Page 2 - Uefa Champions League

Liverpool ousts Benfica, through to Champions League semis

Liverpool didn't need its best players to secure progress to the Champions League semifinals

UEFA exploring fresh sanctions to thwart Russia's bid for soccer's Euros

UEFA is exploring fresh sanctions to thwart Russia's attempt to host soccer's European Championship after the country launched a surprising bid, one month after invading its neighbor.

New limits on spending for European football clubs being finalised

An overhaul of financial restrictions in European soccer will be discussed by leading clubs at a meeting Thursday with limits on spending rather than salary caps. UEFA is set to replace its Financial Fair Play rules, which placed limits on losses, after more than a decade. Instead, teams in competitions including the Champions League will eventually only be allowed to spend up to 70% of their income on soccer-related activities, people with knowledge of the plans told The Associated Press. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the plans that are still being formulated. The European Club Association will assess the proposals that have been worked on with UEFA at an executive board meeting on Thursday. The final rules are set to be concluded at a UEFA executive committee meeting in April. There are still issues about disparities across Europe, including domestic tax regimes and social contributions that could benefit clubs over ...

Champions League: Chelsea meet Real Madrid; Man City face Atletico in QFs

The first-leg matches of the quarter-finals will be played on April 5-6, while the second legs are a week later on April 12-13

UCL: Strength of fans drove us on, says Benzema after Madrid stun PSG

Karim Benzema said home fans at Santiago Bernabeu pushed Real Madrid to a spectacular comeback against PSG on Wednesday, which saw them book a place in the Champions League quarter-finals

Liverpool reaches CL quarterfinals despite loss to Inter

Liverpool could cope with its first Anfield loss in a year to still overcome Inter Milan and reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League. Leading 2-0 from the last-16 first leg in Italy, Lautaro Martinez's swerving shot that reduced the deficit in the 61st minute gave the Italian champions a hope of a comeback. But within two minutes, Inter's task was made more difficult when Alexis Sanchez was sent off after his follow-through on Fabinho earned him a second booking. Liverpool held on to lose 1-0 and advance 2-1 on aggregate. The 2019 Champions League winners are in the quarterfinals for the fourth time in five years despite its first loss in the competition this season. Liverpool had chances to level. Mohamed Salah volleyed against the post and Luis Diaz's close-range shot was deflected over by Arturo Vidal. "We struggled in the beginning," Salah said. "We managed to hold the ball up more in the second half. The most important thing is we qualified. Hopefully we'll be better

Lewandowski's 11-minute hat trick helps Bayern advance in CL

Whatever hope Salzburg had of overcoming Bayern Munich was extinguished by Robert Lewandowski scoring a hat trick in 11 minutes. It was game over by the time Lewandowski's third hit the net in the 23rd minute on Tuesday to make it the quickest treble ever seen at the start of a Champions League match. A second leg that started at 1-1 was tilted 4-1 in Bayern's favor by the striker's scoring masterclass. An 8-2 aggregate win to reach the quarterfinals was completed by further goals from Serge Gnabry, a double from Thomas Mller, and Leroy San. At least Salzburg avoided complete humiliation of not scoring with Maurits Kjaergaard netting for the Austrian team in Bavaria. "That was a statement win," Bayern captain Manuel Neuer said. "I think we showed a different side of ourselves today and didn't concede as many chances on the break. We were also more stable in defense, which obviously gives us hope that things can continue in that vein." Tuesday's other round of 16 game was far tighte

LIVE: 26 flights over next 3 days to bring back Indians from Ukraine

After the first round of negotiations which took place on Monday and produced no tangible results, the sides had said they would meet again in the coming days

UEFA strips Russia of Champions League final, summit clash moved to Paris

Russia was stripped of hosting the Champions League final by UEFA on Friday with St. Petersburg replaced by Paris after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Scotland in joint bid to host Euro 2028 with UK and Ireland

While the bid to host Euro 2028 has been launched, the nations have agreed not to submit a bid for the 2030 World Cup

UEFA human rights, environmental strategy ready to meet challenges

UEFA set itself a goal of ending racism in European soccer by 2030 as part of a human rights and environmental strategy that had an uneasy launch. Other long-term targets include zero episodes of child abuse, embedding rights principles into all strategic decisions, reach "net zero carbon by 2040 collaboratively across European football, and eliminating plastic waste. It's an ambitious target but we are looking to do it, Michele Uva, director of the UEFA sustainability project, said of the headline goal on racism. The challenges were clear even as UEFA formally launched its Strength Through Unity document. The Sports & Rights Alliance group distanced itself from involvement with a project it said places human rights solely as a public relations matter. No matter what UEFA claims, the development of its human rights strategy did not entail a legitimate consultation process and it does not meet any international or European standards, said Minky Worden of Human Rights Watch. UEFA'

European powers joined by Sporting in Champions League last 16

The parade of European powers advancing to the Champions League knockout stage was disrupted by Sporting Lisbon completing a stunning turnaround to join them

Man United, Chelsea advance in Champions League; Barcelona made to wait

Energized by a change of manager and another opportunistic finish by Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United qualified for the knockout stage of the Champions League with a game to spare. Another newly appointed coach sill has work to do, though, to get Barcelona into the last 16. United was led for the first time by Michael Carrick following the weekend firing of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and, just like his predecessor, the interim manager was left to be thankful for a goal by the Champions League's record scorer. Ronaldo produced a sublime lobbed finish to put United ahead against Villarreal on Tuesday and a 90th-minute strike by Jadon Sancho his first goal since joining for $100 million in the offseason sealed a 2-0 win to secure progress as the winner of Group F. Ronaldo has scored in all five group games so far, and now has a record-extending 140 Champions League goals in his career. Another English team, defending champion Chelsea, also advanced on the back of a 4-0 win over ...

Xavi looks for 'positive' Barca to seal place in Champions League last-16

FC Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez insisted that "every game" the club plays is vital as he prepares for the Champions League clash at home to Benfica late on Tuesday

Barcelona loses again in Champions League with 3-0 defeat to Benfica

After yet another demoralising loss, struggling Barcelona faces a grim future in the Champions League. The Catalan club followed its 3-0 opening loss against Bayern Munich with another 3-0 defeat at Benfica on Wednesday. Bottom of its group, Barcelona suddenly sees itself in danger of not reaching the knockout stage for the first time since 2000-01. "We are in a critical situation," Barcelona captain Sergio Busquets said. "We have zero points after the first two rounds." Darwin Nuez scored twice including three minutes into the match and Rafa Silva added another goal at the Stadium of Light to help Benfica end a 60-year winless streak against Barcelona. It was its second victory in eight matches against the Catalan club. Bayern cruised past Dynamo Kyiv in Germany in the other Group E match to reach six points from two matches. Benfica, which had opened with a draw at Dynamo, has four points, three more than Dynamo. Barcelona stayed on zero points ahead of consecutive matches aga

Ronaldo breaks record for most appearances in Champions League

Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo has created the record for making the most appearances in the history of the UEFA Champions League

Ronaldo's brilliance helps United defeat Villarreal in thrilling encounter

Cristiano Ronaldo's goal in the dying minutes of the game helped Manchester United defeat Villarreal in Group F encounter of the UEFA Champions League here at Old Trafford.United defeated Villarreal 2-1 and now the side is at the third spot in Group F with three points from two games.The first half of the game did not see any goals and at halftime, the scoreline remained 0-0.In the second half, Villarreal took the lead as Paco Alcacer registered the goal in the 53rd minute. However, seven minutes later, United managed to equalise through Alex Telles.It was looking like that the match will end as a draw, but Ronaldo's brilliance in the dying minutes ensured that the Red Devils walked away with a thrilling 2-1 victory.In other matches, Bayern Munich defeated Dynamo Kyiv 5-0 as Robert Lewandowski scored a brace.Barcelona suffered a 0-3 defeat at the hands of Benfica while Juventus registered a 1-0 win over Chelsea.

Newcomer Sheriff stuns Real Madrid 2-1 in Champions League

The start to life in the Champions League couldn't be going much better for Moldovan club Sheriff. Sbastien Thill scored a 90th-minute winner as the newcomers stunned Real Madrid 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabu Stadium on Tuesday. Thill netted with a powerful shot into the top corner from the edge of the area to give Sheriff its second consecutive victory. It leads Group D with six points, three more than Madrid and five more than both Shakhtar Donetsk and Inter Milan, which drew 0-0 in Ukraine in the other group match. Sheriff beat Shakhtar Donetsk 2-0 in its opener at home, while Madrid won 1-0 at Inter. "For us this is a dream come true to have won here," Sheriff captain Frank Castaeda said. "We're so happy, and just enjoying it. We have full faith in what we've been doing and things are going well for us. We didn't just come here to sit around, we know how good our players are and luckily for us Madrid weren't able to take their chances and we took ours. Sheriff is the first clu

Champions League: Lionel Messi scores as PSG defeat Man City

Idrrisa Gueye and Lionel Messi got among the scoring chart as Paris Saint-Germain defeated Manchester City in the Group A encounter of the UEFA Champions League

Lionel Messi may return for PSG against Manchester City in UCL

Paris Saint-Germain head coach Mauricio Pochettino has admitted that his star-studded team is still under construction, on the eve of hosting Manchester City in their Group A match in Paris on Tuesday