Football Mag

Mauricio Pochettino insists Tottenham believe they can topple any team in Europe ahead of the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie at Borussia Dortmund. Belief remains high going into Tuesday's showdown at Signal Iduna Park as the north London club look to secure their spot in the competition's last eight. "In a competition like the Champions League or Europa League or the domestic cups you need not only to win games, you need to be more than lucky sometimes to arrive to play the final," Pochettino told a pre-match news conference when asked whether Spurs can go all the way "I think many circumstances are involved where sometimes you can arrive to play a final and maybe are not the best team." "Always for me the most important is the Premier League or the Bundesliga. The most consistent team always wins and the best team always beats the other 19 opponents." "The belief, of course, is that we can beat any team, But now I think w...

Manchester United are without a host of first-team stars for their Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain, with the likes of Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard and Ander Herrera again missing out. The trio were also absent from United's 3-2 win over Southampton on Saturday, with youngsters Angel Gomes and Tahith Chong named on the bench for that game. And both youngsters are also in the travelling party heading to Paris on Tuesday, while there's also a place for 17-year-old striker Mason Greenwood, and 17-year-old midfielder James Garner. Here is the squad:  Keepers: De Gea, Romero, Grant. Denders: Bailly, Dalot, Lindelof, Rojo, Shaw, Smalling, Williams, Young. Midfielders: Fred, Garner, Gomes, McTominay, Pereira. Forwards: Chong, Greenwood, Lukaku, Rashford.

Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos has been handed an extra one-match Champions League ban by UEFA for deliberately picking up a booking against Ajax earlier this month. Ramos was shown a yellow card in the closing stages of Real's 2-1 victory in Amsterdam, which means he is suspended for the last-16 second leg at Santiago Bernabeu on March 5. The Spain international then suggested in an interview after the match that he had been booked intentionally so as to avoid the risk of a suspension in the quarter-finals, although he later backtracked on those comments. However, UEFA’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) have now adjudged that Ramos had deliberately got himself booked and have issued an additional ban, meaning he will miss the first leg of the quarter-final should Real progress. “The CEDB has decided to suspend the Real Madrid CF player Sergio Ramos for two UEFA competition matches for which he would be otherwise eligible for clearly receiving a yellow car...

Ramos Charged by UEFA for Deliberate Booking Sergio Ramos has been charged by UEFA for deliberately earning a yellow card in Real Madrid's Champions League last-16 first-leg win at Ajax. The Spain international was booked in the 89th minute of his side’s 2-1 victory in Amsterdam, which means he is suspended for the second leg at Santiago Bernabeu on March 5. Ramos suggested in an interview after the match that he had been booked intentionally so as to avoid the risk of a suspension in the quarter-finals, although he later backtracked on those comments. However, UEFA has opted to charge the Madrid captain with receiving a yellow card on purpose, with their Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body to hear the case on Thursday. Last week, Valencia midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia was given a two-match ban by UEFA for being booked deliberately in the Europa League meeting with Celtic. The midfielder was given a yellow card in the 82nd minute of his side’s 2-0 win in Glasgow for...

Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone has been charged with improper conduct by UEFA following an incident during the 2-0 Champions League win over Juventus. UEFA did not confirm what action Simeone is being charged in connection with, reports suggest that it is related to him celebrating Atleti's opener by clutching his crotch while gesticulating to the crowd. Simeone attracted criticism from some for the gesture but he apologised after the match, explaining it was directed at Atletico fans, showing them "that we have cojones". "To start [Diego] Costa and Koke after they hadn't played for a month takes balls," he added. The Argentine admitted that it is not the first time he has performed such a celebration. "I did it as a player in Lazio vs Bologna and I did it again to show our fans that we have cojones. It wasn't aimed at the other team, I was turning towards our own supporters, " said Simeone.                      ...