Latest news with #2025-26ChampionsLeague
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Belfast Giants discover Champions League opponents
Elite League champions Belfast Giants have discovered their opponents for the 2025-26 Champions League. The Giants will host Finnish sides Ilves and KalPa as well as Brynas of Sweden at the SSE Arena. They will come up against three Swiss sides in their away games, travelling to EV Zug, SC Bern and Lausanne. Each of the 24 teams in the competition will play six games, three at home and three away, with the top 16 sides progressing to the play-offs. The Giants' six games will be played between August and October with the date of the fixtures still to be confirmed.
Metro
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Metro
What Arsenal, Chelsea and Man City need to qualify for the Champions League
Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City's task to qualify for the Champions League has become clearer after Nottingham Forest's win over West Ham. Forest's sensational and surprising bid for Champions League football has threatened to unravel in recent weeks, with Nuno Espirito Santo's side winning just one of their last six games. But the club produced an improved performance on Sunday, sealing a 2-1 win at the London Stadium over a West Ham side who too have endured a miserable run despite beating Manchester United last weekend. Morgan Gibbs-White has enjoyed a brilliant season at the City Ground and continued his fine form with an 11th-minute opener against out-of-sorts West Ham. Nikola Milenkovic's second-half header all but put the game to bed as Forest boosted their Champions League hopes with a 19th win of the season despite Jarrod Bowen's late consolation goal. Wake up to find news on your club in your inbox every morning with Metro's Football Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your team in the link we'll send you so we can get football news tailored to you. The victory leaves seventh-placed Forest on 65 points ahead of the final day of the season and with the possibility or leapfrogging all of Manchester City, Aston Villa, Chelsea and Newcastle United. England's strong UEFA co-efficient score this season means the top five in the final Premier League table and the winners of the Europa League final (either Manchester United or Tottenham) will all play in the Champions League next season. What Arsenal need to qualify for the Champions League Arsenal need two more points to guarantee their place in the 2025-26 Champions League But zero points could even be enough depending on results elsehwere Fixtures: Arsenal vs Newcastle (Sunday, 4.30pm, May 18) Southampton vs Arsenal (Sunday, 4pm, May 25) Current position: What Chelsea need to qualify for the Champions League Beating Nottingham Forest would guarantee their place in the 2025-26 Champions League A draw would be enough if Man City or Aston Villa failed to win on the final day A loss could be enough depending on Man City and Aston Villa's final results Fixtures: Nottingham Forest vs Chelsea (Sunday 4pm, May 25) Current position: 4th (66 points) What Man City need to qualify for the Champions League Beating Bournemouth and Fulham would guarantee their place in the 2025-26 Champions League Four points would likely be enough, three and two may be Anything less and Man City would fail to qualify for the Champions League and drop into the Europa League Fixtures: Man City vs Bournemouth (Tuesday, 8pm, May 20) Fulham vs Man City (Sunday, 4pm, May 25) Current position: 6th (65 points) Arsenal are not only battling for Champions League football but their status as the second-best team in the Premier League for the third year in a row. Paul Merson, the former Gunners star, believes it is 'important' for Arsenal to secure second-place while booking their place in the Champions League. 'I think is it,' he said on Sky Sports. 'Just to stay consistent, I think it's important. 'If they fizzle out and finish third or fourth it won't look very good. You want to leave it positive and then you can go and buy some players and improve the squad this summer.' The team that finishes sixth in the Premier League and the winners of the FA Cup will qualify for the Europa League. More Trending Defending Premier League champions Man City are currently sixth but still have two games remaining to catch up with the likes of Aston Villa and Chelsea. Pep Guardiola's side were beaten by Crystal Palace in Saturday's FA Cup final meaning Oliver Glasner's Eagles will compete in Europe next season. More to follow… For more stories like this, check our sport page. Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. MORE: Arsenal's Ben White makes feelings clear on England future under Thomas Tuchel MORE: Why Alexander Isak misses Arsenal vs Newcastle United on Sunday MORE: Arsenal vs Newcastle LIVE: Premier League latest score and goal updates
Daily Mirror
18-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mirror
Arsenal issued Leroy Sane transfer update as reservations over £50m deal emerge
Arsenal are preparing to spend big in the summer transfer window, as Mikel Arteta attempts to finally build a squad who are capable of winning the Premier League title Arsenal are stepping up their preparations for the summer transfer window, with just two more Premier League games to go. The Gunners host Newcastle on Sunday in a fixture which will have major implications on who qualifies for the 2025-26 Champions League. Although it'd take an unlikely set of results for Mikel Arteta's side to miss out, a win would guarantee Arsenal a place in Europe's elite competition. The added funds and prestige would give the Gunners a better chance of securing their top summer targets. Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi has already been lined up, with a £52million deal set to be completed in the coming weeks. The Gunners' focus next priority is signing a striker, having opted against a move for a centre forward in January. But the striker role isn't the only position which Arteta and newly-appointed sporting director Andrea Berta are targeting. Arsenal are expected to make signings in defence and would like a winger who can freshen up their attack, and Arteta might know just the man from his Manchester City days. Here's a round-up of the latest transfer news from the Emirates. Bayern chief reveals no Sane agreement Bayern Munich sporting director Christoph Freund has revealed that there's currently 'no agreement' in talks with Leroy Sane over a new contract. Sane, 29, has entered the final two months of his current deal and the former City winger has been linked with a move to Arsenal. Freund told Sky Germany after Bayern's 4-0 victory over Hoffenheim on Saturday: "There is currently no agreement, that's true. The talks have been ongoing for some time now, but they are good talks. We'll see if there is an agreement in the next few days or weeks." Should Arsenal sign Leroy Sane on a free transfer? Have your say in the comments section. Arsenal have reservations over £50m Lookman deal Ademola Lookman is admired by Arsenal but the Gunners harbour reservations about signing him. Lookman, 27, has enjoyed a fantastic few years at Alatanta and the Sun report that Arsenal have taken notice. But as things stand, Arsenal chiefs aren't convinced. It's been reported elsewhere that the Nigeria international is valued at £50million. Napoli reignite Kiwior interest Napoli are ready to renew their pursuit of Jakub Kiwior but want Arsenal to lower their £29.5m asking price. Polish defender Kiwior has become a starter in the absence of Gabriel Magalhaes and played his best football yet for the Gunners. But a report from Italian newspaper Il Mattino, via Tuttomercatoweb, claims that Napoli are ready to their luck for Kiwior again this summer. The 25-year-old has frequentedly been linked with a return to Serie A, having been signed from Italian side Spezia for £21m in January 2023.
New York Times
13-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Chelsea 2 Ipswich Town 2 – Noni Madueke shines but Enzo Maresca's side drop vital points
Chelsea's hopes of qualifying for next season's Champions League suffered a blow on Sunday following a 2-2 draw against strugglers Ipswich Town at Stamford Bridge. Two goals from the relegation-bound visitors had Enzo Maresca's side on the back foot at half-time, but Chelsea improved significantly after the break — pulling one back in the 46th minute via an Axel Tuanzebe own goal after some fine work by Noni Madueke and then equalising through second-half substitute Jadon Sancho on 79 minutes. Advertisement While Chelsea will be pleased that they fought back from 2-0 down to take a point, the result will still be a disappointment given the gap between the two sides in the table. Here, our Chelsea correspondent Simon Johnson analyses the key talking points from the match. It could have been worse, but this was still a very costly two points dropped on home soil. Chelsea salvaged some pride by coming back from 2-0 down at half-time to draw, but this was a game they really had to win. To not beat Ipswich, a team heading straight back to the Championship following last year's promotion, home or away this season (Chelsea lost 2-0 in December's reverse fixture), could be the difference between qualifying for the 2025-26 Champions League or not. With the race for a top-five finish, which this season will be enough for Champions League qualification, as tight as it is (there are four points separating Nottingham Forest in third place from Newcastle in seventh before the latter's home game against Manchester United later on Sunday), Chelsea have to win matches such as this to hang onto, or improve on, their current fifth position over the run-in. A lot of the reasons for Chelsea not being in a better position in the table than that were on show at Stamford Bridge today. They were not clinical enough in attack and were worryingly porous at the back. The fans made their feelings clear at both half-time and the final whistle. With just six league matches remaining, Chelsea can ill afford to make many more mistakes if they are to reclaim a seat at Europe's top table. Wind the clock back to when Chelsea were looking for Mauricio Pochettino's replacement as head coach last spring and Kieran McKenna's name was firmly in the mix. Chelsea gave serious thought to McKenna's credentials after he led Ipswich to back-to-back promotions from third-tier League One and then the Championship. In the end, he dropped out of the running as Chelsea narrowed the shortlist to Thomas Frank of west London neighbours Brentford and Maresca, with the latter obviously winning out following his own Championship promotion success with Leicester City. Advertisement McKenna has inevitably found his debut season in the Premier League tough going and they are heading straight back to the Championship, as most pre-season predictions expected them to. However, he has continued to show what he has to offer in testing circumstances and Chelsea, in particular, have found that out to their cost. Ipswich inflicted Chelsea's first away defeat of the season in December, but with in-demand striker Liam Delap only named on the bench for this match because of a rib injury, few would have expected the visitors to provide much resistance. Yet McKenna set his team up to punish Chelsea ruthlessly on the counter, with on-loan Brighton forward Julio Enciso particularly difficult for the home side to handle. Ipswich were deservedly 2-0 up at half-time, much to the travelling support's delight. Chelsea came on strong, as you would expect, after the break. But impressively, McKenna didn't tell his players to just sit back and try to hang on to their advantage. Instead, they continued to be a threat and could have added to their two goals. Getting a home win and away draw against Chelsea is good work for a side assembled on a fraction of the budget that Maresca's was last summer. The result means that Maresca is yet to beat McKenna in his managerial career, with the Italian's Leicester City team drawing twice against Ipswich in the Championship last season. Going back to the Championship is never a great thing, but if Ipswich can hang onto McKenna, they have a great chance for an instant return to the domestic elite next season. On a trying afternoon for everyone connected to Chelsea, Noni Madueke showed why he is perhaps the club's most important winger currently. Even with Mykhailo Mudryk's ongoing suspension for failing a doping test (we're still waiting on the results of his B sample to see what happens next), Maresca has plenty of options to choose from in the wide positions. But in a team that has become too measured in the passing game as the season has gone on, Madueke injects some much-needed dribbling prowess — an intent to take on his man. Advertisement Now, not everything the 23-year-old England international does comes off. There were a few moments in Sunday's first half where he should have done much better with his end-product, particularly when he took too long to shoot and got tackled. But it was his fine run and cross at the start of the second half that got Chelsea back into the game and injected some much-needed belief. It took his number of goal involvements to 15 from 32 appearances this season (10 goals, five assists), which is a very respectable number in itself and comfortably the best among the other Chelsea wide men (Pedro Neto has 12 goal involvements in his 37 games, Jadon Sancho 12 in 32 and academy graduate Tyrique George five in 18). With over 20 minutes remaining here, Maresca surprisingly replaced him with Sancho — and Madueke did not look too pleased about it. However, the Manchester United loanee's subsequent equaliser more than justified the decision. Still, on this evidence, Madueke has to start the majority of the matches on Chelsea's right-hand side. Speaking to the BBC after the match, the Chelsea coach said: 'Today was tough. Their first goal changed the dynamic of the game. First 20 (minutes), we were in control but we missed our chances. After that, we were not good enough (in the) first half. Second half, we came back into the game. Sometimes one small thing changes the dynamic — we conceded and we lost a bit of confidence, (but in the) second half we got back in the game. 'We changed something tactically. The message was quite clear in terms of starting the right way and to create chances. When you concede, it's the moment to be more strong and to continue. We played with one more midfielder.' Thursday, April 17: Legia Warsaw (Home), Conference League quarter-final second leg, 8pm UK, 3pm ET
The Guardian
09-04-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Premier League guaranteed five teams in Champions League after Arsenal win
The Premier League will be guaranteed at least five teams in the 2025-26 Champions League after Arsenal's stunning 3-0 win over Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday. The English top flight needed one win from its clubs in any of the three European competitions to secure one of two extra berths – on top of the four granted to the top four in the table – awarded to the highest-ranked countries in the Uefa coefficient table. The coefficient is calculated by awarding teams in European competition points for winning or drawing, and bonus points for qualifying from one round to the next. Scores are then averaged out according to the number of teams from a given country that started the season in Europe. England will have seven teams in the Champions League if Aston Villa win this year's competition without qualifying through the Premier League table and Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur win the Europa League. Italy lead the race for the second additional place, with Spain and Germany third and fourth respectively. The Premier League leaders, Liverpool, and second-placed Arsenal look set to claim two of the five guaranteed berths, and Nottingham Forest hold a strong third position.
