Showing posts with label Monaco. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Monaco. Show all posts

Friday, 25 November 2016

Atletico Madrid line up Griezmann replacement amid fears he'll join Man Utd


Reports suggest that the Spanish club have identified £30 million Monaco winger Thomas Lemar as the man they want to sign should the France forward leave for Old Trafford.
Atletico Madrid are targeting Monaco winger Thomas Lemar amid fears that Antoine Griezmann will join Manchester United, according to Squawka.

The Spanish club will have to cough up a fee of £30 million, however, as they attempt to ward off competition from the likes of Manchester City and Bayern Munich.
The move for Lemar, who fears he wouldn't get sufficient first-team opportunities at City or Bayern, comes as the Liga title chasers plan for a future without star man Griezmann, who is attracting interest from United and Chelsea.
France international Griezmann has been strongly linked with a switch to Old Trafford in recent weeks, with the 25-year-old having previously admitted that he talks about the club, and manager Jose Mourinho, with Paul Pogba.

Wednesday, 23 November 2016

Champions League as it happened last night


Tottenham Hotspur crashed out of the Champions League as Monaco qualified from Group E with a 2-1 win at the Stade Louis II.
Spurs could have taken the lead after only seven minutes when Son Heung-Min evaded the offside trap but was denied by keeper Danijel Subasic, and within moments they were grateful to Hugo Lloris as he saved a Radamel Falcao penalty after Eric Dier had fouled Fabinho.
Monaco broke through in style just three minutes into the second half as Djibril Sidibe powered home a header, only for the Londoners to respond moments later when Dele Alli was fouled by Kamil Glik in the area.
Harry Kane smashed home the equaliser from the spot despite Subasic getting a touch, but within seconds the home side regained their lead as Djibril Sidibe played the ball across the area and Thomas Lemar found space to steer a low finish past Lloris.
Real Madrid won 2-1 at Sporting Lisbon to seal qualification from Group F thanks to a late Karim Benzema goal.
The Spanish side took the lead when Raphael Varane fired home after the Sporting defence had failed to deal with a free kick and Cristiano Ronaldo's deflected effort fell to him.
The home side were down to 10 men when defender Joao Pereira was shown a straight red card for a foul but levelled when Adrien Silva struck from the penalty spot with 10 minutes remaining after Fabio Coentrao was adjudged to have handled.
Benzema had the last word with time running out, heading home powerfully to wrap up the victory.
Borussia Dortmund and Legia Warsaw scored 12 goals between them to set a new Champions League record as the Bundesliga side won 8-4 in an astonishing game at the Westfalenstadion.
The visitors went in front when Aleksandar Prijovic produced an outstanding finish, but Shinji Kagawa quickly nodded an equaliser and then found space to fire the home team 2-1 in front.
It was 3-1 after only 20 minutes when goalkeeper Radoslaw Cierzniak punched a free kick straight at Nuri Sahin and saw the ball ricochet into the net, but the unmarked Prijovic restored hope with a low finish.
With half an hour gone, Dortmund regained their two-goal advantage when Ousmane Dembele struck, and moments later it was 5-2 when Marco Reus tapped home at the end of another slick attack.
The goals continued to flow after the break as Reus made it 6-2, Michal Kucharczyk made it 6-3, Felix Passlack struck again for the home side and then Nemanja Nikolic got the visitors' fourth. Reus completed his hat trick to provide the final flourish.
Leicester City sealed their place in the round of 16 and won Group G thanks to a 2-1 home victory over Club Brugge.
The Foxes went in front after five minutes with a superb goal made by Jamie Vardy and Christian Fuchs, who combined down the left for the latter to cross for Shinji Okazaki to produce a brilliant volleyed finish into the roof of the net.
They made it 2-0 before the break when Albrighton was tripped in the area and Riyad Mahrez fired home from the spot, but a superb solo goal by Jose Izquierdo halved the deficit early in the second half as he powered a finish past Ron-Robert Zieler.
Juventus came from a goal down to win 3-1 at Sevilla as they moved top of Group H and confirmed their place in the knockout stages.
Sevilla took an early lead, striking with nine minutes on the clock when defender Nicolas Pareja fired home a low volley from the edge of the area.
Juan Cuadrado saw his shot from an angle pushed away as Juventus tried to respond, with the Serie A champions struggling to create good chances against high-pressing opponents denying them time and space.
But Franco Vazquez was sent off after collecting two bookings before the break and Juventus then equalised from the penalty spot through Claudio Marchisio, whose effort went in despite goalkeeper Sergio Rico getting a hand to it.
With six minutes remaining Leonardo Bonucci put the visitors into the lead, and Mario Mandzukic sealed the victory when he fired home in stoppage time.
Lyon won 1-0 at Dinamo Zagreb after a game in which they had enjoyed the lion's share of chances.
The visitors dominated possession and threatened an early goal when Jordan Ferri's deflected effort came back off the crossbar and Mathieu Valbuena came close to breaking the deadlock shortly before half-time when his curling effort was well saved by Dominik Livakovic.
Zagreb hit back and were close to a leveller when Amer Gojak flicked a header wide of the target, but Lyon got the goal they deserved when Alexandre Lacazette found himself alone at the far post to tap home.
Porto missed the chance to get the win that would have confirmed their qualification when they were held to a 0-0 draw at Copenhagen in Group G.
The home side had the better of a goalless first period as their visitors lacked attacking ideas but were unable to take their opportunities, with Erik Johansson failing to convert two headed chances.
Andre Silva had a chance for Porto but, after cutting inside a defender, fired his effort wide, and the same player came close in the early stages of the second half when his shot after a goalmouth scramble was well saved by Robin Olsen as the visitors upped the tempo.
Bayer Leverkusen are through to the knockout stages after a 1-1 draw at CSKA Moscow in Group E.
Kevin Volland gave Leverkusen the lead in the 17th minute from close range after he was left unmarked at a free kick.
Leverkusen gave away a needless penalty when Benjamin Henrichs made a clumsy challenge on Mario Fernandes, but Bibras Natcho's 76th-minute goal wasn't enough to keep the fourth-placed Russian team's hopes of qualifying alive.

Wednesday, 2 November 2016

Radamel Falcao: No regrets about Premier League spell


Monaco striker Radamel Falcao has insisted his Premier League experience with Manchester United and Chelsea was not a flop, claiming he drew "positive things" from it.
Falcao, 30, moved to United on loan from Monaco in the summer of 2014, but scored just four goals in 26 Premier League appearances for them.
The following summer, the Colombia international joined Chelsea for the season, where both Jose Mourinho and his successor, Guus Hiddink, rarely used him, handing him just a single top-flight start.
"I had the opportunity to play in the Premier League, and I did it. I have kept the positive things of that experience," he told reporters ahead of Monaco's Champions League game at home to CSKA Moscow on Wednesday. "I developed as a player but also as a man."
Falcao returned to Monaco in the summer, where he signed a five-year deal when he joined them from Atletico Madrid in 2013.
"Now I'm back at Monaco. I try to enjoy it as much as possible, to string games together to get back to my best," he said. "I have always been able to overcome difficulties during my career. It'll be the same now."
Falcao's career in England got off to a slow start as he was still recovering from a serious knee-ligament injury sustained in January 2014 during a Coupe de France game with Monaco, which forced him to miss that year's World Cup.
Earlier this week, Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim criticised his player's decision to move to England when he should have been focusing on getting back to full fitness.
"Falcao's problem wasn't only his knee injury but also that he left to go and play elsewhere for two seasons, in Manchester and then at Chelsea," Jardim said. "He tried to continue playing at a high level when normally when you have an injury like that, you stay at your club to try and get back quickly."