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Author: Chirag

United Boss Rangnik Back Ronaldo for Future Coaching Position

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Manchester United’s boss Ralf Rangnik has had a weird stay with the red devils over the past couple of months. Ralf has implemented different practice sessions and different plays which have not gone well in the locker room and specially with big names like Cavani and more.

Now Ralf has seemingly confirmed a future path for one of the greatest players in football in Cristiano Ronaldo. 

Ronaldo, who is famous for yelling instructions when he’s off pitch, looked set to become a coach someday due to his intense level of interest in winning. Ralf said, “”I didn’t at all see or interpret that he was challenging me,” Rangnick said. “He just showed maybe too emotionally that he was not happy to be replaced. But, as I said, this was not the first time.

“I think if you have a look at the moment when Sir Alex [Ferguson] replaced or other coaches like [Maurizio] Sarri or whoever in the past, his reaction was pretty similar, which shows, in the end, it has got nothing to do with the manager at the time. It’s about his own ambition and his own desire to stay on the pitch.”

He continued: “I think at one stage Cristiano will also be a manager himself, maybe in a couple of years or maybe in 10 years if he plays another five years, and then he will have the same experience himself. I don’t blame him for that but, obviously any manager, I think it shouldn’t be too emotional.

“Also, in front of the TV cameras, I don’t think that this will be for the benefit of anyone; not to his benefit, not to the benefit of the team-mates. In the end, it’s an emotional game and players are being emotional and I didn’t take it personally at all.”

Breaking News: Barca Crash Out of Copa Del Rey as Real Madrid Qualify

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Last night the Copa Del Rey had their last matchday of the Round of 16 with both Barcelona and Real Madrid in action simultaneously. 

As the Blancos faced Elche in a comparatively easy encounter as Barcelona went toe to toe with Athletic Club.

Barcelona started out great with the likes of Pedri, Ferran Torres and Ansu Fatti in the mix early on. Ferran Torres also got his first goal for Barcelona after he struck from outside the box with an inward curler for the opening goal of the match. 

Athletic quickly equalised and Pedri took back the lead for Barcelona. However in the 86th minute, the bigger possession and more shots on goals finally paid off as Athletic Club equalised again. With the match in extra time, Athletic Club got lucky as they received a penalty kick.

A controversial decision by the referee gave Athletic a penalty after the ball touched Alba’s arm which seemed unintentional and part of his natural movement. But after the winning goal scored through the penalty, it didn’t matter. Athletic Club had the lead and the time on their side. By this time Barcelona had also lost Fatti to a hamstring injury and eventually lost the match and a chance at the Copa Del Rey title.

Real Madrid had it comparatively easy over in the Manuel Martinez Valero Stadium as an early goal by Isco and a very late goal in extra time by Eden Hazard got Real the win and through to the quarter finals.

Australian Open Starts to Sizzle Up as Zverev Reach Round 3

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The Australian Open has been great this year with some of the best tennis we’ve seen in some time now. 

The likes of Rafael Nadal have already qualified for the third round and await their next match set for tomorrow. Another important player in his side of the draw is the young German Alexander Zverev. 

Zverev has now also reached the third round and if things keep going the same way, Nadal could end up facing Zverev in the Semi-Finals as the two fight for the finals spot against either Medvedev or Tsitsipas.

On the other side of the  draw, Tsitsipas won his second round match against Baez, the Argentinian with 3 sets to 1 earlier today. Medvedev however will have a tougher opponent in hometown hero Nick Kyrgios.

The Russian and Australian are supposed to meet on court at 1:30 PM IST today to see who will go on to the fourth round. With only 7 spots left in the Round 3 and 25 players already in, we wait to see who will make it to tomorrow’s Round 3 kick off as the herd thins down to 32 players.

Ronaldo Fumes After Being Subbed Last Night

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Possibly the greatest player in the world, Critstiano Ronaldo who plays for Manchester United, was playing and leading alongside the red devils at 2-0 when he was subbed off by Ralf Ragnick as United went on to concede a goal and score one to finish the match at 3-1.

After this away win, United now stand at 7th place firmly with 21 matches played in this season so far. 

However, Ronaldo was not happy after the match and showed his disappointment with the system when he commented, “Why me? Why me … Why would you take me off?” he was seen to mutter as he trudged off the pitch before throwing his jacket to the floor.”

Meanwhile, the coach, Ragnick said, “That is normal – a striker wants to score – but he has come back from a little injury and it was important to remember we have got another game coming up.”

“The only reaction I noticed is he was asking me ‘why me?’ and I said I had to take a decision in the interest of the team. I didn’t expect him to hug me after being subbed, I know how goal-scoring players tick.”

“I have no issue whatsoever with Cristiano, he came back from an injury and didn’t train for one and half weeks. Why should I not make use of the players on the bench?”

Breaking News: Nadal Dominates His Way Into Round 3

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The King of Clay showed his dominance on the hard surface this morning with an incredible performance against Yannick Hanfmann. 

The Spaniard started out equal with the German as the two went 2-2 at a point in the first set. However post that was just Spanish power on display as Nadal took the first set at 6-2 with a sensational down the line backhand winner.

The second set followed with Nadal taking the win again, but Hanfmann getting a couple of crucial and amazing points. Post his 6-2, 6-3 lead he followed up by winning in straight sets as he took the last set at 6-4 after an interesting deuce.

The 20 time grand slam winner, Nadal, joked about how he hated the gym and loved the courts more after his quick match and now looks ahead towards the third round as the field thins down to 32 players.

With Zverev in action next, it begs the question that can it be a Zverev vs Nadal semi finals match in a  week’s time?

Over in the female side, Emma Raducanu defeated Sloane Stephens by 6-0, 2-6, 6-1 as she moves on to the second round

Tuchel Admits Chelsea Aren’t Happy

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The German coach finally admitted that the blues have lost their way and form and nothing is full of joy at the club anymore.

“(Even) in the reaction of the goal (we scored), you can see that we are tired,” Tuchel told BT Sport. “We are relieved but there is no joy. We look tired, and we are. … You can see we are mentally tired. We need some days off, there’s no other solution. It’s normal that they (Ziyech & Lukaku) talk, it’s normal that they’re not happy.”

The third club in the Premier League currently drew against Brighton yesterday and since the surprising draw, the blues have been in a poorer mood.

In the last 16 matches Chelsea have seemingly only kept a clean sheet in 4 matches in all competitions. This paired with the feud between coach Thomas Tuchel and striker Romelu Lukaku has put the blues in an unsatisfactory mood and playing form.

They prepare to host guests Tottenham Hotspurs on Sunday as they try to claw their way back to a competitive side and fight for the title.

Breaking News: French Sports Minister Won’t Let Djokovic Play at the French Open if Unvaccinated

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The Australian Open is well underway with only 10 spots left to be filled today in the second round. The likes of Medvedev, Murray and Nadal have all qualified with Tsitsipas playing his first round match late today.

The next grand slam of the year will start from the 22nd of May in France as Nadal hopes to continue his clay dominance in Paris. However for one of his biggest rivals in tennis, Novak Djokovic the drama just won’t end that easily. 

With France passing vaccination laws across the country, the French Sports Minister has made a public statement saying he can’t and won’t let Novak Djokovic come and be part of the French Open until and unless he is vaccinated. This means that Djokovic, who is not only missing the first grand slam of the year, will now possibly miss the second one as well.

Meanwhile, ATP released a statement regarding the Djokovic drama as well, saying, 

“Today’s decision to uphold Novak Djokovic’s Australian visa cancellation marks the end of a deeply regrettable series of events. Ultimately, decisions of legal authorities regarding matters of public health must be respected. More time is required to take stock of the facts and to take the learnings from this situation.

Irrespective of how this point has been reached, Novak is one of our sport’s greatest champions and his absence from the Australian Open is a loss for the game. We know how turbulent the recent days have been for Novak and how much he wanted to defend his title in Melbourne. We wish him well and look forward to seeing him back on court soon.

ATP continues to strongly recommend vaccination to all players.”

As the Covid virus continues to grow around the world again, Djokovic might have to finally give in to the demands and be fully vaccinated come clay season as he might not be able to play at the French Open and defend his 2021 title otherwise. 

Check Out the Winners of the FIFA End of Year Awards

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FIFA held its end of the year award ceremony last night which saw some surprising winners and some well deserved winners.

The night started with a small surprise as Tuchel’s coaching got him past the likes of Pep Guardiola in the race for the FIFA Men’s Coach of the Year. The blues have really taken a step in the right direction since 2020 when the former Chelsea player Frank Lampard set up a great team only to eventually hand over his work to Thomas Tuchel who got Chelsea the Champions League win as well.

The next couple of awards were for the Goal of the Year and the Fair Play award. In March, against Arsenal, Tottenham’s Erik Lamela scored a peach of a goal as he put the ball through a defender’s feet to get it into the far corner. That goal didn’t get the Spurs a win in the North London Derby but was enough to get Lamela the Best Goal of the Year award last night.

Denmark and their medical and coaching staff were honoured next with the Fair Play Award in accordance with their incredible reaction to the devastating Christian Eriksen incident during the Euro 2020 last year. The Danish midfielder collapsed mid match against Finland due to a cardiac event. The incident was horrifyingly scary but the players on pitch and medical staff reacted quickly by helping out the fallen Eriksen. Christian later recovered from this and continued playing in Italy before just recently joining Brentford in the Premier League.

In a surprising turn of events neither Donaruma nor Neur got the Goalkeeper of the Year award as Chelsea’s Mendy took the gold home. The Female Goalkeeper of the Year award went to the Lyon and Chile star Christiane Endler for her remarkable year.

Finally the Player of the Year award came around with players like Messi, Ronaldo, Mbappe, Salah and more in contention. After this year’s Ballon D’or not going to Lewandowski, winning the Player of the Year award finally gave the Polish star some relief and respect. As for the Women’s Player of the Year, the Barcelona star and Ballon D’or winner, Putellas took the gold back to the Camp Nou.

Liverpool Back in The Hunt!

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Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool were on a path of destruction at home as they hosted Brentford in a thrilling Sunday fixture. 

The reds last hosted Brentford back in 1989 when Liverpool beat them 4-0 in a great encounter between the two English sides. This time around, Liverpool fell a goal short of that record as they beat Brentford by 3 goals to nil.

Klopp’s team built a lot of pressure on Brentford’s defence and keeper throughout the match and especially in the first half. They even tried to highlight Brentford’s weakness at their near post when conceding corner kicks. 

Eventually, Fabinho opened up the scoreline for the reds as he scored the opening goal at 43 minutes, just a couple of minutes before the half.

In the second half, Brentford looked better but still ages away from Liverpool’s level as they failed to dominate with possession and barely got a couple of shots on target as they missed two amazing opportunities for a goal.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain put another nail in the coffin on the 69th minute with his header into the net as Liverpool led by 2 goals to nil. Moments later, Minamino and Firmino’s in box 1-2 passes set up the perfect strike for Minamino as he buried that coffin and finished the match at 3-0.

Liverpool now sit at 45 points and second in the premier league. Their opponents Chelsea stand at 43 points with the difference being not just the 2 points but also an extra match left for Liverpool to play. 

As the red and blue battle for 2nd and nearest competitor for the leaders, Manchester City sit comfortably in 1st place at 56 points, 9 points ahead of Liverpool. With 16 match days left in this incredible season, City will need to win as much as possible in order to keep the gap between them and Liverpool the way it is. Any losses for City and any wins for Liverpool will just close down the gap as the season comes towards its end.