Deal almost done for UEFA’s Champions League reforms: Agnelli | Football News – Times of India

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MANCHESTER (England): Agreement on the new-look Champions League structure is close to being complete and should be sealed in the next two weeks, says Andrea Agnelli, president of Juventus and chairman of the European Club Association (ECA).
UEFA has proposed a major change to the Champions League from 2024 with 36 rather than 32 teams and an overhaul of the group stage into a single table rather than the current groups of four clubs.
While there has been criticism of some elements of the plan from the European Leagues organisation, which represents the continent’s domestic competitions, Agnelli believes the deal is virtually done.
“I would dearly hope that everything will be done in the next couple of weeks, there are details that needs to be addressed, one being the access to the competition, how will the four extra spots be allocated?.
“But I would say that within a couple of weeks everything should be pretty much sorted,” he said.
UEFA’s initial proposal allowed for extra spots to be given for teams placed highest in their rankings, opening the way for the top leagues to have more than four clubs on a regular basis.
The Leagues have argued that the extra spots should go to the champions of smaller leagues and Agnelli said he expected the deal would see a compromise with both routes included.

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Jurgen Klopp rues ‘massive blow’ as Liverpool suffer historic home defeat | Football News – Times of India

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LIVERPOOL: Jurgen Klopp admitted Liverpool’s 1-0 defeat against Chelsea was a “massive blow” as his troubled club lost five successive home games for the first time in their history.
Klopp’s side were condemned to unprecedented misery at Anfield by Mason Mount’s superb strike late in the first half on Thursday.
After storming to their first English title in 30 years last season, injury-hit Liverpool have endured a wretched defence of the crown and now face an uphill struggle just to finish in the top four.
With 11 games left, seventh-placed Liverpool are languishing four points behind Chelsea in fourth.
Reds boss Klopp conceded losing to a direct rival for the Champions League places was a big setback, especially as his team are mired in a miserable run of five defeats in their last six league games.
“It is not about Anfield or whatever, it is in general, too often. In the decisive moments we have to improve,” Klopp said.
“You cannot say it is only at home. We have to show our quality in these moments and we don’t do that often enough.
“It was a tight, intense game. It is a massive blow. We have to win football games. It is not done yet.”
Klopp was unhappy with Liverpool’s defending for Mount’s goal as Fabinho was left trailing in the midfielder’s wake.
He was also frustrated by their lack of cutting edge up front, with leading scorer Mohamed Salah hauled off after an hour.
“You have to defend differently and we didn’t do well there. In the end we conceded one goal, we made the mistake there,” he said.
“You can say it was good defending by Chelsea but with all the possession we had you need to have more chances. Everything was really good until the final pass.”
On Salah’s substitution, which left the Egypt forward shaking his head as he walked to the bench, Klopp added: “I just brought on fresh legs. Mo looked like today he suffered a bit, he played a lot of games.
“I could have taken off Sadio (Mane) or Bobby (Firmino). That is all clear but at that moment it looked like Mo.”

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Liverpool-RB Leipzig Champions League match moved to Budapest: UEFA | Football News – Times of India

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Liverpool will return to Budapest to play RB Leipzig in the their Champions League last-16 second leg match due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, European soccer’s governing body UEFA said on Thursday.
Liverpool, who beat Leipzig 2-0 in the first leg on Feb. 16 in the Hungarian capital, cannot host Leipzig at Anfield because the Bundesliga team would have to undergo 10 days of isolation upon returning from the United Kingdom.

The first leg, originally scheduled to be held at the Red Bull Arena in Germany, was shifted to Budapest after German authorities denied Liverpool entry into the country due to COVID-19 protocols.
The second leg will now be held at the Puskas Arena on March 10.
“UEFA is able to officially confirm that the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 second leg match between Liverpool FC and RB Leipzig will now be played at the Puskas Arena in Budapest,” UEFA said in a statement.
“UEFA would like to express its gratitude to Liverpool FC and RB Leipzig for their support and close cooperation, as well as the Hungarian Football Federation for their assistance and agreeing to stage the match.”



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UEFA Champions League: Simone Inzaghi Rues Lazio Errors after Bayern Munich Demolition

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Lazio coach Simone Inzaghi was left frustrated at his side’s error-plagued Champions League performance after poor defending led to three of Bayern Munich’s goals in a commanding 4-1 victory for the German champions.

A slack back pass from Mateo Musacchio was pounced on for Robert Lewandowski’s opener, resulting in Inzaghi substituting the Argentine defender 31 minutes into the match.

Defender Patric was at fault for Bayern’s third goal, while Francesco Acerbi diverted a cross into his own net for their fourth early in the second half to hand Bayern a huge advantage ahead of the last-16 second leg in Munich on March 17.

“We knew the importance of the game and the value of the opponent, but we made it easy for them. We made three of their goals and that is the greatest disappointment,” Inzaghi told Mediaset.

“We contributed to their goals, it’s a bad night but we must go forward and it will be an important step in our development.”

The result extended the holders’ unbeaten Champions League run to 18 games and came as a relief after a two-match winless run in the league.

“Everyone fulfilled expectations today,” said Bayern coach Hansi Flick.

“We wanted to put them under pressure from the off, which we did well. We won the ball high up the pitch and created plenty of chances as a result. We’re very happy.”



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