VILLARREAL WIN EUROPA LEAGUE IN DRAMATIC FINALE

"Football, bloody hell!”

This was quoted by Sir Alex Ferguson on Manchester United's dramatic Champions League final victory over Bayern Munich in 1999. The same quote came and haunt them exactly 22 years later when United was beaten at the final of Europa League in the night of 26 May 2021.

United 2nd in the Premier League, is the favorite to clinch this trophy where Villarreal looked bewildered in the La Liga sitting only at 7th place in the table not even made the cut in any of the European Tournament.

But Villarreal, against all the odds have won the Europa League after defeating Manchester United 11-10 in a penalty shoot-out after drew 1 all in the 90 minutes leading up to the shootout.

Neither side able to find the winner after extra-time, the game headed to penalties in front of 9,500 fans at the Stadion Miejsk in Gdansk.

In form and evergreen striker Edinson Cavani's strike cancelled out Gerard Moreno's first-half effort paying it forward when the Ole Gunnar Solksjaer signed him for another year earlier this month. Meanwhile the ill-fated United goalkeeper David De Gea missed the deciding spot-kick and unable to block any of the goals against him in this 21 goals shootout thriller.

The trophy is Villarreal's first ever piece of major European silverware and manager Unai Emery's fourth triumph in the competition.

United team left Poland to lick their wounds in an otherwise an exciting campaign but unable to show any silverware since Solksjaer' arrival at Old Trafford in 2018. He will continue to rebuild this club next season and perhaps with a couple of great signings, United can be the European football force to be reckon with again.

By Faiz Hakim | Photos Europa League

TSS EVERYWHERE

ATLETICO CLINCH LA LIGA TITLE THANKS TO SUAREZ WINNER

Atletico Madrid ended a seven years wait to win La Liga title on Saturday. Luis Suarez was the hero as he fired them to a 2-1 comeback win at Real Valladolid, which secured them the Spanish championship. The win placed Athletico on top of the league table with two points more than city rivals Real Madrid.

TIGERS SUPER SPORTS

Valladolid took the lead in the 18th minute when Oscar Plano slotted past Jan Oblak in a counter attack. Atletico tried to bounce back but missed a series of clear opportunities. However, in the 57th Angel Correa broke through the opponents' defence to score the equaliser. Ten minutes later, Suarez delivered the winner and put Atletico on their way to a victory.

Real Madrid beat Villareal 2-1 at home and could have snatched the title away if Athletico failed to win. At the end, Atletico have been amazing this season and deserved to be the Champions of Spain. Suarez, who joined Atletico last year after being forced out by Barcelona was in tears after the match. He scored 21 goals in the campaign and Barcelona finished third in the league.

KAMPUNG BOY PHOTOGRAPHY

JUVENTUS BEAT ATALANTA TO TAKE COPPA ITALIA

Juventus battled a tough season with another record breaking 14th Italian Cup victory. Currently fifth in Sirie A this season, the Bianconeri gave everything to beat Atalanta 2-1 in the final at Mapei Stadium. About 4300 fans were allowed to watch the final in Reggio Emilia.

Juventus took the lead in the 31st minute as Dejan Kulusevski scored from a counter attack initiated by Juan Cuadrado before Weston McKennie delivered a fine assist. Just 10 minutes later, Atalanta leveled the score through Ruslan Malinovskyi who smashed home an opportunity to beat Gianluigi Buffon.

Federico Chiesa almost restore the lead for Juventus early in the second half. However his attempt from Cristiano Ronaldo’s backheeled flick went off the right post. Juventus got the winner in the 73rd minutes after a good one-two play by Kulusevski, and Chiesa drilled pass Pierluigi Gollini.

The match could marked as a final season for Buffon and Ronaldo with Juventus. The 43 year-old legendary goalkeeper has hinted about retirement and Ronaldo ready to be off-loaded from the club's financial constraints. For the records, Ronaldo has won 2 Sirie A titles, 2 SuperCoppa Italiana and a Coppa Italia since joining the club in 2018.

TIGER SUPER SPORTS

LEICESTER EDGE CHELSEA TO LIFT FA CUP

In their 137-year history, Leicester City had never previously won the FA Cup. They had reached four finals and lost them all. However, a superb long-range strike from Youri Tielemans gave Leicester City their first FA Cup triumph with a 1-0 victory over Chelsea at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.

21,000 fans returned to the stadium after last year's final was played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus pandemic. Leicester's owner, Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha was invited on to the field to celebrate with his team. His father, Vichai, whose ownership helped to transform the Midlands club, died in 2018 in a helicopter crash at Leicester's stadium.

MURSYID ALHARAMAIN

Chelsea dominated the first half but could not find the net, and Leicester lost their centre half Jonny Evans in the 34th minute due to injury. Then in the 63rd minute, Tielemans collected the ball and moved forward. As the Chelsea defence backed off he launched a magnificient shot to beat Kepe Arrizabalaga.

There was late drama when Wes Morgan put through his own goal in the 89th minute to get Chelsea thinking they were taking the game into extra-time, only for VAR to rule it out for offside. The final whistle prompted emotional celebrations from Leicester. Team manager Brendan Rodgers also earned his first trophy in English football after his successes in Scotland with Celtic.

TIGERS SUPER SPORTS

INTER MILAN END 11 YEARS WAIT WITH SCUDETTO VICTORY

After 11 years of waiting, Inter Milan clinched their first Serie A title on Sunday after Atalanta failed to win at Sassuolo. A day before, Christian Eriksen and Achraf Hakimi scored in a 2-0 win for Inter over Crotone, a victory that moved Antonio Conte's side 14 points clear of Atalanta on Saturday. Atalanta's 1-1 draw Sassuolo ensured Inter wrapped up the title with four games to play, its Scudetto success breaking Juventus' Serie A stranglehold.

Tigers Super Sports

Conte knew that his players would do something extraordinary because Inter haven't won a Scudetto in 11 years, and will break-up a dynasty. They finally denied Juventus a 10th successive Serie A title. For the records, Antoinio Conte led Juventus to the first three of those nine consecutive league titles.

JUVENTUS CAPTURES SUPERCOPPA ITALIANA

Juventus won the Supercoppa Italiana on Wednesday with a 2-0 win over Napoli at Stadio Mapei thanks to second-half goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Alvaro Morata. Lorenzo Insigne missed an 80th-minute penalty after Ronaldo's 64th-minute opener and Morata doubled the Bianconeri's advantage at the death.

The victory takes some pressure off of coach Andrea Pirlo with his first silverware as a coach, and Juve stretched their lead as the most successful club in the competition's history with nine titles.

The Italian giants brought Ronaldo in back in 2018 to continue their domination of domestic silverware and to make them more competitive in the latter stages of the UEFA Champions League. Although it is taking time for the continental objective to come to fruition, the Portugal international continues to rake in the trophies at 35 years of age. He now has four titles to his name in Italy as a part of his record 760-goal story.

Sharing the limelight with Ronaldo is Morata after he added a late second when teed up by Juan Cuadrado as part of a slick counterattack. The Spaniard continued his impressive scoring record and is the most reliable source of goals across all competitions for Pirlo's men with strikes in the Supercoppa, Serie A, Coppa Italia and the Champions League.

KAMPUNG BOY PHOTOGRAPHY

WORLD FOOTBALL LEGEND MARADONA DEAD AT 60

Diego Armando Maradona, one of the greatest football players of all time, died on Wednesday at the age of 60, plunging his native Argentina and football fans around the world into mourning.

Renowned along with Pele as one of the finest players ever to grace the field, the Argentine World Cup-winning captain had undergone brain surgery this month and died of a heart attack. Maradona will forever be remembered for his “Hand of God” goal against England in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final in Mexico City, when he pushed the ball into the net. Minutes later he swerved through the helpless English defenders for a superb second goal, capping a victory that perfectly encapsulated the mixture of brilliant skill and often outrageous behaviour that ran through his life.

Pele described Maradona as a “dear friend” and the 80-year-old Brazilian said he hoped they would “play together in the heaven” one day.

Gary Lineker, who was a member of the defeated England team in 1986, said Maradona was “arguably the greatest of all time” but referred to that infamous goal by tweeting: “After a blessed but troubled life, hopefully he’ll finally find some comfort in the hands of God. #RipDiego.”

Lionel Messi led the tributes from modern-day players to his fellow Argentine, saying: “He has left us but he will never leave us because Diego is eternal.”

Argentine President Alberto Fernandez announced three days of national mourning in the South American country. Local media first reported Wednesday that Maradona had suffered a serious setback in his bid to recover from the surgery earlier this month to remove a clot lodged between his brain and skull.

Family members were summoned to his home north of Buenos Aires before the announcement of his death was made. Grieving fans later gathered at the Obelisk landmark in the center of Buenos Aires and at Boca Juniors’ stadium, the Bombonera, where Maradona played from 1981-82 and 1995-97.

VISIT TURKEY

MALAYSIA CUP 2020 IS OFF

The Malaysian Football League (MFL) have called off the Malaysia Cup. MFL made the decision to cancel the remaining matches of the Malaysia Cup today following the National Security Council's (NSC) decision to reject their appeal to allow the competition to resume in states not under the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO).

On Wednesday, Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismal Sabri Yaakob said the NSC could not make an exemption for the Malaysia Cup, although there were only seven more matches left to play to complete the season.

"We respect the decision by the NSC. We included options to complete the tournament in accordance to the SOPs in place in our appeal to the NSC. However, we understand that the county is now fighting a battle against Covid-19," MFL CEO Datuk Ab Ghani Hassan in a statement today.

"Our board have decided to cancel the competition as we cannot resume the tournament beyond this month. This is because players and coaches are contracted until Nov 30.

"Teams will have issues such as additional expenses if we resume the tournament in December."

Meanwhile, Ghani confirmed that Terengganu, who finished third in the Super League, will now be awarded the AFC Cup slot following the cancellation of the Malaysia Cup.

ASIA SPORTS CHANNEL

JDT IN SEVENTH HEAVEN AFTER WINNING SUPER LEAGUE TITLE AGAIN

 

PHOTO: JST

Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) won their seventh consecutive Super League title after trouncing Sabah 4-1 at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Iskandar Puteri yesterday. JDT got their goals through Diogo Luis Santo (38th minute), Safawi Rasid (57th, 81st) and Leandro Velazquez (84th) while Sabah got their consolation goal through Dennis Buschening (74th).

After claiming their eighth win of the season, the Southern Tigers have bagged 26 points, nine more than nearest challengers Perak (17 points) in the 12-team standings. JDT still have one more match to go while Perak have two games in hand. The defeat, however, has put Sabah, who have nine points, in danger of being relegated.

TIGERS SUPER SPORTS

Meanwhile, Petaling Jaya City FC escaped from the relegation zone after an emphatic 4-2 roasting of UiTM FC at UiTM Stadium, in Shah Alam. The four goals of PJ City FC were scored by R. Barathkumar in the 46th minute, Anawin Jujeen (48'), R. Kogileswaran (66') and Washington Brandao in the 75th minute to overpower the two goals by the hosts’ Gustavo Dos Santos in the first half injury time and the 79th minute.

Penang crushed Kelantan United FC 4-0 at City Stadium and clinched this season’s Premier League title following a goalless draw between Kuala Lumpur and Perak II at Manjung Municipal Council Stadium. Terengganu FC II edged Sarawak United FC 1-0 at the State Stadium while Selangor 2 defeated Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) FC 2-1 at Petaling Jaya City Council Stadium.

KAMPUNG BOY PHOTOGRAPHY

BAYERN MUNICH WIN SIXTH CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TITLE

Bayern Munich edged Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 to win the 2019/2020 Champions League in Lisbon. Kingsley Coman scored the only goal in an entertaining affair between the league champions of Germany and France. It is their sixth Champions League victory and a first one since the 2012/2013 season.

The match was entertaining and lived up to the billing. PSG will be ruing their missed chances in the first half, especially the one by Angel Di Maria. Bayern took the lead in the 59th minute after Joshua Kimmich found Coman unmarked at the back post. Coman sent a powerful header to beat Keylor Navas.

THE MATCH

Bayern have ended PSG's run of scoring in 34 successive games in the competition, and become the first team to keep a clean sheet against French Champions. The Champions League is Hansi Flick's third trophy since taking charge of Bayern in November. He had earlier lead the Bavarians to the Bundesliga 2019/2020 title and the DFB-Pokal.

Bayern have gone level with Liverpool in terms of Champions League titles (6). They became the first team to win all their games in a Champions League campaign. The German Champions are also the first unbeaten champions since Manchester United in the 2007-08 season.