Daily Newswatch TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2014
Sports/EURO LEAGUE
UEFA Champions League... UEFA Champions League...
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ndrea Pirlo has revealed that he is almost certain to extend his stay at Juventus with his current deal set to expire at the end of the season. The 34-year-old joined the Bianconeri in 2011 after 10 successful years with AC Milan and has been at the heart of their Z[™²Â`jÂZ[™²Y ™TR]7jY wins. The World Cup-winWVWXY Â…VRƒ]\R]UY V^Y U]portedly a target for Real Madrid which would see him reunite with former Zj^^Y [U\jY W™]\j7V°Y while a surprise return to the Rossoneri has also been mooted. But Pirlo insists his priority is to remain at `f]Y Tq]W`T^Y `[RVT…°Y [WRY V^Y ™jWƒR]W`Y f]Y [WRY the club will soon reach an agreement in that respect. “I just want to be a ŠUj`[XjWV^`°Y [^Y \jWXY [^Y Y ÂŻ]]\YTŠY`jYV`°Y_fV™fY YfjŠ]Y V^Y[^Y\jWXY[^YŠj^^VZ\]°½Yf]Y explained.
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Pirlo plans Juventus stay
“I’ve talked to Juve and _]ÂŞ\\YÂ…]]`YTŠY`jYR]ƒW]Y`f]Y R]`[V\^°Y ZT`Y `f]U]Y [U]Y ^jY many games at the moÂ…]W`°Y^jYV`ÂŞ^YZ]7]UY`jYÂŻj™T^Y on them. “There are all the conditions needed for me to stay: Juve are growing and we can achieve great objectives. President An-
drea Agnelli always left the door open for any`fVWXY YW]]R]R°YÂŻUjÂ…YR[‹Y jW]°Y^jY Y`f[W²YfV…„ “Real Madrid? I never spoke to them. As al_[‹^°Y Y `[\²Y `jY W™]\j7V°Y but not about football or transfers. Silvio BerluscoWVY [\^jY ™[\\]RY Â…]°Y ZT`Y Y _jWÂŞ`YU]`TUWY`jY V\[W„½
Osasuna on Sunday. “I’m left with the pain jÂŻY \j^VWX°½Y [U`VWjY [RÂ…V7]R„ “La Real played well and I misread the game. I thought our performance should have been
similar to the one we put in against La Real in the Copa del Rey semiƒW[\^„½ The Argentine tactician was sent to the ^`[WR^Y RTUVWXY `f]Y X[Â…]°Y but he declined to go into any detail regarding the reason for his dismiss[\°Y [\`fjTXfY f]Y VW^V^`]RY there was no altercation with his opposite number nor any of the opposition’s players. Âť ÂŞq]Y Wj`fVWXY `jY ^[‹°½Y he added. “The referee made his decision and that’s all. There was no exchange of words with either Real Sociedad’s coach or his Š\[‹]U^„½
Mourinho sweats over Mikel, Luiz Martino takes blame for Barca slump B fitness
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h e l s e a manager Jose Mourinho is hoping at least one of David Luiz or John Obi Mikel is ƒ`Y`jYÂŻ[™]Y [\[`[^[U[‹YjWY Wednesday. The pair were both absent through injury for Saturday’s dramatic 1-0 Premier League victory jq]UY q]U`jW°Y_fV™fY^[_Y captain John Terry mark his return from a muscle strain with an injury-time winner. V`fY [WT[U‹YÂ…VRƒ]\RY recruit Nemanja Matic ineligible for the f[…ŠVjW^Y ][XT]°Y Mourinho is keen for his options not to be further
depleted when Chelsea travel to Turkey for the ƒU^`Y \]XY jÂŻY ]RW]^R[ܻ^Y last-16 tie. “We have three days so \]`ÂŞ^Y ^]]°½Y ^[VRY jTUVWfjY after the Everton game. “With Mikel and [qVRY TVΰY YRjWÂŞ`Y²Wj_Y if they can recover. It’s important we have at least one of them because we don’t have Matic for `f]Y f[…ŠVjW^Y ][XT]„½ jTUVWfjY[\^jYj;]U]RY an update on minor injuries to Oscar and [Â…VU]^ÂźY `f]Y \[7]UY _[^Y introduced as a halftime substitute against Everton after Oscar failed `jY ^f[²]Y j;Y [Y ŠU]ÂX[Â…]Y complaint.
“It’s not a dangerous jW]°Y ¢T^`Y [Y Š[VWÂŻT\Y jW]°½Y said Chelsea’s boss of Oscar’s injury. “He said he could cope with the ^V`T[`VjW°Y ™\][U\‹Y f]Y couldn’t. “Ramires had a similar ^V`T[`VjWY`jY ^™[U°Y Y`UV]RY to protect him and not play him but the game demanded I play him. \][U\‹°Y`fjTXf°Yf]Y™jT\RY ™jŠ]Y_V`fY`f]Y^V`T[`VjW„½
Today’s fixtures Zenit St. Petersbourgh vs Borussia Dortmund Olympiakos vs Manchester United
Bender compounds Dortmund injury woes
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orussia Dortmund’s UjTWRY jÂŻY ĂƒĂŒY ƒU^`Y \]XY `V]Y [X[VW^`Y Y ]WV`Y begins to look even more RVJ™T\`°Y [^Y q]WY ]WR]UY becomes the latest player on a growing injury list. The Germany Â…VRƒ]\R]UY^T;]U]RY[YXUjVWY VWÂ?[Â…Â…[`VjWYVWY [`TUR[ܻ^Y 3-0 loss at Hamburger SV and club physician Dr Markus Braun has recommended six weeks of rest followed by four more of rehab. That is bad news for jU`Â…TWR°Y_fjY[U]Y[\U][R‹Y
_V`fjT`Y [`^Y TÂ…Â…]\^°Y ĂˆWRjĂœ[WY XjVWXY VW`jY
[²TZY Ú[^Ι΋²j_^²V°Y Wednesday’s match in ]q]WY TZj`VÛY [WRY G\²[‹Y Russia.
[U™]\jW[Y Zj^^°Y Gerardo Martino admits he got his tactics wrong after his ^VR]Y^T;]U]RY[YĂ‘ÂĂƒYR]ÂŻ][`Y at the hands of Real Sociedad. The teams met in the jŠ[YR]\Y ]‹Y^]Â…VƒW[\^Y earlier this month and Barca progressed to the ƒW[\Y _V`fY [Y ™jÂ…ÂŻjU`[Z\]Y Ă‘ÂĂƒY [XXU]X[`]Y _VW°Y ZT`Y La Real exacted some revenge with their convincing league victory on Saturday night. The loss sees the Catalans fall three points befVWRY\][R]U^Y ][\Y [RUVR°Y while Atletico Madrid have the chance to join their cross-town rivals on 63 points when they face
Arsenal’s response thrills Wenger
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anager Arsene Wenger feels Arsenal provided the required response from their Champions League RV^[ŠŠjVW`Â…]W`Y Z‹Y ŠT7VWXY Sunderland to the sword 4-1 at the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners were smarting after being beaten 2-0 at home by Bayern MuWV™fY jWY ]RW]^R[‹Y WVXf`°Y when Mesut Ozil missed an early penalty and goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny _[^Y^]W`Yj;„ f]U]Y _[^°Y `fjTXf°Y no hangover as the Black Cats - who will face Manchester City in the Capital W]Y TŠYƒW[\Y[`Y ]Â…Z\]‹Y next weekend - were swept [^VR]°Y U]™[\\]RY U[W™]Y ÂŻjUward Olivier Giroud netting twice in the opening 31 minutes. jÂ…[^Y j^V™²‹°Y U]Š\[™VWXY ĂŽV\°Y _fjY f[RY [Y R][RY
\]X°Y ^_]Š`Y VWY [Y _]\\™U[ÂŻ`]RY third just before half-time with defender Laurent Koscielny heading in number four on 57 minutes. Substitute Emanuele Giaccherini cracked home a late consolation for the visi`jU^°YZT`Y`f[`YRVRYWj`Y`[²]Y`f]Y ^fVW]Y j;Y _f[`Y _[^Y [Y q]U‹Y professional performance watched by former Arsenal ÂŻjU_[URY ]WWV^Y ]UX²[…Š°Y who had earlier had a bronze statue unveiled outside the Clock End. Ă’ X[VW^`Y [‹]UWY TWV™f°Y the target was to have a good performance and a good result. We only had the good performance. Of course we _]U]Yq]U‹YÂŻUT^`U[`]R°YZT`Y_]Y had to transfer the positives `f[`Y_]YXj`YÂŻUjÂ…Y`fV^YX[Â…]°ªY ^[VRY ]WX]U°Y _fj^]Y ^VR]Y U]Â…[VWY ^]™jWR°Y [Y ŠjVW`Y Z]hind Chelsea following their dramatic stoppage-time win
over Everton. ‘We have shown today we are capable of responding and that is the most important thing. ‘You see (Manchester) V`‹Y f[RY [Y RVJ™T\`Y X[Â…]°Y f]\^][Y f[RY [Y RVJ™T\`Y X[Â…]Y ^jY ‹jTY ^]]Y V`Y V^Y RVJcult for all the teams at the `jŠ°YZT`Y_]YRVRY`f]Y¢jZY_]\\„ª