UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE : TUESDAY – 26/11/2024 (PHOTO – GABRIEL MARTINELLI CELEBRATES)

MIKEL ARTETA AND THE ARSENAL SQUAD MUST BE FEELING MORE THAN A LITTLE CHIPPER THIS MORNING! WHAT A NIGHT FOR THEM AGAINST SPORTING! A FIVE-GOAL-TRIUMPH! GABRIEL MARTINELLI SCORED THE FIRST CRACKER, AT JUST 7 MINS. WITH TEAM-MATE KAI HAVERTZ SCORING NEXT AT 22 MINS. AND THEN GABRIEL MAGALHAES ALSO SCORING AT 45 +1 MINS!  AND THEN IT WAS OVER TO SPORTING’S GONCALO INACIO TO SCORE AT 47 MINS. THEN LATER, IN THE SECOND-HALF, BUKAYO SAKA SCORED A STUNNER FROM A PENALTY AT 65 MINS., WITH LEANDRO TROSSARD FINISHING-OFF PROCEEDINGS WITH A SUPERB GOAL AT 82 MINS! INTERESTINGLY, SPORTING HAD 19 SHOTS, WITH 8 ON TARGET AND 53% POSSESSION, AND ARSENAL HAD 13 SHOTS, WITH 9 ON TARGET, SO LOT’S OF GOOD STUFF FOR SPORTING HERE FOR FUTURE IMPROVEMENT. MANY CONGRATULATIONS TO ARSENAL AND ALSO SPORTING! IT WAS FANTASTIC ENTERTAINMENT!

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE : SPORTING LISBON VS ARSENAL 26/11/2024

JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE TO COME OUT FROM BEHIND THE SOFA AFTER MAN CITY’S RECENT PERFORMANCES, AFTER WATCHING THE BEGINNING OF LAST NIGHT’S MATCH AND SEEING THAT ERLING HAALAND WAS BACK TO HIS SPARKLING BEST, SCORING TWICE BY THE 53 MIN. WITH ONE STUNNER AT 44 MINS., AND ANOTHER FROM A PENALTY AT 53 MINS., (MAKING HIM THE FASTEST PLAYER TO 50 GOAL INVOLVEMENTS IN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE HISTORY), AND THEN WITH TEAM-MATE, ILKAY GUNDOGAN SCORING AGAIN FOR MAN CITY AT 50 MINS., YOU COULD ALMOST HEAR A COLLECTIVE SIGH OF RELIEF FROM ALL THE MAN CITY SUPPORTERS, THINKING IT WAS ‘GAME-OVER.’ BUT NOT TO BE! GOODNESS KNOWS WHAT KIND OF ORANGES THEY GROW IN ROTTERDAM, BUT THEIR HALF-TIME SLICES MUST HAVE BEEN PACKED FULL OF EXTRA ENERGY, AS THEY CAME OUT OF THEIR DRESSING ROOM FULL OF EXHUBERANCE, BOUNCING ONE BALL AFTER ANOTHER INTO THE BACK-OF-THE-NET, WITH ANIS HADJ-MOUSSA SCORING AT 74 MINS., HIS TEAM-MATE SANTIAGO GIMENEZ SCORING 8 MINS. LATER AT 82 MINS., AND DAVID HANCKO SCORING 7 MINS. AFTER THAT AT 89 MINS! MAN CITY HAD 18 SHOTS, WITH 9 ON TARGET, MADE 640 PASSES, WITH AN 89% PASS ACCURACY, AND FEYENOORD HAD 10 SHOTS, WITH 9 ON TARGET, AND MADE 370 PASSES, WITH AN 82% PASS ACCURACY, WITH 1 YELLOW CARD-A-PIECE. THIS EXTRAORDINARY GAME ENDED IN A 3 – 3 DRAW. (AND A SHARP REMINDER NEVER TO REST ON YOUR LAURELS!😂)

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE : MANCHESTER CITY VS FEYENOORD 26/11/2024

IT WAS A 6 – 0 WIN TO ATLETICO MADRID LAST NIGHT, IN THE SPARTA PRAGUE VS ATLETICO MADRID MATCH! ATLETICO’S JULIAN ALVEREZ SCORED A BRILLIANT BRACE AT 15 MINS. AND 59 MINS. RESPECTIVELY, WITH TEAM-MATE MARCOS LLORENTE SCORING AT 43 MINS. ANTOINE GRIEZMANN SCORING AT 70 MINS., AND ANGEL CORREA SCORING A LATE BRACE AT 85 MINS. AND 89 MINS. RESPECTIVELY! NO DOUBT THE MANAGER OF SPARTA PRAGUE, BRIAN PRISKE, WILL BE GIVING HIS TEAM THE ‘HAIRDRYER TREATMENT’ THIS MORNING!  

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE : SPARTA PRAGUE VS ATLETICO MADRID 26/11/2024

CASTELLO LUKEBA MUST BE FEELING ANNOYED WITH HIMSELF TODAY AFTER SCORING A VERY UNLUCKY OWN GOAL DURING THE INTER MILAN VS RB LEIPZIG MATCH, PUTTING INTER 1 – 0 UP BY THE END OF THE MATCH! THERE WAS MUCH TO FEAST-YOUR-EYES-UPON THOUGH, WITH INTER HAVING 12 SHOTS, WITH 4 ON TARGET, 484 PASSES, WITH AN 84% PASS ACCURACY, AND RB LEIPZIG HAVING 7 SHOTS, WITH 1 ON TARGET, AND 481 PASSES WITH AN 83% PASS ACCURACY, WITH 2 YELLOW-CARDS-A-PIECE! CASTELLO SHOULDN’T BE FEELING TOO DOWN THOUGH – IT HAPPENS TO THE BEST OF PLAYERS! (AS WE ALL KNOW.)

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE : INTER MILAN VS RB LEIPZIG 26/11/2024

ATALANTA HAD A GOOD DAY AT THE OFFICE, AFTER SCORING 6 GOALS LAST NIGHT! MATEO RETEGUI SCORED THE FIRST GOAL OF A BRILLIANT BRACE AT 9 MINS., AND THEN IT WAS OVER TO YOUNG BOYS’ SILVERE GANVOULA M’BOUSSY TO SCORE A CRACKER AT 11 MINS., AND THEN BACK TO ATALANTA’S CHARLES DE KETELAERE TO SCORE A BRACE AT 28 MINS. AND 56 MINS. RESPECTIVELY, (WITH MATEO RETEGUI SCORING THE SECOND GOAL OF HIS BRACE INBETWEENTIMES AT 39 MINS!) AND THEN WITH ATALANTA’S SEAD KOLASINAC SCORING AT 31 MINS., AND TEAM-MATE LAZAR SAMARDZIC SCORING AT 90 MINS. THE MATCH ENDED IN A 6 – 1 WIN TO ATALANTA!

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE : BSC YOUNG BOYS BERN VS ATALANTA 26/11/2024

AC MILAN EARNED THEIR THIRD SUCCESSIVE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE WIN WITH A 3 – 2 VICTORY OVER SLOVAN BRATISLAVA LAST NIGHT, WITH GOALS FROM CHRISTIAN PULISIC AT 21 MINS. RAFAEL LEAO AT 68 MINS. AND TAMMY ABRAHAM AT 71 MINS! SLOVAN’S TIGRAN BARSEGHYAN SCORED AT 24 MINS., AND HIS TEAM-MATE NINO MARCELLI AT 88 MINS., (WITH MARKO TOLIC RECEIVING A RED CARD AT 90 MINS. FOR SOME ARGEY-BARGEY), LEAVING THE AC MILAN FANS WITH BIG SMILES ON THEIR FACES!

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE : SLOVAN BRATISLAVA VS AC MILAN 26/11/2024

IT WAS A GREAT EVENING ALSO FOR LEVERKUSEN, WITH FLORIAN WIRTZ SCORING FROM A PENALTY AT 8 MINS., ALEJANDRO GRIMALDO SCORING AT 11 MINS., FLORIAN WIRTZ SCORING AGAIN AT 30 MINS. PATRIK SCHICK SCORING AT 61 MINS., AND ALEIX GARCIA FINISHING THIS AMAZING GOALATHON AT 72 MINS., CULMINATING IN A DYNAMIC 5 – 0 WIN TO LEVERKUSEN!  YOU CAN ALMOST HEAR THE CHAMPAGNE CORKS POPPING!

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE : BAYER LEVERKUSEN VS RED BULL SALZBURG 26/11/2024

BARCELONA HAD A GREAT EVENING IN THEIR MATCH AGAINST BREST, WITH ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI SCORING TWICE! FIRSTLY A STUNNER FROM A PENALTY AT JUST 10 MINS. INTO THE MATCH, AND THEN HIS TEAM-MATE DANI OLMO SCORING AT 66 MINS. AND WITH LEWANDOWSKI ALSO SCORING A STUNNING LATE FINISHER AT 90 +2 MINS., THIS EXCITING MATCH ENDED IN A 3 – 0 WIN TO BARCELONA!

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE : BARCELONA VS BREST 26/11/2024

IT WAS BAYERN’S KIM MIN-JAE WHO WAS THE STAR OF THE SHOW IN THIS MATCH LAST NIGHT, WITH A CRACKING GOAL AT 38 MINS. AND ALTHOUGH THERE WERE 18 SHOTS, WITH 7 ON TARGET FOR BAYERN THROUGHOUT THE MATCH, AND 11 SHOTS WITH 3 ON TARGET FOR PSG, NOTHING FURTHER REACH THE BACK-OF-THE-NET! (IT CAN’T HAVE HELPED THAT PSG’S OUSMANE DEMBELE WAS GIVEN A CONTROVERSIAL RED CARD FOR A FOUL ON ALPHONSO DAVIES AT 56 MINS. BY THE REF. ISTVAN KOVACS, WHO HAD KEPT HIS BEADY EYES ON HIM AFTER HE HAD BEEN LIPPY EARLIER), SO A STRUGGLING PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN WERE UNABLE TO EQUALISE. THEY SEEM TO HAVE A LITTLE WORK TO DO NOW AND MAY WELL BE ON THE PHONE TO TENZING NORGAY!

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE : BAYERN MUNICH VS PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN 26/11/2024