UEFA Champions League
JUVENTUS TO MISS RONALDO IN BARCELONA CLASH
Andrea Pirlo sees positives despite preparing for his biggest match since taking over as Juventus coach with Covid-19 -stricken Cristiano Ronaldo in doubt against Lionel Messi’s Barcelona in the Champions League on Wednesday (Oct 28).
Pirlo took over after Maurizio Sarri was sacked immediately after Juventus’ last 16 exit to Lyon in August, the veteran coach lamenting another failure in a “competition cursed for Juve”.
The Turin side have won the tournament twice, but not since 1996. They have been runners-up seven times, including twice in the last five years.
In fact, 41-year-old Pirlo’s last Juventus game as a player came in the 3-1 loss to Barcelona in the 2015 Champions League final.
Juventus signed Portuguese star Ronaldo in 2018 with the aim of lifting the coveted European trophy, and his absence against Messi’s Barcelona could weigh heavy.
The 35-year-old will need to test negative 24 hours before being allowed to feature in Turin. The return at the Camp Nou is on December 8.
“We miss him right now, of course,” said Colombian teammate Juan Cuadrado. “He’s a champion. In these very difficult matches, his strength, his mentality and his desire shine through.”
Ronaldo scored three goals for Juventus in their first two league games, before contracting the virus while on international duty.
Even if Pirlo has yet to record a loss this season, Juventus are fifth in Serie A, with three draws in five games.
“Barcelona? It doesn’t worry me, they are two different matches,” said Pirlo after Sunday’s 1-1 stalemate against Hellas Verona.
“Verona play differently than Barcelona, against teams that play like this you have to prepare a certain type of match.
“We’re in the construction phase,” continued the novice coach.
“We’re sorry to leave points on the road, but we are on the right path. We are building a long-term project. I only see positive things.”
Pirlo’s main weapons in Ronaldo’s absence have been Spanish forward Alvaro Morata, who scored both goals against Dynamo Kiev, and Swedish striker Dejan Kulusevski, who rescued the point against Verona.
Former Chelsea and Real Madrid player Morata returned to Juventus this season with Kulusevski signed from Atalanta in January before being loaned back immediately to Parma.
The 20-year-old Swede was up and running immediately, scoring on his club debut in September and came off the bench to give Juventus the edge against Verona.
Pirlo has also been impressed with how Paulo Dybala performed “well above expectations,” in his seasonal debut against Verona after over three months out.
Captain Giorgio Chiellini’s presence is in doubt, with fellow defender Leonardo Bonucci’s thigh strain being monitored, although Gianluca Frabotta, 21, has stepped into the breach, with Alex Sandro also out.
“Seeing how we started the other championships, this start has been a bit slow,” said Cuadrado of the nine-time reigning Italian champions.
“But we haven’t lost yet.” Both teams won their Group G openers with Barcelona beating Hungarians Ferencvaros 5-1 and Juventus 2-0 at Dynamo Kiev.
If Ronaldo misses his chance to line out on Wednesday he will have to wait until December to renew his rivalry with Argentine Messi.
They are the two greatest players of their generation with 11 Ballons d’Or between them, and the two highest scorers in Champions League history.
They have not faced off since the Portuguese superstar left Real Madrid for Juventus, and both are running out of time to win the Champions League again.
Messi, now 33, has featured in four victorious campaigns, all with Barcelona, while Ronaldo has won it five times, four with Real Madrid and once with Manchester United.
Ronaldo has 130 Champions league goals, of which ten have been for Juventus, to Messi’s 116.
Messi has won 16 of their 35 encounters to Ronaldo’s 10, with the remaining nine ending in draws. Messi has also scored 22 goals in those games to Ronaldo’s 19.
The pair have only met five times in Champions League games, most recently in the semi-final in 2011.
Barcelona got the better of Real Madrid with a 3-1 aggregate win with Messi scoring twice in the first leg.
Their most memorable clash was the 2009 Champions League final when Messi scored as Barcelona beat Manchester United 2-0.
-AFP
Galatasaray made the most of a litany of errors by Norwegian visitors Bodo/Glimt as they cruised to a 3-1 home win in the Champions League on Wednesday, with striker Victor Osimhen netting twice for the Turkish side in the first half.
UEFA Champions League – Galatasaray v Bodo/Glimt – RAMS Park, Istanbul, Turkey – October 22, 2025 Galatasaray’s Victor Osimhen celebrates scoring their second goal REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Osimhen wasted no time giving the home side an early lead, sweeping a sumptuous first-time finish past Nikita Haikin in the third minute as the Norwegian side was quickly punished for giving the ball away cheaply in midfield.
Osimhen doubled his tally in the 33rd minute after another error. Under pressure as he ran infield, Bodo left-back Fredrik Bjorkan inexplicably passed the ball straight to Osimhen in a central position, and the forward gratefully tucked the ball away.
UEFA Champions League – Galatasaray v Bodo/Glimt – RAMS Park, Istanbul, Turkey – October 22, 2025 Galatasaray’s Victor Osimhen in action REUTERS/Murad Sezer
Bodo created some decent chances of their own but were made to pay again on the hour mark as centre-back Haitam Aleesami was robbed just outside his penalty area by Osimhen, and Yunus Akgun was able to score at the second attempt to make it 3-0.
Osimhen had plenty of opportunities to complete his hat-trick but he was thwarted by keeper Haikin, and Bodo substitute Andreas Helmersen was able to head home a close-range consolation goal in the 76th minute as his side finished strongly.
With seven games kicking off later on Wednesday, the win leaves Galatasaray on six points from three games, while Bodo/Glimt have two points ahead of their home clash with Monaco of France in two weeks. Galatasaray are next away at Dutch side Ajax Amsterdam.
-Reuters
Victor Osimhen scores their second goal REUTERS/Umit Bektas
One of the few clouds hanging over Arsenal this season has been the lack of goals from the big-money centre forward Viktor Gyokeres but he erased some doubts with a timely return to form by scoring twice in a 4-0 defeat of Atletico Madrid on Tuesday.
Gyokeres, who Arsenal signed for 64 million pounds ($85.89 million) from Sporting, poached his side’s third and fourth goals to end a nine-game streak without netting for club and country.
The Swede was all smiles as he was substituted late on and manager Mikel Arteta said the 27-year-old fully deserved the ovation he received from the Arsenal fans.
“I think he deserved it because everything that we were seeing in terms of what he was bringing to the team and how much he was helping the team in many areas, apart from scoring goals in the last few weeks,” Arteta told reporters.
“There was no debate about that. It was about keeping that belief in himself, that emotional state that he can enjoy and play freely. I look at his teammates as well, in the picture and the video, they are all so happy for him.”
His opening goal was a messy affair as his weak shot dribbled into the net via a deflection while his second came from yet another Arsenal set piece with Gabriel heading a corner into the path of the Sweden international.
“He makes us a much better team. I think we’ve become much more unpredictable. He’s so physical, the way he presses the ball, holds the ball, that’s phenomenal,” Arteta said.
“He’s scored two very different ones today, and hopefully he starts to get some momentum and a good run of goals.”
Gyokeres now has five for the season, including three in the Premier League, and was clearly relieved to be back on target.
“(It’s reward) for the team, but of course, me as well,” he said of the win that maintained Arsenal’s 100% start in the Champions League. “I do my best all the time, work hard and contribute with different stuff. It’ll come sooner or later.”
-Reuters
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Arsenal thrashed Atletico Madrid 4-0 thanks to a devastating second-half broadside at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday to secure a third successive Champions League victory.
What had been a compelling contest with little between the sides became an Arsenal rout with goals by Gabriel, Gabriel Martinelli and a brace from Viktor Gyokeres leaving Diego Simeone’s side shell-shocked.
Shortly after Julian Alvarez hit the crossbar for the visitors, Arsenal defender Gabriel broke the deadlock by heading in a Declan Rice free kick in the 57th minute.
Martinelli finished off a sweeping move seven minutes later and Gyokeres prodded in his first goal of the night via a deflection as Arsenal ran riot, the Swede ending a nine-game scoring drought for club and country.
Gyokeres bundled in his second as Atletico were again unable to deal with a set piece.
Victory extended Arsenal’s unbeaten run to nine games in all competitions and put them on nine points in the group phase, after three wins without conceding a goal, well on the way to qualifying for the knockout stages.
Atletico, on three points, will have to dust themselves down after their six-game unbeaten run in all competitions came to a juddering halt.
“It was a tough match. After the goal they opened up a bit and it was a little easier for us to find the spaces. Very happy with the result,” Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said.
“At this level in the Champions League you really need to step up and we certainly did that in every phase of the play.”
Simeone, who also tasted defeat in Liverpool last month, said his side had been punished for individual errors.
“It’s not down to bad luck, it’s down to mistakes,” the Argentine told reporters. “They made the most of our mistakes and all their big chances turned into goals.”
BRIMMING WITH CONFIDENCE
Brimming with confidence after climbing to the top of the Premier League, Arsenal began strongly and almost took the lead when Eberechi Eze’s shot deflected off David Hancko and hit the crossbar with Rice bouncing the rebound over the bar.
Myles Lewis-Skelly dragged a shot wide and Bukayo Saka was denied by a block from Atletico keeper Jan Oblak.
The visitors weathered the storm, though, and were almost gifted a goal when Arsenal keeper David Raya was caught in possession well out of his area and Alvarez had the goal at his mercy but placed his shot agonisingly wide from an angle.
When Alvarez curled a superb effort against Arsenal’s crossbar soon after the restart the outcome was very much in the balance but Atletico then caved in.
Arsenal’s set-piece coach Nicolas Jover would have been purring at the goal that opened the floodgates.
The threat of the Rice-Gabriel combination is hardly a secret but Atletico’s defence seemed transfixed as Rice’s curling free kick delivery was met by the Brazilian who had ghosted clear to glance a header past Oblak.
With Atletico stunned, Arsenal went for the kill and Lewis-Skelly slid in Martinelli to side-foot past Oblak, meaning he has scored in every Champions League game this season.
Gyokeres then got in on the act with two goals that were hardly masterpieces — but will have done him the power of good after a barren spell since his big-money move from Sporting.
“We value a lot of things that he does for the team and it was the biggest smile on his face today,” Arteta said.
“Hopefully this is the start of some beautiful sequences.”
-Reuters
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