27/09/2025

SPORTS SATURDAY | SEPT 27, 2025

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Old glories clash as Milan welcome Napoli

SHORTS Barca claim comeback win at Oviedo

LUKA MOD R IC and Kevin De Bruyne will face off on Monday (2.45am Malaysian time) when Serie A champions Napoli travel north to face AC Milan and the first true test of their title defeats behind Napoli. Milan have been without the injured Rafael Leao since the beginning of the campaign. Although the Portuguese winger may be available to face Napoli, Allegri is unlikely to risk him from the start. Christopher Nkunku also scored against Lecce on his first start since signing from Chelsea and,

with the timeless Luka Modric controlling the midfield, Allegri’s Milan are an altogether different proposition this season. Napoli have managed just fine without the services of the injured Romelu Lukaku. Rasmus Hojlund scored on his debut in the 3 1 win at Fiorentina, and in Monday’s 3-2 victory over Pisa, Lorenzo Lucca scored his first goal for the club since his arrival. Conte, however, says many of the new signings are not ready to cope with the demands of not only defending a title but also competing

in the Champions League, where Napoli lost their opening game, going down 2-0 at Manchester City. “If you think that we have taken players ready to compete in the Champions League along with everything else, I say that we have taken players who need time,” Conte said after the win over Pisa. “And there is no time, so we take risks.” Juventus will have a chance to take provisional top spot tomorrow (12.01am) when they host unbeaten Atalanta with a two-point gap separating them from Napoli. – AFP

HEADE R S from Robert Lewandowski and Ronald Araujo helped Barcelona make a 3-1 comeback victory at minnows Real Oviedo yesterday in La Liga. The Catalans, who fell behind after a mistake from goalkeeper Joan Garcia allowed Alberto Reina to score the opener from 40 yards out, levelled through Eric Garcia early in the second half. Substitute Lewandowski nodded Hansi Flick’s side in front and Araujo made the game safe late on as he headed home Marcus Rashford’s corner. Barcelona, second in the table, trail leaders Real Madrid by two points after Xabi Alonso’s side maintained their 100% start with a win at Levante. Despite missing star winger Lamine Yamal, Flick’s team recorded their fourth consecutive victory across all competitions without the teenager. Oviedo, back in Spain’s top flight for the first time since the 2000/01 campaign, lined up with 40-year-old great Santi Cazorla in midfield, making his first start of the season. They could not contain Kylian Mbappe as Real Madrid visited the Carlos Tartiere stadium in August, but mostly did a better job against the champions. Barcelona host Real Sociedad on Monday (12.30am Malaysian time) at the Olympic stadium. Busquets to retire FO R ME R Spain and Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets will retire from football at the end of the Major League Soccer (MLS) season, his club Inter Miami said yesterday. Busquets came up through the Barcelona youth ranks and spent 18 years overall at the club, making his senior debut in 2008, before joining Miami in 2023 where he was reunited with former teammates Lionel Messi, Jordi Alba and Luis Suarez. He played 143 times for the national team and was part of the side that won the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and the European Championship two years later in Poland and Ukraine. “I feel like the time has come to say goodbye to my career as a professional footballer. It’s been almost 20 years of enjoying this incredible story I always dreamed of,” Busquets said in a video posted on Instagram . “I’m retiring very happy, proud, fulfilled, and above all, grateful…Thank you all very much, see you soon.”

Villa earn first win Villans launch Europa League bid, Rangers beaten A STON VILLA ended their win less run by beat ing Bologna 1-0

spot-kick was easily saved by Lukasz Skorupski. Villa could have been made to pay when Santiago Castro headed against the bar. But just as when the sides met in the Champions League last season, Bologna’s trip to Villa Park ended in defeat. “Important to get a win at home after not our strongest start to the season,” said McGinn. “We haven’t been good enough. We’ve had a lot of praise the past couple of seasons and we’re rightly being criticised at the minute.” Rangers boss Martin was met with more chants for his exit after the Scottish giants’ latest disappointing result at Ibrox. Mohamed Diomande’s red card just before halftime for a wild challenge gave the home side a mountain to climb. Former Celtic striker Oh Hyeon-Gyu had a mixed return to Glasgow as his penalty in first half stoppage time was saved by Jack Butland. But the South Korean international grabbed the only boss Martin, who was only hired in June, has now failed to win any of Rangers’ last eight games in the Scottish Premiership or European competition. Olivier Giroud scored Lille’s late winner in a 2-1 victory over Norwegian side Brann. American international Tanner Tessmann handed Lyon a 1-0 win away to Utrecht. Stuttgart beat Celta Vigo 2-1, while Porto were 1-0 winners away to RB Salzburg. – AFP “This is Red Bull style, but if you followed the career of Jurgen Klopp, it was the same in Mainz, the same at Borussia Dortmund and the same in Liverpool. So there’s a match.” Leipzig have been a stepping stone for several of Europe’s best including Christopher Nkunku, Josko Gvardiol, Dayot Upamecano, Ibrahima Konate, Dominik Szoboszlai, Dani Olmo, Joshua Kimmich and Matheus Cunha. Schaefer admits that unearthing the next diamond is becoming more challenging, saying that “they’re not harder to find, but harder to buy”. In Klopp, however, Leipzig have a recruitment trump card. Coveted by clubs across Europe, Bakayoko told AFP in August that a phone call with Klopp was the “trigger point” in his decision to join Leipzig. – AFP goal with a composed finish 10 minutes into the second period. Former Southampton

Bologna’s Martin Vitik (left) vies with Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins during their UEFA Europa League match. – AFPPIC

to open their Europa League campaign, while Rangers manager Russell Martin’s job was placed into peril by a 1-0 home defeat to Genk yesterday. Despite failing to win any of their first five Premier League games, Villa had been installed as pre-tournament favourites for the Europa League. The English side

reached the quarter finals of the Champions League last season, losing narrowly to eventual winners Paris Saint Germain, and in Unai Emery have a

ma n a g e r who has won the Europa League four times during spells at Sevilla and Villarreal.

A feeling all is not well in the Villa camp was evidenced by Emery labelling his players “lazy” after failing to beat 10 man Sunderland on Sunday, while sporting director Monchi left the club this week. However, they did enough to get the better of the Coppa Italia winners thanks to captain John McGinn’s early strike. The Scotland international fired into the bottom corner from the edge of the area on 13 minutes. Ollie Watkins was left on the bench after his scoreless start to the campaign and failed to break his drought even from the penalty spot in the second half. The England international’s tame

Leipzig ‘lost our DNA’ before Klopp-inspired reboot, says Schaefer

AFTE R the worst top-flight season in their history, RB Leipzig underwent a club-wide reckoning, led by new head of football Jurgen Klopp. The result was a massive summer overhaul, with Leipzig saying goodbye to their entire forward line. Xavi Simons moved to Tottenham, Benjamin Sesko went to Manchester United and Lois Openda joined Juventus. When the trio arrived at Leipzig in 2023, they were expected to establish a new period of success in Saxony. They all left without winning a trophy. “To be honest, maybe we lost a little bit of our DNA,” RB Leipzig sporting director Marcel Schaefer told AFP and other media in September. After winning a second successive German Cup in 2022/23, it looked like the Red Bull backed club were finally delivering on the

“We cannot change the whole philosophy and say, ‘OK, now we are a team who just wants to play and play, and have possession and possession and possession’. “We’re not a team like that. It’s not authentic.” In Klopp’s first summer transfer window at the helm, Schaefer said that“the main target was getting back to the roots”. Schaefer said there was no-one better suited to leading the overhaul than Klopp, a manager known for a high-intensity style which the former Liverpool coach called ‘heavy metal football’. “Jurgen Klopp is the head of global football. He’s responsible for all the teams, for the playing identity, for the playing philosophy.” “Of course, it’s not really a big surprise when we talk about counter-attacks, high pressing, intensity against the ball, intensity with the ball.

promise that followed their debut promotion in 2016. The following campaign, however, Leipzig finished fourth, 25 points behind champions Bayer Leverkusen. In 2024/25, Leipzig lost seven of eight matches in the Champions League and finished seventh in the Bundesliga, missing out on European football this season altogether. The club sacked Leipzig-born mentor Marco Rose – a friend of Klopp’s and the longest serving coach in their history. By trying to mimic Europe’s biggest and best, Leipzig had lost their way. “What makes RB Leipzig so successful?” Schaefer said of the club’s extensive post mortem. “Red Bull style means high intensity against the ball, high pressing, counter-attacking.