19/09/2025

SPORTS FRIDAY | SEPT 19, 2025

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Thuram stars as Inter cruise at Ajax

SHORTS Olympiakos frustrated by 10-man Pafos

A DOUBLE from French striker Marcus Thuram handed Inter Milan a comfortable 2-0 Champions League win over Dutch giants Ajax yesterday, last year’s runners-up getting their European campaign off to a dominant start. The 28-year-old Thuram was the difference between the two sides, the Ajax defence struggling to cope with his pace or imposing physical presence at set-pieces. “He is so strong. He’s a fantastic player when you see how well he holds the ball up,” said Inter’s Dutch defender Stefan de Vrij, paying tribute to Thuram. “An intelligent player, technically good. He can even head the ball,” joked De Vrij, with both of Thuram’s goals coming from headed corners. It was a cagey opening at a soggy Johan Cruyff Arena, a second-minute strike by Inter’s Federico

post to head home a corner, giving the visitors a deserved 1-0 lead at half-time. Inter doubled their lead almost immediately in the second half, Thuram again beating his man in the air from a corner to guide the ball into the corner. The Italian side eased off after securing the second goal, keeping possession and frustrating the toothless home team, who registered two shots on goal the entire match. Inter cantered to the final whistle in a happy return to Amsterdam for coach Cristian Chivu, who played in the same Ajax team as his opposite number John Heitinga from 2001-2003. “I’m pleased with the maturity we showed today. I’m happy for the team. I’m happy we can get our confidence back with this victory,” said Chivu. – AFP

Dimarco that stung the gloves of the Ajax keeper the only chance of note in the first half hour. With Ajax’s talismanic striker Steven Berghuis ruled out with a muscular injury and Inter’s Lautaro Martinez on the bench, both sides appeared somewhat lacking in penetration. Five minutes before the break, the game burst into life as Belgian winger Mika Godts spurned a gilt-edged chance for the hosts. A defence-splitting through ball from Oliver Edvardsen sent Godts clear but he could only scuff a tame shot easily parried by Inter keeper Yann Sommer. “Such a shame. If I had made it 1-0, it could have been a completely different game,” said Godts. Ajax were made to rue their profligacy just two minutes later as Thuram rose highest at the near

A WASTEFUL Olympiakos could only manage a 0-0 home draw against 10 man Pafos, who emerged as defensive heroes in their Champions League opener yesterday. Pafos faced a big challenge from the 26th minute when forward Bruno was dismissed after receiving a second booking for a foul on the hosts’ Lorenzo Pirola, forcing the Cypriot side to play with 10 men for the rest of the match. Despite the advantage, Olympiakos struggled, with Ayoub El Kaabi coming close early in the second half with a header that drifted wide. Pafos produced a valiant defensive effort, several times blocking attempts as chances grew for the hosts. Olympiakos’ Mehdi Taremi came close to levelling the playing field when he was initially shown a straight red card for a tackle on Jaja during a Pafos counterattack, but a VAR review downgraded it to a yellow. As the clock wound down on what had seemed an uneventful match, Olympiakos mounted a final offensive, but Pafos held firm, thwarting late efforts from Christos Mouzakitis and Taremi to seal the hosts’ frustration. Bodo/Glimt snatch draw with Slavia Prague NORWAY’S Bodo/Glimt pulled off a sensational comeback to draw 2-2 away to Slavia Prague in their first ever Champions League group game yesterday, with substitute Sondre Brunstad Fet netting the 90th-minute equaliser. The Norwegians were punished in the 23rd minute when fullback Youssoupha Mbodji ghosted in at the back post to tap home Lukas Provod’s pass. Glimt’s Danish striker Kasper Hogh had a chance to level from the spot nine minutes into the second half, but his penalty was saved, and that miss proved even more costly when Mbodji volleyed home his second of the night in the 74th minute. Caught napping for the second goal, Bodo substitute Daniel Bassi made amends by pulling a goal back four minutes later and Brunstad Fet blasted the equaliser in off the underside of the crossbar to ensure they snatched an unlikely point. “When we’re two goals down and waste a penalty kick, we’re living dangerously… I think we show incredible morale, and that’s something you need to have at this level,” Glimt coach Kjetil Knutsen said. “Towards the end of the match we were incredibly lucky, because we lost it (control of the game) completely.”

Perfect start for PSG Kvaratskhelia stunner helps European champions down Atalanta K HVICHA KVARATSKHELIA

Enrique told broadcaster Canal Plus before the kickoff against Atalanta. “Having more information is important for me. It’s very different watching the game sitting down. “My halftime talk against Lens was totally different because I was up there. I saw things to improve, some mistakes,” he said. “I’ve thought for a long time how we can add something to our way of doing things, and I’m always open to anything that can improve our performance.” PSG overcame a poor start last season to qualify for the knockout rounds and go on to win the title, but their prospects of retaining the trophy have been called into question with early-season injuries exposing the limits of an overworked squad. Yesterday it was all-action midfielder Joao Neves who had to come off in the second half after going down seemingly complaining of a painful left hamstring. “We will have to wait to see what the doctors say,” admitted Enrique. The French club hardly had any off season break after a last campaign which lasted 65 games and 11 months, and they recently lost star forwards Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue for several weeks to injuries picked up on international duty. And there was more bad news yesterday, with Neves coming off injured before the hour mark, a sight which does not augur well with a trip to Barcelona looming in a fortnight. “PSG play quite honestly at a different level to us,” admitted Atalanta coach Ivan Juric. “So this showed us what we are lacking if we want to be at the same level as them.” “We can’t be too disappointed in ourselves because they’re a really incredible side,” Juric added. “We did really well in the first 10 minutes, but then it became difficult.” – AFP/Agencies Costa said that Benfica expected to have their new coach in charge in time for tomorrow’s league encounter with AVS. Mourinho’s previous spell at Benfica lasted just 11 matches at the back end of 2000, but then, after impressing at Uniao de Leiria, he joined Porto and guided them to back-to-back league titles and the Champions League crown in 2004. That set him on the path to a hugely successful career coaching Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid before his fortunes started to nose-dive after joining Manchester United in 2016. – AFP

scored a superb goal as Paris Saint Germain began the defence of their Champions League crown with a comprehensive 4-0 win over Atalanta at the Parc des Princes yesterday. Marquinhos opened the scoring inside three minutes as PSG made a fast start in front of their own fans, with Kvaratskhelia bursting through to blast home a second before the interval. Nuno Mendes added another early in the second half and substitute Goncalo Ramos wrapped up the victory late on. Bradley Barcola also had a penalty saved in the first half as Luis Enrique’s team proved far too strong for their Italian opponents, who had no answer to the threat posed by the European champions. PSG will now hope to build on this and avoid the troubles that befell them last season, when they won just one and lost three of their first five games in the league phase. “We played really well and deserved the victory, but we have no set objective because our fixtures are the hardest of any team,” insisted Enrique.

For the second straight home game he observed the first half from up in the stands rather than down on the sideline, having done so against Lens in Ligue 1 on Sunday. “I’m doing the same thing I

Paris St Germain’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (left) in action with Atalanta’s Charles De Ketelaere. – REUTERSPIC

did in the last match because, from above, I get a lot of information that I can use at halftime,”

Mourinho poised for Benfica return after Lage sacking

JOSE MOURINHO said he “didn’t hesitate” to express his interest in returning for a second spell as Benfica coach after arriving in Lisbon yesterday following the sacking of Bruno Lage. Benfica fired Lage following Tuesday’s shock 3-2 Champions League home defeat by Azeri side Qarabag. Mourinho, who lost his previous job with Fenerbahce last month, said Benfica reached out to him to gauge his interest in a return to the club with whom he started his head coaching career in 2000. “Benfica officially asked me if I was interested… What coach says no to Benfica? Not

Mourinho was sacked by the Istanbul giants. “Now all I can do is wish good luck to whoever comes next,” Lage said when he arrived at Benfica’s training ground on Wednesday. “I don’t know if Mourinho will be confirmed or not. The important thing is that he’s a man who knows Benfica very well. “Curiously he’s faced this team three times and knows the squad well. He had said that I was a happy man because of all the options I had. He will certainly be an even happier man than me.” Mourinho is yet to be officially announced as Lage’s successor.

me,” Mourinho told reporters after landing in the Portuguese capital. “When I was presented with the opportunity to coach Benfica, I didn’t hesitate to say that I’m interested, that I’d like to.” Two-time European champions Benfica led 2 0 early on at home to Qarabag before collapsing in a disastrous start to their league-phase campaign. Former Portugal midfielder Rui Costa, the club’s president, announced ex-Wolves manager Lage’s sacking after the final whistle. Benfica beat Fenerbahce in the final round of Champions League qualifying, two days before