LONDON -- There is undoubtedly a whiff of the unwanted to the Europa League, particularly its early stages before the dream of winning it to qualify for the Champions League is close to being realised. By extension, then, the implication can be that players asked to appear on Thursday nights are not in the manager's favour when it comes to his first-choice XI.

On that basis, it was not exactly a surprise that Mesut Ozil was named by Unai Emery in an Arsenal starting XI for the first time since Dec....

MADRID -- "I've got five Champions Leagues, you have none," was Cristiano Ronaldo's icy response as he rushed through Atletico Madrid's Wanda Metropolitano mixed zone Wednesday night, after the former Real Madrid star's return to his old city had gone disastrously for both him and his new team, Juventus.

A rip-roaring second-half display that ranks with any from Diego Simeone's eight years as Atletico coach brought a 2-0 victory, both goals courtesy set pieces from centre-backs Jose Maria Gimenez...

LIVERPOOL, England -- There are times when people get carried away with the emotion of a European night at Anfield. The noise, the colour, the fear that makes world-class opposition players freeze in their tracks; all those elements helped drive Liverpool to the Champions League final last season, but Bayern Munich debunked some myths as they secured a 0-0 round-of-16 first-leg draw on Tuesday.

Bayern, five-time European champions just like Liverpool, turned up, shrugged their shoulders...

LONDON -- It is a long way back now for Maurizio Sarri as Chelsea manager. The players appear to have stopped listening a while ago, but now that the supporters have lost patience with him, this chastening FA Cup defeat against Manchester United could be the final straw.

A manager can limp on for only so long when the players aren't winning games for him, especially at a club like Chelsea.

But when the supporters vent their fury -- the Chelsea fans chanted "F--- Sarri-ball" and "You don't...

NEWPORT, South Wales -- As Newport's players soaked in the applause at full-time, Pep Guardiola circulated the Rodney Parade pitch until he had shaken hands with each and every one. He had an extra word or two for Padraig Amond -- the striker who had, for a tantalising minute or so, given the League Two side a vision of the impossible. In the end Guardiola could afford to be generous with his sentiments and Manchester City, with the most fiendish of banana skins avoided, retain their dream of a...

LONDON -- For two clubs who have caught the attention of Hollywood scriptwriters, this Fifth Round FA Cup tie was a rather low-key affair.

The story of AFC Wimbledon, the phoenix club formed by fans after the original Wimbledon FC relocated from South London to Milton Keynes, is being turned into a film by American studio Fox 2000.

Millwall's reputation for fan violence earned the club's fans the dubious honour of a depiction in the much-mocked 2005 hooligan hagiography Green Street Hooligans.

But...