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MAN UTD 5-0 LEIPZIG: MARCUS RASHFORD INSPIRES RED DEVILS TO RESOUNDING VICTORY.

Marcus Rashford was again the star for Manchester United in the Champions League with a hat-trick in a 5-0 thumping of RB Leipzig on Wednesday as Barcelona put their off-field troubles to one side to win 2-0 away to a Juventus side deprived of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Rashford’s late goal earned United a 2-1 victory away to Paris Saint-Germain last week and at Old Trafford the England striker came on as a second-half substitute and scored three times from the 74th minute on in what was a fine win against last season’s semi-finalists.

Paul Pogba released Mason Greenwood to open the scoring in the first half, before the youngster made way for Rashford after the break and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side ran away with the game to make it two wins from two in Group H.

Anthony Martial also netted from the penalty spot as United ruthlessly exposed the side who currently top the German Bundesliga and went clear at the top of the section.

We looked dangerous throughout and that we could score every time we went forward,” said Rashford. “It was a real team performance.”

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UCL: JUVENTUS FALL TO MESSI’S BARCELONA WITHOUT CORONA-HIT RONALDO.

Cristiano Ronaldo missed Juventus’ Champions League clash against Lionel Messi’s Barcelona, two weeks after testing positive for coronavirus, with the Italian giants losing 2-0 at home on Wednesday in his absence.

Messi, 33, set up Ousmane Dembele to put Barca in front after quarter of an hour in Turin, adding a second himself from the penalty spot in stoppage time.

Alvaro Morata had three goals ruled out for offside for Juve who played the final five minutes a man down after Merih Demiral was sent off for a second yellow card.

Barcelona are top of Group G with six points after two games with Juventus on three. The reverse fixture takes place at the Camp Nou on December 8.

The 35-year-old Ronaldo, the top scorer in the history of the competition with 130 goals, was furious at missing out.

The Portuguese superstar had needed to test negative 24 hours before the game to take part in his sixth Champions League meeting against Argentine Messi.

They have not faced off since the five-time Ballon d’Or winner left Real Madrid for Juventus in 2018.

Hours before kick-off, Ronaldo posted a photo on Instagram, stating: “Feeling good and healthy! Forza Juve!

Adding a comment for his 241 million Instagram followers on the swab tests used to detect the virus, he said: “PCR IS BULLSHIT.”

He later removed that post.

Ronaldo then posted a video of himself wearing the Juventus jersey running on a treadmill in his home gym, jumping off for his usual goal celebration before giving the thumbs up and wishing his teammates ‘good luck’.

Ronaldo first tested positive for Covid-19 on October 13 while playing with Portugal, and has been in self-isolation since returning to Italy.

He has reportedly tested positive 18 times.

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MADRID COMEBACK TO RALLY FOR 2-2 DRAW WITH MONCHEGLADBACH.

Real Madrid fought back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Borussia Monchengladbach to avoid making it two defeats out of two in Champions League Group B and keep their hopes of qualifying for the knockout rounds alive.

Madrid played well for the opening half hour, and Toni Kroos had a shot from distance well-saved by Borussia goalkeeper Yann Sommer, but it was the German side who went ahead, with Marcus Thuram scoring with their only shot of the first half.

The visitors looked to respond as Marco Asensio went close either side of half time. Thuram doubled Borussia’s lead with a close-range second, before Karim Benzema pulled a goal back from Casemiro’s header and the Brazilian grabbed a dramatic, added-time equaliser.

Just as they did against Shakhtar Donetsk last week, Madrid started fairly well here, pressing Borussia high up the pitch and disrupting the Germans’ ability to play out from deep. They struggled after that but showed great spirit to fight back in the second half, in difficult circumstances.

Eden Hazard’s return from injury, 81 days later, is good news, if he can finally stay fit. Asensio’s performance was a positive, too. The Spain international winger is getting regular game time now this was his third start in a row and coach Zinedine Zidane clearly recognises his huge, as yet unfulfilled, potential.

Real Madrid were dangerously close here to losing four Champions League games in a row for the first time in their history. Back-to-back knockout defeats to Manchester City had been followed by last week’s bizarre 3-2 loss to Shakhtar, and this would have been an embarrassing result too were it not for Casemiro’s heroics.

The team continues to ship goals far too easily, and Zidane needs to address the vulnerable-looking defence, and fast. Madrid seem far too fragile at present in the face of adversity. Conceding one goal threatens a collapse. They can’t keep making things so hard for themselves.

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PSG Qualify for Champions League Final

One of Europe’s biggest spenders, but also one of the continent’s most high-profile underachievers on the grandest stage.

PSG finally seized their opportunity courtesy of goals from Marquinhos, Angel di Maria and Juan Bernat.

The former, who scored the first of two late goals in a comeback win over Atalanta in the last eight, rose to head home a superbly delivered free-kick from Di Maria.

The Argentine forward then finished well from close range following an audacious flick from Neymar after Leipzig goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi had relinquished possession with a dire kick.

With the fit-again Kylian Mbappe and Neymar terrorising the Leipzig backline, the French side should have been out of sight before the break, but the latter twice hit the post – from a clipped finish then an opportunist free-kick from range – before side-footing another chance wide at the near post.

Prior to PSG’s second, Yussuf Poulsen had Leipzig’s best chance but fired wide after he was found by a Dani Olmo pull-back.

Bernat sealed the win in the second half with a header that Leipzig felt was offside but was legitimate as the prone Nordi Mukiele, who had slipped in the build-up, was playing the scorer onside.

PSG will find out who they face in Sunday’s final when five-time winners Bayern Munich play Lyon in the other semi-final on Wednesday.

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Atletico Madrid have two cases of corona Virus

Atletico Madrid say two individuals have tested positive for coronavirus before Thursday’s Champions League quarter-final against RB Leipzig in Lisbon.

The Spanish club said the unnamed individuals are isolating at home.

The positive cases were discovered after first-team players and club staff travelling to Lisbon were tested in Madrid on Saturday.

They will now be retested along with close contacts of the positive cases.

“This motivates changes in the training schedules, in the structure and development of the trip and the accommodation in the Portuguese capital,” Atletico said in a statement.

“The club will coordinate the new schedules with Uefa and as soon as there is a new plan it will be made public. It also calls for maximum respect for the identity of the two positive cases.”

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Champions League is concluding with a ‘final eight’ tournament in Lisbon, with single-leg games held behind closed doors.

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As UEFA Champions League nears restart, pandemic schedules pose headache

The European club competitions will be played using new formats in Portugal and Germany five months after the coronavirus shut down the season.

When the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League return next week amid the coronavirus pandemic, the teams remaining in the competitions will be resuming following a vastly different set of preparations.

For Italian teams, it’s the last stretch in a packed schedule that included two games a week since June. France’s Ligue 1 stopped in March, leaving Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) to schedule friendlies before two domestic cup finals.

When PSG faces Atalanta and Juventus plays Lyon in the Champions League, those contrasts will be tested.

“It’s clear that the conditions aren’t normal,” Simon Rolfes, the sporting director of Bayer Leverkusen, told The Associated Press in a recent interview.

“I think we have to accept that there are certain points where everything isn’t optimal or exactly the same, and that’s just the case because of the pandemic. Obviously, it isn’t the equality in competition that you’d normally wish for, but it’s not the time to achieve that. Otherwise, it can’t happen at all.”

Leverkusen tried to balance rest and training ahead of its Europa League game against Rangers on August 6, five months after the Bundesliga club won the first leg 3-1.

Leverkusen gave players a 17-day break to clear their heads following its DFB Pokal final loss to Bayern Munich on July 4 before going back to training.

“Since we’ve only got a short break, the players don’t lose much,” Rolfes said. “It’s not the sort of preparation you have after five, six, seven weeks on vacation.”

The European tournaments will be played using new formats in Portugal and Germany five months after the coronavirus shut down the European season.

The late finishes will give players little chance to catch their breath as the last games of the 2019/20 season flow quickly into the opening games of 2020/21.

FATIGUE SETS IN

Tiredness means more muscle injuries and poorly timed tackles. FIFPro is monitoring the situation with concern.

“The number of recovery days between matches is not sufficient much of the time,” FIFPro medical director Vincent Gouttebarge told the AP. “It’s the cumulative exposure to this load. Week after week with the club obviously, with the national team, traveling perhaps from one country to another.”

Basel has the toughest schedule of all. The Swiss Super League ends Monday, later than any other country in Europe. That leaves a three-day turnaround to play Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League, then potentially more knockout matches.

Basel players also face a Swiss Cup semifinal match in August, national team games in early September, a new league season from September 11, and qualifying for the 2020/21 Europa League starting September 17.

UNEVEN LEAGUES

Teams who aren’t in European competitions could have an edge in domestic leagues.

While the likes of Bayern Munich, Leipzig, and Leverkusen train, other German clubs can rest. Borussia Dortmund and Werder Bremen only resume training Monday.

“It’s a challenge for the teams who are playing in the European cups, no question,” Rolfes said. ”It will be really important to manage it intelligently and very well. Ahead of the Bundesliga season, it’s an advantage for the teams who have normal preparation and a normal vacation.”

The plan at Leverkusen is to give players more rest once the team’s Europa League campaign is over before the new Bundesliga season begins with cup games in mid-September.

Fatigue could follow players and clubs all the way through the 2020/21 season, which is more congested than usual. Germany has more midweek games and a reduced winter break to make way for the postponed European Championship in June-July 2021.

Besides Dortmund, English clubs like Liverpool, Tottenham, and Arsenal are already eliminated from European competition and can get extra rest.

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GUARDIOLA WARY OF REAL MADRID EN ROUTE HIS TEAM’S UCL AMBITION

Pep Guardiola warned his Manchester City players not to look too far ahead after their route to a possible final was mapped out on Friday.

The Blues discovered that they will face either Juventus or Lyon in the quarter-final, and then possibly Barcelona or Bayern Munich in the semis, after today’s draw in Nyon.

But they have to finish the job against Real Madrid in the second leg of their last 16 game on August 7 or 8, to reach the tournament for the last eight next month.

It could be an extremely tough route to the final, but Guardiola insisted that he only has his sights fixed on Madrid, with City having a slender 2-1 lead from the first leg in the Bernabeu.

Guardiola was also puzzled by suggestions that he, or City, had influenced Uefa’s decision to play that second leg at the Etihad Stadium, after it was initially touted that all last-16 second legs might also be switched to Portugal.

When asked about the draw, Guardiola said: “We have to play against Madrid. If we think about the next step, the kings of this competition will put us out.”

And he was nonplussed by the suggestion that it was unusual that the second leg be staged in Manchester.

“The first leg we played in Madrid, the second leg we play at home,” he said – there had been mischievous suggestions in Spain that he had personally tried to influence that decision.

“It’s a normal situation. It’s not about advantage. It is what it is. In knockout games it’s one at home and one away.

“Why should we play in another place? The first leg we played in Madrid, the second leg we will play at home.

“It is not about advantage, it is what it is. When it is a knockout game with two legs, there is one at home and one away.”