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Champions League: Salzburg hold Chelsea to 1-1 draw

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Chelsea manager Graham Potter was left frustrated as Red Bull Salzburg spoiled his first match in charge with a late equaliser in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw in the Champions League.

Potter was on course for a winning debut when Raheem Sterling put Chelsea ahead early in the second half at Stamford Bridge.

But the former Brighton boss, who replaced Thomas Tuchel last week, had to settle for a point as Noah Okafor punished sloppy defending to equalise in the closing stages.

It was a largely underwhelming performance from Chelsea, underlining the work Potter must do to repair the flaws in the expensively assembled squad left behind by Tuchel.

Tuchel was dismissed last Wednesday in the aftermath of Chelsea’s embarrassing 1-0 loss at Dinamo Zagreb in their Champions League opener. Having taken just one point from their first two Group E matches, Chelsea now face a fight to qualify for the knockout stages with two matches against AC Milan looming.

With Sunday’s Premier League game against Liverpool postponed due to the forthcoming funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, Potter will have to wait until October 1 for his second game when Chelsea travel to Crystal Palace after the international break.

At least that will give Potter time to find his feet after he was appointed just 24 hours after Tuchel’s shock exit — sparking what the 47-year-old described as a ‘whirlwind’ week as he starts the biggest challenge of his career.

Potter earned widespread admiration for his impressive work with Brighton, who enjoyed their highest Premier League finish last season when the Englishman led them to ninth place.

But thriving on a limited budget at Brighton provides only scant preparation for the unique demands of handling a club of Chelsea’s ambition.

Potter had never even been to a Champions League game before walking into Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, with his only previous experience of continental competition coming in the Europa League with Swedish minnows Ostersunds.

He marked the occasion by recalling his old Brighton left-back Marc Cucurella, as well as Thiago Silva and Jorginho, in place of Ben Chilwell, Wesley Fofana and Kalidou Koulibaly.

Surprisingly used at left wing-back in Potter’s 3-4-3 formation, Sterling spent much of his time more concerned with attack than defence.

The England forward had a close-range volley blocked and Cucurella’s cutback reached Mason Mount, whose shot fizzed wide from the edge of the area.

In the first game since Tuchel was sacked, Chelsea supporters, many shocked by his ruthless dismissal, paid tribute to the German in the 21st minute.

The time was selected as Tuchel lifted Chelsea’s second Champions League trophy when they beat Manchester City in the 2021 final.

If that display of affection might have made Potter feel uncomfortable, he was shifting awkwardly again when Salzburg nearly snatched the lead late in the first half.

Benjamin Sesko was the dangerman with a 25-yard drive that forced a scrambling save from Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Potter’s men failed to muster a single shot on target in the opening 45 minutes of his reign.

But the cutting edge they missed in the first half was provided by Sterling in the 48th minute.

Reece James’ raking pass sent Mount away down the right flank and his low cross reached Sterling, who curled a fine finish into the far corner from just inside the area.

Yet Sterling’s fourth goal since his close-season move from Manchester City didn’t serve as a springboard for victory.

Okafor’s glancing header tested Kepa in a warning that Chelsea failed to heed as Salzburg equalised with 15 minutes left.

Bedevilled by defensive mishaps in the final weeks of Tuchel’s reign, Chelsea folded far too easy.

They squandered possession in midfield before Silva failed to clear Junior Adamu’s cross as Okafor converted with a low finish that deflected off the slow-to-react Azpilicueta.

Armando Broja and Hakim Ziyech wasted late chances to restore Chelsea’s lead as the Potter era started in low-key fashion.

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UEFA 2024 Rankings: Man City, Bayern, Real Madrid lead as Chelsea drops

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Premier League champions, Manchester City, currently tops UEFA’s coefficient rankings.

In the latest ranking released by UEFA through their website, Man City is ahead of Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, who are in the top three positions.

Chelsea dropped one place when compared to the previous ranking, but still made the top 10 alongside Premier League rivals Liverpool.

Manchester United are outside of the top 10.

Below are the top 20 teams revealed by UEFA:

1.Man City
2.Bayern Munich
3.Real Madrid
4.Paris Saint-Germain
5.Liverpool
6.Inter Milan
7. AS Roma
8.Leipzig
9.Chelsea
10.Dortmund
11.Man United
12.Barcelona
13.Atletico Madrid
14.Bayer Leverkusen
15.Sevilla
16.Villarreal
17.Napoli
18.uventus
19.Benfica
20.Porto

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Vinicius’s double earns Real Madrid 2-2 draw at Bayern Munich

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Vinicius Junior scored twice as record winners Real Madrid came away from Bayern Munich with a 2-2 draw in their Champions League semi-final first leg on Tuesday.

The stalemate sets up a mouthwatering second leg in Spain next Wednesday.

Brazil’s Vinicius grabbed the leveller from the spot on 83 minutes after Harry Kane netted a penalty for Bayern on 57 minutes. Vinicius and Leroy Sané had earlier both scored against the run of play either side of the break.

Ex-Bayern coach Carlo Ancelotti, sacked in 2017 after 15 months in Germany, is eyeing a fifth Champions League title as a coach and the Real boss will be the happier.

Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel, who leaves at the end of the season after the Bavarians missed out on the Bundesliga title for the first time in 12 years, has never lost a semi-final.

Now he faces a stern test at the Bernabeu next week if he wants to emulate his title success with Chelsea in 2021.

“We made a great start…we should have gone ahead,” Tuchel told Amazon Prime. “You make it 2-1 and then you have chances to score more. But if we win in Madrid we go to Wembley.”

Tuchel was buoyed before kick-off with creative fulcrums Jamal Musiala and Sané passed fit to play and it was Germany winger Sané who had two decent early chances while Musiala also fired over.

LaLiga leaders Madrid had forward Lucas Vazquez as an emergency right back, with Dani Carvajal suspended, while midfielder Toni Kroos faced his former club as Luka Modric began on the bench.

Who else but Kroos popped up out of the blue midway through the first half to play the perfect pass for Vinicius to score.

“There were phases in the game for both teams. The goals sort of fell when the other team was on top,” Kroos said.

Bayern’s Tuchel, widely expected to be replaced by Austria coach Ralf Rangnick from July, reacted by replacing Leon Goretzka with Raphael Guerreiro in midfield at half-time.

But Madrid not Bayern began the second half stronger, Jude Bellingham laying the ball off for Kroos to test the palms of Manuel Neuer.

With the home crowd slightly subdued, Sané cut in from the right and fired inside the near post. It was his first goal since October.

Club top scorers Kane of Bayern and Bellingham of Madrid – both England stars who hope to shine in Germany in June and July’s Euros – went head-to-head and it was Kane who threatened most.

He went close with a free-kick but saw his moment when Musiala danced into the area and Vazquez felled him with a forward’s tackle.

Kane’s superb penalty record since missing in the World Cup quarter-final continued as he struck home soon after Sané’s goal.

Chances at both ends flowed from there on before Bayern defender Kim Min Jae, playing because Matthijs de Ligt was injured, brought down Rodrygo in the box and his fellow Brazilian Vinicius did the honours.

This pairing is the most played duel in the history of the European Cup and Champions League, with 27 meetings now having taken place.

The two teams met in the semi-final in 2012, which Bayern edged on penalties, but the Spaniards triumphed in their most recent last-four clashes in 2014 and 2018.

In Wednesday’s second semi-final, 1997 winners Borussia Dortmund host Paris-Saint Germain, beaten by Bayern in the 2020 final when ex-Dortmund coach Tuchel bossed the Parisians.

Dortmund are in their first semi since 2013, a season which ended with them losing to Bayern in an all-German final at Wembley. A repeat could occur this term, but Tuchel’s men must excel in Madrid.

“It is half-time, it was a very up and own game. it was pretty decent from us today and we’ll see about next week,” Bayern midfielder Konrad Laimer said.

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EPL: David Raya reacts to mistake in Arsenal’s 3-2 win over Spurs

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Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya has said that he is open to learning new things through his own mistakes.

Some of such mistakes were prevalent during Arsenal’s 3-2 win against Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday.

Arsenal were 3-0 up in the first half through Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s own-goal and strikes from Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz.

However, Tottenham came back from the break stronger and were handed a way back in the 64th minute when Raya’s attempted lob ended up at the feet of Cristian Romero at the edge of the box.

The Argentine finished off the chance to make it 3-1.Son Heung-min then scored from the penalty spot with three minutes to go in regulation following a foul by Declan Rice on Ben Davies.

However, Mikel Arteta’s side somehow fended their north London rivals off for the remainder of the contest.

Raya told Sky Sports,
“I’ve learnt from making mistakes. If you don’t make mistakes, you don’t learn. It’s a part of football, everybody makes mistakes.

“But the thing [is] when a keeper makes a mistake, it’s a goal, it’s more seen, more talked [about], compared to a striker missing a tap-in or whatever.

“But it’s just part of football and you learn from that. That’s the most important thing – you learn from the mistakes.”

 

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