Spain had some great clean strikers in opponents box throughout their history. Be it Raul, Villa or Torres they always had the clean finishers when it came to netting the ball. But, they will be very much upset and angry to see Alvaro Morata's performance against Sweden.
a sensational 90% possession in the first ten minutes and a tiki-taka style which brought back memories of that magical side from 2008-12. However, that did not resulted in any scores as they continued to miss again and again.
In fact, a total 419 passes in he first half made by the Spain team is a Euro Cup record. As the game went ahead, Spain went out of gas as the temperature in Seville kept on rising.
Morata kept on missing the target as Sweden looked more threatening in the second half with Alexander Isak getting into the groove. However, Alexander Isak too missed some opportunities as the game stayed at 0-0 after 65 minutes.
With 25 minutes left in the game, Luis Enrique substituted Morata as the audience did not even gave an applause to his exit a well.
The former Chelsea striker had as many chances as Spain had in his playing time. Villarreal's Gerard Moreno came in from the bench to create some chances of his own and showed why he might preferred over Morata for their clash against Poland. Not to forget, Gerard Moreno had a wonderful LaLiga season with 23 goals against his name.
Inspite of everything that happened today, Spain should still feel fairly confident of qualifying from Group E. With 835 completed passes throughout the match will make the opponents fear a bit.
With a clean striker in the team, Spain will look the most difficult team to face in Euro.
Simon Kjaer, Denmark's hero in EURO 2020, announces retirement from professional football
Denmark's former captain Simon Kjaer, who shielded Christian Eriksen who suffered a tragic incident in an ongoing EURO 2020 game, has announced his retirement from professional football.
Denmark's former national team captain and defender Simon Kjaer has announced his decision to hang up his boots. Kjaer captained Denmark to the semi-finals of the EURO 2020 and also won the Scudetto with AC Milan in the 2021-22 season.
After a commendable career spent playing for clubs across Germany, Italy, Spain, and beyond; Kjaer announced his retirement on Monday, January 13th, 2025.
🚨 𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟: Simon Kjær has announced his retirement from professional football. ❌🇩🇰
A great defender, a proper bloke and a truly inspirational leader when tragedy struck at EURO 2020 with his Danish teammate Christian Eriksen.
In his club career, Simon Kjaer played for Midtjylland, Palermo, Wolfsburg, Roma, Lille, Fenerbahce, Sevilla, Atalanta, and AC Milan. Last summer, the defender parted ways with the Rossoneri and has been without a club since then.
Simon Kjaer: the hero of Denmark in an unnerving EURO 2020 incident
In June 2021, during the face-off between Denmark and Finland in a crucial group game in the EURO 2020, Denmark's star midfielder Christian Eriksen suddenly collapsed on the field due to a cardiac arrest.
Simon Kjaer quickly rushed to Eriksen's side, taking immediate action to provide initial treatment and alert the Danish medical team.
He called on his teammates to form a protective barrier around Eriksen, ensuring his dignity was maintained while receiving the on-field care.
Kjaer also led his teammates to escort Eriksen off the ground along with the Danish medical personnel. He also offered his consolation to Eriksen's partner, earning appreciation from football fans all over the globe.
(Image Source | X)
Eriksen was stabilized, and later out of danger. Even after this worrying incident, Kjaer led the Denmark team in an iconic journey to the EURO 2020 semi-finals.
The former Denmark captain and the Danish Medical staff in the EURO 2020 later received the UEFA President’s Award for his “exceptional leadership qualities” following the incident. He said:
I try to lead the team on and off the pitch, in every aspect of life, as footballers, when we’re together. I think it’s one of the biggest privileges I have in my career.
FIFA also awarded the FIFA Fair Play Award to Kjaer along with the medical team.
"Now is truly the right moment to close this chapter": Kjaer
Speaking to TV2 Sport in an interview, Simon Kjaer expressed his thoughts on his decision to retire at the age of 35.
Now is truly the right moment to close this chapter. This isn’t a decision I made overnight after the summer; I had been contemplating it even before the Euro. Last autumn, I realized that my time at AC Milan was perhaps coming to an end. What would happen next? I didn’t need to announce anything to anyone, other than to myself.
A lot of factors have influenced my future since then. My children, family, the national team, and AC Milan – my dream club. Many things led to this conclusion after the Euro: I had expected something to arise, but first and foremost, I had to make a decision for my family before considering the sporting aspect. I have no regrets. I lack nothing in this regard.
I experienced the final at San Siro, and that experience... I knew perfectly well that this was the end. I didn’t need to inform anyone about it, apart from myself. Looking back, I could have easily made the retirement even more spectacular and taken another, bigger step after Milan. But I didn’t require that. For me, having such a grand farewell wasn’t essential,
The legendary Portuguese coach, Jose Mourinho has won more than he's lost, having lifted countless pieces of silverware. But when things don't quite work out as planned, he's brilliant value – an absolute quote goldmine for any back page editor worth their salt.
Here are six occasions in which Jose Mourinho was a monumentally sore loser after suffering defeat.
Chelsea vs Liverpool, 2005
Luis Garcia's ghost goal lives in European footballing infamy. It ultimately proved the difference as Rafael Benitez's Liverpool qualified for the Champions League final at Chelsea's expense in 2005 – and Mourinho responded in a characteristically measured fashion. Ahem.
"Bring out the linesman and ask him why he awarded the goal," Mourinho responded.
"It must be 100% in and he must be 100% sure it is.
"My players say it's not a goal. Other people say nobody can confirm it was a goal. Only one person decided the future of a team and of players who have never played in a Champions League final.
"Players make mistakes and he made a mistake. But I must accept that. Football is sometimes cruel. It sometimes goes your way and sometimes it goes against you.
"They scored if you can say that. You can say the linesman's scored. It was a goal coming from the moon or from the Anfield Road stands."
Mourinho had previously served as an assistant to Bobby Robson at the Camp Nou but his past in Catalonia didn't stop him giving it both barrels to Barcelona's golden boy after Chelsea full-back Asier del Horno was sent off for fouling Lionel Messi.
"Can we suspend Messi for what you call in Barcelona play-acting?" Mourinho asked afterwards. "Barcelona is a very cultured city. It's a place where they understand all about the theatre.
"I think it's of course not a red card. The kid is not just a very good player; he's more than that. He jumps and provokes contact with Del Horno and because of that the referee gives him the red card.
"It's not a red card. Of course not, and for the second time we have to play 55-60 minutes without a man and that is completely different."
Mourinho interviewed for the vacancy at Barcelona a couple of years later but the club hired Guardiola instead. Some believe that his comments and tactics were a key reason for him not landing the job.
Real Madrid vs Barcelona, 2011
Barcelona and Real Madrid's epic rivalry reached white-hot new heights when the two clubs faced off four times in the space of three weeks in April 2011.
Pep Guardiola and Mourinho already had a war of words after Madrid beat Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final and Mourinho didn't back down after losing the first leg of the Champions League semi-final.
The Los Blancos coach was incensed by the decision to send off Pepe and went on to go full tinfoil hat about it.
"If I tell UEFA what I really think and feel, my career would end now," Mourinho said.
"Instead I will just ask a question to which I hope one day to get a response: Why? Why? Why Ovrebo? Why Busacca? Why De Bleeckere? Why Stark? Why?
"Because every semi-final the same things happen. We are talking about an absolutely fantastic football team, so why do they need that? Why? Why does a team as good as they are need something that is so obvious that everyone sees it?"
Mourinho's comments earned him a five-match touchline ban and a €50,000 fine.
Jose Mourinho lost his cool after the el Clasico embarassment (Image- Cloud Front)
Chelsea vs Southampton, 2015
Mourinho didn't mince his words with a mammoth seven-minute interview after a 3-1 home defeat to Southampton left Chelsea sitting 16th in the Premier League table in October 2015.
"I think it's time to be a little bit honest and to say, clearly, the referees are afraid to give decisions for Chelsea," he said in a Sky Sports interview.
" the result 1-1, it's a huge penalty, and once more we don't get .
"I repeat, if the FA wants to punish me they can punish me. They don't punish other managers, they punish me, it's not a problem for me.
"I want to say it again – referees are afraid to give decisions for Chelsea. Why? Because when they give there is always a question mark from you, there is always a question, there is always a critic, so we are always punished."
Man Utd vs Sevilla, 2018
Mourinho was keen to offer a healthy dose of perspective with a history lesson after Manchester United's Champions League elimination at the hands of Sevilla in 2018.
"I say to the fans that the fans are the fans and have the right to their opinions and reactions but there is something that I used to call football heritage," he said after the final whistle.
"And what a manager inherits is something like the last time Manchester United won the Champions League which didn't happen a lot of times, was in 2008.
"So in seven years with four different managers, once not qualify for Europe, twice out in the group phase and the best was the quarter-final, this is football heritage and if you want to go to the Premier League, the last victory was 2012-13 and in the four consecutive seasons United finish fourth fifth, sixth and seventh."
Roma vs Sevilla, 2023
Once again Jose Mourinho gave away his silver medal (Image- Getty Images)
Sevilla's football heritage proved stronger than Mourinho's in the ill-tempered and supremely niggly 2023 Europa League final.
A total of 146 minutes – including 26(!) of injury time – were played out in Budapest before Sevilla triumphed on penalties, ending Mourinho's 100% record of winning European finals. No fewer than 13 bookings were dished out – seven for Roma, including Mourinho himself (naturally).
"Next year we won't be playing the Champions League and that's a good thing because we're not made for it," Mourinho told reporters in his post-match press conference.
"And let's hope that Taylor, only officiates games in the Champions League and does the same bullsh*t there that he did tonight, and not in the Europa League.
"It was an intense, vibrant game with a referee who seemed Spanish. It was yellow, yellow, yellow all the time. Today in all the dubious episodes, the yellow cards, the referee blew the whistle in favour of Sevilla."
The 60-year-old proceeded to make sure his dignity remained intact by doing his best Didier Drogba impression and chasing after Antony Taylor in the car park, yelling "It's a f*cking disgrace!".
Sevilla vs AS Roma ended on high drama 4-1 on penalties on Wednesday to win the Europa League for a record-extending seventh time for Sevilla. Handing Jose Mourinho his first defeat in six European finals.
Sevilla keeper Yassine Bounou saved spot kicks from Gianluca Mancini and Roger Ibanez while Sevilla were flawless in their execution, scoring their first four. The game had finished 1-1 after extra time.
Paulo Dybala gave the Italians the lead from a counter-attack in the 35th minute but Sevilla then took control of the game and found the equaliser thanks to an own-goal by Mancini in the 55th minute.
The win means Sevilla will compete in next season's Champions League despite finishing outside the top four in the LaLiga.
Sevilla vs AS Roma: Match Summary
Gonzalo Montiel's retaken spot kick ensured that Sevilla became Europa League champions for the seventh time in their history as they defeated Jose Mourinho's Roma on penalties at the end of a torturous final in Budapest.
Sevilla dominated the ball for large swathes of the first half, but couldn't break down Mourinho's resolute side and it was the Italian outfit that took the lead just after the half hour mark when Paolo Dybala, an injury doubt coming into the game, fired calmly past Bounou to send the Roma fans into delirium.
Increíble mi Sevilla… ¡¡Ya van siete!! Enhorabuena por seguir haciendo historia, @SevillaFC ¡Os lo merecéis! 💪🏻 https://t.co/fyOiTALLLd
Still Sevilla dominated, with Ivan Rakitic hitting the inside of the post in first-half stoppage time as Jose Mourinho's side held on.
The second half of Sevilla vs AS Roma, however, was a different story. With Sevilla introducing both Luis Ocampos and Suso, the European specialists looked much more of a threat and deservedly levelled the tie 10 minutes into the second half when Gianluca Mancini could only bundle a Jesus Navas cross into his own net.
Twenty minutes later, Sevilla's pressure looked as though it had forced another mistake from Roma, only for VAR to overturn Anthony Taylor's decision to award a penalty for a clumsy-looking challenge from Ibanez.
Extra time beckoned, with neither side threatening, and an extra 30 minutes failed to seperate the sides either in a game that turned into a low quality affair, leaving the two sides only to be seperated by a penalty shoot out.
Roma defenders Gianluca Mancini and Roger Ibanez both saw their efforts saved and hit the woodwork, leaving Gonzalo Montiel to slot home the winner as he did for Argentina in the World Cup six months prior.
He too missed, but was handed a second chance when the referee spotted encroachment, and made no mistake second time round, handing the Spanish giants an unprecedented seventh Europa League title.
Facing the unenviable task of trying to record a three-goal win over the reigning European champions, Chelsea vs Real Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday night.
Image-Sportz Point
Match Details:
Location: London, England
Stadium: Stamford Bridge
Date: Tuesday 18 April
Referee: Daniele Orsato (ITA)
VAR: Massimiliano Irrati (ITA)
Kick-off Time: 20:00 BST / 15:00 ET / 12:00 PT
Chelsea vs Real Madrid: Match Preview
Chelsea were probably fortunate to leave Madrid last week with this tie still (relatively) in the balance for Chelsea vs Real Madrid tomorrow. They were outclassed by Carlo Ancelotti's men in the Santiago Bernabéu and, given Ben Chillwell's red card on the hour mark with Lampard's side already a goal down, a 2-0 defeat wasn't a nightmarish outcome.
Ben Chilwell will miss the second leg after a red card in the first leg (Image- Getty Images)
It is, however, still going to be an exceptionally difficult deficit to overcome. History tells us as much.
Real Madrid have progressed from 18 of their 19 UEFA Champions League ties after winning the first leg by two or more goals, failing only in 2003-04 against Monaco in the quarter-final (4-2 first leg, 1-3 second leg, eliminated on away goals rule). The UCL veterans know how to see games out when they hold the advantage.
Ancelotti's side are just a different animal in Europe's premier club competition. They've won nine of their last 11 UEFA Champions League matches (D1 L1), and each of their last five knockout matches. All five of those wins have come against English clubs, and another one is in their crosshairs once again.
Yes, Chelsea have progressed in the last two occasions that they lost their opening away leg by two clear goals (versus Napoli in 2011-12 and against Paris Saint-Germain in 2013-14), but that was a very different time.
Ben Chilwell was sent off in the first leg and will be suspended for this one, joining injured centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly on the sidelines after the Senegal international pulled up in the first fixture.
Thiago Silva, N'Golo Kante, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Kai Havertz and Joao Felix all trained on Monday after being rested in the recent defeat to Brighton.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Benoit Badiashile, David Datro Fofana and Noni Madueke are not registered in Chelsea's European squad.
Real Madrid:
It's business as usual for Carlo Ancelotti, whose only absentee remains left-back Ferland Mendy. Despite Nacho Fernandez's goalscoring showing at the weekend, expect Eduardo Camavinga to reclaim this spot.
Vinicius Junior and Toni Kroos were both rested against Cadiz but the duo should return here.
Chelsea vs Real Madrid: Head to Head:
Chelsea have lost two of their last three matches against Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League, with both defeats coming in the quarterfinals of the competition.
Real Madrid won their previous game against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge - no team has ever secured two away victories against the Blues in the UEFA Champions League.
Facing the unenviable task of trying to record a three-goal win over the reigning European champions, Chelsea vs Real Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday night.
Ben Chilwell will miss the second leg after a red card in the first leg (Image- Getty Images)
It is, however, still going to be an exceptionally difficult deficit to overcome. History tells us as much.Â
Real Madrid have progressed from 18 of their 19 UEFA Champions League ties after winning the first leg by two or more goals, failing only in 2003-04 against Monaco in the quarter-final (4-2 first leg, 1-3 second leg, eliminated on away goals rule). The UCL veterans know how to see games out when they hold the advantage.Â
Ancelotti's side are just a different animal in Europe's premier club competition. They've won nine of their last 11 UEFA Champions League matches (D1 L1), and each of their last five knockout matches. All five of those wins have come against English clubs, and another one is in their crosshairs once again.Â
â Real Madrid C.F. ð¬ð§ðºð¸ (@realmadriden) April 17, 2023
Yes, Chelsea have progressed in the last two occasions that they lost their opening away leg by two clear goals (versus Napoli in 2011-12 and against Paris Saint-Germain in 2013-14), but that was a very different time.Â
Ben Chilwell was sent off in the first leg and will be suspended for this one, joining injured centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly on the sidelines after the Senegal international pulled up in the first fixture.
Thiago Silva, N'Golo Kante, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Kai Havertz and Joao Felix all trained on Monday after being rested in the recent defeat to Brighton.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Benoit Badiashile, David Datro Fofana and Noni Madueke are not registered in Chelsea's European squad.
Real Madrid:
It's business as usual for Carlo Ancelotti, whose only absentee remains left-back Ferland Mendy. Despite Nacho Fernandez's goalscoring showing at the weekend, expect Eduardo Camavinga to reclaim this spot.
â Real Madrid C.F. ð¬ð§ðºð¸ (@realmadriden) April 17, 2023
Vinicius Junior and Toni Kroos were both rested against Cadiz but the duo should return here.
Chelsea vs Real Madrid: Head to Head:
Chelsea have lost two of their last three matches against Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League, with both defeats coming in the quarterfinals of the competition.
Real Madrid won their previous game against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge â no team has ever secured two away victories against the Blues in the UEFA Champions League.
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