Category: Games

Barcelona bagged a narrow away win Sunday over Atletico Madrid on matchday 16 of the Spanish La Liga.

Ousmane Dembele scored the winning goal with a close-range shot from the right side of the box in the 22nd minute, assisted by Gavi at Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano stadium.

In stoppage time, Barcelona’s Ferran Torres and Atletico Madrid’s Stefan Savic were both shown red cards after a clash between them.

Barcelona are atop the standings with 41 points and Atletico Madrid are fifth with 27 points.

Sunday’s results:

Barcelona – Atletico Madrid: 1-0

Almeria – Real Sociedad: 0-2

Rayo Vallecano – Real Betis: 1-2

Sevilla – Getafe: 2-1

Source: Anadolu Agency

Manchester City eased past Chelsea with a 4-0 score in the Football Association Challenge Cup (FA Cup) third round on Sunday.

Riyad Mahrez scored twice while other goals came from Julian Alvarez and Philip Foden at Etihad Stadium.

With this result, Manchester City will play against the winner of the Oxford-Arsenal match for the next round.

4th-tier Stevenage eliminate Aston Villa on road

Fourth-tier team of the English football Stevenage beat Premier League club Aston Villa 2-1 at Villa Park.

Morgan Sanson and Jamie Reid produced a goal, each, for Stevenage, while Aston Villa’s only goal came from Dean Campbel.

Aston Villa were reduced to 10 men after Leander Dendoncker was shown a red card in the 85th minute.

Source: Anadolu Agency

AC Milan were held to a 2-2 draw with Roma in the 17th week of the Italian Serie A on Sunday.

AC Milan’s Pierre Kalulu scored the opener with a header goal in the 30th minute, assisted by Sandro Tonali at San Siro Stadium.

Milan doubled the lead when Tommaso Pobega fired a close-range finish, and Rafael Leao assisted him in the 77th minute.

Roger Ibanez da Silva narrowed the gap to one in the 87th minute while Tammy Abraham scored a stoppage-time goal for Roma.

The match ended 2-2.

Third-place AC Milan have 37 points and sixth-place Roma collected 31 points.

– Sunday’s results:

AC Milan – Roma: 2-2

Salernitana – Torino: 1-1

Spezia – Lecce: 0-0

Lazio – Empoli: 2-2

Sampdoria – Napoli: 0-2

Source: Anadolu Agency

Galatasaray defeated arch-rivals Fenerbahce with a 3-0 score on road in week 18 of the Turkish Super Lig on Sunday.

Abdulkerim Bardakci scored a header for Galatasaray but it was disallowed by the video assistant referee (VAR) because of a tight offside call at Ulker stadium.

Galatasaray found a goal with Kerem Akturkoglu but the referee Halil Umut Meler disallowed it again for offside.

The Lions broke the deadlock when Sergio Oliveira fired a classy close-range finish from the right side of the penalty area in the 32nd minute.

In the 35th minute, Michy Batshuayi’s right-footed shot from very close range to the bottom right corner was denied by a fine save from goalie Fernando Muslera.

After two minutes, Willian Arao’s stinging close-range was saved by Muslera.

In the 65th minute, Fenerbahce goalkeeper Altay Bayindir made a smart save from a powerful strike by Dries Mertens.

Galatasaray doubled the lead when Kerem Akturkoglu scored on a counter-attack in the 78th minute. Argentine forward Mauro Icardi assisted him.

Irfan Can Kahveci, who came off the bench, was shown a straight red card after a foul on Leo Dubois in the 86th minute.

Icardi scored another goal for Galatasaray as the derby ended with a 3-0 score in Istanbul.

Collecting 39 points, Galatasaray remained at the top of Super Lig, four points ahead of second-place Fenerbahce.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Juventus earned a narrow victory against Udinese and extended their Serie A winning streak to eight matches Saturday.

Danilo’s goal in the 86th minute led Juventus to the home victory at Allianz Stadium, assisted by Federico Chiesa.

Second-place Juventus increased their points to 37 after 17 matches while eighth-place Udinese collected 25 points.

Inter Milan draw 2-2 with Monza

Inter Milan were held to a 2-2 draw with Monza in the 17th week of Serie A.

The Nerazzurri broke the deadlock with a goal in the 10th minute from Matteo Darmian at Monza’s U-Power Stadium.

One minute later, Monza’s Patrick Ciurria scored to level the match. In the 22nd minute, Inter Milan took the lead on a goal by Lautaro Martinez.

Monza salvaged one point when Luca Caldirola scored a stoppage-time goal.

Inter are fourth with 34 points while Monza are 14th with 18 points.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Chelsea confirmed on Saturday the signing of David Datro Fofana from Norway’s Molde until 2029 with an option to extend for another year.

“Hello dear fans, I’m here, I’ve arrived well and I’m very happy to sign for the club of my dreams. I’ll see you soon on the pitch, cheers!” Fofana said after the signing ceremony.

The Blues described Fofana as a prolific goal scorer and one of European football’s most promising young talents.

“The Ivorian’s combination of pace, skill and strength make him a versatile striker, capable of scoring goals but especially adept at holding up the ball and retaining possession under pressure,” Chelsea said in a statement.

The 20-year-old Ivory Coast player produced 24 goals and 10 assists in 65 matches for Molde.

Fofana, who has two caps for the Ivory Coast national team, began his football career in the capital team of his country, Abidjan City FC.

Meanwhile, the financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The UEFA Champions League Round of 16 will see fierce matches such as the Liverpool vs. Real Madrid, and Paris Saint-Germain vs. Bayern Munich pairings.

The last 16 draw was held in Switzerland’s Nyon on Monday.

Defending champions Real Madrid of Spain will face former winners Liverpool from England in the Round of 16 phase.

It will be a rematch of the 2022 final as Real Madrid beat Liverpool 1-0 to win the Champions League trophy in May.

Meanwhile French club PSG will take on German powerhouse Bayern Munich in the knockout phase.

Both sides met in the 2020 final as Bayern Munich defeated PSG 1-0 in Lisbon.

The two-legged Round of 16 will start in February, and the second legs will be played in March.

Last 16

RB Leipzig – Manchester City

Club Brugge – Benfica

Liverpool – Real Madrid

AC Milan – Tottenham Hotspur

Eintracht Frankfurt – Napoli

Borussia Dortmund – Chelsea

Inter – Porto

Paris Saint-Germain – Bayern Munich

Road to Istanbul

The last 16 will be followed by quarterfinals, semifinals and final.

The next draw will take place on March 17.

As of the quarterfinals draw, there will be no seedings and no country protection.

Istanbul will host the Champions League Final again, first since 2005.

The 2023 Champions League final will take place on June 10 June at Ataturk Olympic Stadium.

The stadium hosted the 2005 final that Liverpool beat AC Milan on penalties, one of the most exciting finals in the competition.

In the 2005 final, AC Milan dominated the first half 3-0. But in the second half, Liverpool scored three goals in an impressive comeback, tying the game.

Neither team were able to score in extra time, and the game went to penalties. Liverpool lifted the Champions League trophy after beating Milan 3-2 on penalties, in a historic night for the English club.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Sunday’s Argentine local football cup final has seen some interesting moments as 10 red cards were brandished during the Boca Juniors vs. Racing Club clash.

Racing Club beat this year’s Argentine league and domestic cup champions Boca Juniors 2-1 after extra time.

Midfielder Carlos Alcaraz scored the winning goal for Racing Club in the 117th minute in the 2022 Trofeo de Campeones (Trophy of Champions), turned out to be the title-winning goal.

But Racing Club’s goal celebration has sparked a fight as seven red cards were shown to Boca Juniors players and the rest three were brandished to Racing Club by a FIFA World Cup referee Facundo Tello.

Tello, 40, is among the 2022 World Cup officials in Qatar as the tournament will start this winter.

Sebastian Villa, Alan Varela, Luis Advincula, Carlos Zambrano, Diego Gonzalez, Frank Fabra and Dario Benedetto were the Boca players to be sent off.

Racing Club’s Johan Carbonero, winning goal scorer Alcaraz, and Jonathan Galvan were shown red cards.

Majority of the players were sent off for mass confrontation.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Europe’s second-tier UEFA Europa League knockout round playoffs will see a big showdown between Barcelona and Manchester United as the draw for this phase was held on Monday.

Barcelona, among the eight Champions League clubs who finished their groups third each, will play against England’s Manchester United in the Europa League knockout round playoffs, a stage prior to the last 16.

Manchester United came second in Europa League Group E after Spain’s Real Sociedad.

In addition to Barcelona, Ajax, Bayer Leverkusen, Sporting, Salzburg, Shakhtar Donetsk, Sevilla and Juventus entered Monday’s draw as they reached the Europa League from the top-tier Champions League after the last matches on Nov. 2.

Knockout round playoffs

Feb. 16, 23

Barcelona – Manchester United

Juventus – Nantes

Sporting – Midtjylland

Shakhtar Donetsk – Rennes

Ajax – Union Berlin

Bayer Leverkusen – Monaco

Sevilla – PSV Eindhoven

Salzburg – Roma

The eight winners of the knockout round playoffs will qualify for the Round of 16, where they will face eight Europa League group winners.

The last 16 will be followed by quarterfinals, semifinals and final.

2023 final

This season’s Europa League final will be at Budapest’s Puskas Arena on May 31.

The venue earlier hosted the 2020 UEFA Super Cup that Bayern Munich beat Sevilla 2-1.

The Puskas Arena, the home of the Hungarian national team, hosted several matches at the UEFA EURO 2020.

Source: Anadolu Agency