De Ligt vs Messi and Mbappé – Spurs meet AC Milan in Champions League eighth finals
Lock sees only female journalists Shachtar: ‘Men are fighting at the front’
Feyenoord will take on Ukrainian club Shachtar Donetsk in the Europa League eighth finals on Thursday. The match will be played in Warsaw, Poland, due to the war. Feyenoord coach Arne Slot calls playing against this opponent “extra special.”
The 44-year-old coach says he follows the war in the Netherlands, but that it is now “getting closer.” Thus Slot is thinking of relatives of Shachtar’s players and staff, who are involved in the war or “have died in the worst case.”
Slot sees only female journalists Shachtar: ‘Men are fighting at the front’
Ten Hag takes one last look back at Liverpool before duel with Betis: ‘It was a mess’
Manchester United coach Erik ten Hag took one more look back at the forgettable defeat against Liverpool (0-7) during the press conference ahead of tomorrow’s Europa League game with Real Betis.
“We made a mess of it and we have to deal with that now,” said Ten Hag, who also touched on the role of reserve captain Bruno Fernandes during the game with Liverpool.
The Europa League eighth final between Manchester United and Real Betis is tomorrow at 9 p.m., as is Shachtar Donetsk-Feyenoord. The duels can be followed via a liveblog on NOS.nl and the NOS app.
Ten Hag takes one last look back at Liverpool before duel with Betis: ‘It was a mess’
National coach Koeman finds it hard to ignore De Ligt, ‘The Wall’ is at home with Baye
Matthijs de Ligt feels at home at Bayern Munich, defending a 1-0 lead against Paris Saint-Germain tonight (9 p.m.) in the Champions League eighth finals. The defender went to work on himself after his reserve role at the World Cup in Qatar, as watching another final tournament from the sidelines is not an option for the 40-time international.
That is paying off; the defender is reigning this season like in his heyday at Ajax. And so national coach Ronald Koeman seems hard to get around him. “Matthijs is a wall, a real machine,” Frenchman Dayot Upamecano said recently about his comrade in defense.
Conte back at Spurs after inflamed gall bladder: ‘Surgery underestimated, own body overestimated’
Tottenham Hotspur coach Antonio Conte returns to the bench in tonight’s Champions League match against AC Milan.
The Italian was missing from four of the English club’s games because of the after-effects of surgery on an inflamed gall bladder. The Spurs must make up for a 1-0 defeat from the away game at home.
Conte back after inflamed gallbladder: ‘Surgery underestimated, own body overestimated…’
AZ places nets in front of section of stand for home match with Lazio
AZ is taking precautions before the second match in the Conference League eighth finals against Lazio, to prevent problems with supporters. For example, nets will be placed in front of part of the so-called Van der Ben stand.
The Alkmaar players, who won the first game in Rome 2-1 handsomely yesterday, fear a severe punishment from UEFA if objects are thrown on the pitch again. During the European match against FC Vaduz this season, some boxes already had to remain empty due to sanctions imposed by UEFA.
The match against Lazio is next Thursday. AZ reported Wednesday afternoon that they have already sold 15,000 tickets for the game.
Watch the reactions of coach Pascal Jansen and Tijjani Reijnders after the win over Lazio.
Club Brugge sack trainer Parker, Schreuder is named
Club Brugge have fired coach Scott Parker. The English former international took over from the sacked Carl Hoefkens on Dec. 31, but recorded only two wins in 12 matches.
Parker, who was previously coach of Fulham and Bournemouth, saw his team eliminated from the Champions League yesterday. After the 2-0 defeat in Bruges, Club were knocked off the mat 5-1 at Benfica.
Ajax sacked Alfred Schreuder is named as Parker’s successor. Schreuder had been the head coach at Brugge for five months last season.
British government accedes to soccer players’ wishes: 670 million for gym classes
Good news on International Women’s Day: the British government is making £600 million (€673 million) available over the next two years for extra gym classes in schools, mainly for girls. This fulfills a fervent wish of the England women’s team led by national coach Sarina Wiegman.
Last summer, shortly after winning the European title, the English soccer players wrote an open letter to the government. In it, the players called for equal opportunities for boys and girls and more gym classes and soccer training for girls.
“The European Championship win by the Lionesses (nickname of the England team, ed.) has changed the sport,” said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. “Young girls now know they can become part of a new generation that can celebrate successes with the Lionesses.”
Welcome to the Champions League!
It’s Champions League night again tonight, with two returns in the eighth finals on the schedule: Bayern Munich-PSG and Tottenham Hotspur-AC Milan.
Bayern won 1-0 in Paris two weeks ago so is in good shape. Milan is also defending a 1-0 lead from two weeks ago, but will do so tonight away in London.
Both matches start at 9 p.m. But of course we also follow other soccer news, such as Feyenoord’s press conference for tomorrow’s Europa League eighth-final game against Shachtar Donetsk, the Ukrainian club that prepared in the Netherlands last summer.
