Sports
UCL: Guardiola Returns To Camp Nou A Foe …As Barca Hosts Bayern
Former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola makes his return to the Camp Nou to night targeting a repeat of the sides’ UEFA Champions League semi-final of 2013.
Bayern cruised to a dominant 7-0 aggregate success two years ago under Guardiola’s predecessor Jupp Heynckes, before going on to complete a famous treble.
For Guardiola, Bayern can only lift two titles this term and to do so they will need to arrest stuttering form against a Barca side full of confidence.
While Guardiola’s men were dumped out of the DFB-Pokal semi-finals by Borussia Dortmund before losing 2-0 to Bayer Leverkusen, Barca put eight past Cordoba to keep their treble hopes on course.
Javi Martinez made his long-awaited return from a knee injury at the BayArena and is focused on helping shackle Barca’s free-scoring front trio of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez.
“The knee is good. Leverkusen was a good test for me and now I’m ready to help my team in the next game,” he told reporters ahead of today’s first leg.
“Whether I play or not depends on the coach. Stopping Messi, Neymar and Suarez will be very difficult.
“But we are not afraid. If we want to win, we can’t allow ourselves to be afraid. We have a big heart and we have a big goal.”
Robert Lewandowski is set to feature with a mask after sustaining multiple injuries against former club Dortmund although Franck Ribery (ankle) remains doubtful.
Guardiola’s former Barca team-mate Luis Enrique has one worry – having seen Jordi Aba train alone on Monday – as he seeks to ensure the four-time winners reach their eighth final.
The pair both coached at Barca B after their playing careers ended with Luis Enrique making a strong start in his bid to emulate Guardiola’s 14-trophy at the Camp Nou helm.
Victory to night would set Barca on course for their first Champions League final appearance since 2011 and the Liga leaders could hardly be in better form.
Winning 15 of their last 16 games in all competitions and with Messi taking his tally for the season to 40 at the weekend, Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu played down the importance of Guardiola’s return.
“There’s no favourite. It’s an open tie against a great team that has a coach who knows us very well,” Bartomeu told Tidesport Source.
“It is necessary to honour Pep and I believe it has to be spontaneous. We won’t organise anything. There’ll be no video or anything.
“He comes with all the honours but also to win. After the game we can salute him.
“I believe the relationship between Guardiola and the board ended well. The doors of Barca are open when he wants to come back. I think he will one day.”
A Glo league action recorded during Rangers home lose to Taraba United Fc this season.
Sporting have not received an offer for striker Viktor Gyokeres and there is no gentleman’s agreement for him to leave for £59million, says club president Frederico Varandas.
Sweden international Gyokeres, 27, has been heavily linked with Manchester United and Arsenal after scoring 97 goals in 102 matches during two seasons in Portugal.
He has a 100m euro (£85m) release clause in his contract.
It has been widely reported that, after staying at Sporting last summer, Gyokeres and Sporting agreed he could leave for 70m euros (£59m) this summer.
However, Varandas said the club’s only promise to Gyokeres was that they would not demand his full release clause.
“I can guarantee that Viktor Gyokeres will not leave for 60m euros plus 10m euros because I never promised that,” Varandas said.
“To this day Sporting has not had an offer for Gyokeres, neither today nor last season.”
Gyokeres spent three seasons with Coventry City in the Championship before joining Sporting under Ruben Amorim.
Manchester City director of football Hugo Viana was sporting director at Sporting last summer, when Gyokeres’ agent sought assurances about his leaving if a suitable offer arrived.
“One of the agent’s biggest concerns was whether we would demand the termination clause,” said Varandas.
“He wanted to guarantee certain things. And what was agreed? That Sporting would not demand a release clause now.
“For one reason: he was going to be 27 years old and no player leaves Portugal at 27 for 100m eurors or 90m euros.
“In that same meeting the agent wanted to anchor the exit to a value. I said this sentence: ‘It’s not worth us setting a value because I don’t know what will happen in a year’s time. I don’t know if it will be 40m euros, 60m euros or 80m euros. What I can guarantee is that I will not demand 100 million euros.’”
Concacaf President Victor Montagliani has criticised a proposal to expand the 2030 men’s World Cup to 64 teams.
The plans, put forward by South American governing body Conmebol, have also drawn opposition from Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
The tournament will be hosted by Spain, Morocco and Portugal, after the opening matches are held in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
The 2026 World Cup, which will take place across the United States, Mexico and Canada, has already been expanded from 32 to 48 teams.
But Conmebol said it wanted to add more participants to mark the competition’s 100-year anniversary.
“I don’t believe expanding the men’s World Cup to 64 teams is the right move for the tournament itself and the broader football ecosystem, from national teams to club competitions, leagues, and players,” Montagliani told Tidesports source
“We haven’t even kicked off the new 48-team World Cup yet, so personally, I don’t think that expanding to 64 teams should even be on the table.”
Concacaf is the governing body of football in North America, Central America and the Caribbean.
The decision to expand the 2026 World Cup to 48 teams was taken in 2017 following a unanimous vote at a Fifa congress.
Fifa’s 75th congress will be held in Paraguay on 15 May, when Conmebol’s proposal could be discussed.
If the proposal is accepted, the 2030 edition would consist of 128 matches, double the number played under the 64-game format used from 1998 and 2022.
In March, Ceferin described the proposal as a “bad idea” while AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa said it would cause “chaos”.
“If the issue remains open to change, then the door will not only be open to expanding the tournament to 64 teams,” said Salman.
“But someone might come along and demand raising the number to 132 teams. Where would we end up then? It would become chaos.”
Brazil qualified for the 2026 World Cup this week with a 1-0 win against Paraguay in South American qualifying to give Carlo Ancelotti his first win as manager.
Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jnr scored from close range in the second half, finishing after fine work from Manchester United-bound playmaker Matheus Cunha.
The victory, Ancelotti’s first after a 0-0 draw against Ecuador on his debut last week, means Brazil has now qualified for every edition of the World Cup.
“We needed to win and qualify for the World Cup,” said Vinicius Jr.
“Now the coach will have more time to work. Of course today wasn’t one of our best performances, but the important thing is always to win.
“Now it’s time to celebrate qualifying.”
Elsewhere, World Cup holders Argentina played out an entertaining 1-1 draw with Colombia in Buenos Aires.
Liverpool winger Luis Diaz opened the scoring with a fine individual goal, dancing through three defenders before finishing past Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.
Argentina was reduced to 10 men with 20 minutes remaining when Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez was sent off for a high-boot challenge on Colombia’s Kevin Castano.
But Lionel Messi’s side found an equaliser nine minutes from the end through Lyon’s Thiago Almada, leaving Colombia four points clear of seventh-placed Venezuela.
Ecuador, Argentina’s nearest challengers, booked their spot at next summer’s tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States after a 0-0 draw away at Peru.