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GM football fans. It’s Tuesday, Mar. 10 - The Champions League round of 16 begins, Xavi reveals who blocked Messi’s return to Barcelona, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
MUST CLICKS
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KEY FIXTURES
Champions League Round of 16, leg 1, (Mar 10): Galatasaray vs. Liverpool, 17:45 GMT / 13:45 ET. Galatasaray won 1-0 against Liverpool at home in Matchday 2 of the league phase, and have only lost one of their last nine home games against English sides in all European competitions. The Reds have also never won on three previous trips to Galatasaray in the Champions League. Atletico Madrid vs. Tottenham, 20:00 GMT / 16:00 ET. Atletico have won ten of their 14 Uefa two-legged ties against English clubs, though they have lost two of the last three. Despite their poor domestic form, Spurs have opened the scoring in their last five Champions League matches and have kept five clean sheets in their last six games in the competition. Newcastle United vs. Barcelona, 20:00 GMT / 16:00 ET. Barcelona have a good record against English opposition in the knock-outs, winning 10 of 12 such matches since 2014. Meanwhile, Newcastle are on their longest ever unbeaten run in the Champions League (five games). See every Champions League fixture here.
Note: Remember that US clocks moved forward for daylight saving time on Sunday (except for two states), so European matches are kicking off an hour later for our American readers. This will return to normal on March 29 when clocks go forward across Europe.
Results…
FA Cup: West Ham 2-2 Brentford (West Ham win 5-3 on penalties)
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TOP TALKING POINTS
Champions League Round of 16
The first legs of the Champions League Round of 16 take place on Tuesday (Mar 10) and Wednesday (Mar 11), with the return legs the following week. See every fixture here and predicted line-ups for each team here.
Tuesday sees the tournament’s second-favourites Bayern Munich travel to Atalanta, the only remaining Serie A side in the competition. While Bayern have won 13 of their last 14 matches at this stage, they have lost two of their last four Champions League matches against Italian teams. Elsewhere, two Premier League sides — Liverpool and Tottenham — will play away at Galatasaray and Atletico, respectively, which is seen as an advantage in the first leg given their automatic qualification. Newcastle will host Barcelona at St James’ Park, where they lost 2-1 to the Spanish giants in September’s League Phase match.
Wednesday arguably has the pick of the fixtures as Real Madrid host Manchester City, the third-most repeated clash in the history of the European Cup. League Phase leaders Arsenal play at Bayer Leverkusen in the early kick-off, while holders Paris Saint-Germain host two-time winners Chelsea. Meanwhile, giant-slayers Bodo/Glimt host Sporting CP.
Dive deeper into the classic Champions League round of 16 fixtures in history here.
Messi Return Blocked
Former Barcelona player and coach Xavi Hernandez blames club president Joan Laporta for blocking Lionel Messi’s return to the club in 2023 because he feared a power struggle. "The president is lying about what happened with Messi," Xavi said in an explosive interview with La Vanguardia. "Leo was signed. In January of 2023, after he had won the World Cup, I spoke to him, and he told me he was excited to return.”
“The president negotiated the contract with Leo's dad [Jorge], and we had the green light from La Liga financially, but it's the president who pulled out,” Xavi said. "He told me that if Messi came back, he would make a war [against Laporta].” Xavi added that Laporta's actions led to him and Messi not speaking for a period of time.
Laporta, who’s currently campaigning for re-election as Barcelona’s president, responded on Monday, saying he was “surprised and hurt” by Xavi’s claims. Instead, he suggests it was Messi’s camp who pulled out of a 2023 return and that Xavi is speaking out because Laporta fired him in 2024. He went on to add: “The same players who were losing with Xavi are now winning with [Hansi] Flick.” On Monday, La Liga president Javier Tebas supported Laporta’s claims, saying the league did not authorise Messi’s move to Barcelona.
Abramovich Fights Back
Former Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich's legal team insists that the £2.5bn from the club’s sale remains his property and he will challenge any UK government attempts to confiscate the funds. The Russian billionaire was forced to sell the club in May 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the proceeds were intended for victims of the war.
In December, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Abramovich that the “clock was ticking” on him to transfer the money to a new foundation for humanitarian aid in Ukraine. However, Abramovich’s representatives insist that it is UK ministers who are responsible for the delay in releasing the frozen funds for war victims. There remains disagreement on how the funds should be distributed, with the UK government aiming to compensate Ukrainian victims, while Abramovich intends to use the funds for “all victims of the war”.
The exchanges come ahead of a 17 March deadline for Abramovich to respond to demands following the UK government’s threat of legal action.
POLL
Are you excited about the Champions League Round of 16 fixtures?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Manchester City will host Liverpool in the pick of the FA Cup quarter-finals from the draw (More); Southampton host Arsenal, Chelsea host Port Vale, and West Ham host Leeds (More)
> US fund Apollo’s sports investment arm will complete the acquisition of 55% of La Liga’s Atletico Madrid on March 12 (More)
> Wrexham, currently sixth in the Championship and a game spare, are looking for their fourth-straight league win on Tuesday (Mar 10) to match fifth-placed Hull City on points (More); see upcoming Championship matches (More) and table (More)
> Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson will miss their Champions League last-16 first leg clash with Galatasaray (More)
Americas
> Neymar has been included as part of Brazil's pre-list for the squad to play the last two friendly games ahead of the World Cup (More)
> MLS has given lifetime bans to midfielder Derrick Jones and winger Yaw Yeboah for betting offences (More)
Rest of the World
> FIFA is holding emergency talks with the Australian government over extending the stay of the Iranian women’s team in the country for their safety (More); five players have already been granted humanitarian visas in Australia (More)
> Iraq's World Cup play-off decider later this month should be postponed amid the escalating US-Israeli war with Iran, says the team's head coach Graham Arnold (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Yesterday’s Poll: Is the English Championship the most exciting league in Europe right now?
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 👍 Yes (63%)
🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🙅♂️ Nope (35%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (2%)
Your punditry takes:
👍 D.J.K: “The table tells the tale. Currently 9 teams with legitimate hopes (9 points or fewer) of claiming the 4th play-off spot. Wrexham is maintaining the possibility of a fourth consecutive promotion and a relegation battle between four former Premier League sides! Every goal has meaning. What else could be more exciting!?”
👍 D.J: “The Championship is always great entertainment and a fantastic advert for the sport because really any team could make it to the top (or go down). This is largely because there's two-way traffic at both ends of the division, so every year there's a big change to its roster. The Prem only has movement at the bottom, so the teams at the top largely stay the same.”
🙅♂️ W.R: “I’m enjoying the Serie A season the most this season. It’s of better quality than the Championship, and the title race is just as exciting.”
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PSG release a fifth kit with Jordan Brand.
Early season MLS Power Rankings — Vancouver top the list.
Who is most likely to get relegated from the Premier League?
The origin of the word ‘cap’ for appearances.
GAME FACE ON
Question: Put the following players in order of most to least goals scored in the Champions League this season.
Erling Haaland. Vitinha. Anthony Gordon. Harry Kane. Kylian Mbappe. Marcus Rashford.
Scroll below for the answer.
Daily Wordle: Guess the football-related word, from player names to classic phrases, in six tries or fewer. Play it here.
Messi is proof that effort, dedication, and passion are capable of generating miracles. Also proof that I can congratulate a lefty.
Answer
Kylian Mbappe (13). Anthony Gordon (10). Harry Kane (8). Erling Haaland (7). Vitinha (6). Marcus Rashford (5).
