April 2019 – Football Flame

30Apr

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Champions League: Barcelona vs Liverpool

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp will wait until the day of the game to assess whether Roberto Firmino is fit to play in Wednesday's Champions League semi-final first leg in Barcelona.The Brazilian forward, 27, missed the Premier League win over Huddersfield on Friday with a muscle tear.Midfielder Fabinho is available again after sustaining a head injury at Cardiff on 21 AprilBoth were included in the 23-man squad for the Nou Camp match.Klopp says Firmino's recovery "looks good so far" and he has until lunchtime on Wednesday to prove his fitness."We all knew from the beginning it would be a race," said the Anfield boss, whose team are vying with Manchester City for the Premier League title."We don't have to make a decision today because there's no game today, we can wait."I have to make that de...

30Apr

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TRANSFERS

Inter Milan reportedly set to sign Manchester City defender

Inter are in talks with Manchester City to sign Brazilian defender Danilo, claims The Daily Mail.City paid 26.5m to sign Danilo from Real Madrid two years ago after missing out on Dani Alves’ signature to Paris Saint-Germain.Danilo has only ever been a fringe player at City and Pep Guardiola is ready to cut loose with the 27-year-old at the end of the season.Inter have been on the market for a new full-back for the last two years and have been heavily linked with Manchester United’s Matteo Darmian in the past.The Serie A outfit signed Southampton right-back Cedric Soares in January on loan for the remainder of the season but are not expected to prolong his stay at the club.Danilo has only made 10 Premier League appearances this season, having made first campaign at the club.In the 22 leagu...

29Apr

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BUNDESLIGA

Dortmund captain Reus to miss game against Werder Bremen and Fortuna Dusseldorf

Marco Reus will miss Dortmund next two games against Werder Bremen and Fortuna Dusseldorf after a red card in Saturday 4-2 defeat to Schalke.Borussia Dortmund captain Reus was sent off following a rash lunge on Suat Serdar, and will serve a two-match ban.Teammate Marius Wolf, who has been filling in as a makeshift right-back of late, received his marching orders five minutes later for a foul on the same opposition player. The 23-year-old has been handed a three-game suspension that rules him out for the rest of the season.Mario Gotze had given Dortmund the lead at the Signal Iduna Park, but goals from Daniel Caligiuri and Salif Sane put Schalke 2-1 ahead at half-time. Following Reus' sending off, Caligiuri scored from the resultant free-kick before Breel Embolo sealed the t...

29Apr

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PREMIER LEAGUE

I expect Zaha to stay at Crystal Palace says Hodgson

Roy Hodgson is adamant that Wilfried Zaha will not leave Crystal Palace in the summer, despite the winger’s ambitions to play in the Champions League.Zaha is being considered as a potential target for a number of sides, however, the player still has four years remaining on his contract at Selhurst Park.Despite the interest, the price tag and salary a move would take to prise Zaha from Selhurst Park may ultimately derail a move a top club.“I have that old-fashioned idea that when you sign a contract, you go back after the season ends and start playing again,” Hodson said after Palace’s 0-0 draw with Everton. “That’s the way I see it. I hope he finds good form in the last two games.”

27Apr

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SERIE A

Ronaldo hits 600th club goal in Juve-inter draw

Cristiano Ronaldo scored the 600th goal of his club career to earn Italian champions Juventus a 1-1 draw away to Inter Milan in Serie A on Saturday.The Turin club wrapped up an eighth successive league title last weekend but found themselves behind early on to a wonder-strike from Inter midfielder Radja Nainggolan.However, the Portuguese responded with a powerful finish in the second half to hit 20 league goals for the season, moving within two strikes of Serie A’s leading scorer, Fabio Quagliarella of Sampdoria, in the process.Inter remain in third place on 62 points, four ahead of AS Roma below them, while Juventus, who dropped points for just the sixth time in 34 games this season, move up to 88.

27Apr

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LALIGA

Barcelona beat Levante to seal La Liga title

Barcelona has been crowned Champions of Spain after thrashing Levante 1-0 at Nou Camp.Ernesto Valverde’s side needed a win to claim the title in front of their own fans after Atletico Madrid beat Valladolid 1-0 earlier in the day and they got it thanks to Lionel Messi, who came on as a second-half substitute to score the winner. The victory sees the Catalans stay nine points clear of the Rojiblancos with three rounds of the competition remaining and their superior head-to-head record in the two league meetings between the teams this term means they cannot be caught.It is a second successive La Liga title for Valverde, an eighth in 11 seasons for Barcelona and a 10th for Lionel Messi, which sees the Argentine attacker surpass nine-time winner Andres Iniesta to set yet another record at...

25Apr

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SERIE A

AC Milan reportedly set to sack Gattuso

Regardless of whether AC Milan end up qualifying for the Champions League or not, the word out of Italy is that head coach Gennaro Gattuso is heading for the sack. With five games to go, Milan may be hanging on to dear life in fourth place at the moment, the last spot to qualify for Europe’s big dance, but the 1-0 home defeat to Lazio on Wednesday in the second leg of the Coppa Italia, which put Lazio and their racist fans into the final, was apparently the last straw as far Gattuso’s prospects are concerned.Reports from both Gazzetta dello Sport and Tuttosport agree that the Milan legend will not be retained and will instead be replaced by one of several shortlisted names, including Rudi Garcia, Unai Emery, Gian Piero Gasperini, Antonio Conte, and Maurizio Sarri.Conte is apparently t...

24Apr

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SERIE A

Lazio stuns Milan to reach Coppa Italia final

Lazio reached the Coppa Italia final and ended AC Milan’s hopes of snapping an eight-year trophy drought when a breakaway goal from Joaquin Correa gave them a 1-0 win at a restless San Siro in the second leg of their semi-final on Wednesday.The Argentine struck the only goal of a tense 180 minutes to earn Lazio a place in the final for the third time in five years and heap more pressure on Milan coach Gennaro Gattuso.Milan’s last silverware was the Serie A title in 2011 and they are now under more pressure than ever to finish in the top four of the league and qualify for the Champions League next season.“We’ve beaten Milan and Inter in this stadium and it’s fair that we are in the final,” said Lazio coach Filippo Inzaghi, whose side knocked out Inter on penalties in the quarter-finals and ...

24Apr

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PREMIER LEAGUE

Guardiola says Manchester City need to stay calm

Manchester City's players need to remain calm in order to win the Premier League title for a second successive year, says manager Pep Guardiola.Goals from Bernardo Silva and Leroy Sane gave City a 2-0 win at Man Utd to move above Liverpool into first place in the table.City will retain their title if they win their last three league matches."We're still not champions with three games left," said Guardiola, whose side have one point more than Liverpool."I told the players don't read tomorrow, don't watch the television, just rest and sleep a lot and go in there against Burnley."We go to Burnley and we know how tough it will be. It's important to be calm."

24Apr

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LALIGA

Atletico beat Valencia to delay Barca title celebration

Atletico Madrid delayed Barcelona winning La Liga by a few days at least after Alvaro Morata and Antoine Griezmann each scored in a 3-2 victory over Valencia on Wednesday.Defeat at the Wanda Metropolitano would have crowned Barca kings of Spain for a 26th time in their history, with the Catalans now set to celebrate at their own Camp Nou on Saturday instead.A Barcelona win there over Levante will wrap up their fourth league triumph in five years and they could even be home and dry before kick-off, if Atletico fail to take a point at home to struggling Real Valladolid earlier in the day.Regardless, success for Ernesto Valverde's side is surely now only a matter of timing given Atletico remain nine points behind the leaders with four games left to play. Real Madrid, who visit Getafe on Thurs...