Football transfer news

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has revealed that Erling Haaland asked to be substituted heading into extra time of Wednesday’s defeat to Real Madrid.

Having struggled across both the first and second legs of the ties, Haaland headed to the bench for extra time at the Etihad Stadium, with Guardiola bringing Julian Alvarez on in his place.

Both Kevin De Bruyne and Manuel Akanji were withdrawn closer to the final whistle, and Guardiola has now admitted that all three players asked to leave the field as they felt they could not continue.

“Erling and Kevin asked me to go out, like Manu, they could not continue,” the City boss explained.

“The game we were playing they were amazing and I am not a big fan of making a lot of substitutions but Kevin, Erling and Manu asked me to go out.”

Despite the frustrating result, Guardiola refused to criticise City’s performance. They ended the game with 67% possession and 33 shots compared to Real Madrid’s eight, only to ultimately fall on penalties.

“It is what is – sometimes you win on penalties and sometimes not,” Guardiola reflected. “We should have done it before – for how we played.

“I absolutely don’t have any regrets – we did everything offensively and defensively. Football is about scoring goals and they did it a little bit better than us from the penalty spot. They are in the semi-finals and we are not. I have to say from my heart, thank you to my players. The performance, the commitment was exceptional.”

READ THE LATEST MAN CITY NEWS, TRANSFER RUMOURS & GOSSIP

Thomas Tuchel was full of praise for Arsenal after Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final second leg but insisted the experience in his Bayern Munich side gave them the edge.

With Bayern enduring a difficult season domestically, Arsenal were the favourites heading into the tie, but a 2-2 draw in the first leg was followed by a 1-0 defeat in the return fixture as Bayern booked their spot in the semi-final.

After the game, Tuchel was keen to hail Arsenal’s recent improvement but pointed to his side’s big-game history for the edge.

“For me they are an elite team,” Tuchel explained. “I know that Mikel [Arteta] maybe does not want to hear this.

“If you watch Arsenal games it’s consistent, it’s fun to watch, and every match something to learn. Maybe what they miss a little bit is experience in big games like this.”

Arteta acknowledged that his Arsenal side perhaps are not ready to compete at such a high level, having only made their return to the Champions League this season.

“We haven’t played in the competition for seven years, we haven’t been in this position for 14 years,” he explained. “There’s a reason for it, and we want to do everything.

“Fast forward, super quick in one season and after we had the capacity and the quality to be in the semi-final, because the margins have been very small. But those margins sometimes are coming from something else, that maybe we don’t have yet.

“We have to learn it, when you look historically, all the clubs to get to certain stages, it took them seven, eight, some of them ten years to do it. Today that is not going to make us feel better, that’s for sure.”

READ THE LATEST ARSENAL NEWS, TRANSFER RUMOURS & GOSSIP

Chelsea’s preparations for Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City have been boosted by the return to training of both midfielder Enzo Fernandez and centre-back Axel Disasi.

The pair both missed Chelsea’s 6-0 win over Everton through various issues but were spotted in the Blues’ training photos on Wednesday, with Disasi even sporting a new haircut in preparation for Saturday’s trip to Wembley.

Fernandez’s fitness has been a major topic of discussion on social media after Argentinian outlet Show Sport reported the 23-year-old is in need of surgery on an abdominal problem.

Talk of a potential abdominal issue for Fernandez has been rife for months now and the midfielder is now reported to be considering going under the knife after the FA Cup semi-final against City.

Robert Sanchez, Raheem Sterling, Levi Colwill, Wesley Fofana, Reece James, Romeo Lavia, Christopher Nkunku and Lesley Ugochukwu also missed the Everton game through injury and manager Mauricio Pochettino is unlikely to have many of that group available against Pep Guardiola’s side.

Sterling has been battling a back injury but ruled himself out of training ahead of the Everton game through sickness, with Pochettino confirming further medical checks had to be done before the winger could return to the group.

Goalkeeper Sanchez has also been unwell but could be in line to return soon, but Pochettino does not expect too many returning faces before Saturday’s game.

The boss may be reluctant to make too many changes after perhaps the best performance of his Chelsea tenure so far against Everton, although left-back Ben Chilwell will hope to start after impressing off the bench.

READ THE LATEST CHELSEA NEWS, TRANSFER RUMOURS & GOSSIP

Ilkay Gundogan admits he was left disappointed after Ronald Araujo’s red card “killed” Barcelona’s chances of progressing in the Champions League.

Barca were forced to accept an early exit from European football on Tuesday night after suffering a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain in the second leg of their quarter-final clash.

The Spanish side looked like favourites to progress, beating PSG in the first leg and being the first side to score at their home ground. However, an early red card awarded to Araujo shifted the game, and soon the La Liga side were struggling with ten men.

The German international has placed blame on Araujo, saying his sending off “gave away” a Champions League spot to PSG.

“I am disappointed,” Gundogan began. “Very disappointed actually as we were in such a good position.

“Not just after the first leg, but after the first goal we scored. Everything was in our hands and we just gave it away in the most simple of manners. We just gave it to Paris Saint-Germain and that’s the most disappointing part.

“If he fouled him, I guess it’s a red card. I haven’t seen the replay, I don’t know. It’s difficult to say. You know, in these kinds of crucial moments you need to be sure to get the ball. If you don’t, and again I don’t know if he touched the ball or not, you need to stay away. 

“I would prefer to concede a goal there or give the striker 1v1. Although, the ball was played quite far ahead so I don’t even know if he would have reached the ball. But, maybe let our goalkeeper save us or even concede a goal because to go a player down so early on just kills your game.”

Araujo has already publicly thanked fans who stood by him after his red card, apologising for failing to help his side advance.

READ THE LATEST BARCELONA NEWS, TRANSFER RUMOURS & GOSSIP

Qualifying for the Champions League remains the priority for a whole host of European giants at the beginning of each season, but things may have been made slightly easier this year.

With Europe’s premier competition changing its format and expanding from 32 teams, there are two extra qualifying spots to play for in some of the top divisions on the continent. Which leagues will be handed those places depends on the respective UEFA coefficient rankings of various nations.

Those coefficient rankings relate to the performances of clubs in UEFA competitions this season, with only the two countries with the highest coefficients earning the extra qualifying spots.

Let’s take a closer look at next season’s Champions League format, as well as the current UEFA coefficient rankings.

With the Champions League’s format change comes an expansion of the tournament, with 36 teams participating in the competition from the 2024/25 season onwards – four more than the current number of participants.

Despite their being four extra clubs in next season’s competition, only two extra spots will be handed out to European leagues based on their coefficient.

For example, if England finishes with one of the best two overall coefficient rankings for the 2023/24 season, five teams will qualify for next year’s Champions League from the Premier League – instead of the current four.

A country’s coefficient depends on the performances of that nation’s participants in UEFA competitions. Ideally, countries want their clubs in European tournaments for as long as possible as it gives them a better chance of climbing the coefficient table.

Serie A is almost certain of an extra Champions League spot next season due to their coefficient total, while the Bundesliga will be given another European place as things stand. Borussia Dortmund’s qualification for the final four of the Champions League certainly boosted their coefficient.

Unfortunately for the likes of Tottenham and Manchester United, the Premier League currently sits third in the coefficient rankings. There is still plenty of time for that to change, although Liverpool’s 3-0 home defeat to Atalanta in the Europa League didn’t help.

Both France and Spain look unlikely to secure an extra space, but they are not out of the running completely.

As previously stated, the 2024/25 Champions League will see 36 teams compete, but that’s not the only change. The group stage has been done away with and replaced by a single league table, with teams in the competition playing eight times during the league phase.

Half of those games will be home and the other half away, with fixtures determined by clubs being seeded in four different pots. Each team will play two sides from each pot, with one home and away fixture against a club from each pot.

The teams that finish in the top eight in the league phase automatically qualify for the last 16, while teams from ninth to 24th will compete in a two-legged knockout playoff. Teams from ninth to 16th will face sides from 17th to 24th in this play-off.

From the round of 16 onwards, the competition will be unchanged from its current format.

The short answer is yes, If a team from one of the nations with one of the top two coefficients were to win the Europa League but fail to qualify for the Champions League domestically, then their respective league could have six teams represented next season.

For example, if Roma were to win this season’s Europa League and finish outside the top five in Serie A, then they would join the Italian teams that qualified for the Champions League domestically in next season’s competition – providing Italy have one of the two highest coefficients.

READ THE LATEST CHAMPIONS LEAGUE NEWS, PREVIEWS & RATINGS HERE