Scott Murray's Blog, page 141

February 21, 2018

The Fiver | Rope-a-dope tactics working like a dream

Antonio Conte’s Chelsea very nearly did a number on Barcelona. The Catalan giants aren’t quite what they were, so the Londoners were more than happy to let them amble about in midfield for ages achieving the square root of chuff all, before letting Willian run at them at high speed and with great purpose quite a lot. After bothering the frame of the goal twice in the first half, the Brazilian eventually got the break he deserved in the second, Conte’s rope-a-dope tactics working like a dream. But Lionel Messi got his team out of jail by latching on to an uncharacteristic defensive error, finally adding his name to the elite list of players who have scored a goal for Barça against Chelsea in Big Cup, joining greats such as Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto’o and Plain Old John Terry. Hey, the wee man doesn’t at all look out of place in that exalted company, does he? But then he is one of the best 50 players of all time, probably, at least post-war, so in fairness that’s to be expected. We digress.

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Published on February 21, 2018 07:54

February 20, 2018

Chelsea 1-1 Barcelona: Champions League – as it happened

Willian scored one and hit the woodwork twice, but Lionel Messi denied Chelsea victory.

9.37pm GMT

Chelsea - especially Willian - were marvellous tonight. On another evening, the irrepressible Brazilian winger would walk off with the match ball, having creamed shots off both posts in the first half. It looked like his one second-half goal would be enough, as his team-mates held their shape and defended well. But there’s no stopping that Lionel Messi in the Champions League, and it’s advantage Barca ahead of the second leg at Camp Nou.

9.35pm GMT

90 min +2: Drinkwater skittles Busquets in the midfield. He’s certainly made an impression on Barcelona since coming on.

9.34pm GMT

90 min +1: Iniesta is replaced by Andre Gomes. “Chelsea may have played well and all that, but they’re not Dundee United though, are they?” asks Simon ‘four wins out of four’ McMahon. “Maybe if they had John Clark or Iain Ferguson on the bench...”

9.33pm GMT

90 min: Busquets is booked for an outrageously cynical trip on Hazard as the Chelsea man dribbles down the middle of the park. There will be three minutes of added time.

9.32pm GMT

88 min: Drinkwater clatters into Suarez in the centre circle. Suarez will need some attention. Barca take their time over the medical matters, much to the displeasure of Chelsea’s players and supporters.

9.30pm GMT

87 min: Vidal dribbles into the Chelsea box down the right. He hooks into the centre for Suarez, but a friendly deflection loops the ball up into the arms of Courtois. Chelsea can’t afford to let Barca complete a smash and grab.

9.29pm GMT

86 min: Hazard is stopped in his tracks as he bustles down the left. Free kick. Chelsea load the box, but take it short. Willian considers shooting, but there’s no room for him. The ball is teed up for Moses, who screws a weak effort wide left. Chelsea claim a corner from a deflection, but they’re not getting it, and Morata is booked for complaining a tad too much.

9.27pm GMT

84 min: Drinkwater replaces Fabregas. Chelsea could do with a winner from him, as well.

9.26pm GMT

83 min: Morata comes on for Pedro. Chelsea could do with a winner from him.

9.25pm GMT

82 min: Umtiti faffs around in his own area instead of putting his boot through a clearance, and concedes a needless corner. Chelsea take it quickly, and hit it long. Rudiger meets it at the far post, but doesn’t quite connect. Half a chance. Maybe a third.

9.24pm GMT

80 min: Rudiger is booked for a clumsy challenge on Sergi Roberto in the midfield. His studs skimmed off the top of the ball in a 50-50 challenge and clattered his man. For a second it looks like kicking off, but it all calms down quickly enough. Suarez the peacemaker, naturally.

9.23pm GMT

79 min: Stamford Bridge has fallen quiet. And no wonder: Chelsea had a golden chance to make it 2-0, and now look.

9.21pm GMT

77 min: Seconds before the equaliser, Suarez had gone over in the area. He was chasing a ball down the right, and had his ankles clipped by Rudiger. Maybe just outside the box, but there’s inches in it, and with Suarez falling inside the area you’ve seen them given, rightly or wrongly. Either way, it didn’t matter in the end, as Messi levelled after the next phase of play. Suarez was later booked for arguing the toss.

9.20pm GMT

Messi finally gets his first goal against Chelsea. Barca capitalise on a mistake by Christensen in the left-back position. A misplaced pass flies across the face of the area. Iniesta picks it up and drives into the box from the left, past a flailing Azpilicueta. He pulls the ball back to Messi, who slams into the bottom left from the spot!

9.18pm GMT

74 min: Some gloriously intricate footwork from Hazard in the centre circle. He flicks the ball to Willian on the right. Willian is in acres! He should play the ball inside to Kante, but hesitates and is stripped of possession.

9.16pm GMT

73 min: Barca pitch tent in front of the Chelsea box awhile. But the men in blue are snapping at their heels, and closing every gap. There’s no way through. Iniesta tries to storm into the box down the inside left, but again the door is slammed shut. This is a marvellous defensive performance by the home side.

9.14pm GMT

71 min: Willian gets a little treatment after taking a ball flush in his startled coupon. He’ll be fine to continue after a drenching with the magic sponge.

9.13pm GMT

69 min: Suarez tries to get something going for Barca. But possession is lost, and Kante tears up the other end. He’s got Willian to his right, and should send him clear on goal, but the eventual pass isn’t all that. Willian still tries to get a shot away on the edge of the box, but Barca are back in number by this point, and the ball ricochets its way through to ter Stegen.

9.11pm GMT

67 min: Messi picks up possession to the right of the D and glides to the left. For the second time tonight, he’s got a very brief window through which to shoot; for the second time tonight, he hesitates, and drops a shoulder in the hope of making more room instead. Chelsea crowd him out, like they did before.

9.09pm GMT

65 min: Barca are pressing Chelsea back, having picked up the pace a bit. But there’s no route into the Chelsea area; the home side continue to look impregnable.

9.07pm GMT

63 min: Barca respond immediately by swapping Paulinho for Aleix Vidal. Stamford Bridge is jumping!

9.06pm GMT

A little bit of possession upfield for Chelsea. Fabregas has a shot from just outside the box. It’s not a good effort, but takes a little nick off a defender and it’s a corner. And from the set piece, the ball’s worked to Willian just outside the area. He takes a touch to the right, and from the edge of the D, whistles a firmly struck, out-and-in, low curler into the bottom right! He deserves that all right, after hitting both uprights in the first half!

9.04pm GMT

61 min: Another corner for Barca down the left. Once again, Rakitic sends it sailing harmlessly into the arms of Courtois.

9.03pm GMT

60 min: Barcelona are down to just 71% possession now. Thing is, it’s Chelsea who can feel aggrieved at not being a goal or two up.

9.02pm GMT

59 min: Suarez diddles Christensen down the left with an astonishing on-a-sixpence turn. He earns a corner. Rakitic takes it. Courtois catches it. From the sublime to the not very sublime.

9.00pm GMT

57 min: This half hasn’t quite got going yet. Both sides will be happy enough with how it’s panned out, for differing reasons. “It’s a shame to see Suarez so quiet, considering he had one of the all-time most entertaining individual performances against Chelsea,” writes Matt Dony. “In the same game he bit Ivanovic, he also created a goal for Sturridge with an OUTRAGEOUS pass, conceded a penalty, and scored a last-minute equaliser. A quarter of that tonight (ideally not the bite) would light this game up.”

8.59pm GMT

55 min: Barca continue to ball hog. Chelsea haven’t launched a serious attack since the restart.

8.57pm GMT

53 min: Barcelona are dominating possession again, but not doing a great deal with it. Chelsea are holding their shape very nicely, as they’ve done all night. Ah hold on ... suddenly Iniesta bursts forward, slipping a pass down the left for Suarez, who breaks into the box and sends a low shot across Courtois towards the bottom right. Courtois gets light fingertips to it, and deflects the ball away from danger.

8.54pm GMT

51 min: Pedro drives down the left and slips a ball forward for Hazard, just inside the box. Hazard falls with Umtiti behind him. The crowd scream for a penalty, but Hazard doesn’t, having slipped and fallen backwards under his own steam. The referee waves play on. Barca clear.

8.52pm GMT

49 min: Iniesta breaks through a Moses tackle and strides down the inside-left channel. He’s got Alba on the overlap, but instead opts to shoot for the top left from distance. Nope! Just for a second, though, memories of 2009 flashed through everyone’s mind.

8.50pm GMT

47 min: Barcelona start the half by hogging the ball. Messi then slips a pass down the right for Sergi Roberto, who mishits his cross but nearly Koncheskys the ball into the top left. That would have been the fluke to end all flukes. Goal kick.

8.48pm GMT

And we’re off again! Barca get the ball rolling for the second half. No changes.

8.46pm GMT

Don’t forget there’s another game going on tonight. Nick Ames has all the details of Bayern-Besiktas! The German champions are a goal and a man up at the break.

8.37pm GMT

Half-time reading: This is worth 15 minutes of your time, and then some. Andy Bull tells the story of the Japanese kayak star who spiked his rival’s drink with performance-enhancing drugs.

8.33pm GMT

And that’s that for the opening 45. Barcelona have bossed the possession stats. But they haven’t made Thibaut Courtois do much work. Meanwhile the preposterously unfortunate Willian has caromed shots off both posts. Give or take a couple of inches, Chelsea would be a couple of goals up. It’s all set up for a humdinger of a second half. Stay tuned!

8.32pm GMT

45 min: Messi goes dancing down the inside-left channel. He heads towards the byline and pulls a low ball into the centre. Azpilicueta hooks clear.

8.30pm GMT

44 min: Chelsea have finally found their A-game. They won’t want to hear the half-time whistle.

8.29pm GMT

42 min: Chelsea earn a free kick just inside the Barca half. Fabregas floats it into the mixer. Pique heads it clear, although not with any great conviction. Hazard meets the dropping ball, just outside the box, and sends a dipping screamer inches over the crossbar!

8.28pm GMT

41 min: Now Willian hits the other post! He picks a loose ball up to the left of the Barca D. There’s not much time or space to play with. But he cocks his leg back an inch or two, and with little backlift crashes a stunning rising shot off the left-hand post! Once again, the ball rebounds to safety with ter Stegen rooted to the spot.

8.25pm GMT

38 min: Messi tries to break into the Chelsea box. He’s stopped, but it’s after-you by the entire Chelsea defence, and Paulinho picks up the loose ball. He slips the ball wide left for Alba, who earns a corner off Moses. Pique meets the corner with his head six yards out, but he’s under pressure from Rudiger and his effort flashes well wide right. Chelsea again creating trouble for themselves.

8.23pm GMT

36 min: Chelsea have done very well to fight their way back into this match. They’ve done it with no little panache and style. Hazard and Willian have been busy and impressive. And finally it’s Barca’s turn to do a bit of ball chasing. It’s mainly in the middle of the park, but it represents something of a turnaround.

8.20pm GMT

34 min: The ever-excellent Willian drops a shoulder to zip in from the left. He skates past Busquets, and curls with great power towards the top corner from 20 yards. The ball hits the right-hand post flush, and rebounds to safety. So unlucky, for ter Stegen was beaten all ends up. A magnificent effort!

8.19pm GMT

32 min: Messi nearly breaks free with a power dribble down the left. Hazard executes a delicious backflick in midfield, and isn’t far away from setting Chelsea off on the break. Nearly. Not quite. All very pretty.

8.17pm GMT

30 min: Alonso curls the free kick weakly towards the bottom right. Ter Stegen flops on it like a blanket. Not a great effort. But after being on the ropes awhile, that was a welcome foray into Barca territory.

8.16pm GMT

29 min: And this is much, much better. First Hazard isn’t too far away from sending Pedro scuttling goalwards with a clever reverse pass down the middle. Then Willian goes haring down the centre of the pitch, forcing Rakitic into a panic. The Barca man tumbles him over from behind, 25 yards out. That’s a free kick in a very dangerous position - Willian Country - and a deserved booking.

8.15pm GMT

28 min: Hazard and Moses try to get something going down the right flank. Barca aren’t having it. A little better from Chelsea: baby steps, and all that, as they try to work their way back into this match.

8.14pm GMT

26 min: Chelsea are a little rattled right now, having seen so little of the ball. Courtois sends a weak kick upfield and Barca are soon coming back at Chelsea, the home fans groaning in frustration. Chelsea swarm to ensure Iniesta doesn’t get space to shoot, but they’re beginning to cause problems for themselves now.

8.11pm GMT

24 min: Rare hesitation from Messi saves Chelsea. Suarez and Iniesta combine well down the left. The latter slips a ball through the Chelsea box. Messi arrives to meet it on the penalty spot, but instead of shooting first time - he’s got a window - he drops a shoulder and feints to the right. The window slams shut. Messi looks to the sky in frustration; he knows he gave one up there.

8.09pm GMT

22 min: Suarez buzzes around like Suarez does. His presence causes Christensen to shank a simple sideways pass out of play for a corner. Nothing comes from the set piece, but the visitors are totally on top now. They’ve enjoyed 75% of possession so far.

8.07pm GMT

20 min: Chelsea are struggling to keep hold of the ball right now. Courtois hoicks a goal kick straight out of play, and they’re chasing around for possession again.

8.05pm GMT

18 min: Messi drops deep and tries to release Alba into the Chelsea box with a sliderule pass down the inside left. Just a little too much juice on it, and that’s a goal kick. Barca are beginning to dominate possession after the reasonably equal opening exchanges.

8.03pm GMT

16 min: Suarez slips a pass down the left for Messi, who dinks one into the middle for Paulinho. The Barca midfielder has outfoxed Alonso, who has no clue where he is. Paulinho’s free on the spot, and can aim his header anywhere. But in trying to dispatch the ball into the left-hand portion of the net, all he can do is send it sailing harmlessly wide left. Chelsea were opened up there.

8.01pm GMT

14 min: Barcelona do their stroking-it-around-the-back thing again. It’s served them well over the years.

8.00pm GMT

12 min: Hazard goes dribbling in the Messi style down the left, rides a couple of challenges and reaches the byline. His pullback can’t quite find Fabregas, and eventually the pressure’s released when Kante handles on the edge of the box. But Barca were backtracking in a panic for a bit there.

7.59pm GMT

10 min: Messi dribbles with great purpose down the middle, then slips a pass right for Paulinho. A low fizzing cross towards the near post nearly confuses Christensen, but the defender sorts his feet out to trap and clear. For a micro-second, it looked as though Christensen might prod that into the bottom-right corner of his own net. But all’s OK.

7.56pm GMT

9 min: Rudiger, deep on the left, flashes a stunning high crossfield pass to Moses, who tears down the right and earns a corner. All the big lads come up for it. And it’s Rudiger who wins a header, ten yards out. He’s not being challenged in particularly convincing fashion, and should really do better than the weak effort that dribbles wide left of goal.

7.53pm GMT

7 min: Alba bodychecks Willian as the Chelsea man makes good down the inside-right channel. A free kick, 35 yards out. Chelsea load the box. Fabregas delivers in the dismal fashion, and first man Busquets heads it clear. A nice bright start, though, both teams showing in attack.

7.52pm GMT

5 min: Hazard slips a pass down the right. Willian engages Jordi Alba in a foot race. The Barca man wins. That was some battle. Chelsea come again, though, Hazard gliding in from the right and unleashing a screamer towards the top left from the edge of the box. It’s a little high and wide, but not so far away. Ter Stegen was at full stretch, and wasn’t necessarily getting there had it been on target.

7.50pm GMT

3 min: Suarez, Alba and Messi combine down the left. Suddenly Messi is sashaying into the Chelsea area. He dinks a cross into the centre, but there’s nobody in burgundy there. Alonso clears. Barca come back at Chelsea, Messi again dribbling down the left. Azpilicueta crunches the little master with a fine tackle in the area, and the home side clear once more.

7.48pm GMT

2 min: Barca take the opportunity to knock the ball around the back awhile, getting a feel of the thing.

7.47pm GMT

And we’re off! Chelsea get the ball rolling for the first quarter of this two-legged set-to! A huge roar greets the kick-off. Moses plays the ball down the right in the hope of setting Willian away, but the flag goes up for offside.

7.42pm GMT

The teams are out! Chelsea are in their famous blue kit; Barca are forced into third-choice burgundy. A wonderful atmosphere at the Bridge, as you’d expect when two of European football’s behemoths take each other on. It’s the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham versus Catalunya! We’ll be off in a minute, once pennants have been exchanged, hands have been shaken, and Zadok the Priest has been ritually disembowelled.

7.36pm GMT

Pre-match team talk. Can Chelsea see off Barca tonight? It’s a big ask, but it’s perfectly possible, according to the good doctor, our very own Sid Lowe.

7.20pm GMT

Chelsea-Barcelona: not entirely a modern rivalry. Here’s Paul Johnson to explain: “It’s not entirely a new fixture: they met in the 1966 Fairs Cup semi-final, 0-2, 2-0 and 0-5 play-off. The home leg included Charlie Cooke’s debut and two own goals from memory. The tie was also delayed by a week when Tommy Docherty arranged for Fulham Fire Brigade to flood the pitch so the match would be postponed and key players could recover from injury. Happy days.” Ah yes, the old Fairs Cup. Not a competition organised by Uefa, you see, so they don’t consider it an official part of the European records. Which is a bit of a rum do, all told, and kind of distorts the picture. I should have known better. Anyway, that’s a marvellous Tommy Docherty story. You have to love The Doc. In lieu of hot Champions League action, there another marvellous example of his trying it on, at the expense of his old pal Bill Shankly, in the second story of this old Joy of Six.

7.00pm GMT

Chelsea make seven changes to the side sent out against Hull City in the FA Cup last Friday. But that was a slightly random selection, given the Championship opposition, and with this game on the horizon. Perhaps it’s more instructive to compare tonight’s teamsheet to the XI named for the last big Premier League game, against West Bromwich Albion eight evenings ago. Just the two changes, then: Davide Zappacosta and Olivier Giroud dropping to the bench, making way for Marcos Alonso and Willian.

Barcelona meanwhile are operating an if-it-ain’t-broke policy. They strolled to a 2-0 win at Eibar on Saturday, so have named exactly the same starting XI.

6.58pm GMT

Chelsea: Courtois, Azpilicueta, Christensen, Rudiger, Moses, Fabregas, Kante, Alonso, Willian, Hazard, Pedro.
Subs: Caballero, Drinkwater, Morata, Giroud, Zappacosta, Cahill, Hudson-Odoi.

Barcelona: ter Stegen, Sergi Roberto, Pique, Umtiti, Jordi Alba, Rakitic, Sergio Busquets, Paulinho, Messi, Luis Suarez, Iniesta.
Subs: Cillessen, Denis Suarez, Dembele, Digne, Andre Gomes, Aleix Vidal, Vermaelen.

4.29pm GMT

Chelsea versus Barcelona is a thoroughly modern rivalry. These two storied clubs never once played each other during the last millennium. Since 2000, though, they’ve ran into each other regularly. And drama’s never been in short supply.

The clubs first met in the quarter-finals of the Champions League in April 2000. Tore Andre Flo was Chelsea’s two-goal hero in a 3-1 first-leg win for the Blues at Stamford Bridge. But Rivaldo, Luis Figo and Patrick Kluivert all found the net at the Nou Camp, Barca winning 5-1 after extra time to make it through to the semis, 6-4 on aggregate.

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Published on February 20, 2018 13:44

Attempting to engage a professional athlete in the throwing of hands | The Fiver

In the 1966-67 season, Celtic Football Club won five trophies. Five! The Scottish First Division. The Scottish Cup. The Scottish League Cup. Big Cup. The Glasgow Cup. They even registered a couple of notable friendly wins, 4-1 over English champions-elect Manchester United and 1-0 against the new Spanish champs Real Madrid. A quintuple, though! A decent haul. The Fiver dredges up this memory today merely to remind Pep Guardiola that, y’know, these things can be done. “Come on, that isn’t real!” he had scoffed a couple of months back, when asked whether his Manchester City side could win all three domestic trophies plus the big European pot this season. “That is not going to happen! Of course not!” And he’s been proved correct.

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Published on February 20, 2018 08:56

February 17, 2018

2018 Winter Olympics: gold for Yarnold and Britain on day eight – as it happened

Lizzy Yarnold takes skeleton gold to make GB history
Elise Christie suffers further agony after crashing Latest medal table | Full event schedule

2.33pm GMT

The ice hockey ends 4-0 to Russia. The Russians clinch the group and progress automatically to the quarter-finals. The US face a qualifying playoff on Tuesday. “My favourite thing about ice hockey is the Zamboni machine that cleans the ice,” writes Tom Lutz. “It is very pleasing to see the ice go from marked to nice and shiny.” I think we can all identify with that. But of course today is all about another glorious slider: Elizabeth Anne Yarnold MBE, who became the first two-time gold-winning Winter Olympian in British history with a simply stunning run of 51.46 seconds on her last slide in the skeleton, a performance which both seized the day and got into final competitor Janine Flock’s head. Sport at its very best. And let’s not forget the bronze medals secured by Laura Deas and Izzy Atkin. It’s been a wonderful day for Britain ... nearly. Let’s hope Elise Christie recovers from her crash on the short track, and earns some redemption later in the week. Thanks for reading, everyone!

2.17pm GMT

Kamil Stoch wins gold for Poland in the men’s large hill ski jump! He retains the title he won in Sochi, with 285.7 points, beating Germany’s Andreas Wellinger by 3.4 points. Wellinger’s final effort was a massive 142 metres, 5.5 longer than the Pole’s jump, but the wind factor did for him. The German’s happy enough, though, with gold in the normal hill already in his back pocket. The pair embrace sportingly at the bottom of the slope, and that’s Poland’s first medal of these Games.

2.08pm GMT

A report on Great Britain’s Greatest Winter Olympian? Here you go!

2.03pm GMT

“Right. I’m all over this now.” It’s Lutz, isn’t it, readers. “As has been the case so often recently between Americans and Russians, it’s Putin’s team that are in complete control. It’s now 4-0 in the third. In mitigation, the Russian team is filled with professionals who know exactly what they’re doing while the Americans are mostly plucky amateurs and journeymen. Make of that what you will.”

1.53pm GMT

We’ve updated our medal table. Just in case you fancy looking at it. No other reason.

1.46pm GMT

Russia are 3-0 up on the USA in the ice hockey. “OAR scored the third with 0.2 seconds left in the second period,” reports our man Tom Lutz,

a large bag of pretzels balanced on his chest
hard at work in New York. He missed the second goal because he was watching the skeleton. Oh Lizzy! How could you!

1.42pm GMT

Lizzy Yarnold is now Britain’s most decorated Winter Olympian. She’s the only athlete to win two golds. That puts her ahead of figure skaters Jeannette Altwegg (1952 gold, 1948 bronze) and Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean (1984 gold, 1994 bronze). This is also the first time Britain have won three Winter Olympic medals in the same day, thanks to the bronze medals picked up by Yarnold’s fellow slider Laura Deas and slopestyle skier Izzy Atkin.

1.33pm GMT

Yarnold smashed her own track record by two tenths of a second! What a way to claim gold. That’s what champions do. She celebrates wildly; Deas, who finished in third, 0.62 behind her team-mate, is in floods of tears. A joyous scene. Spare a thought for poor Janine Flock, though, who had gold there for the taking, but couldn’t respond to the challenge thrown down by Yarnold. That was an astonishing slide! Talk about taking control of a situation ... while heading down the side of a mountain head first. What heart, what nerve, what talent. And Britain’s domination of the women’s skeleton continues apace: bronze for Alex Coomber in 2002, silver for Shelley Rudman in 2006, gold for Amy Williams in 2010 and now gold for Lizzy Yarnold in 2014 and 2018! This is most acceptable behaviour!

1.27pm GMT

And it’s bronze for Laura Deas! Flock’s final run is poor, slow out of the blocks and never in perfect control. A bang-average time of 52.12 sees her drop out of the medals altogether; the pain is clear in her eyes when she removes her helmet. She’ll rue a dreadful run that cost her a medal. But the gold itself was won by Yarnold’s brilliant run: fast from the start, she didn’t panic when she took a small hit halfway down, and recovered to record a blistering final time and seize the day! What a performance by Great Britain’s double skeleton gold champion! Gold in Sochi in 2014 and now another four years later!

1.23pm GMT

Lizzy Yarnold makes the penultimate run of the skeleton! And could it be the decisive one? She goes off at great speed. Even a double hit through one turn doesn’t slow her down. She takes the tape in 51.46, and leads Loelling by 0.45 seconds! It’s all down to Janine Flock!

1.21pm GMT

Jacqueline Loelling isn’t known for starting fast, but she’s out of the blocks quickly this time. For a second it looks as though she’s lost her momentum, sliding hysterically around one corner, but makes it up through the last section. And how! A stunning run of 51.83 puts her top by 0.17 seconds!

1.19pm GMT

Deas, in fourth place after the third run, starts her final slide in brisk fashion. She’s ahead of Hermann almost immediately. Nearly a third of a second at one point. She slows a bit through the final turns, but that’s a run of 51.91 which puts her in the lead by 0.08 seconds with three athletes remaining! Can she cling on for a medal?

1.17pm GMT

Tina Hermann shaves half a second off Priedulena’s time. She moves into first, but it probably won’t be enough for the medals. Her German compatriot Anna Fernstaedt, at 21 the youngest in the field, starts slow and can’t usurp the current leader. Here comes Laura Deas!

1.13pm GMT

Kimberley Bos of the Netherlands shaves six hundredths off Vathje’s total. Then Lelde Priedulena of Latvia, the lightest starter in the field, flies down in 52.09 seconds, besting Bos overall by one tenth of a second. Six athletes left, and two of them British.

1.10pm GMT

The business end of the women’s skeleton approaches. With eight competitors left to slide, Canada’s Elizabeth Vathje is in the winner’s circle with a total of 3:28.65. A blistering final run of 51.82 has propelled her to the top right now, but she’ll end the competition outside the medals, and will be ruing her inconsistency: a first run of 52.45 did her from the off, really.

1.06pm GMT

Anastasiya Kuzmina has romped to victory in the women’s 12.5km mass start biathlon, finally securing gold after two silver-medal finishes in the pursuit and individual races. She led from the get-go, and only missed one of her 20 shots on the range, though there was time for some drama near the end. She arrived at the fourth shoot with a large lead, and pinged off her first four discs before having a long think about the fifth. She eventually missed it, as the rest of the field arrived at the range. Despite being forced to ski a 150m penalty lap, she maintained her lead and crossed the line waving a Slovakian flag. Darya Domracheva of Belarus took silver, 18.8 seconds behind Kuzmina, while Norway’s Tiril Eckhoff took bronze, 27.7 seconds off the pace.

12.49pm GMT

Some news of the men’s ice hockey, courtesy of our man in

Pyeongchang
his fancy New York pile, Tom Lutz. “The USA are facing their old rivals the, er, OAR. And the Russians are 1-0 up with four minutes left in the first. Remember that most of the best Canadian and American (and Russian) players are missing because the NHL wouldn’t release them for the Olympics. Spoilsports.” I wonder whether NBC will call that result early. Also breaking on the Peacock Network: Natalia Bestemianova and Andrei Bukin win the 1984 ice dancing. Nobody’s going to fall for that Bolero nonsense, right?

12.35pm GMT

It’s the men’s 1,000m short track. Can reigning world champion Seo Yira bring home the bacon for South Korea? The patrons of the Gangneung Ice Arena split their love between Seo and his compatriot Lim Hyojun. But neither are going to make it! Both are taken out when Shaolin Sandor Liu tries to burst through on the inside. All three skitter hysterically off the track! There’s only two skaters still up on their feet! Samuel Girard of Canada - who only made it through to the final on a referee’s advancement - takes the tape in 1:24.650! John-Henry Krueger of the USA picks up silver. Seo gets up and finishes in third, taking bronze. Liu is penalised for cleaning out the Koreans. He’s Elise Christie’s partner. What a day they’ve had.

12.24pm GMT

While we wait for the men’s short track 1,000m final, some admin for you. Everyone likes admin on a Saturday morning, right? Anyway, sign up for this: it’s The Recap, our unmissable daily Olympic email specifically designed so you don’t, er, miss anything. A one-stop shop for Olympic news. It contains everything you need. I’m going to stop writing this entry now.

12.20pm GMT

So to the final Christie is missing. Choi Minjeong, the world-record holder and favourite, hits the front early, but she’s soon usurped by the Italian Arianna Fontana. Kim Boutain of Canada takes over, then Jorien Ter Mors. With four laps to go, the home favourite looks blocked in. But then she turns on the jets, an incredible burst of speed which simply lays waste the entire field! She powers past four skaters on the outside, and crosses the line in 2:24.948, nearly a whole second ahead of second-placed Li Jinyu of China! Boutin takes bronze. What a race by Choi! A class apart!

12.10pm GMT

An understandably distressed Elise Christie has been taken to hospital for a scan after her crash in the 1,500m short-track speed skating semi-finals. Sean Ingle has the latest from Pyeongchang.

12.06pm GMT

Back to the skeleton, where Nigeria’s Simidele Adeagbo puts in her best slide of the competition so far: 53.73. She’s still rooted in last position, but her mood is celebratory as she jumps off her sled. And so it should be: heading downhill on a tray, head first at 75mph, is nothing to be sneezed at. And with her run, that’s the end of the third heat. Janine Flock of Austria leads the way with a combined time of 2:35.80. A mere two-hundredths of a second behind her: Lizzy Yarnold of Great Britain. The halfway leader Jacqueline Loelling is in the bronze-medal position, 0.10 behind Flock. Laura Deas is 0.19 behind the leader in fourth. It’s going to be one hell of a final run.

11.52am GMT

Words don’t come easy, as the great French philosopher FR David once said. Fortunately the Guardian has a picture desk to field that problem. Click below for some photos that will make you feel simultaneously freezing cold and warm and snuggly inside.

11.47am GMT

Laura Deas, starting the third run in fourth place, is up next. The British number two is down in 51.96, her first sub-52-second slide of the competition. She remains in fourth place, 0.19 seconds off Flock’s lead.

11.45am GMT

Over to the skeleton, then. More drama coming up? It’s in the post, isn’t it. The leader after two runs is out first: Jacqueline Loelling of Germany. She’s admitted to feeling very nervous ahead of today’s runs, and she can’t get under 52 seconds for her third run: 52.04. Janine Flock of Austria is second placed, so second out: she makes it in 51.92. And then it’s the reigning Olympic champion Lizzy Yarnold, down in 51.86. So as things stand, she’s 0.02 seconds behind Flock in first place. Loelling’s nerves have seen her give up her halfway lead in double-quick time.

11.38am GMT

The referee decides to penalise Christie. So the slim chance of Christie advancing thanks to a referee’s decision is gone. It was a fair call, Christie was trying to take a line that was never there for her. She left too much ground to make up on the last bend, and desperation did for her. More worryingly, with her favourite 1,000m discipline still to come later in the week, she’s being stretchered off. It’s possible she’s been hurt by Li’s blade, which met her leg with some force when the pair tangled and flew off the track. God speed. Li is advanced to the final.

11.33am GMT

And now the final semi-final race. Elise Christie hangs back in the opening exchanges. She smoothly moves up to third with nine laps to go. But then the speed is ratcheted up with four laps remaining. Christie drops to fifth. She turns on the jets, and at the bell is battling with Li Jinyu and the leader, and world-record holder, Choi Minjeong. The Korean is going to win. It’s between Christie and Li on the final turn. Christie tries to round Li on the outside. There’s a collision, Li goes over ... and takes Christie out! More heartbreak - and possible injury from Li’s blade - for Christie. Petra Jaszapati of Hungary goes through in second behind Choi.

11.26am GMT

Charlotte Gilmartin is up in the second semi-final heat. She’s up in second early doors, but soon drops back into the pack and with six laps to go crashes to the ice after clipping a competitor’s trailing leg. She grins ruefully, before getting up and finishing the race anyway. Jorien Ter Mors of the Netherlands and Italy’s Arianna Fontana make it through.

11.22am GMT

Here we go, then, the semis of the women’s 1,500m short-track skate. The first of three races is a dramatic one: Marianne St Gelais, the 2016 world champion, crashed out in a collision with the home favourite and eventual race winner Kim Alang. Did Kim move across to block St Gelais? The referees are having a good look. Did she legitimately hold her line, or move across to deliberately block? In fact they’ve penalised St Gelais. That looked a very harsh decision on the Canadian, but the home fans erupt in glee. Kim goes through to the final with Canada’s Kim Boutin.

11.15am GMT

Meanwhile here’s the big shock story of the Games so far ... now in video form! Get clicking, please!

11.08am GMT

Of course, it’s already been a successful day for the British team. Izzy Atkin earlier became the first British skier to win a medal at the Olympics, claiming bronze in the women’s slopestyle. Our man in Pyeongchang, Sean ‘Seanie’ Ingle, has already told the story using lovely old words ...

11.01am GMT

No luck for the British entrant in the men’s 1,000m short-track speed skating. Farrell Treacy was well off the pace in the third quarter-final heat, trailing home in last place. All hopes at the Gangneung Ice Arena today rest on Elise Christie and Charlotte Gilmartin, then.

10.51am GMT

It was apt that Marit Bjoergen proved the difference between Norway and Sweden in the women’s 4x5km cross-country ski. Today’s gold is her 13th medal of a storied career in the Games, and it puts her in a tie for most Winter Olympic medals ever with biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, also of Norway. She can overtake her compatriot - who hoovered up all his gongs between 1998 and 2014 - and become the most decorated Winter Olympian ever with a medal next week in the women’s team sprint relay or the 50km mass start.

10.38am GMT

The roof comes off the stadium as the world-record holder Choi Minjeong wins her heat with insouciant ease. The semis come along in just under one of your hours.

10.32am GMT

Here comes Elise Christie. She could do without any more heartbreak, so a nice easy qualification would be most pleasant. The 1,000m is her more favoured discipline, yet she’s the world champion in this event, so she’s got genuine hopes of a medal in this pursuit. For a while, British hearts were in mouths as she was stuck in fifth spot for most of this heat. But with a couple of circuits to go, she took the long route on the outside and burned past the field. She goes through to the semis in first spot in her heat: 2:29.316.

10.26am GMT

Norway have won the women’s 4x5km cross-country relay. It was a two-way battle with Sweden at the end, nip and tuck until the very last stretch, when Marit Bjoergen turned on the afterburners and pulled away from Stina Nilsson. In the end, two seconds separated the teams: Norway crossed the line in 51 minutes, 24.3 seconds. Russia came in third, 41.3 seconds further behind the front two but nevertheless very happy with their performance, having surprisingly led in the early stages before falling away.

10.20am GMT

To the short-track skating, and the women’s 1,500-metre heats. Kathryn Thomson was well off the pace in the second heat, and won’t be advancing. But better news for the GB team in heat three, as Charlotte Gilmartin crosses the line in 2:29.005. That’s third spot, and she’ll make it to the semi-finals. Elise Christie will run in heat five.

10.00am GMT

Some final scores in the ice hockey. Finland set the seal on a 7-2 win over Sweden in the women’s quarter-finals; they’ll meet the USA in the semis. Canada play Russia (well, y’know) in the other one. Sweden will meet Japan at the semi-final stage of the 5th-8th classification tournament. Meanwhile Switzerland’s men have beaten Korea 8-0 in their Group A preliminary game; they’re now third in the standings behind the Czech Republic and Canada. Korean stay bottom.

9.48am GMT

Metaphorical punch in the Gut dept. Spare a thought for poor Lara Gut of Switzerland, another Alpine skier stunned by Ester Ledecka’s astonishing smash-and-grab in the super-G. Anna Veith of Austria might have had gold ripped from her grasp by 0.01 seconds, but at least she still goes home with a silver; Ledecka’s late run meant Gut missed out on bronze by ... you guessed it ... 0.01 seconds. As if that wasn’t bad enough, this isn’t the first time she’s ended up just outside the medals in the super-G at the Olympics: she was also fourth in the 2014 Sochi Games, 0.07 off the podium. Her reaction to more disappointment today really does make the heart yearn. Fighting back the tears from behind her goggles, she came up with this existential classic: “You have the feeling that everything is for nothing and your entire world is disappearing.” Oh my. The hurt will fade with time, of course, but still.

9.37am GMT

It’s now 6-2 to Finland against Sweden in the women’s ice-hockey quarter-final. The other day, they were playing the synth hook from Save a Prayer by Duran Duran over the PA; now it’s a trill from the Birdie Song. It’s an eternal early 80s at the Kwandong Hockey Centre. You’ll hear no complaints from this quarter. Anyway, that match looks as good as over, with less than six minutes left on the clock. Finland are within touching distance of a semi-final against the USA on Monday. Meanwhile the men’s preliminary match between Switzerland and Korea is certainly done and dusted: the Swiss are 6-0 up midway through the third period.

9.23am GMT

Turns out Yuzuru Hanyu’s gold has a special place in history: it’s the 1,000th gold medal since the Winter Games began! For the record, Charles Jewtraw, a 500m speed skater from the USA, won the first, back in 1924 in Chamonix, France. Here’s the only picture of those Games I could find at short notice. And there was me thinking the era of John Curry and Robin Cousins was a long time ago.

9.11am GMT

More in-case-you-missed-it news. Though not so much of a shock, this one. Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan, the biggest star in the glamorous world of figure skating, has defended his title. In doing so, he joins Karl Schafer of Austria (1932 and 1936) and Dick Button of the United States (1948 and 1952) as a two-time Olympic men’s champ, though he’s still one behind Gillis Grafström, who won in 1920, 1924 and 1928. The first of Grafström’s wins came at your common-or-garden summer Olympics, incidentally, before the Winter Games even existed. But we’re going way off piste here. Back to Hanyu, whose very participation in these Games was in doubt due to a recent ankle injury. “My injuries were more severe than I thought and I could not practice as much as I wanted to,” he says. “If you are a protagonist of a comic cartoon then the setting has been made. Now I have been cheered by so many people. I really am in bliss!”

8.54am GMT

Meanwhile in the men’s preliminary-stage ice-hockey, Switzerland have established a two-goal lead against their Korean hosts. The Swiss - twice bronze medalists, both times on home soil, at St Moritz in 1928 and 1948 - can thank Felicien Du Bois and Denis Hollenstein for that early advantage. That’ll give them succour after their opening 5-1 defeat by Canada.

8.43am GMT

Finland have taken control of their quarter-final in the women’s ice hockey against Sweden. Michelle Karvinen made it 4-0 with the best part of 13 minutes left in the second period, adding to first-period strikes by Petra Nieminen, Susanna Tapani and Riikka Valila. Sweden fought back, Pernilla Winberg smacking the puck off the crossbar, Emma Nordin squeezing one in to make it 4-1. But the Finns have just reestablished their four-goal cushion in short order, Karvinen sweeping home for her second of the match. It’s 5-1. The winner will play the USA in the semis.

8.31am GMT

In case you’ve just woken up with a start, your head addled with strong tea and confusion, not sure of what’s going on ... and no, I’m not projecting ... you’ll have missed the big story of the day so far, perhaps the biggest in a Winter Olympics for some time. It’s Ester Ledecka, the world champion snowboarder from the Czech Republic, winning the women’s super-G by 0.01 of a second from Austria’s Anna Veith. Poor Vieth, standing there in the winner’s circle, surely expecting to take gold, a look of confusion spreading across her face as Ledecka made off with her dreams. Ledecka was no less disbelieving as the realisation slowly dawned. Have I really done this? No. Nah. Erm. Hmm. Hey, wow! Can’t wait to hear the commentary as I crossed the line on NBC. The joy, heartbreak and drama of top-level sport at its very, very best. No medal for Lindsey Vonn, incidentally, as she pushed too hard through the final couple of turns and went wildly off piste. Anyway, our man Bryan Armen Graham has the story for you.

8.19am GMT

Thanks to Pádraig. There he goes, our beautiful world. You’re left with me ... and the curling result. Korea have wrapped up an 11-5 win over Great Britain’s men, something of a shock result seeing it’s their first victory in the round-robin matches. The handshakes fairly took the roof off the Gangneung curling emporium, and that’s put Britain’s chances of making it through to the semis in the balance. In their favour: games coming up against Italy, Denmark and Norway. But it might just come down to the final rubber against the USA. Britain are currently joint sixth in the table; they need to make top four. A nail-biting few days ahead.

8.00am GMT

I’m just about to hand over the blog to my colleague Scott Murray, so here’s a quick recap on the day so far at the Winter Olympics.

There have been two fantastic feel good stories. Izzy Atkin has become Britain’s first Olympic medal-winning skier, winning bronze in the ladies’ ski slopestyle, and Ester Ledecka, the world champion snowboarder from the Czech Republic, delivered one of the biggest upsets in Winter Olympics history, coming out of nowhere to win the women’s super-G.

7.51am GMT

Reuters has an interesting piece on how freestyle skiing Swiss teenager Mathilde Gremaud went from an ambulance on Friday to a silver medal on Saturday:

A day after being rushed to hospital in an ambulance after a training accident, Swiss teenager Mathilde Gremaud passed a concussion test on Saturday before grabbing a courageous silver medal in the slopestyle at the Pyeongchang Games.

7.42am GMT

The Guardian’s Sean Ingle has just filed a story on the feel good story of the day – Izzy Atkin becoming Britain’s first Olympic medal-winning skier.

7.37am GMT

From Reuters:

Ester Ledecka’s day – and probably her life – had just taken a surreal turn.

7.26am GMT

South Korea have taken a 10-5 lead over Britain in the men’s curling.

#KOR lead 10-5 vs #GBR in men's #curling Watch live: https://t.co/5HDGT7gk34 pic.twitter.com/uzTts5A9qQ

7.24am GMT

Canada’s loss to Czech Republic was the first time they have lost a men’s hockey game at the Olympics since 2010. This puts me in mind of the great Canadian power pop band the Pursuit Of Happiness’s tribute to the great Canadian ice hockey player Wayne Gretzky.

7.12am GMT

Also coming up later is ski jumping.

Because throwing yourself off the regular hill isn’t enough, men’s competition on the big hill starts at 7.30am/12.30pm/11.30pm (US east coast/UK/Australian east coast – again, sorry to every other time zone in the world), with the medal round scheduled for 8.30am/1.30pm/12.30am. Watch how the jumpers spread their skis in a V to increase their surface area and lean far forward to make their bodies function like an aeroplane wing.

6.57am GMT

Speaking of ice hockey, as I was below, the rivalry between the US and Russia goes back decades. It was a proxy war at times. It might have been called a cold war, but that was already taken. Who can forget the amazing 1980 “Miracle on Ice” victory by the Americans? (OK, I had forgotten about until I just got reminded of it, but you get the idea.)

The two nations face off again at 7.10am/12.10pm/11.10pm (US east coast/UK/Australian east coast – sorry to every other time zone in the world).

6.47am GMT

And just when you thought things couldn’t get any more exciting for Britain in the Winter Olympics, the women’s curling team have only beaten the great Danes 7-6 and face hosts South Korea next.

And the good news doesn't end there! @Team_Muirhead make it 3 wins from 4 at #Pyeonchang2018. The team take on the hosts South Korea from 11am GMT today.

#lovecurling#WeAreTheGreat pic.twitter.com/qOQ5Yt7J8T

6.39am GMT

There is something utterly mesmerising about this display of curling. Seriously.

Superb play from #Kor and the home fans are happy! #Curling is live now: https://t.co/5HDGT7gk34 #PyeongChang2018 pic.twitter.com/Cke0vX2ZfV

6.31am GMT

Here is a handy guide of what is coming up later for Team GB.

UK times for @TeamGB. Short track 1500m Thomson heat 10.04am, Gilmartin 10.08, Christie 10.16 (top 3 progress) 3xSF @ 11.13 &/or 11.17 &/or 11.21 (tight here!) Skel run3 Yarnold @ 11.24 Deas 11.26. 1500m final would be at 12.09 and Skel run4 begins at 12.45pm. #SuperSaturday

6.26am GMT

In men’s ice hockey, the Czechs have prevailed in a shootout win against Canada.

From Reuters:

6.22am GMT

From Press Association, five things you didn’t know about Izzy Atkin:

She was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to an English father and a Malaysian mother, and started skiing at the age of three on Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine.

6.10am GMT

Team GB is pretty happy today.

Izzy Atkin's wins @TeamGB 's first ever medal in skiing at a Winter Olympics!

What a STUNNING run under immense pressure

Leave your congratulations messages for Izzy#WeAreTheGreat pic.twitter.com/JYc5rRGxQD

6.07am GMT

Among the events coming up later today are the women’s speed-skating 1,500m final and the women’s skeleton final runs. The full event schedule is here:

6.02am GMT

From Associated Press, on the slopestyle skiing:

Switzerland’s Sarah Hoefflin is the Olympic champion in women’s slopestyle skiing.

5.53am GMT

I neglected to point out that Izzy’s win is GB’s first ever skiing medal at a Winter Olympics.

5.51am GMT

Britain’s Izzy Atkin has won bronze in the women’s ski slopestyle. A full report will follow as soon as we can get it. Well done Izzy.

5.42am GMT

I’ve just got emailed a media release from Australia’s sports minister Bridget McKenzie, praising the country’s team “for their outstanding effort at the Winter Games in PyeongChang”.

The release points out that “Australia is currently ranked 17th on the Winter Olympics medal tally – and is the only nation in the southern hemisphere on the medal table – with two silver medals and one bronze”.

5.36am GMT

By the way, if OA Russia is new to you, it means Olympic Athlete from Russia and is the International Olympic Committee’s designation of select Russian athletes permitted to participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. Thank you, Wikipedia.

5.34am GMT

Some of Saturday’s Winter Olympic scores:

Curling, women

5.30am GMT

When I was a youngfella, there were still some people in England who played professional football in winter and cricket in summer. And in America there were a few who played both pro-baseball and football. The Olympics equivalent, sort of, is the select band who have participated in both the summer and winter games.

5.26am GMT

And in case you missed it because you were asleep or something, meet the Winter Olympians making big strides for diversity.

5.20am GMT

And good morning to my sister’s friend Shane, somewhere north of London, who kindly whatsapped to let her know I was doing this blog last time I did it, a week ago.

5.00am GMT

Good morning, evening or afternoon depending on where you are in the world, on a day when NBC was so sure of what the future held they announced the Super-G winners before Czech Republic’s Ester Ledecka went down as they assumed she would do nothing. They assumed wrong.

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Published on February 17, 2018 06:33

Winter Olympics 2018: day eight from Pyeongchang – live!

Latest medal table | Full event schedule ‘Stoked’ Izzy Atkin takes slopestyle bronze for GBFeel free to get in touch with Scott on email

9.48am GMT

9.37am GMT

9.23am GMT

9.11am GMT

8.54am GMT

8.43am GMT

8.31am GMT

8.19am GMT

8.00am GMT

I’m just about to hand over the blog to my colleague Scott Murray, so here’s a quick recap on the day so far at the Winter Olympics.

7.51am GMT

Reuters has an interesting piece on how freestyle skiing Swiss teenager Mathilde Gremaud went from an ambulance on Friday to a silver medal on Saturday:

7.42am GMT

The Guardian’s Sean Ingle has just filed a story on the feel good story of the day – Izzy Atkin becoming Britain’s first Olympic medal-winning skier.

7.37am GMT

From Reuters:

Ester Ledecka’s day – and probably her life – had just taken a surreal turn.

7.26am GMT

South Korea have taken a 10-5 lead over Britain in the men’s curling.

#KOR lead 10-5 vs #GBR in men's #curling Watch live: https://t.co/5HDGT7gk34 pic.twitter.com/uzTts5A9qQ

7.24am GMT

7.12am GMT

Also coming up later is ski jumping.

6.57am GMT

The two nations face off again at 7.10am/12.10pm/11.10pm (US east coast/UK/Australian east coast – sorry to every other time zone in the world).

6.47am GMT

And just when you thought things couldn’t get any more exciting for Britain in the Winter Olympics, the women’s curling team have only beaten the great Danes 7-6 and face hosts South Korea next.

6.39am GMT

There is something utterly mesmerising about this display of curling. Seriously.

Superb play from #Kor and the home fans are happy! #Curling is live now: https://t.co/5HDGT7gk34 #PyeongChang2018 pic.twitter.com/Cke0vX2ZfV

6.31am GMT

Here is a handy guide of what is coming up later for Team GB.

6.26am GMT

In men’s ice hockey, the Czechs have prevailed in a shootout win against Canada.

From Reuters:

6.22am GMT

From Press Association, five things you didn’t know about Izzy Atkin:

She was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to an English father and a Malaysian mother, and started skiing at the age of three on Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine.

6.10am GMT

Team GB is pretty happy today.

6.07am GMT

Among the events coming up later today are the women’s speed-skating 1,500m final and the women’s skeleton final runs. The full event schedule is here:

6.02am GMT

From Associated Press, on the slopestyle skiing:

Switzerland’s Sarah Hoefflin is the Olympic champion in women’s slopestyle skiing.

5.53am GMT

I neglected to point out that Izzy’s win is GB’s first ever skiing medal at a Winter Olympics.

5.51am GMT

Britain’s Izzy Atkin has won bronze in the women’s ski slopestyle. A full report will follow as soon as we can get it. Well done Izzy.

5.42am GMT

I’ve just got emailed a media release from Australia’s sports minister Bridget McKenzie, praising the country’s team “for their outstanding effort at the Winter Games in PyeongChang”.

5.36am GMT

5.34am GMT

Some of Saturday’s Winter Olympic scores:

Curling, women

5.30am GMT

5.26am GMT

And in case you missed it because you were asleep or something, meet the Winter Olympians making big strides for diversity.

5.20am GMT

And good morning to my sister’s friend Shane, somewhere north of London, who kindly whatsapped to let her know I was doing this blog last time I did it, a week ago.

5.00am GMT

View more on Scott Murray's website »

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Published on February 17, 2018 01:48

February 15, 2018

Europa League: Östersund 0-3 Arsenal – as it happened

Östersund were their own worst enemy as Arsenal recorded an easy win.

7.52pm GMT

And that’s that. An uneventful match. Ostersund didn’t really turn up, while Arsenal did what they had to do in the professional style. The Gunners are as good as through to the last 16, though there’s a dream visit to the Emirates for the Swedes to come next week.

7.50pm GMT

90 min +2: Pettersson sidefoots towards the bottom left. It’s not hit with any venom. Ospina smothers. That’s in keeping with the rest of Ostersund’s performance.

7.49pm GMT

90 min +1: Ghoddas slips a fine pass down the inside-left channel for Tekie. Bellerin, caught on the wrong side, brings his man down. Just inside the area. The referee points to the spot.

7.48pm GMT

90 min: This non-event will last for two extra minutes.

7.46pm GMT

88 min: Mustafi plays a loose ball out of defence, allowing Hopcutt a shot at goal from 25 yards. It sails harmlessly over the bar.

7.44pm GMT

86 min: Nelson is robbed by Edwards in the centre circle. For a brief second, it looks as though Arsenal may be punished, it’s a two-on-two situation. but Edwards loses possession himself, and there goes that.

7.42pm GMT

84 min: Bellerin forces a corner down the right. Before it can be taken, Mkhitaryan is replaced by Nelson. And then the corner’s played all the way back to Ospina. It’s safe to say this won’t be a game to remember.

7.41pm GMT

83 min: Nketiah comes on for the out-of-sorts Welbeck.

7.39pm GMT

81 min: Welbeck keeps a loose ball in play down the left, and with everyone else having stopped, makes for the penalty area. He bobbles a weak effort across Keita and out to the right of goal.

7.38pm GMT

80 min: Iwobi sends Kolasinac scampering down the right. Kolasinac reaches the byline but his pullback is directionless.

7.36pm GMT

78 min: Tekie sashays in from the right but can’t quite work space to shoot. Arsenal clear. The atmosphere is full-on testimonial right now.

7.34pm GMT

75 min: Iwobi drives down the right. The hosts are backtracking in panic, but Iwobi decides to check back. A shame, because there’s nothing else going on.

7.31pm GMT

73 min: Monreal is replaced by Kolasinac, while Widgren makes way for Bergqvist.

7.30pm GMT

71 min: Arsenal play some pretty triangles all across the front of the Ostersund box. The ball is teed up for Welbeck, just inside the area on the left. For some reason he turns down the chance to shoot, laying off for Monreal instead. Monreal needs no encouragement, and pearls a low effort towards the bottom right. Mkhitaryan, of all people, gets in the way.

7.27pm GMT

69 min: Some possession for Ostersund in the Arsenal half. But the visitors are holding their shape and there’s no way through, so it’s all very sterile.

7.26pm GMT

67 min: Ghoddos dribbles into the area and runs straight into Mustafi. He’s not getting a penalty kick. In the midfield, Papagioannopoulos slams Ozil to the ground; you’ve seen yellow cards flashed for that, but this referee is very much hands off tonight.

7.25pm GMT

66 min: Ghoddos is super-lively. He very nearly strips the ball from Chambers to tear clear down the left, but the Arsenal man recovers his poise and the danger is over.

7.23pm GMT

64 min: Ghoddos diddles Mustafi with a gorgeous trick while tight on the right-hand touchline. But he doesn’t have the jets to get clear once it’s done, and the Arsenal defender recovers.

7.21pm GMT

62 min: A lull, and a sense that both sides would like to turn it in right now. There’s not a lot of exciting football being played.

7.19pm GMT

60 min: That’s kept the Arsenal fans warm; they’re giving it plenty right now. The home fans haven’t had a lot to sing about. Ostersund have been their own worst enemy at the back.

7.17pm GMT

Ghoddos is half-bundled over by Mustafi just inside the Arsenal box. You’ve seen them given, but the referee doesn’t think there’s much in it. Arsenal go straight up the other end and twist the knife. Ozil exchanges passes with Mkhitaryan down the inside-left channel. He’s in the area and squeezes a shot through the dismal Keita. Once again, the keeper should have done better. The ball bobbles slowly, painfully over the line.

7.15pm GMT

57 min: Ozil slips Elneny in down the right. Elneny slams a low cross into the centre. Keita mishandles once again, but thankfully for the home side, Papagiannopoulos is on hand to mop up.

7.13pm GMT

55 min: Ghoddos tries to send Edwards free in the box with a cute flick down the inside-left channel. But there’s too much juice on the ball, and out it flies for a goal kick. Good idea, though.

7.12pm GMT

54 min: Sema twists and turns down the left. He’s got the better of Bellerin, but Elneny comes across to block the ball out for a corner before Sema can cause more serious trouble for Arsenal. Again the set piece is a waste of time, but this is a big improvement by Ostersund.

7.11pm GMT

53 min: Ghoddos cuts in from the left and slips a pass to Tekie, who in turn shuttles on for Mensah. A shot from distance is deflected out for a corner; nothing comes from the set piece. But that’s good from the home side, who have obviously been told that another slow start to a half is simply not on.

7.09pm GMT

51 min: Hopcutt is sent scampering into space down the left with Arsenal slightly light at the back. The sub has options inside, but instead plays a reverse pass down the left to nobody in particular. It rolls out apologetically for a goal kick.

7.07pm GMT

49 min: Sema threatens to burst clear down the right but his close control lets him down at the end of a bright and determined run. He’s been lively tonight, along with the excellent Ghoddos.

7.05pm GMT

47 min: Space for Monreal down the left. His cross is headed clear by Pettersson, under not much pressure from Welbeck.

7.03pm GMT

And we’re off again! Ostersund ring the changes: Nouri and Gero have been replaced by Tekie and Hopcutt.

6.50pm GMT

Half-time entertainment: The latest episode of Football Weekly Extra has dropped, for your leisure and pleasure.

6.49pm GMT

Mkhitaryan tries to curl one into the top right from the edge of the Ostersund box. It’s over, and that’s that for the first half. The hosts didn’t turn up for the first half hour, allowing Arsenal to plunder a couple of precious away goals. They’ve been better since, though the damage has been done.

6.46pm GMT

44 min: Mukiibi and Edwards both have chances to shoot from the edge of the Arsenal box, but both dither. Opportunities to work Ospina spurned.

6.44pm GMT

42 min: Sema curls the free kick hard at goal. But it’s straight at Ospina, who gathers. Arsenal soon give up possession again. The lively Ghoddos dribbles down the middle of the park before sending a low belter inches wide of the bottom left. Ospina was a bit flat-footed there, it’s not certain that he’d have got to the ball had the shot been on target.

6.43pm GMT

41 min: Gero is upended by Maitland-Niles, just to the right of the Arsenal D. It’s a needless foul because Gero was going nowhere. It’s also a very dangerous place to concede a free kick.

6.42pm GMT

40 min: Welbeck drives at Ostersund again, down the left wing. He’s got Iwobi on the overlap, but opts to dribble inside instead. He has the ball taken off his toe by Papagiannopoulos. Iwobi’s not particularly happy with the way that panned out.

6.41pm GMT

39 min: So having said that, Iwobi and Welbeck open Arsenal up down the left with some crisp passing. The flag goes up for offside to save the day for the hosts.

6.40pm GMT

38 min: Ostersund knock it hither and yon at the back. They’re not going anywhere but they’ve steadied the ship and are growing in confidence.

6.38pm GMT

36 min: Edwards shoots from distance. The ball’s deflected, and for a second looks as though it’s going to fox Ospina, flying on a hysterical curve towards the top left. But the keeper reads the flight well and there’s no real drama.

6.37pm GMT

35 min: Arsenal have been a bit passive for the last few minutes. They try to step it up again, but Bellerin and Mkhitaryan’s move down the right breaks down quickly enough.

6.35pm GMT

33 min: Ghoddos spins Maitland-Niles in the midfield and leaves the Arsenal man sprawling on the artificial turf. He storms towards the box and attempts to thread one into the bottom left from 20 yards. That’s a highly decent effort that Ospina does very well to claim.

6.33pm GMT

31 min: Gero romps down the left and attempts an elaborate and very ambitious curler into the top right from a long way out. It’s not a great effort, but at least the hosts have snapped out of their early torpor / stage fright.

6.32pm GMT

30 min: The corner comes to nothing, but that’s so much better from the home side, who perhaps have been embarrassed into action.

6.31pm GMT

29 min: And wow! Ostersund have finally woken up all right! More space for Widgren down the left. He enters the Arsenal box and pulls back for Ghoddos, who unleashes a screamer towards the top right from the edge of the box. Ospina tips over acrobatically. Great football all round.

6.30pm GMT

28 min: Ostersund attack! Space for Widgren down the left. He reaches the byline and crosses deep. Gero rises and sends the softest of headers goalwards from ten yards. Ospina gathers easily. It’s not much, but it’s something.

6.28pm GMT

26 min: Arsenal keep on pressing. Bellerin, Iwobi and Mkhitaryan are enjoying the run of this right wing. Some pretty triangles and Mkhitaryan bursts into the area. He looks to whip a shot across Keita but there’s no meat in the effort and Keita claims.

6.27pm GMT

Bellerin tears down the right. Pettersson intercepts his cross by the near post, but only hacks a couple of yards upfield. Mkhitaryan takes up possession and crosses again. The ball pings off Papagiannopoulos and into the bottom left. Arsenal’s second, and it’s another defensive calamity.

6.24pm GMT

22 min: Ozil plays a preposterous square pass deep in his own half. Ghoddos nearly latches onto it. He’s inches away from breaking through, but Chambers steps in to save the day. The nearest the home team have come to generating some excitement for their fans. It’s their off season, and doesn’t it look that way right now.

6.22pm GMT

20 min: Keita prepares to take a goal kick, but feels his hamstring and calls for the trainer. A pause in proceedings. The keeper will be OK to continue for now.

6.20pm GMT

18 min: Arsenal have already had eight attempts at goal. Ostersund have barely got into the opposition half.

6.18pm GMT

16 min: Mkhitaryan looks for the top left from 25 yards. Keita does well to palm the riser away from goal. The hosts look very nervous, and Arsenal clearly smell the fear.

6.17pm GMT

15 min: Arsenal continue to probe. A bit of space for Welbeck in the area. For a second it looks as though he’ll shift the ball to the left and shoot, but can’t quite shape his body to shoot.

6.16pm GMT

The ball’s worked to Iwobi, to the right of goal. He shoots. Keita should gather, but he spills, and Monreal is on hand to slam the rebound into the bottom right. It’s fair to say this has been coming, though it’s a goal all of Ostersund’s own making.

6.15pm GMT

12 min: Mkhitaryan tries to release Bellerin down the right with a sliderule pass. The ball goes straight out of play. But Keita plays a dreadful ball upfield. Ozil intercepts and tees up Mkhitaryan, who shoots low and hard. Papagiannopoulos slides in to block brilliantly, saving a certain goal. It’s a corner.

6.12pm GMT

10 min: Arsenal continue to press and probe. A lot going on down the right. Eventually the ball is teed up for Mkhitaryan, just inside the area. But he can’t quite get a shot away on the turn. It’s not quite taken off yet, this match, but Arsenal will be happy enough with the way it’s going.

6.10pm GMT

8 min: Welbeck dribbles into the box from the left but can’t sort his feet out to shoot. Arsenal keep Ostersund pressed back. Iwobi, out on the right, chips into the middle. Welbeck, six yards out, has to score, but somehow his header goes straight off to the right. That’s a poor miss.

6.09pm GMT

6 min: It’s all Arsenal early on. Ozil nearly breaks into the box down the inside-right channel, but can’t control, never mind get a shot away. Then suddenly Ostersund show their teeth for the first time. Mensah tears with speed down the left, and he goes over a late slide by Mustafi. That looks like a free kick and a booking, but the referee doesn’t think there’s contact and gives a throw to Arsenal. A bit odd.

6.05pm GMT

4 min: Ozil, Iwobi and Bellerin take turns to probe down the right. Eventually Iwobi curls one in, hoping to find the head of Welbeck, but Keita is out quickly to claim.

6.04pm GMT

2 min: Arsenal dominate the early possession. A bit of space for Bellerin down the right. He hooks a cross into the box. Papagiannopoulos heads clear. A bright, fast-paced start. Nobody fancies hanging around in these conditions.

6.02pm GMT

A small block of ice falls out of the referee’s whistle. A naked flame is applied to it. It melts, and goes “peeeeeeep”. We’re off! The hosts get the ball rolling, and knock it around the back a bit. But they soon give up possession to Arsenal, whose defenders have a turn themselves.

5.59pm GMT

The teams are out! It’s minus three at the Jamtkraft Arena, positively balmy seeing temperatures can sometimes drop as low as minus 20. It is only 200 miles from the Arctic Circle after all. Though we haven’t taken any wind chill into consideration. Eek. Ostersunds aren’t in their usual Milanese red and black; they sport second-choice white while Arsenal wear third-choice black with pink trim. We’ll be off in a minute!

5.52pm GMT

Graham Potter speaks! “We finished domestically in December. Since then we’ve been preparing for this game. In football sometimes opportunities don’t come around at a perfect time, but we’ve done our best and we’re no mugs. Clearly we’re playing against a team from a higher level, so we have to adapt to their quality. Any slight advantage we hope we can use, but we have to play well, we can’t rely on external factors. Tack!”

5.40pm GMT

Arsene Wenger speaks! “We want to do well in all competitions. We can recover after this game, so we can focus on the competition. We will have to play to feet, fewer long balls behind, technical accuracy becomes important, because it is quicker than a normal pitch. Our opponents are used to that, so hopefully we do not need too much time to adapt. There is no other way to play on a plastic pitch, and they do it well. They are technical, quality players from all over the world. This is a good lesson in humility, we don’t take for granted that we always play in the Champions League, we have to fight our way back.”

5.35pm GMT

More pre-match reading: Arsenal’s fans have been enjoying this season’s Europa League adventure. This is their story. Let’s hope they’ve all wrapped up warm tonight.

5.20pm GMT

Pre-match reading: Here’s our man Liam Rosenior on how Östersund’s English manager has got a small Swedish club punching above its weight.

5.15pm GMT

Ostersund make two changes to the side that earned a 1-1 draw at Hertha Berlin last December. Gabriel Somi and Fouad Bachirou have left for the New England Revolution and Malmo respectively, so Dennis Widgren and Samuel Mensah come in their stead.

Arsenal name a strong side, though that still means five changes to the team named for the north London derby last weekend. Petr Cech, Laurent Koscielny, Jack Wilshere, Granit Xhaka and the cup-tied Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s places are taken by David Ospina, Calum Chambers, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Alex Iwobi and Danny Welbeck.

5.09pm GMT

Ostersund: Keita, Mukiibi, Papagiannopoulos, Pettersson, Widgren, Edwards, Nouri, Mensah, Sema, Ghoddos, Gero.
Subs: Andersson, Tekie, Bergqvist, Hopcutt, Aiesh, Sundberg, Islamovic.

Arsenal: Ospina, Bellerin, Chambers, Mustafi, Monreal, Iwobi, Elneny, Maitland-Niles, Mkhitaryan, Ozil, Welbeck.
Subs: Macey, Holding, Xhaka, Kolasinac, Nelson, Nketiah, Willock.

1.56pm GMT

Östersunds Fotbollsklubb was founded on 31 October 1996. Thirty days previously, Arsene Wenger had been formally installed as the new manager of Arsenal. Yes, this is quite the romantic match-up.

On the one hand, it’s a pure David versus Goliath fixture. Arsenal are one of the biggest clubs in Europe, from one of the biggest cities in the world. They’ve won the Fairs Cup and Cup Winners Cup, 13 English titles in a division they’ve graced since 1919, and a record 13 FA Cups as well. Östersund by contrast hail from a city of 50,000 people; they only reached the top flight of Swedish football for the first time two years ago; one Swedish cup is the sum total of their roll of honour.

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Published on February 15, 2018 11:52

Occasional sips from a long glass of Advocaat

Goodness knows, the Fiver isn’t trying to downplay Liverpool’s performance in Big Cup on Wednesday. A five-goal haul away in Europe – as part of a show featuring quick breaks, top-corner rakes, back flicks and a juggling act so dainty it would make Lionel Messi look like Charles ‘Charlie’ Charles – is nothing to be sniffed at. But look at it from a Porto perspective: they were comprehensively overpowered by a midfield consisting of Jordan Henderson, gingerly feeling his way back from injury, James Milner, 63, and Georginio Wijnaldum, strolling around with an insouciance so thoroughly Dutch he may as well have been taking occasional sips from a long glass of Advocaat while absent-mindedly picking at a speciality cookie. Maybe a few more shuttle runs in training, that might be an idea. Sérgio Conceição can have that one for free.

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Published on February 15, 2018 08:56

February 14, 2018

Porto 0-5 Liverpool: Champions League – as it happened

Sadio Mané was the hat-trick hero as Liverpool routed Porto at the Estádio do Dragão.

9.35pm GMT

Liverpool’s love affair with the Champions League has been rekindled on Valentine’s Day. Liverpool were as brilliant as Porto were abject. They’re as good as in the quarter finals already. It’ll be a strange night at Anfield in three weeks if they don’t make them, put it that way. Liverpool’s fans will note with interest that their only two other competitive wins on Portuguese soil have been part of European Cup winning runs, against Benfica in 1978 and 1984.

9.33pm GMT

90 min: There will be two added minutes.

9.32pm GMT

89 min: A ball breaks into the Liverpool box down the right. Paciencia is one on one with Karius, but the keeper, desperate for his clean sheet, starjumps and saves well. The Porto man was offside anyway.

9.29pm GMT

87 min: Mane’s haul is the first European away hat-trick in Liverpool’s history that hasn’t been scored by Michael Owen. How about that, then.

9.28pm GMT

Here’s that hat-trick! Robertson and Ings combine well down the left. The ball’s shifted inside for Mane, who has Gomez in acres to his right. But he’s not passing up this chance, and pearls an unstoppable effort into the top left. Jose Sa had no chance!

9.26pm GMT

83 min: Robertson makes off into acres down the left, and loops a wonderful cross into the Porto box. Mane, rushing in, connects with his boot, hoping to seal a Champions League hat-trick. But he leans back and the ball sails harmlessly over the bar.

9.25pm GMT

82 min: All those subs have robbed this game of its remaining energy.

9.23pm GMT

80 min: ... and then Ings replaces the ever-excellent Firmino. A Champions League debut for a striker who’s had no end of dreadful luck in recent years.

9.22pm GMT

79 min: Gomez comes on for Alexander-Arnold ...

9.21pm GMT

78 min: Telles dribbles down the left. He’s probably fouled by an Alexander-Arnold/Matip sandwich, but goes down so theatrically the referee isn’t having a bar of it.

9.20pm GMT

77 min: Salah floats one into the Porto box from the right. Robertson wins the header and sends the ball back inside. Firmino tries to flick it on powerfully, but only manages to hoick it over the bar, and he’s offside anyway.

9.19pm GMT

75 min: Liverpool meanwhile make their first: Joel Matip replaces the captain Henderson. A change of shape, and now van Dijk is romping down the wing, channelling his inner Cruyff. A chance to shoot from the edge of the box, but he elects to lay off for Wijnaldum and the move breaks down.

9.17pm GMT

74 min: Porto make their third change of the night: Goncalo Paciencia comes on for Soares.

9.15pm GMT

72 min: Nothing comes of the set piece.

9.14pm GMT

71 min: Porto nearly open Liverpool up, Herrera dinking a clever pass down the inside-left channel to release Soares into the area. He’s one on one with Karius, but not for long: as he shoots, van Dijk comes across to block. The ball squirts wide left of goal for a corner.

9.13pm GMT

Mane steals the ball in the midfield. He’s tugged back by Corona, but Mane powers forward anyway. He slides a pass down the left for Milner, who enters the area and squares for Firmino. The Brazilian opens his body and slams a sidefoot into the bottom left.

9.11pm GMT

68 min: This is a slightly better period for Porto. Waris, 25 yards down the inside-left channel, sends a low shot towards the bottom left. Karius claims it well.

9.10pm GMT

66 min: Corona nips past a careless van Dijk on the right. He’s into the area. His low cross-cum-shot is hacked out by Lovren, who has got his new partner out of trouble there. Not sure what van Dijk was trying to do there; it certainly wasn’t much of a challenge. Van Dijk makes amends by banging the corner away with a powerful header.

9.08pm GMT

65 min: Henderson fairly pelts a backpass towards Karius. The keeper does very well to keep his eye on the ball and trap it, or that’d have sent the net billowing.

9.07pm GMT

64 min: Alexander-Arnold crosses deep from the right. Firmino, coming in from the left, tries to meet the ball with an outstretched leg, but can’t quite make it.

9.06pm GMT

63 min: Marega knocks the ball down the inside-left channel and hares after it. For a second it looks as though he might power through, but Wijnaldum sticks out a leg and stops him in his tracks. The stadium is pretty quiet right now, Liverpool in the process of doing a number on the home heroes.

9.05pm GMT

62 min: Waris comes on for Brahimi, who started very brightly tonight but faded badly.

9.04pm GMT

61 min: Corona clears the posts in the rugby style from 25 yards.

9.03pm GMT

60 min: Porto knock it around for a while, but it’s all in their final third.

9.02pm GMT

58 min: Telles hooks into the Liverpool box from the left, but that’s easy for Karius. Porto are desperately trying to up their game, but can’t find an extra gear at the moment.

9.00pm GMT

57 min: Porto need something to happen quickly. Corona wins a header in the Liverpool area, cushioning the ball for Marega on the edge of the box. Marega gets a shot away, but it’s a weak bouncer, and settles gently into the arms of Karius.

8.59pm GMT

56 min: The hosts are getting a bit of a chasing right now. Salah breezes into Porto territory again, and should really release Alexander-Arnold on the overlap. But he attempts a very tricky pass inside for Firmino, and the chance is gone.

8.58pm GMT

55 min: Corona fizzes down the right, but he’s got no team-mates in attendance, and soon enough he’s hustled off the ball by Robertson. Porto look utterly deflated.

8.57pm GMT

Porto press Liverpool back. But then the visitors spring clear, Firmino sending Salah away with a gorgeous backflick. Salah has options either side, but sends Firmino into the box with a perfectly weighted pass down the middle. Firmino tries to thread into the bottom right. Jose Sa gets down well to stop the shot, but can only push the ball wide right. Mane, rushing in, opens his body and slams a sidefoot home. That was an extremely quick break.

8.54pm GMT

52 min: Ricardo breaks down the right and is clattered by Milner, who has put in a few meaty challenges tonight and might see yellow soon if he’s not careful. No punishment this time, though.

8.54pm GMT

50 min: Firmino flicks a header down the middle. Salah races after it, but Reyes nips in to save the day for Porto. The referee comes across to bollock someone on the Liverpool bench. “Behave!” he tells them. Not sure who that was directed at, but it wasn’t Klopp, who stands in the technical area, palms out and shoulders shrugged in mock innocence.

8.51pm GMT

48 min: Van Dijk steps up from the back and plays a pass down the left. Milner chases in the hope of breaking through, but Ricardo puts a stop to his gallop.

8.50pm GMT

47 min: Plenty of early second-half possession for Porto. All in the midfield, but tiny acorns and all that.

8.48pm GMT

Here we go again! The hosts get the ball rolling for the second half. Jesus Corona has replaced Otavio. His first act is to send a pass down the right, meant for Soares, sailing out for a goal kick.

8.34pm GMT

Half-time reading: It was a good evening for Spurs in this competition last night. Barney Ronay takes the opportunity to give Maurico Pochettino’s excellent side some lyrical love.

8.33pm GMT

That’s a highly acceptable first 45 from the visitors. Two scrappy goals, but Liverpool deserve their lead on the balance of play. They’ve been effervescent in attack. Porto meanwhile have defended appallingly, and their attack has been intermittent at best. The home fans aren’t happy at all. Can Porto come out with renewed vigour? We’ll find out soon enough!

8.30pm GMT

45 min: Salah threatens to break into the Porto box from the right, but he’s offside, and Jose Sa comes off his line to claim anyway.

8.30pm GMT

44 min: This is a lot better from Porto. Brahimi zips in from the left and tees up Soares, who unleashes a low fizzer that sails inches wide of the bottom left. So close to a goal that would totally change the mood in the Estadio do Dragao. Van Dijk had deflected that out, in fact, but the home side don’t get the corner.

8.28pm GMT

43 min: Porto attack, but a loose pass in the midfield by Reyes sets Mane and Robertson off on a dangerous counter. Firmino and Salah both arrive on the scene, Porto light at the back, but Liverpool over-elaborate and the chance for a third is wasted.

8.27pm GMT

41 min: Mane has a chance to bomb down the centre, with a view of breaking into the box for a shot. But he inexplicably hesitates, and the chance is gone. Porto are having real trouble getting out of their own half.

8.26pm GMT

40 min: More of the Liverpool ball-hogging. Suddenly Mane breaks down the left and pings the ball inside for Firmino. A rush of blood to the head sees the ball sail several miles above the bar from an ambitious distance out on the wing.

8.23pm GMT

38 min: Liverpool play keep-ball at the back for a couple of minutes. Game management’s rarely been a forte of theirs during the last few years, so this is an interesting development.

8.22pm GMT

36 min: Marega embarks on a power dribble down the right but has his pocket picked by Wijnaldum. Porto are struggling to get things going at present, hit hard by Liverpool’s one-two.

8.20pm GMT

34 min: Otavio tries to make good down the left, and earns a corner off Lovren. Telles takes. Liverpool clear with ease and tear off on the attack. It’s three on three. Robertson plays a poor ball to Mane, slowing the momentum down. Mane tries to find Firmino with a right-to-left cross, but Marcano slides in to intercept. For a second there, Porto were in serious trouble.

8.18pm GMT

32 min: A free kick for Porto deep in Liverpool territory. The normally brilliant Telles sends a dismal ball over everyone in the box and out of play for a goal kick. Porto need to clear their heads quickly.

8.17pm GMT

31 min: Porto had stopped playing when Milner was attacking, having been convinced the Liverpool man had clipped Marega to the ground while contesting a 50-50. It wasn’t a free kick, and the home side’s collective power-down was inexcusable, really. Take nothing away from Milner’s shot and Salah’s juggling act, though.

8.16pm GMT

What a finish this is! Astonishing! Milner dawdles in from the left and unleashes a powerful curler towards the top right. It beats Jose Sa but hits the post and comes back out. Salah is there. He flicks the ball over the flapping keeper, sets himself up with a cushioned header, and guides the ball over the line. What juggling skills!

8.14pm GMT

27 min: It wasn’t much of a goal, but that might do Mane’s confidence the world of good. Though he’s got no time to enjoy his achievement: he tangles with Ricardo in the midfield and has taken an accidental smack in his special place. He’ll be fine to continue, but he doesn’t look particularly happy at the moment.

8.11pm GMT

Firmino releases Mane into the area down the left. Mane should find Wijnaldum in the centre for a tap-in, but messes up the cross. Never mind! Another Liverpool attack is launched immediately, Wijnaldum bustling down the middle. The ball breaks to the left for Mane, who aims for the bottom right. He scuffs his shot straight at Jose Sa, but the keeper makes an awful mistake, letting the ball squirt under his body; it bounces into the net apologetically. That’s a precious away goal for Liverpool!

8.09pm GMT

24 min: Good luck guessing which team will find the opening goal. This is entertaining end-to-end fare. Marega powers with great purpose down the inside-right channel and very nearly breaks into the Liverpool box. Robertson slides in to concede a corner that’s easily dealt with. Then another phase of Porto attack, Reyes curling gently in from a good position on the right. Karius claims easily; that was something of a waste by the home side.

8.07pm GMT

22 min: Liverpool are beginning to show their teeth for the first time in the match. First up, a corner on the left; Lovren eases the pressure on Porto by getting all handsy in the area. Then the visitors come again, Robertson striding down the left and whipping low towards the near post. Firmino bravely dives in the hope of connecting with his head, but Reyes clears the danger.

8.06pm GMT

20 min: Porto have looked strong at the back, but there’s no accounting for individual errors. Jose Sa slips as he takes a kick upfield. Firmino takes charge and rolls a pass wide right for Salah, who is free in the box! He’s entitled to shoot, but looks for Firmino in the middle with a low cross. Reyes hooks away from danger.

8.04pm GMT

18 min: Porto captain Herrera stands on Mane’s foot. Late and clumsy, but not malicious. Mane grimaces in pain, but the referee keeps his cards in his pocket. Nobody in Liverpool orange complains too much.

8.03pm GMT

16 min: Brahimi takes on Alexander-Arnold down the left. He nearly escapes into the box, where he’d be one on one with Karius, but Alexander-Arnold shepherds both winger and ball out of play. This is already proving to be a fun duel.

8.01pm GMT

15 min: It’s all gone a bit scrappy. Van Dijk sends a simple clearance straight up in the air, Mohamed Sissoko style. Robertson and Mane assist him in the mopping up.

7.59pm GMT

14 min: Jose Sa takes a goal kick which doesn’t get out of the penalty area. He gets another go. It’s out! We play on.

7.58pm GMT

12 min: Mane bursts down the inside-right channel. He’s got Firmino in the middle, but thinks too long and is forced to check back. Porto make their way upfield, but Brahimi concedes a gift to Firmino, who dribbles towards the box then lays off to Robertson on the left. Robertson hits the teed-up pass first time, the ball meant for the top left but sailing over the crossbar. Full marks for ambition from a player making his European debut.

7.56pm GMT

11 min: Liverpool betray their defensive nerves. Alexander-Arnold and Lovren both fail to clear a ball on the edge of their box. It allows Otavio to snatch possession and make a little room for a snapshot. He shoots, but the ball is deflected over Karius and the crossbar by the outstretched leg of Lovren, atoning for earlier errors. The corner comes to nought. Porto are looking very dangerous.

7.54pm GMT

9 min: Brahimi looks lively this evening. He romps down the left and very nearly gets the better of Alexander-Arnold. But the young full back sticks to his man well.

7.54pm GMT

8 min: Mane dribbles down the left. He’s got the chance to cross, or slip Milner away on his outside. He delivers a hospital ball to Milner, and the attack is over. Mane’s been out of sorts for a while, to the point where the simple things have become difficult. He could do with a confidence boosting match.

7.52pm GMT

6 min: Porto attack with purpose again, Soares bursting down the left, play spread out to the other wing. A throw’s launched long into the mixer. Van Dijk heads powerfully clear. Porto come straight back at Liverpool, Marega winning an aerial duel in the midfield with van Dijk ... but unfairly so. A free kick, and the early pressure on Liverpool is released.

7.50pm GMT

4 min: Telles hits it long. Lovren’s attempt at a clearing header isn’t all that. Telles gets another go, but as he whips it in, several of his team-mates have wandered offside. Telles gets some curl on the ball.

7.48pm GMT

3 min: Brahimi goes on a marvellous touchline-hugging sprint down the left. He earns a corner off Alexander-Arnold. An early chance for Alex Telles to showcase his set-piece skills.

7.47pm GMT

2 min: Van Dijk, playing in his first Champions League game since his Celtic days, thinks about romping up the inside-left channel, but he’s dragged back by Otavio. Mane then has a gander down the left, but he runs out of road. Goal kick. A quiet start, especially by the home side, who have barely had a touch yet.

7.46pm GMT

And we’re off! Liverpool get the ball rolling on a miserably wet night. It’s hammering down. They launch long. Porto dispatch it back upfield. A chance for everyone at the back to get a touch on this greasy surface.

7.43pm GMT

The teams are out! It’s been pelting down in Porto, but the atmosphere is red hot, as you’d expect for a last-16 game in the Champions League. Porto sport their storied blue-and-white-striped shirts, while Liverpool’s tops have been made equally famous over the years. By the Dutch national team, that is: they’re playing in third-choice orange. We’re a few handshakes and one butchering of Zadok the Priest away from kick-off!

While we wait, Peter Oh has been staring at the teamsheets in lieu of action: “I noticed that Porto fittingly have a player named Paciencia (patience in Portuguese) among the substitutes, waiting for his chance. In contrast, the visitors’ bench features a goalkeeper presumably low on paciencia after losing his starting role.” Poor Simon! Ah well. He’ll always have Stoke at home in 2013.

7.35pm GMT

Klopp speaks! “It is normal that you respect an opponent when you play in the last 16 of the Champions League. They are very experienced in European competition, and very successful in the Portuguese league. So that’s how it is. We have to be as strong as possible in both departments, defence and attack. We need to be really spot on from the first second. We need the right attitude, we need to be ready for the fight, it will be a very physical game. I am always optimistic, I am happy to be here with my boys, the mood is good, so let’s play football!”

7.18pm GMT

The weather: Thoroughly Lancastrian. It’s been raining non-stop for a couple of days.

7.02pm GMT

Porto: Jose Sa, Ricardo Pereira, Reyes, Marcano, Alex Telles, Sergio Oliveira, Herrera, Marega, Otavio, Brahimi, Tiquinho Soares.
Subs: Casillas, Maxi Pereira, Osorio, Torres, Paciencia, Corona, Waris.

Liverpool: Karius, Alexander-Arnold, Lovren, van Dijk, Robertson, Milner, Henderson, Wijnaldum, Salah, Firmino, Mane.
Subs: Mignolet, Gomez, Moreno, Lallana, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ings, Matip.

6.59pm GMT

Porto make three changes to the side sent out at Chaves last Sunday. Ricardo and Iván Marcano replace Maxi Pereira and the suspended Felipe in the defence, while Yacine Brahimi comes in for Jesús Corona up front. Leading scorer Vincent Aboubakar is out injured.

Liverpool make three changes to the team named at Southampton last weekend. Dejan Lovren takes the place of the out-of-sorts Joël Matip, James Milner comes in for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and captain Jordan Henderson replaces the suspended Emre Can. Loris Karius keeps hold of the goalkeeper’s gloves, with Jürgen Klopp’s early-season policy of league-and-cup rotation seemingly ditched.

6.01pm GMT

Liverpool have a fine record against Porto. The five-time European champions have met the two-time winners on four occasions in continental competition, and are yet to lose a game. Gerard Houllier’s side beat them in the quarter finals on the way to the 2001 Uefa Cup, Danny Murphy and Michael Owen with the goals in a 2-0 win at Anfield, after a 0-0 draw in Portugal. Then in the 2007/08 Champions League group stage, Rafael Benitez’s side managed a 1-1 draw in Oporto, Dirk Kuyt getting on the scoresheet, then ran up a 4-1 win at home, Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard and Peter Crouch doing the business there.

That’s the good news. On the flip side, Porto have done for the last three English sides to visit their manor in the Champions League. Arsenal went down 2-1 in 2010; Chelsea were defeated 2-1 in 2015; and Leicester were walloped 5-0 last season. Historically, it’s a mixed bag.

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Published on February 14, 2018 13:35

The Fiver | Everyone in north London is living the dream!

Of course, Tottenham Hotspur have long been a force on the continent. They were the first British club to win a European trophy, lifting the Cup Winners’ Cup way back in 1963. And they won Euro Vase in 1972 and 1984. But making waves in Big Cup is another matter entirely. On Tuesday night, Spurs demanded to be taken seriously on the biggest stage of all by coming back from two goals down to secure an advantageous draw at Juventus. It was a performance symbolic of a club on the up, operating these days on an altogether higher plane. Where once there was Chris Armstrong, now there’s Harry Kane. Where once there was Tim Sherwood, now there’s Mauricio Pochettino. Where once there was Dave Mackay, now there’s Eric Di ... OK, but you get the general point. If this team reaches a cup final, Chas & Dave will have to seriously up their game for the novelty single. Maybe a tone poem this time, or a collaboration with Sunn O))).

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Published on February 14, 2018 08:59

February 13, 2018

Basel 0-4 Manchester City: Champions League – as it happened

City are as good as in the quarters after thrashing Basel on their own turf.

10.09pm GMT

9.36pm GMT

Bar something very, very, very, very, very strange occurring in Manchester three weeks from now, City are in the quarter-finals of the European Cup for only the second time in their history. The second leg will be no more than a box-ticking exercise after this wonderful performance.

9.34pm GMT

90 min: There will be two added minutes of this match, plus another 90 irrelevant ones at the Etihad in three weeks’time.

9.33pm GMT

89 min: Serey Die is late on Gundogan, stepping on his toes. He’ll be booked. But for a second, it looks as though it’s going to kick off, as Gundogan responds in fury, briefly threatening to clock Serey Die. Players of both teams get in the way. Gundogan is booked as well. Considering the number of injuries he’s had, you can perhaps understand Gundogan’s short fuse, though in truth Serey Die’s challenge was clumsy rather than malicious.

9.31pm GMT

87 min: Both teams appear to be playing out time. You can’t blame anyone. “Casual nods to Finnegans Wake in the MBM are what keep me paying my £0.00 a month to the Guardian,” writes Artie Prendergast-Smith. “Never change!”

9.28pm GMT

85 min: Both sides make a change. Basel swap Elyounoussi for Bua, while City send on Danilo for Aguero.

9.27pm GMT

84 min: Bernardo Silva slips a ball down the right for the overlapping Walker. The full back slams a low cross into the area. Aguero is lurking, but Vaclik drops on the cross to claim.

9.26pm GMT

83 min: Aguero goes chasing after a ball down the inside right. Vaclik comes sliding out of his area, not sure why. He nearly confuses Lacroix, and lets in Aguero, but the defender takes control and mops up, denying Aguero a shot at an open goal.

9.25pm GMT

82 min: Sane sashays down the left, swans inside, and has a shot from the edge of the box. The effort’s blocked. City have long had this match - and this tie - in the bag, but they keep on going in search of more reward. They are relentless.

9.23pm GMT

80 min: Ageuro piles down the middle, with Sane on his left and Gundogan on the right. Only Frei is back for Basel. He attempts a one-two with Sane, and would be through on goal were it not for Sane’s poor return pass. Frei slides in to save the day. A corner, but it comes to nothing. That should have been number five. Ah well, nobody’s perfect.

9.21pm GMT

78 min: The Basel fans have made a racket all night, despite it all, and continue to do so. It’s an impressive performance.

9.20pm GMT

76 min: Riveros runs down the left, past Eve and Adam’s, and swerves a wild one miles over the bar from distance.

9.17pm GMT

74 min: Sane goes a-snapping around Basel heels down the left. He wins a ball he had no right to win and tees up Aguero for a run down the wing. Aguero enters the area and slips the ball inside for Gundogan, rushing in and looking for his hat-trick. He belts a shot towards the bottom right, but Vaclik reads it well and smothers. Lovely play all round.

9.16pm GMT

73 min: Aguero dances in from the right, nipping this way and that, past three challenges with ease. He slips the ball to the left, allowing Sane to enter the area. Sane can’t make space for a shot. But City have been quiet for a few minutes, so that’s a reminder of their potency.

9.14pm GMT

71 min: Stocker is replaced by Ajeti.

9.13pm GMT

69 min: And now a free kick for the home side, 30 yards out. Oberlin has a crack, sending the ball rising and swerving goalwards. Ederson stops it from creeping just under his bar. To be fair to Basel, they could have slipped into reputation-management mode. But they’re still going for it, just in case something happens for them.

9.11pm GMT

68 min: But Basel can’t afford to miss decent chances. If they’re to retain even the smallest scrap of hope, they need to score next. First Stocker crosses from the left, and Oberlin misses a great chance, a close-range header at the far post. He heads down and lamely wide. Then Elyounoussi nips past Delph on the right and creams a shot straight at Ederson. He has a couple more swishes at goal, but nothing’s doing.

9.09pm GMT

66 min: City step it up again, Walker making off down the right and pulling the ball back for Aguero, who can’t sort his feet out on the penalty spot. He tees one up for David Silva; the resulting shot from the edge of the box is high, wide and not very good. The sub can afford to warm up.

9.08pm GMT

65 min: All a bit scrappy now. Understandably so, what with this tie being over.

9.06pm GMT

63 min: City are able to give De Bruyne a rest. Off he comes, with David Silva taking his place. No shoddy switch of playmaker, huh.

9.05pm GMT

62 min: Fernandinho has a dig from 25 yards. The ball flies harmlessly over the bar.

9.04pm GMT

60 min: Stocker scoops down the middle and nearly releases Oberlin into the City box. Kompany comes across to hook clear. Seconds before, Delph had fallen over while clearing a simple ball on the Basel right, but Elyounoussi couldn’t take advantage of his momentary confusion.

9.02pm GMT

59 min: Fernandinho is booked for a cynical clip on the ankle of Xhaka, who was driving through the centre circle. He doesn’t bother complaining.

9.01pm GMT

58 min: Lang wins a corner for Basel down the right. A game of head tennis at the corner. City clear, but this is good pressure from Basel, who are yet to give up all hope, despite the scoreline.

9.00pm GMT

57 min: Sane returns from injury, replacing Sterling.

8.59pm GMT

56 min: City have given up chances, though. Oberlin is found in the City box down the right. He’s one on one with Ederson, albeit at a tight angle. He drags his shot across the front of the goal in going for the bottom left.

8.58pm GMT

55 min: Stocker romps after a pass stroked down the left. He’s gently shepherded away from the ball by Otamendi. That was wonderful defending, as assured as his early charge on Oberlin was clumsy. Looking again at half time, that really did look like a penalty. But here we are now.

8.57pm GMT

This is quite special. Aguero dribbles down the inside-right channel, drawing a couple of defenders before flicking the ball inside for Gundogan. The German midfielder takes a touch back to the right, then gently caresses a curler into the top right. That was placed with extreme delicacy. Such a beautiful finish. What a goal! And that’s without considering the power and poise of Ageuro’s dribble!

8.54pm GMT

51 min: Sterling is sent racing clear of the Basel back line. But the ball’s bouncing around in the excited style, and he isn’t able to get it under proper control at any point as he enters the box. It’s like taking a big stupid dog for a walk. The ball spins behind Sterling, and he can’t get a shot away. He tries to lay off for Aguero, who is desperately trying to link up with the attack, but the pass is all wrong. A let-off for the home side.

8.53pm GMT

49 min: And this is marvellous goalkeeping from Ederson. Elyounoussi, cutting in from the left, curls powerfully for the top right from distance. The ball’s perhaps going an inch wide, but the City keeper’s not to know that, and turns it around the post wonderfully. The resulting corner doesn’t come to much, but this is better from Basel, who will surely have been reminded at half time that they actually started the first half strongly.

8.51pm GMT

48 min: Lang races down the right in the hope of beating Delph to the ball. If he does, Basel will be two on one, with Oberlin in close attendance. But Delph slides in to hook the ball away. Marvellous defending.

8.50pm GMT

47 min: City knock it around for a bit. Then Gundogan drifts in from the left and lays off for De Bruyne, who sends a vicious riser towards the top right from 20 yards. Good handling by Vaclik; that’ll have warmed the gloves.

8.47pm GMT

And we’re off again! City get the ball rolling for the second half. No changes.

8.38pm GMT

Half-time jobs: Take out the rubbish, load the dishwasher, make yourself a cup of tea, sign up for The Recap.

8.33pm GMT

The thing is, City could have easily conceded a goal or two in the early exchanges, a period that included a strong penalty shout for Basel. But - hold the front page - they’re an extremely good football side. Give them a sniff, and they’ll rattle in a few precious away goals. Which is exactly what they’ve done. More to come in the second half? You wouldn’t bet against it, would you.

8.31pm GMT

45 min: De Bruyne tries to release Sterling down the left with a first-time, long-range, sweeping pass in the centre circle. Not quite, it’s intercepted. But what vision.

8.30pm GMT

43 min: Serey Die is very lucky to escape a booking, lunging in on De Bruyne in the out-of-control style. He won the ball, but his studs were showing and he was flying through the air in a hysterical manner. The ref opts to give him a lecture, nothing more.

8.28pm GMT

41 min: BREAKING NEWS. Kevin De Bruyne misplaces a pass. Pep out!

8.27pm GMT

40 min: City stroke it around in the clock-massaging style. The home fans are still giving it plenty, which is good going all considered.

8.25pm GMT

38 min: Xhaka is booked for a preposterous rugby tackle on Sterling. He’s livid with the decision, I have no idea why, it’s as obvious a booking as you’ll ever see. Sterling was carrying him on his back like a bag of spuds for a while there. Also, Xhaka will now miss the second leg, which is probably no bad thing for him personally, the way this is panning out. All in all, he should probably simmer down.

8.23pm GMT

37 min: Delph zips down the left, then hooks the ball back for De Bruyne on the edge of the box. De Bruyne sends a screeching dipper inches over the bar, the keeper beaten all ends up. So close to number four. It’ll be something of a surprise if City don’t chalk that one up soon, the way this is going.

8.22pm GMT

36 min: Aguero drifts in from the left, then lays off to Gundogan, who wedges further infield with a view to releasing Silva down the middle. Not quite. But City are looking dangerous in pretty much every attack.

8.20pm GMT

34 min: Sterling scampers into the Basel box down the inside-right channel. He’s after the ball, but Vaclik comes out and denies him with a brave spread. Sterling tries to round him but makes do with a corner that leads to nothing.

8.19pm GMT

32 min: Eh, not quite. They stroke it around hither and yon. All very pretty. Then De Bruyne drops deep down the right and tries to release Walker into the area with a sliderule pass. There’s a joule too much energy on the ball. Vaclik gathers. Pep out!

8.18pm GMT

31 min: Frei spots Riveros in space out on the left. He finds his team-mate with a fine raking pass but City press up high in the style of George Graham’s Arsenal and the Basel man is caught offside. Everything City try is coming off right now.

8.16pm GMT

29 min: Ederson, the ball at his feet, is pressed back by the lively Oberlin. But he’s got ice in the veins, and he drops a shoulder to escape trouble and strokes a pass away from danger. He’s so entertaining to watch. When you’d buy tickets just to watch the keeper, you know you’ve got a team.

8.14pm GMT

27 min: The Basel fans are rallying courageously. Plenty of noise still. And it’s not as though their team have given up: Suchy and Oberlin go after Gundogan, pressing him back down the Basel left, but can’t quite nick the ball and launch an attack on goal. That’s good pressing, though, especially as this already seems something of a lost cause for the Swiss.

8.11pm GMT

25 min: Wow! Thing is, Basel could easily have had a goal or two themselves. And they had a decent penalty shout before City’s first. What a strange opening quarter this has been.

8.10pm GMT

This is too easy. Though this is another sensational goal. Fernandinho wins a ball he had no right to win, 40 yards from goal. He drives with great purpose down the inside left. He’s tackled, but the ball breaks to Aguero, 25 yards out. He threads a low fizzer towards the bottom left. And in it goes, past a rooted Vaclik. The keeper didn’t move an inch. It should be said, the Basel keeper isn’t covering himself in glory here.

8.07pm GMT

21 min: The City fans are making some noise, as you’d imagine. Nearly as much as when they were giving the Champions League anthem the bird. Uefa are going to love them at the final. If, etc., and so on.

8.06pm GMT

20 min: Again Basel respond to conceding by nearly scoring, Elyounoussi sending a shot towards the bottom left from distance. It’s deflected round the post. The corner leads to some head tennis, but eventually the flag goes up for offside.

8.05pm GMT

De Bruyne sends Sterling skittering down the left. He reaches the byline and loops into the centre for Bernardo Silva, level with the right-hand post, ten yards out. Silva chests down then sends a looper towards the top left. Vaclik gets fingertips to the lob, but can only help it into the net.

8.04pm GMT

17 min: City are leading, but Pep isn’t happy with his team. He’s on the touchline throwing semaphore shapes in the hectic style. Although this might cheer him up ...

8.03pm GMT

15 min: Basel nearly equalise immediately, Elyounoussi quarterbacking from deep and releasing Stocker down the middle! He should probably reach the ball on the edge of the box before Ederson, but goes into the challenge half-arsed. City clear again, but they are giving up good chances.

8.01pm GMT

This is as simple as they come, but so good. City earn a corner down the left. De Bruyne whips the cross towards Gundogan, ten yards out and level with the left-hand post. Gundogan flicks a high-speed header into the top left, Vaclik rooted to the spot, no man on the post. Easy! Great delivery, great header. But dreadfully defended.

7.59pm GMT

12 min: Oberlin drops a shoulder to whizz past Otamendi, just inside the City box on the right. The pair come together, and the striker goes down. Otamendi didn’t really make much effort to play the ball, but Oberlin was looking for it. A shoulder charge which was just about side on. No penalty. Still, you’ve seen them given. Otamendi treading a fine line there. And of course the home fans are furious.

7.57pm GMT

10 min: Otamendi miscues under a long ball in the centre circle. On another day, that would have clanked towards the feet of the speedy Oberlin, putting City in all sorts of light-at-the-back trouble. But the defender gets away with the mistake. This won’t end goalless, I’ll be bound.

7.56pm GMT

9 min: City calm things down a little by stroking it around the middle of the park awhile. They’re establishing a semblance of control, which will please Pep no end.

7.55pm GMT

7 min: The ludicrously open start to this match continues apace, as Aguero nearly manages to latch onto a Lacroix clearance sliced straight into the air. But not quite. Less than ten minutes gone, and both teams could easily be on the scoresheet.

7.53pm GMT

6 min: More rank City defending as Lang hammers a long ball down the inside-left channel from deep. He’s released Oberlin on goal! Ederson races out of his area. Oberlin tries to poke the ball past the keeper from the edge of the box, but gets little purchase on the shot and Walker can intercept long before it rolls anywhere near the goalline.

7.52pm GMT

5 min: Stocker is set free down the right by a quick throw. City are a little bit sleepy at the back again, and the Basel winger has space to romp into. He rolls a pass down the flank to Serey Die, but the pair aren’t on the same wavelength and the move peters out.

7.50pm GMT

3 min: Again the set piece isn’t up to much, but again City keep the pressure on the hosts with another wave of attack. Sterling presses down the left this time, but he receives the ball in an offside position and the hosts can finally breathe again.

7.49pm GMT

2 min: Nothing much comes of the set piece. But City are coming back at Basel in short order, Silva coming down the right again. His cross is met by Gundogan, whose header towards the top right from 12 yards is tipped over the bar by Vaclik. Another corner.

7.47pm GMT

1 min: Within ten seconds or so, Stocker is making good down the inside right. He reaches the corner of the City box, and he’s got Oberlin in the middle. City are a little light at the back, but Kompany gets over to crowd him out. Then City go up the other end, Silva chasing a long ball down the right. He earns an early corner.

7.46pm GMT

A friendly handshake between managers Raphael Wicky and Pep Guardiola on the touchline ... the swapping of pennants in the centre circle by captains Marek Suchy and Vincent Kompany ... a blast of the whistle ... and we’re off! The hosts get the game underway. The Champions League is back, and we’re at the business end of the tournament. The serious stuff begins now.

7.42pm GMT

The teams are out! Basel are in their traditional RotBlau shirts, a striking combo said to have inspired Barcelona’s blaugrana clobber. Manchester City wear their famous sky-blue tops. There’s a wonderful atmosphere at St Jakob-Park, despite the freezing temperature. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes, once the Uefa-directed butchering of Zadok the Priest is out of the way.

7.32pm GMT

Pep Guardiola speaks! “We have done well so far [in the Premier League and League Cup] but this is another competition and every game is tough because of the quality of the players and many, many, many other reasons. We are here with confidence to go through, but we know exactly what can happen if we are not at our level. Last season is last season: we played a really good team in Monaco, they reached the semis and won the league in France. We will try to get a good result!”

7.13pm GMT

Pre-match reading: It’s the time of the season when fans allow their hopes and dreams to run amok. And why not. Here’s how supporters of the 16 remaining Champions League clubs see things panning out.

6.58pm GMT

Basel make three changes to the side that won 2-0 at Thun last weekend. Blás Riveros and Léo Lacroix come into the defence, while Fabian Frei steps into midfield. Defenders Éder Balanta and Raoul Petretta, and striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel, miss out.

Manchester City make two changes to the team sent out to thrash Leicester City 5-1 on Saturday night, both in defence. Aymeric Laporte is replaced by captain Vincent Kompany, while Oleksandr Zinchenko makes way for Fabian Delph. And on the bench, Leroy Sané returns from injury!

6.55pm GMT

Basel: Vaclik, Lang, Xhaka, Lacroix, Suchy, Riveros, Elyounoussi, Frei, Die, Stocker, Oberlin.
Subs: Salvi, Zuffi, van Wolfswinkel, Ajeti, Manzambi, Petretta, Bua.

Manchester City: Ederson, Walker, Kompany, Otamendi, Delph, De Bruyne, Fernandinho, Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Aguero, Sterling.
Subs: Bravo, Danilo, Stones, Laporte, Sane, Silva, Foden.

10.40am GMT

Basel have caused English teams one or two problems over the years, ever since beating Sheffield Wednesday in the 1995 Intertoto Cup. They knocked Ged Houllier’s Liverpool out of the Champions League in 2002 with a 29-minute three-goal blast. They bundled Manchester United out of the groups in 2011, during an era when United used to reach the final pretty much every season. They did for Spurs in the quarters of the Europa League in 2013. Chelsea were defeated in the Champions League groups in 2013 by Mo Salah - whatever happened to him? - while Liverpool were knocked out of the groups again, this time with Brendan Rodgers at the helm - in 2014. Basel also inflicted an embarrassing defeat on Manchester United in the groups last November.

Otherwise, history is not on their side. This is Basel’s third appearance in the Round of 16, and they’ve never got any further in the Champions League. In 2012, they beat Bayern Munich 1-0 at home, only to lose the second leg 7-0. Three years later, they drew 1-1 at home with Porto, only to fall to another heavy second-leg defeat, going down 4-0 in Portugal. And despite beating United at St Jakob-Park three months ago, their recent home record is not promising: they’ve lost three of their last five European fixtures on their own turf, and won only three of their last ten. The conclusion? A good performance tonight by Pep Guardiola’s brilliant quadruple-chasing Manchester City should be enough settle this tie.

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Published on February 13, 2018 13:37

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