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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has stood by both the club’s and his own criticism of Premier League officiating after their loss at Newcastle on Saturday as the Football Association asked for observations following the condemnation of referees.
PARIS: Holders Manchester City and RB Leipzig became the first teams to reach the last 16 of this season’s Champions League on Tuesday while Danylo Sikan’s goal allowed Shakhtar Donetsk to claim a stunning win over Barcelona.
DORTMUND: Newcastle United and Eddie Howe, it seems, will have to produce the near impossible to ensure Champions League progress.
For just the third time in the tournament’s existence, the FIFA World Cup is coming to Asia, with Saudi Arabia the only confirmed bidder for the 2034 tournament — marking what appears to be a shifting of international sporting and cultural power to the continent.
HAMBURG: Barcelona slumped to a 1-0 defeat by Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday, spurning the chance to seal early qualification to the Champions League knock-out stages. Danylo Sikan’s dipping header in the 40th minute secured Shakhtar a famous victory as Xavi Hernandez’s flat Spanish champions failed to trouble their Ukrainian opponents. Barcelona still lead Group H ahead of Porto, second, hosting Royal Antwerp later on, with the Portuguese side able to pull alongside the Catalans on nine points with victory. “We can see we’re in a bit of a footballing rut, we have to do a reset,” said Barca coach Xavi. “We played a bad game, we have to admit it.” Xavi said his team had wasted a good chance to progress. “After two years without qualifying for the last 16, today is a missed opportunity,” he continued. “It’s the most inopportune moment.
LONDON: Sevilla boss Diego Alonso has challenged his players to avenge their Champions League loss to Arsenal when the Spanish side meet the Gunners in a crucial Group B clash on Wednesday. Defeat for the reigning Europa League champions would leave their chances of reaching the Champions League knockout stages hanging by a slender thread. Arsenal are top of the group after their 2-1 win at Sevilla a fortnight ago, while Alonso’s men sit four points behind them in third place with three games to play. Alonso believes Sevilla deserved more from their last encounter with Arsenal and he wants his side to prove a point when they face the Premier League title chasers in north London. “We competed well, with an unfair result for me because we did more for the game,” Alonso told reporters on Tuesday. Arsenal have lost two of their three domestic games since beating Sevilla, with Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Newcastle an especially painful result given the controversial nature of the Magpies’ winner. Keen not to rile up Mikel Arteta’s side any further, Alonso was respectful of Arsenal’s quality, rating them as one of Europe’s elite clubs in Europe, “The game at a strategic and football level is complex,” Alonso said. “We are facing the fourth or fifth best team in Europe, they showed it last season, same in this one. “It puts us in difficulties, but it also put us in difficulties two weeks ago.” Sevilla will be without former Real Madrid star Sergio Ramos after the defender was ruled out with a calf injury.
DORTMUND: A late goal from Julian Brandt sealed a 2-0 home win for Borussia Dortmund over Newcastle on Tuesday, severely denting the English side’s hopes of reaching the Champions League knockout phase. Returning to the Champions League after two decades, Newcastle traveled to Dortmund needing a win to put them back on course for a place in the last 16, but were outclassed by the German side from start to finish. The victory saw Dortmund go top of a difficult Group F with two games remaining, three points clear of Newcastle and with the head-to-head advantage. Paris Saint-Germain can retain their lead in the section by avoiding defeat at AC Milan later on Tuesday. Injury-hit Newcastle traveled to Dortmund without a full complement of players, manager Eddie Howe losing defenders Dan Burn and Matt Targett to long-term injuries in his side’s 1-0 win over Arsenal on the weekend. Comprehensively outplayed just three days ago against a Harry Kane-powered Bayern, Dortmund stormed confidently into the match, Niclas Fuellkrug and Karim Adeyemi unleashing fierce shots on Newcastle’s goal within the opening 15 minutes. The 30-year-old Fuellkrug, a year on from making his Germany debut, broke the deadlock midway through the half, scoring his first goal in the Champions League. Felix Nmecha, who scored the game’s only goal at St.
KYIV: A Ukrainian league match in the central city of Dnipro was interrupted by air alerts several times due to Russia's invasion, reportedly lasting a record almost five hours. Dnipro-1 defeated FC Oleksandriya 1-0 in Dnipro, a city that has been targeted by Russian strikes throughout Moscow's more than 20-month long offensive. Players were called off the pitch several times because of the danger of Russian air attacks. "The match was interrupted several times due to air alerts, but it was finished anyway," Ukraine's football association said in a statement. The Ukrainian sports website Sport.ua said the game "lasted almost five hours", alleging that it was the longest football game in the history of Ukraine's topflight. "This is the first game that was so long for us," Dnipro-1 defender Eduard Sarapiy said. "I wanted to finish the match." Ukraine is holding its domestic season despite the war with Russia. But games are played without fans for security reasons. Dnipro-1 are currently second in the Ukrainian league behind Kryvbas -- a football team from President Volodymyr Zelensky's home city of Kryviy Rig. Ukrainian football was already badly affected by the conflict with Moscow-backed rebels in 2014 and, like the rest of the country, was hard hit by Russia's 2022 invasion. Shakhtar Donetsk have been unable to play at their Donbass Arena home in Donetsk, now occupied by Russia, since 2014. Shakhtar, who have become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance, play their Champions League group games in Hamburg. FC Mariupol, from the port city seized by Russia after a brutal siege last year, has ceased to exist. Another club, Tavriya Simferopol, moved to the Kherson region after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 but disbanded after