Thanks Baz. Right, I’ll just need to acclimatise, see what’s what, a process that could take anything between five minutes and two-and-a-half hours. In the meantime, I can exclusively reveal, having just come off Fiver duty, that today’s edition of everyone’s favourite tea-time football email will be
as teeth-grindingly unfunny as ever
Parish notice: With piping hot press conference chat to come from Jose Mourinho and Jurgen Klopp, among others, it’s time to hand this blog over to somebody who knows what they’re doing. Ladies and gentlemen, please give it up for Mr Scott Murray …
Southampton: Hasenhuttl has also told reporters that Takumi Minamino will miss Monday night’s ding-dong with Everton, while Theo Walcott will not be fit until after the international break.
Southampton: Ralph Hasenhuttl has announced that Oriol Romeu is out for the rest of the season. Having made one of the greatest tackles in Premier League history, the Spanish midfielder later hobbled off during his side’s midweek defeat at the hands of Leeds. X-rays have revealed he has fractured his ankle and will miss the rest of the season.
Updated
Manchester United: Speaking of Ole, the Manchester United manager has revealed that Juan Mata will be out for a couple of weeks with injury, but Donny van de Beek, Scott McTominay and Edinson Cavani are all available for selection for United’s game against Chelsea on Sunday. Daniel James, will need to be assessed, while Paul Pogba remains sidelined and will miss “a few weeks more”.
Newcastle United: Steve Bruce further incurred the wrath of Newcastle United fans for having the temerity to actually smile while talking to Ole Gunnar Solskjær in the immediate aftermath of Newcastle’s defeat at the hands of Manchester United last Sunday.
“Listen, I’ve known Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for 20 years,” said Bruce when this very, very important issue was raised at his press conference this morning. “If I’m caught smiling with him … he was complimenting us on how well we played. That’s it. If that’s a bad thing that I’ve smiled with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer then … unfortunately … OK. Let it be.”
Some Europa League admin: Because Uefa rules preclude teams from the same city playing at home on the same night, it seems likely that the fixtures in Tottenham’s tie against Dinamo Zagreb will be switched around. Spurs have said they will confirm the nitty-gritty of their schedule in “due course”.
West Brom v Brighton: Deep in the relegation mire, West Brom host Brighton in tomorrow’s 3pm kick-off and are in desperate need of a win. Graham Potter’s side somehow contrived to lose against Crystal Palace on Monday despite bossing them in every available metric apart from the only one that really matters: the scoreline.
Dinamo Zagreb v Tottenham Hotspur: Tottenham last met Dinamo Zagreb in the old Uefa Cup on 6 November 2008. It was an easy win for Spurs, who prevailed 4-0 courtesy of a Darren Bent hat-trick and a goal from Tom Huddlestone.
Updated
Olympiacos v Arsenal: These clubs are no strangers to each other, having met in last season’s Europa League knockout stages and the 2015 Champions League group stages. In all four games, the home side lost. They also met in the Champions League in 2009-10, 2011-12 and 2012-13.
Manchester United v AC Milan: The last of Manchester United and AC Milan’s meetings came in the 2009-10 Champions League Round of 16. United progressed on that occasion, winning 3-2 at the San Siro before spanking the Italian side 4-0 at home. It was a bittersweet return to Old Trafford for David Beckham, who came on as a sub for AC Milan on a night Wayne Rooney scored twice. Ji-sung Park and Darren Fletcher also chipped in with goals to see their side into the last eight.
Rangers v Slavia Prague: Slavia Prague will probably also be happy with what looks like a pretty kind draw. The sides have never met before.
Rangers v Slavia Prague: Rangers will probably be happy with what looks like a pretty kind draw.
Europa League Round of 16 draw
And that concludes the draw for the Round of 16 for this season’s Europa League and there’s some interesting match-ups, with perhaps Manchester Un ited’s tie against AC Milan the pick of them.
That draw in full
- Ajax v Young Boys
- Dinamo Kyiv v Villarreal
- AS Roma v Shakhtar Donetsk
- Olympiacos v Arsenal
- Dinamo Zagreb v Tottenham Hotspur
- Manchester United v AC Milan
- Slavia Prague v Rangers
- Granada v Molde
- Ties to be played on 11 and 18 March
Some draw admin: “It’s a completely open draw,” says Mr Heselschwerdt. He invites Hakin to give the balls in the official Uefa tombola a good swirl as he reads out the teams who are left in the comeptition. Here we go …
Sound the Hakin Yakin klaxon! The former Swiss midfielder, who played for Basle and Young Boys, is welcomed on stage and proceeds to address Pedro in German, a language I’m sorry to say I do not speak. He appears to be singing the praises of Young Boys for making it to the last 16. “For a Swiss player, it’s always a highlight to play in European competition,” he says.
Michael Heselschwerdt speaks. Uefa’s head of club competitions takes to the stage to express his regret that delegations from the various clubs left in the comeptition can’t be in attendance today. He goes on to thank clubs for their cooperation and flexibility in these difficult times and congratulates Granada and Slavia Prague for making it through to the final 16.
Good things come to those who wait. As ever, these Uefa draws are preceded by what can seem like no end of pomp and ceremony and we’re currently being treated to a montage of highlights from The Road to Gdansk, where this year’s final will be played.
They’re ready to go in Nyon. Handsome, debonair Uefa media chief and former Guardian Football Weekly contributor Pedro Pinto is chairing proceedings and is looking typically dashing in a nice navy blue suit.
Europa League: The Round of 16 draw is scheduled to take place at Uefa HQ in Nyon at noon (GMT) and fans of Tottenham, Manchester United, Arsenal and Rangers will be tuning in with interest. The four British teams will be joined by AC Milan, Ajax, Dinamo Zagreb, Dynamo Kyiv, Granada, Molde, Olympiacos, Roma, Shakhtar Donetsk, Slavia Praha, Villarreal and Young Boys . There is no seeding or country protection, which means teams from the same leagues can be drawn against each other.
Everton: Carlo Ancelotti has announced he is in for the long haul and wants to be in charge of the club when they move into their new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock in 2024. Everton’s plush new 53,000-capacity ground is scheduled for completion in time for the 2024-25 season after being approved by local councillors this week, while the Italian’s contract is due to expire at the end of the previous season.
I would like to stay as long as possible,” said Everton’s manager. “I would like to be there when the new stadium will be opened. It will be a good achievement for me, of course. I think to finish the contract in 2024 you did a good job and when you did a good job the contract will not be stopped in 2024, it will continue.”
Newcastle United: Steve Bruce has been addressing the press ahead of Newcastle’s match against Wolves at St James’ Park, where a large banner calling for his dismissal was left last overnight. Fourth from bottom of the table and just three points ahead of upwardly mobile Fulham, Newcastle are in grave danger of sleepwalking towards relegation and the natives on Tyneside are increasingly restless.
“When the daffodils are up the crux of the season is upon us,” he said, channeling his inner William Wordsworth while talking about the likelihood of Newcastle getting relegated. “We’ve still got a lead but it seems Newcastle are the only ones in it. There are six or seven teams. You can talk about tactics as much as you like, it’s all about players.”
Newcastle fans don’t need to panic until they see a host of golden daffodils in bloom. Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA
West Ham: David Moyes has dismissed talk linking him with the vacant manager’s job at Celtic, telling reporters he is “going nowhere”. The Scot is one of several men to have been linked with the Celtic gig since Neil Lennon’s resignation earlier this week.
“I’ve got no intentions of going anywhere,” he said this morning. “I’ve already spoken to David Sullivan, we’re up to date and things are quietly ticking along. “I don’t want anything to get in the way of what we’re doing just now. I’m not going to come out and say I’m signing a big contract or doing anything else that in any way might change things around. I just really want to go about the job and try and be professional.”
The West Ham manager’s next assignment is a tough one – a lunchtime trip to Premier League leaders Manchester City tomorrow.
Updated
Aston Villa: Dean Smith has revealed that Jack Grealish will miss out on Villa’s match against Leeds United at Elland Road tomorrow evening as he recovers from a leg injury. Villa’s star was also absent for his side’s defeat at the hands of Leicester City last weekend, prompting a subsequernt storm in a teacup after Leicester got wind of his injury when several Aston Villa players removed Greealish from their Fantasy Football teams.
Speaking to the press yesterday, Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa said he hoped Grealish would be fit for the encounter, despite the threat he poses. “He is a great player who can unbalance you,” he said. “But I always prefer that opponents have their best players available because even if that fortifies a team, and makes them more scary to face, it’s also a stimulus for us to face such players, to try to neutralise them.”
Jack Grealish will have to sit out his side’s match against Leeds tomorrow. Photograph: Neil Hall/PA
Rangers’s season gets better and better
With their coronation as Scottish champions a formality, Rangers spanked five past Royal Antwerp to make it to the last 16 of the Europa League for the second consecutive season. “We wanted to be very bold and we picked two very aggressive, ambitious teams,” said a very proud Rangers manager, Steven Gerrard. “The players deserve all the plaudits that will come their way.” Ewan M urray was at Ibrox for the Guardian.
Manchester United held but breeze through
Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s side were held at Old Trafford by Real Sociedad, but the four first leg goals they scored without reply were more than enough to see them through to the next round of the Europa League. Jamie Jackson was at Old Trafford for the Guardian …
Arsenal leave it late
Arsenal put their fans through the wringer, relying on a late goal from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to send them through to the last 16 of the Europa League. Bukayo Saka was the hero, picking out his team-mate with a sublime cross to the far post, putting the ball on a plate for Aubameyang in the 87th minute.
Leicester City go out with a whimper
Brendan Rodgers has taken full responsibility for his side’s strangely flat performance against Slavia Prague last night, when goals from Lukas Provod and Abdallah Sima tsent the Czech team into the last 16.
“It’s my responsibility,” he said. “I pick the team to try to get the result and that clearly didn’t work as well as I would have liked.
“We’ve changed the team often enough because we’ve carried injuries all year, so we’ve had to be able to do that. The players returning from injury, especially Ricardo and Barnesy, they’ve been playing non-stop and we had to find a way to freshen up the team.
“I would still expect us to do better but when you’re missing the players we are, that’s going to affect the quality of your game.
“There are no excuses. It’s my responsibility. I pick the team and the set-up. It wasn’t to be. The best team won.”
Jordan Henderson
The big news this morning is that Liverpool’s skipper is recuperating after surgery to repair his groin injury and will be sidelined for six to eight weeks. Having been forced off the pitch during last weekend’s Merseyside derby, Henderson joins the very long list of Liverpool’s lame and halt, and will miss as many as 10 Liverpool matches, as well as three England games. We wish him a speedy recovery.
Updated
The weekend starts here …
Greetings and welcome to our rolling blog covering all the news that’s fit to print (and plenty more that may not be) as we look forward to another hectic weekend of football action. We’ll bring you top content from various managerial press conferences, keep you posted on any big developments and bring you a blow-by-blow account of the Europa League Round of 16 draw from the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland at noon (GMT). Leicester City are out following their surprise defeat to Slavia Prague, but Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Manchester United and Rangers are all in the upturned Uefa hat.
Updated