Speak to your friends about the last few months and you'll often be met with post-holiday depression and holiday blues. You may even be met with a review of that dreaded Euro 2024 campaign for England. Try as they might, Arsenal's Bukayo Saka, Bayern Munich's Harry Kane and Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham could not drag the Three Lions across the line in the final against Spain.

Gunners hero Saka did at least get redemption for that spot-kick miss in 2021, scoring a vital goal against the Swiss and then bagging in the shoot-out too. Mikel Arteta no doubt will have had a wry smile on his face.

However, we're done with international football now. As Andy said in Toy Story, we don't want to play with you anymore. The Premier League is back and Arsenal are unbeaten.

But wait, what's that? It's the horrible screech of yet more international football. Lee Carsley's first match as England manager was no doubt intriguing, and the Gunners' very own Declan Rice scored, but come on, let's put all of that on hold for now.

There aren't many supporters of international football so soon into a new campaign and that's now been hammered home following a huge injury blow ahead of the north London derby.

Martin Odegaard's injury on international duty

With Rice already out of this coming weekend's north London derby, Arsenal knew they were going to have to make some changes to their midfield.

Mikel Merino's shoulder injury means that he won't be seen until October, cruelly ruled out following his very first training session with the club.

There are also some doubts surrounding Riccardo Calafiori too who has been sent back to London following an issue he sustained on duty with Italy.

However, the biggest blow lies with Martin Odegaard, Arsenal and Norway's captain. As the Scandinavian country defeated Austria 2-1 on Monday evening, the attacking midfielder limped off the field with a nasty looking ankle injury.

The prognosis is that the 25-year-old has suffered a small sprain and now faces a race against time to make the match with Tottenham on Sunday afternoon.

Speaking after the game, Norway team doctor Ola Sand stated: "He got a small ankle sprain. We will see, maybe we use ultrasound to look at it. If we are unsure, there will be an MRI tomorrow [Tuesday]."

How Arsenal can overcome Odegaard's injury

In a normal set of circumstances then Arsenal likely would have handed a debut to Merino in this situation. However, with the Spaniard, Rice and Odegaard potentially missing, it leaves a huge hole in Arteta's midfield.

One option could be to move Kai Havertz back into a role behind the striker with Jorginho and Thomas Partey sitting.

The German was selected in that role for Germany as they defeated Hungary 5-0 over the course of the current break. Havertz scored from the penalty spot and caused all sorts of havoc, winning said penalty, completing 92% of his passes and producing five shots. It's a valid solution for Arteta to take.

Yet, if he wants to keep the German up top and play with a more defensive-looking midfield on Sunday, he could move Jurrien Timber into the centre of the park.

Timber, who has only played in midfield twice throughout his career to date, certainly has the attributes to feature there on a more regular basis.

He arrived at the club primarily as a centre-back but has been seen more as an inverted full-back (example below) by Arteta, notably featuring in that role for his first two starts of 2024/25. The Dutchman has thrived too, offering another body in the centre of the pitch and progressing play brilliantly.

So, why could he thrive more centrally? Well, with the help of analyst Ben Mattinson, who labelled him "elite", we have the answer.

Taking to social media, he wrote: "A total football like Timber is capable of playing there and adding physicality in ground duels and ball progression via carrying or line-breakers."

A look at his heat map for the season to date and the numbers supplement this vision. As you can see below, he doesn't hug the touchline by any means and is already playing most of his football (in possession) in central areas. Remarkably, for a left full-back, he's even appearing quite regularly on the edge of the opposition's penalty area.

So, on that evidence, he shouldn't have too much trouble adapting to a role in the centre of the field. The numbers suggest so too.

Data is slim on the ground for last season considering Timber only played one match but if we assess his 2022/23 numbers from centre-back in the Champions League, we can build a stronger case.

Centre-back

166

9

Right-back

49

2

Left-back

14

1

Midfield

2

1

The 23-year-old ranked inside the top 4% of positionally similar players in Europe's elite competition for pass success rate per 90 minutes, as well as among the best 12% for progressive passes and progressive carries per 90, illuminating the aforementioned skillset that Mattinson outlined.

So, while it's certainly not an ideal scenario for Arsenal, Timber could well be a short-term solution among all of the chaos in Arteta's midfield.

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Allrounder cracks 74 from 35 balls in massive total of 224 for 3, before Bess completes rout

ECB Reporters Network26-Jun-2021Yorkshire 224 for 3 (Thompson 74, Stoneman 50) beat Northamptonshire 142 (Bess 3-17) by 82 runsYorkshire Vikings’ Jordan Thompson made a T20 career-best 74 to help his side go top of the North Group with an 82-run defeat of Northants Steelbacks at Emerald Headingley. The in-form all-rounder hit seven sixes in his 35-ball innings as stand-in skipper Adam Lyth’s team posted a daunting 224 for 3.That was more than sufficient to defeat the Steelbacks, who mustered just 142 with Dom Bess collecting his own career-best short-form figures of 3 for 17.In truth things had looked promising for the home side from the opening overs of the game. Lyth made 25 before being bowled by Tom Taylor but Mark Stoneman maintained the momentum in his first innings for Yorkshire since agreeing a short-term loan move from Surrey. At the other end Thompson showed why he merited his promotion to No.3 by hitting Brandon Glover for a six over long-on and levying two more maximums off successive balls from Rob Keogh.The pair brought up their 50 partnership off 26 balls and Stoneman reached his own half-century off 30 deliveries, ten of which he hit for four. He was then immediately leg before wicket to Mohammad Nabi for exactly 50.That wicket did nothing to staunch the flow of runs, however. Thompson reached his own fifty off 27 balls and then hit three sixes in one Taylor over before giving the bowler the chance to take trifling revenge by catching the Yorkshire batsman at long-off when he hoisted a colossal skier off Glover.That wicket ended Thompson’s 53-run stand with Harry Brook but Brook and Gary Ballance hit two sixes apiece off Ben Sanderson’s final over which yielded 27 runs as the pair put on an unbroken 58 in the final 4.3 overs of the innings.Northamptonshire’s pursuit of 225 was scuppered almost single-handedly by Bess, who ran out Adam Rossington for 24 with a direct hit from cover before having Ricardo Vasconcelos caught at cover by Lyth for 16 with his second ball.Next over both Nabi and Parnell perished in the deep when trying to hit the England off-spinner for sixes and Saif Zaib was dismissed in similar fashion for four two overs later, Stoneman taking the catch off Thompson.Ballance’s direct hit from short fine leg ran out Charlie Thurston for four and the rest of Northamptonshire’s batting crumbled to Fisher, who took two for 25. Keogh topscored for the Steelbacks with 36.

“The idea is for them to get exposure in England,” BCCI treasurer Arun Singh Dhumal says

Reuters12-Jun-2021

The BCCI has said the participation of its top women players in The Hundred in England will give them much needed experience and exposure to elite opposition ahead of the 50-overs World Cup in New Zealand next year.The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) does not allow its male players to participate in overseas T20 leagues, though some of the Test specialists play county cricket in England.The inaugural edition of the 100-ball competition, which features eight clubs with separate men’s and women’s teams, begins at The Oval on July 21 and will feature five India players: T20I captain Harmanpreet Kaur, her deputy Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma and explosive opener Shafali Verma.Related

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Kaur and Mandhana have also previously played in Australia’s Big Bash League.”The idea is for them to get exposure in England,” BCCI treasurer Arun Singh Dhumal told Reuters by telephone. “Some of our boys have played county cricket, and that has given them a great opportunity and exposure. We want to take women cricket forward similarly.”This experience will definitely come in handy in the World Cup next year.”After a year without international cricket due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the India women’s team hosted South Africa for a limited-overs series in March and the calendar suddenly looks a lot busier.The team, under captain Mithali Raj, will play their first Test in seven years next week when they face England in Bristol, with the tour also including three ODIs and three T20Is.India will play their maiden pink-ball Test in Australia later this year and there could be more action in September-October if the BCCI can organise the Women’s T20 Challenge in the UAE. The Challenge would run alongside the remainder of the men’s Indian Premier League, which was suspended last month because of the Covid-19 pandemic.”We’re trying to figure out if that can be played with the UAE leg of the IPL,” Dhumal said. “Hopefully we’ll get a window. We’ll have to see venue availability as well.”

Reliable transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano says a £26 million player has agreed to join Arsenal alongside Real Sociedad midfielder Mikel Merino.

Arsenal closing in on Merino signing from Real Sociedad

After weeks of talks in what has been the longest transfer saga at Arsenal this summer, it is believed that Merino is on the verge of making a north London move.

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The 28-year-old, who starred for Sociedad over his 45 appearances in all competitions last season, scoring eight goals and assisting five others from midfield, looks very likely to be on the move before deadline day on August 30 – and the Emirates Stadium is his preferred destination.

“Merino just spoke the president of Real Sociedad confirming that Arsenal are in negotiations with Real Sociedad. He said, ‘as soon as the offer will be good, we will say yes’," relayed Romano in a separate update (via TEAMtalk).

“But let me tell you again here, guys, don’t worry Arsenal fans, Merino is coming and is coming very soon. They are fixing the final details of the deal, but Mikel Merino is fully expected to become a new Arsenal player in the final days of the summer transfer window.”

Merino reached an agreement on personal terms to join Arsenal a little while ago, and some media sources believe that the Spanish star doesn't want to join any other club except the Gunners this summer.

"My information is that this is on the verge of being done. Personal terms are agreed, a deal of around €30m (£25m)," said reporter Steve Kay.

“The clubs have agreed. Merino doesn’t want to sign for anyone else. He’s not signing a new contract. From what I’m hearing it’s the total opposite of what other publications have come out with because as far as I know this will be done in the next couple of days."

The former Newcastle midfielder's return to the Premier League with Arsenal appears imminent, and for around £25 million, he could be a bargain capture.

Joan Garcia agrees to join Arsenal with Mikel Merino

With just days remaining of this transfer window, time is running out for Edu Gaspar and co to make key new additions, including a possible replacement for Aaron Ramsdale.

The Englishman has been regularly linked with a move away this summer after losing his number one spot to David Raya last season, and Romano claims Espanyol keeper Joan Garcia is Arsenal's "priority target" to replace Ramsdale.

He adds that Garcia, who has a £26 million release clause in his contract, has already verbally agreed personal terms to join Mikel Arteta's side.

The Spaniard made 21 appearances in all competitions for Espanyol last season, keeping 12 clean sheets in that time and conceding just 10 goals.

Alex Davies led Lancashire Lightning to an impressive seven-wicket victory over Derbyshire Falcons in the Vitality Blast North Group match at Derby.Davies hit 13 fours in an unbeaten 83 off 54 balls as Lancashire chased down a target of 197 with 10 balls to spare.Liam Livingstone, dropped before he scored, smashed four sixes in 45 off 29 balls and Dane Vilas accelerated to an unbeaten 40 from 18 as Lancashire romped to 197 for 3.Leus du Plooy scored a T20 best 92 off 56 balls and Harry Came made 56 from 37 in his third Blast appearance but 196 for 5 proved inadequate.Derbyshire rebuilt after Tom Bailey had Luis Reece caught at mid off and Billy Godleman was bowled in the second over.Came ramped Bailey for six and du Plooy repeated the stroke to take Derbyshire to 49 for 2 in the powerplay before du Plooy drove Tom Hartley onto the roof of the media centre.The pair also ran well between the wickets to take the Falcons to 93 for 2 after 10 overs and the stand was worth 100 in 11 when Came pulled Danny Lamb to long on.Derbyshire were aided by some sloppy ground fielding but there was little they could do when Critchley and du Plooy pulled Lamb for six to take 24 from the 17th over.Critchley holed out to long-on but Wood speared a no-ball down the leg side for four byes in another costly over before du Plooy’s outstanding innings ended when he drilled Bailey to deep midwicket in the last over.Lancashire’s chase began badly with Liam Livingstone dropped at third man by Conor McKerr on his T20 debut before Finn Allen was caught behind for a duck in the first over.Livingstone ramped McKerr for six, pulled George Scrimshaw for two more before twice dispatching Fynn Hudson-Prentice over the ropes as Lancashire ended the powerplay on 72 for 1.Livingstone was threatening to run away with the game when he was well caught by Critchley at long off but Davies reached 50 with his 10th four to leave Lancashire needing 84 off the last 10 overs.Jos Buttler hit two sixes before holing out to deep midwicket attempting a third but Dane Vilas and Davies took 18 off van Beek in the 17th over to settle it.

Glasgow Rangers returned to Ibrox with a bang over the weekend as they secured progress to the semi-finals of the League Cup for the fourth season in a row.

Hampden Park wasn’t the best hunting ground over the first few games of the season and a return home could reinvigorate Rangers.

It was a relatively straightforward 3-0 victory for Philippe Clement’s men over Dundee, as Cyriel Dessers scored either side of a James Tavernier penalty which sets up the Light Blues nicely for the Europa League tie against Malmö this week.

A first start was handed to Nedim Bajrami, who delivered an inch-perfect cross for Dessers to score his second and, despite playing outside his comfort zone on the left flank, it was a positive start for the Albanian.

For once, there wasn’t much to complain about as Clement got his tactics spot on. After drawing a blank in his previous two matches, Dessers returned to the scoresheet against the Dens Park side.

Despite the criticism he has faced in the past, a return of seven goals from just nine matches this term has certainly proven that he can now be relied upon to score on a regular basis.

It marks a major difference to how poor he was during the first half of the 2023/24 campaign, as there was plenty of criticism directed at his direction…

Dessers' numbers in the 2023/24 season

Michael Beale sought to improve his attacking options last summer following Alfredo Morelos’ departure, which led to the Englishman signing Dessers for a fee of £4.5m as a replacement.

The Nigerian centre-forward had scored ten goals during the 2022/23 season, hardly a clinical marksman that the club required to prise the Premiership title back off Celtic.

He managed to open his account against Servette in the Champions League qualifying stages, before grabbing two assists against PSV Eindhoven in the next round. He went scoreless in the first four league matches, however.

Between August and the start of January, Dessers found the back of the net just six times, while missing a host of big chances in the process, hardly a suitable replacement for Morelos.

The nadir came during the second Old Firm clash of the season against Celtic, a game which the Light Blues lost 2-1.

Metric

Premiership

Europa League

Goals

16

1

Assists

4

1

Goal conversion percentage

16%

33%

Big chances missed

27

0

Big chances created

8

0

He played the full 90 minutes in the defeat, failing to register a single shot on target while winning just three of his 14 contested duels as the striker was bullied during the match.

What Chris Sutton said about Cyriel Dessers

If he was more clinical in front of goal, the Light Blues might have snatched a point from that game, and his performance was criticised by former Celtic striker Chris Sutton after the game.

The Englishman discussed Dessers performance when talking to Sky Sports, saying: “Dessers killed Rangers today.

“He had opportunities, wasn’t decisive enough and it’s not like his link up play is up to much as well. Rangers need to address that situation – they may have already done in Fabio Silva, who wasn’t a phenomenal goalscorer for Wolves but is a young player.

“There’s been a lot of money spent on him in recent times. But there’s an opportunity for him to be the main man for Rangers.”

After that defeat, the 29-year-old scored 13 goals in all competitions, yet the club came up short in both the Scottish Cup and Premiership.

The criticism from Sutton clearly saw the player return to some sort of goalscoring form and, while there was interest in him during the summer transfer window, but nothing materialised as he remained at the club.

First Impressions

What did pundits and fans alike think about their new star signing when they arrived? Football FanCast's 'First Impressions' series has everything you need.

Cyriel Dessers’ statistics this season

After failing to sign key target Albion Rrahmani during the summer window, Clement only added one centre-forward to his squad – Hamza Igamane.

It was clear he was going to take a few weeks to build up his match fitness, however, which meant Dessers was tasked with being the main option for Clement, especially with Danilo taking baby steps after his knee injury.

An equaliser against Dynamo Kiev in the first leg of their Champions League qualifier certainly boosted his confidence, no doubt, and this was followed by goals against Motherwell in the League and against St Johnstone in the League Cup.

He has certainly started the campaign much better compared to his maiden season at the club. Given his stature as the number one choice to lead the line, Clement clearly still trusts him to score often.

While he may be scoring on a more regular basis, he could still be much more clinical in the opposition box.

Across five matches in the Premiership this term, the attacker has missed four chances, but his goal conversion rate currently stands at 25% at the time of writing. This will certainly decrease as the season goes on, but it certainly proves that he has improved in front of goal.

The striker has also demonstrated his all round game too, registering one league assist along with creating two big chances, averaging 0.8 key passes per game and succeeding with 0.8 dribble attempts each match.

Dessers will have some competition in the coming weeks from Igamane, who is slowly building up his match fitness and could prove to be a very positive signing for the Light Blues.

Until such a time comes, however, the 29-year-old will be tasked with leading the line, both domestically and in Europe, as Clement chases more silverware with the Gers.

The season is still young, but if Dessers can continue his current scoring rate, there is no doubt that he will surpass the 22 goals he registered throughout 2023/24.

The onus for him will be to start finding the net in the big matches, against Celtic, for example. If he can do that, then the former Feyenoord forward could endear himself to the fans, that’s for sure.

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MatériaMais Notícias

A Fifa não esqueceu do aniversário de 40 anos do Mundial conquistado pelo Flamengo, no Japão. Através de uma postagem nas redes sociais, a entidade máxima do futebol ainda escreveu o trecho da música “Em dezembro de 81”, cantada frequentementepela Nação no estádios, em inglês. Veja abaixo:

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>Exclusivo: Zico escreve carta ao L!: “Revivendo o Mundial 40 anos depois”

-‘In December of ’81, you ran circles around the English. 3-0 against Liverpool, went down in history..’ (em português, a letra é “Em dezembro de 81, botou os ingleses na roda. 3 a 0 no Liverpool ficou marcado na história.

#Mundial40Anos 🏆❤️🖤 https://t.co/mMjVWIfRIr

— Flamengo (@Flamengo) December 13, 2021

Depois de bater o Cobreloa-CHI no terceiro jogo da final da Libertadores, o Flamengo garantiu vaga para disputar a decisão do Mundial contra o Liverpool. Assim, com gols de Nunes (2) eAdílio, o Rubro-Negro Carioca, no Estádio Nacional de Tóquio, garantiu o título mais importante da sua história.

After an incredibly tough month of fixtures that saw Arsenal take on Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur, Atalanta and Manchester City, all away from home, the Gunners are now faced with what should be an altogether more straightforward task: a League Cup home tie against Bolton Wanderers.

Now, Mikel Arteta will undoubtedly approach the match with the same level of respect he does for every game, but due to the opposition’s level, he must use it as an opportunity to rest a number of his players who ran themselves into the ground on Sunday evening.

Fortunately, it looks like he will, as 16-year-old goalkeeper Jack Porter, who became the youngest keeper in Champions League history when he made the bench against Atalanta on Thursday, is set to start. The team should also include the sensational Ethan Nwaneri and another of the Gunners’ most promising youngsters, who made quite an entrance on Sunday.

Why Nwaneri should start

So, there are a couple of reasons why Arteta should look to hand Nwaneri his first competitive start for Arsenal this evening, and the first is simply down to necessity.

Martin Odegaard is still out with the ankle injury he picked up on international duty, Leandro Trossard is suspended due to his second yellow card against City on the weekend, and the player who probably would have stepped in last season, Fabio Vieira, is currently on loan with previous club Porto.

Moreover, Kai Havertz will either start up top or, more likely, be rested, meaning the manager has only one option: hand the sensationally gifted 17-year-old his full debut for the club.

That said, the second reason is that, regardless of the squad situation, the Enfield-born gem would be deserving of a start purely off the back of his form for the youth sides, his cameo against Spurs and the displays he put in during preseason.

For example, the “true goalscorer”, as dubbed by analyst Ben Mattinson, has racked up a seriously impressive haul of 27 goals and ten assists in just 52 appearances for the club’s various youth sides, equating to an average of a goal involvement every 1.40 games, primarily from attacking midfield.

Nwaneri’s youth record

Appearances

52

Goals

27

Assists

10

Goal Involvements per Match

0.71

All Stats via Transfermarkt

Moreover, when he came off the bench towards the end of the North London Derby, he looked utterly unfazed by the magnitude of the game and the intensity of the rivalry, which suggests that he’d be completely fine starting a home game against third-tier opposition, even alongside another Hale End graduate.

Why Myles Lewis-Skelly should start

Yes, while Arsenal are blessed with an abundance of talented youth players, as the fans saw during the preseason tour, the one who should be guaranteed a place in the starting lineup tonight is 17-year-old Myles Lewis-Skelly.

If the Islington-born gem is in the XI this evening, then it’ll come as no surprise to the fans that watched Sunday’s clash with City, as when Jurrien Timber went down with cramp in the 92nd minute, instead of moving Declan Rice into the backline and throwing on Jorginho for some more big game experience, he turned to the Hale End graduate and threw him into the deep end.

Moreover, the Spaniard did so despite the exciting prospect already picking up a yellow card on the sideline for giving instructions to David Raya and then getting into an argument with Erling Haaland, which just shows that even at his age, the “unbelievable” gem as dubbed by podcaster Will Balsam, isn’t phased by anything.

However, it’s not just his incredible mentality and willingness to throw himself into intense situations that warrant his inclusion from the start tonight; it’s also his technical ability and positional versatility.

For example, while he played in central and defensive midfield roles in the academy, driving forward with the ball with purpose (video below), Arteta has primarily used him as cover for left-back, which is likely where he will start tonight with both Timber and Riccardo Calafiori coming off on Sunday.

Ultimately, while it’s a big step-up for the pair of them, Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly should be handed their full Arsenal debut this evening alongside Porter, and if they can keep up the form they have shown in their cameos, the fans will be in for a treat.

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Aston Villa, despite securing a 3-1 victory in the West Midlands derby over Wolverhampton Wanderers, were unable to bask in their glory after one of Unai Emery’s star men limped off injured.

Aston Villa injury news

Fixtures are beginning to come thick and fast for Villa, who made their long-awaited Champions League return in midweek, beating Young Boys in comfortable fashion. The task of overcoming their Midlands rivals then stood in their way and it was not a task without its complications.

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The Villans initially got off to a disastrous start and deservedly trailed thanks to Matheus Cunha’s opener, before battling back in fine fashion to eventually win 3-1 courtesy of Ollie Watkins, Ezri Konsa and what feels like a mandatory goal from the bench for Jhon Duran these days.

It wasn’t a game full of positives even after that comeback, however, with Villa’s injury list only increasing at the worst time possible. With Champions League football alongside their domestic responsibilities to balance, Emery’s side will suffer if their list of absentees grows even more ahead of a packed schedule. On that front, the Spaniard confirmed one frustrating blow.

As revealed by Emery and relayed by Birmingham World, John McGinn could now miss weeks for Aston Villa after limping off before half-time with a hamstring injury.

The Villa boss told reporters: “It’s his hamstring. In January against Tottenham he had a hamstring injury as well. He will not be available I think for a few weeks.”

Arguably one of their most important players, Villa must now put their squad depth to the test for the first time, perhaps turning to the likes of summer signing Ross Barkley for a result. One injury blow for McGinn could quickly turn into a much-needed opportunity for the former Everton man.

Games that "amazing" McGinn could miss

After limping off, McGinn may now be out of action for at least a couple of games, if not more with Emery revealing that the Scot could be out for a few weeks. Almost immediately, he will miss Villa’s Carabao Cup trip to Wycombe Wanderers, before Ipswich Town in the Premier League next weekend and could still be in doubt for Villa’s big clash against Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

The underdogs even if they did have McGinn at their disposal, Villa’s task against Bayern Munich will become that much tougher if they are still without their star man in the middle of the park.

Emery is well aware of McGinn’s quality too, having previously praised the midfielder after his side’s victory over Everton last season. He told reporters via Birmingham Live: “I am very happy for him because he scored, and he is not usually scoring a lot. He has to get to the box to create chances and to score.

“He did that perfectly for the first goal, and his performance today was very good, and is happy to play right side, left side, inside, playing as a midfielder, as a number 10 and I think he is very important for us. Like Leon Bailey last week, he didn’t play well, but today he was amazing.”

اضطر بيب جوارديولا مدرب مانشستر سيتي لإجراء تبديل اضطراري في مباراة فريقه أمام مانشستر سيتي بدوري أبطال أوروبا.

ويحل مانشستر سيتي ضيفًا على ريال مدريد بملعب “سانتياجو برنابيو” ضمن مباريات إياب ملحق دور الـ 16 لدوري أبطال أوروبا.

وتقدم ريال مدريد بهدف مبكر في الدقيقة الرابعة من اللقاء عن طريق الفرنسي كيليان مبابي.

وعقب الهدف، تعرض جون ستونز للإصابة في الدقيقة 6، وسقط أرضًا وتوقف اللقاء، ولم يتمكن اللاعب من استئناف اللعب.

وقام بيب جوارديولا باستبدال جون ستونز في الدقيقة الثامنة ودفع بناثان آكي بديلاً له.

جدير بالذكر أن جوارديولا استبعد إيرلينج هالاند من التشكيل الأساسي وتواجد بديلاً لمعاناته من إصابة في الركبة.

ويمكنك متابعة التغطية المباشرة لمباراة ريال مدريد ومانشستر سيتي لحظة بلحظة بالفيديو من خلال الرابط. إصابة جون ستونز واستبداله في مباراة ريال مدريد ومانشستر سيتي