Champions League

ERLING HAALAND showed why he’s an attacker and not a defender after footage emerged of the Man City star being nutmegged TWICE.Haaland, 22, has been a ruthless assassin in front of goal following his £52million move from Borussia Dortmund.
Erling Haaland was nutmegged TWICE in a Man City warm-upCredit: Twitter @Futebolnews
Haaland should probably stick to attacking and abandon any defensive instinctsCredit: Getty
The Norway international has 22 goals in just 16 outings under Pep Guardiola.
But the City boss should probably avoid relying on Haaland to perform his defensive duties.
That’s after footage was unearthed from last month showing the striker being embarrassed in a warm-up with teammates.
The clip, taken before City’s 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund at the Etihad, shows Haaland and pals engaged in a passing exercise.
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Seemingly the odd man out, Haaland can be seen attempting to win the ball as teammates quickly pass it around a circle.
But the hitman had little joy as he was nutmegged by chief assister Kevin De Bruyne.
Things then got worse as fellow magician Bernardo Silva poked the ball between Haaland’s legs.
And fans couldn’t resist poking fun after seeing the star isn’t quit as invincible as he appears to.
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One declared: “They bulled him.”
Another wrote: “He needs a software update.”
One laughed: “He did say in an interview he doesn’t know how to defend.”
Another added: “And yet they gave him a defending upgrade on Fifa.”
Haaland had the final say that night though, scoring an 84th minute winner to sink former side Dortmund.
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But his return to Germany yesterday did not go to plan.
Haaland mustered just 13 touches and registered no shots as he was hauled off at half-time in the 0-0 draw.
The Dortmund fan favourite also cut open his elbow and even picked up a knock to his foot.
Speaking afterwards, boss Guardiola revealed Haaland had been struggling with flu too.
He said: “[There were] three things. I saw him so tired. Second one, he had a little bit of influenza in his body. Like Joao [Cancelo] – Joao had a fever.
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“Then the third, he had a knock in his foot. That’s why he was not able to play the second half.
“I spoke with [the medical staff] at half-time and they were a little bit concerned, but I saw him walking more or less normally. We will see.” More

LIONEL MESSI has broken Pele’s record for most goals and assists EVER.The Argentine was in devastating form as Paris Saint-Germain smashed Maccabi Haifa 7-2 in the Champions League last night.
Lionel Messi was in glittering form last nightCredit: Rex
Another Pele record has fallenCredit: Alamy
Messi, 35, grabbed two goals and two assists as his side sealed qualification to the round of 16.
In doing so, he reached a combined total of 1,127 goal involvements in his career.
This overtakes the great Pele, who OneFootball attribute 1,126 goal involvements to.
During his remarkable career, Messi has scored 672 goals for Barcelona, 22 for PSG and 90 for Argentina.
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He has racked up an unbelievable number of assists too, taking him well over the 1,000 mark.
Pele’s goal tally is often refuted, with many believed to have come in friendly matches.
But Messi has beaten the sum reported by OneFootball.
In another landmark achievement, he became the oldest player to bag two goals and two assists in a single Champions League game.
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While he also extended his group stage record to 80 goals in 85 – taking him further ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo’s sum of 73 – with the Portuguese unable to add to it this season.
The 37-year-old can breathe one sigh of relief, however, as Messi couldn’t quite bag a third – which would have seen him overtake Ronaldo’s tally of eight Champions League hat-tricks – on which they remain are tied.
Messi also became the first player in Europe’s top five leagues this season to reach double figures in goals and assists.
He has netted 11 so far this campaign, while laying on 12 for others.
Kylian Mbappe was also on the scoresheet for PSG last night, bagging twice as his side romped past the Israeli underdogs.
Neymar and Carlos Soler netted – while Sean Goldberg scored an own goal for the visitors.
Abdoulaye Seck grabbed both of Maccabi’s consolation strikes.
PSG were in irresistible form last nightCredit: Rex
Cristiano Ronaldo could be in Europa League action this weekCredit: Getty More

JAMIE CARRAGHER turned up late for TV punditry in New York – and jokingly blamed Christian Pulisic’s DAD.The Liverpool legend – who has blasted USA attacker Pulisic as “not good enough” to be anything more than a Chelsea squad player – missed the start of CBS’ Champions League coverage.
Ex-Liverpool hero Jamie Carragher conjured a creative excuse for why he was held up getting into the USACredit: CBS Sports
Carra appeared flustered as he sat down for work in the Brooklyn studio with presenter Kate Abdo even suggesting he was “sweating”.
And when questioned by his CBS colleague about why he had missed the start of the broadcast, Carra had a bizarre answer.
At first the former England defender just said: “It was a bit difficult getting through passport control.”
But when pushed, he added: “I don’t really know. Maybe it’s the criticism. 
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“Maybe Pulisic’s dad was the fella doing the passports, I don’t know. I’ve given him a little bit of stick, haven’t I?”
Even before Graham Potter replaced Thomas Tuchel as Stamford Bridge boss, Carragher had doubted whether ex-Borussia Dortmund wideman Pulisic had the ability to earn a regular spot.
Carra said: “I don’t think a new manager is gonna completely rejuvenate him.
“He’s gonna be playing week in, week out. I just think he’s a squad player for Chelsea no matter who the manager is.”
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He later added: “To play week in, week out and make a difference for one of the best teams in the world, he’s not good enough for that right now.”
Ex-Fulham and US hitman Clint Dempsey responded: “Maybe he’s not good enough, but he’s still a young player and still has a lot to prove.
“It doesn’t mean that he can’t still go on to another level,.” More

SHAKHTAR DONETSK sub Danylo Sikan stirred up debate over the worst miss ever – after setting an incredible new low for the season.The Ukraine striker got caught in two minds and fumbled the ball wide of an open goal in Tuesday’s 1-1 Champions League draw at Celtic.

Danylo Sikan can’t believe it as he watches his effort go wide
The Scottish champions must have felt even worse – as failure to win meant they didn’t even qualify for the Europa League.
But it was Sikan who didn’t know where to hide after an astonishing misjudgement labelled the “miss of the season” on social media.
BT Sport’s Chris Sutton went further with: “I think that goes down as one of – if not – the worst miss of all time.”
And Celtic legend John Collins told BBC Scotland’s Sportsound: “How he misses it I do not know. That’s the miss of the season!”
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But opinion was divided when BT Sport posted a clip of Sikan’s misfortune next to the question: “Is this the worst miss you’ve ever seen?”
With the score at 1-1, Mykhaylo Mudryk tore past Cameron Carter-Vickers into the area and, as keeper Joe Hart advanced, unselfishly rolled the ball across.
But Sikan never made a decision between controlling or shooting – and instead his first touch sent the ball trickling wide with his left foot.
The seven-cap frontman made his stumble even worse – if that’s possible – as he floundered an arm out, desperately trying to redeem the situation.
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One observer tweeted: “He was trying to cushion it to then finish or finish first time? Either way that was embarrassing.”
But another suggested: “Tecnically it’s not a miss as he never tried to hit the target he tried to take a touch so maybe the worst first touch ever.”
Similarly, a few pointed out that Mudryk’s pass was a little behind Sikan.
So they blamed Sikan for poor thinking and control rather than outright shocking finishing.
Two all-time “great” misses wre regularly mentioned as Sikan’s shocker sparked a trip down memory pain for the offenders.
Ronnie Rosenthal hitting the bar for Liverpool as he ran the ball towards an open goal against Aston Villa in 1992 was referenced by ex-England hitman Sutton, as well as many social media users..
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And Yakubu’s World Cup 2010 miss for Nigeria against South Korea had a touch of the Sikans about it – as he too seemed to get his bearings all wrong.
In contrast, Mudryk had fired one of the finest goals in the Champions League this term to cancel out Giorgos Giakoumakis’ opener for Celtic. More

LIONEL MESSI and Kylian Mbappe both bagged braces as Paris Saint-Germain drubbed Maccabi Haifa 7-2 in the Champions League.The Ligue 1 champions netted four times in the first half as Messi scored twice, with Mbappe and Neymar also getting in on the act.
Messi helped himself to a brace against Maccabi HaifaCredit: Getty
Mbappe also claimed two goals of his own on Tuesday nightCredit: Alamy
PSG have made a sensational start to the seasonCredit: Getty
Mbappe added a second of his own after the break, with a Sean Goldberg own goal and a late Carlos Soler strike rounding things off for the hosts.
Abdoulaye Seck matched Messi and Mbappe with a brace of his own for the Israeli outfit.
But PSG coasted to a third win from five European games so far this season, although they will still need to avoid defeat against Benfica next week in order to top the group.
Meanwhile in the same group, it was another disastrous night in the Champions League for Juventus as they were dumped out of the competition.
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The Italian giants lost a compelling match 4-3 to Benfica – the second time the Portuguese side have beaten them this season.
The result sees Benfica move level with PSG on 11 points, while Juve are left alongside Maccabi with just one win from five matches.
And they will now need to avoid defeat to Maccabi Haifa next week if they are to secure a place in the Europa League play-off round.
Elsewhere, RB Leipzig stunned Real Madrid as the Bundesliga side clinched a 3-2 win over the defending champions.
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Carlo Ancelotti’s men are safely through to the last 16, but will now need to beat Celtic to ensure Leipzig do not leapfrog them to top spot in the final round of matches.
Former Chelsea man Timo Werner bagged the third for the hosts as goals from Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo proved to be merely consolations.
On Wednesday, Tottenham host Sporting Lisbon and Liverpool travel to Ajax.
Bayern Munich also go to Barcelona as the Catalan giants bid to keep their slim hopes of qualification alive.
Juventus crashed out of the Champions League after another defeat to BenficaCredit: AFP More