European Super Football

Borussia Dortmund 2 - 1 PSV  (Borussia Dortmund won 3-1 on aggregate) Borussia Dortmund made it to the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time in three years, thanks to goals from Jadon Sancho and Marco Reus against PSV Eindhoven. Sancho fired in a powerful shot from the edge of the box early in the game to put Dortmund in the lead. Despite another goal being disallowed due to offside, Reus capitalised on a mistake by PSV in stoppage time, securing the win with a one-on-one finish against PSV's goalkeeper, Walter Benitez. More Champions League news PSV had several chances to level the score, with Hirving Lozano missing opportunities. Peter Bosz's team, comfortably leading the Eredivisie, paid the price for their missed chances. Lozano, who came on as a substitute, missed the target from close range and also failed to convert from distance. 🤩 #FridayVibes = @woodyinho vs. PSV. ⚽💪 #UCL | @BVB | @BlackYellow pic.twitter.com/SXH3xPfGkr — UEFA.com DE (

PSV 5 - 1 Rangers (PSV won 7-3 on aggregate) A 5-1 demolition by PSV Eindhoven ended Rangers' hopes of playing in the Champions League again. Ismael Saibari headed in to put PSV ahead on aggregate for the first time in the tie. He added a second after the break. In the minutes following James Tavernier's strike and a brief Rangers lifeline, Luuk de Jong nodded home before Joey Veerman added another goal. Rangers' chastening evening was completed by an own goal by Connor Goldson. This result and poor performance means that instead of joining their Old Firm rivals in the Champions League, they will return to the Europa League group stage. One Rangers fan told us: "This was a terrible night and performance but being in the Europa League might be good for us." Click here for more PSV news and stories. A terrible night for the away side Rangers played poorly, carrying almost no threat until it was too late. PSV warmed to their task very quickly on the night, and it

PSV Eindhoven 2 - 0 Arsenal Arsenal suffered their first defeat in the Europa League  Goals from Joey Veerman and Luuk de Jong denied them the chance to book a spot in the last 16. It ends in defeat in Eindhoven — Arsenal (@Arsenal) October 27, 2022 After a tight first-half finished goalless, the introduction of veteran striker De Jong changed the course of the game, as he registered a goal and an assist in eight minutes to seal victory for the hosts inside a raucous Philips Stadion. The result now means that Arsenal needs to beat FC Zurich at home next week to guarantee the top spot in the group and skip February's play-off round. Knowing they had to win to have any chance of topping the group after next week’s final round of games, the hosts took the game to us in the early stages, and Aaron Ramsdale - playing his first-ever European tie - was forced to make a low save early on to push away Xavi Simons’ drive after the youngster found space in midfield. 10 goals, 4 assists

We're getting closer to the Champions League Group Stages Rangers 2 - 2 PSV After drawing a tense play-off first leg with PSV Eindhoven at Ibrox, Rangers' hopes of qualifying for the Champions League group stages hang in the balance. Check out this video from  Footy Adventures - YouTube Despite a lack of refinement at times, Michael Beale's side kept them alive ahead of the second leg in the Netherlands. A tense Ibrox erupted with joy when Abdallah Sima shaped in a superb opener just before the interval. A hard-fought lead would not last for long, as Ibrahim Sangare scored on the hour following an outrageous stepover from Ismael Saibari. More football news from across Scotland. Rangers were back in front after substitute Rabbi Matondo smashed Cyriel Dessers' teasing delivery into the net. Four minutes after that strike, Luuk de Jong diverted a towering header to ensure these sides will meet for a second leg in Eindhoven with both eyeing a place on the biggest stage.

 It's time for you to read about another football icon. Jaap Stam is a Dutch professional football coach and former player. As a player, he played as a centre-back and is regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation. A brief introduction Stam played for several European clubs including PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United, Lazio, Milan and Ajax. More icons The start of a fantastic career On August 15th 1992, Stam made his professional debut for FC Zwolle in a 1–1 draw against SC Heracles in the Eerste Divisie. He became a first-team regular right away and moved to Eredivisie club Cambuur Leeuwarden for the following season, but relegated in his first season which brought him back into the Eerste Divisie.  Two seasons performing well at Cambuur earned him a transfer to Eredivisie club Willem II. At Willem II, he immediately impressed at the Eredivisie level and earned a transfer to PSV Eindhoven despite only making 19 appearances. Icons: Henrik Larsson (eurosuperfootball.

 Let's explore some of the biggest talking points from across Europe over the last 24 hours. It has been another busy day. Netherlands: Ruud van Nistelrooy leaves PSV  with immediate effect PSV Eindhoven head coach Ruud van Nistelrooy has left before the final game of the season because of "a lack of support within the club", a club statement said. Van Nistelrooy won the Dutch Cup and Dutch Super Cup after taking over the role in March 2022. PSV said talks about his future were set for Sunday, but the 46-year-old subsequently resigned. They are 10 points behind leaders Feyenoord and three points ahead of third-placed Ajax. They just need to avoid defeat to AZ Alkmaar at the weekend to secure a spot in the Champions League qualification stage. Footage from his last press conference -  Ruud van Nistelrooij en Luuk de Jong reageren op grote teleurstelling - YouTube Spain: Barcelona agrees to cancel Alba's contract. It has been announced that Jordi Alba will leave Ba

It's time to have a look at another football icon.  This is a slightly altered version of an article first published here on Greater Manchester Football. (Gullit played for Sampdoria between 1993 and 1995) Ruud Gullit is a Dutch legend who played professionally in the 1980s and 1990s. Early career In 1978, Gullit signed professionally for HFC Haarlem. He made 91 league appearances for Haarlem and scored 32 goals. He made his debut for the club at just 16 years old, becoming at the time the youngest player in the history of the Eredivisie. In his first season at the club, they finished bottom of the Eredivisie, but bounced back the following season winning the Eerste Divisie. Gullit was named as the best player in the Eerste Divisie that season. Click here to read about more football icons In the 1981–82 season, Gullit was in fine form as Haarlem finished fourth and qualified for Europe for the only time in their history.  First two transfers The young Gullit was considered as a

Liverpool have reached an agreement to sign Netherlands forward Cody Gakpo from PSV Eindhoven. The deal is worth £35.4m-£44.3m and the Eredivisie club say it is a record transfer fee for them. Cody Gakpo: “I'm really excited to be at Liverpool, looking forward to start playing for this amazing club” 🔴 #LFC “This is a great club for me to come in and try to show what I can do and try to help the team to achieve more beautiful moments, it's also good to develop here”. pic.twitter.com/OqSKJKE2kH — Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) December 28, 2022 Gakpo will officially join Liverpool at the start of the January transfer window and his contract will run until the summer of 2028.His transfer is subject to a work permit and arrives following an impressive 2022 World Cup in which he scored three goals as he helped his side reach the quarter-finals. Many believe that Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has added Gakpo to his ranks with forwards Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota facing leng

It's time to explore another icon of the football world. This time it's Romário. Early career Romário was spotted playing for Olaria, a small club from the Rio de Janeiro suburb. He was first taken to the junior team of Vasco da Gama, where once promoted to the senior team, he won two state league titles in 1987 and 1988. This earned his first call-ups to the national team. He quickly came to international attention, becoming the top scorer at the 1988 Olympic football tournament. Move to Europe Like all exciting Brazilian attacking players, he was a man who wanted to prove himself in Europe. Shortly after the 1988 Olympics,  he moved to PSV Eindhoven, where he won the Eredivisie in 1989, 1991 and 1992. He started to develop a cult following across the continent, and it wasn't long before some of the world's biggest clubs were interested in signing him.  After a lot of deliberation, his next destination was to be Barcelona. The video below explores some of the best

The Dutch striker scored 150 times for Manchester United and is often considered one of the best of his generation. Let's take a look at his career. This is based on article originally posted by Greater Manchester Football. They asked the question, how good was Ruud van Nistelrooy? Goals at PSV catch the eye He scored 77 goals in 90 matches for PSV. This earned him a move to Manchester United.  In the Spring of 2000, he looked set to complete a then club-record £18.5 million transfer to Manchester United. He was to be unveiled at a press conference four days later, but it was instead announced that the transfer had been postponed over concerns about his fitness. Not long after, he suffered a rupture to his anterior cruciate knee ligaments during a training session, leaving him injured for a year. Eventual move and success at Manchester United In his first season at Old Trafford, he scored 36 goals in 49 appearances. One of his best performances came in a 3-2 FA Cup win over Ast

 Netherlands 2 - 0 Qatar How far can Netherlands go? In-form Cody Gakpo scored again as the Netherlands finished top of Group A, ending Qatar's involvement at their home World Cup with a third consecutive defeat. ▶ The Netherlands have never been eliminated from the group stages of a World Cup (nine tournaments and counting...) 🇳🇱 1974, 1978, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2022... #Qatar2022 #FIFAWorldCup #QAT #NED pic.twitter.com/vYZcVKszvs — playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) November 29, 2022 Qatar's dismal showing means they became the first host nation to exit the tournament with three group-stage losses, finishing bottom with no points. PSV Eindhoven winger Gakpo has now scored the opening goal in all three of the Netherlands' group games, driving forward and rasping a finish into the bottom corner on this occasion. Highlights from  BBC Sport - YouTube Qatar looked to hit back immediately but Ismaeel Mohammad's shot on the stretch from outside the

 Birmingham City 2 - 0 QPR A resurgent Birmingham City claimed their biggest scalp of the season John Eustace's side battled their way to victory over high-flying Queens Park Rangers. COME ON! @SandowRs ! 😆 pic.twitter.com/Fce5uUqVGc — Birmingham City FC (@BCFC) October 28, 2022 Birmingham fans and players clearly enjoyed their night.   QPR were done no favours by two of their London neighbours as Blues won with first-half goals from two loan men - Arsenal's American defender Auston Trusty and West Ham wing-back Manny Longelo. Any hopes that Michael Beale's side might turn it round after the break were then ended with Blues goalkeeper John Ruddy's fine 79th-minute penalty save to deny Lyndon Dykes. After winning four times in five away games, this was a second straight defeat on the road for QPR, while Blues' third win in five - in front of 19,007, their biggest home crowd since before the Covid pandemic, lifts them into the top half. It looked on the cards ri

 Football is the most popular sport across the continent.  This has resulted in thousands (possibly millions) of articles being published each year, all of which combined analyse every inch of the beautiful game.  The disadvantage of this is if you want to read some insightful analysis, it's hard to know where to start. We're here to help. Let's explore some of the best football blogs and articles published in recent months. " Floodlights " ( CC BY 2.0 ) by  It's No Game From Media Referee -  Can Wayne Rooney’s Derby County build a successful future? This interesting article from Media Referee looks at the future of Derby County. After suffering a points deduction, many experts said they were certainties to get relegated and face a grim future. However, this article points out that Derby does have a lot going for them.  Icons: Wayne Rooney Since the article was published, Derby have gone on a great run leading to some changing their predictions. Is the great

Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima, commonly known as Ronaldo, is our latest football icon.  He played for some of the world's biggest clubs and was a huge icon during the 1990's and 2000's. A brief introduction to 'The Phenomenon'. Nicknamed The Phenomenon and R9, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players ever. As a multi-functional striker who brought a new dimension to the position, Ronaldo had a huge impact on a generation of forwards and attacking players that followed him. His individual accolades include being named FIFA World Player of the Year three times and winning the Ballon d'Or twice. <More football icons> The start of his career. He started at Cruzeiro and moved to PSV in 1994. He joined Barcelona in 1996 for a then-world record transfer fee, and at 20 years old, he was named the 1996 FIFA World Player of the Year, making him the youngest recipient of the award. Despite being a fan favourite and developing an affinity with the clu

The draw has been made for the last 16 of the Champions League.  🚨🏆 Thoughts on Champions League draw? pic.twitter.com/NjTTJ2uzWA — Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) December 18, 2023 Manchester City will play Copenhagen in the last 16 of the competition.  The Danish champions Copenhagen finished above Manchester United in their group, as they reached the knockout stage for the first time since 2011. This included a 4-3 memorable victory over the Red Devils. The 14-time winners Real Madrid while RB Leipzig. Inter Milan - who finished runners-up last season will face Atletico Madrid. Bayern Munich (led by Harry Kane) will face Lazio. This is the draw in full Porto v Arsenal Napoli v Barcelona Paris St-Germain v Real Sociedad Inter Milan v Atletico Madrid PSV Eindhoven v Borussia Dortmund Lazio v Bayern Munich Copenhagen v Manchester City RB Leipzig v Real Madrid European Super Football contributor Josh gave some thoughts on the draw The luck of the draw has smiled upon the two

The players to watch out for at Euro 2024 In the first of several Euro 2024 preview articles, this story will explore some of the players that will be looking to have an impact in Germany. Johan Bakayoko - Belgium  This player began to make a significant contribution to PSV early in 2023, and very quickly, he had managed to score seven goals and provide five assists. With fantastic speed and outstanding one-on-one skills, he is a constant threat to defenders as a traditional right-winger. He recently made his international debut for Belgium in March and could shine for his country in Germany.  Cole Palmer - England Despite scoring in the 2023 UEFA Super Cup, Palmer made a brave decision to leave Manchester City during the summer. This decision has paid off as he is now regularly starting and scoring goals for Chelsea. Palmer is not only important in pressing off the ball but also a creative force on it, whether he is playing centrally or coming off the right flank. You can watch s

United are expected to make many personnel changes this summer. The manager won't be one of them.   Manchester United have activated a one-year extension in Erik ten Hag's contract, ensuring he remains with the club until 2026. The Dutch manager's original contract, signed upon his appointment in 2022, was set to expire in 2025. Since joining from Ajax, Ten Hag has secured two trophies in his two years at Old Trafford. In Ten Hag's first season at the club, United finished third in the Premier League and ended a six-year trophy drought by defeating Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final. However, his second season was more challenging, with United finishing eighth in the Premier League and exiting the Champions League at the group stage. A crucial 2-1 victory over Manchester City in the FA Cup final in May was key to Ten Hag retaining his position. Following Sir Jim Ratcliffe's investment last December, the club, led by the co-owner, conducted a review of the season

Let's explore the new manager of Manchester United Early days in management In 2012, Ten Hag was appointed as manager of Go Ahead Eagles in the Eerste Divisie by Marc Overmars, who was a shareholder of the club. During his only season at Go Ahead Eagles, he managed the team to its first promotion in 17 years. He coached Bayern Munich II from 6 June 2013 until 2015 when he was replaced by Heiko Vogel. His final match as Bayern Munich II head coach was in May 2015. Perhaps interestingly, he was at Bayer the same time as the current Manchester City manager. Ten Hag then became the Sporting Director and head coach of FC Utrecht in the summer of 2015, where he led the club to fifth place during his first season. In the 2016–17 season, he improved FC Utrecht's final position to fourth, booking a place in the Europa League qualifiers. Moving to AFC Ajax On 21 December 2017, he was appointed as the head coach of AFC Ajax after the club dismissed Marcel Keizer. In 2019, he led h

 Rangers 0 - 1 Celtic Brendan Rodgers responded to questions about his second spell at Celtic with a statement win in what was a controversial Glasgow Derby.  Kyogo Furuhashi once again delivered the decisive moment, taking advantage of a poor defence just before half-time to score.  The winning goal goal came after a strike from Rabbi Matondo was disallowed for offside in the first minute.  Before the match, Michael Beale has stressed the importance of 'setting a milestone' after Wednesday's humiliating Champions League defeat at Eindhoven, but the pressure will now rest on the Ibrox boss, who has not only one win in six derbies.  Rangers fans created a memorable atmosphere at Ibrox in the build up to the match but they fell silent once they went 1-0 up.  UCL: PSV thrash Rangers Celtic's defence wasn't at full strength and included central defenders Lagerbielke and Liam Scales making their Old Firm debut. It wasn't pretty at times, but everyone associated w

It has been another dramatic season in the Champions League. In the final, Real Madrid faces Borussia Dortmund. Which side will come out on top? How did Real Madrid reach the final? The recently crowned Spanish champions snatched an incredible semi-final victory, scoring late goals to beat Bayern Munich and set up this Champions League final with Borussia Dortmund at Wembley. UCL: Real Madrid progress after astonishing drama (eurosuperfootball.blogspot.com) In a previous round, Madrid had knocked Manchester City out on penalties. They beat City in a dramatic quarter-final at the Etihad Stadium, ending the 2023 winners' hold on the Champions League.  After Antonio Rudiger's penalty secured the victory for Real Madrid, City's players slumped in despair, while what seemed like dozens of Real players and officials headed off to their supporters tucked in the far corner of Etihad Stadium. After this match, Francis, a Real Madrid fan, told us: "I am so happy that we progre