Champions League circus comes to town

So the first two teams are in the hat for the Champions League quarters following Tuesday night's action, with Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid going through at the expense of Arsenal and AC Milan.

On an eventful night in Germany, Arjen Robben caused controversy for the manner in which he earned a penalty against the Gunners, which Thomas Muller would miss during the 1-1 draw, with Arsene Wenger insisting after the match that the Dutchman was a master at diving.

In the other game of the evening, Clarence Seedorf's Milan side were forced to jump through hoops as Diego Costa and Co. proved too strong for the Italians in what turned out to be a thumping 4-1 win.

Wednesday, 12 March 2014 12:00

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Bayern attempt to stop Arsenal by any means necessary

Arsenal face a monumental task of repeating their Allianz Arena heroics from last season and claiming the victory that would take them through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

The Gunners need to win by two-clear goals in Germany following their first-leg loss to Pep Guardiola's side and, speaking ahead of the game, the Bayern boss admitted his side will lose out if they allow Arsenal to have the ball.

He said: "If we let Arsenal keep the ball, we will have a lot of problems.

"They have a lot of quality, every single player has unbelievable technical skills with the ball. They have players like [Santi] Cazorla, [Mesut] Ozil, [Tomas] Rosicky and [Mikel] Arteta - it is no problem for them to keep the ball in their lines.

"So the only way to avoid that is to keep the ball for ourselves - and obviously we have to be aggressive."

Tuesday, 11 March 2014 12:00

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Ronaldo tops star-studded Goal Rich List

Cristiano Ronaldo has pipped Lionel Messi to the top spot of the 2014 Goal Rich List.

The Real Madrid star is the hottest property in football and boasts an estimated wealth of €148 million [£122m] - just €2m [£1.5m] more than his Barcelona rival.

The list, topped by the now-retired David Beckham in 2013, features the likes of Wayne Rooney, Samuel Eto'o and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Click here to see the full Goal Rich List top 10.

Monday, 10 March 2014 12:30

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Golden oldie Eto'o rolls back the years

Samuel Eto'o proved age is just a number as he put in a talismanic display in Chelsea's 4-0 victory over Tottenham on Saturday.

The Cameroon striker, who turns 33 on Monday, opened the scoring after pouncing on a mistake from Jan Vertonghen before winning a penalty following a challenge from Younes Kaboul.

Eto'o's also made light of recent accusations that he was older than 32 with his goal celebration as he hobbled up to the corner flag and pretended to nurse a bad back.

“I knew about it. It was fine, it was the best way to diffuse a situation which was funny - make fun of a funny situation - it was good," said Jose Mourinho.

Sunday, 9 March 2014 12:00

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Sherwood hopes Spurs switch on against Chelsea

Tim Sherwood has warned his Tottenham side that a repeat of their last away outing in the Premier League could see them on the receiving end of a drubbing against Chelsea.

Spurs face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge having failed to win their in the league since 1990, when Gary Lineker scored the only goal of the game.

And Sherwood has called for improvement after seeing his side stumble to a shock 1-0 defeat against Norwich City at Carrow Road before picking up a narrow victory at home against Cardiff City.

"If we play like we did against Norwich they're gonna need more lightbulbs for the scoreboard," Sherwood warned ahead of the trip to face Jose Mourinho's side.

Saturday, 8 March 2014 11:50

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Mourinho reveals Madrid mirror queues

Jose Mourinho has revealed how some of football's top names get ready for the biggest games.

The Chelsea boss says Real Madrid players would spend the final moments before entering the tunnel making sure they look their best during his time at the Bernabeu.

"Lots of times at Real Madrid, the players would be queuing in front of the mirror before the game while the referee waited for them in the tunnel," Mourinho told Esquire.

"But that's how society is now. Young people care a lot about this: they are twentysomething and I am 51 and if I want to work with kids I have to understand their world."

Friday, 7 March 2014 11:45

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'I don't care!' Ozil ignores media criticism

"I don't care," said Mesut Ozil on Wednesday when asked about criticism from some quarters of the English media. "They wrote something different three weeks ago and they will do it again in another three weeks. That's part of the business in England."

Arsenal's record signing may not have maintained his form throughout the season but you cannot fault his confidence and the German clearly has no interest in engaging with paper talk.

He is set to return to the Gunners' squad for their FA Cup clash with Everton on Saturday after being given a brief rest by Arsene Wenger - he'll need to be quick about getting back up to speed, though, with a Champions League second leg against Bayern Munich looming.

Thursday, 6 March 2014 11:36

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Bayern to continue Dortmund raid

They signed Mario Gotze for €37 million [£30m] and have already secured the services of Robert Lewandowski for next season, but Bayern Munich are not ready to call time on the pursuit of Borussia Dortmund's top stars.

Ilkay Gundogan is the latest Dortmund player to be linked with Bayern, with the midfielder reportedly targeted as a replacement for Toni Kroos, who could leave the Champions League holders this summer.

And Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has indicated the Bundesliga giants will not stop raiding their rivals.

"We would never make a senseless decision to no longer sign players from Dortmund," he told ZDF.

"We have a good relationship with Dortmund. I met with their CEO last summer and any bad feelings were cleared up then."

Tuesday, 4 March 2014 11:00

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Ronaldo drags Real Madrid closer to La Liga title

Despite going 1-0 up via Karim Benzema's strike in a violent Madrid derby on Sunday, Real had to rally and come from behind to salvage a point against Diego Simeone's side.

Goals from Koke and Gabi gave Cristiano Ronaldo the perfect platform to salvage a point and help his side move closer to the La Liga title with his

The 2-2 draw leaves Carlo Ancelotti's side top and one point ahead of Barcelona and three ahead of their city rivals with 12 games to go.

Monday, 3 March 2014 11:05

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Hole in the wall as Puyol announces Barca exit

After almost 20 years and numerous trophies, Carles Puyol has announced his decision to leave Barcelona at the end of the season.

The defender was contracted until 2016, but reached an agreement with the club to rescind his contract after a season spent struggling with injuries.

"After the last two operations it has been difficult for me to recover the level I need to be able to continue here, more than I expected," he said. "That is why I have taken this decision.

"There are three months of the season left and I won't be giving up."

The centre-back - nicknamed 'The Wall' by Camp Nou fans - is set to leave a sizeable hole in the Barcelona defence.

Wednesday, 5 March 2014 12:00

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