quinta-feira, 23 de maio de 2019

LE: Benfiquistas João Félix e Grimaldo na «equipa ideal» da prova

Os defesa Alex Grimaldo e o avançado João Félix fazem parte da lista dos 18 melhores jogadores da Liga Europa da temporada 2018/19.

A escolha foi feita pelo painel técnico de observadores do organismo regulador do futebol europeu, num grupo que integra apenas jogadores dos finalistas, Chelsea e Arsenal, dos alemães do Eintracht Frankfurt, eliminados nas meias-finais, e do Benfica.

A equipa campeã portuguesa começou a época na Liga dos Campeões, competição da qual ‘caiu’ para a Liga Europa, na qual afastou Galatasaray e Dínamo de Zagreb, antes de ser eliminada pelo Frankfurt.

João Félix, um dos escolhidos pela UEFA, esteve em seis jogos da Liga Europa, entre os quais um como suplente utilizado e os outros a titular, e marcou um 'hat trick' na vitória por 4-2 no Estádio da Luz sobre o Eintracht, na primeira mão dos quartos de final.

O jogador, proveniente da formação do clube, tornou-se, aos 19 anos, o mais jovem jogador português a fazer três golos num jogo das competições europeias.

O lateral esquerdo Grimaldo fez cinco jogos na Liga Europa e no único jogo em que foi suplente utilizado marcou um dos golos na vitória frente ao Dínamo Zagreb, por 3-0, após prolongamento.

O Chelsea, que venceu na final o Arsenal por 4-1, conta com oito jogadores no grupo escolhido pela UEFA, seguido do Eintracht Frankfurt, com cinco, do Arsenal, com três, e do Benfica, com dois.

Lista de 18 futebolistas escolhidos pelo painel técnico da UEFA:

Guarda-redes: Kevin Trapp (Eintracht Frankfurt/Ale) e Kepa Arrizabalaga (Chelsea/Ing).

Defesas: Alex Grimaldo (Benfica), Sead Kolašinac (Arsenal/Ing), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal/Ing), David Luiz (Chelsea/Ing), César Azpilicueta (Chelsea/Ing) e Danny da Costa (Eintracht Frankfurt).

Médios: Makoto Hasebe (Eintracht Frankfurt/Ale), Filip Kostić (Eintracht Frankfurt/Ale), Jorginho (Chelsea/Ing) e N'Golo Kanté (Chelsea/Ing).

Avançados: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal), Olivier Giroud (Chelsea/Ing), Luka Jović (Eintracht Frankfurt), João Félix (Benfica/Ing), Pedro Rodriguez (Chelsea/Ing) e Eden Hazard (Chelsea/Ing).

Só dois emprestados do FC Porto têm ordem para voltar

Só Galeno e Sérgio Oliveira têm, para já, lugar garantido na pré-época de 2019/20. O FC Porto esteve esta temporada 16 futebolistas emprestados a outros clubes, mas para a próxima temporada está a equacionar resgatar apenas estes dois, de acordo com o jornal A Bola.

Esta é uma altura em que o plantel dos azuis e brancos está debaixo de grandes incertezas, principalmente aos jogadores que estão de saída: Militão, Felipe e Maxi Pereira já confirmaram o seu adeus, mas Brahimi, Herrera, Adrián López, Alex Telles e até Marega podem seguir-lhes as pisadas.

Portanto, a hora é para arrumar a casa e Sérgio Oliveira e Galeno podem ter uma palavra a dizer na constituição do plantel no próximo ano. O médio português esteve emprestado na segunda metade da época ao PAOK e chegou a tempo de ajudar a equipa grega a conquistar não só o título, mas a dobradinha no país helénico. Realizou 32 jogos, marcou cinco golos e somou 1823 minutos em 2018/19.

Já Galeno, de 21 anos, foi um dos rostos da boa campanha do Rio Ave no campeonato. Alinhou em 36 encontros, apontou nove golos e somou 2846 minutos esta temporada.

Sérgio Oliveira tem contrato por mais um ano, enquanto Galeno só termina a sua ligação ao FC Porto em 2022.

CHINESES DISPOSTOS A LIBERTAR GUDELJ A CUSTO ZERO

O Sporting quer, Nemanja Gudelj também, falta apenas o sim do Guangzhou Evergrande para que o médio sérvio de 27 anos permaneça de leão ao peito, depois de uma temporada cedido por empréstimo do clube chinês, com quem tem contrato até final de dezembro mas com mais um ano de opção.

Pelos dados recolhidos por A BOLA, o emblema oriental está aberto a deixar sair o jogador a custo zero, ou seja, sem exercer a opção, deixando caminho livre para o clube de Alvalade selar o acordo, desejado pelas duas partes.

Depois há que acertar as contas com Gudelj. Ou seja, é preciso acertar o ordenado, que esta época foi repartido com o Guangzhou Evergrande e que é incomportável para os leões assumirem na totalidade - cerca de 4,7 milhões de euros limpos.

Os leões, mesmo colocando o jogador num dos patamares mais elevados da folha salarial, não poderão ir além de um valor na ordem dos dois milhões de euros limpos.

E terão em mente um contrato válido por quatro temporadas, ou seja, até junho de 2023.

Torneio de Toulon: Portugal estreia-se com derrota frente ao Chile

A seleção portuguesa de sub-19 fez hoje a sua estreia no torneio de Toulon com uma derrota diante da congénere do Chile por 1-0, em encontro do grupo A.

O único golo da partida foi marcado pelo chileno Mathias Pinto, aos 13 minutos.

No outro jogo do grupo A registou-se uma surpresa, com o Japão a derrotar a Inglaterra, detentora do troféu, por 2-1.

A seleção lusa volta a entrar em ação na próxima terça-feira frente à congénere de Inglaterra, enquanto os dois primeiros classificados do grupo, Chile e Japão se defrontam.

Portugal defronta tricampeã Inglaterra, Chile e Japão no torneio de Toulon

A seleção portuguesa de sub-19, treinada por Filipe Ramos, integra o grupo A da prova, no qual encontrará os ingleses na segunda jornada, em 04 de junho, no Estádio Marcel Roustan, em Salon-de-Provence.

Antes, a seleção lusa defronta o Chile, campeão em 2009, na estreia no torneio, em 01 de junho, e, depois, na terceira jornada, em 07 de julho, medirá forças com o Japão.

Com três grupos no torneio, que Portugal venceu em 1992, 2001, 2003, apuram-se para as meias-finais o vencedor de cada um e o segundo mais bem classificado.

No grupo B encontram-se França, ‘rainha’ e anfitriã do torneio, com 12 títulos, Brasil, vencedor por oito vezes, Guatemala e Qatar e no grupo C Bahrein, China, República da Irlanda e México.

A competição decorrerá entre 01 de junho e 15 de junho, com a fase de grupos a terminar em 09 de junho, seguindo-se as meias-finais, em 12, e a final e jogo de atribuição do terceiro e quarto lugares em 15 de junho.

Champions League review: Liverpool crowned kings of Europe

Here’s what happened in Saturday’s UEFA Champions League final, in case you missed it…

READ ALL ABOUT IT

• Tottenham 0, Liverpool 2: Game report || Game stats

MATCH RECAP IN A SENTENCE

Tottenham never recovered after Mohamed Salah converted an early penalty, as Divock Origi scored late in regulation time to lift Liverpool to a 2-0 victory in Madrid, giving the Reds their sixth European crown.

WHAT STOOD OUT

Salah’s penalty
Twenty-three seconds. That’s how quickly it fell apart for Tottenham on the night. After a quick start by Liverpool, Sadio Mane received the ball down the left flank and his shot was adjudged to have been handled by Tottenham’s Moussa Sissoko.

Only 23 seconds had elapsed, but Slovenian referee Damir Skomina did not hesitate in pointing to the spot. Spurs’ hopes for a reprieve were denied after the Video Assistant Referee reviewed the play, and Mohamed Salah made no mistake, converting from the penalty spot by firing a blistering attempt past goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

In doing so, Salah became only the fifth African player to score in a Champions League/European Cup final. Salah’s opener at 1:48 of the match was the second-fastest goal in a Champions League final, behind only AC Milan’s Paolo Maldni who scored at the 50-second mark against Liverpool in 2005. It was sweet redemption for Salah, after he was forced to be subbed out of last year’s final with a shoulder injury, a game the Reds eventually lost to Real Madrid.

The Kane gamble
Tottenham striker Harry Kane was deemed fit to play in Saturday’s final after sitting out close to two months with an ankle injury. His last appearance came in Spurs’ 1-0 win over Manchester City in the first leg of the quarterfinals on April 9, so manager Mauricio Pochettino took a big gamble by including the Englishman in his starting 11.

As it turned out, the gamble didn’t pay off. Kane was poor on the night, comfortably kept in check by Liverpool’s superb centre back duo of Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip. The Liverpool pair kept Kane in their back pocket all night, routinely outjumping and outmuscling him for high balls, and not giving him any time or space to operate.

Kane was barely involved in the first half, which led to some second-guessing of Pochettino as to why he didn’t start Lucas Moura, Spurs’ hat trick hero from the second leg of the semifinals vs. Ajax. Kane was clearly not up to the task on the night after such a lengthy absence, but Pochettino unwisely kept the faith with him for 90 minutes.

Klopp comes good
After coming out on the losing end in two previous Champions League finals, Jurgen Klopp finally tasted victory on Saturday, as he joined Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan and Rafa Benitez as the only other Liverpool managers to win the Champions League/European Cup.

Had Tottenham prevailed, Klopp would have become only the second manager to lose three successive finals – Marcello Lippi (1997, 1998 and 2003) of Juventus is the other. The German had yet to lift a trophy since joining Liverpool in 2015, and right or wrong, questions were being asked about whether he could finally get his team over the hump.

Klopp managed this game beautifully, setting up Liverpool in a way to allow Tottenham to control possession but not the game. The Reds defended brilliantly and never let the match get away from them. When Tottenham looked to be surging, Klopp replaced the ineffective Roberto Firmino with Divock Origi early in the second half. That gave Liverpool more pace up front, and the Belgian repaid his manager’s faith by scoring in the 87th minute to seal the deal for the Reds.

BEST GOAL

With Liverpool sitting on a 1-0 lead in the 87th minute, Tottenham couldn’t clear its lines off a corner kick. The ball eventually fell to second-half substitute Divock Origi, who beat Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris with a brilliant shot from a tight angle that nestled inside the far corner.

BEST SAVE

With Spurs looking for an equalizer in the 79th minute, Son Heung-min unleashed a low, rocket of a shot from 25 yards out that seemed destined for the far corner. But Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson read it all the way and did well to get down and deflect the ball out of danger.

BEST MOMENT

Jose Antonio Reyes was honoured before kickoff at the Wanda Metropolitano. The ex-Atletico Madrid and Sevilla star died in a traffic accident on Saturday. He was 35.

BEST TWEET

THE GAME WITHIN THE GAME

Tottenham’s lack of finishing – and urgency for much of the game – ultimately led to their downfall.

BURNING QUESTION OF THE DAY

SHOULD HARRY KANE HAVE STARTED FOR SPURS?

YESNO

VoteView Results

SIX PACK OF STATS

• Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold (20 years and 237 days) is the first player under the age of 21 to start in consecutive Champions League finals.

• Tottenham failed to lead at half-time in any of their 13 Champions League games this season.

• Saturday marked the first time that Liverpool used this starting 11 in 53 games across all competitions this season.

• Liverpool is the first side to win the Champions League final despite having less possession (35.4%) than the opposition since Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan beat Bayern Munich in 2010.

• Egypt’s Mohamed Salah is the fifth African player to score in a Champions League/European Cup final, after Rabah Madjer (Algeria), Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon), Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast) and Sadio Mane (Senegal).

• Divock Origi is only the second Belgium to score in a Champions League/European Cup final, after Yannick Carrasco for Atletico Madrid vs, Real Madrid in 2016.

Stats courtesy of Opta

THREE STARS

1) Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip, Liverpool: The centre-back pairing did a number on Harry Kane, and anchored a back line that frustrated Tottenham all night.

2) Andrew Robertson, Liverpool: The fullback gave the Reds’ attack width with his probing runs down the left wing, and delivered several dangerous crosses.

3) Alisson, Liverpool: The Reds’ goalkeeper made a trio of great saves in the final 15 minutes to deny Spurs an equalizer and a way back into the game.

Salah scores early as Liverpool beats Tottenham for Champions League title

MADRID — No tears of pain this time, just redemption for Mohamed Salah.

Only 108 seconds were needed to banish the Champions League final heartbreak of a year ago.

Once Salah dispatched his early penalty against Tottenham, Liverpool was on the path to a sixth European title with a 2-0 victory on Saturday.

And a year after defeat in the final to Real Madrid, Juergen Klopp has his first title after four years as Liverpool manager.

A shoulder injury forced Salah out of the Kyiv showpiece last year.

This time it was Tottenham midfielder Moussa Sissoko’s arm that gifted Liverpool the early penalty opening — blocking Sadio Mane’s shot after 21 seconds — and Salah converted from the spot after a video review check.

"I have sacrificed a lot for my career," Salah said. "To come from a village, to go to Cairo, and to be an Egyptian at this level is unbelievable for me."

On a hot and humid night in Madrid, Tottenham came to life only in the final 20 minutes of its first European Cup final.

But Liverpool completed the job in the 87th minute thanks to one of its semifinal saviours.

Divock Origi had to accept a place back on the bench despite producing two goals while deputizing for the injured Salah last month. But the substitute had the final big say in the Spanish capital, rifling a left-footed shot inside the far post.

"Every single player fought hard today," Origi said. "So it’s just special."

After two losing finals since triumphing in 2005, Liverpool finally rose to third in the all-time list of European champions behind 13-time winner Real Madrid and AC Milan on seven titles.

Few fans — even from Liverpool — will want to watch just how it was achieved.

Both sides had gone three weeks without playing. It showed.

The sharpness was deficient, as was the ability to string passes together.

"When we look back on tonight we aren’t going to think it was a sluggish game," Liverpool-born defender Trent Alexander-Arnold said. "We are going to think we have just won the European Cup."

Tottenham will have only regrets as its luck run out after a season of comebacks and great escapes in the competition with a squad that had no additions.

Lucas Moura’s goal in Barcelona in December carried Tottenham into the round of 16. The Brazilian’s hat trick last month then completed a turnaround against Ajaxe. The reward in Madrid was a watching brief from the bench for two thirds of the game.

Instead, Harry Kane was thrust into the starting lineup despite 53 days without a game since limping off with an ankle injury in the quarterfinal first leg against Manchester City.

The striker was largely anonymous as Tottenham, which finished 26 points behind Premier League runner-up Liverpool in fourth place, couldn’t even get a shot on target until the 73rd minute.

Alisson Becker scooped up a spinning shot from Dele Alli and made a double-save from Son Heung-min and Moura with 10 minutes to go.

It was goalkeeping that made the difference, showing $85 million was well spent by American owner John Henry after Loris Karius was banished for making costly mistakes in last year’s final.

"You have a goalkeeper who makes difficult things look easy," Klopp said. "Thank you very much."
No wonder Klopp was relieved after six losing finals, stretching back to his spell at Borussia Dortmund.

"Did you ever see a team like this? Fighting with no fuel in the tank," the German said.

Victory against Tottenham came six years after Dortmund was beaten by Bayern Munich in the Champions League final.

Klopp is now European champion for the first time.

"I am so happy for my family," he said. "They suffer every year when we go to a final, the last game of the season."

The penultimate game saw Klopp miss out on ending Liverpool’s 29-year English title drought by a point to Manchester City in the Premier League title race.

"We are doing good stuff," Klopp said on the field amid the celebrations in Madrid. "People are always saying, ‘Why didn’t you win anything?"’

They can’t anymore at Liverpool.