a 6-1 mauling at the hands of the now departed José Mourinho’s freestyling Tottenham Globetrotters, Manchester United were arguably a model of consistency, but just not good enough to take advantage of their rivals’ assorted slumps. Consistent only in their maddening annual inconsistency, Everton somehow managed to remain in the Big Cup qualification conversation until as recently as last month before fouling the collective bed and finishing 10th. Fulham also flattered to deceive after a shocking start but came up well short, their manager’s emotive post-match interviews providing The Streets’ Mike Skinner enough material for a 12-album collaborative box-set. The Cottagers go down with our best wishes along with a West Brom side that proved one conflagration too many for Fireman Sam and a Sheffield United team that never really got motoring at all. And as if all that wasn’t enough of a distraction, we had a quickly aborted breakaway, several demonstrations of fan power and a racism war that is as ongoing as it is apparently unwinnable with which to contend. Ultimately it was a bizarre Mary Celeste of a season few who lived, played or coached through it will ever forget, even if the sheer relentlessness of the schedule and volume of televised games have made specific events surprisingly difficult to remember. QUOTE OF THE DAY “I don’t think it will sink in completely because without going crazy I think the impossible has been made possible. It shouldn’t happen, as simple as that. Hornchurch shouldn’t be winning the FA Trophy. For the level we play at, it’s ridiculous. I told the players to take something on board from what [Stuart Pearce] tells you and he said a film should be made about what we have done” – Hornchurch boss Mark Stimson makes his pitch to Hollywood after the seventh tier side’s Wembley win over Hereford. And what a good looking trophy it is. Photograph: Zac Goodwin/PA RECOMMENDED BOOKING Tickets are available now for Football Weekly Live’s Euro Not 2020 preview special on 10 June. Get them while they’re hot. FIVER LETTERS “It was interesting to see in the Fans’ Verdicts for the season gone that the Arsenal fan thought the team ‘failed to hang on to leads, lacked leadership on the pitch and lacked the passion to win’, they needed a defensive coach, domineering central defender, someone to protect the back four (Nigel de Jong), a midfielder and a prolific striker... 10 years ago” – Noble Francis. “Any reader suggestions for the Europa Conference? What follows on from Big Cup to Big Vase to Big??? I’ll kick off with Big Paperweight” – Mark Bennett. “Bearing in mind that its sole and noble purpose appears to be to bring glory to the unmeasured might of Moldova and continental blessings to the titans of Tallinn, can we not just call it EuroVasion?” – Neil Dobson. “Re: referee misadventures (Fiver letters passim): a slight variation on a theme. In 1984 I was head of department at a large London comprehensive. I fancied myself as a decent centre-back and the 16-year-old student striker who was on Arsenal’s books held no fear for me when the staff played the first XI. He ran me ragged and his parents and others on the touchline were loving it. Halfway through the second half he berated one of his teammates and called him an [effing] idiot. I sent him off for his bad language. Out of disbelief no one objected and we won 2-1. The referee was a junior member of my department. Those were the days” – Andrew Parker. Send your letters to [email protected]. And you can always tweet The Fiver via @guardian_sport. Today’s winner of our prizeless letter o’the day is … Andrew Parker. RECOMMENDED LISTENING AND WATCHING Max Rushden and the pod squad wrap up the season in Football Weekly – and you can watch Max and Barry Glendenning review the season in this here video. NEWS, BITS AND BOBS Don Sergio Ramos has been left out of Spain’s squad for Euro Not 2020. Tommy T is confident that Édouard Mendy will recover from rib-ouch in time for Big Cup final. Kalvin Phillips looks a doubt for the Euro jamboree with a fresh bout of shoulder-gah while Nick Pope’s knee-knack has ruled him out of the England squad. Wolves ejected a supporter from Molineux for racially abusing BT Sport pundit Rio Ferdinand. “We are deeply sorry Rio,” read a club tweet. “This person does not represent our club, our supporters or our values.” Gini Wijlnaldum is preparing for the leaving of Liverpool. “It is very emotional for me because I lose a friend and I will miss him,” sobbed Jürgen Klopp. And there were hot salty tears of sorrow shed at Eastlands, too, where Manchester City paid tribute to the departing Sergio Agüerooooooooooooo. “He’s a special person,” wailed Pep. “He’s so nice.” STILL WANT MORE? Forgotten the season already? Fear not. Our hacks have picked out the best of the 2020-21 Premier League season: Players, gaffers, goals, gripes, flops, youngsters, matches, signings and pundits are all catered for. After 41 years, Werder Bremen plunged to relegation, and deservedly so, writes Andy Brassell. Album cover vibes in Bremen. Photograph: Focke Strangmann/EPA Juventus got lucky in making next season’s Big Cup, and they can thank Verona for that, says Nicky Bandini. La Liga went down to the wire – as Diego Simeone always said it would, writes Sid Lowe. What did the fans think of the Premier League season, a two part guide here and here. Lille held their nerve thanks to the mastery of manager Christophe Galtier, write Ligue Urrrrrrrn aficionados Adam White and Eric Devin. And for the final time this season, 10 talking points from a Super Duper Sunday. Oh, and if it’s your thing … you can follow Big Website on Big Social FaceSpace. And INSTACHAT, TOO! THE MOOD

Thomas Tuchel unveils "full of joy" plan to lead Chelsea to Champions League final Thomas Tuchel, who lost last season's Champions League final, is making special plans to keep his Chelsea players happy ahead of their showstopper against Man City https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/thomas-tuchel-unveils-full-joy-24174271 Thomas Tuchel has told his players to enjoy the biggest week of their lives. Tuchel has even decided to give his players Tuesday as a day off to draw a line between the disappointment of losing at Aston Villa on Sunday - and then building up to the Champions League final. Chelsea boss Tuchel said for many it will be a “dream come true” to play Manchester City on Saturday with the ultimate prize at stake and setting the right tone in the dressing room will be crucial to overcoming the team he regards as the best in Europe. “I want them to be here on Wednesday full of joy because this is maybe one of their most exciting weeks in their whole lives as professional players,” said Tuchel. “We are allowed to prepare a final in the Champions League and this is a dream come true, and this is the atmosphere we want to build. “I’m not so sure what the headlines will be and what the points to focus will be. This will be decided as a team tomorrow.” Tuchel reached the Champions League final last year but his Paris Saint Germain team lost to Bayern Munich. Now is the chance to go one better but says they must beat the best team in Europe and overcome the best coach in the world. Tuchel has twice beaten City this season - once at the Etihad and also in the FA Cup semi final - and they will start as underdogs but says they can pull off another surprise. “Manchester City is clearly the benchmark of our league so it is the toughest opponent to play against and this is how it should be,” said Tuchel. "We don't lose ourselves too much in thoughts like this. From the moments that the semi-finals were played it was clear this could happen but we focused totally on us. We arrived at the final, and that is an incredible achievement, and once you arrive you want to be at your very best. “With City, and Pep on the other side, they are maybe at the moment the best team in Europe, maybe even in the world. It is on us again to close the gap for 90 minutes. “The good thing is that we did it already. We played exactly this team in exactly the same circumstances a very short period of time ago, and this is for us the point to continue from and the point to make us believe. “Football can be anything in final – of course, anything is possible in any direction. We want to push luck and destiny, and get this game on our side.” Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic is the only player for the Blues to have Champions League winning experience but, despite being a substitute each time, was a bit part player in three successive trophies. This time Kovacic hopes to start - but says just being involved is important in the Chelsea “family.” Kovacic added: “It’s never easy but I played my part in the team which was to be there and if someone was injured or couldn’t play then I was there to help. “At Chelsea, it’s a little bit different. It would be huge for me to play in a final, when I left Madrid, I said I would work very hard to reach a final, now thanks to God I have reached a final and we play a big game on Saturday. “But the most important thing is that we win, it’s never important who will be star of the game, the most important thing is the team and I think Chelsea will show we are a family, we will do that on Saturday to be a team and to win a trophy. “There is no fear because we love to play football. There is pressure. It will be tough. Tough opponent. City is a great team having a great season. They will be confident. But we will be as well.”

anti-triskaidekaphobia?

that swap is chalk and cheese they are too dissimilar to compare (other than both are physically weak) I listed the DMFs I rate a little bit back on this thread I will post CMF's in a bit

I wonder if Nuno goes to Spuds

Damn, I had no idea Eze of Palace had completely ruptured his Achilles and is out for 8 months plus. wifey just mentioned it in passing (how sad she is, remember her 2nd team is QPR) I fucking loved his play wow, I so hope he is not perma fucked 😿

He was not good enough for the Bundesliga, so he fucked of to Liga NOS (Benfica) he is too thin and weak for an EPL DMF the hell if I want another Jorginho type here

Chelsea finished in the top four without a prolific striker — imagine what they could do with one https://theathletic.com/2607717/2021/05/24/Chelsea-secure-champions-league-top-four-without-prolific-striker-imagine-with-one/ Thomas Tuchel must know Chelsea will never get this fortunate again. Their goal-scoring issues have been a problem all season and reared their ugly head in the 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa. It would have cost them a top-four finish had Tottenham not done them a huge favour by beating Leicester City. Qualifying for next season’s Champions League is still a significant achievement when you consider Chelsea dropped down to 10th in January. It also relieves some of the pressure going into this season’s final against Manchester City on Saturday. But Chelsea can’t afford to be this poor in the final third against Pep Guardiola’s men in Portugal, or if they have any hope of challenging them for the title in 2021-22. The statistics make grim reading. With Jorginho ending up as the club’s highest scorer in the top division with seven goals, it is the lowest tally from the club’s leading goal-scorer since the Premier League began in 1992. The midfielder’s name replaces the previous worst set by Gianluca Vialli (1996/97) and Mick Harford and Graham Stuart (1992/93), who all managed nine. Tuchel admitted it was something on his mind ahead of this fixture. “Is that what we want? Jorginho our top scorer? No,” he said. “Not because we don’t like Jorgi, he deserves all the fame and all the praise. But, of course, we don’t want him to be our top scorer. “We try — we don’t need to hide — to improve our statistics offensively. First of all, we do that with the guys who are here.” There is not much Tuchel can do before taking on Manchester City’s defence in Porto apart from working on shooting drills and patterns of play in training, as he has been since replacing Frank Lampard in January. The German will also need to offer some words of encouragement judging by the downbeat body language of some of his players in the Midlands. Tuchel can take some comfort from Chelsea’s wins over Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final and Premier League recently. But he’s no fool. On neither occasion did they face Guardiola’s A-team. The longer-term positive is that by securing Champions League football, Chelsea will have extra funds to lure the big names for the next campaign. They will be a far more appealing prospect for new recruits, especially compared to being in the Europa League. But it is not going to be straightforward. As things stand, all the significant forwards they have looked at don’t appear to be heading to Stamford Bridge any time soon. For example, in January The Athletic reported how the club were doing everything they could to sign Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland. However, sources have said those hopes are gone now the Bundesliga club have booked their place in the Champions League next season. They weren’t keen to sell anyway, but have no intention of doing so now. Former Chelsea forward Romelu Lukaku is another one on the wish list. Yet he isn’t pushing to leave Inter Milan and the Serie A side, who have just had their accounts boosted by a £263 million investment from funds managed by US firm Oaktree Capital, are under less financial strain. While, it makes a sale less likely, it still might depend on coach Antonio Conte remaining at the San Siro. The Belgium international loves playing for the Italian and won’t be happy if he goes. There have been a lot of headlines regarding Chelsea being interested in Harry Kane, the man who came to their aid by scoring in Spurs’ victory against Leicester and who has won the Premier League’s Golden Boot again this season. But Manchester City are still the favourites to secure his signature. There is also the significant factor that Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy will not want to do business with Chelsea, which was the case when they tried to acquire Luka Modric in 2011. The extent of their interest in Sergio Aguero, who is leaving Manchester City this summer, has always been uncertain, yet he is set to join Barcelona anyway. To add to the complexity of Chelsea’s situation, Olivier Giroud is out of contract and is expected to depart Stamford Bridge, while Tammy Abraham is keen to leave after barely playing following Tuchel’s arrival. Clearly, it is a problem that has to be solved. Timo Werner has shown he needs someone else to share the strain. His six Premier League goals from 35 appearances is a disappointment, especially after being bought for £45 million from RB Leipzig last year. Tuchel is going to be backed by owner Roman Abramovich in the market. If they can reach an FA Cup final, a Champions League final and secure a top-four spot without a leading marksman, imagine what they could achieve with one? For now, his only focus is getting the squad ready for one last fixture. Despite what he claimed afterwards, self-belief must have been dented by three losses in their last four matches to Arsenal, Leicester in the FA Cup final and Aston Villa. But he doesn’t have as big a job to lift them as he would if they had finished fifth. “We are lucky to escape,” said Tuchel. “We did not hit the target (against Aston Villa), the last touch was not precise enough. We fought, tried everything but forgot to score. “A loss never feels good but I will take a lot of satisfaction. We reached the objective and congratulations to everyone. We are still a young team, players fighting for their first trophies and now we arrive in Porto with full confidence.” But if they want to win the Champions League, they’re going to have to arrive in Manchester City’s penalty area at the Estadio do Dragao with a lot more conviction.

Chelsea's Erling Haaland transfer decision - and what it means for Man Utd's pursuit of £150m forward Chelsea have reportedly ended their pursuit of Erling Haaland after Borussia Dortmund qualified for the Champions League, opening the door for Manchester United to swoop in https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/Chelsea-transfer-haaland-manchester-united-24170986