Mourinho's Fenerbahce draws with Benfica, Bodo/Glimt wins big in Champions League playoffs 1st legs
Fenerbahce drew 0-0 at home against Benfica in the first leg of their qualifying playoff, despite the Portuguese team having a player sent off in the 71st minute.
In the north of Norway, Bodo/Glimt's fairytale rise in European soccer continued with a 5-0 rout of Sturm Graz in their playoff first leg.
Celtic failed to take home advantage in a 0-0 draw with Kairat Almaty, which hosts the return game four time zones from Scotland in Kazakhstan next Tuesday.
Basel captain Xherdan Shaqiri scored early with a penalty but the Swiss champion was held 1-1 at home by Copenhagen.
Seven playoffs will be decided with return games on Tuesday and Wednesday next week with the winners completing the 36-team Champions League lineup. The second-leg games include unheralded Pafos of Cyprus holding a 2-1 lead at home against Red Star Belgrade.
The Champions League draw ceremony to find out each team's eight opponents in the single-standings league format will be made Aug. 28 in Monaco.
Fenerbahce has not played for 17 years in the main Champions League, that Mourinho won twice: with Inter Milan in 2010 and Porto in 2004.
Mourinho's team dominated the last 20 minutes of play in Istanbul after Benfica midfielder Florentino was sent off for being shown a second yellow card. A video review confirmed an offside call after Fenerbahce forward Youssef En-Nesyri thought he had scored in the 81st.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Celtic's lack of deals 'not my decision'
Manager Brendan Rodgers insists the failure to strengthen Celtic's squad for their Champions League play-off with Kairat was "not my decision" and concedes that he has to "accept where it's at". The Scottish champions - heavy favourites to progress - were listless in being held to a goalless draw by their Kazakhstan counterparts. Now they must travel more than 3,500 miles for next Tuesday's second leg, just short of the Chinese border, knowing they need a far better showing if they are to return to the top table of continental competition this season. Celtic have recruited seven players this summer, paying fees for Benjamin Nygren, Hayato Inamura, Shin Yamada and Callum Osmand, with Kieran Tierney and Ross Doohan arriving on frees and Jahmai Simpson-Pusey on loan. Only Nygren and Tierney started on Wednesday, while the likes of Nicolas Kuhn and Kyogo Furuhashi - who starred in the Champions League last term - have been sold and not replaced, while Jota is out injured long term. "We need to improve the squad," Rodgers said. "There's been clarity around that for a long time. Supporters see that. Hopefully between now and the end of the season, the club will get that and that will support us. Listless Celtic held to goalless draw by Kairat What might veteran Vardy bring Celtic? Latest Celtic news, analysis and fan views "It's not my decision in the end. I can prepare the players that are here. We are clear on where we need to improve, and for whatever reason we haven't been able to. "There's only so many ways that I can dress up that we don't have the players here. It was pretty clear. You don't need to look into the future too far. "You know these games are tough and you want to have players in as quick as you can. But it is what it is. I have to accept where it's at." Rodgers has voiced his frustration already this summer about the lack of signings that would strengthen his starting XI. His patience snapped during an interview following Friday's Premier Sports Cup win over Falkirk but he did concede there is still time for deals to be done before the window closes late on Monday, 1 September. Bear in mind that, at this stage last season, Auston Trusty, Arne Engels and Luke McCowan had yet to arrive and Adam Idah was still holding a scarf above his head. However, that was lost on the fans who chanted 'sack the board' during the draw with Kairat. "What I do know is 'sack the board' usually means 'sack the manager'. It's normally the manager that goes when that starts to be sung," Rodgers said wryly. What are the Celtic fans saying? Lorenzo: Celtic cannot progress while the same faces run the show with their regular-managed decline. Kenny: Low-ball bids, gambling on a play off. The disgust in Brendan Rodgers is the same as every fan. Signing projects hoping one out of five sells for £20m. Shocking. Rufus: Teflon Brendan - no matter what happens, it's always someone else's fault. Either the board of the players. Graham: The usual from Rodgers…blah blah blah. Andy: The issue with signings is not fees, it's timing. Jota is out long term, Kuhn was sold weeks ago. So the club are presumably signing two wingers. And yet we can't get one signed before the important games have started. It's the same for years. Tony: The transfer dealings aren't good enough but maybe we also need to look at Rodgers' failure to evolve in terms of set up. A team of players who go side to side with no one willing to try something different to create space for a forward pass. Rory: That one is on Rodgers and the players. Should have beaten them with what we had. Dave: Rodgers has the perfect excuse to leave after this season, lack of urgency and quality about this team. The board have rolled the dice and failed, this is on them. Ivor: Brendan working his ticket again? Fans going to hound out Peter Lawwell again? Just lucky Rangers haven't got their act together. Sack the board. Michelle: Not nearly good enough. Kyogo and Kuhn are long gone and Idah is not anywhere near the standard we need. Wullie: "Sack the board"? Absolutely hilarious. The Celtic board is to blame for the failure of a team of millionaires and its millionaire manager to beat a team from Kazakhstan? Eric: You get what you pay for! John: Lack of re investment of the transfer revenue clearly demonstrates the lack of ambition of the club.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Villarreal set to break their transfer record
Villarreal set to break their transfer record originally appeared on The Sporting News Villarreal had a pretty good season last year as they finished 5th in La Liga last year and qualified for the Champions League. They started off their league campaign with a comfortable win against Real Oviedo and seem like they're on track for another good season. It seems like Villarreal are also expecting to have a good season as they are reportedly looking to improve their team by making a record signing. Renato Veiga to Villarreal Portuguese centre back Renato Veiga is heading to Villarreal on a seven year deal according to Fabrizio Romano. The club is set to pay Chelsea 29.5 million euros with a 40% sell-on clause that helped entice The Blues to complete the deal. The Portuguese centre back spent last season on loan at Juventus as he had struggled to settle in with Chelsea falling victim to the constant buying and selling of young talents that have become a staple of the new regime. Now, the talented centre back has the chance to settle down and develop and could become one of the best centre backs in the league. Villarreal Ambitions Villarreal fans should be ecstatic with this signing as their club is showing the ambition to build on last season and improve the team. They improve on their centre backs and should be able to make the starting eleven. It's the right move to make when the club is competing in multiple competitions this year. Villarreal will hope to make a significant push in Europe and push to be the best of the rest in La Liga.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Know Your Enemy, Sabres Pacific Edition: Are Rebounding Canucks Too Much For Buffalo To Handle?
The Buffalo Sabres are going to face significant difficulty next season trying to end their Stanley Cup playoff drought at 14 years. To be sure, the Sabres will need every standings point they can get, and that means playing well against even the NHL's top teams. To that end, Sabres site has been producing a series in which we examine every one of Buffalo's 31 opponents next season. We've made our way through teams from the league's Atlantic, Metropolitan and Central divisions, and more recently, we've been focusing on the eight Pacific Division franchises. We're nearly done looking at the Pacific teams, but in today's file, we're looking at a team looking to rebound after a disappointing 2024-25 season -- the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks missed the playoffs last season after being one of the league's stronger teams in 2023-24. And Vancouver has made an important addition (and a former Sabre) this summer, making them into a team the Sabres will have a tough time against next season. With that said, let's look at Buffalo's performance against Vancouver last year, and what that may say about the Sabres' chances against them in 2025-26. NEW CANUCKS PLAYERS: Evander Kane, LW; Pierre-Olivier Joseph, D 2024-25 SERIES: Sabres 1-0-1, Canucks 1-1-0 2025-26 GAMES AGAINST EACH OTHER: December 11 at Vancouver; January 6 at Buffalo CAN THE SABRES BEAT THIS TEAM? The Canucks were facing the loss of star winger Brock Boeser in free-agency this summer, but Vancouver GM Patrik Allvin re-signed Boeser, assuring the Canucks of a strong offensive presence. Then, Vancouver traded with the Edmonton Oilers for Vancouver native Evander Kane, giving the Canucks more snarl and experience up front. And the re-signing of Boeser and addition of Kane make Vancouver a deeper and stronger team. The good news for the Sabres is they didn't lose to the Canucks in regulation time last season, dropping an overtime game in their first game in late November before beating Vancouver in the second game in late January. But this coming season, Buffalo and the Canucks will be squaring off twice in less than a one-month span. Know Your Enemy, Sabres Pacific Edition: Kraken Swept Buffalo Last Year -- Will This Season Be A Different Story? The Buffalo Sabres' 2025-26 schedule has been out for some time now, and in this ongoing Sabres site series, we're breaking down Buffalo's chances against every team in the league. Playing former Sabre Kane may give Buffalo some added inspiration to play well against the Canucks, but like the Sabres, Vancouver wants nothing more than to get back into the playoff mix next year. So the Sabres will have their hands full with the Canucks. Another factor that could change things for Vancouver is new Canucks coach Adam Foote. The former star defenseman has been Vancouver's assistant coach, but when Rick Tocchet left for the Philadelphia Flyers this summer, Canucks management went in-house to replace him. And Foote inherits a Vancouver team that was a letdown on many fronts this year. That includes the injury-absence of star Vancouver goalie Thatcher Demko, who was limited to only 23 appearances last season. But Demko also signed a contract extension this summer, giving the Canucks one of the strongest goalie tandems (including veteran Kevin Lankinen) in the league. The Sabres will have to be at their best to get pucks past either Demko and Lankinen, because if they can't, Vancouver's above-average offense will put all the pressure on Buffalo's goalies next year. Know Your Enemy, Sabres Pacific Edition: Sweeping Rebuilding Sharks Should Be No Problem For Buffalo The Buffalo Sabres' 2025-26 schedule has been out for a while now. And although Sabres fans have known when and where their team will be playing at any given time, it's still worthwhile to examine each Buffalo opponent next year -- and specifically, how the Sabres should fare against team NHL team in 2025-26. The Sabres and Canucks don't have a natural rivalry that's stood the test of time, but Buffalo needs to play at least as well as it did against Vancouver last year. Failure to do so could impact the Sabres' bottom line -- and potentially be the difference between Buffalo missing and making the post-season next season. The Sabres will face many teams at least as good as the Canucks next year, and they can't afford to let up on any opponent. Any more disappointment will lead to major change in Buffalo -- but if the Sabres do handle their business against Vancouver and other above-average teams, Buffalo's playoff drought will come to an end.
