Football transfer news

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick has named the club that he considers among the favourites to win the Champions League this season – and it’s not his own.

Europe’s premier club competition has returned for matchday seven of the league phase this week, with only one more round of fixtures left as teams jostle for positions to finish as high as possible.

Barcelona overcame a disappointing start following defeat to Monaco in their opening game, stringing together five successive wins since over Young Boys, Bayern Munich, Red Star Belgrade, Brest and Borussia Dortmund to sit second in the table behind leaders Liverpool.

The Premier League side have won six from six, the sole team with a 100% record, and Flick admitted that Arne Slot’s men are the ones to beat.

Barca face Benfica in Lisbon on Tuesday night, with coach Bruno Lage naming the Catalans as favourites to lift the trophy come May. Flick pushed back on that prediction, commenting on the difficulty of going all the way and namedropping Liverpool instead.

“We’ll see in the future if [Lage] is right. It’s one of the most difficult competitions to win. Liverpool is one of my favourites,” Flick explained to reporters.

“Winning the Champions League is one of the most difficult things in the world. We’re doing well, but there are some very good teams that are also doing well.

“We’re in three competitions. If you look at the results in La Liga, we’re not doing a good job, but if you look at the [Getafe] game [on Saturday], we’re doing very well. It’s difficult to play against Getafe.”

Barcelona’s domestic form has been in stark contrast to their European results. Having dropped only three points through their opening 12 La Liga games to lead the way, Flick’s side have collected just one further win from eight league fixtures since to fall seven points off the pace set by Real Madrid.

They did, however, collect the Supercopa de Espana earlier this month, thrashing Madrid for the second time this season in the final in Saudi Arabia, scoring four times in the first half alone.

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Bayer Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso has distanced himself from speculation he could replace Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid in the summer.

Ancelotti is under significant pressure in Madrid after an underwhelming start to the season, with club officials said to be prepared to accelerate their plans to hire Alonso this summer, rather than wait until Ancelotti’s contract expires in 2026.

It was reported earlier this week, however, that Ancelotti has already communicated his plan to step down as Madrid manager at the end of the season, freeing the Spanish side up to pursue Alonso.

Ahead of Leverkusen’s Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid, Alonso was unsurprisingly quizzed on his thoughts about the speculation.

“Already questions on Real Madrid?” he laughed. “Time goes by but the affection remains.

“Our bond is very strong, that is clear, but my total focus is on Bayer Leverkusen now, that’s in my mind. I’m calm. I have enough things to worry about, it’s not on my mind right now.”

Like Ancelotti, Alonso’s contract with Leverkusen is due to expire in 2026 but he is widely expected to depart this summer in search of a new challenge. Madrid are known to be keen to hire Alonso eventually and are even thought to be looking to bring midfielder Florian Wirtz over with him.

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Manchester City have agreed a deal to sign 18-year-old centre-back Juma Bah from AIK Freetong, a report has confirmed.

Bah is enjoying a breakout season on loan in La Liga with Real Valladolid, for whom he has already made 14 appearances in all competitions, and a number of clubs are believed to have taken an interest in the Sierra Leone international.

It was recently reported that City Football Group, the wider ownership group behind Manchester City, had set their sights on Bah, but now Fabrizio Romano has specified that it is the Premier League champions who are chasing his signature.

City have struck a deal to sign Bah, although it is not clear whether Pep Guardiola’s side will sign him immediately or at the end of the season, when his loan with Valladolid expires. There are suggestions, however, that the teenager could be loaned to French side Lens, who sold Abdukodir Khusanov to City this week.

Should the move go through as expected, Bah could be the third centre-back signing of the winter window for City, who have also announced the capture of 19-year-old Vitor Reis from Palmeiras. The transfer fee for the young Brazilian is thought to have been around £30m.

The transfer spree does not stop there, however, Eintracht Frankfurt forward Omar Marmoush is set to join in a deal worth just under £70m, while talks have been opened with Juventus over a move to re-sign midfielder Douglas Luiz.

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Barcelona venture across the Iberian peninsula for their penultimate game of the Champions League league phase as they face Benfica in Lisbon.

After succumbing to Monaco with ten men on matchday one, Barca have won five straight in this competition and sit second in the league phase table. Ferran Torres’ heroics off the bench at Borussia Dortmund last month means they are all but assured of a place in the last 16.

However, their momentum gained at the start of 2025 was thwarted by Getafe on Saturday evening as Jose Bordalas’ side fought tooth and nail for a point to further hinder Barca’s La Liga title hopes.

Hansi Flick’s side have already claimed silverware this year in the form of the Supercopa de Espana, with that success also matched by Benfica’s triumph in the Taca da Liga final over Sporting CP.

Bruno Lage’s side are 15th in the league phase table and pushing for a top eight berth, but they’ll need a result here. Benfica are also locked in a thrilling three-horse race for the Primeira Liga title thanks to Sporting’s malaise since Ruben Amorim’s departure.

Here’s 90min’s guide to Tuesday’s Champions League clash.

Benfica vs Barcelona H2H record (Last Five Games)

Current form (all competitions)

Angel Di Maria is set to miss out on facing Barcelona for the 20th time on Tuesday night, with the Argentine star a major doubt through injury. The former Real Madrid man has won just six of 19 matches against them, scoring four times.

The hosts are certainly without Renato Sanches and Tiago Gouveia due to respective thigh and shoulder issues.

Kerem Akturkoglu has enjoyed a superb debut season in Portugal and is the man Barcelona must contain in transition, The Turkey international has 17 goal contributions in all competitions this term.

Benfica predicted lineup vs Barcelona (4-3-3): Trubin; Bah, Araujo, Otamendi, Fernandez; Aursnes, Florentino, Kokcu; Amdouni, Pavlidis, Akturkoglu.

There was some concern over the status of Marc Casado after Flick took him off in the second half against Getafe, but the midfielder’s withdrawal wasn’t injury-relayed and he’s in the travelling squad.

Despite strong links with a return to Girona, Eric Garcia is also travelling with the Barcelona squad.

The visitors are once again without Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Marc Bernal, and Inigo Martinez through injury.

Ferran Torres and Frenkie de Jong will be considered for starts, but Dani Olmo won’t be back in Flick’s XI after suffering a muscle injury at the weekend.

Barcelona predicted lineup vs Benfica (4-2-3-1): Pena; Kounde, Araujo, Christensen, Balde; Casado, De Jong; Fermin, Gavi, Ferran; Lewandowski.

Given Barca’s strong position in the table, Flick could rest and rotate a few key names in Lisbon. However, the visitors are blessed with impressive strength in depth, especially in creative positions.

Their La Liga title hopes are starting to fade, but this team at their apex are as good as anyone on the continent. We’re unlikely to see their utopian iteration on Tuesday night if Flick does make changes, and Benfica’s desperation for a result should ensure the contest is an exciting one.

We’ve seen superior Benfica sides in the not-so-recent past, that’s for sure, but they’ll fancy their chances of earning a result on home soil if Flick does tinker with his team.

Prediction: Benfica 2-2 Barcelona

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Liverpool need just a point to qualify for the Champions League round of 16 when they welcome Ligue 1’s Lille to Anfield on Tuesday night.

The Reds have been perfect in the competition thus far, although they were slightly fortunate to beat Girona on matchday six last month. Before that, Liverpool beat the likes of AC Milan, Bayer Leverkusen, and Real Madrid to assert a dominant position at the top of the league phase table.

Arne Slot’s side enter this bout having struck late at Brentford on Saturday and extending their lead at the top of the Premier League table to six points after Arsenal were pegged back by Aston Villa.

They will be put to the test by a Lille team that are unbeaten in 21 games across all competitions. Bruno Genesio’s side are up to third in France after coming from behind to beat Nice on Friday night, and they currently occupy the final top-eight spot in the European table too

After losing at Sporting CP on matchday one, Lille won four of their next five – including against Real Madrid – to leave themselves in a strong position. A place in the last 16 is far from guaranteed, but their continental campaign will surely extend beyond the end of January.

Here is 90min’s guide to Liverpool vs Lille in the Champions League.

Liverpool vs Lille H2H record (All Games)

Current form (all competitions)

Liverpool are healthy heading into Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Lille, with Joe Gomez the only confirmed absentee. The centre-back is expected to be out until February with a hamstring injury.

Diogo Jota, whose goal off the bench helped the Reds earn a point at Nottingham Forest, missed Saturday’s win over Brentford with a knock and is unlikely to recover in time for the Lille’s visit.

There’s bound to be some rotation from Slot, who hasn’t tinkered too much with his team up to this point. Conor Bradley, Wataru Endo, Jarell Quansah, Kostas Tsimikas, Federico Chiesa and Harvey Elliott could all come into the team.

Liverpool predicted lineup vs Lille (4-2-3-1): Alisson; Bradley, Quansah, Van Dijk, Robertson; Endo, Jones; Salah, Elliott, Chiesa; Nunez.

Lille have a few more injury concerns than their hosts, and they’re crucially without maverick winger Edon Zhegrova due to a muscle issue. Leading scorer Jonathan David will lead the line.

Ethan Mbappe and Nabil Bentaleb are unavailable in midfield, while Tiago Santos has been lost for the season with a knee injury.

Samuel Umtiti has barely featured since joining the club and remains out of action.

Lille predicted lineup vs Liverpool (4-2-3-1): Chevalier; Meunier, Diakite, Ribeiro, Ismaily; Andre, Bouaddi; Bakker, Cabella, Sahraoui; David.

Lille must have a feeling of invincibility around them right now, but that can quickly subside in an environment like Anfield.

Genesio’s men have proven that they’re not merely the beneficiaries of a rather weak Ligue 1, with their performances in the league phase so far depicting a balanced, well-drilled and adaptable outfit. They like to control matches with the ball, but Genesio will be aware that doing so is mightily tough on Merseyside. Expect them to cede territory and aim to hit a rotated Liverpool team on the counter.

Slot’s rotation means the Reds are unlikely to be as potent, but they’re hardly in short supply of stellar reserves. Those coming in will be keen to prove their worth, and the Reds should win again at home.

Prediction: Liverpool 2-1 Lille

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