A senior UEFA representative said on Tuesday he did not believe French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin’s claims about the number of fake tickets in circulation during the chaotic scenes before last month’s Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid.

Following the game on May 28, Darmanin claimed that between 30,000 and 40,000 fake tickets in the hands of Liverpool fans was the cause of problems as police funnelled thousands of fans into overcrowded underpasses around the stadium, leading to the kick-off being delayed by more than 30 minutes.

Martin Kallen, general director of UEFA Events, who are in charge of the body’s commercial events, told a hearing at the French Senate, which is investigating the incidents, the figure was much lower.

“We know there were around 2,600 tickets taken to the turnstiles which were fake,” Kellen said.

“But a lot of tickets didn’t get to the turnstiles… How many? We don’t know, we can’t really verify.

“We don’t believe it’s the number mentioned in France, which was more or less 30,000 to 40,000,” he added.

Keller said other factors caused the problems at the Stade de France, in mayhem that saw the French police use tear gas at close range, even against children.

“It wasn’t only the paper tickets that created chaos in front of the gates,” he said.

“The reasons are numerous: a transport strike, poor reaction from stewards, police, there were delinquents and an extremely big flux of people in front of the stadium without a ticket or with fake tickets,” he added.

Liverpool and Real Madrid supporters are due to give evidence to the Senate later in the day.

UEFA have launched its own probe, overseen by a former Portuguese education and sports minister, which Kellen said would present its conclusions in September.

“We thought the investigation would take a minimum two to three months,” Kallen said.

“As it’s starting now, we could say sometime in September (for the results),” he added.

Real Madrid won the final 1-0 to become European champions for the 14th time.

Source: AFP

Manchester City will begin the defence of their Premier League title at West Ham while Liverpool travel to Fulham on the opening weekend of the season.

The 2022/23 fixtures, published on Thursday, give new Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag an opening test at Old Trafford against Brighton, who hammered United 4-0 last month.

Nottingham Forest’s first match in the top flight for 23 years will be at Newcastle.

Pep Guardiola’s City will start their bid for a fifth title in six seasons at the London Stadium on Sunday, August 7, after all their rivals have begun their campaigns.

Frank Lampard, whose Everton side narrowly escaped relegation, comes up against his former employers Chelsea on the previous evening.

For the second season running Arsenal have the honour of kicking-off the new campaign with a short trip to Crystal Palace on Friday, August 5.

Liverpool and City renew their rivalry at Anfield in mid-October, after a midweek Champions League tie, with the return fixture scheduled for the start of April.

Reds boss Jurgen Klopp is unlikely to be impressed with their fixture allocation in conjunction with their European commitments.

Their three away matches following Champions League group games are against Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham.

The traditional “Big Six” have been kept apart on the final weekend before the mid-season break for the World Cup in Qatar, the weekend of November 12/13.

Following the resumption of the campaign on December 26, Leeds host City and United welcome Forest.

City head to Brentford on the final day of the season, with Liverpool away at Southampton.

Fixtures

Friday, August 5

Crystal Palace v Arsenal (1900 GMT)

Saturday, August 6 (1400 GMT unless stated)

Fulham v Liverpool (1130), Bournemouth v Aston Villa, Leeds v Wolves, Leicester v Brentford, Newcastle v Nottingham Forest, Tottenham v Southampton, Everton v Chelsea (1630)

Sunday, August 7

Manchester United v Brighton (1300), West Ham v Manchester City (1530)

Source:  AFP

France midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni has joined Real Madrid from Monaco, both clubs announced on Saturday.

According to sources the 22-year-old has cost the Champions League and La Liga holders more than 80 million euros ($84 million) as well as an additional 20 million euros in bonuses.

The former Bordeaux playmaker has won 10 caps since making his Les Bleus debut in September.

“Real Madrid and Monaco have agreed on the transfer of the player Aurelien Tchouameni, who will be linked to the club for the next six seasons,” they said.

“Next Tuesday, June 14, at 12:00 at Real Madrid City, the presentation ceremony for Aurelien Tchouameni as a new Real Madrid player will take place after the corresponding medical examination,” they added.

Madrid have also signed Chelsea centre-back Antonio Ruediger ahead of the new season but missed out on Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappe last month as he decided to stay in the French capital.

Source: AFP

Pressure was growing Friday on French authorities after the surprise revelation CCTV footage from the Stade de France during the Champions League final last month has been deleted, with critics alleging a deliberate cover-up.

The French Football Federation revealed Thursday to a commission at the French Senate the images had been destroyed automatically having not been subject to a warrant from judicial authorities, in line with French law.

The revelation adds to the controversy after crowd control problems, tear gas and street crime marred the final at Paris’ Stade de France between Liverpool and Real Madrid on May 28.

France’s reputation has taken a battering as laid out in a government report on Friday.

It said the “chain of failures” by French authorities has inflicted “severe damage” on the image of the country.

Opposition politicians seized on the latest revelations about the CCTV footage to hammer the authorities.

“It’s called covering your tracks,” far-right National Rally leader Marine Le Pen told BFMTV on Friday.

“The fact that there is no CCTV footage allows their huge lies to be covered,” Le Pen added, pointing to the initial claim from the French government that fake tickets on an ‘industrial-scale’ caused the pandemonium.

Police asked Stade de France for the footage, but only on Thursday evening after it became public that the images had been destroyed, a source close to the case told AFP Friday.

“Yesterday’s information that the images would not be kept for one month, but only a few days, led us to ask for them,” Bobigny prosecutors, in charge of the investigation into fake tickets, said.

The State de France is allowed to store CCTV footage for a maximum of 30 days, but the servers only have the capacity to store them for seven or eight.

On Twitter French police said Thursday the images taken by the Stade de France cameras may no longer exist but that the police still had their images.

But Socialist vice-president of the Senate’s law commission David Assouline said Friday on Franceinfo radio he was “stupefied” by the news, adding it demonstrated an “incredible lack of co-ordination” between the police and politicians.

-‘State scandal’-

Liverpool mayor Steve Rotheram, questioned by the Senate commission after the FFF delegation, said that he failed “to understand why the videos were destroyed”.

“We’re heading straight towards a state scandal,” the head of the opposition Republicans (LR) faction in the Senate, Bruno Retailleau, told RFI radio, adding the destruction of the CCTV footage was an “intentional act … to make evidence disappear”.

But ruling party MP Aurore Berge said on RMC radio that there were enough elements for the investigation.

“We have plenty of witness statements and images that should nonetheless guide (the investigators),” Berge said.

On Thursday the chief of the Paris police Didier Lallement admitted in front of the Senate commission investigating the May 28 chaos that the security operations for the Champions League final were a “failure”.

“It was a failure because people were pushed around and attacked. It’s a failure because the image of the country was tarnished,” he said.

Lallement and Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin initially blamed the mayhem on as many as 40,000 Liverpool fans who massed at the stadium without tickets or with counterfeit tickets.

That figure has been widely disputed since by witnesses and media using images from the ground, and Lallement admitted yesterday: “Perhaps I made a mistake with the figure I gave to the minister”.

He acknowledged there were not 30,000 to 40,000 “at the gates of the stadium” but maintained that several thousands were “in the vicinity” of police checkpoints at the Stade de France to the north of the capital.

Many Liverpool supporters struggled to enter the stadium, leading to kick-off being delayed by more than half an hour and crushes at the entry gates, where police fired tear gas.

The government’s initial decision to blame Liverpool fans for the problems caused tensions between France and Britain, while raising questions about the capacity of Paris to host the Rugby World Cup next year and the Olympic Games in 2024.

Source: AFP

Germany’s coach Hansi Flick said on Monday that his team would need to improve against England’s ‘extraordinary players’ in a Nations League clash in Munich on Tuesday.

Flick praised the English Premier League at his pre-match press conference saying “the quality is very high”.

“They have six or seven clubs of almost equal level,” said Flick, a former Bayern Munich coach.

Flick said German players who move to the Premier League “take a step up”.

Flick’s squad contains four players who played for English clubs last season, including three under German coach Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea.

Flick singled out Kai Havertz “who grew up under the influence of Thomas Tuchel.”

Midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, who scored twice on the final day of the Premier League season to seal the title for Manchester City, praised England’s strength in depth.

“They could form three national teams,” he said.

Flick said he was disappointed with a 1-1 draw with Italy in Bologna on Saturday, on the same evening that England lost their goup opener 1-0 in Hungary.

“It is obvious that we must do better” against England, said Flick.

“They have extraordinary players and their game is very physical. (Harry) Kane is a world-class striker, he has a huge quality,” Flick said.

“It will be a big game for us and it will be important to implement our plan well,” said Flick, still undefeated after ten games as Germany coach.

Gundogan, who has been at City since 2016, insisted the historic rivalry between England and Germany was “no longer an issue.”

“The respect is there, and in the end it is about sport,” he said.

“We have had several German players who succeeded in England, and it has become very friendly, even if sometimes we banter a little”.

Source: AFP

Liverpool chief executive Billy Hogan has accused the French authorities of trying to “deflect responsibility” for the chaotic scenes that marred the Champions League final in Paris.

UEFA have announced an independent review into scenes outside the Stade de France on Saturday that saw supporters funnelled into overcrowded corridors and hit with tear gas and pepper spray from police.

Kick-off to the match, which Real Madrid won 1-0, was delayed by 36 minutes to allow supporters extra time to access the stadium.

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin blamed the chaos on “industrial-scale” fraud of 30,000 to 40,000 fake tickets.

However, that account has been strongly rejected by Liverpool fans who have pointed to a series of organisational failings around the stadium and the heavy-handed response from police.

Liverpool chairman Tom Werner has demanded an apology from French sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera.

Oudea-Castera initially blamed Liverpool for helping to cause the mayhem, telling a French radio station that the club failed to properly organise its supporters who went to Paris.

“We just feel that everyone should be focused on getting the investigation right and less about making inflammatory comments that attempt to deflect responsibility for what happened on Saturday night,” Hogan told the Liverpool website.

“We should know all the facts to make sure that the scenes that we’ve all seen – absolutely disgraceful – from Saturday don’t ever happen again.”

Family members and friends of the Liverpool squad were caught up in the scenes outside the stadium.

Left-back Andy Robertson said a friend he had given a club ticket to was denied entry and accused of carrying a fake ticket.

The wife of Thiago Alcantara, Julia Vigas, posted on Instagram: “Due to a lack of organisation and security, there were so many scary moments.”

Vigas added: “Something has to be done, these kind of things cannot happen in any kind of event and we ask for responsibility. It could have been much worse.”

UEFA initially blamed the late arrival of fans for the problems before later issuing a statement referring to fake tickets as the cause.

“To say our fans didn’t turn up on time is crazy,” added Hogan.

“My colleagues across the club, our ownership and I, we all saw it with our own eyes. We were outside the ground, on the ground, in those crowds and from everything I saw, our fans arrived early and they were queueing as directed by authorities.”

Liverpool have begun compiling their own evidence with supporters and other people present invited to report their experiences via a feedback form on their website.

Fans have compared the dangerous scenes outside the stadium to the Hillsborough disaster in which 97 Liverpool fans were killed in a crush in 1989.

UEFA said their own independent review, led by Portugal’s Dr Tiago Brandao Rodrigues “will examine decision making, responsibility and behaviours of all entities involved in the final.”

Source: AFP

Vinicius Junior scored the only goal of the game as Real Madrid beat Liverpool 1-0 in Saturday’s Champions League final in Paris to become kings of Europe for a record-extending 14th time after a night marred by problems outside the ground that led to the kick-off being delayed by over half an hour.

Brazilian winger Vinicius turned in Fede Valverde’s enticing low cross in the 59th minute at the Stade de France and Liverpool could not find an equaliser as Jurgen Klopp’s side lost to the Spanish giants in a Champions League final for the second time in five seasons.

The Anfield side will wonder what might have been had the outstanding Thibaut Courtois not pushed Sadio Mane’s shot onto the inside of a post when they were on top in the first half, as they fell short of a trophy treble.

Winners of the English League Cup and FA Cup this season, they just missed out to Manchester City for the Premier League title and were denied a victory here which would have put them level with AC Milan on seven European Cups.

Instead Real have a fifth Champions League in nine seasons to go with their Spanish title, as Carlo Ancelotti becomes the first coach to win European club football’s greatest prize for a fourth time.

Ancelotti was also in charge of Real when they won the 2014 final having also triumphed with AC Milan in 2003 and in 2007, the latter victory coming against Liverpool.

Delayed kick-off

The match kicked off 35 minutes later than the planned 9:00 pm (1900 GMT) start in the French capital after chaos at entrances to the stadium led to fans being unable to get to their seats.

UEFA said it was “sympathetic” towards those affected and put the huge build-ups of supporters at gates down to “thousands of fans who had purchased fake tickets which did not work in the turnstiles”.

Tear gas was also fired by police as a small number of people could be seen trying to scale fences around the perimeter of the ground.

The final was only moved to the French capital after Saint-Petersburg was stripped of the game following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.

The delayed kick-off may have been responsible for the slow start to the game itself, as it took 16 minutes before there was an incident of note, Mohamed Salah turning a low Trent Alexander-Arnold cross towards goal only for Courtois to save.

Liverpool were seen as favourites to avenge their loss to the Spanish giants in the 2018 final in Kyiv and they began to take control of the game.

Mane came agonisingly close to opening the scoring in the 21st minute as he skipped his way into a shooting position inside the box only for Courtois to tip his net-bound shot onto his right-hand post.

Klopp’s side, with Fabinho and Thiago Alcantara starting in midfield after overcoming fitness worries, were on top but could not turn their superiority into a lead.

Outstanding Courtois

Real, meanwhile, created almost nothing in the first half with Karim Benzema quiet, but their captain briefly thought he had got the breakthrough two minutes before the interval.

The Frenchman prodded home after the ball broke back to him inside the area but the offside flag was raised.

The decision to disallow the goal was upheld after a lengthy VAR check, despite Fabinho deflecting Valverde’s touch through to Benzema.

Yet Ancelotti’s side kept their nerve and were rewarded with the goal as the hour mark approached.

Valverde drove forward down the right before firing a low ball across the face of goal for Vinicius to turn it in at the far post past his Brazilian national team colleague Alisson.

Just like in 2018, Real had drawn first blood, but this time there was no need for them to send on Gareth Bale in order to ensure victory.

Courtois was superb, flying to his right to keep out a Salah curler before two saves in quick succession late on.

First the Belgian got down low when substitute Diogo Jota deflected Salah’s effort towards goal, and then he produced a strong arm to turn a Salah strike behind.

It was Real Madrid’s night.

Source: AFP

Liverpool and Real Madrid meet in the Champions League final for the second time in five years in Paris on Saturday, with Jurgen Klopp’s side aiming to end the season with a trophy treble while the Spanish giants will look to Karim Benzema to inspire them to a 14th European Cup victory.

A crowd of 80,000 will be inside the Stade de France for the final, which kicks off at 9pm in Paris (1900 GMT), including around 20,000 supporters of each side who have officially got their hands on precious tickets for the game.

The final promises to be a fitting climax to the European season, with Liverpool looking to win a second Champions League in four seasons since losing 3-1 to Real in Kyiv in 2018, when Mohamed Salah went off injured in the first half and Gareth Bale scored twice for the Spaniards.

Victory would round off a campaign in which Liverpool won the English League Cup and FA Cup, and finished just a point behind champions Manchester City in the Premier League.

“If you are a football person you know what my boys did so far this season was exceptional,” Klopp said on Friday.

“But we all know you are judged by the colour of the medal after a game.

“I’m more than happy and proud of what we did so far, it’s really special. I will feel better if we win the game and that’s all that I am concerned about,” added Klopp, who has been boosted by the news that midfield duo Fabinho and Thiago Alcantara are fit to play.

Seventh heaven?

The Anfield club can win their seventh European Cup, a tally that would see them go level with AC Milan and leave only Real with more victories.

Indeed Madrid are looking to win their fifth Champions League in nine seasons and, ominously, have won on all of their last seven final appearances.

While Liverpool saw off Inter Milan, Benfica and Villarreal in the knockout rounds, Carlo Ancelotti’s Real produced a series of memorable comebacks to beat Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and then Manchester City.

“It is a great success for all of us to be here. We know very well the demands at this club, the history, but for us to get here is huge,” said Ancelotti, who last year was in charge of Liverpool’s local rivals Everton.

“We are convinced that the season has already been very, very good but now we are very close to getting the big one.”

Liverpool look to have the stronger side on paper, with Alisson in goal, Virgil van Dijk marshalling their defence and Salah and Sadio Mane leading their attack.

Yet Real are pinning their hopes on Karim Benzema, the 34-year-old Frenchman who has 15 goals in the competition this season.

Eyes on Benzema

He has scored 44 times altogether this season to lead Real to the Spanish title and is the favourite to win the Ballon d’Or.

“He is for sure one of the best players in the world, probably the best forward in the world, and I’m sure the most underestimated player maybe in history,” UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin told AFP on Friday when asked about Benzema.

“He has more personality and leadership on and off the field now but what has not changed is his quality and he remains as humble as ever,” said Ancelotti, who won the 2014 Champions League with Real in his first spell as coach.

Ancelotti can become the first coach to win the Champions League four times, having also triumphed with AC Milan in 2003 and 2007 — he is currently level on three wins with Zinedine Zidane and Bob Paisley.

Fans descend on Paris

This will be the third final between the clubs, who also met in Paris in 1981, when the English side triumphed thanks to Alan Kennedy’s goal at the Parc des Princes.

This final — which will be refereed by Frenchman Clement Turpin — is only being played in Paris after Saint-Petersburg was stripped of the game following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

There is some concern about the new pitch at the Stade de France which was only laid this week after the venue was used for a concert last weekend — Klopp suggested playing on a brand new surface was “obviously not the best news”.

Around 40,000 Liverpool fans without tickets for the game are also expected to be in Paris, while around seven thousand police will be on duty as part of a massive security operation.

Source: AFP

Zlatan Ibrahimovic intends to continue playing despite the end of his contract with AC Milan and a lengthy layoff in store following knee surgery, club director Paolo Maldini said Friday.

“From what I understand, his intention is to continue,” Maldini told Gazzetta dello Sport, two days after the striker, who turns 41 in October, underwent surgery that is expected to sideline him for eight months.

“We have made an appointment in a fortnight. I don’t see any problem in reaching an agreement. He is certainly not at ease playing so little. We will see what happens in the next two weeks,” Maldini said.

Ibrahimovic, who returned to AC Milan in January 2020 eight years after leaving and has just helped the club win their first Serie A title since 2011, has had the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee reconstructed.

The former Inter Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United forward said this week he endured six months of sleepless nights due to the pain in his knee because he was determined to fulfil his promise to AC Milan of delivering their first Serie A crown in 11 years.

Meanwhile, Maldini confirmed that the club are in the process of signing Belgian striker Divock Origi from Liverpool to support Olivier Giroud, Rafael Leao and Ante Rebic in attack.

Milan does not currently have “the financial means” to make large transfers, said former ‘Rossoneri’ icon Maldini, with negotiations currently underway for the sale of the club which has won 19 Serie A titles.

Discussions between Bahrain-based Investcorp and AC Milan’s current owners, American investment fund Elliott Management, ended on Thursday without a deal.

Another American investment fund, RedBird Capital Partners, are now thought to be in the driving seat to secure a takeover.

Source:  AFP

Manchester City won the Premier League for the fourth time in five seasons after a pulsating title race reached a dramatic conclusion as the champions staged an incredible comeback from two goals down to beat Aston Villa 3-2 on Sunday.

Pep Guardiola’s side were teetering on the brink of blowing the title after falling 2-0 behind midway through the second half at the Etihad Stadium.

But Ilkay Gundogan sparked an astonishing City revival as the German midfielder reduced the deficit before Rodri grabbed the equaliser.

Gundogan turned in City’s third goal in the space of five minutes in the 81st minute, triggering wild celebrations and rendering second placed Liverpool’s 3-1 victory against Wolves irrelevant.

City finished with 93 points, one ahead of Liverpool as they ended their rivals hopes of winning an unprecedented quadruple.

On a breathtaking final day, Burnley were relegated as Leeds beat the drop, while Tottenham qualified for the Champions League at the expense of their north London rivals Arsenal.

It was City who hogged the spotlight on a day their fans, who spilled onto the pitch in delight, will never forget.

Guardiola’s men can rightly be called a dynasty after joining Manchester United as the only clubs in the Premier League era to have won four titles in five seasons, with Alex Ferguson’s teams doing it on three separate occasions.

The eighth league title in City’s history is Guardiola’s ninth major trophy since arriving at the club in 2016.

Once again, City saved the best until last as they edged Liverpool out on the final day of the season for the second time after beating them to the finish line in 2019.

It was 10 years since Sergio Aguero’s famous last-second goal against QPR sealed City’s first title since 1968 and this jaw-dropping success was almost as unlikely.

Guardiola had called on City’s fans to be “loud, loud, loud” in their bid to retain the crown, but they were stunned into silence in the 37th minute.

Lucas Digne whipped in a cross from the left and Matty Cash got in front of Joao Cancelo to score with a bullet header.

Former Liverpool star Philippe Coutinho doubled Villa’s lead with a cool finish in the 69th minute.

The shell-shocked Guardiola slumped into his seat, but City would not surrender and Ilkay Gundogan headed them back into contention in the 76th minute.

Rodri’s low strike from the edge of the area two minutes later set up a nerve-jangling finale.

And in the 81st minute, Kevin de Bruyne’s low cross reached Gundogan at the far post and the substitute tapped home to send City into ecstasy.

Having already won the FA Cup and League Cup, Liverpool can still enjoy a memorable season of their own if they beat Real Madrid in the Champions League final in Paris on Saturday.

Spurs back in Champions League

Liverpool trailed City by 14 points in January, but Klopp’s side pushed them to the wire, showing the fortitude that earned them the nickname “mentality monsters” from their manager.

Liverpool were rocked after just three minutes when Pedro Neto produced a close-range finish from Raul Jimenez’s cross.

Sadio Mane equalised with a clinical strike from just inside the area after sprinting onto Thiago Alcantara’s pass in the 24th minute.

Mohamed Salah poked Liverpool ahead with six minutes left but by then news of City’s extraordinary recovery had reached Anfield, which was in subdued mood by the time Andrew Robertson scored in stoppage-time.

Tottenham’s 5-0 rout of relegated Norwich secured fourth place at Carrow Road.

Just a few weeks ago, Antonio Conte had insisted it would take a “miracle” for Tottenham to finish in the top four, but the Italian has masterminded a superb run that ends his club’s two-year absence from the Champions League.

Dejan Kulusevski’s 16th minute tap-in from Rodrigo Bentancur’s pass put Tottenham ahead before Harry Kane struck with a diving header in the 32nd minute.

Kulusevski curled a sublime shot into the far corner in the 64th minute and Golden Boot winner Son Heung-min scored in the 70th and 75th minutes.

Tottenham’s victory left north London rivals Arsenal in fifth place despite their 5-1 win against Everton.

Burnley’s six-season stay in the top tier ended with a 2-1 home defeat against Newcastle, with Leeds staying up after a 2-1 win at Brentford.

Leeds started the day below Burnley on goal difference, but the Clarets were beaten by Callum Wilson’s brace, while Jesse Marsch’s team escaped thanks to Raphinha’s penalty and Jack Harrison’s last-gasp strike.

Manchester United lost 1-0 at Crystal Palace, but qualified for the Europa League thanks to West Ham’s 3-1 defeat at Brighton.

Source: AFP