Sports

Meetings with Chelsea have provided Manchester City with a measuring stick over the past 12 months.

In June 2020, at Stamford Bridge, City s 2-1 defeat handed the Premier League title to Liverpool, ending Pep Guardiola s two-season stay at the summit.

When City then returned to the same stadium in January, facing Chelsea for the first time in 2020-21, they rediscovered their mojo.

It was the fourth match in a sequence of 21 straight wins in all competitions and arguably the pick of the bunch.

Slick City, missing a host of stars due to COVID-19, swept Chelsea aside in a 3-1 win as Ilkay Gundogan, Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne all scored. They left London in fifth but firmly back on track.

It has since looked as though that might be a defining disp…

Pep Guardiola took another shot at UEFA over its expanded Champions League format, claiming European football s governing body does not care about player workloads.

Guardiola came out strongly against the ill-fated Super League plans this week, decrying the closed-shop format as not sport , despite Manchester City being one of the 12 teams to sign up before withdrawing.

But the City boss also said the launch of a breakaway project was evidence UEFA had failed and he was similarly uncomplimentary about reforms that will see the Champions League contested by 36 teams as opposed to its current 32 from the 2024-25 season, with 10 group games instead of six for each side.

Every time it’s the same. All the managers and players ask for better quality and the football…

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque on Sunday saluted what he saw as a sea-change in Germany s style of play ahead of the two countries World Cup semi-final on Wednesday.

Del Bosque said he did not believe the Germans would be treating the meeting in Durban as a revenge mission for their Euro 2008 final loss to the Spanish as his opponents had clearly moved on.

I don t think you can talk about revenge between two great teams. Both will be going all out to get to a World Cup final, said Del Bosque.

They recently set out to change a (style of) football which appeared to be worn out and tired. They have managed to refresh the team since the Euros and the proof of that is in their showings here.

They have got a great group together, the former Real Madrid bos…

Spain believe international football is entering a bright new age, powered by the sleek, easy on the eye style which triumphed over Holland s muscular harassment in the World Cup final.

Vicente Del Bosque s side added the world title to their European crown thanks to Andres Iniesta s extra-time winner in a disappointing final which the Spanish deserved to shade.

But they have no desire to become complacent with their achievements.

We have great players who are coming through and Spanish football is just growing, warned Arsenal star Cesc Fabregas who set up Iniesta s winner.

Del Bosque, familiar with great expectations from his time with Real Madrid, was also convinced that the beautiful game was still looking good despite a bruising final which saw Holl…

Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola has set his sights firmly on winning the Champions League ahead of Wednesday s opening game against Olympiacos.

The European trophy has evaded Guardiola since he took charge of Bayern in 2013, but he hopes it will be third time lucky for the Bundesliga champions.

We will again try to win the Champions League this season, Guardiola said at a press conference when asked about his goals this term.

But we should not forget that all the teams in the Champions League are very strong. A win against Olympiacos would be a good first step.

But whether we win the Champions League or not will not be decisive in saying if this was a successful season.

Despite being favourites to win Group F, Guardiola – who won the…

Manuel Pellegrini welcomed seeing the Premier League title race being back in Manchester City’s hands after their win at Crystal Palace.

The 2011-12 champions on Sunday re-assumed control of their own destiny in the chase for the trophy by capitalising on Liverpool s earlier defeat to Chelsea with a 2-0 win.

Third-placed City are now just three points behind Brendan Rodgers side with a game in hand over the Merseyside club and also have a better goal difference, while Chelsea are just a point better off than the Etihad Stadium outfit and have also played a game more.

First-half strikes from Edin Dzeko and Yaya Toure were enough to seal the points and Pellegrini was delighted with the day s developments.

It was a happy day and it was very important for us, he is…

Kylian Mbappe felt Monaco paid the price for missed chances in their Champions League semi-final defeat to Juventus.

Monaco went down to a 2-0 first-leg home loss, Gonzalo Higuain scoring both goals for the visitors.

Leonardo Jardim s men had made a bright start to the match, Mbappe twice being denied by Gianluigi Buffon prior to Higuain s opener.

Radamel Falcao and substitute Valere Germain were also thwarted by Buffon after the break and Mbappe felt his side s failure to be clinical proved decisive as Juve took advantage of the fewer chances they had.

We lacked a little bit of experience, but most importantly of all we weren t clinical enough in front of goal, Mbappe was quoted as saying by UEFA.

We created a lot of chances and just didn t tak…

Chelsea are basking in the glory of a fifth Premier League title in 12 years, with Antonio Conte continuing his run of club-level success.

The Blues have utterly dominated domestically this season, a streak of 13 wins on the spin late in 2016 sending them well clear of a chasing pack that has spent most of the campaign tripping over each other.

After Friday s 1-0 victory at West Brom got the party started, we examine the five key factors in Chelsea s title triumph.

CONTE S TACTICAL MASTERSTROKE

Saturday September 24, 18:15 This is when Chelsea s season really began.

As Michael Oliver signalled half-time at the Emirates Stadium, Conte knew the game was up, goals from Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil meant defeat at Arsenal was a formalit…

Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta had his red card against Aston Villa rescinded by the Football Association on Tuesday following an appeal.

The defender was sent off for violent conduct in the final minute of Chelsea s 2-1 loss at Villa Park on Sunday after appearing to catch Jack Grealish in the face.

Azpilicueta was set to serve a three-match domestic ban at the start of next season, but that has now been overturned by the FA.

An FA statement read: An independent regulatory commission has removed Cesar Azpilicueta s three-match suspension following a successful claim of wrongful dismissal.

Regulation and discipline update on

— FA Spokesperson (@FAspokesperson)

Despite their final-game loss to Villa, Chelsea finished fourth in the …

Mauricio Pochettino hailed Moussa Sissoko s contribution as Tottenham kept their Champions League last-16 hopes alive with a 1-0 win over Inter at Wembley.

Spurs were 10 minutes away from exiting Group B with a game remaining on Wednesday, but Sissoko s storming run led to substitute Christian Eriksen lashing home to move Pochettino s side up to second.

The result means Spurs now travel to group leaders Barcelona – who have already qualified for the knockout stages – in two weeks time knowing that a win would see them join Ernesto Valverde s side in the next round.

Sissoko has been a maligned figure since joining the club in 2016 from Newcastle United, but a series of swashbuckling performances in recent weeks have seen him become something of a cult hero …