LISBON: Portugal beat Denmark 5-3 on aggregate to reach the Nations League semi-finals early on Tuesday, winning a thrilling second-leg quarter-final 5-2 after extra time.
Portugal will face finals hosts Germany in the semi-finals next June after overcoming a 0-1 deficit after Denmark won the first leg last week.
Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty but then scored a crucial goal, before two late goals from Francisco Trincao helped Roberto Martinez’s men into the semi-finals.
Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel stared down Ronaldo’s run to save a penalty in the sixth minute, darting to his left and easily catching the ball.
But Portugal eventually forced the match into extra time after leading 3-2, even though Denmark twice led on aggregate.
Portugal first equalised on aggregate when Joachim Andersen accidentally scored an own goal in the 38th minute.
But when unmarked at the corner kick, Rasmus Kristensen’s calm header put Denmark back in front on aggregate after 56 minutes.
Ronaldo made up for his penalty mistake, tapping in a rebound to score with 18 minutes remaining, but Christian Eriksen then silenced the home crowd by tapping in an open goal four minutes later.
Playing at their home ground of Sporting Lisbon Stadium, substitute winger Trincao then forced extra time with a left-footed goal.
Immediately after the match resumed, he scored a second goal in a chaotic situation to give Portugal the advantage.
Trincao was then involved in Goncalo Ramos’s decisive goal move.
Winners of the inaugural tournament in 2019, Portugal are aiming to become the first team to lift the Nations League trophy for a second time.
MANCHESTER: Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has been urged by former Chelsea player Joe Cole to leave Old Trafford in search of more trophies.
Fernandes has scored 16 goals and provided 15 assists for United this season, despite it being one of the worst campaigns in the club’s history.
The 30-year-old scored a hat-trick against Real Sociedad to help Man United reach the Europa League quarter-finals.
The Portuguese star was, however, criticized by former Red Devils captain Roy Keane who questioned his authority as United’s captain.
Cole said Fernandes must be disappointed to be criticized despite his excellent performances for United and he needs to find a team capable of delivering trophies.
Fernandes scored 95 goals and 81 assists in 277 appearances for Man United.
“If I were Bruno Fernandes, I would leave Manchester United. He must be wondering why everyone is criticising him when he is the one working hard to help the team.
“There are other players who have stood out, but it is Bruno who has been seen working hard to save the team in these difficult times. If Bruno leaves United and the club returns to the top, they will look back on this era and only Bruno Fernandes shines.
“He’s a great footballer who could join any team, but I don’t think he’s ever won a league in his career. So he needs to join a team that can win trophies because he’s tried his luck with Man United,” said Cole.
Since joining Man United in 2020, Fernandes has only lifted the League Cup trophy in 2023 and the FA Cup last May.
During Fernandes’ time at Old Trafford, his best achievement in the Premier League was runner-up finish in 2021 under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, despite trailing champions Man City by 12 points.
Last season they finished eighth and are now in the bottom group of the league with only nine games remaining.
LONDON: Newcastle captain Bruno Guimaraes said the 2-1 victory over giants Liverpool in the League Cup final, which ended the club’s 56-year wait for a major trophy, was “the best of my life.”
And Burn put Newcastle ahead late in the first half before Alexander Isak doubled the lead after the break.
Federico Chiesa struck in injury time, but Newcastle held on to claim their first major trophy since the 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.
“It’s for all these fans,” Guimaraes told Sky Sports.
“They deserve everything. When I first arrived here I said I wanted to make my name in history.
“Now we can say we are champions again. This is one of the best days of my life.
“I have no other words. It was the best day of my life. For them (the fans) it was like the World Cup. They grew up and didn’t see us as champions. It was my first year as captain of this club and it was one of the best days. It’s hard to believe.
“This is my second home. We are making history. One day when I leave this club I want the fans to sing my name like they did for (Alan) Shearer. He sent me a message before the game. I was very emotional today.”
MILAN: Inter Milan advanced to the quarter-finals of the Champions League to face Bayern Munich after a 4-1 aggregate victory over Feyenoord in the last 16.
Simone Inzaghi’s squad now has the opportunity to make up for the loss against the German giants after losing four times to two different teams.
Inzaghi met Bayern in this tournament four times, twice with Inter and twice with Lazio, but lost all of them.
Inter midfielder Kristjan Asllani has been suspended for one match after being shown a yellow card in the 2-1 second leg win against Feyenoord.
Inter are currently struggling with injuries to Matteo Darmian, Federico Dimarco, Piotr Zielinski and Nicola Zalewski.
“It will be a difficult match. I face Bayern along with Inter and Lazio.
“We will fight hard, like we have done so far. We hope everyone can play, I sympathize with Asllani’s yellow card.
“Two players from the youth squad have been called up, they will also help us because at the moment we are short of players,” said Inzaghi.
After leading 2-0 in the first leg, Inzaghi brought on 18-year-old defender Matteo Cocchi and midfielder Thomas Berenbruch, 19, for their first senior debuts.
Marcus Thuram opened the scoring for Inter in the eighth minute of the second leg to make it 3-0 on aggregate, before Jakub Moder reduced the deficit with a 42nd-minute penalty. Hakan Calhanoglu, however, converted a 51st-minute penalty to give Inter a 4-1 aggregate victory.
LONDON: Liverpool must block out players who perform better than Mohamed Salah if they are to overcome Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the Champions League.
Ousmane Dembele scored his 18th goal since the beginning of January last Saturday as PSG crushed Lille 4-1.
Previously, the player with the most goals since the start of the 21st century for any club in the top five leagues was held by Lionel Messi, who scored 17 goals for Barcelona in 2016 — after he surpassed Cristiano Ronaldo’s 16 goals for Real Madrid in 2013.
Dembele equalled that record in midweek during PSG’s dominant win over Stade Briochin in the French Cup quarter-finals, in which he scored the final goal of the match.
The France international has been in impressive form, scoring 26 goals in all competitions — an astonishing 21 since December 15.
Salah has scored 30 goals in total, with 14 goals since mid-December.
It sparked Liverpool’s long-awaited clash, sparked by Salah’s inspiration, in the last 16 of the Champions League in Paris early Thursday morning.
Both strikers have made significant contributions to their respective teams’ success this season, both domestically and in European competitions.
The head-to-head clash could have important implications for the Ballon d’Or award race, which looks to be wide open this season.
Dembele enjoyed the best season of his career as PSG trusted him to lead their project after the departure of Kylian Mbappe.
LONDON: Arsenal and Liverpool are now competing to get the services of Bayern Munich star Joshua Kimmich.
Kimmich’s contract expires this summer and the Bundesliga giants have no plans to renew his contract.
Kimmich is now free to negotiate with other clubs, and several Premier League clubs as well as Barcelona are interested in the German player.
The Gunners are looking to strengthen their midfield with Jorginho, 33, and Thomas Partey, 31, also in the final year of their contracts.
Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi is also on the shortlist for a £51 million move to the Emirates.
However, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is quite interested in Kimmich’s game, who can also play as a centre-back.
Meanwhile, Liverpool, who also need to strengthen their midfield after failing to do so last summer, are hoping Kimmich can replace England defender Trent Alexander-Arnold, who has been linked with a move to Real Madrid.
Barca manager Hansi Flick, who previously coached Kimmich at Bayern, is also interested in signing the player but the La Liga club are still facing financial difficulties.
LIVERPOOL: While Liverpool fans celebrated their victory over Newcastle United at Anfield as if they had won the Premier League, manager Arne Slot and the players were still down to earth.
The Premier League leaders now extend their lead at the top of the league to 13 points over nearest rivals Arsenal, who have played a game less, after a 2-0 win over Newcastle.
“There’s still a long way to go, 10 games, we have the (League Cup) final and two important games against Paris Saint-Germain, so we’re not focused on the long term.
“Now I think the players have two days off, so on Saturday we will come back and focus on Paris Saint-Germain more than on the Premier League standings,” said Slot.
Liverpool, who lead the Champions League standings after eight league matches, head to Paris to face PSG for the first leg of their last-16 tie on Wednesday.
Slot’s men have been consistent this season, unbeaten in 27 of their 28 league games.
The victory early this morning was the 32nd in 43 matches in all competitions, the most by a team in Europe’s top five leagues.
The win over Newcastle came courtesy of goals from Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister, with Szoboszlai also suggesting it was not time to breathe a sigh of relief.
“After that they (Arsenal) could no longer catch us. We were very happy to be 13 points ahead but we were just focused on ourselves.
“The Champions League game is also waiting for us, so that’s what we need to focus on. We want to stay at the top,” said Szoboszlai.
LONDON: Antony continued his impressive form at Real Betis by scoring against Gent in the Europa Conference League play-off.
The 24-year-old, who failed to make it to Manchester United, joined the Spanish club on loan last month after struggling at Old Trafford.
The Brazilian found the net in his second appearance for Betis against Celta Vigo last weekend, having provided an assist on his debut.
He continued his resurgence by scoring a stunning goal to give his loan side the lead in Belgium earlier this morning.
Less than two minutes after the break, the winger received a pass on the right wing before deflecting a stunning left-footed shot into the bottom corner of the opponent’s goal.
Fans online were quick to comment on Antony’s goal.
One fan said: “United are the ones in trouble.”
While the second criticized: “Now it’s clear United are ruining every player.”
A third fan wrote: “It’s crazy what confidence can do to a player.”
Real Betis chief executive officer Ramon Alcaron admitted his team were interested in signing Antony permanently.
The former Ajax star is under contract at United until June 2027.
MADRID: Barcelona will have to make a deal with Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey semi-finals when Real Madrid meet Real Sociedad.
It is the first time since 2014 that Spain’s top three teams have advanced to the last four, with Real Sociedad also in the group.
Barcelona, who have a record of 31 titles and last lifted the trophy in 2021, are scheduled to host Diego Simeone’s squad for the first leg of the semi-final before visiting their opponents at the Metropolitano stadium.
Atletico, who are second in La Liga and one point ahead of the Catalan giants, last lifted the trophy in 2013 and have won the title 10 times.
Spanish and European champions Real Madrid, who have a record 20 titles, are scheduled to visit San Sebastian for the first leg before hosting Real Sociedad afterwards.
Real Sociedad have only lifted the trophy twice, most recently in the 2020 edition.
The first semi-final is scheduled to take place on February 25 and 26, while the return leg is scheduled for April 1 and 2.
LONDON: Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has admitted that winger Alejandro Garnacho has regained his trust after showing a significant improvement since being sidelined in the derby win over Manchester City last December.
In that match, Amorim surprised many when he dropped Garnacho and Marcus Rashford from the squad that won 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium.
However, unlike Garnacho who has recovered and improved his performance, Rashford is still in a period of isolation and has hinted at wanting to leave Old Trafford.
Amorim, on the other hand, stressed that the England star needs to improve his level of play if he wants to return to the team.
Garnacho, 20, proved his commitment when he came on as a substitute and created the assist for Kobbie Mainoo in United’s 2-0 Europa League win over FCSB earlier this morning.
According to Amorim, Garnacho’s change in attitude since being sidelined in the match against City was the main factor in him regaining trust.
“He changed immediately after that match. The way he understood the situation, accepted that I just wanted to help and win the match,” Amorim said.
“He’s changed in everything, the way he talks, the way he recovers after games.”
The former Sporting Lisbon coach also admitted that he often urged Garnacho to be more consistent, in contrast to the approach of former manager Erik ten Hag, who used him more often in the starting lineup.