Guardiola: Man City loss to Chelsea in Champions League final was not a failure

Much has changed in European football in the past five years – and few clubs illustrate that greater than fallen giants Barcelona.

On this day in 2017, Barca were thrashing Paris Saint-Germain 6-1 in the most remarkable Champions League turnaround ever, becoming the only side in the competition s history to overturn a four-goal first-leg deficit.

Now, Neymar and Lionel Messi – the two stars of that Blaugrana side – are preparing to play Real Madrid as PSG players.

Meanwhile, Barca are not even in the Champions League knockout stages, instead facing Galatasaray in the Europa League last 16 while battling to return to UEFA s flagship competition next season.

Indeed, Barca s recent European past has found them on the wrong end of epic Champions League …

Manchester City great Francis Lee said a move for Harry Kane would be very difficult as he questioned whether the England captain would be a long-term option.

Kane has given his strongest indication yet that he wants to leave Tottenham at the end of the season, stating his desire to play for a trophy-winning side.

Premier League champions City would fit that bill, while Kane has also been linked with the likes of Chelsea and neighbours Manchester United.

Kane, who will turn 28 in July, is level with Mohamed Salah at the top of the Premier League scoring charts heading into the final weekend of the season.

That suggests he remains in the very top bracket of Europe s top strikers, but Lee needs convincing that Kane would be capable of being a force for Cit…

Philippe Coutinho thanked Lionel Messi for allowing him to take a confidence-boosting penalty as Barcelona hammered Sevilla to reach the Copa del Rey semi-finals.

Coutinho has endured a difficult season with Ousmane Dembele seemingly preferred by Ernesto Valverde, but the France winger s hamstring injury has opened a spot in Barca s attack.

And Coutinho grabbed his chance with both hands in Wednesday s second leg, scoring twice as Barca heaped more Copa del Rey misery on Sevilla, who they battered 5-0 in last year s final.

Barca s 6-1 victory overturned a 2-0 deficit from the first leg, when Messi was rested by Valverde, but the captain was in inspirational form at Camp Nou.

Not bad going, eh?

2019 Semifinalists (for now)
2018 Champions
2017 Ch…

Leyton Orient have paid tribute to supporter Derek Reynolds, who died after being taken unwell towards the end of the League One match against Lincoln on Tuesday night.

After fans had gone on to the pitch to alert the referee to the medical emergency in the East Stand, the match was halted in the 82nd minute and eventually abandoned.

The London Ambulance Service confirmed on Wednesday morning that despite extensive treatment and the combined efforts at the scene – which included an incident response officer, two medics in fast-response cars and an ambulance crew – the 74-year-old man had later been pronounced dead.

Leyton Orient Football Club is devastated to confirm that the supporter who was taken ill at Tuesday s game against Lincoln City has sadly passed …

Pep Guardiola is convinced the floodgates are about to open for his Manchester City team and Saturday s opponents Burnley may already be fearing the worst.

On their last three visits to the Etihad Stadium, Burnley have lost 5-0 on each occasion, with a pair of Premier League thrashings coming either side of an FA Cup trouncing.

Speaking this week, Guardiola said he would need to find a solution to his City team s scoring problem, which has seen them net a modest 10 goals in their opening eight Premier League fixtures this season.

He mentioned the importance of fixing little details , adding: In one or two games, this kind of thing will get better. The season is still so young and I m fully optimistic we re going to do a good season.

Given he recently sig…

Marseille head coach Andre Villas-Boas urged FIFA to withdraw the number 10 for all competitions to honour Diego Maradona.

Maradona, widely regarded as one of the best players of all-time, died at the age of 60 on Wednesday after a suspected heart attack.

He starred in the number 10 for Napoli and Argentina during his playing career, and the shirt was retired by the Serie A club in his honour in 2000.

Villas-Boas wants to see FIFA go one step further and withdraw the number 10 completely.

For Maradona, it s a hard blow. I would like FIFA to withdraw the number 10 for all competitions, all teams, he told a news conference after Marseille s 2-0 Champions League loss to Porto on Wednesday.

I think it s the best tribute that can be given to the grea…

The Football Association intends to vote against a rule change which would allow UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin to serve a further term in 2027, the PA news agency understands.

National associations, including the English FA, will be asked to amend a raft of UEFA statutes at Thursday’s Congress in Paris.

Within that bundle of rule changes is a move to amend Article 69 which would mean the first partial term Ceferin served from September 2016 would not be counted within the three-term limit, and would therefore allow him to serve a further full term from 2027 to 2031.

The proposal has already led to the resignation of UEFA’s technical director Zvonimir Boban, who had previously been a strong ally of Ceferin.

The FA is understood to have pushed for t…

Xavi looked set to take a significant step towards becoming Barcelona s new coach on Thursday.

The former Barcelona captain appears to be the only candidate the club have in mind to replace the sacked Ronald Koeman.

This has led a delegation from Barcelona to travel to Qatar in an effort to persuade Al Sadd, where Xavi is head coach, to release the former Spain midfielder from his contract.

Talks have taken place between senior officials from both sides and are said to have been convivial, and now it will reportedly fall to Xavi to take the next step.

Al Sadd chief executive Turki Al-Ali said earlier this week that the Stars League side remained committed to keeping our coach Xavi with us .

However, Xavi told Mundo Deportivo he was very eager and …

Carlo Ancelotti said I am not Gareth Bale s father but launched a defence of the Real Madrid forward and insists he will play if he deserves to when returning from international duty.

Since coming back from a loan stint with Tottenham last season, Bale has made just three appearances for Los Blancos – the same number of times he has played for Wales in 2021-22 – due to a troublesome thigh injury.

Despite including two LaLiga titles, four Champions League medals and a Copa del Rey on an impressive resume with Madrid, the club s fanbase have often made Bale the subject of their ire.

It was put to head coach Ancelotti that he had protected Bale like a father in the past, but the Italian said his achievements at the club should always be remembered.

I m …

According to Fabrizio Romano, Al-Ettifaq expect to complete the signing of Demarai Gray from Everton very soon. The personal terms between the player and the Saudi club have already been agreed, and the talks with Everton are close to a positive conclusion.

The 27-year-old winger recently puzzled Everton chiefs by informing them that his transfer was done, as manager Sean Dyche revealed, and the club replied that no move would be done without them agreeing to it. However, it seems that is now close, with Everton obviously aware that Gray would be out of contract at the end of the season.

Gray rose through the academy ranks at Birmingham City. In January 2016, he joined Leicester City where he spent five years, and then six months with Bayer Leverkusen before making his …