All posts tagged: atlético madrid

Declan Rice after club enters Champions League final

Declan Rice after club enters Champions League final

Published by Parlour News

3 min readUpdated: May 6, 2026 08:38 AM IST Arsenal may still be one game away from winning their first ever Champions League trophy but the players and the fans celebrated their second leg semi-final victory over Atletico Madrid at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night with full gusto. Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice has defended the vociferous celebrations. The club is in the Champions League final for the first time in 20 years. The London club overcame a spirited second-leg challenge from Atletico Madrid at the Emirates Stadium. With both teams locked at 1-1 after the first leg in Spain, it took a first half goal from Bukayo Saka to help Mikel Arteta’s men secure a spot in the final. This is only the second time in their history that Arsenal have made it to the Champions League final. Their last time, 20 years ago, had ended in heartbreak at the hands of Barcelona. This time around, they will face the winner of the second semi-final between Bayern Munich and Paris Saint Germain on Wednesday …

The man Arsenal must stop: What a new documentary reveals about Diego Simeone | Football News

The man Arsenal must stop: What a new documentary reveals about Diego Simeone | Football News

Published by Webster

5 min readMay 4, 2026 10:48 AM IST The firm, fiery eyes of Diego Simeone welled up towards the end of the first episode of a documentary on him, Living Match by Match. He was recounting a chat with his four-year-old daughter. “I told her football was my life, and she corrected, ‘No, we are your life’.” The eyes welling up again, he nodded and said: “But she was right.” The Amazon Prime documentary deconstructs the raging man in pitch-black coat prancing up and down the Atletico Madrid touchline and separates the man from the manager, stitching together his more humane, likeable side, his fears and fragilities. He smiles more often than most during games; he cries often too, especially when paying tribute to his idol Diego Maradona. He wears turtlenecks and round-necks of more coloured textures. There are warm nuggets into his managing style. When his team was wobbling in the title race in the 2020-21 season, he hung childhood photos of every player next to their shelf in the locker room. The players …

Comebacks & redemption in the script as European football giants eye Champions League semis

Comebacks & redemption in the script as European football giants eye Champions League semis

Published by Webster

The fire of comeback will light up the grand cathedrals of European football this midweek. Barcelona travel to Atletico Madrid’s Metropolitano arena, inspired by their vivid memories of fightbacks; El Clasico rivals Real Madrid board the flight to Munich aroused by memories of revival, stirred by their European conquests; Arsenal seek redemption from their domestic travails whereas Sporting CP quietly believe that they could orchestrate a coup, like Jose Mourinho’s Porto heroes accomplished at Old Trafford 23 years ago. European glory is the last lease of hope for averting the pink slip, half- typed already, for Liverpool manager Arne Slot. The task is simple: Topple Europe’s best team, PSG, holders and near-flawless. Fates and destinies are intertwined in a complex coming together of Europe’s giants. Leads are fragile, paths steep and slippery, and like a treacherous mirror, reflections of teams look different in Europe and domestic leagues. Barcelona have one-and-a-half hands on the La Liga title, Lamine Yamal and pals hammered Diego Simeone’s men twice in the league, once in the Copa Del Rey, yet …

Tudor era ends at Tottenham after just 7 matches ahead of fight for Premier League survival

Tudor era ends at Tottenham after just 7 matches ahead of fight for Premier League survival

Published by Webster

Tottenham chose to part ways with Igor Tudor on Sunday, just seven matches into his spell as interim coach of a team that has plunged into a relegation fight in the Premier League. A club statement on Sunday afternoon read: “We can confirm that it has been mutually agreed for head coach Igor Tudor to leave the club with immediate effect.” Tottenham thanked Tudor for his work and said “An update on a new head coach will be provided in due course.” Tudor’s exit leaves Spurs without a head coach heading into the final seven games of the Premier League season, with the London club just one place and one point above the relegation zone. The Croatian coach was hired on Feb. 14 until the end of the season, but his final match in charge proved to be a 3-0 home loss to Nottingham Forest in the league. That left Tottenham one point above the relegation zone with seven games left as one of England’s biggest clubs battles to preserve its nearly 50-year top-flight status. …

Champions League: With Manchester City and Chelsea facing three-goal deficits, a look at four times UCL witnessed crazy 2nd-leg comebacks | Football News

Champions League: With Manchester City and Chelsea facing three-goal deficits, a look at four times UCL witnessed crazy 2nd-leg comebacks | Football News

Published by Webster

Over the next couple of days, multiple top English clubs will be hoping to make comebacks – some from a doable position like Liverpool, who just trail by a solitary goal against Galatarasay, but others like Manchester City and Chelsea have mountains to climb. While City were hammered 3-0 by Real Madrid in Spain (could have been 4-0 but for a missed penalty), Chelsea were competitive for so long against defending champions PSG with the game heading for a 2-2 draw, but collapsed in the last quarter to lose 2-5. And the less said about Tottenham Hotspur’s performance against Atletico Madrid, the better as they were abject in a 2-5 defeat. Can these teams take some insipration from the past comebacks that the European showpiece event has witnessed? There has only been one four-goal comeback and there are three famous three-goal comebacks. 2016/17 round of 16 PSG’s Edinson Cavani felt that the club was the victim of “injustice” in their famous capitulation to Barcelona. (Reuters/File photo) 1st leg: PSG 4-0 Barcelona2nd leg: Barcelona 6-1 PSG …

Atletico Madrid survive Barcelona fightback to seal Copa del Rey final berth| Football News

Atletico Madrid survive Barcelona fightback to seal Copa del Rey final berth| Football News

Published by Parlour News

Atletico Madrid just barely held on to its first-leg advantage against defending champion Barcelona in the Copa del Rey on Tuesday, advancing to its first Copa final in 13 years despite a 3-0 loss to the Catalan club. Atletico advanced 4-3 on aggregate thanks to its 4-0 win in the first leg last month in Madrid. Diego Simeone’s team will play in the final for the first time since it won its 10th Copa trophy in the 2012-13 season. Also Read: AFC Women’s Asian Cup: Uncertainty over kits end one day before India’s opener The second leg of the other semifinal between Real Sociedad and Basque Country rival Athletic Bilbao will be on Wednesday. Sociedad won 1-0 at Athletic last month. The final will be in April in Seville. Barcelona saw itself in a hole after being trounced in the first half of the first leg last month, conceding all four goals before the break at the Metropolitano stadium. Barcelona came out strong at home Tuesday, scoring with Marc Bernal in the 29th minute and …

Atletico, the third wobbly but stubborn wheel in the Spanish title race behind Barcelona and Real Madrid | Football News

Atletico, the third wobbly but stubborn wheel in the Spanish title race behind Barcelona and Real Madrid | Football News

Published by Webster

There was no “anger, rage or injustice,” as he reflected on the Champions League exit at the hands of those depressingly familiar rivals down the road, Real Madrid. Rather, he was both numbed and shocked as his side blew a two-goal lead in uncharacteristic Atletico implosion, before shipping in two stoppage time goals to lose 2-4. Only the first strike mattered, the long-ranger from Lamine Yamal nestling in the nets, rerouted by a wicked deflection in the 93rd minute. Atletico was resigned to their cruel, crushing fate of the cursed week they lost to two of their bitterest rivals. Of more significance was how the game altered the title-race dynamics. Barcelona would breathe easy, as they are sitting atop the league table, level on points with Real Madrid, but with a game in hand and an El Clasico at home yet to be duelled. Atletico are four points behind both but with 10 more game-weeks left, Atletico would not recede from title push either. “We will work game by game, and see where it could …

‘Today is the last time that we’ll play a game before 72 hours’: Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti slams LaLiga | Football News

‘Today is the last time that we’ll play a game before 72 hours’: Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti slams LaLiga | Football News

Published by Webster

With Real Madrid having to play a LaLiga match against Villarreal on Saturday getting just a 66-hour rest period after their gruelling Champions League pre-quarterfinal clash against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday which went to a penalty shootout, manager Carlo Ancelotti said that this was the last time the Los Blancos play a match without having a 72-hour rest period. “I think today is the last time that we’ll play a game before 72 hours,” he said. “We won’t do it again, without 72 hours of rest. We asked LaLiga to change the time of the game twice, and they didn’t do anything. But this is the last time. I don’t understand it. The minimum is 72 hours, money, television rights are prioritised, not the players’ recovery. Money is prioritised, not the players’ rest,” Ancelotti said in a press conference after the Villarreal match which Real won 2-1. Madrid’s game at Villarreal game kicked off at 6:30 p.m. local time (1730 GMT) on Saturday. Madrid had played a Champions League game against Atletico on Wednesday that …

We are not happy with the situation: Hansi Flick on Barcelona’s recent domestic form | Football News

We are not happy with the situation: Hansi Flick on Barcelona’s recent domestic form | Football News

Published by Parlour News

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick on Friday said that the team will battle until the end to win titles, adding he was not very happy with the current situation the team is facing. Barcelona are scheduled to face Atletico Madrid on December 21 with the Catalans looking to avoid a third straight loss at home. After a great start to the season winning 12 of their first 16 matches across the tournament, Barcelona have stumbled recently with just 1 win in their last 6 league games with the recent defeat coming against 15th placed Leganes. They remain on top of the table with a total of 38 points, where they are level with Atletico Madrid who are second while arch rivals Real Madrid are just 1 point behind, with both Madrid teams having one game in hand. “What I can feel in the city and the supporters know what the team is like. We lost five important players. (Attacking midfielder) Dani Olmo and (forward) Pau Victor are the (new) signings. The team has improved and is …

La Liga: Hansi Flick, the coach of Barcelona, received a two-game touchline suspension | Football News

La Liga: Hansi Flick, the coach of Barcelona, received a two-game touchline suspension | Football News

Published by Webster

After being sent out for a red card during Saturday’s La Liga 2-2 draw with Real Betis, Barcelona coach Hansi Flick has been given a two-game touchline suspension. The suspension will be applied during the forthcoming league matches against Atletico Madrid and Leganés. The referee’s report said the German manager had “come out of his technical area, shouting, gesticulating and protesting a decision.” Flick stated that the referee was not the target of his outburst. “I think this was a reaction because it took a long time to look if it was a penalty or not,” he said after the game when asked about his dismissal. “If it’s like this, I wonder if it’s clear (the penalty). But, in the end, it’s like that. We have to accept it and my red card also.” In the second half of the match at Betis over the weekend, Flick was sent off for contesting the home team’s penalty award for Frenkie de Jong’s challenge on Vitor Roque. “I’m disappointed about [the red card], though. I thought that …