Birmingham Mail - Tag - champions league

Tattoo blunder of Brummie Manchester City fan

Birmingham Mail — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 10:00:00 GMT

WHEN Manchester City were dumped out of the Champions League this week, one fan – who happens to live in Birmingham – had more reason to be upset than most.

Chelsea owner Abramovich urged not to sack Ancelotti

Birmingham Mail — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 12:35:00 GMT

Roman Abramovich was today urged not to sack Carlo Ancelotti as Chelsea manager, despite the club being on the brink of their worst season since the Russian's takeover.The Blues crashed out of the Champions League against Manchester United last night, leaving them staring at only their third trophyless campaign of the eight-year Abramovich era.The billionaire businessman wasted little time jettisoning the manager on both previous occasions.But failing to keep hold of Ancelotti would be a mistake, according to former Stamford Bridge players.Ex-Chelsea captain Paul Elliott told Press Association Sport: "Okay, he's picked up nothing this year, but they need to back their man."I think he's the best manager long-term."He's got the ability to manage the egos, he can manage multi-million pound players."Elliott believes Abramovich's patience will ultimately hold.He added: "I'll tell you the reason I don't fear: I love the way Ancelotti handles the pressure."I think he's got tremendous confidence and, be assured, if he left Chelsea, he's only going on to better things."There have been suggestions Ancelotti might jump before he is pushed but Blues legend Gianfranco Zola told talkSPORT: "He has always been a fighter."I'm sure he will be thinking how he can come back stronger."I'm sure that Ancelotti will know exactly what to do and stick to it."Ancelotti admitted he may have blundered by starting with £50million flop Fernando Torres in last night's quarter-final second leg defeat at Old Trafford.Elliott said: "If you're Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic and you're looking at Didier Drogba at the moment and you're looking at Torres, the question is, who would you prefer to be playing against?"The fact of the matter is, when the substitution was made, Drogba's impact was instant."

Manchester United: Nemanja Vidic says praises defensive colleague's ahievements ahead of Champions League semi final

Birmingham Mail — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 12:49:00 GMT

Nemanja Vidic has predicted a big Manchester United future for young defender Chris Smalling.With Rio Ferdinand a certain starter in tonight's Champions League quarter-final second-leg with Chelsea, Smalling knows he will be dumped back onto the substitutes' bench.It might be a feeling the 21-year-old gets used to over the coming weeks as the pressure and intensity increases over the final weeks of the campaign.But Vidic insists Smalling's long-term future is secure.In an eight-game run until Ferdinand's return from a calf problem at Stamford Bridge last week, the Greenwich-born player has shown clear signs of the ability that persuaded United to splash out £7million on his services in the summer, even though Smalling had only made 19 first-team appearances for Fulham.He has already gone past that number for United and Vidic is confident there will be plenty more to follow."Chris has done very well," the Serbian told United Review."He didn't have any trouble stepping into the team and he showed everybody how good a player he is."It has been a great season for him and he has a big future in front of him."He is only 21, so it is a massive achievement for him to have played so many games at his age for this club."Meanwhile, the tough-tackling central defender has revealed a softer side to his nature.It is Vidic's strength and power that have got him shortlisted for the PFA footballer of the year award.But the 29-year-old has admitted he can be almost reduced to tears just watching a film."I know I have a reputation for being strong but I am only human," he said."I cry during very sad moments."There was one film - The Notebook - that really touched me too."I was watching it alone, sitting in the dark, and I got very involved in the story."I almost cried. Almost."

Gareth Bale won't give up on Tottenham's Champion's League dream

Birmingham Mail — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 12:41:00 GMT

Tottenham winger Gareth Bale has not given up hope of making the last four of the Champions League despite heading into tomorrow's quarter-final second leg trailing Real Madrid 4-0.Spurs' aspirations of extending their debut run in Europe's premier club competition were severely dented by last Tuesday's heavy defeat at the Bernabeu, but Bale has called for optimism ahead of the White Hart Lane encounter.The 21-year-old said in Marca: "Anything is possible in football. This sport's history is full of incredible, crazy games."Madrid lost 4-0 at Anfield not so long ago. Why can't we do it ourselves?"We are going to try and we're not going to give up. It's an almost impossible challenge, but we're going to play and see what happens."Hopefully we can produce the miracle. We need to be optimistic."We're going to go out to win from the start."Two goals from Emmanuel Adebayor, as well as strikes from Angel di Maria and Cristiano Ronaldo put Madrid in control of the tie, with Spurs' cause not helped in the Spanish capital by the 15th-minute dismissal of Peter Crouch."When you play with one player less it makes it almost impossible, especially in the Champions League and against a team like Real Madrid," Bale said."I think this was the big difference in the first leg. We hope that the reverse happens tomorrow and they lose a man and we can take advantage. That would be a good opportunity."Bale has played a starring role for Spurs in Europe this year, most notably his two stunning displays against Inter Milan in the group stage.He signed a new four-and-a-half-year contract with Spurs last month, but admitted before last week's first leg he could be tempted to move to one of Europe's biggest clubs in the future.Asked if he could see himself playing at the Bernabeu again one day wearing Real Madrid colours, he replied: "I don't know if I will play in Madrid. "Now I'm happy at Tottenham. It's a young team, me as well, and I'm happy here."And, despite the huge strides he has taken over the past year, Bale insists there is plenty still to come."I've progressed a lot, especially in this last year playing in midfield, but I can still give more," he said. "I still can't be compared to the best players in the world."

Champions League: Petr Cech says Blues only have themselves to blame after Manchester United defeat

Birmingham Mail — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 13:19:00 GMT

Petr Cech has claimed it was 'Groundhog Day' for Chelsea after watching them suffer another controversial Champions League defeat.The Blues lost their quarter-final first leg 1-0 against Manchester United last night after being denied what appeared a clear-cut stoppage-time penalty when Patrice Evra chopped down Ramires.It was the latest decision to go against Chelsea in their long quest to be crowned champions of Europe since Roman Abramovich bought the club almost eight years ago.Goalkeeper Cech said: "I don't want to speak about it because, every year, it is the same thing."We are obviously disappointed because everyone could see the incident."The main point is that the person who matters most is the referee and if he doesn't give it, you don't get the penalty and that's what happened."However, Cech insisted Chelsea had themselves to blame as much as Spanish official Alberto Undiano Mallenco."We lost the game 1-0, which is not only because of that - it was because we didn't get a goal anyway throughout the game," he said."We created enough to score a goal and that's what made the difference."We had plenty of shots on target and we didn't score."United have never lost a European tie after winning the first leg away and Cech admitted Chelsea faced an uphill task in Tuesday's return at Old Trafford."When you are losing 1-0 at half-time in the tie, you can still win it, even though you have to play away," he said."Now the result means that we allow them to play the same type of game at Old Trafford."They will defend and wait for the counter-attack and wait for their chances."That is their main strength and it makes the tie difficult for us."We go there and we will have a go."We want to do better and win every game - we would like to have a perfect performance all the time but that is very difficult to do."We know that everybody gave everything."It was not the best of performances but we know we have to go there and perform well to get something out of the game."

Stiliyan Petrov challenges Aston Villa to achieve Champions League football for the fans

Birmingham Mail — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 09:00:00 GMT

CAPTAIN Stiliyan Petrov insists Villa owe it to their fans to finally crack the Champions League this season after previous near misses.

Why Andy Gray thinks Aston Villa's FA Cup adventure should inspire a Champions League push

Birmingham Mail — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 12:00:00 GMT

ANDY Gray believes Villa should treat their FA Cup exploits as an inspiration rather than a distraction during their Champions League push.

Aston Villa's life made even harder by Chelsea's Champions League misery, says Martin O'Neill

Birmingham Mail — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:00:00 GMT

CHELSEA’S Champions League exit has made Villa’s FA Cup task even harder, according to Martin O’Neill.

Ian Taylor wants John Carew goals to boost Villa's top four bid

Birmingham Mail — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 10:00:00 GMT

HOLTE End hero Ian Taylor believes Villa’s Champions League ambitions could hinge on whether Martin O’Neill can get out-of-form frontman John Carew firing again.

Chelsea hit by blow ahead of Liverpool FC Champions League game

Birmingham Mail — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 17:07:00 GMT

Didier Drogba is still struggling to be fit for the first leg of Chelsea's Champions League quarter-final tie with Liverpool on Wednesday.