Berlin: Franz Beckenbauer has sought to clarify comments in which he suggested Barcelona would try "every trick in the book" to overturn a 4-0 first-leg deficit against Bayern Munich in their Champions League semi-final second leg on Wednesday. The honorary Bayern president, a former player and coach of Germany's most successful club, said that Barca would "try everything to throw Bayern off balance". "They will deploy all methods, anything that's...
10:56 AM, Apr 30, 2013
Berlin: Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski have not signed a deal, the newly-crowned champions said on Friday, shooting down widespread speculation of another surprise transfer. "Bayern, as opposed to some reports, has no contract with Robert Lewandowski," the Bavarian Champions League semi-finalists said in a brief two-line statement. Bayern stunned Dortmund fans a day before their team crushed Real Madrid 4-1 in their Champions League semi-final first...
03:45 PM, Apr 26, 2013
Madrid: No team has ever advanced after losing the first leg of a European Cup tie by four goals. To Lionel Messi, that doesn't mean it can't be done. After he and Barcelona were mauled 4-0 at Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-finals on Tuesday, Messi said they must not give up hope for the return leg at the Camp Nou next week. That, he said, will be "a...
11:23 PM, Apr 24, 2013
You aren't a journalist if you don't speculate. So what if the speculation is about the world coming to an end after watching the world's best football club capitulate in a manner that might even shame the German defeat at Stalingrad? As sports fans and observers, we are often prone to hyperbole, but that may be excused if the matter up for debate is whether modern football's most decorated and...
04:53 PM, Apr 24, 2013
Munich: Bayern Munich's 4-0 rout of Barcelona in a Champions League semi-final first leg on Tuesday was partly down to two goals that should have been chalked off, said assistant coach Jordi Roura. Mario Gomez looked marginally offside when he turned in Thomas Mueller's header from close range for the second goal in the 49th minute. The two-goal Mueller also appeared to obstruct Jordi Alba when the full back attempted...
09:35 AM, Apr 24, 2013
Munich: Barcelona centre half Gerard Pique acknowledged his team were thoroughly second best as Bayern Munich romped to a 4-0 win in their Champions League semi-final first leg at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday. "They gave us a thrashing," he said. "We will try to turn it around in the return leg (on May 1) and put in a good performance for the fans. "They were better and faster than...
09:16 AM, Apr 24, 2013
Munich: Thomas Muller scored two goals as Bayern Munich dominated Barcelona on Tuesday to take a commanding 4-0 lead after the first leg of their highly anticipated Champions League semi-final. Muller scored in the first half and added another after Mario Gomez and Arjen Robben had also scored in the second half. It was Barcelona's biggest loss in the Champions League since 1997, and a humbling defeat for the team...
02:19 AM, Apr 24, 2013
Munich: Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has been given the all-clear to play in their Champions League semi-final first leg at Bayern Munich later on Tuesday after recovering from a hamstring strain, the La Liga club said. "The Argentine player has the green light from the doctors to take part in the crucial match against the German side," Barca said in a statement on their website (www.fcbarcelona.es). Messi, who sustained the...
11:02 PM, Apr 23, 2013
Dortmund: Borussia Dortmund's preparations for Wednesday's Champions League semi-final match against Real Madrid have been hit by news that their player is transferring to Bayern Munich at the end of the season. On the eve of what it calls "the most spectacular home game in Borussia Dortmund's history," the first leg has been overshadowed by Mario Goetze's decision to join Bayern on July 1. Bayern, which are triggering Goetze's reported...
05:03 PM, Apr 23, 2013
Madrid: Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has recovered sufficiently from a hamstring strain to feature in Tuesday's Champions League semi-final first leg at Bayern Munich, sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta said on Monday. The Argentine World Player of the Year sat out Saturday's 1-0 La Liga win at home to Levante and has not yet been given the all-clear by medical staff but was included in the squad for the clash at...
04:04 PM, Apr 22, 2013
Madrid: Spanish defender Gerard Pique believes that Spain has replaced Germany as the the top-most bet in World Football. According to Pique, the era when German teams always came out on top is over and the Spanish teams dominate the world game. Barcelona and the Spanish national team created a style which had changed soccer history, Pique said in an interview with Spanish Sports Daily As published on Monday, a...
03:59 PM, Apr 22, 2013
Madrid: As well as putting Barcelona a step closer to winning La Liga, Saturday's 1-0 home win over Levante showed that defender Eric Abidal is fit enough to play a full match after making a remarkable recovery from a liver transplant. The former France international played at centre back alongside Adriano, the first time the 33-year-old has completed 90 minutes in more than a year, and proved he is a...
03:15 PM, Apr 21, 2013
Barcelona: Injured Barcelona centre backs Carles Puyol and Javier Mascherano will miss Tuesday's Champions League semi-final first leg at Bayern Munich, assistant coach Jordi Roura said on Friday. Club captain Puyol had arthroscopic surgery on the cartilage in his right knee in March and Mascherano damaged ligaments in the same joint in Barca's 2-2 quarter-final first leg draw at Paris St Germain on April 2. "Puyol won't be available for...
10:18 PM, Apr 19, 2013
Munich: Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes compared Lionel Messi to some of football greatest players. "He is a phenomenon. He is in the league of Zinedine Zidane, Diego Maradona, Pele and Johan Cruyff," Heynckes said Wednedsay. "Anyone who scores 50 goals in a season is extra-terrestrial." Bayern will come up against Messi when it plays Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals on Tuesday in Munich. Bayern director Matthias Sammer also...
11:46 PM, Apr 17, 2013
Nine-time European champion Real Madrid have ended Manchester United's run as the world's most valuable soccer team, according to an annual survey released by Forbes on Wednesday. The value of Real, a Spanish club owned by its thousands of members, surged 76 percent to $3.3 billion from a year ago, Forbes said in a statement. (www.forbes.com/soccer) United, who have won the English title a record 19 times and are controlled...
10:40 PM, Apr 17, 2013
Berlin: Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes said he will not ask former Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola for advice ahead of their Champions League semi-final with the Spanish giants. Guardiola will take over from Heynckes at the German champions next season, having led Barcelona to 14 trophies in four seasons before taking time out and signing for Bayern earlier this year. "Respect me and my work," Heynckes curtly told reporters on...
11:18 PM, Apr 12, 2013
Nyon: It's Spain vs. Germany twice over in the Champions League semifinals. Barcelona play Bayern Munich in a clash of teams ranked by UEFA as the two best in Europe. Bayern hosts the first leg. Real Madrid face Borussia Dortmund in a repeat of their 1998 semifinal, when the Spanish side dethroned the reigning champions. Dortmund are at home first. Friday's draw featured four former European champions who have combined...
04:16 PM, Apr 12, 2013
Turin: Bayern Munich weathered an early Juventus storm before Mario Mandzukic headed a second-half goal to help the Germans to a 2-0 win at Juventus on Wednesday and send them into the Champions League semi-finals. Juventus, chasing a 2-0 deficit from the first leg of the quarter-final tie and backed by a raucous crowd, huffed and puffed but were not quite creative enough to cause the newly-crowned Bundesliga champions more...
02:30 AM, Apr 11, 2013
