AC Milan and Liverpool were upset in the Champions League on Wednesday, and Chelsea won 2-1 at Valencia with a late goal from Didier Drogba. Defending champion Milan lost at Celtic 2-1 after a 90th-minute goal from Scott McDonald. After the goal, a fan ran onto the field and made contact with Milan goalkeeper Dida.
Khartoum club Al-Hilal are on the brink of completing a fairytale year for football in Sudan as they head to Tunisia for the second leg of their African Champions League semifinal on Saturday. A place in the Champions League final would come just months after Sudan’s national side ended a three-decades drought.
Scottish giants Rangers led the way with a 3-0 victory over six-time French champions Lyon on a superb night for British clubs in the latest Champions League action on Tuesday. English powerhouses Arsenal and Manchester United both won 1-0 — Arsenal away at Steaua Bucharest and United with Wayne Rooney’s first goal of the season at home to Roma.
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/ 30 September 2007
Arsene Wenger admitted a serious injury to Alexander Hleb had stripped the gloss from Arsenal’s 1-0 victory at West Ham. The Belarussian international was stretchered off mid-way through the first half at Upton Park after being felled by a crude, shin-high lunge from Mark Noble.
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/ 28 September 2007
Avram Grant did his best to be charitable towards Jose Mourinho this week. The new Chelsea manager said that ”nobody at the club was happy” about his predecessor’s departure. He agreed that the timing last Wednesday night was inopportune and he seemed to suggest that the Portuguese had his sympathy.
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/ 24 September 2007
Mamelodi Sundowns were eliminated from the African Confederation Cup race after crashing 3-1 to Tout Puissant Mazembe Sunday in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Sundowns fell behind after seven minutes and trailed by three goals midway through the second half.
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/ 22 September 2007
A new era without Jose Mourinho gets under way at Old Trafford for Chelsea on Sunday, as they play their first English Premiership match under new manager Avram Grant against Manchester United. Mourinho’s time at the Stamford Bridge helm came to an end in the build-up to their visit to the current champions.
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/ 20 September 2007
Manchester United, Arsenal, FC Barcelona and AS Roma opened their Champions League campaigns with victories on Wednesday. United won at Sporting Lisbon 1-0 with a goal by Cristiano Ronaldo, while Arsenal beat visiting UEFA Cup champion Sevilla 3-0.
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/ 19 September 2007
AC Milan opened the defence of their Champions League title with a 2-1 win over Benfica on Tuesday, while Chelsea and 10-man Liverpool had to settle for 1-1 draws. Nearly four months after beating Liverpool to win their seventh European Cup, Andrea Pirlo scored one goal and set up the other.
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/ 18 September 2007
Sir Alex Ferguson will let Wayne Rooney off the leash as Manchester United start their Champions League challenge at Sporting Lisbon on Wednesday. Rooney has been sidelined since breaking a metatarsal bone in United’s first match of the season against Reading, but he is set to feature at the Jose Alvalade Stadium.
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/ 16 September 2007
Arsenal pulled clear at the top of the English Premier League after coming from behind to beat north London rivals Tottenham 3-1 on Saturday. The victory at White Hart Lane left Arsene Wenger’s unbeaten side two points clear of Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United as the upper end of the table took on a predictable look after a month of the new season.
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/ 9 September 2007
Italy drew 0-0 with France in their World Cup final repeat, Germany and England notched easy wins and 10-man Spain were frustrated by a 1-1 draw in Iceland in Saturday’s Euro 2008 qualifiers. The battle to reach the finals in Austria and Switzerland also saw The Netherlands beat Bulgaria 2-0, while the day’s other upset left Turkey with only a 2-2 draw in Malta.
Slavia Prague reached the Champions League group stages for the first time on Wednesday after a 3-1 aggregate victory knocked out Ajax Amsterdam. Belgian titleholders Anderlecht also succumbed in the third qualifying round, losing 2-0 at home to Fenerbahce amid violent crowd scenes.
Five-time European champions Liverpool beat Toulouse 4-0 to complete their qualification for the group stage of the Champions League on Tuesday. The Reds will be joined in Thursday’s draw for the lucrative group stage by Lazio and Rangers. Lazio won 3-1 at Dinamo Bucharest to round off a 4-2 aggregate victory.
Manchester United striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, scorer of the winning goal in the 1999 Champions League final, retired from football aged 34 on Tuesday after a long run of knee injuries. Solskjaer confirmed his decision on the club’s website and said: ”I would like to thank the manager, the coaching and medical staff and most of all the supporters.”