Sports TheFoxPosts.com

Bayern Munich didn't need another defeat so soon after an embarrassing Bundesliga loss to Bayer Leverkusen, but that is exactly what happened when their Champions League campaign returned for the first knockout round on Wednesday. Lazio executed a perfect tactical game, shutting down Bayern's attacking flow with disciplined pressing and resolute defending. But there wasn't enough quality from Thomas Tuchel's team to overcome, failng to manage even one shot on target over the course of the 1-0 defeat. In the end, Ciro Immobile's 69th minute penalty was the difference and hands Lazio a narrow aggregate lead to try and hold onto in next month's second leg in Germany. Here's how the players fared in 90min 's player ratings. Bayern Munich's best player vs Lazio Noussair Mazraoui - 7/10 Noussair Mazraoui did his best to get Bayern moving / Silvia Lore/GettyImages The bar wasn't a high one, but Noussair Mazraoui did more to effect the Game in a posi...

Cameroon manager Rigobert Song has refused to call out goalkeeper Andre Onana after his nation's crushing 3-1 defeat to Senegal. Having missed the opening Game of the tournament following his decision to delay his departure from Manchester United, Onana was returned to the starting lineup for Friday's Game but was powerless to prevent Senegal from picking up a big win. Onana attracted criticism from fans for Senegal's third goal, a late strike from Sadio Mane, as he appeared to take an eternity to get down to a low strike which killed his side's hope of a much-needed point. "I'm not going to blame anyone, I'm going to take responsibility," Song said after the Game . "My players fought. We must recognise that Senegal were better than us. The next match we will win and qualify for the next round." The defeat leaves Cameroon third in Group C, outside of the automatic qualification spots, and even a victory over bottom side The Gambia may no...

Xavi Hernandez has lamented the "unnecessary tension" which has been generated by media reports of unrest at Barcelona. Xavi's Barca lost a second consecutive game on Wednesday evening, being bested by Group H whipping boys Royal Antwerp in their final Champions League outing of 2023. The defeat followed an even more damaging loss to Girona in La Liga on Sunday evening which saw Barca slip down to fourth in the league table, a whopping seven points adrift of the table toppers. In the aftermath of the Girona failure, Spanish media outlets reported Barca's hierarchy were beginning to lose faith in Xavi as the club's manager, with president Joan Laporta believed to have been furious with the performance. Barca slumped to another defeat against Antwerp / Fantasista/GettyImages Speaking to the press after the Champions League defeat to Antwerp, Xavi was keen to address the recent coverage of the club and insisted the media had created issues behind the scenes due to...

Kai Havertz endured a mixed evening on Saturday as he was surprisingly deployed at left-back in Germany's 3-2 defeat to Turkey. The 24-year-old's best position still remains a mystery to many fans. He impressed as an attacking midfielder with Bayer Leverkusen and, after beginning his Chelsea career in central midfield, ended up struggling as a striker. Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta took a £65m risk on Havertz this summer, signing him to fill the void left behind in midfield by Granit Xhaka, but results have been mixed as the German has just one penalty goal and one assist to his name from 19 appearances so far this season. To the surprise of many, Havertz was given a new challenge on Saturday when Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann revealed the Arsenal man would be starting at left-back against Turkey. "I have a great idea, he’s an exceptionally good Football er," Nagelsmann told RTL ahead of what was his first home Game as Germany boss. "This is a very good optio...

Bruno Fernandes insisted Manchester United have taken the 'right steps ' this season but warned that there was still plenty of work to do after their FA Cup final defeat to Manchester City on Saturday . Ilkay Gundogan gave the freshly crowned Premier League champions a lead inside 13 seconds with the fastest goal in FA Cup final History but Fernandes equalised for United before the interval. City dominated large swathes of the showpiece, restoring their lead through Gundogan again after the break. United's only shot on target inside 90 minutes was Fernandes' penalty - although, Stefan Ortega was belatedly forced into a late pair of saves in stoppage time from Raphael Varane and Scott McTominay. Speaking to the BBC after collecting his runners-up medal, Fernandes revealed: "Everyone is down and it's really difficult. We wanted to end the season in a different way but it wasn't possible. "We've made the right steps for next season, it wasn'...

Mikel Arteta has sent Arsenal players a warning about their second half performance in the defeat to Brighton on Sunday. The Gunners needed a win at the Emirates Stadium to keep pace with treble-chasing Manchester City atop of the Premier League table on Sunday, but were thoroughly beaten by Brighton 3-0 on the day. Following an evenly contested first half, Arsenal were then put to the sword in the second half by Roberto De Zerbi's side - conceding three goals and being largely outplayed. Speaking to the press after game, Arteta was keen to warn his players that such a performance cannot be repeated in such a high-pressure game. "You cannot do what we did in the second half," he said. "If the team is capable of doing that when it comes to the biggest stage there are a lot of things we have to think about and analyse." Read the latest Arsenal news here feed The defeat means that Man City can win the title next weekend with a win over a rather horrid Chelsea ...

Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold has admitted his side's shock 3-0 defeat to Brighton on Saturday was ' completely unacceptable '. Jurgen Klopp's side were comprehensively battered by the Seagulls as two strikes from Solly March and a glorious Danny Welbeck effort inflicted an emphatic defeat . While Liverpool obviously fell well short of the standards expected of them, Alexander-Arnold was adamant the team needs to see the game as a learning curve as they seek to sort out their issues. "I suppose if you try to put a positive spin on things then it's something we can use as motivation," he told club media. "We don’t want anything like this to happen again and we need to bounce back – that’s something that is a given at this point now. We need to bounce back in the next one." Listen now as  Scott Saunders  hosts  Graeme Bailey ,   Toby Cudworth  and  Tom Gott  in the latest episode of Talking Transfers. This week they discuss Chelsea’...