Both German giants Bayern Munich and Scottish mammoths Rangers had disappointing seasons by their high standards last term, but both are now on course to redeem themselves by winning four trophies this campaign.
However, both sides enter today’s UEFA Cup semi-final first leg matches under strength as Bayern host Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg and Rangers are at home to highflying Serie A outfit Fiorentina.
Bayern Munich have already captured the League Cup and last weekend’s German Cup in what is coach Ottmar Hitzfeld and goalkeeper Oliver Kahn’s farewell seasons with the Bavarian side, but the two bigger prizes remain to be delivered in the UEFA Cup and national title.
PHOTO :EPA
However, they travel to Russia not in the best of heart rather surprisingly as 35-goal scoring World Cup winner Luca Toni is suspended and doubts surrounding German international forward Miroslav Klose.
Klose failed to train on Tuesday as he was still recovering from a blow to his foot he picked up in the 2-1 German Cup final win over Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.
“There is a doubt over Klose,” the club said.
Should that be the case Bayern, are likely to field the makeshift pairing of Klose’s fellow Polish-born German international Lukas Podolski and Jan Schlaudraff.
One good piece of news for Bayern is that hardman Dutch midfielder Mark van Bommel is prepared to play even though he broke his nose in the Cup final.
Rangers — who lost to Fiorentina in the 1961 UEFA Cup final when it was a two-legged affair — meanwhile have just the League Cup to their name but booked their ticket into the Scottish Cup final last Sunday on penalties over St Johnstone and face tiny Queen of the South in the final.
Whilst bitter rivals Celtic lead in the title race, Rangers have several games in hand but a mixture of a fixture pile-up and an ever increasing long term injury list to key players could put a dampener on their aspirations to a quadruple sweep of trophies.
Rangers, though, go into the match stretched almost to the limit with inspirational keeper Allan McGregor all but certain to be out for the season alongside midfielder Lee McCulloch as doubts persist over Charlie Adam, Steven Naismith and Chris Burke for the grueling run-in.
Memphis Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke, 29, has died, the NBA team said in a statement on Tuesday, while the family of Jason Collins, the first openly gay man to play in a major US pro sports league, announced the former Grizzlies and Brooklyn Nets player had died after a battle with brain cancer. “We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of Brandon Clarke,” the Grizzlies said in a statement posted on social media. “Brandon was an outstanding teammate and an even better person whose impact on the organization and the greater Memphis community will not be forgotten.” The statement did not provide
Taiwan’s top male badminton player, Chou Tien-chen, on Saturday bowed out in the men’s singles semi-finals at the Thailand Open after losing in straight games to Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn. The world No. 6 Chou, seeded fourth at the Super 500 tournament, lost to the world No. 2 Thai 21-7, 21-19 in 53 minutes. The victory improved Vitidsarn’s head-to-head record against Chou to 3-5. Chou, 36, trailed throughout the opening game after the score was tied 2-2. His relatively passive approach allowed the 25-year-old Thai to capitalize on Chou’s defensive clears with powerful smashes while committing few unforced errors. The Taiwanese
FRUSTRATION: Gauff smacked herself on the head with her racket before storming down the tunnel, emerging afterward to have a heated discussion with her coach Elina Svitolina on Saturday won the Italian Open after beating Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 6-2 to claim her third Rome title, while Jannik Sinner set a date with Casper Ruud in the men’s final. Ukraine’s Svitolina had not claimed a WTA 1000 title since her last victory at the Foro Italico eight years ago, but prevailed over the ever-erratic Gauff to claim her 20th tournament triumph. Saturday’s win over Gauff was her third in a row against a player in the top four of the world rankings — including Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina — ahead of the French
West Ham United’s 3-1 defeat at Newcastle United on Sunday left Tottenham Hotspur realistically only needing one more point to win the battle for English Premier League survival, while Bruno Fernandes made history in Manchester United’s 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest. Spurs can avoid dropping out of the English top flight for the first time in nearly 50 years with victory at Chelsea today, but a draw would also likely suffice thanks to their much superior goal-difference over West Ham. “Overall bad performance. Too many things [went wrong], I think we gifted them the goals,” West Ham head caoch Nuno Espirito Santo
RSS