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Messi Agrees Barcelona Contract

Barcelona have reportedly set to end the year-long speculation surrounding his future by penning a new two-year deal with Barcelona.

The six-time Ballon d’Or winner’s future has been the talk of the transfer market since he tried to force a move away from a club last summer, but a dispute over his release clause ultimately led to him staying.

The Argentine did not commit his future to the club during the 2020-21 campaign, though, with Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain thought to be on red alert as his deal prepares to expire at the end of this month.

However, reports in Spain have claimed that Messi has decided to continue at Barcelona and will soon sign a new deal with the club until the summer of 2023.

Messi is therefore set to ply his trade alongside compatriot Sergio Aguero at Camp Nou for the 2021-22 season, with the former Man City striker joining as a free agent on a two-year deal.

Messi – who will turn 34 later this month – enjoyed another stellar campaign in Catalonia last term, chalking up 38 goals and 14 assists in 47 appearances across all competitions.

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Man United lose to Leicester to hand Premier League title to Man City

A thumping header from Caglar Soyuncu gave Leicester all three points after Mason Greenwood had cancelled out Luke Thomas’s opener for the visitors.

A weakened Manchester United were beaten 2-1 at home by Leicester City on Tuesday, ending Manchester City’s wait to be crowned Premier League champions.

A thumping header from Caglar Soyuncu gave Leicester all three points after Mason Greenwood had cancelled out Luke Thomas’s opener for the visitors.

The result left Manchester City 10 points clear of United with just three games left for both teams, wrapping up a third Premier League title in five seasons under Pep Guardiola. read more

United, who face Liverpool on Thursday, their third game in five days, made 10 changes to their side who won at Aston Villa on Sunday with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer throwing in several young players.

The result was also a huge boost to Leicester’s goal of a top-four finish and a place in next season’s Champions League — Brendan Rodgers’ side are on 66 points with two games remaining — eight ahead of fifth placed West Ham United who have a game in hand.

Old Trafford was surrounded by heavy security after violent protests forced the postponement of last week’s scheduled match against Liverpool but the game took place without incident.

Social media posts suggested fan groups had chosen to wait until Thursday’s rearranged game with Liverpool to make their next show of opposition to the club’s American owners.

With the injured United skipper Harry Maguire watching from the stands with a protective boot on his left leg, youngsters such as Anthony Elanga and Amad Diallo were given a chance to impress Solskjaer.

Leicester grabbed a 10th-minute lead with a superbly taken first Premier League goal from 19-year-old left back Thomas who volleyed in a deep Youri Tielemans cross from a tight angle.

United struck back five minutes later with two of their teenagers combining as Diallo found Greenwood and the forward’s excellent touch allowed him to find space for a low drive into the far corner.

Leicester threatened after the break with David De Gea doing well to deny Kelechi Iheanacho at close range but the decisive goal was a simple affair in the 66th minute as Soyuncu powered home a header from a Marc Albrighton corner.

“It was a huge step (towards the Champions League). I am so proud of the team,” said Rodgers, whose side face Chelsea in the FA Cup final on Saturday.

“The players have definitely overachieved with all the big teams around. Now we can really enjoy the final at the weekend.”

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Arsenal beat Chelsea after pouncing on Jorginho howler

Italy midfielder Jorginho’s attempted back pass left out-of-position goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga scrambling to prevent an own goal, diving to palm the ball away just before it crossed the line.

Emile Smith Rowe took advantage of a defensive howler to score the winner as Arsenal beat Chelsea 1-0 at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday to stop the hosts from moving third in the Premier League.

Italy midfielder Jorginho’s attempted back pass left out-of-position goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga scrambling to prevent an own goal, diving to palm the ball away just before it crossed the line.

But Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was on hand to collect the ball and square it for Smith Rowe, who slotted home just inside the post. It was Arsenal’s third straight Premier League victory and a much-needed morale booster after its loss in the Europa League semifinals left the Gunners without a chance of qualifying for the Champions League.

Chelsea’s loss means Thomas Tuchel’s side remained fourth and gave renewed hope to chasing teams West Ham and Liverpool, who are hoping to overtake the final Champions League spot.

Chelsea dominated possession on the second half and Christian Pulisic saw a second-half equalizer chalked off for offside after a video assistant referee review. Kurt Zouma and Olivier Giroud then struck the crossbar within mere seconds of each other in the 90th minute as Chelsea wasted a host of chances in a dominant but disjointed performance.

Tuchel made seven changes to keep his players fresh, with Saturday’s FA Cup final against Leicester clearly in mind.

Kai Havertz missed a great chance to put Chelsea ahead when he dispossessed Pablo Mari just inside his own half, raced in on goal and came one-on-one with Bernd Leno — only to blaze his effort over the bar.

Shortly afterward, Arsenal were ahead after Jorginho didn’t realize that Kepa had moved off to the side and gifted the visitors their only real scoring chance of the game.

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Chelsea beat Madrid to set up all-English Champions League final vs Man City

Chelsea even made record 13-time European Cup champion Real Madrid look ordinary as goals from Timo Werner and Mason Mount sealed a 2-0 victory that ousted Madrid 3-1 on aggregate.

Chelsea’s decision to fire a club legend suddenly doesn’t seem so callous after all.

While Frank Lampard’s name has hardly been forgotten by the Chelsea fans there were chants outside Stamford Bridge before kickoff on Wednesday new manager Thomas Tuchel is quickly creating his own legacy after leading the London club into the Champions League final against Manchester City.

Chelsea even made record 13-time European Cup champion Real Madrid look ordinary as goals from Timo Werner and Mason Mount sealed a 2-0 victory that ousted Madrid 3-1 on aggregate.

Perhaps the stragglers leaving the bars near Stamford Bridge could hear the roar Tuchel let out on the field inside the empty stadium long after his players had departed the field. It will certainly have been heard in the Chelsea boardroom by the directors whose decision to dismiss Lampard in January and hire Tuchel now seems vindicated.

“I am very grateful and thankful to have this opportunity,” said Tuchel, who’d been dismissed by Paris Saint-Germain in December despite leading the French club to last year’s Champions League final. “You can never be ahead of plan as a manager and as a player — it does not exist.”

Just like when owner Roman Abramovich made mid-season managerial changes in the 2007-08 and 2011-12 seasons, Chelsea will end the campaign by contesting the biggest game in European football. And by the end of the month two Champions League trophies could be at Stamford Bridge, with Chelsea the first club to reach the men’s and women’s finals in the same season.

Even though the men’s showpiece will be an all-English encounter on May 29, the Premier League rivals will have to fly four hours to play the UEFA showpiece in Istanbul, which is currently in a coronavirus lockdown. While City has never lifted the European Cup, Chelsea’s only triumph came in 2012 when the 22-year-old Mount was in the youth system.

“It’s going to be a stunning game,” Mount said.

Unlike last season’s final — when Tuchel’s PSG lost to Bayern Munich — fans are set to be allowed in. Chelsea supporters have yet to see Tuchel managing their team in the flesh due to England’s ongoing coronavirus restrictions. But they can’t deny the impact he has made.

Chelsea was five points outside the four Champions League qualification places when he was hired, but heads into the final four games of the Premier League season in fourth place with a three-point cushion. There’s a chance to pick up a trophy before the trip to Turkey, too, with an FA Cup final against Leicester on May 15 after beating City in the semifinals.

Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane is left to focus on trying on wiping out Atletico Madrid’s two-point lead in Spain to win La Liga, rather than adding to the three Champions League titles he won from 2016 to 2018.

“I think we tried, but the truth is today Chelsea were superior and we have to congratulate them,” Zidane said. “It was complicated throughout the match because they had many chances to score more goals and they deserved their victory.”

After conceding a costly away goal last week, Madrid lacked the attacking nous or threat to turn this semifinal around as Chelsea kept an 18th clean sheet in 24 games under Tuchel.

Karim Benzema was denied by the first in a series of fine saves by Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy before Werner’s opener but the visitors were sluggish, lacking a creative spark from Eden Hazard on an ineffective return to his former home.

Even in a debut season of misfortune, not even Werner could miss in the 28th minute when presented with an unguarded net to head into from close range after Kai Havertz had lobbed former Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and hit the crossbar.

“I had to wait a long time for the ball coming down — it felt like hours,” Werner said.

The chants of “Timo” from the substitutes’ bench reflected the delight from his teammates that the Germany forward had scored only his fourth goal in 35 games for Chelsea. For all the scrutiny faced, though, Werner has still managed 12 goals and 10 assists since last year costing Chelsea up to $68 million.

For all Chelsea’s threat, Madrid only needed to score once to force the second leg into extra time. When the second half opened with Havertz heading against the crossbar and having a low shot saved it looked like the misses could prove costly.

“Keep on pushing guys,” Tuchel urged from the sideline.

And so they did, helped by the arrival of Christian Pulisic from the bench as Werner’s replacement to spark the second goal. The American headed to N’Golo Kante and received the ball back to feed Mount, who lifted a shot over Courtois in the 85th.

“I have to go on and do my bit,” Pulisic sad, “be creative and try to finish the game off strong and luckily I was able to do that.”

Not that Pulisic was satisfied waiting more than an hour to enter the game.

“Very frustrated — I wanted to play from the beginning, as I always do,” said the forward signed in 2019 from Borussia Dortmund. I’ve had to continue to prove myself over and over again. … Nothing can stop me, really.”

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PSG players claim referee swore at them in Man City defeat

French champions PSG were left angered by the referee, who sent off PSG’s Angel Di Maria in the 69th minute for an off-the-ball stamp on Fernandinho.

Paris St Germain’s Leandro Paredes was verbally abused by Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers during Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final second leg loss to Manchester City, his team mate Ander Herrera has claimed.

City reached the final of Europe’s elite club competition for the first time thanks to a 2-0 victory at the Etihad Stadium to secure a 4-1 aggregate win.

French champions PSG were left angered by the referee, who sent off PSG’s Angel Di Maria in the 69th minute for an off-the-ball stamp on Fernandinho.

“We talk about respect towards referees,” midfielder Herrera told French multimedia outlet RMC Sport, while revealing that the official had sworn at Paredes. “If we say that, we get a three or four-match ban.”

Herrera’s team mate Marco Verratti said in his post-match interview that he too was abused by the official.

PSG manager Mauricio Pochettino told reporters he believed his players and that European soccer’s governing body UEFA could investigate the incident.”I didn’t hear anything from the touchline, if something is there and is how they explained, maybe UEFA will investigate the situation,” Pochettino said.

“But now that’s not an excuse I can put in front of you… the most important thing is we’re not in the final and that’s why we feel really sad.”

Meanwhile, CBS colour commentator Jim Beglin apologised for attributing Argentine Di Maria’s dismissal during the game to his “Latino temperament.”

“I apologise for my culturally insensitive remarks… I wrongly used a racial stereotype. This was inappropriate and unacceptable,” Beglin tweeted.”Words have a strong impact and I fully understand the severity of what I said when Di Maria was sent off. I’ll learn from this and be better moving forward.”

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Riyad Mahrez showing up when Manchester City need him most

Algerian is flying under the radar, wrecking defences like he did against PSG in the second leg of the semis

A Manchester City break came in the 62nd minute. It wasn’t the quickest counterattack, as a good number of Paris Saint Germain players tracked back at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday. Phil Foden carried the ball down the left, squaring to Kevin De Bruyne under pressure. The Belgian returned it to Foden who was well on his way into the PSG box after a moment. On the other side of the pitch, Riyad Mahrez darted forward unmarked by anybody in a Parisian jersey. Once Foden drilled a low cross Mahrez was there, happily slotting home his and City’s second in the Champions League second leg semi-final. City would go on to win 4-1 on aggregate.

In many ways, that undetected run represents Mahrez’s career. A crafty left-footer, blessed with speed and the ability to dribble at break-neck pace, tends to fly under the radar – especially in a star-studded line-up. Thriving in his low-key role, it’s helped him become one of the most devastating players in front of goal.

The 30-year-old France-born Algerian scored three goals over the two semi-final legs for his club. And it helped take City to its first ever Champions League final.

Low-profile match winner

When Mahrez was at Leicester City, his star was overshadowed by Jamie Vardy. Even in that historic 2015-16 Premier League winning season, where Mahrez scored 17 times and made 11 assists, Vardy’s 24 goals – including a Premier League record of scoring in 11 consecutive matches – eclipsed the Algerian.

At Manchester City, who dished out GBP 60 million to secure his services – making him then the most expensive African footballer – Mahrez is still not the first name that comes to mind. There is De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, Sergio Aguero (for whom this is the final season), and even the new star Foden.
Under the radar, yet still a vital cog in his side. That’s also how he was first noticed by the bigger names in Europe.

Unspectacular Beginnings

Born in Sarcelles, a poor commune in Northern Paris, to an Algerian father and Moroccan mother, Mahrez was a self-taught street footballer.

The silky skills though weren’t enough for him, at 18, to find a place in fourth division team Quimper. What he had in skill, for the scouts, was not enough for what he lacked in physicality. The team’s manager eventually had his way and forced the directors to sign the player.

A few years later, while playing in the French Ligue 2 with Le Havre, he first came into contact with then Championship club (second division) Leicester City – who he first thought was a rugby team. Incidentally, the English scouts had not travelled to France to look at him, but were rather there to spy on his teammate Ryan Mendes. But Mahrez captured their imagination.

“Riyad was a bit raw but he had a great touch,” Steve Walsh, the club’s head of recruitment told the Daily Mail. “He could kill the ball dead and go past people. I liked his positivity. Some of his decision-making wasn’t that great and defensively he wasn’t the best, but you could see that he had real talent.”

He moved to Leicester in early 2014 following a GBP 450,000 transfer, helping them gain promotion to the Premier League before moving to Manchester City in 2018.

Unwavering self-belief

Slight frame notwithstanding, his flair, eye for goal and a killer pass could not be undervalued. Nor could his spirit be broken.

“How did I prove them wrong? Just with my ability, my quality,” he described his mentality to Four-Four Two. “They would say those things, then we’d play a game, I’d play well and they’d change their opinion. I used to play a lot in (Paris) and it helped me.”

He scored 17 goals, including a hat-trick against Swansea City to help the Foxes win the Premier League title. This season he’s scored 15 goals in all competitions, including four in the Champions League.

Improved defensive skills

Under Nigel Pearson, who managed Leicester while they were in the English Championship, he gained confidence and experience. Under Claudio Ranieri, he was allowed to use his fleet-footed skills at will to wreak havoc of defences.
Under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, he’s become aware of his defensive role. In the second leg against PSG, he made four tackles and interceptions in the first half alone.

Raking up the titles

So far Mahrez has won three Premier League titles (including in the on-going season). He helped Algeria win the 2019 African Cup of Nations title, its first since 1990 and second overall.

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Manchester City ousts PSG to reach first Champions League final

Riyad Mahrez has scored twice to complete Manchester City’s journey to a first Champions League final with a 2-0 victory eliminating Paris Saint-Germain 4-1 on aggregate.

By the time Riyad Mahrez completed the counterattack that sealed Manchester City’s spot in a first Champions League final, it looked so effortless overcoming a Paris Saint-Germain lineup that lost its cool and composure.

“Then they lost their nerve and started to kick us and it was good,” Mahrez said.

It was the Paris-born winger who netted twice before PSG had Angel Di Maria sent off. City won 2-0 to eliminate last season’s finalists 4-1 on aggregate on Tuesday.

“They had the red card,” Mahrez said, “and after, it was more comfortable for us.”

It’s been anything but comfortable for City getting a shot at lifting European football’s top prize for the first time despite 13 years of lavish investment. Even reaching this semifinal required a fight in court to overturn a ban from this season’s Champions League for breaching UEFA’s financial rules.

And it’s only two weeks since the Abu Dhabi-owned team exposed itself to fresh sanctions for joining a brief, ill-fated bid to split to help form a breakaway European Super League.

Now City could win the competition it tried to leave in what could be an all-English final on May 29 in Istanbul if Chelsea overcomes Real Madrid on Wednesday. Chelsea and Madrid played to a 1-1 draw in the first leg.

“Of course, we’ve invested money in the last decade since Sheikh Mansour took over the club, but it’s not just about this,” City manager Pep Guardiola said. “If you want to think it’s just about money, it’s OK. But there is a lot of incredible things behind the scenes.”

It’s not just City that’s endured frustration in its quest to win the biggest prize in European football. Guardiola, a Champions League winner as Barcelona coach in 2009 and 2011, has been waiting a decade to return to the final. He fell short three times with Bayern Munich and has taken until his fifth season at City to even reach the semifinals.

“To reach the Champions league final is so difficult,” Guardiola said. “It’s the toughest one, but we did it.”

City is now accustomed to success _ sitting on the brink of its third Premier League title in four seasons after already collecting the League Cup last month. But its only continental title came with the now-defunct European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1970.

“This club needed the final, these players needed the final,” City defender Kyle Walker said. “For these players to not be in a Champions League final is a disappointment every year.”

PSG missed out on a second shot at lifting a first European Cup after losing last season’s final to Bayern Munich, and Mauricio Pochettino’s lineup is even struggling to defend the French title.

“Disappointed and very sad,” said Pochettino, who lost the 2019 Champions League final as Tottenham manager. “We played well but we didn’t have the luck that you need in football.”

And in the clash of European football’s Gulf-funded big-spenders, it was the Qatari visitors from Paris on the backfoot quickly in Manchester.

After scoring City’s winner in Paris last week, Mahrez took only 11 minutes to score in the second leg. The move began with a long ball by defender Oleksandr Zinchenko running onto a long ball from goalkeeper Ederson.

“It’s something we work on all the time,” Mahrez said, “and today it worked good.”

Zinchenko passed to Kevin De Bruyne, whose shot was blocked by Keylor Navas but Mahrez was alert to the rebound to put the ball through the goalkeeper’s legs on a field covered in the remnants of a spring hailstorm.

Mauro Icardi was proving ineffective in a PSG attack shorn of Kylian Mbappe, who wasn’t fit enough to start and never entrusted with being deployed from the bench.

There were headers over from Marquinhos and Neymar but PSG could find no way past a defense that had Ruben Dias proving such a robust barrier.

The PSG back-line was easier to breach, which happened again in the 63rd minute. There was a surging run down the left flank by Phil Foden before a combination with De Bruyne and a cross delivered for Mahrez to sweep into the net.

“We fought to the end,” PSG midfielder Marco Verratti said. “When you play against big teams, it’s impossible to attack for 90 minutes without suffering. We have to accept that.”

The frustrations of PSG were clear, even without any crowd to create any intimidating atmosphere. The visitors finished the game with 10 men just like in the first leg after Di Maria was sent off with 20 minutes to go for kicking at Fernandinho.

PSG turned on the referee, with midfielder Ander Herrera in a post-match interview accusing Bjorn Kuipers of directing an expletive at PSG teammate Leandro Paredes. It wasn’t heard by Pochettino.

“Maybe UEFA will investigate the situation,“ he said. “But now I think that is not an excuse.”

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“We Lost The Battle But The War Continues” – Neymar

Brazilian star Neymar has expressed confidence that PSG are still very much in the semi-final tie against Manchester City despite suffering a home defeat in the first-leg at home.

City seized control of the last four clash thanks to Wednesday’s 2-1 victory in Paris.

PSG captain Marquinhos opened the scoring in the 15th minute as last season’s runners-up outplayed City in the opening half in the French capital.

But Kevin De Bruyne’s awkward cross-cum-shot found the back of the net just past the hour-mark and Riyad Mahrez’s free-kick put City ahead seven minutes later.

Things went from bad to worse for PSG in the 77th minute after Idrissa Gueye was sent off.

As PSG face an uphill task ahead of their return leg in Manchester, Neymar reacted to the result via social media.

“We lost the battle but the war continues,” Neymar wrote on his verified Twitter handle. “I believe in my team.

“I believe that we can be better than we were. ALLEZ PARIS. One per cent chance 99 per cent faith.”

Neymar has not scored in his last six games in the knockout stages of the Champions League, with his last goal outside the group stage coming against Borussia Dortmund in 2019-20.

The midweek collapse was the first time PSG suffered Champions League defeat when leading at half-time since 2001 – against Deportivo La Coruna.

PSG are winless in their four European games against City (D2 L2), only facing Juventus (eight) on more occasions without ever winning in their history.

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Manchester City secure win at PSG in first leg of CL semifinal

PSG led 1-0 through captain Marquinhos’ early header from a corner, but City skipper Kevin De Bruyne equalized in the 64th minute when goalkeeper Keylor Navas misread his dipping cross and it bounced inside his post.

Paris Saint-Germain lost its composure and the match as Manchester City rallied to win 2-1 away from home in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal on Wednesday.

PSG led 1-0 through captain Marquinhos’ early header from a corner, but City skipper Kevin De Bruyne equalized in the 64th minute when goalkeeper Keylor Navas misread his dipping cross and it bounced inside his post.

Riyad Mahrez’s free kick — through a wall that jumped early and left an inviting gap for the Algeria winger — put the visitors ahead in the 71st.

“We deserved the lead, but in the second half they were better than us. Physically they were a little bit more aggressive, it was difficult for us to recover the ball,” PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino said. “We’re very disappointed with the two goals. It’s difficult to accept that this happened in the semifinal, it’s really painful.”

After City’s quick 1-2 punch, PSG’s composure soon crumbled, as has often been the case in recent seasons when under pressure. Pochettino’s side finished the game with 10 players as midfielder Idrissa Gueye was shown a red card in the 77th minute for a dangerous tackle on midfielder Ilkay Gundogan.

City could have taken a bigger lead into the return leg next Tuesday, but winger Phil Foden shot straight at Navas after a brilliant jinking run through PSG’s flagging defense.

“In football you need to believe,” Pochettino said. “Of course we are under a little bit of pressure, but in football you need to try.”

City coach Pep Guardiola wants his players to stay relaxed for the return leg, rather than thinking about reaching the final for the first time in the club’s history.

“All I want is for us to be ourselves in the second leg,” he said. “We are good playing a certain way, we cannot do it differently.”

Chelsea drew 1-1 at Real Madrid in the other semifinal on Tuesday.

City made a bright start, stretching PSG with its quick passing and imposing itself in midfield with some hefty challenges.

But PSG had the first sights on goal and, after Neymar went close, Marquinhos timed his run well to meet Angel Di Maria’s corner near the front post and head in the 15th-minute opener.

It was another important goal from the Brazilian, after netting a last-gasp equalizer in the quarterfinals and then scoring in the semis last season.

Di Maria was causing problems for City’s defense with his runs from the right flank, while both Neymar and Marco Verratti were opening City up with their passing.

With City now playing on the break, Foden wasted a good chance near the break when he shot straight at Navas from just inside the penalty area, after being set up by Bernardo Silva’s pass from the right.

“In the first half we were too rushed,” De Bruyne said. “That’s not the way we’re set up as a team.”

PSG threatened early in the second half, when Di Maria’s superb pass over the midfield put Kylian Mbappe into space down the right. He twisted inside and out, putting two City defenders on the floor, but his fizzing cross was too strong and eluded his teammates.

De Bruyne set up City’s late winner in the League Cup final last Sunday and again took time to exert his influence after a brief spell out injured. The Belgium star went close with a shot on the turn that went just over on the hour mark.

Four minutes later, he was mobbed by his relieved teammates when his cross was intended for a teammate’s head but stunned Navas as it bounced past him.

“It is so hard for the keeper because he always expects someone to touch it,” De Bruyne said.

Then he gave the free kick to Mahrez, who grew up in Sarcelles but is another on a long list of talented local players overlooked by PSG over the years.

“He asked me if he could take it and I said ‘If you believe in yourself take it,’” De Bruyne said. “I have full confidence in all my team.”

He spotted a gap as PSG’s wall jumped too early, and inched City closer to its first Champions League final.

Both sides took a knee against racism just before the game.

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Super League clubs tell FIFA legal action already started

The 12 European clubs pursuing a Super League have told the leaders of FIFA and UEFA that legal action is already being pursued to stop them from action intended to thwart the launch of the breakaway competition.

The 12 European clubs pursuing a Super League have told the leaders of FIFA and UEFA that legal action is already being pursued to stop them from action intended to thwart the launch of the breakaway competition, according to a letter obtained Monday by The Associated Press.

The letter was sent by the group of English, Spanish and Italian clubs to FIFA President Gianni Infantino and UEFA counterpart Aleksander Ceferin saying the Super League has already been underwritten by funding of 4 billion euros ($5.5 billion) from a financial institution.

UEFA warned the Super League clubs, including Barcelona, Real Madrid, Juventus and Manchester United, after leaks of their plans on Sunday that legal action would be taken against rebel clubs and saying they would barred from existing domestic competitions like La Liga in Spain and the Premier League in England and international competitions.

“We are concerned that FIFA and UEFA may respond to this invitation letter by seeking to take punitive measures to exclude any participating club or player from their respective competitions,” the Super League clubs wrote to Infantino and Ceferin.

“Your formal statement does, however, compel us to take protective steps to secure ourselves against such an adverse reaction, which would not only jeopardize the funding commitment under the Grant but, significantly, would be unlawful. For this reason, SLCo (Super League Company) has filed a motion before the relevant courts in order to ensure the seamless establishment and operation of the Competition in accordance with applicable laws.”

The courts were not named.

“It is our duty, as SLCo’s board members, to ensure that all reasonable actions available to protect the interests of the Competition and our stakeholders are duly taken, given the irreparable damage that would be suffered if, for any reason, we were deprived of the opportunity to form promptly the Competition and distribute the proceeds of the Grant,” the Super League letter continued.

The Super League intends to launch a 20-team competition with 15 founding members but only 12 have currently signed up. They are also Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham from England. Atletico Madrid and Milan rivals AC and AC are also part of the plan.

The breakaway was launched just as UEFA, which runs European football, thought it had agreement on an expansion of the Champions League from 2024. Now, the same officials who backed the plans have decided to go it alone while claiming the existing competitions could remain _ despite losing their most successful teams, including record 13-time European champion Real Madrid and six-time winner Liverpool.

“The Competition is to be played alongside existing domestic league and cup competitions, which are a key part of European football’s competitive fabric,” reads the Super League letter to Infanatino and Ceferin. “We do not seek to replace the UEFA’s Champions League or the Europa League but to compete with and exist alongside those tournaments.