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The Independent
02-05-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Will Liverpool receive a guard of honour from Chelsea and is it compulsory?
Liverpool won their second Premier League title last weekend after picking up the point they needed with their win against Tottenham. With four Premier League games to go, Arne Slot 's men now have an unassailable lead at the top of the table and will play their first game as champions against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. It is Liverpool's second league title in five years – and 20th league title overall, drawing them level with Manchester United – but this time they will celebrate properly with their fans after being unable to do so in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic. The Reds will lift the trophy on the final day of the season before a likely parade through the city on Monday 26 May. Yet will Liverpool receive a guard of honour at their remaining four Premier League games? It is customary – but not officially compulsory – for the Premier League champions to receive a guard of honour, if they are crowned before the final game of the season. The tradition, in which opposing teams line up to clap the opposing team as they enter the pitch, is seen as a mark of respect and dates all the way back to 1955, when Manchester United provided one for Chelsea. United continued the tradition in 1991, while the gesture has been repeated in recent years for the champions. However, there is nothing codified in the Premier League rulebook that teams have to give the champions a guard of honour. It is usually agreed between the two clubs beforehand, no matter how painful the circumstances. For instance, in 2013, Arsenal gave a guard of honour to champions Man Utd – who had striker Robin van Persie in their starting XI. The Dutchman had joined United from Arsenal the previous summer. Liverpool have four matches left this season, with their next game away to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Manager Enzo Maresca confirmed they would offer a guard of honour to the new champions. "Yes, it's tradition,' Maresca said. 'We have to do that, and we are going to do that. They won the Premier League, so they deserve it." The Reds gave a guard of honour to then-champions Chelsea in 2015 in similar circumstances. The Reds then host Arsenal, which will present the excruciating prospect of Liverpool's closest title rivals this season having to clap the champions out onto the pitch at Anfield. Arsenal previously gave then-champions Liverpool a guard of honour in 2020 at the Emirates. Liverpool close out their season away at Brighton before hosting Crystal Palace on the final day of the season, when they will lift the Premier League trophy. It is anticipated that all four of Liverpool's remaining opponents will provide a guard of honour to this season's champions. Has any club decided not to do a guard of honour? Real Madrid refused to give a guard of honour – known as a 'pasillo' in Spain – for La Liga champions Barcelona in 2018. Madrid manager at the time, Zinedine Zidane, explained his club's decision on the basis that Barca refused to give a guard of honour for his team earlier in the season after they won the Club World Cup. 'They did not do it,' Zidane said. 'We respect what Barca have done, to win La Liga is the most difficult, I have always said that. I congratulate them. "If they had done the pasillo... I am not breaking any tradition, but neither will I do something that they did not do." Players and coaches – such as Steven Gerrard at Liverpool and Sir Alex Ferguson at Man Utd – have also received guard of honours prior to their final home game for the club.
The Independent
27-04-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Will Liverpool receive a guard of honour – and is it compulsory for Arsenal and Chelsea?
Liverpool have won their second Premier League title after picking up the point they needed with their win against Tottenham on Sunday. With four Premier League games to go, Arne Slot 's men now have an unassailable lead at the top of the table. It is Liverpool's second league title in five years – and 20th league title overall, drawing them level with Manchester United – but this time they will celebrate properly with their fans after being unable to do so in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic. The Reds will lift the trophy on the final day of the season before a likely parade through the city on Monday 26 May. Yet will Liverpool receive a guard of honour at their remaining four Premier League games? It is customary – but not officially compulsory – for the Premier League champions to receive a guard of honour, if they are crowned before the final game of the season. The tradition, in which opposing teams line up to clap the opposing team as they enter the pitch, is seen as a mark of respect and dates all the way back to 1955, when Manchester United provided one for Chelsea. United continued the tradition in 1991, while the gesture has been repeated in recent years for the champions. However, there is nothing codified in the Premier League rulebook that teams have to give the champions a guard of honour. It is usually agreed between the two clubs beforehand, no matter how painful the circumstances. For instance, in 2013, Arsenal gave a guard of honour to champions Man Utd – who had striker Robin van Persie in their starting XI. The Dutchman had joined United from Arsenal the previous summer. Liverpool have four matches left this season, with their next game away to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge next Sunday. Both clubs are yet to confirm if a guard of honour will take place. The Reds gave a guard of honour to then-champions Chelsea in 2015 in similar circumstances. The Reds then host Arsenal, which will present the excruciating prospect of Liverpool's closest title rivals this season having to clap the champions out onto the pitch at Anfield. Arsenal previously gave then-champions Liverpool a guard of honour in 2020 at the Emirates. Liverpool close out their season away at Brighton before hosting Crystal Palace on the final day of the season, when they will lift the Premier League trophy. It is anticipated that all four of Liverpool's remaining opponents will provide a guard of honour to this season's champions. Has any club decided not to do a guard of honour? Real Madrid refused to give a guard of honour – known as a 'pasillo' in Spain – for La Liga champions Barcelona in 2018. Madrid manager at the time, Zinedine Zidane, explained his club's decision on the basis that Barca refused to give a guard of honour for his team earlier in the season after they won the Club World Cup. 'They did not do it,' Zidane said. 'We respect what Barca have done, to win La Liga is the most difficult, I have always said that. I congratulate them. "If they had done the pasillo... I am not breaking any tradition, but neither will I do something that they did not do." Players and coaches – such as Steven Gerrard at Liverpool and Sir Alex Ferguson at Man Utd – have also received guard of honours prior to their final home game for the club.
NBC Sports
13-03-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Top 20 PL goals ever: No. 8 van Persie, Man United
Joe Prince-Wright looks back on Robin van Persie's iconic volley against Aston Villa, which sealed Manchester United's 20th English league title.
New York Times
12-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Simone Inzaghi's Inter have a treble in their sights – he is one Europe's best managers
There was good news and bad news for Robin van Persie on Tuesday in Milan. The bad news was that his Feyenoord team are out of the Champions League, Inter topping up their 2-0 first leg lead with a 2-1 victory at San Siro that could easily have been five or six. The good news is the former Arsenal and Manchester United forward, 41, was witness to an education, a first hand example of what his young coaching career could become if he can emulate the man in the other dugout, who is not all that much older than him. Advertisement Simone Inzaghi, 48, is the best manager in Italy, and among the best in Europe. The best? Maybe not: Diego Simeone, Arne Slot, Luis Enrique, Carlo Ancelotti, Pep Guardiola, Gian Piero Gasperini and Mikel Arteta all say hello, among others. But he isn't out of place among that group. Inter are through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, and the last Italian side left in the competition, for the third year running. It is more proof, if it were needed, of Inzaghi's credentials. He won the league last season, probably should have won it in 2022, pipped by Milan on the final day, and is well-positioned to win it again this season. They are nowhere near as dominant (they have dropped more points this season than last), and are only a point ahead in what promises to be a thrilling title race, but they are still favourites to retain the title. They have also been the most successful Italian team in the Champions League by a mile, getting to the final in 2023 and going out on penalties to Atletico Madrid in 2024, when they should really have won in normal time. They are not just the only Italian side left in this year's competition, but the only one that reached the knockouts, after Milan and Juventus crashed out with differing degrees of calamity in the play-offs. And Inter are not just still in the tournament, they could win it. Over ten games they have conceded two goals and been behind for a grand total of 285 seconds, that courtesy of Bayer Leverkusen's late winner in the group stages. You could argue their draw was relatively friendly, but it is still a remarkable record. Oh, and they are also in the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia, where they will face Milan in a few weeks. The treble, achieved by Jose Mourinho and Javier Zanetti and Diego Milito and the rest in 2010, is a realistic prospect again. That team was iconic but this would be a greater coaching achievement, given the respective talent available. 'This team has it in its DNA to fight in all competitions,' said Inzaghi after the game. Advertisement In some ways, this is all down to Marcelo Bielsa. Bielsa is at the heart of a few footballing sliding doors moments, but one of them came in the summer of 2016 when he was appointed Lazio manager. Inzaghi, who had been a coach in the club's youth system for the previous six years, had been overlooked for the top job despite a decent caretaker spell the previous season, and as such was looking elsewhere. He was about to join Salernitana when something weird started happening with Bielsa: or not happening, as the Argentinean didn't show up on the day he was due to start, then quit the job before he had started it. Lazio shuffled back to Inzaghi, he took over, and nine years later, here we are. He is softer than his predecessor, Antonio Conte, which is not to say he is soft. He is not outwardly charismatic but clearly has an air of authority, with a brusque, let's-just-get-on-with-this talking style. Answering questions from journalists before the Feyenoord game, he greeted each with a polite but staccato, barked 'Ciao', the cadence of which would not be out of place on a stock market trading floor. Like Conte, he plays a 3-5-2, but that is where the similarities end. While Conte's teams generally win but often represent tough viewing, this iteration of Inter is a joy to watch, flexible and fluid, graceful and attacking. Players switch positions, defenders shifting into midfield, midfielders moving out to the wing, forwards dropping deep. What strikes you most about watching them in person is the constant movement, technically 11 separate beings but who look more like a school of fish, shifting as one. It is an extraordinary mixture of institutional structure and individual freedom. That is not just for Inzaghi to look smart, either. The movement creates space, pulling opposition players out from positions they are comfortable in, flummoxing them to the point where they lose track of who is where. Advertisement At times on Tuesday, Feyenoord had the air of a couple who have one more child than they can realistically cope with. 'I can say with my heart that we tried everything, but it was not enough,' said Feyenoord captain David Hancko after the game. 'It was a real lesson for us.' The first goal was a perfect example, starting with goalkeeper Yann Sommer, some quick passes out of defence down the left and a few undulations later Marcus Thuram had hammered a shot into the top corner. WHAT A FINISH MARCUS THURAM 🤧 Inter go ahead, and it's a magnificent finish from the Frenchman who puts them 3-0 ahead on aggregate 💥 📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK — Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) March 11, 2025 And for readers in the U.S. Marcus Thuram with a stunner to put Inter one step closer to the UCL quarterfinals 💫 — CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) March 11, 2025 Inter cut through Feyenoord seemingly whenever they wanted, and it was only a combination of iffy finishing and a few moments of over-elaboration that the scoreline wasn't more comprehensive. There was a vague sense, although nobody would readily admit this, that Inter were holding themselves back a little. Their squad is creaking slightly: Inzaghi spoke a lot about fatigue before the game. Striker Lautaro Martinez was rested. Defender Stefan de Vrij, named in the original starting XI, suffered an injury in the warm-up and had to be replaced. Matteo Cocchi and Thomas Berenbruch, 18 and 19 respectively, came on in the latter stages to give more senior players a little respite. This has forced Inzaghi to improvise of late, a hyper-localised injury crisis having struck down basically all of his conventional options at left wing-back for a few weeks. Thus, centre-back Alessandro Bastoni has had to play in that role, but the beauty of Inzaghi's football is that the position is not entirely alien to him. The fluidity of the system means Bastoni was frequently popping up in the sort of positions that a wing-back might anyway, so having him play there on a more permanent basis has not turned out to be much of a stretch. But he is used to maximising what he has. In the summer of 2023, he lost five of the team that were beaten in the Champions League final by Manchester City — Edin Dzeko, Romelu Lukaku, Andre Onana, Milan Skriniar and Marcelo Brozovic — and won the league anyway. This past summer a few loans were converted into permanent signings, Piotr Zielinski and Mehdi Taremi were signed on frees, but that was about it. That he is competing with some of the talent at other clubs in the Champions League is extraordinary. Advertisement This was Inzaghi's 200th match in charge of Inter, and his 133rd win. The question of how much longer he will stay is inevitable, and he has addressed latent speculation that he might leave, maybe the bright lights and deep pockets of the Premier League, but those rumours feels a little half-hearted, because he has never really shown any proper interest in going. He signed a new contract last summer that will, in theory, keep him at Inter until 2026. Assuming he starts next season at the club, he will overtake Roberto Mancini as Inter's longest serving manager in a single spell, since Giovanni Trapattoni in the late 1980s and early 90s. He is at Inter, and doing just fine at the moment. And will do for as long as he likes.
The Guardian
05-03-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Champions League last 16: Bayern Munich v Leverkusen, Benfica v Barcelona
Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Good evening, you join us with the score in the earlier game Feyenoord 0-1 Inter, with Marcus Thuram grabbing the goal. It was fairly even stuff in Robin van Persie's first UCL game in charge of his beloved Rotterdam club. It's half-time at De Kuip. Share A night of familiar foes awaits. Bayer Leverkusen broke Bayern's dominance in Germany and if the formerly eternal champions are ahead in this season's Bundesliga, they still can't get the better of Bayer, winless in the last six encounters. Xabi Alonso and Florian Wirtz may well be Bayern faces of the future, but for now, Vincent Kompany's team must find a way, starting at the Allianz. As for Benfica and Barcelona, it's a rivalry that extends back to 1961, pre-Eusebio for Benfica, as they denied Barcelona the chance to become European Cup winners like Real Madrid has been the previous five years. Time and tide has regularly rejoined the Iberian giants, not least earlier this season, one of the maddest games in many seasons, a 5-4 win for Barça. More of the same, let's hope so? With the latest from Feyenoord v Inter and PSG v Liverpool in the mix, too. Join me. Share
