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A major Cloudflare outage briefly disrupted global access to platforms like ChatGPT and X, but beneath the downtime lies a deeper story about our dependence on digital infrastructure, and the humans who quietly keep the internet’s invisible skeleton standing.

When the internet stutters, the world holds its breath. On an ordinary day that began like any other, millions of people reached for their devices only to find the digital universe strangely distant. ChatGPT wouldn’t load. X refused to refresh. Websites behaved as though someone had quietly unplugged half the world.

The culprit: a Cloudflare outage.
But the real story wasn’t the outage itself; outages come and go like passing storms. The story lived in the silence that followed, in the realization of how deeply our lives depend on invisible networks, on people we never see, and on systems we rarely think about until they crack.

Somewhere behind the scenes, an engineer, let’s call him Daniel, sat in a dimly lit operations room, eyes fixed on dashboards that painted the anatomy of the internet in shades of green and red. For him, an outage wasn’t breaking news; it was a rising heartbeat, an instinctual call to action. A thousand tiny alerts became one large truth: a global disruption was underway.

When Cloudflare falters, the tremors ripple outward like an earthquake beneath a digital city. The platforms that depend on it, ChatGPT, X, online stores, entertainment apps, banking interfaces, wobble, stagger, and sometimes go dark. To the everyday user, it feels like an inconvenience. To Daniel, it feels like standing at the edge of a fault line.

But that moment, when websites froze and timelines refused to reload, carried a quiet lesson. The internet isn’t a cloud floating in the sky; it’s a physical, fragile network shaped by people like Daniel, people whose names most users will never know. Every outage is a reminder: the digital world is both powerful and delicate, resilient and breakable, global and intensely human.

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For millions who rely on ChatGPT for work, X for news, or web apps for survival, the outage was more than a glitch. Students paused mid-essay. Developers lost temporary access to tools they depend on. Businesses momentarily stopped accepting online payments. And content creators, your fellow Tech Naija storytellers, analysts, and innovators, felt that sudden digital silence like a door unexpectedly closing.

Yet in the midst of the disruption, something else happened: people talked. Not online, but offline. In offices, cafés, and living rooms. And it sparked a thought, we live inside a world we barely understand. Our maps chart physical places, but no map can show the digital arteries that feed our lives. Cloudflare’s outage, brief as it was, shed light on that invisible architecture.

When global access finally began returning to normal, Daniel leaned back in his chair, exhausted, unseen, but victorious in the quiet way engineers often are. The world would never know his name, yet millions would feel the impact of his work.

Cloudflare’s outage wasn’t just a moment of digital stillness. It was a mirror. It reminded us that behind every screen is a heartbeat, human, imperfect, and astonishingly dedicated. It reminded us that technology, for all its brilliance, is a living ecosystem held together by thinkers, dreamers, and problem-solvers.

And most importantly, it reminded us how dependent we are on the systems we rarely acknowledge, until they falter.

Dojah’s newly released 2025 white paper dives into the realities of fraud, identity abuse, and the evolving risk landscape in Africa’s rapidly growing digital economy. With insights drawn from leading industry partners and extensive ecosystem data, the report uncovers how fraud is shifting and what businesses must do to build resilient trust systems.

Every digital revolution carries a shadow. In Africa, where mobile money, fintech, and digital commerce are blossoming with unprecedented speed, that shadow is fraud, a force that evolves as quickly as innovation itself. And at the heart of this transformation stands Dojah, not just as a provider of verification tools, but as a storyteller of the continent’s risk ecosystem.

The release of The State of Fraud & Risk Intelligence in Africa 2025 feels less like a corporate report and more like a timestamp in Africa’s digital journey. It reflects a continent on the brink of explosive digital inclusion, yet held back by fragile verification systems, limited data-sharing frameworks, and a growing wave of identity-based threats.

Africa’s digital economy is projected to exceed USD 200 billion by 2025, but only a fraction of its nations maintain mature data governance structures. The gap between innovation and infrastructure creates a perfect storm, one where fraudsters thrive, businesses tread cautiously, and users lose trust before they even begin.

But Dojah doesn’t just highlight the problem; it reveals the anatomy of it. The report outlines how fraud has shifted from simple impersonation to complex patterns: post-onboarding abuse, account takeovers, SIM-swap fraud, synthetic identities, deepfake scams, and cross-border fraud rings powered by automation. What once required manual deception is now scalable, fast, and non-linear.

And this is where Dojah’s own story intertwines with the narrative. Built for Africa’s digital-first markets, Dojah has grown into one of the continent’s leading trust and identity platforms, combining biometrics, document verification, device intelligence, behavioural analysis, network signals, and transaction monitoring. The white paper reflects this evolution: trust isn’t a checkbox; it’s a lifecycle.

Reading the report, you travel across Africa’s digital corridors. You see East Africa wrestling with mobile-money abuse. West Africa is balancing innovation with fragmented regulation. Southern Africa is confronting legacy systems. Every region faces its own version of the same challenge: how do you scale trust as fast as adoption?

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One insight stands out: fraud isn’t rising because systems are weak; it’s rising because digital adoption is booming. And in that boom lies a tension every African business understands: the dance between friction and convenience. Too much verification and users abandon onboarding. Too little and you become a fraud magnet.

Dojah’s solution? Continuous profiling. Instead of verifying users once during onboarding, businesses should monitor identity, behaviour, and transaction consistency across the user’s entire journey. A system that learns, adapts, predicts, and prevents.

For founders, product teams, digital banks, telcos, and emerging startups, this white paper is more than a resource; it is a survival kit. It teaches us that trust must be embedded, not added. That fraud prevention isn’t an obstacle to growth, it is the foundation of scalable growth.

But the heart of the story is this: Africa’s digital future is bright, but only if trust is treated as infrastructure, not an accessory.

Dojah’s white paper doesn’t provide fear; it provides clarity. It reminds us that as Africa builds, it must build with intelligence, with context, with the understanding that fraud will evolve, but so can we.

This isn’t just a report. It is a call to fortify the continent’s digital dreams.

A deep, human-centered exploration of Soilless Farms Labs, its founder’s grit, its purpose, and how it’s rewriting the future of food production in Nigeria through innovation, resilience, and an unbroken belief that farming can be smarter, cleaner, and far more profitable.

Soilless Farms Labs is building a new model for Nigerian agriculture, but the story didn’t start with technology. It began with a quiet frustration, one that brewed in the heart of a young innovator who watched farmers work tirelessly yet remain trapped in a cycle of unpredictable harvests, poor yields, and even poorer rewards. The fields were green, yes, but the future wasn’t. Something had to change.

That restless spark became a calling: What if farming didn’t have to depend on soil at all? What if Nigeria could grow food in ways that defied the limitations of land, weather, and outdated systems? What if agriculture could be a science, a business, and a future all at once?

This is the journey that gave rise to Soilless Farms Labs, one of the most ambitious attempts to reengineer what farming looks like in an African nation that relies heavily on rainfall yet suffers from food insecurity. But the real story is not hydroponics, greenhouses, or climate-smart systems; it is the mindset behind them.

Because behind every innovation is someone who dared to imagine more.

You cannot stand inside a controlled-environment farm at Soilless Farms Labs without feeling that sense of deliberate intention. Each drip line is a lesson; each crop is a promise. Here, technology doesn’t feel like machinery; it feels like hope growing in rows. You sense the belief that Nigeria does not have to remain at the mercy of climate change, flooding, or harsh dry seasons. That farmers can be scientists. That food production can be predictable. That profit can be planned, not prayed for.

The founder’s philosophy breathes through the operations: “Let’s build what works, even if it has never worked here before.” And that is where the story deepens, because innovation in Nigeria is not for the faint-hearted. It means riding through policy gaps, unstable power supply, skepticism from traditional farmers, and the ever-rising cost of doing business. It means testing systems that failed before just to understand how to make them succeed now.

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It is slow. It is gritty. It is daring.

But Soilless Farms Labs thrives exactly because it refuses to settle. Every challenge becomes research. Every setback, a prototype. Every harvest, evidence that a new blueprint for Africa’s food supply is not only possible, it is already happening.

And the most powerful part? This model scales people before it scales farms. Young Nigerians are trained, not just in modern farming techniques, but in agricultural thinking, how to see with the eyes of the future. Students who once viewed agriculture as punishment now step into greenhouses and see opportunity, innovation, salary, and dignity.

They see a future.

The story of Soilless Farms Labs is the story of a country learning to adapt. It captures the reality that Nigeria is rich in land but lacking in systems. It reminds us that the next generation of farmers may not carry hoes; they may carry tablets, sensors, and data dashboards. The future of food will not depend on how rich the soil is, but how rich the mind behind the system is.

And in this story of resilience and reinvention, Soilless Farms Labs stands not just as a farm,

Legend Internet is expanding beyond broadband into a full digital ecosystem. Shareholders have approved the acquisition of a licensed ISP and a microfinance bank, backed by a planned ₦150 billion capital raise. This marks the company’s bold pivot toward integrating connectivity with finance for everyday Nigerians.

Legend Internet’s second annual general meeting in Abuja did more than tick governance boxes; it quietly rewrote the company’s future. What began as a fibre-to-the-home provider is now shaping itself into something far more ambitious. Shareholders have approved the company’s move to acquire a fully licensed Internet Service Provider as well as a licensed microfinance bank, backed by a forthcoming capital raise projected to reach up to ₦150 billion.

But the real story lives beneath those decisions. Legend Internet isn’t merely expanding; it is evolving. You cannot understand this shift by looking only at the transactions. You have to see the company as a curious organism, a business that started by solving one problem (connectivity) and is now reaching toward the deeper layers of digital life: access, empowerment, and everyday financial convenience.

Acquiring an ISP is a logical expansion, offering more control, better reach, and stronger network independence. But the addition of a microfinance bank tells a richer story. It signals a belief that the average Nigerian’s digital life is incomplete without financial empowerment woven into the experience. If Legend controls both the pipelines of internet access and the flow of digital financial services, it becomes more than a service provider. It becomes a digital ecosystem, one where your connection, your payments, your subscriptions, your small loans, and even your business microcredit travel through a single, reliable channel.

What makes this moment compelling isn’t the business mechanics alone but the human intention underneath. Nigeria’s small business community, the shop owners, the freelancers, the creators, are often held back by two simple limitations: poor connectivity and a lack of accessible financial tools. Legend is positioning itself to serve both needs at once.

There is also the emotional undertone of a company stepping into its adulthood. Legend was listed publicly not long ago, proving it could operate on a larger stage. It steadied its revenue, strengthened investor confidence, and earned the trust of institutions. With that trust comes responsibility, and opportunity. A transformative capital raise isn’t just about financing; it’s about giving a company permission to dream bigger and execute those dreams with precision.

Inside the boardroom, the tone was clear: this is a long-term play, not a headline grab. The teams behind this vision understand that merging telecom with finance is complex. Regulation will demand patience, integration will require discipline, and building a unified culture across technology and financial services will test leadership. Yet, in the quiet confidence with which they presented their plans, you sense the spirit of builders who aren’t afraid of the long road.

For customers, this evolution could mean better-bundled products, easier device financing, more predictable service experiences, and new credit opportunities tied to their digital habits. For the market, it signals a coming shift in how broadband companies imagine their future. For Legend, it is a chance to turn infrastructure into impact, to move from selling megabits to enabling meaningful daily life.

If the company executes its vision with care, this moment will be remembered as the turning point, the day a broadband provider stepped into the arena of full digital possibility, ready to shape how Nigerians connect, work, communicate, and transact.

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Lula has secured a $10 million local-currency loan from the IFC to expand lending to underserved SMEs in South Africa. With a digital-first model and a mission to support first-time business borrowers, Lula is poised to close the country’s SME credit gap and drive inclusive growth.

In the heart of South Africa’s restless entrepreneurial landscape, a quiet revolution has been unfolding, one powered not by massive corporations but by the small businesses that form the backbone of the nation’s economy. And at the center of this evolution stands Lula, the Cape Town–based fintech rewriting the rules of SME finance. With its recent $10 million loan secured from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Lula is preparing to turn that quiet revolution into something far louder.

What looks like a simple announcement, a fintech securing funding, is actually a window into the future of African business growth. Because Lula is not just another lender. It is a bridge, a lifeline, and for many small business owners, the first institution that ever looked at them and saw possibility instead of risk. Nearly 90 percent of Lula’s clients are first-time business borrowers, individuals who for years were dismissed by traditional banks for lacking collateral or formal credit histories.

The IFC loan changes the scale of that mission. Denominated in rand, the funding reduces currency mismatch risks and makes lending more accessible and sustainable for entrepreneurs whose earnings are local but whose challenges are global. At least 80 percent of the capital is earmarked for micro and small enterprises, the very people who are often locked out of formal finance.

But to understand the significance of this moment, you must understand Lula’s story. Founded in 2014 by Trevor Gosling and Neil Welman, the company wasn’t born from ambition alone, but from frustration, the kind that only entrepreneurs know too well.

They had watched countless businesses with real potential collapse because cash-flow bottlenecks had strangled them. Banks moved too slowly. Requirements were too rigid. And many entrepreneurs, especially in township economies, were invisible to legacy credit systems.

Lula chose a different path: digital-first, algorithm-driven, human-centered. It built a model that could make decisions in hours, not weeks. It used data creatively to assess creditworthiness beyond traditional metrics. And most importantly, it trusted small businesses long before others did.

The IFC’s renewed backing, part of a relationship with Lula that dates back to 2019, signifies trust not just in Lula’s systems, but in its broader vision: a future where underserved, high-potential entrepreneurs don’t have to fight for access to capital. They get it by default.

This new chapter also unlocks possibilities beyond lending. Lula is expanding its tech stack, exploring AI-powered credit models, digital tools tailored for SMEs, and embedded lending solutions that bring finance closer to the platforms entrepreneurs already use. The goal is simple: make access to capital as natural as sending a text message.

What makes this story compelling is not the $10 million figure, but what it represents. It represents the shop owner who can finally restock without borrowing from family. The logistics startup can add two more bikes to its fleet. The young entrepreneur who no longer has to pause a dream because a bank needs six months of paperwork.

South Africa’s MSMEs contribute roughly one-third of the national GDP and over half of the country’s jobs, yet they remain the most underserved segment in the credit market. Lula’s partnership with IFC is not just about finance; it is about unlocking a bottleneck in the nation’s economic engine.

This isn’t just funding. It’s fuel. Fuel for growth, for dignity, for possibility. Lula is not simply expanding its loan book; it’s expanding the future of thousands of businesses that were once overlooked. And with this latest boost from the IFC, that future looks brighter, faster, and far more inclusive.

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A deep, human-centered exploration of why B2B continues to excel in Africa, rooted in real problems, lived experiences, and founders who build from necessity rather than trends.
Africa has always been a continent of contradictions, where obstacles sit side by side with opportunities, and where the toughest markets often shape the most resilient innovators. To understand why B2B keeps winning in Africa, you have to look beyond business models and balance sheets. You have to look at the people who build these businesses and the continent that shapes them. That is where the real story lives.

Every decade redefines what success looks like in Africa, but one consistent truth remains: the continent rewards those who solve real problems. Not glamorous ones. Not trending ones. Real, structural, painful problems. And this is where B2B rises above everything else. It is not driven by vanity metrics or superficial traction. It is driven by necessity, by the simple truth that businesses need tools that help them survive in a landscape where nothing comes easy.

There is a certain grit shared among African founders building businesses. They don’t just build products; they build lifelines. When you sit with them, you hear stories of nights spent troubleshooting server outages with a client who cannot afford downtime. You hear about delivery operators navigating bad roads because a business needs inventory before sunrise. You see designers sketching ideas based on how a market woman actually moves through her day, not how Silicon Valley imagines she should.

This is why B2B works: it listens. It observes. It adapts.

Across the continent, Lagos, Nairobi, Kigali, Accra, Joburg, something interesting is happening. Instead of trying to mimic Western consumer apps, African founders are rewriting the script. They are building products that fuel the backbone sectors of the economy: logistics, payments, retail distribution, supply chains, manufacturing, agriculture, and mobility. They are building quietly, intentionally, and with a depth that comes only from lived experience.

But there is another layer to this story, one that’s rarely told. Behind every African B2B innovation is a person who grew up watching systems fail and decided to build something better. A founder who saw her mother run a shop with no inventory records. A son who watched his father lose customers due to supply disruptions. A team that worked in companies stuck in manual processes and knew technology could leapfrog decades of inefficiency.

Their personal experiences become the blueprint for solutions.
Their frustrations become product features.
Their empathy becomes a competitive advantage.

And when you look closely, this is the real reason B2B keeps winning: it is born from truth, not theory.

African businesses are hungry for efficiency because inefficiency is expensive. They are open to new tools because old systems are unreliable. They embrace digital transformation not because it is trendy but because it is survival. And when a product truly solves a problem, deeply, consistently, it earns trust in ways no marketing campaign ever could.

Today, the B2B wave is no longer just a wave; it is a movement. Investors are shifting their focus. SMEs are digitizing faster. Corporations are partnering with startups instead of competing with them. And founders are building with the confidence that Africa’s next decade belongs to the companies enabling productivity, not just convenience.

The continent is teaching the world something profound:
When you solve problems that matter, you don’t chase growth; growth chases you.

This is why B2B keeps winning.
Because Africa rewards solutions anchored in purpose, resilience, and reality.
Because the people building B2B products understand the heartbeat of the market.
Because behind every great African B2B story is a human being who refused to accept dysfunction as the norm.

And that, more than strategy, economics, or venture capital, is the real story worth telling.

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In an exclusive interview for Sky Sports, Michael Beale reflects on his first season in charge at Rangers and outlines his plans for the future.Rangers manager Michael Beale has told Sky Sports he is moving forward with "optimism" after ending the season with "a tinge of disappointment."

The 42-year-old former Ibrox coach returned as manager in December promising to drive up standards on the pitch and give supporters plenty to be excited about again.Despite losing just two Premiership games he was unable to make up ground on champions Celtic, with Rangers also losing against their Old Firm rivals in the League Cup final and Scottish Cup semi-final.Alfredo Morelos, Ryan Kent, Allan McGregor and Scott Arfield were among the end-of-season departures as Beale looks to bring in players who can "grow for the next two or three seasons."

The manager has wasted no time in the transfer window with Kieran Dowell, Dujon Sterling and Jack Butland joining the club.In an exclusive interview with Sky Sports, Beale spoke about his return to Ibrox, his summer rebuild and challenging Celtic for the title next season..."It's probably everything I wished it to be in terms of being a natural transition from being an assistant for many years. My desire was to become a manager. Two different leagues in one season, a lot of drama in between but I've had a lot of experience in that.

"The size of the clubs are different. I loved my time at Queens Park Rangers with Les Ferdinand and the staff there. It was really important to me before coming back to Rangers.

"The opportunity to come here I didn't think would come anywhere as near as quickly as it did. This is a juggernaut of a club and everything that comes with it but I've been pleased with my staff and how they've handled it. I've been pleased with the support I've had from the club and everybody around the backroom team.

"There's a tinge of disappointment because I felt we could have done better. We've won a lot of games but in the real key moments we've tended to shoot ourselves in the foot. That will be in the forefront of my mind going for the recruitment this summer.

"It's a really important summer for me, the football club, the fans and ultimately for the players in the squad as well."

On saying squad 'wasn't broken' and 'second is last' when appointed…

"The team wasn't as broken because we won a lot of matches and played well. We've managed to turn a corner in terms of our consistency home and away. We score a lot of goals, especially away from home. Some of our big away performances I've been delighted with.

"But second is last certainly in this country and the way that our league is, and the intensity. It's important that we don't want to finish second so we have to make some changes.

"It's a harsh world sometimes football but that's the expectation here at Rangers and you have to change players in search for extra players that can come in and make a difference, make a big impact. That's what we're looking for this summer."We've made some decisions to freshen up the squad to bring in people that can make a considerable difference to the outcome of the season.

"Our points total will be one that would have won the league in many other years. The game can be ruthless. The opinion on a group of players can be ruthless as an occurrence of that. What I've got to do now with my staff is bring in some good players that can help us go on a journey for the next three to five years."

How much of this season has been about the short-term goal of improving Rangers while trying to implement bits of what you want for the long-term aim?

"Everyone just wants you to win. I need to win and put some stability into the club, some harmony, some players in it which I feel can grow for the next two or three years here. That there's a value on their head as well if they do well that we can trade and start again in terms of bringing other players in.

"If we look at the last 12 to 14 months, Nathan Patterson left the building, Joe Aribo and Calvin Bassey for the outlay of which was probably under £500,000. For the finance that we brought in, it was great but it's important you have a conveyor belt behind it.

"It's important the links between me and the academy are really strong to open a pathway. We have had a number of academy players on the pitch this year but who's going to stay in? Who's going to be a mainstay? Who's going to be a marquee player for Rangers?

"The fans and the outside media will just look every three to five days when you play. Win, lose or draw that's how they'll deem success. I need to win. The team need to win. My staff need to win. But we also need to make sure we build a really strong club moving forward."

Do you have to make sure decisions on players are made earlier to avoid Kent/Morelos situation?

"It should never be a shock to a player. It wasn't a shock to Ryan and Alfredo. When I came back into the club, the players that were out of contract all had different things going on.

"When I came back in I had an initial conversation and agreed with them all to get to the March international break. Let's do what's right for Rangers, and the fans, let's get the team back on track, start winning matches, start getting the harmony and the feel-good feeling around Ibrox where it needed to be.

"In March I spoke to everybody again and they've had clarity for a good while now. We've all been on the same page. There's an element that I agree with one or two that it's time for a change and everybody on the board does as well."Allan (McGregor) it's a natural thing with his age. Scott Arfield pulled on the heart strings because I felt he still could have had a part to play but when you sit and talk about what Scott and Rangers need we couldn't meet in the right place. It ended amicably.

"Filip (Helander) has been injured a long time. I felt Ryan and Alfredo both needed a change and I think they both agreed as well. They left with a big hug and that was important to me.

"Moving forward, it's really important no one has a shock like those guys. It's not just the players, it's their extended family as well. There's a lot to put into it. It's important communication is very clear and they get that from me."

How do Rangers win the league next season and bridge the gap to Celtic?

"We start how we're ending with our style being very clear, our energy being very strong on the pitch in terms of our pressing and the bits out of possession. Make sure that we're really hard to beat then allow our quality to come through. We'll look to recruit a spine that's enabled to stay at Rangers for the next three to five years to build on.

"You've seen the start of that with Nico Raskin and Todd Cantwell coming in and Kieran Dowell. We'll look to add to that with a little bit of experience but certainly in terms of quality in the final third.

"You'll be able to tell by my face at the start of pre-season whether I've been successful in getting everyone that I want but either way we'll come back into pre-season next year with a few new ideas that I've wanted to implement. We need to go and recruit a certain type of players for that. We'll come back stronger.

"Our league form in the last 24 games would say if we can get to that stage where we are now, we'll be in the mix. It'll be about getting to the March international break where we need to be and then going for it."

Does the title win under Gerrard help to know what it takes to stop Celtic?

"Over Steven's management time in the last year and a half, there was one defeat in 52 games. I've come back for 23 or 24 and had a couple of defeats. That's a lot of games where I've had experience in this league over two spells where the team has performed well.

"The big thing is the goalposts move in football. All the teams this summer recruit and change players. I'm sure everybody is going to strengthen and nothing looks the same. There will be changes in managers, personnel and there will be some surprises.

"My focus is on how do I make my Rangers team stronger? We're talking about a Rangers team that has not dropped too many points in the league since November. I'm strengthening from a decent place."

How tough will Champions League qualification be?

"The focus is from the first day back of pre-season. We come back the day the fixtures come out for the league and then we'll know roughly who we can draw in the Champions League.

"If we're lucky enough to get through, there's a chance we'll be in pot three. If we're in the Europa League, I think we'll be in pot one. It's there for us.

"Credit to all the players and managers in the last few years, we were a team that had to qualify with four qualifying rounds in 2018. After that we've had the last 16 twice, the Europa League final and Champions League group stage."Our progress in Europe has been outstanding. The co-efficiency has helped everybody. It's fantastic we're in the split at the end of the season and people are fighting for European group stage football. That shows the work everyone has done in Scotland to improve the co-efficiency.

"Our run in Europe the last few years has been outstanding. This year, it was a little bit cruel, but the level went up and the teams we played were excellent. We want to get back there and improve on last year's showing."

What do you make of the Scottish game and how can it improve?

"VAR has had a better impact than people realise. We've focused a lot on the penalties and the handballs situation but that's more the law.

"When I came in 2018, Alfredo got caught up in quite a bit of the off-the-ball stuff. We used to go to the compliance officer quite a lot. That's not in our game now. We have to see the benefits of the other side of it.

"I see different tactics happening in the league, different managers as well. The managers in Scotland deserve huge credit. We're not managers that can go out and buy the ready-made players. There are only two or three managers in the league that are fortunate enough to go and buy players.

VAR checks Ryan Jack's tackle on Adam Montgomery
Image:
Beale is a fan of VAR
"The rest of the managers and even the managers of Rangers and Celtic have to go out and look for players that have untapped potential or need a certain type of management or development to fulfil what they've got. That's why our league produces good managers.

"At times we need to make sure the league is fair. Teams shouldn't play certain teams three times away and one time at home, but I understand that's the way the league has been set up. That's very hard for a team to jump out of the pack and surprise everyone over a 38-game season because they play so many games against Rangers and Celtic that it makes it difficult for them.

"But they are things from being a small country. We have to sometimes realise we're 300 miles away from the biggest league in the world but our league per capita for people watching is as strong as anywhere. It's important we promote it inside the league.

"Having two teams in the Champions League last year and Hearts in the Conference League group stage as well, that's making strides forwards."

What's your message to Rangers fans for next season?

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - APRIL 30: Rangers fans during a Scottish Cup semi-final match between Rangers and Celtic at Hampden Park, on April 30, 2023, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)
Image:
Rangers fans display at Hampden Park
"The support this season has been incredible. The send-off they gave the players the other day at the end of a disappointing season was not normal. It was something that showcased this club that if you give your all, you'll be rightly rewarded with fans who will stick by you.

"They've been fantastic to me, I'll need them to be in the future and I really want them to welcome the new players in and get behind the team. We need to make Ibrox a real fortress.

"We had a home league campaign where we were unbeaten, we need that again next year and in Europe. This year has seen the club, at times, not be aligned with its fans and it's important moving forward we're aligned all together. That makes us stronger. I believe there's a lot of optimism moving forward."

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Ahead of the Champions League final, Patrick Vieira reflects on Manchester City’s emergence as a super power, how his move to AC Milan shaped his career in football, and why former team-mate Edin Dzeko could hold the key for Inter in Istanbul…

Patrick Vieira is a World Cup winner with France. In a footballing sense, he is also a child of both Italy and England. There was the formative season spent with AC Milan before going on to become an Arsenal legend during his nine years in north London.

The Champions League final in Istanbul on Saturday will feature two more of Vieira's former clubs. It is Manchester City, where he finished his career, against Internazionale, where he won a trio of Serie A titles. He had returned to Italy as a changed man.Vieira was just a teenager when he left Cannes to sign for Fabio Capello's Milan in 1995. That was the great Milan of Franco Baresi and Paolo Maldini, of Roberto Donadoni and Marcel Desailly, of George Weah and Roberto Baggio. It was an education.

"It was in Italy, with AC Milan, that I really realised what it is to be a professional footballer," says Vieira, speaking at the launch of Expedia Live's 'Soundscape of Being There' report. "At 18, I learned how to conduct yourself to maximise your potential."He hardly featured that season. But a year in which his on-pitch activity was restricted was still important. When Arsene Wenger took him to Arsenal, having already recognised his vast potential, Vieira was ready to express himself in the Premier League."When I arrived in England, it was more about football being a pleasure, a more entertaining sport, it was more about playing the game. So, there are these two very different cultures that I used to build myself as a player and now as a manager.

"There is a way of conducting yourself to maximise the professional within you but at the same time I also love that English culture of expressing yourself and playing the game to win. I think if you manage to have and utilise both, you can be successful."

Vieira had that success at Arsenal, emerging as a driving force, arguably the outstanding midfielder in the Premier League during a period in which he won three titles, including a double in 2002. He was captain during the club's 'Invincible' season in 2004.

His final kick for Arsenal was the winning penalty in the 2005 FA Cup final, after which the club did not win a trophy for nine years. After a season at Juventus, Vieira went on to win three titles with Inter under first Roberto Mancini and then Jose Mourinho.As Mancini's first signing at Manchester City, his career even ended on a high. Vieira's final game as a professional footballer was a cameo off the bench, replacing David Silva as City won the 2011 FA Cup final. It was their first major trophy in 35 years.

Seeing that transformation up close left its mark on Vieira. He witnessed the planning and preparation that went into their rise. "It was a time when City had direction and a really clear idea of how and where they wanted to take the football club."That clarity of vision helped the club - but it also helped a retiring legend of the game who was wondering what to do next. "I did not know. They were clear in their mind what they wanted and the experience they wanted because they wanted to grow."

He took those first coaching steps at City, embracing those ideas. Since Pep Guardiola's arrival, in particular, the influence of their style of play has grown. "When teams have success, those tactical elements have an impact on managers," Vieira explains."The success of Manchester City having the full-back coming inside, having centre-backs stepping in as a holding midfielder, or even having wingers to come inside to create the overload, these are tactics that others are looking to try to implement into their teams.

"When you look at the grassroots now, coaches are trying to play out with the goalkeeper building up from the back. I think that is the influence of Manchester City and their vision of the game. I think it really benefits the players who are coming through."Inter will need a plan to stop them in the Champions League final. Perhaps that will involve a former City favourite. Edin Dzeko, now 37, scored the opening goal in Inter's semi-final win over Milan. His former team-mate Vieira believes he could have a key role.

"I played with Edin at City and he is a top player and really good professional. I watched Inter play their last couple of games and it looks like he is getting back his young legs again because he has been playing really well and scoring goals.

"How he can help them is when they are under pressure, he can be the one who can hold the ball and take off that pressure.

"He is a strong player and he will need chances to score goals, but I think it will be very important for him to keep holding onto the ball and waiting for the support of his team-mates around, winning fouls for Inter to get out of the pressure."Even the way that Vieira frames his answer reveals that he regards City as the favourites to lift the trophy. "This football club grew off the field, on the field, and it took a lot of hard and dedicated work to be where they are today," he adds.

"It is really good to have seen the first couple of years and where they are now. They might not have the same history as other clubs, but they have really performed and grown over recent years. It is amazing to see them part of those big clubs."

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Ange Postecoglou led Celtic to a domestic treble this season; the former Australia boss secured a league and cup double in his first season in charge; he was appointed at Celtic in 2021 after leaving J-League club Yokohama F Marinos"Let’s not beat about the bush, I was a joke when I was appointed."

The words of Ange Postecoglou - after leading Celtic to a domestic treble in his final game - may seem blunt but rang true following two seasons in Scotland.Few knew who the Australian was when he arrived in Glasgow from Yokohama F Marinos in June 2021, but that unknown quantity became idolised after proving first impressions do not always count.He kicked off his Celtic reign with defeat at Hearts but, after reclaiming the Scottish Premiership title from Rangers at the first attempt, he then became just the fifth manager in the club's history to become part of the treble-wining elite.

Once the Celtic fans come to terms with his departure they will remember the impact he made at Parkhead, while the Tottenham supporters anticipate what he will bring to north London.They appear to be split on the selection with some questioning his pedigree, but that will not faze the single-minded 57-year-old.



So what do Spurs fans need to know about their prospective new boss?Postecoglou tapped into his knowledge of transfer markets that Celtic had rarely explored before, with 29 players joining him at Celtic Park.

He added six Japanese players and Kyogo Furuhashi is arguably the best signing of the Postecoglou era.

The striker joined from Vissel Kobe in July 2021 for around £4.5m with his value soaring with every goal he scored.

Furuhashi instantly settled into life in Scotland, netting 20 goals in 33 appearances during his first season, which included a lengthy spell out injured.

He ended this season as the Scottish Premiership's top goalscorer with 27 goals, 34 in all competitions, and won the PFA, Scottish Premiership and Scottish Football Writer's Association Player of the Year awards.

Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda followed Kyogo from Japan in December 2021 with both quickly establishing themselves as key members of the Celtic squad.

Maeda scored on his debut while Hatate's impressive performances this season saw him shortlisted for PFA Player of Year.

Winger Jota and ex-Spurs defender Cameron Carter-Vickers joined the Postecoglou era on loan and such was their impact they agreed permanent deals last summer.Celtic had struggled to find a reliable goalkeeper but a few eyebrows were still raised when goalkeeper Joe Hart joined from Tottenham in the summer of 2021.

Many thought the former Manchester City stopper was past his best but he has rarely missed a game, playing a key part in all five trophies secured over the last two seasons.

Postecoglou led South Melbourne to two titles as manager in his early 30s and then spent seven years coaching Australia's youth teams.

He burst back on to the domestic scene, leading Brisbane Roar from finishing bottom of the A-League to consecutive Grand Final victories in 2011 and 2012, with the help of a record 36-game unbeaten run.

He took charge of Australia at the 2014 World Cup, won the Asian Cup the following year and led his country to 2018 World Cup qualification before taking charge of Yokohama F Marinos, guiding them to their first J-League title in 15 years in 2019.He won five out of six domestic trophies during his two years in charge of Celtic, including a treble in what appears to have been his final campaign.

European football was the missing piece of the jigsaw. However, Celtic generally performed well in the Champions League this past season - against Real Madrid, RB Leipzig and Shakhtar Donetsk - while squandering chances that should have got them more than two points on their return to the elite stage.

Postecoglou addressed the fact there was a mixed response to his appointment as Celtic manager and was also unfazed by the fact a deal for Eddie Howe had fallen through.

"You're assuming I was second choice, I might have been fifth choice, you never know," he said at his unveiling. "It doesn't really bother me. What's important is that I have been given the responsibility and opportunity."

He also dismissed suggestions he was making a "jump" in standard. "I have coached at a World Cup, I have coached against some of the best teams in the world," he said.

He will not be concerned by the reaction to his Tottenham appointment given his total focus and belief in his process.

Postecoglou has matched success with an attacking style and prides himself on building teams that get people talking and excite the fans.

Celtic scored a post-war club record 114 league goals this past season. His goalkeeper will need to pass the ball out, his centre-backs get on the front foot and are aggressive, while he employs inverted full-backs.His team played with two attacking central midfielders and two wingers who have to get in front of goal when balls come in from the other flank, while the centre-forward can expect plenty of chances.

His mantra is "we never stop" and even the Celtic ball attendants are in tune with his demand to keep the game moving.

Postecoglou has spoken of his love of a challenge and building something special from scratch.

"Just about every job I have had has been an extensive rebuild," he once said. "Usually you come in when people are needing change. Secondly, the way I get my teams to play is challenging, and requires a major shift, usually both in playing staff and the way we work."

He exerted control over a number of areas of the football department at Celtic and oversaw a massive rebuild while winning the title against a Rangers side who finished 25 points ahead the previous season and reached a European final in his first Scottish campaign.He quickly won respect from Celtic players and fostered a culture of togetherness but also takes a step back from them and lets the dressing room run itself on match days. Australia international Ryan McGowan remarked how he sat next to Postecoglou on a long-haul flight in total silence as his manager does not want to be swayed by personal relationships when making decisions.Celtic fans bought into their manager's style of play, how he represented the club and stood up for it in the media, although he very rarely talked about referee decisions.

He also understood how important the club is to people's lives and used that as a motivation.

They gave him total backing in return, although success is obviously paramount to that.

The Australian, who emigrated from Greece at the age of four, won two titles as a South Melbourne player, where he worked under Real Madrid great Ferenc Puskas, and won four Australia caps before injury forced him to move into coaching at a young age.

Postecoglou has a footballing philosophy of attacking, entertaining and relentless football and it was a style he never waivered from, even in the Champions League.

He favours a 4-3-3 formation that makes them relentless in the press with the manager often repeating his mantra of "we never stop."The use of inverted full-backs allowed Celtic both to build from the back and put a stranglehold on their opposition, piling men forward to win the ball back high up the pitch.

He is a great communicator and has the ability to get others to buy into his vision of how the game should be played, which is clear from his turnaround at Celtic.

Postecoglou will never become friends with his players, he chooses when to motivate and encourage or, at times, criticise them.

From the squad to the fans and even the media, you know exactly where you stand with Ange Postecoglou.

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Four men were fined £51,700 and banned from sports venues for two years after hanging a banner and an inflatable black effigy in a replica of Vinicius' No 20 shirt on a bridge; three other people were fined £4,300 after making racist gestures towards Brazil international.

Seven people involved in different racist attacks against Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr have been punished by Spain's State Commission against Violence, Racism, Xenophobia and Intolerance in Sport, the country's Sports Commission said on Monday.

Four men were fined €60,000 (£51,700) and banned from sports venues for two years after hanging a banner reading "Madrid hates Real" and an inflatable black effigy in a replica of Vinicius' No 20 shirt on a bridge near Real's facilities before the team's Cup match against Atletico Madrid on January 26.

Three other people were fined €5,000 (£4,300) and banned from sports venues for one year after making racist gestures towards the Brazil international during a LaLiga match at Valencia's Mestalla Stadium on May 21.The sanctions come 11 days after the arrest of the four men on suspicion of hanging the effigy and their release on bail by a Madrid court.

Vinicius Jr has been in the spotlight for the past couple of weeks after calling LaLiga and Spain racist following the abuse he suffered during Real's match against Valencia.The sporting world has shown solidarity with the 22-year-old since then and the Brazilian government has called for severe sanctions against those responsible for the racial slurs.

Brazil will play friendlies against Guinea on June 17 and Senegal, three days later, as a part of an anti-racism campaign.Earlier this month, Valencia had their partial stadium closure reduced to three matches and their fine cut to €27,000 (£23,500) following an appeal for the racist abuse of Vinicius by fans.

The Spanish Football Federation appeals committee said that it had decided to "partially uphold" Valencia's appeal.

It means the partial closure of the Mestalla Stadium has come down from five matches, with an initial €45,000 (£39,000) punishment reduced by €18,000.Vinicius threatened to leave the pitch in the second half of Real Madrid's LaLiga match against Valencia on Sunday after being subjected to alleged racist chants from the crowd and Madrid, who said the abuse constituted a "hate crime", filed a complaint with the Spanish State Attorney General's Office.

Valencia had 10 working days to file an appeal to the appeals committee. LaLiga players and officials called for racism to be tackled in Spain in the wake of Sunday's match.

Before Tuesday night's games between Real Valladolid and Barcelona, and Celta Vigo and Girona, players from both sides, as well as the match officials, stood behind banners which read "Racism, out of football".

Vinicius was set to serve a two or three-match ban after being sent off at Valencia, but Spain's competition committee - a body formed by one member from LaLiga, one from the Spanish Sports Council (CSD) and one from RFEF (Spanish FA) - has rescinded that red card.LaLiga, meanwhile, said it would request greater jurisdiction to punish clubs whose fans were guilty of racist abuse after feeling "powerless" at the lack of current sanctions in the wake of the latest Vinicius incident.

According to the country's law, LaLiga can currently only identify and report incidents, and punishment is rarely handed out.

Four people were arrested in Spain on Tuesday under suspicion of hanging an effigy of Vinicius off a bridge in January.

An inflatable doll dressed in a Vinicius shirt was hung from the railings with a banner that read 'Madrid hates Real Madrid' ahead of Real's Copa del Rey game with city rivals Atletico at the start of the year.

And Spanish police confirmed on Tuesday that four suspects had been apprehended.

Tebas claims LaLiga could eradicate racism in six months
Speaking on Thursday, LaLiga president Javier Tebas claimed his organisation could eradicate racism from Spanish football in six months if given adequate sanctioning powers.

Vinicius Junior spoke out against both Spain and LaLiga after the abuse, highlighting "continuous episodes across several cities" and suggesting LaLiga "belongs to the racists".

Tebas gave a tetchy response to Vinicius on social media, for which he subsequently apologised, and at a news conference on Thursday he complained the league's hands are tied by laws which mean LaLiga can currently only identify and report incidents and punishment is rarely handed out.

"What we want is the power to do more things. With the power we are convinced within months this would be solved," he told the specially-arranged conference.

"We are going along the legal route, and I think in six months' time this will be at zero and we will be the best league in the world. The competencies we want are for those intolerable behaviours - racism, homophobia."

When challenged on his six-month solution claim, Tebas added: "We have been able to have economic control to stop our clubs going bankrupt so if we are given the competencies we can put an end to this because it is easier to stop than financial control.""This was an extraordinary press conference. Tebas answered every question openly, but my interpretation was that some of those answers were embarrassing, some of them seemed horribly out of touch.

"There are, of course, cultural differences and language barriers at play here, maybe, but this felt like Tebas trying to backpedal and make amends for the hugely damaging comments he made towards Vinicius Jr where he diminished his experience of racism."There were one or two really uncomfortable moments where Tebas talked of the racist comments he heard in stadiums of the past, and he almost mimicked that language, using one word which was grossly offensive.

"It was a really difficult watch for the majority of those 86 minutes.

"Incredibly, he said he could solve the problem of racism in Spain 'within months' if LaLiga were given the powers to crack down on it.

"Tebas admitted the affair had been very damaging to LaLiga's reputation on the world stage and you couldn't help but feel there was a commercial aspect to this news conference, that Tebas was speaking as much to try and reassure sponsors as much as he was players like Vinicius Jr.

"Perhaps the most extraordinary comment from Tebas came at the end of the conference. His response, while laughing, of 'we don't count them', when asked how many black people worked with him at LaLiga was absolutely staggering and spoke volumes about what's going on at LaLiga at the moment."

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West Ham are preparing for their first major final in Europe since 1976, and they are bidding to win a first trophy since the FA Cup 43 years ago; Hammers face Italian side Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League final in Prague on Wednesday night Approaching the end of a rollercoaster season, it fits well that the story of West Ham's campaign is yet to be determined ahead of its final chapter - even though the match in question is their first European final in more than two generations.

Their season has already been one of wild contrasts, simultaneously mounting a desperate battle against Premier League relegation while breezing their way through Europe for the second year in a row.The purgatory runs from top to bottom. There has even been talk of David Moyes walking away from the club voluntarily depending on the outcome of Wednesday's Europa Conference League final with Fiorentina in Prague, although the Hammers manager has since insisted he intends to continue.

Beneath such potential highs and lows does run an undercurrent of positivity and faith that this West Ham squad, which has delivered on the continent time and time again over the past nine months, can deliver one final push.Before West Ham flew out to the Czech Republic, Moyes was even asked whether this squad would be recognised with a statue like the one unveiled only two years ago in memory of Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters' contribution to West Ham's last taste of European glory, the Cup Winners' Cup in 1965.Even ahead of the biggest night in the Hammers' recent history, the 60-year-old emphasised the importance of the bigger picture to assess how far the club has come since his return in 2019.

He said: "I'm not sure that if you'd told anybody in the period we would finish sixth and seventh in the Premier League, we'd have got to a semi-final of a European competition, and then a year after, you would get to the final of a European competition. I think if you said that to people before we came in, you would've said no, that's not true.

"I think there a lot of good things going on. I think we've given lots of the West Ham supporters and the club some really good times and long may it continue. We want to continue it, we want to grow it. We want to keep it going and keep these moments happening and to me, in a cup final, it is special. Certainly for West Ham, it's been a while since we've been here."

A perfect send-off for captain Rice?
If the potentially-departing Declan Rice's final chapter of his West Ham legacy were to lift a European trophy for his boyhood club, it would be a fitting end for one of east London's favourite sons.

Rice has risen through the ranks like few others in recent years to write himself into club folklore. It is easy to forget the affable, confident skipper who never shies away from fronting up for his team-mates only turned 24 in January.

He has led his side on the pitch as well as off it en route to Prague and few would begrudge him a move of the kind that has been talked about this summer, with Champions League incumbents Bayern Munich and Arsenal at the front of the queue.

Rice was present two years ago at the unveiling of the Olympic Park statue commemorating that legendary West Ham trio, and would be in line for one of his own if he and his team can add to the all-too-slim honours board at the London Stadium on Wednesday night.

The 'West Ham way' has been a source of ridicule in the club's lesser moments but he embodies it in his manner - just as Mark Noble did before him - and also in his ability to mix fight with composure.

Even in a poor domestic season for the club, he has made more interceptions than anyone else in the Premier League, while only five of the eight players ahead of him in the tackling ranks are midfield rivals.

In the same breath he has controlled West Ham's midfield with the ball, enjoying the 12th-most touches in the league, completing the 10th-most passes, and the 13th-most in the final third.

Moyes admits there is a "good chance" his skipper will make headway when the transfer window reopens, but he has one final job to do before that, and, given how he has relished leading this West Ham team so far, he looks sure to do exactly the same on the biggest stage of his club career to date.


'Hopefully it's the start' - Moyes on Hammers future.
Moyes could become only the third West Ham manager to guide them to silverware, following in the fabled footsteps of Ron Greenwood and John Lyall.

There is a growing narrative that were he to achieve it the Scot, who turned 60 this year, could be forgiven for deciding to leave the club on a high, especially given their struggles in the Premier League this season which, at times, he admitted, left him close to the sack.

But speaking on Tuesday, he categorically denied suggestions that he could step down after the final, regardless of the result.

"It's great to be sitting here in a European final, for any manager it's a thrill, one of the pinnacles you can get in football as a coach," he added.

"Hopefully it's the start. I've always said the best years are still to come and I'm certainly enjoying the moment and being here."

Moyes is set to start with cup goalkeeper Alphonse Areola despite Lukasz Fabianski being the club's number one. But if the match goes to penalties Moyes will have a big decision to make.

Fabianski has an excellent spot-kick record - he has saved 11 in the Premier League alone. Areola, by contrast, dived the wrong way for eight consecutive penalties when West Ham lost an FA Cup shootout to Blackburn in November. If the final goes the distance Fabianski could be summoned from the bench and have a big part to play in this competition after all.

Full-back Vladimir Coufal and midfielder Tomas Soucek have had their sights set on reaching the final ever since the venue was confirmed; the Fortuna Arena is the home of their former club, Slavia Prague. Coufal has even promised to treat his team-mates to a famous Czech beer or two if they go on and lift the trophy.

Fiorentina plan 'tactical' fouls to stop Hammers playing
West Ham's Europa League semi-final downfall against Lyon last year owed a lot to a level of gamesmanship from the French side which the Hammers were ill-prepared to face.

AZ Alkmaar tried a similar tactic at the same stage of this season's Conference League, but Moyes and his side had learned from their experience and won home and away to seal their progress to Prague.

That will not stop Fiorentina trying their luck again, manager Vincenzo Italiano has admitted ahead of Wednesday's showdown. And having run Champions League hopefuls Inter close in the Coppa Italia final late last month, he has reason to be confident this time it will work.


"In Prague, we will see if we can manage, with our attitude to have a different ending than the Coppa Italia final," Italiano said.

"We have analysed West Ham. They're very strong. They have legs, they run a lot and have quality. They are a typical English team and have an expert coach. We know their strengths and we hope we have identified some of their weaknesses. We will have to play with maximum respect and great focus.

"We will try to not give them dangerous balls and to work on tactical fouls, preventative tackles, to avoid counter-attacks. These are the counter-measures to play against this kind of attitude.

"After training, we decided to have every member of the squad taking a penalty each with an eye on the final. We have eight or nine players who are very cool-headed, but we will have to see who feels like taking one on the night if the final goes that way."

West Ham's route to the final...

Qualifying round

West Ham's journey to Prague began on August 18, three Prime Ministers ago, with a home meeting against Danish minnows Viborg.

New Italian striker Gianluca Scamacca, Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio scored in a 3-1 first-leg win. Scamacca was on target again, along with Said Benrahma and Tomas Soucek, in the away leg to secure a comprehensive 6-1 aggregate victory.

Group stage

The Hammers were drawn with Romanian side FCSB, Belgium's Anderlecht and Silkeborg of Denmark in Group B.

They fell behind to FCSB at home in their first match but goals from Bowen, Emerson Palmieri and Antonio earned a 3-1 win and David Moyes' side went on to breeze into the knockout stages with six wins out of six.

Last 16

The travelling fans were rewarded with a trip to sunny Cyprus and a tie against AEK Larnaca.

West Ham were struggling domestically, having just been knocked out of the FA Cup by Manchester United and thumped 4-0 at Brighton in the Premier League, but Antonio's double settled the away leg and a brace from Bowen helped them to a 4-0 win at home, and 6-0 on aggregate, to keep the European adventure going.

Quarter-final

Next up were another Belgian outfit, Gent, and for the first time in the competition West Ham failed to register a victory, with Danny Ings on target in a 1-1 away draw.

Jarrod Bowen salutes the travelling supporters
Image:
Jarrod Bowen salutes the travelling supporters
But despite conceding an early goal, the home leg was comfortable thanks to another Antonio double, Lucas Paqueta's penalty and a stunning solo goal from captain Declan Rice to wrap up a 4-1 win.

Semi-final

Dutch dark horses AZ Alkmaar would be no pushovers in the last four having already accounted for Lazio and Anderlecht.

West Ham fell behind at the London Stadium to Tijani Reijnders' first-half goal but Benrahma's penalty and Antonio's scrambled effort secured a 2-1 win.

In an edgy second leg, Pablo Fornals raced through to score the only goal in stoppage time to inflict AZ's first European defeat in 26 matches and send the Hammers through.

Form

West Ham remain the bookmakers' favourites to win the tournament, but only just following Fiorentina's storming end to the domestic season. Italiano's side have won eight, drawn four and lost just two matches since March, securing an eighth-placed finish in Serie A.

Their attacking style should suit Moyes' counter-attacking tactics, but while West Ham have enjoyed a very agreeable draw on their journey to Prague, this promises to be tough.

Pedigree

In qualifying for the showpiece in Prague, Fiorentina became the first team to reach all four finals of the major European competitions.Czech police have drafted in an extra 250 officers ahead of the Europa Conference League final in Prague. Local police are working in conjunction with state police and UEFA to ensure the match passes off peacefully.

However, one officer told the Press Association there had already been "a couple of incidents" involving West Ham fans, and added that they are "prepared for trouble".

Around 20,000 Hammers fans are expected to travel to the Czech capital, but the majority are without tickets as both clubs only have an allocation of less than 5,000 each for the match.

Thousands had already arrived in Prague by Tuesday afternoon, the day before the final. Fan parks will be set up in the city centre so those supporters without tickets can watch the match on a big screen.

A shuttle bus service has also been arranged to ferry fans straight from the airport to the parks.

West Ham's semi-final victory at AZ Alkmaar was marred by a large group of Dutch fans attempting to storm a section full of the friends and family of West Ham's players and staff.

Wednesday's final is West Ham's first in Europe since 1976, and they are bidding to win a first trophy since the FA Cup 43 years ago.

Realguyman1:
Let's see what unfold today

May the best team win

Sevilla's Europa League final against Roma in Budapest has the makings of an all-time European classic as two storied clubs go head-to-head, writes Ben Grounds; Follow Sevilla vs Roma in the Europa League final.

Jose Mourinho had the air of a man who has been here several times before.

Dressed in an oversized white T-shirt with a dark jumper tied around his shoulders, the Portuguese prowled his side's final training session on the eve of another European final.In these situations, one-off games, there are few more qualified to handle the occasion. He is a man who, in the week of a major final, goes 'into the tunnel'."It's been a week where none of us have slept at night, there is a lot of excitement," one Roma supporter said as he sought to calm his nerves in Heroes' Square (Hosok tere), one of the landmark locations in the heart of Budapest, host city of Wednesday's Europa League final with Sevilla.

"We are excited but also full of energy and let's hope for the best. Tomorrow will be a very long day, it will never pass by."According to reports, Mourinho has been extremely strict as to who is allowed in Roma's training centre and has banned certain members of staff from entering the grounds in Trigoria.

The Portuguese boss has reached five European finals in his career, winning every single one he has appeared in. He knows what works.With five major European titles to date - the UEFA Cup in 2003, the Champions League in 2004 and 2010, the Europa League in 2017 and the Europa Conference League in 2022 - he is a man you want in your corner on nights such as these."He's different, he makes you realise the importance of the match," Roma captain Lorenzo Pellegrini said earlier this month, insisting that all credit should be directed towards Mourinho for the team's success.

"We came here and everyone knew what they had to do. We study, we organise ourselves, we watch videos. Especially in Europe, you can see what the coach brings us. Mourinho is the creator of this personality of ours."

Acuna banned, Dybala set to be passed fit
Sevilla will be without talismanic left back Marcos Acuna, who was sent off in extra time in the second leg of the semi-final against Juventus, which Sevilla won 2-1 for a 3-2 aggregate victory, for time wasting after a second yellow card.

Roma will have full-back Leonardo Spinazzola back after a muscle strain, while forwards Stephan El Shaarawy and Paulo Dybala should also be fit.

Bright sunshine in Budapest, the man from Setubal has come a long way since being hand-picked by Porto, two years after quitting Benfica.The 2002/03 season was career-defining for Mourinho, marking the start of his affinity with European silverware as victory over Martin O'Neill's Celtic in the UEFA Cup completed a treble success.

Under the lights of the Puskas Arena, Mourinho will have the chance to add to his legacy, having also won the Europa League with Manchester United in 2017.At 60, Mourinho strikes a more measured tone when it comes to speaking on his own success.

"My concern isn't marking my place in the Roma history books," he told Sky Sports. "It's helping these kids (players) to grow, to achieve important things.

"It's also helping the Roma fans who have given me so much since day one. It's an immense joy to get to another final."

It is quite startling that Mourinho has more European titles than Sevilla head coach Jose Luis Mendilibar has total games managed in those same competitions.Having only joined Sevilla two months ago on a short-term contract after the sacking Jorge Sampaoli, the 62-year-old's career is already peaking.Like Roma, Sevilla are short of finishing in LaLiga's top four, but the Andalusians have overgone a remarkable turnaround having flirted with relegation earlier in the campaign.

Mendilibar, Sevilla's third different manager this term, took over with the club two points clear of the relegation zone but they are now just a point off seventh place going into the final round of domestic fixtures this weekend.

"People didn't expect we would do something like this and we have achieved it," said Mendilibar, who has lost just twice in 11 league games and claimed the scalp of Manchester United in the previous round.

The stakes couldn't be any higher - in stark contrast to what Mourinho said of this competition 10 years ago that became infamous."If I win the Europa League it will be a big disappointment for me because I don't want to play in it," he said on being re-appointed by Chelsea. It was seen as throwing shade on his predecessor Rafa Bentez who weeks earlier as Blues interim coach won the 2013 Europa title.

At Roma, he is demonstrating precisely what Daniel Levy had hoped he would achieve at Tottenham.

Twelve months ago, he guided Roma to their first trophy in 11 years, beating Feyenoord in the Europa Conference League final.The feat made him only the third manager - after Udo Lattek and Giovanni Trapattoni - to have won all three existing major European trophies.

It also marked him as the first to achieve the UEFA treble by winning the Champions League, UEFA Cup/Europa League, and Europa Conference League - in place of the defunct UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.

Even with Financial Fair Play regulations dictating that Roma could only spend £6m in the January transfer window, Mourinho has guided his side to back-to-back European finals.

The Italian club could win a major European title in consecutive seasons, which has been achieved on four previous occasions - Inter Milan in 1964 and 1965, Milan in 1968 and 1969, Juventus in 1984 and 1985, and Milan again in 1989 and 1990.

Their failure to land a Champions League berth via their position in Serie A was confirmed at the weekend after a 2-1 defeat at Fiorentina.

Sixth in the table, another season in the Europa League is not yet guaranteed if results go against them on the final day, with Juventus only a point behind them.

At the end of a long, arduous season it is still all to play for - as always when it comes to Mourinho in May.

Sevilla stand in his way. The Spanish outfit have won the competition six times, the most of any club in history, and on each occasion they have reached the final.

Should they win their seventh title here, only five sides will have more major European trophies - Real Madrid (16), Barcelona (12), Milan (nine), Liverpool (nine) and Bayern Munich (eight).But Mourinho is no stranger to finals on the big stage. This will be his 14th major cup if they can go all the way in Hungary.

Should Roma lift the trophy, Mourinho will be the most decorated manager in the history of major European competition, going clear of Trapattoni's five honours.

What happens when the immovable object meets the irresistible force?

Wednesday marks an opportunity for Mourinho to reaffirm his relevance in the modern game, when some have questioned whether he still warrants being mentioned in the same breath as other visionaries among the elite.Earlier this month, Sky Sports reported that Paris Saint-Germain have shown tentative early interest in him as their next manager. The French champions will assess their options at the end of the season, with current head coach Christophe Galtier out of contract in 2024.

His future at Roma is uncertain heading into the summer, but while the Portuguese may consider a change of club, his sole focus will be on another masterclass, as the trickster of Sevilla.

"If they called, they didn't find me," was Mourinho's light-hearted response when asked if PSG had contacted him.

He will be front and centre to the drama on Wednesday. With both records on the line.

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baboyo:
Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville have revealed their end-of-season awards in the final Monday Night Football of the campaign.
Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville announce their Monday Night Football end-of-season awards for the 2022/23 Premier League campaign. Erling Haaland is an easy choice but there is plenty of disagreement too...The Sky Sports pundits each selected their player of the season, young player of the season, signing of the season, manager of the season, surprise of the season and game of the season for the 2022/23 Premier League campaign.

They also named their teams of the season, and while they both included Kieran Trippier, Ruben Dias, Martin Odegaard, Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland, they differed on the remaining five names. Read on to see their selections in full.

Carragher's best player: Erling Haaland
Carragher: "It is like Messi and Ronaldo isn't it in terms of that goal-a-game? I think before Haaland, City had maybe the best striker in Premier League history in Sergio Aguero in terms of his minutes per goal anyway. So how does Haaland score that many more than Aguero with a similar team, same manager? That just shows he is a freak."

Neville's best player: Erling Haaland
Neville: "It is the first time that the Premier League has signed a player who is going to be the best in the world or is already at that level. They go to Real Madrid, they go to Barcelona, in recent years they have gone to Paris Saint-Germain. They do not go to thePremier League. We have grown the best player in the world."For instance, Cristiano Ronaldo came as a young kid and developed. I felt this player was a phenomenon. We knew he was special and what he has done is out of this world."

Carragher's best young player: Bukayo Saka
Carragher: "I love him. I think he has been fantastic. Odegaard has been Arsenal's best player, I just did not pick Odegaard because he is too old - 24 seems too old to be the young player."

Neville's best young player: Martin Odegaard
Neville: "I was surprised and shocked when I found out Odegaard is Arsenal's captain. Where has that come from? But he has been Arsenal's best player. Even in this difficult period, I think Odegaard has been outstanding. His quality on the ball. The best young player."

Carragher's best manager: Eddie Howe
Carragher: "It was either Eddie Howe or Pep Guardiola and I think we all feel Pep Guardiola could go on to win the treble. How could you go against him if he does that. The only reason I went for Eddie Howe was that I just cannot believe what has happened from last season to this season with Newcastle in terms of where they were whenEddie Howe came in. I actually felt there was more chance of doing a treble than Newcastle being in the Champions League so that is why I went for Eddie Howe."

Neville's best manager: Pep Guardiola
Neville: "I was going to go for Mikel Arteta a few weeks ago. Gary O'Neil has done an unbelievable job at Bournemouth. Roy Hodgson coming in at Crystal Palace. So many managers have exceeded what we thought they would do. But there are only three teams in the history of football who have got to a Champions League final, an FA Cup final and won the title. Forget the fact that they might not win it yet. Liverpool in 1977 was stopped. But the fact that he has got to those finals is quite a unique event."

Carragher's best signing: Morgan Gibbs-White
Carragher: "I was debating over two players. I was going for Manuel Akanji. But I think the fact that he is playing for Man City means I have gone for Morgan Gibbs-White. I would not say he has single-handedly kept Nottingham Forest in the league but every time I watch him… it was a big price tag and he has justified that. He must be really close to the next England squad."

Neville's best signing: Casemiro
Neville: "I could not think of a player who has had a bigger impact on their team. I look at United's season, they are in the top four, they won the Carabao Cup and they are in the FA Cup final. I genuinelydon't think they would be anywhere near top four or doing what they are doing in those competitions without Casemiro. He makes them 30 per cent better."I have doubts about the five-year deal and the expense of it, but in terms of the jump in performance when he is playing to when he is not playing, it is enormous. He has brought experience to the dressing room and I think he has done a good job."

Carragher's biggest surprise: Lisandro Martinez
Carragher: "Any centre-half coming to the Premier League who is under six foot, you are thinking they are going to have a problem but he hasn't. Every player has weaknesses, but the best players hide their weaknesses. How can you overcome that? I wasn't the biggest centre-half and I was worried I was going to get bullied. I thought hewas smaller than me.

"But when you are talking about the role of Casemiro, I think there is a massive drop off when Lisandro Martinez is not in the Manchester United team. Defensively but also his ability on the ball in terms of playing out from the back. He is a warrior, he is a leader, and when you think of that spine, he and Casemiro have made a big difference. So I apologise to Lisandro Martinez. Manchester United fans please stop tweeting me!"

Neville's biggest surprise: Brighton 1-5 Everton
Neville: "Seeing them go to Brighton and rip them to shreds shocked the living daylights out of me, I did not think they were capable of a performance like that. Brighton had just beaten Manchester United. That victory is more than likely going to keep them in the Premier League."

Carragher's favourite game: Liverpool 7-0 Man Utd
Carragher: "I don't think it was the game, it was the selfie in the commentary box I took with him! It has been a poor season for Liverpool but that game will still be being talked about in 10 or 20years, there is no doubt about it. You beat your rivals, 7-0, it is laughable, isn't it."

Neville's favourite game: World Cup final
Neville: "We have had a very unique season where the World Cup final was sandwiched between two halves of the season. That World Cup final was probably the best game that I have ever seen live. It was absolutely unbelievable, that game."

Carragher's team of the season
Carra's XI: Alisson, Trippier, Dias, Botman, Zinchenko, Odegaard, Rodri, De Bruyne, Salah, Kane, Haaland.

"Haaland is a freak but Harry Kane, what he has done this season, playing in one of the worst teams he has played in, to get that number of goals, I think is out of this world."

Neville's team of the season
Nev's XI: Pope, Trippier, Saliba, Dias, Estupinan, Odegaard, Rodri, De Bruyne, Saka, Haaland, Martinelli.

"I think this season, Saka and Martinelli have absolutely lit up this league, I think they have been spectacular, I think they have been electric. Some of the best play I have seen all season has been from them two."

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https://baboyo.com/post/jamie-carragher-and-gary-nevilles-monday-night-football-awards

Saka was the best player for the season

Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville have revealed their end-of-season awards in the final Monday Night Football of the campaign.
Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville announce their Monday Night Football end-of-season awards for the 2022/23 Premier League campaign. Erling Haaland is an easy choice but there is plenty of disagreement too...The Sky Sports pundits each selected their player of the season, young player of the season, signing of the season, manager of the season, surprise of the season and game of the season for the 2022/23 Premier League campaign.

They also named their teams of the season, and while they both included Kieran Trippier, Ruben Dias, Martin Odegaard, Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland, they differed on the remaining five names. Read on to see their selections in full.

Carragher's best player: Erling Haaland
Carragher: "It is like Messi and Ronaldo isn't it in terms of that goal-a-game? I think before Haaland, City had maybe the best striker in Premier League history in Sergio Aguero in terms of his minutes per goal anyway. So how does Haaland score that many more than Aguero with a similar team, same manager? That just shows he is a freak."

Neville's best player: Erling Haaland
Neville: "It is the first time that the Premier League has signed a player who is going to be the best in the world or is already at that level. They go to Real Madrid, they go to Barcelona, in recent years they have gone to Paris Saint-Germain. They do not go to thePremier League. We have grown the best player in the world."For instance, Cristiano Ronaldo came as a young kid and developed. I felt this player was a phenomenon. We knew he was special and what he has done is out of this world."

Carragher's best young player: Bukayo Saka
Carragher: "I love him. I think he has been fantastic. Odegaard has been Arsenal's best player, I just did not pick Odegaard because he is too old - 24 seems too old to be the young player."

Neville's best young player: Martin Odegaard
Neville: "I was surprised and shocked when I found out Odegaard is Arsenal's captain. Where has that come from? But he has been Arsenal's best player. Even in this difficult period, I think Odegaard has been outstanding. His quality on the ball. The best young player."

Carragher's best manager: Eddie Howe
Carragher: "It was either Eddie Howe or Pep Guardiola and I think we all feel Pep Guardiola could go on to win the treble. How could you go against him if he does that. The only reason I went for Eddie Howe was that I just cannot believe what has happened from last season to this season with Newcastle in terms of where they were whenEddie Howe came in. I actually felt there was more chance of doing a treble than Newcastle being in the Champions League so that is why I went for Eddie Howe."

Neville's best manager: Pep Guardiola
Neville: "I was going to go for Mikel Arteta a few weeks ago. Gary O'Neil has done an unbelievable job at Bournemouth. Roy Hodgson coming in at Crystal Palace. So many managers have exceeded what we thought they would do. But there are only three teams in the history of football who have got to a Champions League final, an FA Cup final and won the title. Forget the fact that they might not win it yet. Liverpool in 1977 was stopped. But the fact that he has got to those finals is quite a unique event."

Carragher's best signing: Morgan Gibbs-White
Carragher: "I was debating over two players. I was going for Manuel Akanji. But I think the fact that he is playing for Man City means I have gone for Morgan Gibbs-White. I would not say he has single-handedly kept Nottingham Forest in the league but every time I watch him… it was a big price tag and he has justified that. He must be really close to the next England squad."

Neville's best signing: Casemiro
Neville: "I could not think of a player who has had a bigger impact on their team. I look at United's season, they are in the top four, they won the Carabao Cup and they are in the FA Cup final. I genuinelydon't think they would be anywhere near top four or doing what they are doing in those competitions without Casemiro. He makes them 30 per cent better."I have doubts about the five-year deal and the expense of it, but in terms of the jump in performance when he is playing to when he is not playing, it is enormous. He has brought experience to the dressing room and I think he has done a good job."

Carragher's biggest surprise: Lisandro Martinez
Carragher: "Any centre-half coming to the Premier League who is under six foot, you are thinking they are going to have a problem but he hasn't. Every player has weaknesses, but the best players hide their weaknesses. How can you overcome that? I wasn't the biggest centre-half and I was worried I was going to get bullied. I thought hewas smaller than me.

"But when you are talking about the role of Casemiro, I think there is a massive drop off when Lisandro Martinez is not in the Manchester United team. Defensively but also his ability on the ball in terms of playing out from the back. He is a warrior, he is a leader, and when you think of that spine, he and Casemiro have made a big difference. So I apologise to Lisandro Martinez. Manchester United fans please stop tweeting me!"

Neville's biggest surprise: Brighton 1-5 Everton
Neville: "Seeing them go to Brighton and rip them to shreds shocked the living daylights out of me, I did not think they were capable of a performance like that. Brighton had just beaten Manchester United. That victory is more than likely going to keep them in the Premier League."

Carragher's favourite game: Liverpool 7-0 Man Utd
Carragher: "I don't think it was the game, it was the selfie in the commentary box I took with him! It has been a poor season for Liverpool but that game will still be being talked about in 10 or 20years, there is no doubt about it. You beat your rivals, 7-0, it is laughable, isn't it."

Neville's favourite game: World Cup final
Neville: "We have had a very unique season where the World Cup final was sandwiched between two halves of the season. That World Cup final was probably the best game that I have ever seen live. It was absolutely unbelievable, that game."

Carragher's team of the season
Carra's XI: Alisson, Trippier, Dias, Botman, Zinchenko, Odegaard, Rodri, De Bruyne, Salah, Kane, Haaland.

"Haaland is a freak but Harry Kane, what he has done this season, playing in one of the worst teams he has played in, to get that number of goals, I think is out of this world."

Neville's team of the season
Nev's XI: Pope, Trippier, Saliba, Dias, Estupinan, Odegaard, Rodri, De Bruyne, Saka, Haaland, Martinelli.

"I think this season, Saka and Martinelli have absolutely lit up this league, I think they have been spectacular, I think they have been electric. Some of the best play I have seen all season has been from them two."

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https://baboyo.com/post/jamie-carragher-and-gary-nevilles-monday-night-football-awards

Arsenal and England winger Bukayo Saka has signed a new four-year contract with the Gunners; the 21-year-old became the first Premier League player to hit double-digit goal and assist tallies this season; Saka's new Arsenal deal lasts until 2027.Saka's previous contract was due to expire at the end of next season, with the new deal a major boost to Arsenal and manager Mikel Arteta.The 21-year-old has been one of Arsenal's standout players in the last two seasons, while also establishing himself as a key player for Gareth Southgate's England team since the European Championships in 2021.

Saka has scored 14 goals and registered 11 assists in all competitions for Arsenal this season, while he was also the club's top scorer last term with 11.Saka's excellent season for Arsenal also saw him nominated for the Premier League Player of the Season and Young Player of the Season awards, while Saka also joins Aaron Ramsdale and Gabriel Martinelli in committing their futures to the north London club.

"I'm just really happy," Saka told the Arsenal official website. "There's been a lot of talking and it's been a while, but I'm here now. I think this is the right club, the right place to make the next step. It's a beautiful club - look where we are."For me, it's about achieving my personal ambitions; how much I push myself and demand from myself each game, week in, week out. Then I have all the right people around me in terms of family, and when I come to the training ground, my teammates, the coaching staff.

"I think I have everything I need to become the best player I can be, and that's why I'm happy to stay here and be here for the future, because I really believe that we can achieve big things."Despite the disappointment of missing out on the Premier League title to City, Arsenal's campaign has shown that the red half of London is a top place for young players like Saka to develop. With Martin Odegaard and William Saliba rumoured to be next on the new contract agenda, Arsenal have some of the Premier League's brightest sparks and are making them theirs for the long haul.

But Arsenal's next task regarding Saka is to give him more competition. Arteta's next-best option on the right flank is Reiss Nelson, who has only been used for two hours of league football since mid-November.

Arsenal's right-wing reliance on Saka has seen him start every Premier League game for Arsenal bar two in the last two seasons -and it has led to some fatigue in the previous two run-ins.


Vinicius Jr misses training as Real Madrid prepare for Rayo Vallecano
Vinicius Jr was absent from Real Madrid's training on Tuesday morning as the club prepare for their home game against Rayo Vallecano.

Pep Guardiola: Roberto De Zerbiis one of the most influential managers of the last 20 years
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola believes Roberto De Zerbi is one of the most influential managers of the last 20 years and says the Seagulls deserve their success this season.

Evan Ferguson: The making of Brighton forward who could develop into a £100m player
Evan Ferguson has undergone a superb breakthrough season at Brighton at just 18-years-old; the Republic of Ireland forward has helped the Seagulls secure European football for the first time; Sky Sports News charts his rise from Bettystown to the cusp of a big move.As Brighton secured European football for the first time in the club's history with help from two Evan Ferguson goals against Southampton on Sunday, there was a celebration for what will be, but also a tinge of regret for what could have been.If the kid who could become king had not been unavailable for nearly a month through an ankle injury, the south coast club are confident they would have had Newcastle and Manchester United fretting over a Champions League spot, while reaching the FA Cup final at the expense of the latter.At just 18, the impact Ferguson has had during his breakthrough season both on Brighton's attack and opposition defences has been pronounced enough for some sharp minds in football to declare he could develop into a £100m player.No one involved in the Republic of Ireland international's formative years would mark that as hyperbole. Those working with Ferguson now believe we are being treated to a live showcase of a Premier League great in the making.Is that too much expectation and pressure on a teenager? An unequivocal 'no' is the response from those who know him best.



Manchester City are ready to take on arch-rivals Liverpool in the battle to sign Brighton World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister.

Liverpool have asked referee body the PGMOL to explain two decisions at the weekend, which they feel crossed the clear and obvious threshold despite the scrutiny of VAR.Avram Glazer has reportedly billed two private jet flights to Manchester United in recent months, with the club's majority shareholder allegedly spending £250,000 on separate trips to watch matches at Wembley Stadium.



Arsenal defender Ben White could be named in the England squad for upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers after Gareth Southgate reached out to hold clear-the-air talks.

Manchester United are dumping Anthony Martial after running out of patience with the Frenchman, who stormed straight down the tunnel after he was substituted against Bournemouth on Saturday.

Old Trafford could witness another star Brazilian arrival this summer amid rumours Casemiro is doing his bit to tempt Paris Saint-Germain stud Neymar to Manchester United.

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Papers: Man City to offer Cancelo to Bayern as part of Kimmich deal
West Ham to allow Rice exit this summer
Arsenal want Rice, Mount and Gundogan as Arteta plots midfield overhaul
Milner, Firmino, Keita and Oxlade-Chamberlain to leave Liverpool
Ramsdale signs new Arsenal contract | Martinez set for Man Utd deal
Real want Bellingham, Mbappe, Davies | Mane, Cancelo to leave Bayern
Arsenal rumours | Chelsea rumours | Liverpool rumours | Man City rumours | Man Utd rumours | Newcastle rumours | Spurs rumours

Arsenal keen on Rice, Mount and Gundogan as Arteta plots midfield overhaul
Arsenal are keen on signing Declan Rice, Mason Mount and Ilkay Gundogan this summer, according to The Athletic.

Bolstering midfield is a priority for Mikel Arteta and their main target is Rice, whose West Ham contract has a year left to run plus an option to extend by 12 months.Arsenal also want to add creativity in a more advanced position and that has fuelled the pursuit of Mount, although there is strong competition from Liverpool and Manchester United, while Chelsea will make a final push to extend his terms, which are scheduled to expire in 2024.

Arsenal are determined to sign the England internationals and may require an additional player in that department if Granit Xhaka exits, with Bayer Leverkusen in talks to recruit the Switzerland midfielder.Arsenal have concrete interest in Gundogan and Arteta is driving it, having worked with the 32-year-old German at the Etihad Stadium and identified him as the ideal replacement for Xhaka.

Fresh efforts will be made to keep him at Manchester City and Gundogan has other possibilities including Barcelona, but as things stand, no agreements have been reached and the situation is still open.


Slot wants Spurs job | Feyenoord knock back approach for technical director
Tottenham target Arne Slot has ordered Erling Haaland's agent to force through a move that would see him leave Feyenoord to take charge of the managerless London club, according to the Daily Mirror.

However, Spurs' bid to appoint Dennis te Kloese as their new technical director has been knocked back by the Dutch club.

Liverpool aiming to bring in Schmadtke for start of summer window
Jorg Schmadtke is due in Liverpool this week to finalise terms on a deal to start work as the club's sporting director ahead of the summer transfer window, according to The Athletic.

Liverpool have already done the majority of the groundwork on new signings ahead of the window opening but having a new sporting director in place is seen as an ideal solution ahead of such a crucial summer.

Schmadtke is likely to agree an initial short-term deal to replace Julian Ward, who is leaving at the end of the season. There will be an option to extend his stay if the role goes well or Liverpool may decide to explore other options.

Head of recruitment Dave Fallows and chief scout Barry Hunter will work closely with the former goalkeeper, who is available to start work immediately after announcing his “retirement” from Wolfsburg in January.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is very supportive of the appointment but pointed out last week that his compatriot is not a target simply because of his nationality.

“If it happens, it would not be a Jurgen Klopp signing because we are both German or both know each other,” said the Liverpool boss.

West Ham agree to allow Rice exit this summer.

West Ham have a gentleman’s agreement with Declan Rice that he can leave this summer.

The money raised from selling the captain, plus additional funds, will be made available to strengthen the squad.

West Ham will allow Rice to leave if they receive an offer worth £120m from a Champions League club.

The Hammers would also accept £100m plus a player for the England midfielder.

Rice rejected the offer of a new £200,000-a-week contract 18 months ago.

Fulham's Willian: Let's see what happens.
Willian has indicated he is open to remaining at Fulham beyond this season.

The Brazil international, who picked up an assist in Fulham's 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace on Saturday, said: "I have a contract until the end of June, I don't know what's going to happen.

"Of course it's some place that I feel good here to play (at).

"I have to speak to the club to see the situation. Let's see what's going to happen."

Roma eye Tielemans swoop
Roma will try and strike a deal to sign Youri Tielemans on a free transfer once his Leicester contract expires this summer.

Gazzetta dello Sport reports that Jose Mourinho is a big fan of the Belgium international and hopes to persuade the midfielder to make a move to the Italian capital.

Man City set to sell Steffen
Manchester City are ready to sell USA international goalkeeper Zack Steffen after his stunning season out on loan at Middlesbrough with Bundesliga clubs lining up and ready to make their move, according to The Sun.

De Zerbi: Brighton must work the market
Roberto De Zerbi insists Brighton must continue improving ahead of their maiden European campaign next season.

The Brighton boss says the work ahaead of next season has already begun to ensure they have the squad to compete in four competitions next term.

"We have to keep this level. We have to build a squad to
improve our level because I think (chairman) Tony (Bloom) and the club they don't want to lose this level."And to not lose this level we have to work harder in this transfer market, not only in the transfer market but to organise better and better and better because the victory can be dangerous.

"If you celebrate the victory it's right, it's normal, but you have to
improve. You have to work harder because you can lose the level."

Sevilla plan move for summer free agent Moura
Sevilla are set to make an offer to sign Lucas Moura, who is leaving Tottenham as a free agent this summer, report Fichajes.

Moura is leaving Spurs at the end of his deal after spending the last five years in north London.

O'Hara: Tottenham are a joke
Former Tottenham midfielder Jamie O'Hara described his old club as a 'disgrace' and questioned the decision to put 'rookie' Ryan Mason in interim charge.'Hara: Tottenham are a joke.

Akpom targeted by Premier League clubs
Former Arsenal striker Chuba Akpom could be set for a stunning £15m return to the Premier League with several clubs tracking the forward after his 29-goal season for Middlesbrough.

Busquets: Everyone wants to play with Messi

Departing Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets says his future is not tied to Lionel Messi's amid speculation that the pair could reunite as team-mates, potentially in Saudi Arabia next season.

Busquets said: “My future linked to Messi’s?

"Everyone wants to play with Leo, he is the best in the world.

"But my future is not linked to Leo’s future.”

Selles unaware of any decision to appoint Martin

Ruben Selles, speaking after Southampton's defeat at Brighton, said the club haven't told him anything regarding Russel Martin taking the job.

Martin has verbally agreed to become the new Southampton manager.

He said: "I know nothing. It hasn't changed anything in my position since we spoke on Friday. I have been respectful with the club to use all my knowledge to keep this team and the club together. I expect if something goes on like that before the Liverpool game, someone will come to me to clarify to me.

Brighton 3-1 Southampton - Match report & highlights
How the teams lined up | Match stats
"I don't need to go to nobody. Everyone knows who I am and where I am and that I am the face of the club for the last three months and the reference for everybody. I expect that to happen for the last game against Liverpool."I didn't know about the update until Jordan [Press Officer] told me. I have a clear idea that I want to stay here until the Liverpool game, if something changes, that's not my decision. My focus has been on this week, a hard week for us, to prepare and to perform and try to win this game. I'm not worried about my future, my contract expires at the end of the season and what the club decides will be the right decision. I've already made my points a couple of months ago about this scenario so it's not my decision. I have no control of it, so I won't spend time on it."

Allegri: I'm staying at Juve

Juventus head coach Massimiliano Allegri insists he has no plans to leave the club this suummer.

"I’m staying here at Juventus, 100 per cent," the Juve head coach said.

"I’m under contract here. After that, it’s not up to me to decide.
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Peacecore:
How una dey take change mouth sharp sharp dey shock me walai

LOL

Brentford striker Ivan Toney was banned from football for eight months with immediate effect on Wednesday after admitting 232 breaches of the FA's betting rules; Toney will be banned until January 16, 2024, and has been fined £50,000, but it only covers English football.

The FA will apply to FIFA to make Ivan Toney’s eight-month ban from football a worldwide sanction, Sky Sports News has been told.

It means the Brentford striker, who was suspended on Wednesday with immediate effect until January 16, 2024 and fined £50,000 after admitting 232 breaches of the FA's betting rules, would not be allowed to go on loan to a foreign club while he serves his punishment.

The idea was raised as a possibility when it became clear that the sanction - set by an independent commission, but enforced by the FA - applies only to English football.

Brentford's Ivan Toney banned for eight months for breaching FA betting rules.

Sky Sports News has been told that, because any loan or transfer to a foreign club requires the FA to hand over a player's registration, as soon as Brentford hypothetically applied to do so, the FA would inform the buying club's FA and FIFA that Toney is subject to a football ban in England.

At that point, FIFA would, as a matter of procedure, look to apply the ban worldwide. However, to make things more transparent, it is understood that, once the written reasons are published and it's clear whether Toney will appeal, the FA will formally apply to FIFA to endorse Toney's punishment universally.

FIFA's standard procedure would then be to review what the FA has done by setting up its own disciplinary committee to discuss the details, but there is no obvious precedent where FIFA has failed to endorse a worldwide ban in circumstances such as this.

Both Kieran Trippier and Daniel Sturridge, for example, were playing abroad at the time when they were sanctioned for breaching betting rules in England.

Sturridge had to immediately end his contract with Trabzonspor in 2020. Likewise, Trippier missed 10 weeks of football with Atletico Madrid in early 2021.

Tottenham's former managing director of football Fabio Paratici was given a 30-month ban by the Italian Football Federation for his part in the alleged financial irregularities at Juventus.

As a result, he consequently resigned from his role at Spurs - even though technically, his ban only applied in Italy. Had he continued to work at Tottenham, FIFA would have stepped in. Paritici's punishment has since been reduced on appeal.Toney's suspension will start with immediate effect, meaning he will miss Brentford's final two games of the season - at Tottenham on Saturday and at home to Manchester City on the final day. He will not be allowed to train with his Brentford team-mates until September 17.

The one-cap England forward, who has scored 21 goals in 35 appearances for Brentford this season, has the right to appeal the punishment.

In a statement, Brentford said they were "awaiting the publication of the written reasons of the independent regulatory commission. We will review them before considering our next steps."

Toney later posted on social media to say he was "disappointed" with the ban but would not be commenting further until the written reasons are published.


Brentford want to offer Toney new contract despite ban
Brentford want to offer a new contract to Toney despite his eight-month ban from football.

The club plan to hold talks with the striker in the summer with the intention of extending his deal, which will be into its last 18 months once his ban is concluded.

The club had been braced for offers for Toney from big clubs prior to the emergence of his betting discrepancies. Head coach Thomas Frank has recently said the club value him at least at £100m.And the club now see a window of opportunity to make sure they retain his value, especially if he returns to the Premier League with a bang next year - and puts his name back at the top of club's shopping lists in the 2024 summer market.

Brentford have no interest in penalising Toney for effectively being in breach of his contract, with the majority of his offences having been made before he joined the club.

In fact, they intend to support him and his family in every way possible while he is not allowed to attend the club, and will continue discussions over a potential appeal against the disciplinary commission's sentence once written reasons are published.

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Freshtruth:
Bayern intentionally gave them d league for it to look like budesliga is competitive and to face Barcelona next season

They fought for it and they got what they fought for

Evan Ferguson scored twice in the first half as Brighton beat Southampton in the Premier League to secure European football for the first time in their history.

The 18-year-old forward opened the scoring with a powerful low shot past Saints goalkeeper Alex McCarthy before doubling the Seagulls' advantage with a first-time finish from inside the area.

Mohamed Elyounoussi's glancing header offered the visitors brief hope of a comeback but Pascal Gross fired in a third to seal victory for the hosts.

Brighton strengthened their grip on sixth place in the table and have all-but qualified for next season's Europa League because of their superior goal difference over seventh-placed Aston Villa.

A point from their two remaining matches will confirm a sixth-placed finish but victory over their south-coast rivals assures Brighton of a Europa Conference League spot at the very least.

Southampton, whose relegation was confirmed with their defeat by Fulham last time out, will finish their top-flight campaign against Liverpool at St Mary's next Sunday.

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'We're all going on a European tour'
The Brighton fans were in buoyant mood as the game kicked off in the sunshine at the Amex Stadium.

The Seagulls, one of the success stories of the campaign, were heading for Europe and their fans enjoyed every moment by taunting the visitors, who in contrast will be watching their side in the Championship next season.

On the pitch, the hosts were quickly into their stride and Kaoru Mitoma should have put them ahead when he drove into the area only to shoot wide from close range.

McCarthy nearly handed Brighton an easy second as the Japanese forward latched on to the keeper's loose pass but could only hit the post with his lifted attempt.

The deadlock was eventually broken when Alexis Mac Allister teed up Ferguson, who took a touch to set himself before smashing the ball through the legs of Lyanco and under McCarthy, who will be disappointed not to have kept it out.

Ferguson took his tally to 10 goals for the season 11 minutes later when the vibrant Mitoma shrugged off Romeo Lavia's challenge and picked out the Irishman, who found the corner of the net with a composed strike.

Southampton were boosted by Elyounoussi's header from a corner but Gross equalled Glenn Murray and Neal Maupay's Premier League club record of 26 goals with a fierce swipe of his left boot.

Brighton fans cheered the final whistle with renditions of "We're all going on a European tour" - something they can look forward to for the first time ever next season.

Struggling Saints turn attentions to fresh start.

Saints arrived at the Amex with their fate already sealed. In reality, their relegation has seemed inevitable for some time and defeat by Brighton was a 12th top-flight game without a win.

The visitors looked bereft of ideas and intensity but they could have taken the lead before the Seagulls took control when Carlos Alcaraz fired wide after a brisk counter-attack.

It meant Brighton could make their dominance count through Ferguson's double and Elyounoussi's goal just before the hour mark was Southampton's first attempt on target.

However, minutes later Theo Walcott thought he had beaten the offside trap to stun the hosts with an equaliser - with an initial burst of pace to run clear followed by the composed finish which has typified his career - but the goal was chalked off by the tightest of margins following a video assistant referee review.

Gross' goal killed Southampton's challenge and meant a fourth away game in a row in which they had conceded at least three goals, for the first time since 2012-13.

On a bright note for the visitors, right-back Tino Livramento made his return after 13 months out with an anterior cruciate ligament injury he sustained in the corresponding fixture last season.

Saints will want to end their stay in the Premier League on a high against Liverpool but work will already have begun behind the scenes as they prepare to launch a promotion bid at the first time of asking, with Swansea boss Russell Martin heavily linked to lead the charge.

Speaking about his future, current Saints boss Ruben Selles said he "expects respect" from the club.

"If the club want to make a a decision before the end of the season, I expect some respect and communication before or I will be very disappointed," said Selles.
SEE MORE https://baboyo.com/post/brighton-seals-european-spot

Victory takes them two points clear of Bayern Munich, who lost 3-1 to RB Leipzig on Saturday.

Felix Uduokhai was sent off in the first half for a foul on Donyell Malen before Sebastian Haller opened the scoring with a low strike in the 58th minute.

Haller then finished from close range before Julian Brandt got a late third.

Victory means Dortmund are in a strong position to win the Bundesliga for the first time since 2011-12 and deny Bayern Munich an 11th-successive title.

Thomas Tuchel takes his Bayern side to Koln on the final day of the season next Saturday but Dortmund know a win at home to Mainz at the same time will secure the trophy.

Bayern sacked Julian Nagelsmann in March with the side sitting second in the table.

They swiftly brought in ex-Chelsea boss Tuchel in the hope he could claim the title but they will now need to win and hope Dortmund slip up to retain the Bundesliga trophy.Dortmund are now two points clear of Bayern Munich, who lost 3-1 at home to RB Leipzig on Saturday, with one match remaining.They now need to better Bayern’s result next week at home against Mainz to lift the Bundesliga shield for the first time since 2011-12.

Dortmund’s German midfielder Julian Brandt (C) celebrates scoring the 0-3 goal with his teammates including Dortmund’s German midfielder Emre Can during the German first division Bundesliga football match between FC Augsburg and BVB Borussia Dortmund in Augsburg, southern Germany, on May 21, 2023. (Photo by Christof STACHE / AFP) .
Despite Augsburg being reduced to 10 men late in the first half, the game was scoreless until the 58th minute, when Haller pounced on a rebound to score the opener.Haller, who missed the first half of the season as he overcame testicular cancer, scored another with six remaining to send the visiting fans into raptures.

Julian Brandt added a goal in injury time.

“We’re very happy, but not completely satisfied” Dortmund manager Edin Terzic told DAZN, “we’ve got a next step we need to take”.

A “happy and proud” Haller told DAZN “we’ve got a huge chance to achieve something big”.Augsburg manager Enrico Maassen said “the red card was the crucial moment… you can give it, but that’s a hard decision”.

Dortmund, who came into the game knowing victory would put them in control of the title race, were winless on the road since February.Dortmund’s players celebrate after winning the German first division Bundesliga football match between FC Augsburg and BVB Borussia Dortmund in Augsburg, southern Germany, on May 21, 2023. (Photo by Christof STACHE / AFP).
The visitors made the trip south without star midfielder Jude Bellingham, who failed to recover from a knee complaint.

Stuttgart’s earlier win at Mainz meant Augsburg were only two points clear of the relegation zone.Dortmund, who scored 11 goals in their past two games, were dominant in the first half but could not find a breakthrough, Haller forcing a fingertip save from Tomas Koubek.

With 33 minutes gone, Julian Brandt latched onto a 40-metre defence-splitting pass from Emre Can but blasted directly into Koubek when one on one with the Augsburg ‘keeper.

Shortly before half-time last-man Felix Uduokhai earned a red card, tackling Donyell Malen on the edge of the penalty box.

Augsburg dug deep despite losing a man in the hope of snatching a point.

Haller finally broke through for the visitors, collecting a rebound off Koubek before turning and threading the ball into the far corner.

With just over five minutes remaining, Haller repeated the trick, pouncing on a rebounded Marco Reus shot to tap Dortmund 2-0 up, sending the visiting fans into a chant of “German champions, only Dortmund”.With the clock winding down, Dortmund captain Mats Hummels was helped off the field after copping a boot to the face.

The centre-back’s replacement, Nico Schlotterbeck, put the ball through for Brandt to score a third.

When the travelling Kop spends 15 minutes serenading a player who is sitting in the stands injured while Liverpool are 2-0 up, you know it is for someone special.

Roberto Firmino will wave farewell to fans at Anfield on Saturday and it will signal the end of an era for a player who has been so important to Liverpool's success under Jurgen Klopp.

The Brazilian departs at the end of the season after eight memorable years at Liverpool and he was given a tribute at the King Power in their 3-0 win over Leicester on Monday night.

"He made football fun again," Liverpool fan Ross Chandley told BBC Sport.

"When you're young and you fantasise about being a footballer, you fantasise about being like Bobby. He has flair and the hard graft. In football you usually get one or the other."

Ex-Manchester United defender Gary Neville told Sky Sports that "Firmino was sensational for years", while Liverpool team-mate Trent Alexander-Arnold once called him "priceless".Firmino might have sat out his final weeks with a muscle injury, but he has left a lasting impression and it will be celebrated against Aston Villa this weekend.

'He's a player so many kids want to be'
"He's a cult hero," former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy told BBC Sport.

During his time at the club, Firmino has helped Liverpool reach four European finals in seven years, winning one of them, while playing a key role in securing their first league title in 30 years.

He also won the domestic cup double last season to add to the Club World Cup they won in 2019.

"You wouldn't quite put him up there with Kenny Dalglish or Ian Rush, but he has been a big part of a wonderfully successful time at Liverpool," added Murphy.

"There are not many players who have played for Liverpool and done what he has. He's a unique footballer in a jigsaw puzzle Jurgen Klopp put together.

"He's known for his humility. He's loved by a lot of Liverpool people and will be for a long, long time.

"He is one of those players that so many young players and kids want to be. That's the biggest compliment you can get."

Murphy said it would be "almost impossible to find someone exactly the same" as Firmino and The Anfield Wrap's John Gibbons believes it is because he "sums up" a Klopp team perfectly."He's done the whole journey with Klopp. Firmino was the frontman in every sense. He was the leader of the press," Gibbons told BBC Sport.

"He was a nightmare for defenders and people found it so hard to get out because of the work he was doing in that front three. He was vital but he also scored a lot of goals for us - some great ones.

"He has been an incredible player for this football club. We have been very, very lucky to have him."

'He just loves the game'
Firmino is seen as the "cheeky" one in the group, always smiling, always enjoying himself and always producing wacky celebrations - including his trademark karate kick and pretend patch over the eye.

"Football at its best is when you feel like a kid and there was nobody who made you feel that more so than Bobby. If I was a 10-year-old kid I'd have his posters on my wall," said Gibbons.

"It's the no-look goals and the celebrations which change all the time. He was making fun of himself when he got an eye injury at one point.

"He just loves the game, loves scoring, playing football and winning. He had the best song as well and I can't believe we won't be able to sing that at him in the Kop any more. I will miss that.

How does he compare to Liverpool's greatest goalscorers?
Firmino finishes his Liverpool career as the club's 17th highest goalscorer.

He has notched up 71 assists on top of his 109 goals in 360 appearances for the club.Only Steven Gerrard, Steve McManaman and Mohamed Salah have assisted more goals for Liverpool in the Premier League era.

Twenty-seven of Firmino's goals have come against top-six sides in the Premier League, while 22 have been scored in the Champions League.

"I've seen lots of great players and teams but he's in our top 20 goalscorers of all time and we've had some incredible goalscorers," said Gibbons.

"He gave us assists and work-rate too, so could have scored many more, but he was a team player first. He could not have done better for Liverpool as a signing from Hoffenheim."

Firmino's career has often been entwined with Salah's and Sadio Mane's and the trio formed one of the most feared attacking line-ups in Europe.

They scored 60% of Liverpool's Premier League goals during their 44-game unbeaten run between 2019 and 2020.

They became the most prolific front three in a Champions League season in 2018, combining for 29 goals, surpassing the 28 by Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema.

"Out of the three, Firmino was probably the least productive in terms of goals, but I don't think he's ever been under-rated," said Murphy.

"When you talk about that famous Liverpool front three, people see them as a collective for what they all did in those seasons they had together.

"It's very unusual to get a trio who had the durability that Firmino, Mane and Salah had for so long."

What were his most memorable moments?
Firmino has had plenty of memorable moments.

His extra-time winner over Brazilian champions Flamengo handed Liverpool their first Club World Cup trophy in 2019.

He scored the final goal as Liverpool beat rivals Manchester City in the Champions League quarter-finals in 2018 en route to the final.

He scored in both 7-0 wins over Maribor and Spartak Moscow in the Champions League, as well as a crucial goal in a 2-0 win over Manchester United in the Europa League in 2016.

A memorable Premier League hat-trick against Arsenal in 2018 was followed by a double at Old Trafford in 2021 and another hat-trick at Vicarage Road later that year.

He may soon be gone, but Firmino will never be forgotten at Anfield and the next instalment of his career will be watched with interest.

READ MORE https://baboyo.com/post/roberto-firmino-liverpools-cult-hero-who-made-football-fun

THIS has to stop

verifiablefacts:
They for find one small penalty give am now.

lol :

omooba74:
I trust that guy,Guardiola,he is going to win that champions league,he is a witch...

He is the man for the job

Vinicius Jr was subject to racist abuse during Real Madrid's 1-0 defeat to Valencia on Sunday; it is not the first time the 22-year-old has been abused this season; LaLiga president Javier Tebas told Vinicius to "inform yourself", prompting an angry response from Real winger.

Vinicius Jr says "racism is normal in LaLiga" and that "the championship that once belonged to Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano and Messi today belongs to racists" after once again being subjected to racist chants on Sunday.

The Brazil international was targeted by chants from sections of the crowd at the Mestalla during Real Madrid's 1-0 loss to Valencia.

The game was stopped in the second half for 10 minutes as the visibly angry 22-year-old grabbed the referee and pointed towards fans who he felt had abused him.

Vinicius was later sent off for violent conduct in added time following an altercation with striker Hugo Duro.

He tweeted after the game: "It wasn't the first time, nor the second, nor the third. Racism is normal in LaLiga. In football they think it's normal, the federation does too - and the opponent encourages it.

"I'm so sad. The championship that once belonged to Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano [Ronaldo] and [Lionel] Messi today belongs to racism.

"A beautiful nation, which welcomed me and which I love, but which agreed to export the image of a racist country to the world.

"I'm sorry for the Spaniards who don't agree but today, in Brazil, Spain is known as a country of racists. And unfortunately, for something that happens each week, I have no defence. I let it happen.

"But I am strong and I will go to the end against racists. Even if it is far from here."

Javier Tebas, the LaLiga president, criticised Vinicius after the game, accusing him of twice failing to appear at arranged meetings with the league regarding his complaints.Tebas also told Vinicius "it is necessary that you inform yourself", adding: "Do not let yourself be manipulated."

Those comments prompted an angry response from the Real winger, who wrote on Twitter: "Once again, instead of criticising racists, the president of LaLiga appears on social media to attack me.

"As much as you talk and pretend not to read, the image of your championship is shaken.

"Omitting yourself only makes you equal to racists. I want actions and punishments."

LaLiga has said it will request all available images in order to investigate what took place in light of the incident. "If any hate crime is identified, we will take the appropriate legal action," the league said in a statement.

The Spanish league has previously lodged complaints of racist chanting or insults against Vinicius, the latest of which was a claim before a court in Mallorca after fans were filmed racially abusing the forward.

Spanish police are also investigating a possible hate crime against Vinicius after a mannequin wearing his number 20 shirt was hung from a bridge outside Real Madrid's training ground in January.

Ancelotti: The game should have been stopped
Speaking after the game, Vinicius' manager Carlo Ancelotti said the abuse aimed at his player was unacceptable and told the referee the game should have been stopped.

"What we saw today is unacceptable. An entire stadium chanting racist slurs," the Real Madrid boss said."I don't want to talk about football today, there is no meaning in talking about football today. I told the referee he should have stopped the match.

"LaLiga has a problem. For me Vinicius is the most important player in the world. LaLiga has a problem, these episodes of racism have to stop the match.

"It's the entire stadium that is insulting a player with racist chants and the match has to stop. I would say the same if we were winning 3-0, there is no other way."

Ancelotti later added on Twitter: "Today has been a sad day at Mestalla, where a group of fans have shown their worst version.

"It is time to stop talking and act forcefully. Racism cannot have a place in football or in society. NO TO RACISM ANYWHERE."

Valencia director expects Ancelotti apology
Responding to the statement made by Ancelotti after the game, Valencia corporate director and spokesperson Javier Solis said: "In light of the unfortunate and completely incorrect statements by Mr Ancelotti, in which he branded all of the fans at Mestalla as racist, the club cannot tolerate this.

"We reject these complaints head-on. Possibly it is the result of a mistake in the language and he must have understood another word as being said.

"The club condemn any type of racist insults and are working to identify the people who allegedly made a gesture or action, but calling all the Valencia fans racist is nonsense and the club cannot remain silent.

"We understand that when Ancelotti realises the mistake he has made and the very serious statements he has made, he should apologise, in the same way that both the coach and I condemn any racist insult. In the same way, when he realises the mistake he has made, he should apologise."

Valencia earlier released a statement on their club website condemning what happened and confirming they will investigate.

"Valencia wish to publicly condemn insults and attacks of all kinds in football," it read.

"The club have a firm commitment to the values of respect and sportsmanship and reiterate our position against physical and verbal violence in stadiums. Thus, we are saddened by the events that occurred during the LaLiga matchday 35 match against Real Madrid.

"Although this is an isolated episode, insults to any opposing player have no place in football and do not fit with the values and identity of Valencia.

"The club are investigating what occurred and will take the most severe measures against the perpetrators. Valencia also condemn any offence and request the utmost respect for our fans."Whilst strongly denouncing these isolated incidents, Valencia would like to thank the more than 46,000 fans in attendance for their support for the team."

Lewis: Spanish football is in crisis
Darren Lewis of the Daily Mirror told Sky Sports: "It's all very well for clubs to come out, like Valencia have done, and apologise after the event but the fact is that action isn't being taken, not just to protect someone of the calibre of a Vinicius Jr, but also Black players in general and that's the reason why Vinicius Jr says Spain is seen as a country of racists.

"Sport is not a forum for young men to be racially abused on the basis of the colour of their skin.

"If they are in a situation like that the only way they will retain their power is to walk from the field of play because when Black players walk from the field of play the game will start to listen.

"Black men do not go to work in 2023 to be racially abused."Spanish football is in crisis because it cannot handle this and the trite apologies after a situation like this one are not good enough."

Ferdinand: Why are authorities not helping Vini Jnr?
Former England and Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand took to Instagram in support of Vinicius and questioned player protection.

"Bro you need protecting....who is protecting Vinicius Junior in Spain??" Ferdinand posted.

"He receives a red card after being choked and receiving racial abuse during the game."How many times do we need to see this young man subjected to this s***?? I see pain, I see disgust, I see him needing help... and the authorities don't do s*** to help him.

"People need to stand together and demand more from the authorities that run our game.

"No one deserves this, yet you are allowing it. There needs to be a unified approach to this otherwise it will be swept under the carpet AGAIN."