Postecoglou nearing departure after poor Spurs hand Chelsea a ‘catalyst’ with £5m Sancho decision enticing

By Damerex -
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Ange Postecoglou appears to be in a dire situation, as the Europa League rescue seems improbable following Spurs’ absence against Chelsea, who ought to cover the costs for sending Jadon Sancho back to Manchester United...  Chelsea's lackluster display against Arsenal raised doubts about their desire to win, as Enzo Maresca's team seemingly let their London competitors secure a comfortable victory.  This poor performance resulted in Chelsea having the same points total as Manchester United since their pursuit of the Premier League title began to fade in mid-December.  During this period, Spurs have fared even worse since only Championship-bound Southampton, Leicester City, and Ipswich Town have garnered fewer points in 2025 than Postecoglou’s team in the Premier League.  Tottenham’s injury issues are a relevant factor, but even their makeshift squad has significantly underachieved and failed to show up in far too many matches this season.  Their injury concerns h...
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Champions League 2024/25 knockout phase draw: Man City, Real Madrid, and PSG discover their rivals.

By Damerex -

Paris Saint-Germain will meet French rivals Brest in this season's Champions League quarterfinal play-offs, while Manchester City will play reigning champions Real Madrid.

The enlarged 36-team table was ultimately finished Wednesday night after the Champions League's inaugural league phase concluded with 18 concurrent matches. The 16 clubs between ninth and twenty-fourth place will face off over two legs in February, as the teams that placed in the top eight automatically advanced to the round of sixteen and were not involved in Friday's draw.

 Thiago Alcantara was there at UEFA's House of Football in Switzerland to interpret the specific ties, even though each club was already aware that it could only play one of two opponents in these play-offs depending on their final league phase table position.

Complete draw for the 2024/25 Champions League knockout stage play-offs 

[Second on the list are seeded teams]

• Juventus vs PSV

• Feyenoord vs Milan

• Brest vs PSG

• Monaco vs Benfica

• Man City vs Real Madrid

• Celtic vs Bayern Munich

• Club Brugge vs Atalanta

• Sporting CP vs Borussia Dortmund

When are the knockout stages of the Champions League?

Either Tuesday, February 11, or Wednesday, February 12, are the dates set for the first legs of these first playoffs. One week later, on February 18–19, the reversal fixtures will take place. 

There will be a draw for the round of 16 quarterfinals and semi-finals on Friday, February 21, the same week that these matches are finished. 

The eight teams that automatically advanced to the round of 16—including Liverpool, Barcelona, and Arsenal—will finally face off against each other in this particular game of ball juggling.

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