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      Benfica vs Club Brugge LIVE SCORE: Champions League latest as Portuguese giants look to seal last-8 spot – stream, TV

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      BENFICA are nailed on favourites to book their spot in the Champions League quarter-final – but stranger things have happened in football.Second-half strikes from Joao Mario and David Neres saw the Portuguese giants race into a healthy lead for the reverse leg.
      And Roger Schmidt will be hoping his men can seal the deal at home against a wounded Brugge side who were recently pummelled in the Belgian Pro League.

      Kick-off time: Tuesday, March 7 – 8pm GMT
      Live stream: BT Sport
      TV channel: BT Sport 2

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      Tottenham vs AC Milan: Out-of-form Spurs look to complete Champions League comeback against Italian giants – stream, TV

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      TOTTENHAM will be desperate to overcome Italian icons AC Milan in a huge Champions League last-16 second leg – but their form has to change.Brahim Diaz’s early strike was enough to see Milan run out 1-0 winners in the reverse fixture.
      Brahim Diaz’s sublime strike handed AC Milan the advantageCredit: Rex
      Tottenham have lost their last two consecutive matches in all competitionsCredit: Rex
      And since then, Spurs have been dumped out of the FA Cup by Championship side Sheffield United, before losing on the weekend to relegation-battling Wolves.
      However, Antonio Conte’s men pulled off two huge London derby wins against West Ham and Chelsea last month.
      Furthermore, Tottenham are set to take on a wounded Milan who recently suffered a shocking loss to twelfth-place Fiorentina in Serie A.
      When is Tottenham vs AC Milan?

      Tottenham’s Champions League last-16 second leg encounter against AC Milan will take place on Wednesday, March 8.
      It is scheduled to get underway at 8pm UK time.
      The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in North London is the allocated arena for this match and it can host approximately 62,850 fans.
      Milan hold the advantage after winning 1-0 in the reverse leg.

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      What TV channel is it on and can it be live streamed?

      Tottenham vs AC Milan will be broadcast LIVE on BT Sport 1 in the UK.
      Coverage is set to commence from 7pm UK time – a whole hour before kick-off.
      Subscription members of BT Sport can stream the entire action live via the BT Sport website or BT Sport app.
      Alternatively, SunSport’s live blog will have minute-by-minute coverage of the match.

      What is the team news?
      Eric Dier’s suspension adds to the woes of Tottenham boss Antonio Conte who is forced to continue without Ryan Sessegnon, Hugo Lloris, Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur due to injuries.
      Elsewhere, AC Milan coach Stefano Pioli has a near fully-fit squad to choose from.
      However, Pioli’s concern surrounds the first-leg matchwinner Brahim Diaz who will need further assessments on his knee sprain.
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      While Sergino Dest, Yacine Adli, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Zlatan Ibrahimovic were all left out of the knockout round squad.
      What is the odds?

      Tottenham to win 19/20
      Draw 12/5
      AC Milan to win 29/10

      To qualify

      Tottenham 13/10
      AC Milan 4/7

      *Odds courtesy of Ladbrokes are correct at time of publication More

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      Jude Bellingham should pick Man Utd transfer over Liverpool for four major reasons says Rio Ferdinand

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      RIO FERDINAND has stated why Jude Bellingham should snub Liverpool in favour of a transfer to Manchester United.Bellingham 19, is one of Europe’s hottest prospects and is being lined up for a big-money move this summer.
      Rio Ferdinand has stated why Jude Bellingham should snub a transfer to Liverpool in favour of Man UtdCredit: Rex
      Ferdinand has listed four reasons as to why Bellingham should snub LiverpoolCredit: Getty
      Borussia Dortmund are hoping to collect north of £100million for the England regular.
      Manchester City, Man Utd, Liverpool and Chelsea all hold an interest, as do Real Madrid.
      However, United and England legend Ferdinand has stated four major reasons as to why Bellingham should snub Liverpool in favour of a move to Old Trafford.
      Ferdinand said on BBC Radio 5 Live’s The Friday Football Social: “If you put the two teams on a graph, Manchester United are going in one direction and Liverpool have stagnated.
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      “I wouldn’t say Liverpool are in decline, but other teams are catching them up and maybe going beyond them.
      “If I’m a player, say Jude Bellingham or Declan Rice – two of the most in-demand English midfielders that may get moves this summer – and someone says, ‘Manchester United or Liverpool, where are you going?’, forget my Manchester United ties, I have to go with United right now.
      “The way the team looks, the way the squad is shaping up, the way the managers are navigating their teams’ fortunes and who I see being more successful in the upcoming future – I really would be sitting on the side of United.”
      Liverpool won the FA Cup and Carabao Cup last season – but lost in the final of the Champions League to Real Madrid.
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      Jurgen Klopp’s men also took the Premier League title race to the final day of the season, finishing one point behind champions Man City.
      However, this season, the Reds have struggled both domestically and in Europe.
      Liverpool are 21 points behind leaders Arsenal in this campaign and facing a last-16 exit in the Champions League, having lost 5-2 to Real Madrid in the first leg at Anfield.
      Man Utd took Liverpool’s Carabao Cup crown while their defence of the FA Cup ended with a shock defeat to Brighton. More

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      Marco Silva wasn’t great for my career and was too impatient for success, but he’s good enough to reach Champions League

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      I’M NOT surprised that Marco Silva is proving to be a huge success at Fulham — as  he is one of the most ­infectious personalities I’ve ever met.Normally when you use that phrase you mean that someone is a bubbly character, the life and soul of the party.  But I don’t mean that about Silva.
      Troy Deeney praised Fulham boss Marco Silva’s work in the Premier LeagueCredit: PA
      At Watford, it was his relentless desire for success, to win at all costs and improve players individually which rubbed off on everybody.
      As club captain, you’re involved in internal club discipline — setting down rules and issuing fines for lateness and the like.
      But when Silva was my boss at Vicarage Road for six months or so, standards were so high that I barely even remember anyone getting fined.
      That is rare and it says a lot about what an excellent manager he was.
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      He certainly wasn’t backwards in b******ing players.
      And if you were a 17-year-old kid or a seasoned veteran, he would treat you exactly the same.
      But Silva had an incredible attention to detail.
      After every match, your own individual stats would be left at your spot in the training ground dressing room on the next working day, which is very unusual.
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      He wouldn’t often challenge you about them. But when any professional footballer sees a stat saying he’d only won 30 per cent of their heading duels, he makes damned sure that doesn’t happen again the next week.
      Silva was an extremely demanding boss but in a good way, you wanted to go and work for him. He was interesting and challenging.
       And I am not saying this because he was good news for my own career — if anything the opposite was true.
      I was injured in pre-season when he came in and I didn’t start many matches.
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      Troy Deeney and Marco Silva previously worked together at WatfordCredit: Rex
      He told me that I wasn’t his type of striker, that he ­preferred Andre Gray and Richarlison.
      But that sort of honesty is rare and I respected it. Most managers are nowhere near as honest. As it happened, I played a decent part in a few wins for him.
      The problem with Silva then, and this was five years ago,  was that his drive for success was perhaps too powerful.
      We made a flying start to that Premier League season and, very soon, news got out that Everton were after him.
      That whole situation could have been handled better by Marco and by the owners and results tailed off because of it. Eventually he was sacked but ended up at Everton anyway.
      The Everton saga was the one thing he wasn’t honest about publicly or internally at the club.
      Troy Deeney claims Marcio Silva wasn’t great for his career at WatfordCredit: AFP
      So when he took the Fulham job at the start of last season, I wasn’t convinced that he was well suited temperamentally to managing in the Championship. I wasn’t sure how long he would stick around.
      I think he has learned and matured since his Watford days in that respect, though.
      His Fulham side won the second tier in style, playing some great attacking football and now they are making a genuine challenge for Europe, and have reached the FA Cup quarter-finals.
      Fulham recruited really well last summer — Marco’s excellent knowledge of the Portuguese game helped them get Joao Palhinha for just ­£17million and he is outstanding in midfield.
      Then there’s Willian, who everyone thought looked out of shape and past it at Arsenal a couple of years ago but has  a new lease of life at Fulham.
      I’m sure Silva’s fitness coach, Goncalo Pedro,  one of the very best in the business,  has had a great impact on Willian.
      Marco Silva is pushing for European qualification with FulhamCredit: PA
      A lot of fitness coaches are like drill sergeants and they treat everyone the same in terms of the work they do.
      Not Goncalo. He would  listen, he would treat you like an adult and he would tailor individual fitness programmes for each player. These details matter in professional football.
       I’m sure Goncalo is playing a huge part in their success.
      It’s not just the new signings who are going well for Fulham, though. Players like Tim Ream and Bobby Decordova-Reid, who haven’t truly cracked the Premier League before, have improved immeasurably.
      That doesn’t surprise me because that is what Silva and his team do. They challenge people and make them better.
      Etienne Capoue had been Watford’s best player the previous season and we were all shocked when Silva dropped him and demanded improvement but Etienne responded brilliantly.
      I hope Silva stays at Fulham for four or five years and gets them into Europe because I believe he is capable of that, especially as the club are giving him what he wants in terms of investment.
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      Beyond that, I think he will end up as an elite Champions League boss, he really is that good.
      And just imagine how complimentary I would be about him if he had actually selected me to start very often! More

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      This season’s top flight bosses can be roughly divided into three categories – overachievers, underachievers and, meh

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      IF Antonio Conte can be shortlisted for Manager of the Month while resting up at home in Italy, imagine what he could achieve if he took the rest of the year off.We’ve all had a chuckle at the possibility of the ailing Spurs boss receiving the February award despite the only match he attended resulting in a 4-1 thrashing by Leicester.

      Tottenham boss Antonio Conte is not in line for manager of the yearCredit: PA
      Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has turned things around at Old TraffordCredit: Reuters
      Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta deserves recognition even if he doesn’t win the titleCredit: Getty
      But Conte won’t be in the mood for laughter as he recuperates from the pain of his recent gallbladder operation.
      And while the ailing Italian might not be in the running for the Premier League’s Manager of the Season award, there are plenty of other candidates quietly fancying their chances.
      It was supposed to be a three-horse race between Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel, but that’s not how things have worked out.
      This season’s top flight bosses can be roughly divided into three categories – overachievers, underachievers and, meh, whatever.
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      Tuchel and Klopp are obviously among those who have failed to live up to expectations along with Graham Potter, David Moyes, Brendan Rodgers and the Southampton wrecking crew.
      And though Manchester City remain in the hunt to win the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup, it’s still hard to argue that Guardiola has been at the top of his game this season.
      So by my reckoning that leaves us with six or seven candidates for the title of Britain’s top boss.
      Even if Arsenal don’t go on to win the League this season, no-one can deny that Mikel Arteta has done one hell of a job at the Emirates.
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      He might not be everyone’s cup of tea with his manic touchline behaviour but how many people genuinely expected him to be leading the title race this season?
      The same goes for Erik ten Hag, who has totally transformed Manchester United against all odds after so many years of Old Trafford mediocrity.
      Marco Silva has been another managerial miracle worker. 
      While everyone expected an immediate return to the Championship for newly-promoted Fulham, he has led the west London minnows to seventh place in the table and the FA Cup quarter-finals.
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      Chelsea boss Graham Potter has come under fire at Stamford BridgeCredit: Rex
      Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper has stood out in the Premier LeagueCredit: Rex
      Brentford’s Thomas Frank and Brighton’s Roberto De Zerbi have continued to defy football gravity as both their teams dream of a first European qualification.
      Eddie Howe might have the Saudi billions bankrolling his Newcastle ambitons, but he has handled the weight of Geordie expectations magnificently in taking the team from the relegation zone to the brink of Champions League qualification.
      And what about Steve Cooper at Nottingham Forest, who has had to deal with a volatile owner and an entire new squad of players, yet he is still keeping the club clear of the relegation zone?
      Since the Premier League’s managerial award was inaugurated in 1994, 24 of the 29 recipients have been the title winner.
      Klopp took the crown last year despite finishing a point behind City. But he did win the League and FA Cups and reach the Champions League final, so that was fair enough.
      But prior to that, the last time the judges looked beyond the Champions was in 2014 when Tony Pulis finished 11th at Crystal Palace – they had obviously got fed up with giving it to Fergie.
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      The LMA award has not been quite so elitist, with Joe Kinnear, Frank Clark, Danny Wilson, David Jones, George Burley, Steve Coppell and Chris Wilder among previous winners.
      And now we’re ready to add another unlikely name to the roll of honour. No, Antonio, not you. More

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      Chelsea missing Champions League won’t stop £50m-rated star joining as he admits he’s ‘flattered’ by interest

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      LILLE star Jonathan David reckons Chelsea’s recent poor form would not stop stars like him from joining the Stamford Bridge “project”.Graham Potter’s men are tenth in the Premier League, 14 points adrift of the top four.
      Graham Potter’s Chelsea are toiling in the Premier League tableCredit: REX
      But Lille and Canada ace Jonathan David reckons the Blues still have pulling powerCredit: Getty
      But Canada striker David, who has 15 Ligue 1 goals this term, will not pick his next club based on whether they are in the Champions League.
      The £50million-rated star, also a target for Manchester United, is open to offers.
      David said: “The Champions League is not a condition. Everyone wants to play in the biggest competitions in the world.
      “But the most important thing is always the project.
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      “I don’t know what the future holds but I am open to every possibility.”
      The 23-year-old counts Blues icon Didier Drogba as one of his childhood heroes — and how Chelsea could do with a proper centre-forward right now.
      David dreams of a move to the Prem, so it could be a perfect pairing.
      The striker said: “The atmosphere in England is good every week, every stadium is filled.
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      “These are the games you want to play, with an atmosphere like that. And there are a lot of top teams.
      “Growing up I looked at different players. Thierry Henry, Didier Drogba . . . these players.
      “And the Premier League is one of the world’s best leagues.
      “The most important thing, though, is to play for the team.”
      It’s unclear if Potter will be in charge of Chelsea come the end of the season given their torrid run of form.
      The former Brighton boss will hope his troops will be able to stop the rot at Stamford Bridge on Saturday against Leeds. More

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      ‘He wants to fight the world’ – Chelsea stars fear for Mason Mount after series of uncharacteristic flashpoints

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      CHELSEA stars fear team-mate Mason Mount’s on pitch discipline is suffering because of his contract stand-off.The frustrated midfielder was booked for the second time in three games during his sub appearance in the dismal defeat at Tottenham on Sunday.
      Mason Mount has struggled to find his best form this seasonCredit: Getty
      He is also suspended for next week’s crunch Champions League last 16 tie at home to Borussia Dortmund.
      Dressing room insiders say they are worried that homegrown Mount is suffering as talks on a new deal with the club have stalled.
      Negotiations are at a standstill and Mount has not played a full 90 minutes for Chelsea in the last eight matches.
      The latest brush with the law was for showing dissent towards ref Stuart Attwell while his boyhood team crumbled against their fiercest opposition at White Hart Lane and were sunk 2-0.
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      It is the fourth Premier League booking of a season which started with so much promise for Mount and Chelsea but is now disintegrating fast.
      A dressing room source told SunSport: “You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to make the link between Mason’s frustration and his contract situation.
      “If you are a player that was born and bred at Chelsea and then find yourself on the bench or always among the first players to be subbed it is going to get to you.
      “Maybe he is not playing well. But who is in that team?”
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      Mount, 23, is banned for next Tuesday’s return match against Germans Dortmund because has three bookings in the Champions League this season.
      The last was for becoming embroiled in a shoving match having only come on with 19 minutes of the game to go.
      Discussions about a new deal for Mount began before last summer but have dragged on and show no sign of a breakthrough.
      It is a fresh headache for beleaguered Chelsea boss Graham Potter who is trying to manage an mammoth 33-man squad after making eight signings in January alone.
      Form is in critical condition too with the team tenth in the Premier League. They have won only two of the last 15 games and scored one goal in the last six matches.
      Mount has been with Chelsea since he was six years old and has been a key player.
      He provided the assist for Kai Havertz to score the winning goal in the 2021 Champions League final and has won the Club World Cup and Super Cup. He now has less than 18 months remaining on his contract.
      Club chairman Todd Boehly has made an offer of a new one but it was rejected. 
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      Mount is currently paid significantly less than players like striker Pierre-Emrerick Aubameyang, who only joined Chelsea last summer.
      The source added: “At the moment, Mason looks like he wants to fight the world when really he just wants to win things. With Chelsea.” More

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      I won it all with Barcelona and starred in the Premier League but now I’m carving out a shock career in new sport

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      A FORMER Barcelona star who played with Lionel Messi is now pursuing a different sporting journey.The ex-striker even graced the Premier League for four years in a career that took him around the globe.
      Bojan Krkic won the Champions League twice with BarcelonaCredit: Getty – Contributor

      He won LaLiga four times between 2008-2011 and the Champions League twice in 2009 and 2011.
      After that he joined Ajax on loan for a season where he won Eredivisie before a permanent move to Stoke followed.
      Most recently the 32-year-old played for Japanese side Vissel Kobe, where he was released in December.
      Since then the man in question, Bojan Krkic, has continued to pursue his other sporting love – gravel cycling.
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      He revealed it was love at first sight when it came to the sport and he loves to get out on the trail whenever he can.
      Bojan is also part of a new cycling brand called Guava which was founded in Barcelona, with former team-mate Andres Iniesta also a part of the project according to AS.
      Speaking about the new venture, Bojan said: “I think that when I enter this project it will be to stay and that I continue to be linked to cycling.It is a good way to combine sport and social activity.
      “I could participate soon to be in some races. I’m going to prepare for it.
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      I have always liked the bike, even as a means of transportation, but for about five years I have loved gravel. Whenever I can, I go out to do my routes.
      “Regarding soccer, it also serves as training, because as it has no physical impact it allows you to travel many kilometers without damaging the body.” More