Ronaldo May Miss Man City Game

News coming in indicates that MRI scans have confirmed that Cristiano Ronaldo has suffered a tear in his hamstring, which is likely to sideline him for Real Madrid’s UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg encounter with Manchester United.

The 31-year old could miss decider against the English side next week after tests confirmed that the forward has suffered a muscle tear.

He missed last Tuesday’s goalless draw at the Etihad Stadium after an MRI scan confirmed that he had suffered a tear in his hamstring.

A return date to the field for the super star has not been fixed, and, he could miss several games, including next week’s Champions League semi-final second-leg at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Ronaldo, who has scored 47 goals in 45 appearances this season, suffered the injury during the 3-0 victory over Villarreal in their La Liga clash on April 20.

 

 

Ronaldo May Miss Man City Game

Man City Have Nothing To Fear At Real Madrid - Pellegrini

Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini says his side have nothing to fear in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid, despite David Silva missing the game.

City, who are hoping to reach the final for the first time, drew Tuesday’s first leg 0-0 at Etihad Stadium.

Playmaker Silva will miss the second leg on 4 May with a hamstring problem.

“I don’t think Real are favourites,” Pellegrini said. “We are not afraid to go away to the Bernabeu.”

Football Daily podcast: ‘A professional European display by Man City’

Real are yet to concede a goal at home in the Champions League this season.

City did not manage a shot on target until stoppage time of the first leg, and their task against the 10-time European champions will be made harder by the absence of the Spaniard Silva, who limped off before half-time on Tuesday.

“David will not be fit next week,” said Pellegrini.

The Chilean is already set to be without midfielder Yaya Toure, who missed the first leg with a thigh problem, while another key attacking player, Samir Nasri, is not in their Champions League squad.

City, who play at Southampton in the Premier League at on Sunday, also have less recovery time than Real, who face Real Sociedad in La Liga at on Saturday.

“Unfortunately for us we have one day less rest than Real,” added Pellegrini. “We tried to change our game and it was impossible.

“But we trust in what we are going to do in Spain. The players believe in what we are doing and I am sure we will give everything we can in that game.

“Of course Real have the advantage of playing the second leg at home.

“But, when we are away, we play very similar to the way we do at home and this season we have already had very good results playing away at Sevilla, Dynamo Kiev and Paris St-German.”

Pellegrini insisted that City have not missed their chance, despite failing to open up an advantage over a Real side that were without their superstar forward Cristiano Ronaldo in Manchester because of injury.

“They did not have Cristiano; we did not have Yaya. Karim Benzema played 45 minutes for them – the same as Silva, who is very important for us.

“It was a very close game where we tried from the beginning to win. We pressed high and recovered the ball very well but we were not creative and we did not create a clear chance to score.”

City keeper Joe Hart, who made two crucial saves at the end of Tuesday’s game, is also confident that England’s last remaining representatives in the Champions League can continue their progress in Spain.

“Bring it on. We are ready,” said the England international. “We have a brilliant squad who are coming to fruition. It is a big game next week, simple as.”

BBC

Man City Have Nothing To Fear At Real Madrid - Pellegrini

Ferguson Reveals Man United Regret

Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that he regrets not building the Manchester United gym overlooking the club’s training ground at Carrington.

The Old Trafford legend oversaw the move from The Cliff, United’s previous training ground, to the state-of-the-art complex in Cheshire in 2000 but admitted that he realised he had made a mistake three years after the project was completed, following a visit to Barcelona.

Speaking at the opening of Fleetwood Town’s new Poolfoot Farm training ground, where Ferguson cut the ribbon on the League 1 side’s new base, the former United boss indicated that he wished the gym at Carrington had been built overlooking the training pitches, to act as an incentive for injured players to get back to action.

“One part I wish I’d done at United was that the gym is one floor up and you can see into the training ground,” Ferguson said at Poolfoot Farm.

“Three years after we’d built Carrington I went over to Barcelona and realised we’d made a mistake. Our gym at Carrington is enclosed.

“Looking out at the training ground makes the players hungry to get out there. So when a player is coming back from injury he can see the pitches it’s an incentive to get out there.

“So there are things I wish I’d thought about when Carrington was built that I see here.”

Goal

Ferguson Reveals Man United Regret

Former Player Says LVG Can Succeed At Man Utd

Javier Hernandez believes Louis van Gaal is still capable of turning Manchester United’s fortunes around – despite being told he was surplus to requirements by the Dutchman.

The Mexican striker has taken the Bundesliga by storm this season since leaving Old Trafford for Bayer Leverkusen in September.

Hernandez was named Bundesliga player of the month three consecutive times in November, December and January and has scored 16 goals in 25 league games so far this season.

In contrast, United have struggled in front of goal and are currently in danger of missing out on Champions League qualification as they trail both Arsenal and Manchester City by four points with five games to play in the race for the top four.

Many would forgive Hernandez for harbouring resentment towards Van Gaal for the manner in which he was forced to leave Old Trafford.

But the 27-year-old still respects the beleaguered United manager and says he can guide the club back to the summit of English football if he is given more time.

“He is a really good manager to be honest,” Hernandez said, speaking exclusively to Sky Sports News HQ. “He has his own ways like all the managers in the world.

“You will not find the new Sir Alex Ferguson in the next 50 or 100 years because he was unique. He was special.

“Van Gaal can do it but in football, time and results are going to speak about if he is the main man or if he is not.”

After being loaned out to Real Madrid during Van Gaal’s first season in charge, Hernandez was told by the Dutchman that Wayne Rooney would be his first-choice striker and his chances in the United first team would be severely limited if he stayed.

While Hernandez has scored freely for Leverkusen, United have struggled in front of goal and are on course to shatter their record for lowest goals scored in a Premier League season.

The Red Devils have managed just 40 goals from their 33 games so far, while their previous low of 58 goals was set in 2004/05.

Anthony Martial is United’s top scorer in the league with eight goals while Rooney is second with seven. Their combined total of 15 league goals is one less than Hernandez has managed for Leverkusen.

Given how the season has gone for both parties, many United fans have questioned the decision to sell Hernandez but he says it was made clear to him that he was no longer wanted at Old Trafford.

“He just told me that my chances to play would be very hard,” Hernandez said. “I appreciate that he was very honest since the beginning.

“When I left, he told me my chances and my opportunities were going to be less because his main striker was going to be Wayne Rooney.

“If he wasn’t fit for example, I was going to play but when he was ready he would play.”

Credit: Skysports

Former Player Says LVG Can Succeed At Man Utd

Hiring Of Pep Guardiola Hit Man City Title Bid - Pellegrini

The decision to replace Pellegrini with Guardiola was announced on February 1 and was followed by damaging back-to-back defeats to Leicester and Tottenham, which derailed their title bid.

City are coming back into form after reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League and defeating Chelsea 3-0 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, but they have not been able to regain the initiative in the title race.

“For different reasons, we lost important games in February against Leicester and Tottenham,” Pellegrini said. “For me, they’re the two games that don’t allow us now to be involved in the title.

“In the start of February came the news about the change of the manager, telling the players I will not continue here next year. A lot of things that involve the minds of all the players.

“We had those defeats at home. Now I think we are stable again and I’m very happy to finish the way we are doing in these last games.”

Guardiola’s arrival will herald a new era for City, but it will also signal a shift in playing philosophy that will require a turnover in playing personnel.

These impending changes have not gone unnoticed by City’s existing players.

Yaya Toure’s agent expects the Ivorian to leave the club in the summer, while City are in “advanced talks” to sign Ilkay Gundogan from Borussia Dortmund as a replacement.

Pellegrini admits the constant transfer speculation has put a strain on the squad but is confident his players can put that out of their head when they face Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals.

“It’s not easy for the players when you read in newspapers all the things that will happen next season, all the players who will go out, all the players that will come in,” Pellegrini said.

“It’s not easy for the players to focus their mind. But this squad has a lot of character. We never give up.

“But I think the merit of this squad is always that it had a lot of character, personality. We never give up, we continue in the same way, and I hope we will see in the future in the Champions League. I am sure this team, playing in this way, can play in the final.”

Credit: Skysports

Hiring Of Pep Guardiola Hit Man City Title Bid - Pellegrini

The Man Who Made Total Football Reality

Johan Cruyff, who has died at the age of 68, was one of football’s greatest and most significant figures. The proof lies in two phrases with which he will always be synonymous.

One is “Total Football” – the style epitomised by the Netherlands team, with Cruyff as the centrepiece, who reached the 1974 World Cup final under Rinus Michels before losing to West Germany.

It was a philosophy based on the theory that any outfield player could play in any other position on the pitch with comfort. Under his mentor Michels, Cruyff was the embodiment of the supremely skilled, multi-purpose footballer.

At that same World Cup, he invented a piece of skill that will be his calling card forever.

“The Cruyff turn”, when he bamboozled Sweden defender Jan Olsson with a touch of football ballet, allowed him to drag the ball behind his standing leg with the inside of his foot. It combined instinct, quick thinking, athleticism and natural ability. In other words, it was Johan Cruyff.

Cruyff was not simply the talisman for that Dutch team, he was the idol of Amsterdam as the inspiration behind three successive European Cup wins in 1971, 1972 and 1973 – before putting his playing brilliance into practice as a coach to lead Barcelona to their first European Cup in 1992 after winning the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1989.

The adage that great players do not necessarily make great coaches did not apply to Cruyff.

He has left an indelible mark on the game that will live on in the stylistic approach he brought to Barcelona and is maintained to this day. It will come to the Premier League next season when his protege Pep Guardiola takes over at Manchester City.

Cruyff’s mother was a cleaner at Ajax and persuaded the club to take her 12-year-old son into their youth system. It was a day that altered the history of a great club.

In two spells at Ajax, he won the Eredivisie eight times, but it was on the European stage that he was able to establish his name in a global context.

With elegance, grace, skill and a force of personality that made him a player as well as an outspoken, divisive character, he took Ajax to the pinnacle of the European game.

Tributes to a football great

David Beckham on Instagram: My thoughts and love are with the friends and family of not just one of the best footballers in the history of the game but also one of the greatest men and nicest person you could meet … The game lost a true hero today. Rest In Peace.

Luis Figo on Twitter: My first coach overseas, one of the best I ever had. A very important man in my career. We had a great loss.

Former World Cup-winning Germany captain Lothar Matthaus: Such sad news about Johan Cruyff. A great man, who transformed football. Condolences to his family and friends.

Cruyff, under the tutelage of Michels, helped Ajax thrash Bill Shankly’s great Liverpool side 5-1 in a European Cup tie in December 1966, also scoring twice in the 2-2 draw at Anfield in the second leg.

It was those halcyon early ’70s days, however, that the man called “Pythagoras in boots” by the British sportswriter David Miller established a reputation that will live on wherever football is played.

Ajax ruled Europe, beating Panathinaikos 2-0 at Wembley in 1971, repeating the feat via two Cruyff goals against Inter Milan in Amsterdam a year later then completing a European Cup treble with 1-0 win over Juventus in Belgrade in 1973.

At the heart of this thing of football beauty was Cruyff, the master of time and space and creator supreme.

He was the greatest among a collection of great players but a man apart on and off the pitch, his famous choice of the number 14 shirt a public symbol of his determination to be different.

After spells in the United States with Los Angeles Aztecs and Levante in Spain, he returned to Ajax and showed the old magic in two more title wins.

Contrary, complex, controversial and self-confident as ever, he reacted to Ajax’s failure to offer him a contract by moving to arch-rivals Feyenoord – then winning their first Eredivisie in a decade in 1983-84 as part of a league and cup double.

The love affair with Ajax was rekindled when he took over as coach. His innovative thinking and his ability to connect his ideas to young players came to fruition in the 1987 European Cup Winners’ Cup final with a 1-0 victory over Lokomotiv Leipzig in Athens.

Cruyff’s side that night had the skills of the young Aron Winter and Dennis Bergkamp alongside the brilliance of Marco van Basten and experience of Arnold Muhren.

Credit: BBC

The Man Who Made Total Football Reality

Do You Realize How Valuable You Are? Pt 2 By Derek Prince

Man Enters the Picture

In our imagination we might picture the three Persons of the Godhead taking counsel together about this event and its implications for the act of man’s creation. I spent a good part of my life in Africa, and that caused me to think like an African in many ways, which is to say I picture things very vividly. So I imagine the Godhead discussing this process in this way: “The problem with Lucifer was he was too glorious; he was too beautiful; he was too powerful; he was too wise. So let’s start at the opposite end. Let’s take something so humble and so insignificant that he can never become proud. We’ll take some dust. Just dust. Mix it with a little water, make some clay and mold it into a body.” And there it was-the body, formed by God. A perfect body. But it was just clay.

Here is where we begin to discover something remarkable about ourselves. We begin to see the immense value God put on this wonderful creation that He formed of dust: “God said, `Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness”‘ (Genesis 1:26).

God is speaking about Himself in the plural, which occurs several times in Scripture. This speaks of the mystery that God is triune, meaning three, yet one.

But here is the thing: Just as the Bible reveals the triune nature of God as Father, Son and Spirit (three Persons, yet one God), so the Bible reveals the triune nature of man (three elements, yet one human personality). We will notice that the triune God created a triune man. Notice also the use of the two words likeness and image.

Likeness describes that triune nature of man. The Hebrew word for image refers to something entirely different. It recurs in a different form in modern Hebrew in the phrase “to take a photograph.” Image describes the outward representation. Something in the outward appearance of man, his image, represented God.

Some people find that hard to accept. Let me suggest that it was appropriate when God was made manifest in the flesh to come in the form of a male human being, not in the form of an ox or a beetle or a bird. There was something about the outward appearance of the man and woman that could receive the inward form of God.

Then God goes on to say:
“Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image [we come to the singular here: His own image]; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. – Genesis 1:26-27

That last phrase is very important. A lot of controversy has been voiced about that particular theme over the years. God created two kinds of persons: male and female. They are quite distinct, and there is nothing in between. Also, God created them to rule over all the earth. They were God’s vice regents. I was born in India, and at that time there was a vice regent of India who represented the monarch in Britain. That was the position that God planned for the male and female. They would be His vice regents, the viceroys, the ones who reigned on behalf of God Himself.

That was God’s plan and God’s intent for His creation.

-You Matter To God

Do You Realize How Valuable You Are? Pt 2 By Derek Prince