Latest news with #UefaChampionsLeague
Irish Examiner
19 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Shels will be pragmatic despite need to attack Qarabag lead
Uefa Champions League second round, second leg, 5pm Irish time: Qarabag (3) v Shelbourne (0) Shelbourne will be praying for a miracle from the Gods in a Baku stadium named after the man who awarded the most famous ghost goal in history. Tofiq Bahramov was the linesman who infamously and erroneously raised his flag for Geoff Hurst's shot crossing the line in the 1966 World Cup final. Such was England's hat-trick hero's gratitude to the deceased Azerbaijani that he unveiled a statue honouring the generous official in Baku on the eve of England's visit in 2004. Shels require a glut of gifts to overturn their three-goal deficit from the first-leg against Qarabag. It was heading for a narrow 1-0 margin until the Azeris defied their out-of-season rustiness to pounce for two more late on. Joey O'Brien's Reds have the consolation of two more ties within the Uefa structure as a fallback, starting with the Europa League clash against either Ludogorets (Bulgaria) or Rijeka (Croatia), starting next week on foreign soil again. What the ex-Irish international is eager to avoid is facing whichever European challenge looms with another heavy defeat. Group stage participation later in the season, which Qarabag have perfected over the past 11 years, is the ultimate objective for the reigning Irish champions. 'We can't have a repeat of what happened last season in Switzerland,' said O'Brien, referencing a goal conceded within the first minute away to FC Zurich. 'Although we're behind in the tie, we can't go off on a mad one. We like to play on the front foot, but the hot conditions here won't allow that. You get picked off at this level as we saw by making a critical mistake right at the start last year. 'We saw how damaging that can be, turning the leg into a long, long night.' Nobody within the Shels camp is countenancing the language around a free hit but the nature of the Champions path means there are realistic tasks to forethink. Even if the Reds exit the Europa, their first-round win over Linfield has sealed a shot at the Conference League group phase through a playoff. 'Coming to a big stadium like this and having the opportunity of playing a top team in their back garden, our players are chomping at the bit,' O'Brien said about the experience of top-tier competition for his players. 'We'll have a gameplan to try to win the game, even if we'll have to be more pragmatic.' Last year's campaign for Shels, their first for 18 years, had O'Brien in the assistant's role to Damien Duff. Now O'Brien is the gaffer, directly into the upper echelons of Uefa's hierarchy to test himself against the best. Last week's ruthlessness by his opponents supplied an early glimpse.
South Wales Guardian
20 hours ago
- Business
- South Wales Guardian
Canal+ flags smaller line-up of films in 2025 but hails Paddington hit
The company, which launched its shares on the London Stock Exchange last year, reported group revenues of 3.1 billion euros (£2.7 billion) for the first half of 2025. This was down 3.3% on the same period a year ago, driven by contracts coming to an end, including with Disney in France and the Uefa Champions League, it said. For the group's film and TV production business, which includes StudioCanal, revenues dipped by about 3% year on year. This was mainly because of a smaller line-up of films sold internationally over the first half of 2025, compared with 2024, which included the releases of Back To Black and Wicked Little Letters. But the impact of fewer releases was partly offset by the success of major films including Paddington In Peru, Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, and We Live In Time. Canal+ said there had been 'record viewership' in cinema, series and live sports events across its regions over the period. The company floated on the London Stock Exchange in December in one of the biggest new listings for the City in several years. The decision for Paris-based Canal+ to list in London was hailed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves as a 'vote of confidence' in the UK's stock market. The company had 25.7 million subscribers at the end of June – about 1.2% fewer than it had the same time last year. It has been eyeing cost reductions across Europe which it hopes will boost profits. Maxime Saada, chief executive of Canal+, said: 'I am pleased with all we have accomplished at Canal+ since our listing. 'Our strategy of bringing our in-house content together with content from the world's best studios, sports competitions and streaming platforms, and super-aggregating it all on our enhanced Canal+ app for the benefit of our customers, provides us with a unique value proposition.'
South Wales Argus
a day ago
- Business
- South Wales Argus
Canal+ flags smaller line-up of films in 2025 but hails Paddington hit
The company, which launched its shares on the London Stock Exchange last year, reported group revenues of 3.1 billion euros (£2.7 billion) for the first half of 2025. This was down 3.3% on the same period a year ago, driven by contracts coming to an end, including with Disney in France and the Uefa Champions League, it said. For the group's film and TV production business, which includes StudioCanal, revenues dipped by about 3% year on year. This was mainly because of a smaller line-up of films sold internationally over the first half of 2025, compared with 2024, which included the releases of Back To Black and Wicked Little Letters. StudioCanal's Back To Black was released last year (Ian West/PA) But the impact of fewer releases was partly offset by the success of major films including Paddington In Peru, Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, and We Live In Time. Canal+ said there had been 'record viewership' in cinema, series and live sports events across its regions over the period. The company floated on the London Stock Exchange in December in one of the biggest new listings for the City in several years. The decision for Paris-based Canal+ to list in London was hailed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves as a 'vote of confidence' in the UK's stock market. The company had 25.7 million subscribers at the end of June – about 1.2% fewer than it had the same time last year. It has been eyeing cost reductions across Europe which it hopes will boost profits. Maxime Saada, chief executive of Canal+, said: 'I am pleased with all we have accomplished at Canal+ since our listing. 'Our strategy of bringing our in-house content together with content from the world's best studios, sports competitions and streaming platforms, and super-aggregating it all on our enhanced Canal+ app for the benefit of our customers, provides us with a unique value proposition.'
Western Telegraph
a day ago
- Business
- Western Telegraph
Canal+ flags smaller line-up of films in 2025 but hails Paddington hit
The company, which launched its shares on the London Stock Exchange last year, reported group revenues of 3.1 billion euros (£2.7 billion) for the first half of 2025. This was down 3.3% on the same period a year ago, driven by contracts coming to an end, including with Disney in France and the Uefa Champions League, it said. For the group's film and TV production business, which includes StudioCanal, revenues dipped by about 3% year on year. This was mainly because of a smaller line-up of films sold internationally over the first half of 2025, compared with 2024, which included the releases of Back To Black and Wicked Little Letters. StudioCanal's Back To Black was released last year (Ian West/PA) But the impact of fewer releases was partly offset by the success of major films including Paddington In Peru, Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, and We Live In Time. Canal+ said there had been 'record viewership' in cinema, series and live sports events across its regions over the period. The company floated on the London Stock Exchange in December in one of the biggest new listings for the City in several years. The decision for Paris-based Canal+ to list in London was hailed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves as a 'vote of confidence' in the UK's stock market. The company had 25.7 million subscribers at the end of June – about 1.2% fewer than it had the same time last year. It has been eyeing cost reductions across Europe which it hopes will boost profits. Maxime Saada, chief executive of Canal+, said: 'I am pleased with all we have accomplished at Canal+ since our listing. 'Our strategy of bringing our in-house content together with content from the world's best studios, sports competitions and streaming platforms, and super-aggregating it all on our enhanced Canal+ app for the benefit of our customers, provides us with a unique value proposition.'
North Wales Chronicle
a day ago
- Business
- North Wales Chronicle
Canal+ flags smaller line-up of films in 2025 but hails Paddington hit
The company, which launched its shares on the London Stock Exchange last year, reported group revenues of 3.1 billion euros (£2.7 billion) for the first half of 2025. This was down 3.3% on the same period a year ago, driven by contracts coming to an end, including with Disney in France and the Uefa Champions League, it said. For the group's film and TV production business, which includes StudioCanal, revenues dipped by about 3% year on year. This was mainly because of a smaller line-up of films sold internationally over the first half of 2025, compared with 2024, which included the releases of Back To Black and Wicked Little Letters. But the impact of fewer releases was partly offset by the success of major films including Paddington In Peru, Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, and We Live In Time. Canal+ said there had been 'record viewership' in cinema, series and live sports events across its regions over the period. The company floated on the London Stock Exchange in December in one of the biggest new listings for the City in several years. The decision for Paris-based Canal+ to list in London was hailed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves as a 'vote of confidence' in the UK's stock market. The company had 25.7 million subscribers at the end of June – about 1.2% fewer than it had the same time last year. It has been eyeing cost reductions across Europe which it hopes will boost profits. Maxime Saada, chief executive of Canal+, said: 'I am pleased with all we have accomplished at Canal+ since our listing. 'Our strategy of bringing our in-house content together with content from the world's best studios, sports competitions and streaming platforms, and super-aggregating it all on our enhanced Canal+ app for the benefit of our customers, provides us with a unique value proposition.'
