Football transfer news

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.

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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.

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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.

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A Champions League semi-final spot is at stake when Manchester City and Real Madrid collide in the second leg of their quarter-final clash on Wednesday night.

This tie had blockbuster material written all over it when the draw was made given their recent duels at this late stage of the competition, and the pair certainly didn’t disappoint in the Spanish capital last week. A first leg full of utterly ludicrous finishes ended 3-3, with City undoubtedly departing the happier of the two sides ahead of the return in Manchester.

They’ll now get to enjoy the comforts of the Etihad Stadium in midweek as they aim to complete an unprecedented double-treble. Pep Guardiola’s side are unbeaten in 2024 and they returned to the top of the Premier League table at the weekend following Liverpool and Arsenal defeats.

Real Madrid lead the way in La Liga, maintaining their eight-point buffer over Barcelona ahead of El Clasico by beating Mallorca at the weekend. Despite their domestic success, some will deem the campaign a disappointment should they exit the Champions League at this premature stage.

Here’s 90min’s preview of Wednesday’s quarter-final second leg.

Man City vs Real Madrid H2H record (Last Five Games)

Current form (all competitions)

Guardiola only recently had a mini defensive injury crisis on his hands, but the situation has improved considerably ahead of the second leg.

Kyle Walker and Nathan Ake were both in the matchday squad at the weekend, with the former expected to come back into the team on Wednesday. Ederson was also back in action against Luton having missed the previous month with a muscle injury.

Rodri, Jack Grealish, Bernardo Silva, and Phil Foden were all rested ahead of Madrid’s visit.

Man City predicted lineup vs Madrid (3-4-2-1): Ederson; Walker, Dias, Gvardiol; Stones, Rodri; Bernardo, De Bruyne, Foden, Grealish; Haaland.

Aurelien Tchouameni, who scored the game’s only goal in Madrid’s win over Mallorca, is suspended for Wednesday’s game.

Nacho is expected to partner Antonio Rudiger at centre-back with Eder Militao not believed to be ready for a start in a game of this magnitude after only recently returning from injury.

Madrid are still without long-term injury absentees Thibaut Courtois and David Alaba.

Madrid predicted lineup vs Man City (4-3-1-2): Lunin; Carvajal, Rudiger, Nacho, Mendy; Camavinga, Kroos, Valverde; Bellingham; Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo.

As was the case in last season’s semi-final, there’s a prevailing feeling that Real Madrid needed to win their home first leg to advance beyond Guardiola’s juggernaut.

While Carlo Ancelotti’s side are firmly in the tie, the fact the second leg arrives at the Etihad reduces their chances of pulling off the upset.

City overcame a major hurdle by battering Madrid in Manchester on their way to the treble, and they’ll be fully confident of toppling the record winners on Wednesday. Kyle Walker’s return is huge, with Guardiola managing his squad superbly during the run-in thus far.

They’re well-placed to triumph and progress into the last four.

Prediction: Man City 3-1 Real Madrid

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For the first time in their history, Bayer Leverkusen are Bundesliga champions.

This is the club that was once branded ‘Neverkusen’ thanks to four second-place finishes in the space of six seasons between 1996 and 2002, the latter year also seeing them lose the Champions League final against Real Madrid in a famous contest at Hampden Park.

It is an incredibly proud moment for Leverkusen, the club and the city, and testament to the work done by the sporting department and head coach Xabi Alonso.

Significant, too, is what it means for German football as a whole. No club other than Bayern Munich had been crowned Bundesliga champions since 2012 in an unprecedented reign of dominance. That streak of successive national titles is now over at 11, with hope of ushering in a newly competitive era after more than a decade of monopolisation.

Bayern’s dreadful campaign has arguably not even been a contributory factor, with Leverkusen laying down one of the greatest-ever Bundesliga campaigns. The cracks in the Munich machine were starting to show in 2022, claiming last year’s title with only 71 points, Germany’s lowest winning tally since 2009/10. But no one was there to take advantage.

Leverkusen dramatically changed that in 2023/24, leaving a sorry Bayern in their wake to wrap up the league with five games still left to play. They have already substantially exceeded Bayern’s 2022/23 tally and are within touching distance of the Bundesliga’s all-time points record – currently 91 set in 2012/13. That record will fall if Leverkusen win just four of their remaining fixtures.

90min takes a look at just how they did it…

The transformative effect that Alonso has had since his appointment in October 2022 has been nothing short of incredible. Leverkusen were in the relegation zone when he arrived, having taken only four points from their opening eight games of the season, but marked Alonso’s first game with a statement 4-0 victory over Schalke and went on to put two significant winning runs together – the first straddling the World Cup break and the second across March and April – to climb to sixth.

That in itself was impressive enough. But Alonso has since kicked Leverkusen onto the next level in what has been his first full season as a senior head coach.

The immediate change when Alonso started work was a switch in formation, moving from the 4-2-3-1 preferred by predecessor Gerardo Seoane to a system utilising a back three and attacking wing-backs. Fluidity further up the pitch has seen tweaks between two ‘number tens’ operating behind a single central striker, or a sole ‘number ten’ just beneath two strikers.

Having become the leading young coach in world football, the 41-year-old’s decision to pledge his future beyond this season to Leverkusen was a massive boost as they prepare to return to the Champions League in 2024/25. But his bosses don’t expect him to stay forever, with chief executive Fernando Carro admitting there is “no doubt” Alonso will take charge of Real Madrid one day. Liverpool or Bayern Munich would also be on the cards in Carro’s mind.

A back-three system done well will always make it more difficult for an opposing teams to score and it’s no coincidence that Leverkusen have only conceded 19 times across their first 29 games. The next best defensive record belongs to RB Leipzig, who have allowed 33 goals against them.

Leverkusen haven’t often made use of a scrappy 1-0 win, recording only two such score-lines in the Bundesliga, but clean sheets – of which there have been 15 – naturally make wins easier to come by because it takes the burden away from scoring goals, not there has been a problem there anyway.

Jonathan Tah has been the mainstay of the back three, starting 26 Bundesliga games, but the others have been relatively fluid. Piero Hincapie, Edmond Tapsoba, Odilon Kossounou and Josip Stanisic have rotated between the two other places, starting between 11 and 18 times in the league.

Hand in hand with hard to score against is hard to beat, and Leverkusen are just five games away from recording an undefeated Bundesliga season, having yet to lose so far in 2023/24.

On the rare occasions that record has been under threat, doggedness has got Alonso’s team through. A 94th-minute penalty from Exequiel Palacios snatched a 2-2 draw with Bayern back in September, while Victor Boniface equalised towards the end when trailing to Borussia Dortmund in December.

Most crucial to any back three formation are the wing-backs who flank the central defenders. That is any such system has the potential to break down because they have to serve as both defensive-minded full-backs and attack-minded wingers in one.

Leverkusen’s have thrived. Jeremie Frimpong and Alejandro Grimaldo have contributed defensively, all the while both being among the squad’s top scorers and most creative players. Frimpong has racked up 16 goal involvements across his 27 Bundesliga appearances, while Grimaldo has 22 in 29.

Without the pair of them, this season wouldn’t have been nearly as successful as it has been.

Once of Barcelona’s La Masia, Grimaldo is in his first year in Germany after his contract with Benfica expired last season. To have the kind of impact he has is huge, but the 28-year-old is not alone in arriving in Leverkusen and hitting the ground running.

The club spent handsomely last summer to build off Alonso’s initial success but have seen a rapid return on that investment when it comes to performances and results. Victor Boniface’s €20m transfer from Union Saint-Gilloise looks like tremendous value in light of his 11 goals and nine assists in 18 Bundesliga games – it would have been even more but for a three-month injury absence. Granit Xhaka has started every league match since joining from Arsenal, while Jonas Hofmann has become key, with Nathan Tella and the aforementioned Stanisic, on loan from Bayern, valuable squad players.

Alonso was able to get vastly more out of the Leverkusen squad last season than his predecessor, but smart recruitment over the summer took an already talented group to new heights.

You wonder how different this season might have been had Bayern held on to beat Leverkusen when they met in Munich just four games in. Leverkusen put together eight straight wins off the back of grabbing a point at the death, and while Bayern weren’t unduly affected by dropping two points, they did stumble a few months down the line, Leverkusen’s momentum gladly carried them ahead.

When they met again at the BayArena in February, Alonso’s team had taken 52 points from a possible 60 at that stage of the season and were feeling fully invincible and able to beat anyone, to the point where an already vulnerable Bayern were put to the sword with a 3-0 score-line. That result prompted Bayern’s collapse, winning only four of their eight Bundesliga games since.

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