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      in Soccer

      Uefa ready to hand PSG Champions League this season by BANNING ‘snakes’ Chelsea and Co over European Super League

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      UEFA is ready to boot Chelsea, Manchester City and Real Madrid out of this season’s Champions League – and hand the title to PSG.Euro chiefs are also prepared to kick Arsenal and Manchester United out of the Europa League semi-finals for signing up to the proposed Super League.
      Uefa are ready to hand PSG the Champions League by banning the other three semi-finalistsCredit: Getty
      And Uefa President Aleksander Ceferin, who branded the plotters ‘snakes’ who are ‘spitting in the face’ of football fans, has threatened to ban England and overseas stars including Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, Cristiano Ronaldo and Antoine Griezmann from Euro 2020.
      Ceferin, who admitted to being ‘angry’ at the ‘greed, selfishness and narcissism’ of the 12 rebel clubs, made the threat during a press conference.
      He said: “The players who will play in the teams that might play in the closed league will be banned from playing in the World Cup or Euros and not be able to represent their national teams at any matches.
      “We’re still assessing the situation with our legal team. 
      “We will take all the sanctions we can and will inform you as soon as we have  a clear answer.
      “As soon as possible they have to be banned from all our competition and the players from all our competitions.”
      Asked to clarify if that meant an imminent move for the rest of this season and then the summer, Ceferin added: “I said they wouldn’t be able to play in our competitions, but I don’t know when. 
      “This thing is new for us. We might be naive because we didn’t know we had some snakes close to us but now we know and are working on it and will have legal actions soon.  
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      “It’s not clear yet. That is part of the legal assessment. We have a meeting tomorrow and it’s too fresh to know what will happen. We will inform you accordingly.
      “We understand that some players might be caught in a difficult situation.
      “But if materialises and we ban the players they will think twice before signing for a club like that.”
      Ceferin turned his fire on the plot leaders, especially Juventus chief Andrea Agnelli, branded ‘the biggest disappointment of all’.
      The Uefa boss, who added he expected Fifa President Gianni Infantino to back his hardline stance when he addresses Uefa’s annual Congress tomorrow, did not hold back as he blasted the rebels.
      He said: “These are disgraceful, self-serving proposals from a select few clubs that are fuelled purely by greed above all else.

      “Super League IS only about money. The money of the dozen.
      “This idea is spitting in the face of all football lovers and our society as well and we will not allow them to take it away from us..
      “I have seen many things. I was a criminal lawyer for 24 years but i have never seen people like this.
      “Greediness is so strong that all human values evaporate. In football I met many strange people, liars and bad people. 
      “Football is not all corrupt, just a small part of it led by greed only and they don’t care about anybody else, they don’t care about the game. 
      “You see chief execs changing clubs like we change shirts, owners who look at accounts, not goals.”
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      Furious Liverpool and Tottenham fans protest European Super League plot outside stadiums with more supporters to follow More

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      Peter Crouch once left wife Abbey Clancy locked out of their home for 90 minutes while playing Call of Duty

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      PETER Crouch once left wife Abbey Clancy locked out of their home and ringing the doorbell for 90 minutes — as he was playing Call of Duty.The former England striker was wearing headphones while absorbed in the video shoot-’em-up and could not hear the model.
      Former England ace Peter Crouch revealed he once left his wife Abbey Clancy locked out of their home for 90 minutesCredit: Getty – Contributor
      The footie ace was wearing headphones while playing Call of Duty and could not hear AbbeyCredit: Getty
      The dad of four said the 2013 Strictly winner was “not happy” at being left outside for so long when she forgot her keys.
      Ex-Spurs and Liverpool ace Crouchy, 40, told his podcast: “I had a pair of headphones on and had no idea she was ringing the bell.
      “She was locked out for about an hour and a half while I was shooting people.
      “I was in this big game, so I had no idea she was ringing the bell.
      Abbey had forgotten her keys and was ‘not happy’ as she was stuck outsideCredit: Getty
      He says: ‘She was locked out for about an hour and a half while I was shooting people’Credit: Getty

      He said it happened just after the couple got married in 2011.
      The ace added: “There should be a ‘dad mode’ on Call of Duty.
      “Trying to get your gun out for ages, and then you do that thing when you zoom in for no reason, and then throw a grenade for no reason.”
      Peter Crouch has BT Sport pundits in stitches as he forgets his own Champions League heroics More

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      in Soccer

      Stuart Dallas compared to Javier Zanetti by Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa as he hails star’s versatility

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      MARCELO BIELSA has compared ‘Mr Versatile’ Stuart Dallas to Argentine legend Javier Zanetti.The Northern Irishman’s stunning season has seen him dubbed the ‘Cookstown Cafu’.
      Stuart Dallas has enjoyed a stellar campaign in the Premier LeagueCredit: AP
      The full-back’s efforts have earned comparisons to Inter Milan hero Javier ZanettiCredit: Getty Images – Getty
      But while Brazilian icon Cafu was exclusively marauding down the right, Dallas, 29, has been everywhere.
      Right-back, left-back, right wing, defensive midfield and attacking midfield — he has shone in them all.
      His last-gasp winner on the break at champions-elect Manchester City last weekend sees Leeds chasing a fourth-straight win against Liverpool on Monday.
      Despite 18 of his 31 starts coming at full-back he has seven goals – level with Sadio Mane, and at a just a slightly better rate than Zanetti’s 12 in 19 years at Inter Milan.
      Leeds boss Bielsa, who also sees similarities with former Newell’s Old Boys midfielder Julio Saldana, coached Zanetti, predominantly a right-back, with Argentina between 1998 and 2004.
      And he said: “I had a player like him, Javier Zanetti, and also Julio Saldana who I had when I first managed at Newell’s.
      “Those two players are very alike Dallas in terms of their versatility.
      “Dallas is a very potent, powerful player. He can play with either foot, his right or his left, he’s good at defending.
      He has a change of rhythm and surprise when he attacks. It’s very difficult to find all that in just one player.Marcelo Bielsa
      “He has the capacity to combine as well as make runs, which allows him to flourish playing in the middle.
      “He has a change of rhythm and surprise when he attacks. It’s very difficult to find all that in just one player.”
      Dallas is a boyhood Liverpool fan and combined part-time playing with working as a joiner in Belfast when Brentford spotted him in 2012.
      After three years on the wing in West London, his former Bees boss Uwe Rosler spent £1.6m to bring him to Elland Road in 2015.
      A strong contender for Leeds’ Player of the Year, Dallas will reprise the role in midfield against the Reds tonight having usurped Mateusz Klich in the pecking order.
      And Bielsa added: “The role Dallas has in the team at the moment is the role that Klich had.
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      Marcelo Bielsa has heaped praise on DallasCredit: EPA
      “In the majority of the games the team played, Klich was one of the best players.
      “Dallas started to play in this position and showed different ways of playing in this position.
      “Scoring goals was a clear expectation when he started to play in this position and as the minutes go by, he manages to have a marked influence in finishing our chances.
      “In that sense, this is something of a novelty. Even though it’s a novelty, it’s within his capabilities as he has shown.”
      Bielsa also hailed Diego Llorente’s form having finally put together a run of games after an injury-hit first season.
      The Spanish centre-back has started the last seven to take his total to just eight since his £20m from Real Sociedad.

      Fellow new defender, Robin Koch, has also struggled for fitness and has made only 14 appearances.
      But Bielsa said: “Diego has played well, he has not had any bad games.
      “He’s at a performance level that has improved every single time he has played. He started playing well and from then onwards has got better.
      “Him with Koch, in the first part of the season, have been high points of our season.”
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      Fans must act now and make a stand against greedy owners who want to tear up 130 years of English football history

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      UNDER the cover of the pandemic, they made their move.The owners of England’s ‘Big Six’ clubs — three American sports moguls, two oil barons and the Bahamas-based billionaire who holds the keys to Tottenham — have made the cowardly move of signing up for a breakaway European Super League.
      Man Utd executive vice-chairman and director Edward Woodward is among bigwigs seemingly backing a betrayal of football as we know itCredit: Getty
      Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy and Liverpool owner John Henry will have big questions to answer from their shocked fans over the new leagueCredit: Getty
      Man Utd’s American owners, the Glazers, want to ditch domestic English football
      And they did so while the match-going supporters of those six clubs — most with proud traditions of unity and protest — are locked out of their stadiums.
      True supporters of those clubs will appreciate the importance of the English footballing pyramid as well as those who follow less wealthy clubs — and they will be appalled by these proposals.
      The green-and-gold anti-Glazer protestors at United, the Spirit of Shankly at Anfield, the Chelsea Pitch Owners who united to save Stamford Bridge from property developers years before Roman Abramovich had ever heard of their club.
      Now these, along with supporters of Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham, must make their voices heard. Loud and clear.
      It might not make a whole lot of difference because the owners of these clubs care only for their global fanbases rather than those who have turned up to support their teams for generations — but they must resist.
      This was always the endgame for the Glazers at Manchester United, John Henry’s Fenway Sports Group and Stan Kroenke of Arsenal — all owners of American sports clubs and their franchise model.
      Guaranteed top dollar without the need for sporting excellence is the American sporting dream.
      This was the endgame of every pre-season tour to the States or the Far East, the endgame for all those boasts about ‘global social-media reach’ and ‘official noodles partners’.
      Arsenal backer Stan Kroenke and his like always had the endgame of developing a global base rather than building on the traditions of the gameCredit: EPA
      Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is another of the money-men who could take the game away from its competitive instinctsCredit: PA
      Those ‘Unity Is Strength’ banners at Anfield can be tossed away.
      They were a joke ever since the Liverpool and United-led attempt to carve up Premier League power in the hands of the few materialised in those Project Big Picture proposals earlier this season.
      Abramovich, the Abu Dhabi paymasters of City and Joe Lewis of Spurs were never going to stand by and watch the other three break away without them.
      Suspicion of foreign ownership of English football clubs was rarely based on xenophobia but on fears of eventualities such as this, which would tear up more than 130 years of English league football history and traditions.
      There should be embarrassment at City, Arsenal and Tottenham — three clubs without a single European Cup between them — that they are even part of such a scheme.
      City were playing Macclesfield in the league less than a quarter of a century ago. Spurs this week marked 60 years since they were last champions of England.
      Arsenal are mid-table and facing the prospect of no European football whatsoever next term.
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      HOW THE SUPER LEAGUE WOULD WORK
      THE European Super League will be made up of fifteen ‘founder members’ – starting with Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, United, City and Spurs from England, with Atletico and Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan.
      Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and PSG are likely to complete the list founders, who cannot be relegated.
      Five extra teams will be invited to compete each year with a provisional kick-off from the start of the 2022-23 season.
      Teams will be split into two groups of ten and play nine opponents home and away in a midweek league, with the top four from each group qualifying for end of season play-offs.
      United and Liverpool will bag up to £310m up front. The other four Prem teams would each get £200m.
      Total £4.6billion pot, initially backed by JP Morgan will mean a minimum £130m each year even if one of the ‘founders’ loses EVERY game.
      Overall winners could earn up to £212m extra if they win every game.

      These clubs are scared witless by the likes of Leicester and West Ham threatening to break up the Big Six cartel.
      The Premier League, with its relatively equitable distribution of TV cash, is far too fair and open for their liking.
      hether they are genuinely ready to go through with a breakaway — or whether it ultimately proves to be just another power squabble between Uefa and many of Europe’s richest clubs — the resistance of English football supporters must start here.
      ⚽ Read our Football live blog for the very latest news from around the grounds
      Fans finally return to football as select 4,000 spectators watch FA Cup semi-final at Wembley in test event More

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      in Soccer

      From Roy Keane to Paul Scholes — these footballers are the spitting image of paintings

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      WHAT a match! Comedian Olaf Falafel has paired football figures with lookalike paintings — and we thought it was too good an idea to pass up on.
      Roy Keane is the spitting image of Gentleman in a Fur by Paolo Veronese
      The winning doubles — including player-turned-pundit Roy Keane — would be at home in the Louvre Museum in Paris.
      But can you tell a Manet from a Mane or a Caravaggio from a Baggio?
      Thomas Tuchel’s lookalike is Elena Povolozky by Amedeo Modigliani
      Roy Hodgson looks just like J.M. Vogelsang by Ferdinand Oldewelt
      Marouane Fellaini appears to be channeling Pablo Picasso’s Face of Woman
      Pep Guardiola has the exact same pose as Head of Man by Hermann Struck
      Paul Scholes is paired up with Paul Gauguin’s Beautiful Angel
      Kenny Dalglish looks just like Gardener John Wells, by an unknown artist
      Mick McCarthy is a clear double for Bob Dylan’s Self Portrait

      Micah Richards winds up BOTH Roy Keane and Jamie Redknapp over their previous row in hilarious behind-the-scenes clip More

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      in Boxing

      Demetrius Andrade crushes Liam Williams’ WBO middleweight title dreams in unanimous decision

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      WELSH WARRIOR Liam Williams had his middleweight world title dream dashed by brilliant American southpaw champion Demetrius Andrade.The Clydach 28-year-old flew to Florida for a longshot at dethroning the 33-year-old undefeated leftie.
      Demetrius Andrade was too strong for the brave Liam WilliamsCredit: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom.

      But he came face-to-face with a masterful fighter who almost stopped him in the opener, floored him in the second and then slipped and grabbed his way to a points win.
      Team USA’s 2008 Beijing Olympian walked to the ring in a baseball cap emblazoned with ‘WAR’ in honour of recently deceased middleweight legend and fellow southpaw Marvin Hagler and put on a showing the icon would be proud of.
      The judges called it: 116-111, 118-109 and 118-109.
      Williams said:  “Demetrius is a very good fighter, better than I thought, more slippery than he appears on TV.
      “I could not get my punches or combinations off, I felt I hurt him a couple of times but he was always gone before I could capitalise on it.
      “I know I am tough and can take a good shot, I knew I had taken his best shot in the second and I got up so I had nothing to fear.
      “I don’t feel I need to take a step back, I believe now I am world level.
      “I know I gave him a bit of stick in the build-up but he is quality and probably only Canelo in the division is a better champion than him.”
      Liam Williams showed plenty of fight but could not match the champCredit: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom.

      It was a violent start and Williams was hurt instantly when Andrade unloaded a huge left hook off the ropes.
      The Brit was buzzed but went on the front foot instead of covering up and trying to survive.
      Andrade‘s lead southpaw uppercut was vicious and Williams was nursing a heavily swollen cheek from the second minute.
      A straight one-two smashed into his nose as well, as the usually cautious American went hell for leather.
      In his camouflage shorts, Andrade was hard to find in the second and he brutalised Williams again with a meaty left backhand and an uppercut that scythed through his guard.
      Williams was warned for roughhouse tactics with thirty seconds of the round remaining, he switched off for a nanosecond and was punished with a massive one-two that decked him for a count.
      The third looked like being a breather for Andrade but he landed again with a minute left in the session and Williams was held up by the ropes.
      But the Brit bravely bashed and bullied his way back into the bout with a strong finish to the stanza.
      Liam Williams climbed off the canvas in the second round of a physical boutCredit: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom.
      The Welshman’s American opponent showed off his slick ringcraftCredit: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom.
      Brave effort by @Liamwilliamsko tonight. Hurt early but came back and showed he belongs at world level hurting Andrade In the 9th. Bad Ref frustrating and allowed way too much holding!— Joe Calzaghe (@RealJoeCalzaghe) April 17, 2021

      The fourth was a huge improvement for Williams, with a couple of shots landing flush and Boo Boo’s legs looking heavy under the constant pressure.
      Sheffield trainer Dominic Ingle kept telling his charge that Andrade was going to wilt in the back half of the fight but Williams was worried his footwork was not up to the task.
      If Andrade took a rest in the fourth, he clocked back in the fifth with a series of those trademark uppercuts that Williams at least knew to expect but could not avoid.
      Thin-skinned Williams was cut by the end of the round and had blood dripping down into his right eye.
      Andrade complained of an eye poke in the sixth and he continued to hold and smother and Williams’ freakish pace.
      But a thunderous lead uppercut sliced through his guard again and rocked his shaven head back toward the Florida heavens.
      Right at the end of the seventh Williams was whacked again and had to cling on for the bell to save him after Andrade slipped up a gear.
      Williams dared to drop his hands in the eighth and dare his opponent to hit him but he waited until Williams had his guard up to land another uppercut.
      Andrade appeared to be hurt in the ninth by a right hand but Williams did not seem to have the energy to finish him and shipped a bodyshot for his trouble.

      Andrade definitely tired in the final few rounds, against Williams’ relentlessness it would be almost impossible not to.
      But he grabbed the penultimate round with a pinpoint combination that the judges would have loved.
      And the pair, who had swapped spiteful insults over the months of build-up, hugged at the final bell after both giving it their all. More

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      in Soccer

      Leeds enter Nicolas Tagliafico transfer race with Chelsea and Man City also chasing £17.5m left-back

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      LEEDS have joined the chase for Ajax left back Nicolas Tagliafico.The Dutch side are resigned to losing the Argentina international this summer and sources in Holland suggest he could cost as little as £17.5million.
      Nicolas Tagliafico is being targeted by LeedsCredit: Getty
      Tagliafico, 28, has two years left on his current contract but is believed to have an agreement with Ajax that he can leave.
      The defender was linked with a move last summer, with Chelsea and Manchester City mentioned as possible destinations.
      Tottenham were also linked with the ace when compatriot Mauricio Pochettino was in charge in 2019.
      Uncertainty caused by the pandemic hampered plans in 2020 but Leeds are among the clubs ready to move for Tagliafico after the season ends.
      The left-back position is an area where boss Marcelo Bielsa wants to strengthen.
      Ezgjan Alioski, in theory a winger, has done a decent job on that flank of the defence this season.
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      Liverpool boast the most-valuable squad in the Premier League

      But Bielsa wants a specialist and Tagliafico, with his hard-running style and technical ability, would fit well into Leeds’ system.
      The player himself responded favourably to reports last week from Italy that Inter Milan were interested in him.
      Former Inter and Argentina star Javier Zanetti was his childhood hero but the Italian club’s financial issues will restrict their power in the transfer market.
      ⚽ Read our Football live blog for the very latest news from around the grounds
      Nicolas Tagliafico scores stunning goal in Ajax training More

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      Brendan Rodgers is ‘fantastic’ beams Jonny Evans as he compares Leicester boss to Man Utd legend Fergie

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      JONNY EVANS has hailed Brendan Rodgers for his “fantastic” Sir Alex Ferguson-style leadership in Leicester’s Covidiot crisis.Foxes’ boss axed James Maddison, Ayoze Perez and Hamza Choudhury for last weekend’s Premier League top-four clash with West Ham after they broke Covid-19 protocols by attending a house party.
      Brendan Rodgers has been praised for dealing with Leicester’s CovidiotsCredit: Reuters
      Jonny Evans compared the ‘decisive’ style with Sir Alex Ferguson’sCredit: Guardian News & Media / Free to use by all titles in perpetuity under NMC agreement
      Evans, 33, who came through the ranks under Fergie at Manchester United, said: “The way the manager dealt with it was fantastic.
      “He’s very decisive and he let all the other players know where he stood, he was very open with his dialogue, his communication. As players, you can only have respect for that.
      “The matter is dealt with now and it has been dealt with in the right way.”
      Rodgers, who will bring the shamed trio back into the squad for the FA Cup semi-final against Southampton, says the saga was the lowest point of his two-year Leicester reign.
      The defeat by West Ham tightened up the race for Champions League places and if the Foxes were to lose this evening, fears would grow that their excellent season would end in frustration like last year.
      But Rodgers said: “We could be sitting eighth or ninth, and have no semi-final, the spotlight maybe not on us. We’re happy to have the spotlight.
      “There’s always going to be a narrative around us but no extra pressure.”
      Rodgers claims there was more tension around the last FA Cup semi-final he prepared for, when he was in charge of Liverpool against Aston Villa in 2015.
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      Rodgers recalled his semi-final heartache during Steven Gerrard’s last year at LiverpoolCredit: EPA

      Captain Steven Gerrard was going to leave the Reds at the end of the season. And Rodgers said: “There was a lot of pressure.
      “The whole feeling going into the game at that time was that if we arrived in the final, the final coincided with Steven’s birthday and it was going to be his last game.
      “There was a lot of emotional stuff around it. But you’ve got to win, and we didn’t. They won because they were the better team.
      “If we can perform well we have a good chance of getting through.”
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