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Champions League draw to include 14 former winners as PSV Eindhoven beat Rangers in playoffs

PSV Eindhoven's Dutch forward Luuk de Jong (C) heads the ball to score his team's third goal during the UEFA Champions League play-off football match between PSV Eindhoven and Rangers FC at The Phillips stadium in Eindhoven on Wednesday. (AFP)
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Updated 31 August 2023
AP
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Champions League draw to include 14 former winners as PSV Eindhoven beat Rangers in playoffs

  • PSV’s single European title means winners of 48 of the 68 editions of Europe’s most prized club title will enter the draw
  • They include record 14-time champions Real Madrid and defending champions Manchester City, who won their first title in June
Updated 31 August 2023
AP

MONACO: There will be 14 winners of the Champions League, or the old European Cup, in the 32-team group stage draw Thursday after PSV Eindhoven advanced in the qualifying playoffs.

PSV, the European champions in 1988, beat Rangers 5-1 in their playoff second leg Wednesday to complete a 7-3 aggregate score.

Royal Antwerp had not played in the competition since 1957 yet also sealed their place in the draw by winning 2-1 at AEK Athens. The champion of Belgium advanced 3-1 on aggregate.

Copenhagen completed the lineup with a 1-1 draw at home to competition debutant Rakow Częstochowa having already won 1-0 in Poland.

PSV’s single European title means winners of 48 of the 68 editions of Europe’s most prized club title will enter the draw. They include record 14-time champions Real Madrid and defending champions Manchester City, who won their first title in June.

FINAL FORMAT

This Champions League is the 20th and last in the familiar format of eight round robin groups of four teams each, sending the top two into a 16-team knockout bracket.

Next year the Champions League expands to 36 teams, playing eight games instead of six, ranked in a single standings. The top eight will advance direct to the round of 16. Teams ranked No. 9 through 24 go into a knockout playoffs round to decide the other eight places in the last-16.

The final edition in the established format starts Sept. 19 and group-stage games finish Dec. 13. The knockout stage starts in February and reaches the final at Wembley Stadium in London on June 1.

PRIZE MONEY

UEFA has €2 billion ($2.2 billion) prize money for the rest of the competition. Each of the 32 gets a basic €15.64 million ($17.1 million) plus shares of a €600 million ($656 million) fund distributed according to clubs’ historic record in UEFA competitions.

Top-ranked Real Madrid’s share will be about €36.4 million ($40 million) and about €1.14 million ($1.25 million) to the lowest-ranked team, Lens, which have not played in European soccer for 16 years.

UEFA also will pay teams €2.8 million ($3.1 million) per win and €930,000 ($1 million) per draw in the group stage, escalating payments for advancing through each knockout round, plus a share of the TV money paid by rights holders in their home country.

Real Madrid were the highest earnesr with €133 million ($145 million) from UEFA when they won the 2022 title — the last figures published by UEFA. Moldovan champion Sheriff’s €23.7 million s ($26 million) was the lowest UEFA payout that season.

NOMADIC SHAKHTAR

Shakhtar Donetsk have had several adopted home cities in Ukraine and abroad since losing access to their stadium in 2014 because of Russian-backed conflict and then war in the Donbas region.

Last season Shakhtar used Legia Warsaw’s stadium in Poland for their three “home” games in the group stage.

Shakhtar will now play in Hamburg at the Volksparkstadion that is one of Germany’s host venues for the 2024 European Championship. The club said last week it already sold 30,000 ticket packages.

Russian clubs, including champions Zenit St. Petersburg, are banned for the second straight season.

MULTI-CLUB OWNERSHIP

UEFA has had rules for more than 20 years limiting owners from having decisive influence over two or more clubs which can meet in the same European competition. They were designed to protect the integrity of games on the field.

Still, the trend toward multi-club ownership projects has intensified since a UEFA ruling in 2017 let Leipzig and Salzburg both enter the Champions League despite sharing deep ties to the Red Bull brand. The two clubs are in separate draw pots Thursday and can meet in the group stage.

Paris Saint-Germain can be drawn in the same group as Braga despite taking a 22 percent ownership stake in the Portuguese club last year.

CLUB WORLD CUP

The 32 teams also are playing for entry to — and more prize money from – the inaugural expanded FIFA Club World Cup in June 2025 hosted by the United States.

Europe will send 12 teams to that 32-team lineup including the past three Champions League title holders — Man City, Real Madrid and Chelsea — plus the winner of this edition.

Other places should go to teams with the best overall record in the four Champions League seasons from 2020-24.

That’s good for consistent performers Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Benfica. Not so much for clubs which missed qualification in at least one recent season, like Manchester United, Arsenal and now Juventus.

Draw Seedings

Pot 1: Manchester City (England), Sevilla (Spain), Barcelona (Spain), Bayern Munich (Germany), Napoli (Italy), Paris Saint-Germain (France), Benfica (Portugal), Feyenoord (Netherlands).

Pot 2: Real Madrid (Spain), Manchester United (England), Inter Milan (Italy), Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Atlético Madrid (Spain), Leipzig (Germany), Porto (Portugal), Arsenal (England).

Pot 3: Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine), Salzburg (Austria), AC Milan (Italy), Braga (Portugal), PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands), Lazio (Italy), Red Star Belgrade (Serbia), Copenhagen (Denmark).

Pot 4: Young Boys (Switzerland), Real Sociedad (Spain), Galatasaray (Turkiye), Celtic (Scotland), Newcastle (England), Union Berlin (Germany), Royal Antwerp (Belgium), Lens (France).

Topics: PSV Eindhoven Rangers Champions League playoff

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Man Utd seize control of Europa League semi against 10-man Bilbao

Updated 02 May 2025
AFP
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Man Utd seize control of Europa League semi against 10-man Bilbao

Updated 02 May 2025
AFP

BILBAO: Bruno Fernandes struck twice as Manchester United put one foot in the Europa League final with a clinical away performance to beat 10-man Athletic Bilbao 3-0 on Thursday.
The fervent home fans were enraged when Athletic defender Daniel Vivian was sent off for pulling back Rasmus Hojlund and Fernandes slotted home the resulting penalty, after Casemiro had opened the scoring against the run of play in the semifinal first leg.
Fernandes rolled in a third before half-time as Ruben Amorim’s side moved a step closer to the final, to be held at Athletic’s San Mames stadium.
The hosts have been dreaming of winning a first European trophy on their own soil but their hopes were demolished by United’s professional display in the north of Spain — and Athletic’s supporters argued, the refereeing.
Languishing in 14th in the Premier League, Champions League qualification for United is only possible with a Europa League triumph, as is access to the £100 million ($133 million) honeypot it entails.
Despite regularly crumbling under pressure this season, the Red Devils — who produced a stunning comeback against Lyon in the quarter-finals — first survived and then thrived in a hostile environment.
With May 1 a bank holiday in Spain the streets of Bilbao were filled with red-and-white striped shirts from the morning onwards, with thousands of fans turning up at their team’s hotel to see the Athletic bus set off for the stadium.
The San Mames was rocking, with fans raising red and white cards around the stadium ahead of the game to welcome the players, all of them born or raised in the Basque country, as per the club’s century-long policy.
“This is not the theater of dreams, this is The Cathedral of football,” it read on the back, a reference to the stadium’s nickname.
Alejandro Garnacho’s early strike gave the hosts a scare but the forward was offside.
Beyond that the early stages of the match for United were about gritting their teeth and holding off the Basque side and their raucous supporters.
Alex Berenguer forced a smart low save from Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana, and Inaki Williams headed narrowly over.
Victor Lindelof made a vital block to thwart Berenguer after Nico Williams fed his brother Inaki, who was given too much space on the right wing.
The hosts were ascendant and when former Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro opened the scoring for United it came as a shock.
Just as much of a surprise was the way United created the goal, with center-back Harry Maguire dribbling down the right flank as Mikel Jaureguizar floundered in his wake.
The defender fizzed a cross into the area which Manuel Ugarte flicked on to the back host for Casemiro to nod home from close range.
It seemed like a smash-and-grab but soon United had a second, when Vivian was penalized for pulling back Hojlund as he tried to connect with a cross.
It was a key moment. The defender was sent off to add insult to injury, as Athletic fans howled in anger.
Fernandes rolled the penalty into the bottom right corner, sending Julen Agirrezabala the wrong way.
Athletic coach Ernesto Valverde made a double substitution, trying to stem the bleeding, but his team shipped a third before half-time.
Ugarte’s clever backheel played Fernandes through on goal and he stroked home with ease.
Noussair Mazraoui crashed a shot off the crossbar from the edge of the box as United almost grabbed a fourth before the break.
Norwegian referee Espen Eskas and his colleagues were barracked by the home fans, seeing their aspirations to glory evaporate before their eyes.
They were further enraged, waving the white cards from the pre-match tifo to show their disgust, when Maroan Sannadi tumbled under pressure from Maguire as he ran toward goal but no foul was awarded.
United largely controlled the game in the second half, with Casemiro and Fernandes making life hard for the 10-man hosts, but they could not add a fourth despite probing.
The second leg takes place next Thursday at Old Trafford, ahead of the final on May 21 against Tottenham or Bodo/Glimt.

Topics: Manchester United Europa League

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Chilean football team Colo Colo to challenge ban imposed after two teenage fans were killed

Updated 02 May 2025
AP
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Chilean football team Colo Colo to challenge ban imposed after two teenage fans were killed

  • “It is a hard penalty for Colo Colo and we will appeal,” team president Edmundo Valladares said
  • “We hope that we can overturn it, at least in part“
Updated 02 May 2025
AP

SANTIAGO: Chilean club Colo Colo said on Thursday they will appeal a ruling that they must play five home matches in continental competition without fans and that their supporters will be banned from the next five away matches.

South American football’s governing body CONMEBOL confirmed the bans Wednesday after two teenage fans were killed in a crush ahead of a Copa Libertadores match last month.

“It is a hard penalty for Colo Colo and we will appeal,” team president Edmundo Valladares said. “We hope that we can overturn it, at least in part.”

Two fans died before the start of a Copa Libertadores match between Colo Colo and Fortaleza of Brazil near Santiago’s Estadio Monumental on April 10. According to authorities, a group of fans attempted to force their way into the stadium and tore down one of the venue’s protective fences. The victims were reportedly trapped beneath them.

“Let’s also hope that this experience serves to ... make fans more aware,” Valladares added.

CONMEBOL also ruled that Fortaleza won the match 3-0 and Colo Colo must pay a fine of $80,000.

“The penalty is hard — it hurts us on the field if we lose 3-0 and the economic side also hits us. But we will present the best appeal possible,” Valladares said.

Colo Colo, the winningest club in Chile with 32 league championships, is last in its group in Copa Libertadores after the first three rounds.

Topics: Colo Colo CONMEBOL Chile

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Bayer Leverkusen sign highly rated teenager Ibrahim Maza from Hertha Berlin

Updated 01 May 2025
AP
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Bayer Leverkusen sign highly rated teenager Ibrahim Maza from Hertha Berlin

  • The 19-year-old Maza, an attacking midfielder, signed a contract through June 2030
  • “Maza is currently one of the most interesting young attacking players,” Leverkusen sporting director Simon Rolfes said
Updated 01 May 2025
AP

BERLIN: Bayer Leverkusen have snapped up highly rated teenager Ibrahim Maza from second-division club Hertha Berlin in their first signing for next season.
The 19-year-old Maza, an attacking midfielder, signed a contract through June 2030, the 2024 Bundesliga champion said on Thursday.
Kicker magazine reported the clubs agreed on a transfer fee of around 12 million euros ($13.6 million) for the player.
It promises to be the start of a busy summer at Leverkusen with key players including Jonathan Tan set to leave, uncertainty over the future of star Florian Wirtz, and coach Xabi Alonso expected to leave amid links to former club Real Madrid.
Former Barcelona coach Xavi and Erik ten Hag, who was previously in charge of Manchester United, are reportedly candidates to succeed Alonso, who led unbeaten Leverkusen to a league and cup double last season.
The Berlin-born Maza became Hertha’s most promising youth player after joining the capital club’s junior ranks from local club Reinickendorfer Füchse in 2016.
Hertha were relegated from the Bundesliga in 2023 — Maza scored in the club’s last game in the division — and he became one of the team’s key attacking threats in the second division where the 1.8-meter right-footed player scored five goals and set up five more this season.
“Maza is currently one of the most interesting young attacking players,” Leverkusen sporting director Simon Rolfes said. “Ibrahim suits us and our style of football. He has outstanding technical skills, can dribble past defenders, and he has an eye for his teammates, which he knows how to use brilliantly.”
Maza played for Germany Under-18s through Under-20s before opting to represent Algeria. He turned down previous offers to leave Hertha and extended his contract with the club in August last year to 2027, but Hertha’s financial difficulties meant he was bound to leave sooner rather than later.
“As a Berliner, the greatest thing for me was to become a professional player at Hertha BSC and to be able to wear the (Hertha) flag on my chest in Olympiastadion,” Maza said in a Hertha statement. “I’m grateful now that the club are giving me the chance to take the next step at the highest level in Leverkusen.”
Hertha said they will give Maza “a fitting farewell” before he leaves. There are still three rounds of the second division remaining and Hertha have two games at home.

Topics: Bundesliga Bayer Leverkusen Ibrahim Maza

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Fatigued Barca look to extend lead over Real ahead of Clasico

Updated 01 May 2025
Reuters
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Fatigued Barca look to extend lead over Real ahead of Clasico

  • “We conceded a lot of goals at home again and it’s unacceptable,” Barca forward Raphinha said
  • Flick told reporters: “When you play every three days, it is not easy to work on certain things”
Updated 01 May 2025
Reuters

BARCELONA: After Barcelona salvaged their treble hopes in a thrilling Champions League semifinal against Inter Milan, Hansi Flick’s side will turn their attention back to LaLiga where a victory would put them in a strong position before another Clasico.
The LaLiga leaders came from behind twice to earn a 3-3 draw with Inter in the first leg on Wednesday but continued to show defensive frailty.
“We conceded a lot of goals at home again and it’s unacceptable,” Barca forward Raphinha said.
Flick’s side have scored over 150 goals in all competitions this season but a hectic schedule has taken its toll on the home stretch and Barca have kept only one clean sheet in their last five games.
“Of course, every team has its strengths and weaknesses,” Flick told reporters.
“When you play every three days, it is not easy to work on certain things. But at the moment the situation is this: these are things that happen.”
Barcelona have less than 72 hours to rest before they play Real Valladolid on Saturday, an easy fixture on paper since LaLiga’s bottom side were relegated from the top flight last week.
Barca thrashed Valladolid 7-0 in August as the team with just four wins and the worst defensive record (81 goals conceded in 33 games) welcome the leaders with nothing to lose but their pride.

KOUNDE BLOW
Barcelona were dealt another injury blow after Jules Kounde went down with a calf injury against Inter and had to be replaced.
No Barca player has played more minutes in LaLiga and the Champions League this season and the Frenchman had played more than 100 successive games for club and country since November, 2023.
Victory would give Barca a seven-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, whose defensive problems are far worse as they prepare to play Celta Vigo a day later.
Real have nothing left to play for apart from the league title after they lost to Barca in the Copa del Rey final and were knocked out by Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Their recent form has rung alarm bells at the Bernabeu and Spanish media have reported that manager Carlo Ancelotti is on his way out of the club at the end of the season, with Brazil keen on securing his services.
Real must find a way to close the gap or risk handing Barcelona the LaLiga title when they face each other on May 11.
The Spanish giants have faced off three times this season in domestic competitions and Barcelona have come out on top each time, scoring 12 goals.
Third-placed Atletico Madrid kick off the weekend’s action at Deportivo Alaves and although challenging Barcelona for the title is next to impossible with a 10-point gap, they could reel in their city rivals.
Athletic Bilbao are safe in fourth spot for the time being as they focus on the Europa League semifinal first leg against Manchester United on Thursday before a trip to Real Sociedad on Sunday.

Topics: Barcelona Hansi Flick LaLiga

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Qatar replaces Garcia as national coach with Lopetegui

Updated 01 May 2025
AP
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Qatar replaces Garcia as national coach with Lopetegui

  • Former Real Madrid and Spain boss Julen Lopetegui signs contract until the 2027 Asian Cup
  • Lopetegui’s last two jobs were in the Premier League with Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Ham
Updated 01 May 2025
AP

DOHA: Qatar appointed former Real Madrid and Spain boss Julen Lopetegui as the national coach on Thursday.
Lopetegui, 58, has signed a contract until the 2027 Asian Cup, where Qatar will go for a third consecutive title. His first game in charge is on June 5 at home to Iran, and then in Uzbekistan five days later.
“Ready for a new chapter. Welcome Lopetegui,” the Qatar Football Association wrote on social media. “We’re excited to embark on this journey together.”
Lopetegui replaces fellow Spaniard Luis Garcia, who took the job only last December and whose departure was also announced on Thursday.
“The QFA extends its deepest appreciation to Mr. Garcia for his professionalism and dedication throughout his time with the team,” the QFA wrote on social media.
After poor results in World Cup qualifying, Qatar is fourth in Asia Group A and already out of the running to finish in the top two spots that guarantee a place at the 2026 tournament. But there is still a chance for the 2022 host to qualify for the first time through a playoff route.
Lopetegui’s last two jobs were in the Premier League with Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Ham, where he was fired in January.

Topics: football Qatar Julen Lopetegui

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