Sports
UCL: Seven Exciting Facts About Haaland’s City
Manchester City won their first Uefa Champions League on Saturday night beating Internationale Milan 1-0 at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Turkey.
Rodri’s well-taken goal in the 68th was enough to see Citizens become just the second English team to win The Treble after Manchester United in 1999.
City manager Pep Guardiola also claimed his third Champions League trophy and becomes the first manager to win the Treble with two different clubs.
Here are seven other facts behind the game as provided by Opta.
1. Manchester City become the first team since rivals Manchester United in 2007/08 to go a full Champions League campaign unbeaten.
2. The last four Champions League finals have now all ended 1-0, more than the previous 27 finals combined.
3. City striker Julian Alvarez became just the third player this century to win both the World Cup and the Champions League in the same season.
4. Erling Haaland finishes the season as the Champions League top scorer with 12 goals. The Norwegian star also becomes just the fourth player in history to both finishes as both Premier League and UCL top scorer in the same season after Dwight Yorke (1998/99), Ruud Van Nistlerooy (2002/03) and Cristiano Ronaldo (2007/08).
5. Rodri also became the first central midfielder to score in the Champions League final since Real Madrid’s Casemiro back in 2017.
6. That strike meant that all seven goals scored in the Champions League finals at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium had all come at the same end of the pitch.
7. Manchester City have scored 100+ goals more than they’ve conceded in three of the last five seasons (18-19, 21-22, 22-23) – prior to Pep Guardiola’s arrival, no English top-flight side had ever scored 100+ more than they had conceded in a single campaign.
Ahead of their Euro 2024 quarter-final match against Switzerland, England faces a significant disciplinary dilemma.
Five players—Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden, Kobbie Mainoo, Kieran Trippier, and Conor Gallagher—are on the verge of suspension, each having received one yellow card during the tournament.
If any of these players should be booked again during the match, they would be suspended from the semi-final, should England advance.
Adding to England’s challenges, manager Gareth Southgate will be without Marc Guehi, who is suspended after receiving his second yellow card in the match against Slovakia.
Despite these setbacks, England secured their place in the quarter-finals with a dramatic 2-1 victory over Slovakia on Sunday, highlighted by Jude Bellingham’s stunning overhead kick and Harry Kane’s late header.
Gareth Southgate’s team, pre-tournament favorites, has had a mixed campaign so far. They began with a nervy victory over Serbia and then drew with Denmark and Slovenia, yet managed to top Group C and move into the easier side of the draw.
Now, they face Switzerland, who eliminated European champions Italy, in what will be their toughest test yet.
The quarter-final match against Switzerland will take place in Düsseldorf on Saturday. If England succeeds, they will face either the Netherlands or Turkey in the semi-finals.
However, the potential suspensions of Bellingham, Foden, Mainoo, Trippier, and Gallagher loom large over the match.
Euro 2024 is set to enter its gripping quarter-final phase, featuring a clash of football titans from across the continent.
Following the conclusion of the round of 16, the stage is now set for an exhilarating lineup of matches.
See fixtures below:
Friday
Spain vs Germany at Stuttgart (1600)
Portugal vs France at Hamburg (1900)
Saturday
England vs Switzerland at Duesseldorf (1600)
Netherlands vs Turkey at Berlin (1900)
Football aficionados can anticipate thrilling encounters as these powerhouse teams vie for supremacy and a chance to advance to the prestigious semi-finals of Euro 2024.
The Netherlands clinched their first Euro quarter-final since 2008 with a commanding 3-0 victory over Romania in the last-16 match on Tuesday.
Donyell Malen starred with a brace, supported by Cody Gakpo’s opener in the first half.
Despite squandering numerous chances, the Dutch sealed their win as Gakpo set up Malen for the second goal before Malen dazzled with a spectacular solo effort in stoppage time.
Their next challenge awaits against either Turkey or Austria in the quarter-finals.
More to follow………….
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