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Tag: Man City

  • Rice Says Arsenal Ready To Hunt Down Liverpool After Thrashing Man City

    Rice Says Arsenal Ready To Hunt Down Liverpool After Thrashing Man City

    Arsenal remain comfortably adrift of relentless Premier League leaders Liverpool despite a 5-1 hammering of Manchester City on Sunday but midfielder Declan Rice says there is a determination to hunt them down.

    Rice provided two assists as Arsenal sent a reminder to Liverpool that they are not about to give up the chase.

    Liverpool are six points in front of second-placed Arsenal with a game in hand and have shown little sign of slipping up in their pursuit of a 20th league crown.

    But Rice says there is still a long way to go.

    “Liverpool are still quite far in front especially with the game in hand and with them winning yesterday you know going into the game that you have to win,” Rice told Sky Sports.

    “It’s more disappointing the games like Aston Villa when we were 2-0 up and dropped points because we could be up there closer to Liverpool.

    “But we will be there and we will keep pushing. We do need others to help us but we know what the goal is and that’s to hunt them down and win the Premier League.

    “We need to stay positive and I’m sure we will be fine.”

    Arsenal had fallen just short in the last two seasons as City kept Mikel Arteta’s side at bay to extend their title-winning streak to a record four-in-a-row.

    On Sunday, goals by Martin Odegaard, Thomas Partey, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Kai Havertz and Ethan Nwaneri effectively removed City from the title equation.

    “It is a great day for us, especially with the necessity that we had to win the game. The manner that we have done it I am really pleased,” Arteta said.

    “Overall, we scored some beautiful goals and the team showed a high competitive level.”

    Arteta was full of praise for teenager Lewis-Skelly, whose impressive display was capped with his first Arsenal goal.

    “You need big individual performances to beat (Man City). Myles was certainly one of them, the maturity he showed and competitiveness as well,” Arteta said.

    “He plays with that personality and he’s scored a beautiful goal. He has been pushing us since he has been with us. We like his character and personality. He has so much courage.”

    (Reuters)

  • Real Madrid To Face Man City in Champions League Knockout Phase Playoffs

    Real Madrid To Face Man City in Champions League Knockout Phase Playoffs

    • Both Real Madrid and Manchester City failed to advance automatically to the last 16 as one of the top eight sides.
    • Real and City have played each other in four knockout ties since 2020 and will be facing off for a fourth consecutive year.

    Defending champions rivalry with 2023 winners Manchester City in a blockbuster knockout phase playoff tie after the two teams were pitted against each other in the draw held in Nyon on Friday.

    Both Real and City failed to advance automatically to the last 16 as one of the top eight sides after they finished 11th and 22nd, respectively, in the new league-phase format.

    Teams that finished ninth to 24th will compete in a two-legged playoff to advance to the last 16.

    Real and City have played each other in four knockout ties since 2020 and will be facing off for a fourth consecutive year after the Premier League champions avoided drawing Bayern Munich.

    “It feels like a derby already, four years in a row facing Real Madrid,” City boss Pep Guardiola told reporters.

    “But Bayern or Madrid, both were really tough. Hopefully we can arrive in the first leg here and then at Madrid as best as possible.”

    The Spanish league leaders will fancy their chances having eliminated English clubs in the knockout stages 13 times.

    Although City thrashed the Spanish club 5-1 on aggregate in the semi-finals in 2023 en route to the treble, Real exacted revenge last year when they beat Guardiola’s side on penalties in the quarter-finals after two draws.

    “In a perfect world, we wouldn’t play them, but we weren’t able to get into the top eight and that’s OK,” Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti said.

    “Playing two more or fewer games doesn’t matter … we have the resources to deal with it.”

    The competition does not get any easier for either team as they will face either Atletico Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen in the last 16.

    With teams from the same country also allowed to face each other, unlike in previous years, the playoffs will have an all-French tie with Paris St Germain facing Brest. The winners will face either Liverpool or Barcelona in the last 16.

    “There will be a French team in the last 16, so we have to see the positive side,” PSG coach Luis Enrique said ahead of Saturday’s Ligue 1 game against the same opponents.

    “The French league is not valued enough, yet there are four French teams in the Champions League (knockouts).”

    Juventus and AC Milan avoided each other in the draw, with the two Serie A sides facing Dutch clubs PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord, respectively.

    However, the Italian sides may face Inter Milan if they advance to the next round or they could come up against Arsenal.

    Last year’s runners-up Borussia Dortmund take on Portuguese side Sporting while Club Brugge face Atalanta.

    Champions League knockout playoffs draw

    Sporting v Borussia Dortmund

    Manchester City v Real Madrid

    Juventus v PSV Eindhoven

    Brest v Paris St Germain

    *Team mentioned second plays second leg at home

    Playoff first leg: February 11/12

    Playoff second leg: February 18/19

    Last 16 draw: February 21

    (Reuters)

  • Real Madrid First Football Club To Generate 1 Billion In Euros Revenue In A Season, Deloitte says

    Real Madrid First Football Club To Generate 1 Billion In Euros Revenue In A Season, Deloitte says

    Real Madrid became the first soccer team to register one billion euros ($1.04 billion) in revenue in a single season in 2023-24, with the Spanish side topping the Deloitte Football Money League as the world’s highest revenue-generating club once again.

    Real Madrid had overtaken Manchester City to return to the summit after they generated total revenue of 831 million euros in the 2022-23 season.

    Three trophies in the 2023-24 campaign — including LaLiga and the Champions League — plus increased matchday revenue following the completion of renovation works at the Bernabeu Stadium ensured they stayed top of the list.

    Deloitte said Real’s matchday revenue doubled to 248 million euros while a new sleeve sponsorship and increased merchandise sales produced commercial revenue of 482 million euros — a 19% increase.

    The report also said that the top 20 revenue generating clubs in the world made a record 11.2 billion euros in the 2023-24 season thanks to record matchday, broadcast and commercial revenues.

    Real’s revenue dwarfs that of even City, who remain in second place in the Money League with 838 million euros in revenue.

    Although City beat their own revenue record and remain the highest revenue-generating club in the lucrative English Premier League, the gap between first and second (208 million euros) has never been bigger.

    Paris St Germain (806 million euros), Manchester United (771 million) and Bayern Munich (765 million) round out the top five.

    EUROPEAN SOCCER

    The need for European soccer was highlighted by Juventus’ fall from 11th to 16th after the Serie A side were excluded from European competition in 2023-24 over breaches of UEFA’s Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play rules.
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    On the other hand, clubs like Arsenal (717 million euros), Borussia Dortmund (514 million), Newcastle United (372 million) and Aston Villa (310 million) grew revenues by playing in various European competitions.

    “While commercial revenue dominates the income of the top 10 Money League clubs, broadcast income remains crucial for teams in the second half of the rankings,” Tim Bridge, lead partner in the Deloitte Sports Business Group, said.

    “As competitions expand and create more broadcast and matchday opportunities, these can further increase the earning potential for clubs.”

    Thanks to their commercial revenue streams, Liverpool (715 million euros), Tottenham Hotspur (615 million) and Chelsea (546 million) still managed to stay in the top 10 despite reduced broadcast income after missing out on the Champions League.

    Barcelona also saw a 63 million euros fall in matchday revenue after they were forced to play at the smaller Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys while the Camp Nou was being redeveloped.

    But the Spanish club remain top of the list of women’s sides for a third straight year with 17.9 million euros in revenue, a 26% increase from the 2022-23 season.

    Arsenal Women (17.9 million euros) are second, followed by Chelsea (13.4 million), Manchester United (10.7 million) and Real Madrid (10.5 million).

    RANK

    CLUB

    TOTAL REVENUE (MILLION EUROS)

    1

    Real Madrid

    1,045.5

    2

    Manchester City

    837.8

    3

    Paris St Germain

    805.9

    4

    Manchester United

    770.6

    5

    Bayern Munich

    765.4

    6

    Barcelona

    760.3

    7

    Arsenal

    716.5

    8

    Liverpool

    714.7

    9

    Tottenham Hotspur

    615.0

    10

    Chelsea

    545.5

    ($1 = 0.9654 euros)

  • City Beat Arsenal On The Line To Clinch Fourth Consecutive EPL Title

    City Beat Arsenal On The Line To Clinch Fourth Consecutive EPL Title

    Manchester City edged out Arsenal on the line to clinch their fourth consecutive English Premier League title following a 3-1 victory over West Ham on the final day of action on Sunday.

    City became the first ever team in Premier League history to win four titles in a row, while Arsenal were left licking their wounds despite laboring to a 2-1 victory over Everton at the Emirates Stadium in London.

    Two goals from Phil Foden in the first half set Pep Guardiola’s team on course for its latest title. Mohammed Kudus pulled a goal back for West Ham with a stunning overhead kick, but Rodri restored City’s advantage as it marched toward a sixth title in seven seasons.

    Guardiola’s team needed to beat West Ham at Etihad Stadium to be certain of the title, having gone into the game two points clear at the top of the standings.

    Foden helped ease any potential nerves among the home fans when firing City ahead with a brilliant goal inside two minutes.

    Receiving a pass from Bernardo Silva, Foden side-stepped West Ham midfielder James Ward-Prowse and unleashed a left-foot shot outside the area that rocketed into the top corner. The goal was timed at just under 80 seconds.

    Foden, England’s footballer of the year, added a second in the 18th minute when converting Jeremy Doku’s cross from close range.

    Kudus produced a moment of magic in the 42nd with an acrobatic overhead kick that might have given Arsenal hope of an unlikely comeback.

    But it didn’t take City long to extend its lead again after the break as Rodri fired low a effort from the edge of the box that West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola could not keep out despite getting a hand to the ball.

    City ended the season with 91 points — two more than Arsenal.

    (AP and BBC)