List of All Articles with Tag 'eppersons'

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Joleon Lescott reflects on John Stones' new role at Man City & his potential impact on the Champions League final.

Arsenal are reluctant to meet West Ham's £100m asking price for midfielder Declan Rice.

Manchester City and Inter Milan clash in Saturday's Champions League final in Istanbul with the English side, under Pep Guardiola, strongly fancied to win European club football's...

As horse racing's elite saddle up for the final race of the coveted Triple Crown at New York's Belmont Stakes, the sport's top trainers will face off for their share of the $1.5 million purse at the lavish, star-studded event -- amid growing scrutiny after a recent spate of horse deaths.

The biggest club title in European football is on the line and either Manchester City or Inter Milan will be celebrating the greatest night in their recent history come tonight. Pep Guardiola and Simone Inzaghi go head-to-head in the dugout, with key battles across the pitch seeing Nicolo Barella and Kevin de Bruyne vying for midfield supremacy and goalkeeper Andre Onana attempting to keep out free-scoring Erling Haaland. Inter’s last Champions Leagu triumph came in 2010 under the management of Jose Mourinho; City have never won the competition but came runners-up two years ago. Both teams won their respective domestic cup competitions this term, the FA Cup and Coppa Italia, but while City also won the Premier League, Inter were only third in Serie A. Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the match including how to watch for free. When is the Champions League final? Man City play Inter Milan on Saturday 10 June. The match kicks off at 8pm BST in the Ataturk Stadium, Istanbul. How can I watch it? The match will be broadcast live on BT Sport 1 and BT Sport Ultimate, and can be streamed on the BT Sport app and desktop website. BT have also made it free for viewers to watch, on the BT Sport YouTube channel. What is the team news? Kyle Walker has been hampered in preparations for the final by a muscle injury, but he has vowed to be back fit and pending any late setbacks, he should be included in the squad. There are no other injury issues for Pep Guardiola to worry about. Milan Skriniar is back in training for Inter Milan after an injury, though it’s doubtful he’ll earn a place in the starting back three, with Simone Inzaghi’s plans already set. Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Joaquin Correa are both hoping to be passed fit for the final too, with the latter probably having least chance after an injury in the Coppa Italia final. Predicted lineups MCI - Ederson, Akanji, Dias, Ake, Stones, Rodri, Silva, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Grealish, Haaland INT - Onana, Darmian, Acerbi, Bastoni, Dumfries, Calhanoglu, Brozovic, Barella, Dimarco, Martinez, Dzeko Odds City 11/21 Draw 39/10 Inter 6/1 Prediction It’s a huge task for the Serie A side to stop this City juggernaut and it seems they’ll finally get their hands on the trophy which has thus far eluded them. Man City 2-0 Inter Milan. Read More One last wrong to right? Man City stand on the brink of complicated history The trick that made Erling Haaland the ultimate finisher – in more ways than one The rise, fall and rise again of Inter Milan’s Andre Onana

Manchester City face Inter Milan in the Champions League final tonight, with both teams hoping to aid the biggest trophy of all in club football to their respective objectives already attained this term. Pep Guardiola’s side have completed the domestic double with a Premier League title and the FA Cup already in the bag, following their recent Wembley win over rivals Man United. Now, though, they go looking for the last and most historic part of the campaign, looking to finish the treble. As for Inter, they beat Fiorentina in the Coppa Italia final to land their first silverware of the season, while they secured third place in Serie A to ensure a return to this competition next term. All eyes will be on whether boss Simone Inzaghi opts for former City striker Edin Dzeko in the lineup or brings in on-loan Chelsea man Romelu Lukaku - while City are hoping Kyle Walker recovers to full fitness. Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the match. When is the Champions League final? Man City play Inter Milan on Saturday 10 June. The match kicks off at 8pm BST in the Ataturk Stadium, Istanbul. How can I watch it? The match will be broadcast live on BT Sport 1 and BT Sport Ultimate, and can be streamed on the BT Sport app and desktop website. BT have also made it free for viewers to watch, on the BT Sport YouTube channel. What is the team news? Kyle Walker has been hampered in preparations for the final by a muscle injury, but he has vowed to be back fit and pending any late setbacks, he should be included in the squad. There are no other injury issues for Pep Guardiola to worry about. Milan Skriniar is back in training for Inter Milan after an injury, though it’s doubtful he’ll earn a place in the starting back three, with Simone Inzaghi’s plans already set. Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Joaquin Correa are both hoping to be passed fit for the final too, with the latter probably having least chance after an injury in the Coppa Italia final. Predicted lineups MCI - Ederson, Akanji, Dias, Ake, Stones, Rodri, Silva, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Grealish, Haaland INT - Onana, Darmian, Acerbi, Bastoni, Dumfries, Calhanoglu, Brozovic, Barella, Dimarco, Martinez, Dzeko Odds City 11/21 Draw 39/10 Inter 6/1 Prediction It’s a huge task for the Serie A side to stop this City juggernaut and it seems they’ll finally get their hands on the trophy which has thus far eluded them. Man City 2-0 Inter Milan. Read More One last wrong to right? Man City stand on the brink of complicated history The trick that made Erling Haaland the ultimate finisher — in more ways than one The rise, fall and rise again of Inter Milan’s Andre Onana

Xavi has sent a message to Barcelona fans after their title-winning season.

Erling Haaland admits the pressure is on as he prepares for Manchester City’s Champions League date with destiny. The Premier League winners face Inter Milan on Saturday night bidding to claim the European crown for the first time. Victory would not only end years of frustration and near-misses in pursuit of the continent’s top club prize but complete a glorious treble. City’s outstanding season, which has also included winning the FA Cup as well as a fifth domestic league title in six years, has been fuelled by the goals of Haaland. The prolific Norwegian has scored 52 times in an outstanding first season at the Etihad Stadium and is well aware the club hope he proves the final piece in their jigsaw. “Of course I feel pressure,” the 22-year-old said. “I would lie if I said I didn’t. “It’s true – they won the Premier League without me, they won every trophy without me. So I’m here to try to do a thing that the club has never done before and I’ll do my best.” Winning the Champions League is also the chief reason manager Pep Guardiola was brought to the club. Victory for him would end a 12-year wait to reclaim the trophy since the second of his two triumphs as Barcelona boss. “It’s absolutely a dream,” said the Catalan. “What has happened in the past is in the past. It’s an incredible competition. “Inter Milan is bigger than us in terms of history but what’s important is at 10pm Istanbul time we do the best performance possible and that can make the difference.” Playmaker Kevin De Bruyne, who left the field injured in City’s final defeat to Chelsea two years ago, admits winning the competition has become an obsession as well as a dream. “Maybe it’s both,” said the Belgium international. “Every professional player wants to win the Champions League and be on top. “If you can win the Champions League, you’ve reached one of the biggest things you can.” City have a fully-fit squad for the clash at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium, which was also the venue for Liverpool’s remarkable victory in 2005. Nerves and tension are likely to increase in the build-up to the match but defender Ruben Dias feels the team are ready to thrive in such circumstances. “We love the pressure, we love it,” he said. “The pressure will make you run faster, jump higher, be more focused. “That’s what these kind of games need and we need to embrace it. It’s another time for all of us to step up to the occasion.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Denver Nuggets with one hand on NBA trophy after taking 3-1 finals series lead Rory McIlroy boosts chances of third RBC Canadian Open title with flawless 67 Surrey record fourth highest T20 Blast total after scoring 258 in Sussex mauling

In Manchester City training sessions, the staff can already sense the same mood that was so striking before the games against Arsenal and Real Madrid. There is that “right kind of conviction”, that is so specific to the circumstances of the fixture. For the 4-1 over Arsenal, it was the aim of reclaiming the title they felt was theirs. For the 4-0 over Madrid, it was revenge for what happened at the Bernabeu last season. Now, it is the memory of 2021, and finally putting right what has always gone so wrong in the Champions League. That focused intensity can be seen in the players, above all Kevin De Bruyne. The feeling is that City will come out at thFce Ataturk Stadium with full fury, and not give Internazionale even a chance to settle, let alone get on the ball. If that is the case, it could well be worse than either Arsenal or Madrid. The 68th Champions League final could even be one that surpasses the four-goal victories of 1960, 1989, 1994 and the 1974 replay. It’s hard not to think City could render it a procession by the first half-hour, just as they have done so often in the last three months. What Simone Inzaghi is banking on, though, is if that doesn’t happen. If it gets to even 25 minutes and Inter have dug deep to not let City in, there is the chance that doubt could creep back in; that it could feel like it's going to be another of those nights; that there is something about this competition that is now fated for Pep Guardiola. That is when we might see one of those occasions when players like Alessandro Bastoni and Andre Onana stand defiant, when Inter display the kind of emotional intensity that characterised their own last victory in the Champions League, in 2010. That is when we might have a game, rather than a last formality to be fulfilled for City. It says much, however, that so much of the discussion around whether Inter can win ultimately goes to the nebulous; to football’s inherent capacity for unpredictability. City have already done quite a job of brutalising that concept this season, just as they have brutalised most of the best opposition. That has been just one factor in making this the most mismatched final since at least 2002 and that between Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen, but probably even much further back. Inter may be one of the great European names, aiming for their fourth Champions League, but they can only be described as a good team at best. That has meant they have defied a lot of modern football norms to even get this far. By contrast, City are the most lavishly funded project the sport has yet seen, to the point a feat as traditionally elusive as the treble now almost seems an inevitability. The club’s hierarchy have certainly planned it like that since the 2008 takeover. While the first decade was intended to provide the platform to win repeat Premier Leagues, the second has been intended to win repeat Champions Leagues. City now stand on the brink of the club’s first European Cup, and becoming the 23rd different name on the trophy. That will be celebrated with relish and relief by a group of superb players who have been through a lot. The club and Guardiola may have a long history of frustration in the Champions League, but the depth of feeling has partly been because they have so often been the best side in Europe. City should have lifted the trophy in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022, and in 2020 certainly shouldn’t have lost to Lyon. The wider point is that a feat of this scale could have easily happened in almost any of those years. And if it doesn’t happen this year, it could well happen next year. Or the year after that. It would still be wrong not to admit that 2023 is as good a chance as City will ever have to win it, certainly in this way. And if the Champions League final is itself an occasion that naturally serves as a barometer for where the game is, few bring together as many strands as this one in Istanbul. The time and place are telling, especially as regards the use of the game by political and financial influences. President Recep Erdogan’s government finally gets its grand showpiece after two Covid-enforced postponements, but amid criticism for “democratic backsliding”. Uefa had no confirmed guest list as of Friday evening, but it was understood that invitations were extended to several heads of state. One of those who was reported to have accepted, to congratulate Erdogan on his election win, is United Arab Emirates president Mohamed bin Zayed. He is the elder brother of City’s named owner Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, although the club is now widely seen as an Abu Dhabi “sportswashing” project. It would be a historic landmark for a state club to finally win the European Cup. It also wouldn't necessarily be for the good of the sport. This is very different to the City that historically charmed the sport, or even their great title winners of 1968. Many have raised related issues about Inter, though, since financial issues of the past few years have ensured the club is part-owned by the Chinese state through a holding company. That may not be for reasons of “soft power” or “sportswashing”, and there is no influence, but it should feed into an ongoing debate about the ownership of football clubs and where the game is going in that regard. For this final, it has created another strand that reflects so much about the state of the sport in 2023. That is a huge financial gap, of the type that has now economically tiered football to an unprecedented degree, and fed into the very erosion of unpredictability that makes a City victory feel so likely. The game is meanwhile facing a series of legitimacy issues, one of them involving the potential European champions. City have been charged with 115 breaches of the Premier League’s Financial Fair Play rules, to go with Barcelona being charged regarding payments to former referee Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira and Juventus having 10 Serie A points deducted in a new ruling by the Italian football federation’s court after an investigation into the club’s transfer dealings found evidence of false accounting. Such complicated stories are a long way from the elemental glory this grandiose fixture has traditionally conjured. This is where we are. The current players and managers would of course say that all they can do is go out and perform “on the pitch”. That is where there is still some intrigue to a fixture so many see as a foregone conclusion. Guardiola has after all undercut foregone conclusions in the past by overthinking. Back in 2021, the final that frames so much of this, Thomas Tuchel was “shocked” when he got the City team sheet on the Chelsea bus and saw there was no defensive midfielder on the screen. It has this week led to some jokes among the City players and staff for Guardiola not to do similar. The Catalan even acknowledged this with a laugh on the club’s media day. It just shouldn’t be an issue this time. Guardiola has never been so clear on his team. This is, despite 52 goals, maybe the main value of Haaland. It is so obvious where he has to play that Guardiola ultimately worked back from that to come up with a formation that has made City almost unstoppable. It fittingly involved going back to the Catalan’s football roots, too. After hours in front of screens, Guardiola realised the way to maximise his attack with Haaland was to introduce the “defensive box” that Johan Cruyff did to win Barcelona their first Champions League in 1992. The current City manager played at the top of that. It gave him his only Champions League medal as a player and may now give him his third as a manager, bringing so much full circle. That is, of course, unless Inter square that circle. While it would obviously be preposterous to say Inzaghi’s side are the last that City would want to face, they do have qualities that pose very specific challenges to Guardiola’s approach. The Catalan and his staff always seek to impose their game on any team but with very specific adaptations for the opposition within that. Inzaghi has made that difficult because Inter are almost a throwback in how they constantly adapt to the opposition to such an extreme degree. The manager never plays the same way twice, in the words of those within the squad. Inzaghi knows this game is only really going to go one way, and probably quite furiously from the off. The vast majority of the match will take place within 30 metres of Onana’s goal. That is where Haaland may prove his most symbolic value, as he offers that finish that City have so often lacked on such occasions. It is also why one of Inter’s main defensive approaches will be to draw the Norwegian into physical battles so as to distract him. Inzaghi does have plenty of individuals who can stand up in such ways. There are a lot of “old warriors”, ready to rise to the occasion or looking for some kind of redemption. Much will revolve around two forwards with so much knowledge of the Premier League, in former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko and the on-loan Romelu Lukaku. The Belgian was lampooned for his World Cup performances but they were a product of rushing back too quickly. The flip side is that he is now in his best form since leaving Inter the first time. Lukaku is one player who is capable of wreaking havoc in the space left by City. Federico Dimarco is then capable of suddenly surging in out of nowhere. This is all what Inzaghi is seeking to play on, as he gets his team to focus on their own qualities rather than fixate on City’s. Inter certainly aren’t looking at this as an occasion they should just be happy to be involved in again. They are enjoying a real momentum from this run, going right back to an extraordinarily difficult group, and see themselves as a classic Champions League team. That means they see themselves as winners. Most people looking on can’t see anything other than a City victory. Judging from the atmosphere around Istanbul compared to previous finals, it is difficult to remember one where there was so little sense of contest, if not occasion. That might all just be set-up, though. This stadium’s only other Champions League final offered up the greatest sensation in the competition's history, with Liverpool's 3-3 comeback against Milan in 2005. This one might similarly display football’s eternal ability to amaze us. Or, it might be a landmark for how it’s going in the future. Read More The trick that made Erling Haaland the ultimate finisher – in more ways than one How to cure ‘City-itis’? Pep Guardiola has new template to end Champions League woe Inter and the impossible task of the Champions League final Erling Haaland’s best time of all comes in the competition Man City signed him to win The fresh perspective driving Kevin De Bruyne to Champions League glory How John Stones sparked his Man City revival by looking in the mirror

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