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      Man City star Erling Haaland becomes only 14th player EVER to score 10/10 on notoriously brutal L’Equipe ratings

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      ERLING HAALAND has joined a select group of 14 to score a perfect ten-out-of-ten on L’Equipe’s ruthlessly tough player match ratings.The unstoppable Manchester City striker earned the recognition by bagging his third hat-trick of the season in Sunday’s 6-3 demolition of Manchester United.
      Erling Haaland and Manchester City team-mate Phil Foden both got match balls after both bagged hat-tricks against Manchester UnitedCredit: EPA
      City’s Phil Foden also scored three on a remarkable day for the Citizens but it was the big Norwegian who stole the show again.
      Haaland’s two predatory goals towards the end of the first-half effectively killed off their big rivals in the hotly-anticipated derby,
      And either side of sealing his third home hat-trick on the spin with a brilliant snap-shot, he brilliantly set-up Foden for his second and third goals.
      The 22-year-old’s all-round display was so good it persuaded the stingy critics at 76-year-old French daily sport newspaper L’Equipe to dish out one of their rare perfect ratings.
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      They said he “flew over the derby by decorating his third hat-trick in a row at home” with “two perfect assists” as he becomes “more complete” in a “sparkling team”.
      And Haaland is in fine company alongside 13 other players in a list which includes some of the who’s who of world football.
      In November, Kylian Mbappe joined the prestigious list by scoring four and setting one up in France’s 8-0 rout of Kazakhstan in a World Cup qualifier.
      Mbappe’s Paris Saint-Germain team-mate Neymar made the grade with four goals and two assists in a 8-0 dismissal of Dijon in 2018.
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      Then Borussia Dortmund star Robert Lewandowski earned his place with a deadly four-goal salvo in a 4-1 Champions League semi-final win over Real Madrid in 2013.
      Lionel Messi, unsurprisingly, is the only player to get a ten-out-ten twice for two outrageously good Champions League displays for Barcelona.
      The first was for a four-goal haul in a 4-1 win over Arsenal in 2010, the second a five-goal display in a 7-1 victory against Bayer Leverkusen in 2012.
      But they are all trailing in Haaland’s wake right now as his latest treble took his total to 17 goals in 11 matches since his summer switch from Dortmund, a total which includes 14 Prem goals in eight games. More

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      Uefa’s wacky new Champions League schedule with group stage games proposed until end of JANUARY

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      JURGEN KLOPP look away now, because Uefa’s proposed new Champions League schedule includes group stage games until the end of JANUARY.Europe’s governing body want to expand the Champions League and Europa League in 2024, but keep the Europa Conference League the same.
      The Champions League and Europa League are set to be revampedCredit: Getty
      Jurgen Klopp has already hit out at the crowded scheduleCredit: AP
      Fuming Liverpool boss Klopp said last month that the action-packed schedule was “not right”.
      And if things weren’t already hectic enough, Uefa’s wacky new plans would see Champions League and Europa League teams play an extra two games, according to ESPN.
      The two competitions are also set to expand from 32 teams to 36.
      So instead of European football entering its knockout phase after Christmas, two more rounds of Champions League and Europa League games will be played right up until the very end of January.
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      But eight rounds of games spread out over 10 weeks are set to cause chaos to the domestic schedule.
      The first round of proposed Europa League games clash with the third round of the Carabao Cup.
      Further European matchdays in December and January then clash with the Carabao Cup quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively.
      It gets worse, as the final round of European games are proposed for the same time as a full Premier League midweek schedule at the end of January 2025.
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      Uefa’s proposed new European schedule
      The fixture congestion could reportedly see FA Cup replays from the third round onwards scrapped in order to move the Carabao Cup and Prem games.
      The Prem is the only one out of Europe’s big five leagues with a secondary cup competition.
      Or, like Liverpool did in 2019 when their Carabao Cup match against Aston Villa clashed with a Club World Cup game, Prem teams could choose to field academy sides.
      A worst case scenario, claimed to be seen as the very last resort, is cutting the Prem from 20 teams to 18. More

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      Ten records Norwegian ace Erling Haaland could break this season as Man City star prepares to take on Man Utd

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      ERLING HAALAND has already smashed many goal-scoring records in his short career and could be set to break even more in his debut season at Manchester City.The 22-year-old joined City from Borussia Dortmund in the summer for £51million.
      Haaland has his eye on lots of goal-scoring recordsCredit: Rex
      The Norway star has 11 Prem goals in seven gamesCredit: AP
      And he hit the ground running, scoring a brace on his Premier League debut against West Ham.
      He has gone on to score a further 12 goals across all competitions.
      Haaland has scored 11 goals in his first seven Prem appearances, taking the old record off Mick Quinn from December 1992.
      And he is hoping to add to that goals tally in his FIRST Manchester Derby this weekend.
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      City play Manchester United on Sunday.
      His nine goals in his first five games were also a record – making him the top scorer in the month of August out of any Prem season.
      The Norway ace is also the first player to score in his first four Prem away games.
      Haaland became the first player to score multiple times on his Champions League debut for three different clubs – RB Salzburg, Dortmund and City.
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      And he is the first City player to score on both his Prem debut and Champions League debut for the club.
      Haaland also set records at Salzburg and Dortmund.
      The striker is the quickest and youngest player to reach 25 Champions League goals, doing so in just 20 games.
      But there’s more records to break this season.
      SunSport looks at records Haaland COULD break this season given his fine form.
      Premier League goals in a season
      Haaland could score the most goals in a single Prem season at the rate he’s banging them in.
      Andy Cole in 1993-94 and Alan Shearer the following season, hold the record at 34 goals.
      That was when there were 42 league games and not 38 like there is now.
      But fear not.
      Haaland would need to net 24 goals in his next 31 Prem games to beat it. Doable.
      38-game Premier League goals in a season
      Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah currently holds the record for the most goals in a 38-game Prem season.
      The Egypt star scored 32 in the 2017/18 season.
      Haaland, again, at the rate he’s scoring is on course to beat that.
      Goals record for top-five European leagues
      One of the more unrealistic, but not impossible records Haaland is on the hunt for.
      Seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi scored an astonishing 50 LaLiga goals in the 2011-12 season.
      Haaland could do it if he keeps up his goal-scoring form, though.
      Goal-a-game Premier League Golden Boot
      No player has won the Prem Golden Boot with a record of scoring a goal a game.
      Tottenham’s Harry Kane got closest when he netted 29 in 30 appearances in 2016-17.
      Statistically, Haaland could hit 60 league goals at his current rate.
      City goals in single season
      Tommy Johnson holds an ancient goal-scoring record at City.
      He scored 38 goals across all competitions back in the late 1920s.
      Haaland could break the near 100-year record.
      Goals in single Champions league campaign
      Another hard record he would have to wrestle off one of the game’s greats, Cristiano Ronaldo.
      Ronaldo holds the record for the most goals in a single Champions League campaign.
      Ronaldo netted a remarkable 17 goals in 11 games in 2013-14.
      Haaland already has three in two games this term.
      Most goals scored in a calendar month
      The most goals scored by a player in a calendar month was Luis Suarez in December 2013.
      The then Liverpool ace scored 10, beating Haaland’s August total by one.
      But Haaland has many more months… or years to break that.
      Scoring in consecutive Prem games
      Jamie Vardy set an unbelievable record of netting in 11 consecutive games in Leicester’s 2015-16 title-winning season.
      Haaland is currently on a five-game streak.
      Record Prem hat-tricks in single season
      Prem record goal scorer Shearer scored an astonishing five Prem hat-tricks while playing for Blackburn in 1995-96.
      Haaland already has two to his name in just seven games.
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      Fewest apps to 30 and 35 UCL goals
      Ruud van Nistelrooy reached 30 Champions League goals in 34 games and 35 goals in 42.
      If Haaland scores another nine goals he would break or equal that feat. More

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      Ajax 0 Arsenal 1 (Agg 2-3): Miedema nets to send Gunners through to Champions League group stages

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      VIVIANNE MIEDEMA struck as Arsenal dispatched Ajax on a rain-sodden Champions League night in the Netherlands.The Dutch hotshot netted with the Gunners clinching a 1-0 away victory to book their group stage place. 
      Vivianne Miedema was on target against Ajax with her third goal of the season across all competitions for ArsenalCredit: EPA
      The Gunners will compete in the group stages of the Champions League following their round two defeat of AjaxCredit: Getty
      The round two second leg result saw Arsenal win 3-2 on aggregate this evening.
      But the visitors suffered injury scares with Rafaelle Souza crocked and Beth Mead subbed off after a nasty-looking blow to her head.
      Last Tuesday saw the Gunners frustrated by their battling Dutch opponents who caught them cold with a late goal.
      But tonight’s match – played on the outskirts of Amsterdam – was a different story as Jonas Eidevall’s side put that result to bed with a battling display. 
      The visitors began positively with the hosts intervening to snuff a second-minute break for the box
      But then Ajax made their presence felt going forward with Ashleigh Weerden jetting down the left, but unable to find a team-mate with her tenth-minute cross.
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      Moments later a dangerous through-ball found Romee Leuchter before Leah Williamson snuffed out the threat.
      Arsenal tested keeper Lize Kop in the 19th minute before a defence-splitting Katie McCabe pass almost found Wienroither in the box six minutes later.
      A dodgy back pass from Steph Catley almost caught Manuela Zinsberger out of position shortly before a Blackstenius shot in the 36th minute
      Eidevall was forced to shuffle his deck with Rafaelle limping off following an earlier kick from Chastity Grant.
      And Miedema fired a shot over the crossbar close to half-time
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      The Gunners striker bagged her third goal of the season, across all competitions, burying a bottom corner strike in the 51st minute.
      Later Mead entered the fray for the visitors shortly after Tiny Hoekstra was subbed on for Ajax with 25 minutes of normal time left.
      And Hoekstra came dangerously close to sliding in a leveller before a nasty clash of heads between Mead and Nadine Doordam saw the latter cautioned.
      Mead was later forced to come off after feeling the effects of the blow to her head in the closing minutes.
      The visitors held out to join Chelsea in the Champions League groups stages.
      Beth Mead was forced to come off late in the game after Nadine Noordam clashed heads with the forwardCredit: Getty More

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      Goals changed for Arsenal’s Champions League clash with Ajax after Gunners club official spots crossbar is 10cm too low 

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      JONAS EIDEVALL says Arsenal were faced with the bizarre scenario of having goals changed before their Champions League clash with Ajax.The Swede revealed the Dutch side’s goals were 10cm too small, saying: “I’ve never experienced anything like this in my life.”
      Jonas Eidevall was shocked that Ajax’s goals were too smallCredit: Getty
      The goals had to be changed prior to kick-offCredit: Getty
      IFAB rules state the bar must be eight feet high and the width between the two posts eight yards.
      But Ajax use the smaller goals in Dutch League games.
      Arsenal spotted the bar was nearly four inches too low in the warm-up and demanded the goals were changed ahead of their 1-0 second round, second leg win.
      Eidevall, 39, said: “It has been weird coming here and playing a big club like Ajax and we have to measure the goals.
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      “We can only control what we can control.”
      Later in the game, Arsenal were prevented from bringing on a concussion sub for Lionesses star Beth Mead, who suffered a head injury.
      He added: “Beth needed to be taken off.
      “The problem I had is that I asked the fourth official if we could do a concussion sub and she said yes.
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      “Then when we were about to do it she said no. I don’t understand it.
      “But the players defended well with 10.”
      Vivianne Miedema blasted the Gunners into the Champions League group stages with a 3-2 aggregate win.
      The Dutch hotshot struck in the 51st minute for her third goal of the season.
      Meanwhile, Fran Kirby and Sam Kerr helped thwart West Ham’s hopes of a top-flight shock as Chelsea trounced the Irons 3-1.
      The match saw Emma Hayes drop an F-bomb as the titleholders took the lead before bagging back-to-back wins.
      The Hammers – who are yet to beat their London rivals in the WSL – took a third-minute lead with skipper Dagny Brynjarsdottir’s towering header.
      Kirby chipped in a 40th-minute leveller before Kerr gave the hosts the lead with just over half an hour of normal time left.
      And Millie Bright made it 3-1 with a classy, headed effort.
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      Chelsea looked to extend their lead when Lauren James won a penalty after being brought down by Lucy Parker.
      But the forward saw her spot-kick saved in the 77th minute as the WSL champs moved to fourth ahead of their trip to Everton after the international break. More

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      Eidevall to take momentum from Arsenal’s North London derby win into a tough battle with Ajax

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      JONAS EIDEVALL is under no illusion about the hard task awaiting Arsenal in their battle with Ajax for a Champions League group stage spot.The Gunners are targeting an away win against their opponents who frustrated the WSL leaders by clinching a Round Two first-leg draw.
      A win for Arsenal against Ajax will see them join Chelsea in the Champions League group stageCredit: Getty
      Arsenal go into the game, which kicks off at 6:00 pm tonight, off the back of a 4-0 win against Tottenham watched by a record WSL crowd of 47,367 at the Emirates.
      And they will play in front of a record crowd at the De Toekomst Stadium home of their rivals this evening.
      Victory over Ajax will see the Gunners play their Champions League group stage games at the Emirates.
      Arsenal head coach Eidevall, 39, who has a fully fit squad for the game, said: “Of course, we want to play in the group stage and we want to go as far as possible.
      “This is the game we need to win in order to get there.
      “In the Champions League it’s about playing against the best. It’s about being challenged.
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      “And it’s nice the club want to play at the best stadium – the Emirates. We will do our very best in order to go through.
      “We can take a lot of energy and positive momentum from our win against Tottenham.”
      On whether Ajax will be buoyed by the draw by their impressive display last time out, Eidevall added: “I thought they played with a lot of confidence last week.
      “I’m under no illusion that this game will be anything else.
      “It will be a hard game. Away matches in Europe are tough when we’re playing a good team like Ajax.
      “We will need to defend well, attack well and be good at set pieces and in transition.
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      “It’s up to us to be the best that we can possibly be. I believe we can go through.”
      Having reached the contest’s quarter-final stage last term before being knocked out by Wolfsburg Eidevall’s side hope to progress further this season.
      And the club remains the only English side to have won the Women’s Champions League with their 2007 triumph.
      Since then, the contest has been dominated by Europe’s other giants with French side Lyon having won the tournament eight times, including their 3-1 triumph over Barcelona in May.
      Chelsea became the first English side to reach the final in 14 years when they took on Catalan giants Barca in May last year.
      The overall winner of this term’s Champions League is set to receive £301,000 in prize money with the runners-up awarded £172,000.
      Jonas Eidevall is confident Arsenal will be able to defeat Ajax away from homeCredit: Getty
      Match victories for teams in the group stage is thought to earn sides £43,000.
      On whether he feels constant pressure on Arsenal from a financial perspective, Eidevall added: “I don’t spend much time thinking about other things and I don’t think I should do either.
      “I went into this game preparing to get the best possibilities to win and I don’t think about anything else.” More

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      Tottenham ‘to complete £31m Dejan Kulusevski transfer in summer whether they qualify for Champions League or not’

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      TOTTENHAM will “no doubt” sign Dejan Kulusevski on a permanent deal at the end of the season, reports suggest.Kulusevski joined Spurs in January following an 18-month loan deal with Juventus and has since shone bright in north London.
      Tottenham star Dejan Kulusevski joined on an 18-month loan from JuventusCredit: Getty
      According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Antonio Conte’s side will offer the winger a contract whether or not they qualify for next season’s Champions League.
      Romano claims that Tottenham will have to pay €35million (£31m) if the Sweden international plays in at least 20 Premier League games this season and they finish in Premier League’s top four.
      If Spurs fail to seal Champions League qualification they will still have a “buy option clause”.
      Kulusevski arrived alongside former Juventus team-mate Rodrigo Bentancur and together they proved vital in the team’s last-ditch effort for a top-four finish last season.
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      The Swedish ace has registered a total of six goals and 11 assists in 29 appearances ever since his arrival from Turin.
      Conte has praised the ex-Atalanta star’s immediate impact at the North Londoners.
      Kulusevski has proven to still be a key player under the Italian tactician this season as he adds even more attacking threat next to star duo Harry Kane and Son Heung-min.
      Conte previously said: “He’s a Tottenham player 100 per cent in every aspect. Not officially but he’s 100 per cent a Tottenham player.”
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      Kulusevski is loving life in England as he admitted “everything is going better” in the UK than it did in Italy.
      The versatile forward added that he made the “best” decision leaving Juventus last winter.
      Kulusevski told Gazzetta dello Sport: “Sometimes in football things simply go well. I haven’t changed anything in these months.
      “I always go and always went to the pitch with full commitment. However, at Juventus, something didn’t work regardless of how much I worked.
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      Tottenham will sign Dejan Kulusevski on a permanent deal in the summerCredit: Getty
      “I like to look forward rather than backward. Surely, I wasn’t okay at Juventus for many reasons and when you realise things don’t work, it’s hard to change direction in the same environment.
      “The decision to leave Italy was the best I could make in that situation.
      “Everything is going better in England. On and off the pitch. Now I always want to play football and win for my team.” More

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      Chelsea legend John Obi Mikel retires from football aged 35 as he says goodbye after trophy-laden 18-year career

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      CHELSEA hero John Obi Mikel has announced his retirement from football at the age of 35.Obi Mikel took to Instagram to state he was hanging up his boots alongside a photo of his 18-year career’s biggest highlights.
      John Obi Mikel was part of the Chelsea side that won the 2012 Champions League titleCredit: Getty Images – Getty
      The legendary midfielder’s message read: “There is a saying that ‘all good things must come to an end’, and for my professional football career, that day is today.
      “I look back at the past 20 years of my career, and I must say that I am very satisfied with all that I was able to achieve and more importantly the human it has helped shape.
      “All of this would not have been possible without the unwavering support of my family, managers, clubs, coaches, teammates and most importantly my ever-loyal fans.
      “You supported me through my highs and lows, even on days that I did not live up to your expectations. I say a big thank you.
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      “I will also like to encourage everyone who I may have inspired one way or the other in the course of my career to never give up on their dreams, for every time you think about quitting, remind yourself why you started.
      “This is not goodbye, it’s the start of another journey, another chapter of my life. I look forward to what the future holds and I hope you will walk with me. Thank you.”
      Obi Mikel’s professional career kicked off in 2004 at Norwegian outfit Lyn.
      Chelsea scouted him only two years later and brought him to their star-studded squad at Stamford Bridge.
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      The Nigerian great enjoyed tremendous success during his 11-year stint in West London as he amassed a total of six goals and 13 assists in 372 appearances.
      The 35-year-old won two Premier League titles, three FA Cup trophies, the 2007 League Cup and the 2013 Europa League.
      Obi Mikel was also part of the Chelsea side that won the 2012 Champions League trophy.
      The versatile midfielder also enjoyed immense success on the international stage as well as he won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2013 with Nigeria.
      Obi Mikel left Chelsea in 2017 for Chinese outfit Tianjin TEDA before his return to England for Middlesbrough only two years later.
      He then moved to Turkey in 2019 where he won the Turkish Cup with Trabzonspor a year later.
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      Obi Mikel made one final comeback to England in 2020 for Stoke until his departure for Kuwait SC a year later.
      The Chelsea hero had been a free agent since last November until his decision to roll credits on his career.
      Chelsea legend John Obi Mikel has announced his retirement from footballCredit: Action Images – Reuters More