Introduction Andre Onana, the first team goalkeeper for AFC Ajax (“Ajax”) and the Cameroon national team played his first competitive match for over nine 9 months on 13 November 2021, when he started for Cameroon in a 4:0 victory over Malawi in a FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 African Qualifier. Prior to this match, Onana had … Continue Reading
Ajax’s run to the 2019 UEFA Champions’ League semi-final – European football’s premier club-cup competition – provided a welcome dose of nostalgia for those who remember the glory-days of Johan Cruyff in the 1970s and the Champions’ League winning team of 1995. However, in recent years, football clubs with rich histories such as Ajax, Feyenoord, … Continue Reading
Refereeing decisions are frequently the subject of debate in the world of football; these decisions generate such interest because they can often be interpreted in different ways. This is one factor, which contributes to the game’s unpredictability. A prime example of this occurred last night. During Manchester United’s last 16 Champions League match against PSG, … Continue Reading
The penalty given in the early stages of the Champions League fixture between Manchester City and Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday night has been hailed as amongst the “worst penalty decision[s] ever” by the BBC. Since there was no VAR and the fourth official appeared silent on the issue, the penalty stood and Gabriel Jesus put … Continue Reading
UEFA has today announced a raft of new changes to the regulations of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League for the start of the 2018/2019 season. Following February’s UEFA Executive Committee meeting in Bratislava and the decisions taken by the International Football Association Board (“IFAB”) on 3 March 2018 in Zurich, the following … Continue Reading
UEFA has announced that it will implement a number of changes to its UEFA Champions League competition, commencing from next season. The summary of the key changes are listed and explored further below: More teams will qualify directly for the group stage of the competition: 26 next season compared to 22 this season. The top … Continue Reading
Having won its group in the Champions League this season, Manchester United meet Sevilla in the last 16 stage of the Champions League. This round will be made up of two legs: the first match will be played at Sevilla’s Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium whilst the return leg will be played at Old Trafford. However, … Continue Reading
On 8 June 2017, Sports Shorts considered the issue of whether RB Leipzig and FC Red Bull Salzburg would both be permitted to participate in the UEFA Champions League 2017/2018 season. Both clubs qualified from their respective leagues on merit but, given that both clubs are in one way or another funded by Red Bull, … Continue Reading
The summer can prove a fallow time for football fans. With the exception of the FIFA Confederations Cup, which commences on 17 June 2017, fans have little to keep themselves entertained on the football front this summer. Many will delve deep into the gossip pages of their favourite websites. Which players will be bought? Which … Continue Reading
On Friday 21 October 2016, the Association of European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL) announced that it was terminating its memorandum of understanding (MOU) with UEFA as a result of changes being made to the qualifying system for both the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League for three seasons from 2018/2019 onward. The EPFL … Continue Reading
