TheNewsGuru

Tag: UEFA

  • UEFA Champions League matchday 2 results

    UEFA Champions League matchday 2 results

    Lacklustre Liverpool beat Midtjylland 2-0 on Tuesday to make it two wins out of two in the Champions League but their defensive problems mounted as Fabinho limped off injured.

    Casemiro scored a last-gasp equaliser as Real Madrid fought back from two goals down to snatch a 2-2 draw at Borussia Moenchengladbach on Tuesday and avoid a second straight loss in the Champions League.

    Joao Felix scored twice, including a late winner, as Atletico Madrid came from behind to beat Salzburg 3-2 in the Champions League on Tuesday.

    See results:

    Lokomotiv Moscow 1 v Bayern Munich 2

    Atletico Madrid 3 v Salzburg 2

    Shakhtar Donetsk 0 v Inter 0

    Borussia Moenchengladbach 2 v Real Madrid 2

    FC Porto 2 v Olympiacos 0

    Marseille 0 v Manchester City 3

    Atalanta 2 v Ajax 2

    Liverpool 2 v FC Midtjylland 0

     

     

  • UEFA prize money to be cut for 5 years due to COVID-19 – report

    UEFA prize money to be cut for 5 years due to COVID-19 – report

    UEFA says Champions League and Europa League prize money will be cut over the next five seasons.

    The soccer governing body said the decision is due to the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Times has reported.

    UEFA has informed its member associations that they lost 514 million pounds ($666.40 million) following the drop in both television and sponsorship income after delays in the knockout stages last season.

    The two competitions were suspended in March when the pandemic wreaked havoc on the global sporting calendar.

    It only resumed in August after the top leagues in Europe wrapped up their respective seasons.

    The knockout stages were staged behind closed doors at neutral locations and each round’s tie was also reduced to a single fixture instead of the usual home-away format.

    Last season’s forecast had 1.95 billion euros (1.78 billion pounds) set aside for the 32 teams in the Champions League group stage.

    The report added that English clubs can expect to see TV and prize money drop by about 4 per cent.

  • UEFA to continue with five substitutions this season

    UEFA to continue with five substitutions this season

    UEFA will continue to allow teams to make up to five substitutions per match instead of three for the rest of this season, the Head of European soccer governing body, Aleksander Ceferin, said on Thursday.

    Ceferin told a news conference that the rule would apply to the Champions League, Europa League, Nations League and the playoff ties for Euro 2020.

    The increase in substitutions was introduced last season to alleviate the burden of players as fixtures built up following the stoppage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Ceferin added that the finals of the 2020-2021 Nations League would be played in October 2021 with Italy, Netherlands and Poland declaring their interest in hosting the matches.

  • Messi, Ronaldo absent from Champions League awards shortlist

    Messi, Ronaldo absent from Champions League awards shortlist

    Superstar duo Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have been snubbed by UEFA in the list of nominees for the 2019/2020 Champions League awards.

    The awards were introduced in 2016/17 to recognize the season’s best player in each position in Europe’s premier club competition. Both players regularly appeared on the list since its introduction until now.

    Messi alongside his football club Barcelona suffered an abysmal 2019/20 season crashing out calamitously from the UEFA champions league. They also lost the La Liga title to arch-rival, Real Madrid towards the end of the season.

    Ronaldo on the other hand crashed out of the champions league when no one expected. The forward’s team Juventus lost to Lyon in the Round of 16. However, they were crowned winners of the Seria A title which was not enough for Ronaldo to appear in the UEFA award shortlist.

    The shortlist is dominated by Champions League holders Bayern Munich who have seven players nominated.

    Players from Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City, and Atlético de Madrid also featured on the list.

    The award nominees for the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League are:

    Goalkeepers: Keylor Navas (Paris Saint-Germain), Manuel Neuer (Bayern), Jan Oblak (Atlético de Madrid)

    Defenders: David Alaba (Bayern), Alphonso Davies (Bayern), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern)

    Midfielders: Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Thomas Müller (Bayern), Thiago Alcántara (Bayern)

    Forwards: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern), Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain), Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain)

  • UEFA approves fans for Bayern, Sevilla Super Cup clash

    UEFA approves fans for Bayern, Sevilla Super Cup clash

    Europe’s football governing body UEFA has confirmed fans will be allowed for next month’s Super Cup clash between Bayern Munich and Sevilla.

    It however said only 30 percent of fans will watch the match live at Puskas Stadium in Budapest.

    The stadium in the capital of Hungary holds 67,215 spectators at full capacity, which means that 20,164 people will be allowed to attend the clash.

    The annual fixture pits the winners of the Champions League against the victors of the Europa League – which Sevilla won for a record sixth time earlier this month by defeating Inter in the showpiece.

    This match will be the Andalusian club’s sixth Super Cup of which they have won just once – in 2006, when they defeated Barcelona 3-0 in the showpiece – but have lost on four occasions: 2007, 2014, 2015 and 2016.

    Bayern Munich were crowned winners of the Champions League by defeating Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 in Sunday’s final.

  • COVID-19: Two Atletico Madrid players test positive

    COVID-19: Two Atletico Madrid players test positive

    The two positive coronavirus cases reported in the Atletico Madrid camp have both been returned by players, Goal reports.

    News broke on Sunday that two members of the party set to travel to the Champions League quarter-finals in Portugal had tested positive for the virus, but there was no further indication whether those effected were members of the playing or backroom staff.

    According to reports, two members of Diego Simeone’s squad, however, are responsible for the two positive tests and, as such, will not travel to Portugal or take part in the remainder of the competition.

    The players are in a stable condition and are observing isolation protocols in their own homes.

    In response to the two positive tests, a fresh round of testing has been activated on Atleti’s first team and members of staff who have travelled, while there are also checks being made on those who have come into close contact with the players.

  • BREAKING: Chelsea, Man Utd confirm UCL spots

    BREAKING: Chelsea, Man Utd confirm UCL spots

    Chelsea and Manchester United will join Liverpool and Manchester City to represent England in the next season UEFA Champions League.

    Chelsea beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 in Stamford Bridge with Manchester United running away from the King Power Stadium with a 2-0 victory over Leicester City.

    Leicester City, failing to get the much- needed victory over Manchester United, finished at fifth position and will play Europa League next season.

     

    Details soon…

  • BREAKING: UEFA Champions League returns

    The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) have confirmed that the 2019/20 Champions League will resume on August 7.

    According to UEFA, the Champions League quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will be played as a straight knockout tournament in Lisbon, Portugal in August.

    While UEFA revealed that the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will be single-leg fixtures, the Union stated that a decision is pending on whether the four remaining round of 16 second legs will take place at the home team’s stadium or in Portugal.

    “The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will be split between Benfica’s Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica and Sporting CP’s Estádio José Alvalade.

    “The Estádio do Dragão in Porto and the Estádio D. Afonso Henriques in Guimarães will host the four outstanding round of 16 second legs if required,” UEFA stated.

    TNG reports the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League has been on hold since Wednesday 11 March due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

    The revised schedule to conclude this season’s competition was confirmed following Wednesday’s UEFA Executive Committee meeting.

    2019/20 UEFA Champions League schedule

    7-8 August: Round of 16 second legs (venues to be confirmed)

    12-15 August: Quarter-finals (Lisbon)

    18-19 August: Semi-finals (Lisbon)

    23 August: Final (Lisbon)

    All fixtures will kick off at 21:00 CET. The date for the quarter-final and semi-final draws will be communicated in due course; the exact match schedule will then follow.

    Upcoming UEFA Champions League finals

    The 2019/20 final was due to be held at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul which will now instead stage the 2020/21 showpiece. The three subsequent final venues have also agreed to host a year later than originally planned.

    2020: Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica or Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal

    2021: Atatürk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey

    2022: Saint Petersburg Stadium, St Petersburg, Russia

    2023: Football Arena Munich, Munich, Germany

    2024: Wembley Stadium, London, England

    UEFA medical protocol and matches behind closed doors

    The key principles of the UEFA medical protocol were also approved on Wednesday, and detailed guidelines will now be finalised over the next few weeks to ensure that a thorough sanitary plan be put in place to protect the health of all participants to UEFA matches when the competitions resume.

    UEFA will be regularly assessing the situation across the continent and will liaise with local authorities to see when spectators could gradually return.

    Key amendments to the 2019/20 club competitions’ regulations

    Teams will be allowed to register three new players on their List A for the remainder of the 2019/20 season, provided such players were already registered and eligible for the club since the last registration deadline (3 February 2020 for the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League). List A will still only be able to contain a maximum of 25 players. It will not be possible for clubs to register newly-transferred players.

    Five substitutions will be allowed in all the remaining matches in season 2019/20, in accordance with the temporary change to the Laws of the Game, whereas the number of substitutions for season 2020/21 will remain at three.

    Next season

    The access list for the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League has not been affected by the new calendar.

    The deadline for national associations to enter teams to the competitions will be 3 August for the UEFA Champions League.

    The UEFA Executive Committee also approved a revised calendar for the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League.

    State of play

    Half of the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League round of 16 ties have already concluded, with Paris, Atlético, Leipzig and Atalanta through to the quarter-finals. The following round of 16 second legs are yet to be played:

    Juventus vs Lyon (0-1)

    Manchester City vs Real Madrid (2-1)

    Bayern vs Chelsea (3-0)

    Barcelona vs Napoli (1-1)

  • UEFA bans Turkish club Trabzonspor

    UEFA bans Turkish club Trabzonspor

    UEFA has banned Turkey’s Trabzonspor from its club competitions for one year for failing to meet the financial targets.

    The European football’s governing body said this on Wednesday.

    “The CFCB [UEFA Club Financial Control Body] Adjudicatory Chamber has now determined that Trabzonspor AS failed to meet the target fixed for the 2019 financial year,” UEFA said.

    UEFA monitors clubs financially to make sure they are not spending more money than they earn, a measure created to help teams avoid financial problems in the long-term.

    The Financial Fair Play (FFP) criteria involve break-even targets, sporting measures and financial contributions.

    UEFA stated that Trabzonspor will be barred from one UEFA competition in 2020/21 or 2021/22 football seasons once the Turkish team qualifies for the UEFA Champions League or Europa League.

    It added that in July 2019, the CFCB determined that the club “failed to be break-even compliant as required by a settlement agreement, which it entered into on 20 May 2016”.

    The UEFA’s financial authority said that it previously informed Trabzonspor that it would face a one season ban in the upcoming term if they couldn’t meet the financial target for last year.

  • UEFA gives European leagues deadline for restart plans

    UEFA gives European leagues deadline for restart plans

    European Football Leagues have been given a May 25 deadline to inform the governing body UEFA of their plans to restart their domestic competitions.

    Soccer has been grounded to a halt in all major leagues in Europe and none is yet to resume. But UEFA is keen to start planning for next season’s European club tournaments.

    In a letter to the 55 federations in UEFA, President Aleksander Ceferin, wrote that any league cancelling its season would need to produce a list of teams that have qualified for European club competitions, also by May 25.

    “National Associations and/or Leagues should be in a position to communicate to UEFA by 25 May 2020 the planned restart of their domestic competitions including the date of restart and the relevant competition format.

    “In the event that a domestic competition is to be prematurely terminated for legitimate reasons… UEFA would require the National Association to explain by 25 May 2020 the special circumstances justifying such premature termination and to select clubs for the UEFA club competitions 2020/21 on the basis of sporting merit in the 2019/20 domestic competitions,”Ceferin wrote.

    The sport has been brought to a standstill by the pandemic, with the Euro 2020 competition postponed until next year and both national leagues and continental club competitions on hold.

    UEFA has made it clear that it wants its member associations to complete their domestic seasons rather than abandoning them. It also hopes to finish the Champions League and Europa League competitions.

    Leagues such as the German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A and English Premier League say they want to finish their seasons.

    However, the Dutch Eredivisie cut short its season on Friday and said there would be no title awarded and no relegations or promotions – a decision strongly criticised by some of the affected clubs.