GM football fans. It’s Tuesday, Feb. 11 - Champions League play-off overview, the FA Cup fifth round draw, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
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FIXTURES
Champions League, Knockout Round Play-off, 20:00 / 15:00: Manchester City vs Real Madrid. City are unbeaten at the Etihad this year, scoring at least three goals in each game–but they have been eliminated from the UCL knockout stages by Real Madrid more often than by any other opponent. Juventus vs PSV. Juventus are at risk of losing three home games in a single UCL campaign for the first time, while PSV are on a six-match unbeaten run. Sporting Lisbon vs Borussia Dortmund. Sporting are winless in the UCL since Ruben Amorim’s departure, but Dortmund have suffered five defeats in their last eight games in all competitions. See the full list of Champions League play-off fixtures here.
More results…
FA Cup, 4th Round: Doncaster 0-2 Crystal Palace (Match Report)
Scottish Cup, 5th Round: St Mirren 1-1 Hearts (2-4 on pens)
La Liga: Mallorca 1-1 Osasuna (League Table)
Serie A: Inter Milan 2-1 Fiorentina (League Table)
TOP TALKING POINTS
Champions League Overview
The inaugural Champions League knockout phase play-off round begins on Tuesday (Feb. 11). The 16 clubs that placed between ninth and 24th in the league phase play two legs to progress to the last 16 of the competition. Possible team lineups are available here.
Tuesday sees the pick of the play-off ties between Manchester City and Real Madrid. Opta’s predictor gives City a 42.7% chance of winning the first leg, while Madrid's odds stand at 33%. PSG are favourites in an all-French tie versus Brest, as the Ligue 1 champions have won 30 successive games against them in all competitions. The remaining two ties on Tuesday see Juventus host PSV and Sporting CP play against Borussia Dortmund in Lisbon, with both home teams favoured to pick up a first-leg advantage.
Wednesday’s fixtures are the opposite to Tuesday’s, with Opta predicting that three of the four away teams will win their first-leg ties. Atalanta (versus Club Brugge), Milan (versus Feyenoord) and Bayern Munich (versus Celtic) are all favourites. The only home team tipped to take advantage in the first leg are Monaco who face Benfica.
Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Atletico, Leverkusen, Lille and Aston Villa are already through to the round of 16 knockouts. See the bracket here.
FA Cup Draw
The draw for the fifth round of the FA Cup has taken place for the remaining 16 sides. The fifth round is scheduled for the weekend of 1 and 2 March—the competition will then move to the quarter-finals.
Plymouth Argyle—last in division two—travel to Manchester City after eliminating Premier League leader Liverpool. Holders Manchester United are at home to Fulham in one of three all-Premier League matchups. Newcastle hosts Brighton in another, and Bournemouth is at home to Wolves.
Aston Villa will host Championship side Cardiff. Burnley travels to Preston. Crystal Palace beat Doncaster 2-0 on Monday to set up a fifth-round tie at home to Millwall. Exeter and Nottingham Forest play on Tuesday (Feb. 11) for the chance to host Ipswich. See the draw here.
VAR will apply from the next round onwards. In the event of a draw, there will be no replays—all matches will be settled by extra time and penalties.
Censored Premier League
North Korea’s state broadcaster, Korean Central Television (KCTV), has started broadcasting the English top flight. The coverage, which is highly censored, is almost certainly a breach of copyright as the so-called ‘world’s most secretive’ country does not have rights to broadcast Premier League fixtures. Despite this, it’s the most-watched sports competition in the nation.
A new report revealed that coverage this season began on January 13 with a match between Ipswich and Liverpool—150 days after it took place on August 16, 2024. The broadcaster typically edits 90-minute matches down to an hour, and only a fraction of matches are televised—around 29 instead of the 380 games. Though not confirmed, it's thought North Koreans will never discover the true winner of the league title, as matches aren’t shown chronologically.
Several teams are not shown at all: Brentford, Brighton, Everton, Spurs and Wolves. The report speculates that this is because three of these teams have South Korean players. Kim Jong-un, the country’s leader, labelled the South his country’s “number one hostile state”.
Learn about how the country broadcasts the Champions League here.
POLL
Is it ever acceptable for a team to stop play and leave the pitch in protest of a referee decision?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> A police officer has been sacked after admitting “tragedy chanting” at Liverpool fans during a Premier League match last year (More) | Wayne Rooney joins Amazon Prime as a pundit for their Champions League coverage (More)
> Alessandro Nesta has been rehired as Monza head coach just seven weeks after he was sacked by the Serie A side (More)
> Luis Enrique has signed a two-year extension to his deal with Paris Saint-Germain (More) | Feyenoord have parted ways with head coach Brian Priske due to “inconsistent results and a lack of chemistry” (More)
> Adana Demirspor left the pitch during the first half of their Turkish Super Lig match at Galatasaray in protest at a penalty awarded against them (More)
Americas
> MLS and LAFC have condemned “offensive” social media posts of LAFC co-owner Ruben Gnanalingam (More)
> Fifa has issued a warning to Costa Rica over a potential match-fixing in one of the country’s first-division matches (More)
> The US Youth Soccer National League is introducing updated events formats next season, including The National League Cup; the aim is to simplify youth competition formats (More)
Rest of the World
> Australian sports minister Anika Wells expressed her support for the country’s football star Sam Kerr as the Chelsea player faces trial for racial harassment charges (More)
> The Republic of Congo said it will speak with Fifa and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to lift sanctions that bar its federation from international competitions (More)
> Karim Benzema scored five minutes into injury time to earn Al-Ittihad a 2-1 win over Al Taawoun, taking them to the top of the Saudi Pro League (League Table)
> Sanfrecce Hiroshima defeated J-League champions Vissel Kobe 2-0 to win the Japan Super Cup (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Yesterday’s Poll: Will you be watching the Club World Cup?
🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ 🤩 Absolutely... (42%)
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 ⬜️ 🙅 Nope (53%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (write in!)... (5%)
Your punditry takes:
🤩 T.R: “It’s a very interesting competition featuring some of the greatest athletes in the world today.”
🙅 S.C: “Nobody wants this competition except revenue-hungry FIFA. What is it for, except boosting FIFA’s top line? Players need a break, so teams will (and should) bring a squad that excludes their top players. Why watch those games?”
✍️ C.P: “Maybe a few matches. I'm concerned that teams won’t be playing their top players much or at all. I don’t see clubs making this cup much of a priority and more of an opportunity to get reserves or younger players more opportunities.”
EXTRA TIME
Lionel Messi models Inter Miami’s new 2025 home kit…
… and MLS releases a promo video ahead of the season's start. (via X)
Two clubs name Marcelinho as their head coach within 24 hours.
Why do some South American leagues split their season into two tournaments?
Champions League knockout ball released.
Comparing Haaland and Mbappe in the Champions League.
Ranking the biggest FA Cup upsets this century.
Lamine Yamal trading card sells for over $100,000. (Source warning: TalkSport)
Who’s leading the Premier League’s 2024-25 Golden awards?
GAME FACE ON
Question: Real Madrid won the first European Cup in 1956, but do you know in what stadium the first European Cup Final took place?
Clue: Where football met romance.
Scroll below for the answer.
ON TODAY
Champions League, Knockout Round Play-offs
Brest vs PSG (17:45)
Juventus vs PSV (20:00)
Man City vs Real Madrid (20:00)
Sporting vs Dortmund (20:00)
FA Cup, Fourth Round
Exeter vs Nottingham Forest (20:00)
*All time in UK. ET -5. CST -6. PST -8. MST -7. CET +1.
Answer
Parc des Princes in Paris, now PSG’s stadium. Real Madrid beat Stade de Reims 4-3.
We talk about it for 20 minutes and then we decide I was right.
