the times | Thursday April 28 2022 67
Sport
taurants with his coaching staff. “He
has a good feeling for people,” Markus
Krösche, Frankfurt’s sporting director,
says. Glasner himself knows the value
of that skill. “You are nothing as a coach
when you don’t have the players on
your side,” he tells The Times.
Glasner grew up in the Austrian vil-
lage Riedau. For those who do not know
much about him, or who only heard his
name for the first time when Frankfurt
stunned Barcelona 3-1 at the Nou Camp
in their quarter-final, here is a recap: he
was a moderately talented defender in
the first and second divisions in Austria
but had to retire after a collision in 2011.
What first was diagnosed as a minor
concussion became a subdural hemato-
Frankfurt boss
Glasner hopes his
distinct style can
trouble West HamMy children, like many others, were
sent to bed at half-time. What was the
point? Liverpool were 3-0 down. They
were worried about their mother, who
had been so excited to be able to
attend as a fan and would now be
bereft. They ran back downstairs after
Vladimir Smicer had scored
Liverpool’s second, just in time to
witness Xabi Alonso’s equaliser.
Sitting behind the goal where
nothing much happened, bar some
heroic defending by Jamie Carragher,
I was convinced the trophy was ours.
I was not even all that nervous during
the penalty shoot-out. We read about
miracles, but to witness one first-hand
was a privilege.James Gheerbrant
Real Madrid 4 Juventus 3
(on aggregate) 2018
The quarter-final between Juventus
and Real Madrid was one of the most
epic ties in the competition’s recent
history. There were almost too many
legendary players to count. I was at
the first leg in Turin, which Real won
3-0, an astonishing performance most
memorable for Cristiano Ronaldo’s
overhead kick, which received a
standing ovation from the Juventus
fans. Juventus looked beaten, but they
mounted an extraordinary comeback
in the second leg, with Mario
Mandzukic scoring twice before
Blaise Matuidi made it 3-3 on
aggregate. A 97th-minute penalty by
Ronaldo sealed Real’s passage. They
would go on to win a third straight
Champions League crown.
Walker in race for second leg, page 63midfield and maintaining that
determination and focus even after
receiving the booking that so cruelly
denied him an opportunity to play in
the final. Paul Scholes suffered the
same fate. I was the Manchester
correspondent for my newspaper and
it all added to the drama of an
extraordinary comeback that was so
typical of that Treble-winning team.Paul Hirst
Tottenham Hotspur 3 Inter Milan 1
November 2, 2010
The best thing about covering
matches at White Hart Lane was the
location of the press box, which was
right behind the dugouts. That
enabled you to see and hear things
that would otherwise go unnoticed.
The abiding memory I have of this
night was seeing Walter Samuel’s face
drop as Gareth Bale knocked the ball
past Maicon for the umpteenth time
and charged towards goal in the
second half.
Samuel, the covering defender, was
clearly thinking, “Oh no, here we go
again.. .” Bale set up two goals and
made Maicon’s reputation as one
of the best right backs in the world
look ridiculous.Alyson Rudd
AC Milan 3 Liverpool 3 May 25, 2005
I have kept only one ticket from
the thousands of matches I have
attended. It is faded and jammed
unceremoniously in the gap between
the mirror and the panelling of the
dresser in my hall but every time
I grab a coat, I see it and I smile.ma, which required emergency surgery,
ending his playing career.
He was then hired as an assistant to
the sporting director by Red Bull Salz-
burg, learning from Ralf Rangnick.
“Ralf has a clear vision of [the] football
that [he] wants to play,” Glasner says.
That distinct style of intensity and
pressing still seems key to Glasner’s
philosophy. Frankfurt had less posses-
sion than their opponents in all four
knockout matches against Real Betis
and Barcelona. They defended aggres-
sively and counterattacked with speed.
Glasner, uncharacteristically, dived
across the Nou Camp pitch in celebra-
tion after beating Barcelona. The goal-
keeper Kevin Trapp has noticed that
Glasner is “as excited as we are” before
Europa League games, adding: “I think
he is kind of nervous.”
It would not be surprising. Glasner’s
biggest success has been the Austrian
Bundesliga title in 2014, when he was an
assistant coach at Salzburg. Getting his
hands on the Europa League trophy
would dwarf that achievement.ARFA GRIFFITHS/WEST HAM UNITED/SHUTTERSTOCKTwo-legged semi-finals set to be scrapped
Momentum is building for two-legged
Champions League semi-finals to be
scrapped, with leading European clubs
backing a plan to play the semis and the
final over a single week in one city.
The Champions League “week of
football” proposal would mean the end
of two-legged semi-finals, which have
been part of the format since the
European Cup was launched in 1955. It
would also mean no part two of the
thrilling 4-3 match between Manches-
ter City and Real Madrid on Tuesday.
Uefa says that no decision has been
made but the European Club Associa-
tion (ECA) is understood to be prepar-
ing to throw its weight behind the idea.
The European Leagues organisation
would also need to agree to it.
Although some senior Uefa figures
are reluctant to make such a revolu-the “final four” idea and has urged
Ceferin to introduce it. Khelaifi said
that the PSG players loved the experi-
ence of that format when playing in
Lisbon in 2020, after the Covid-19
pandemic forced Uefa to play the final
matches of the tournament there.
Ceferin told The Times in September:
“Even if you lose those two matches
[from the calendar] you can get more
revenue to compensate. In the same
week you could have the final of the
Women’s Champions League or youth
competitions, you could really have a
fantastic week of football. ”
The cities would have to handle at
least 100,000 fans coming from abroad,
meaning that they would need hotels
and travel infrastructure of a certain
capacity. London, Paris, Madrid, Berlin,
Istanbul, Rome and — if Russia returns
to the fold — Moscow would appear to
be the only cities able to fit the bill.tionary change, the organisation’s pres-
ident, Aleksander Ceferin, has previ-
ously spoken favourably about the idea,
with the extra peril of a straight knock-
out match adding to the excitement.
Any change would come in from the
2024-25 season, when Uefa’s new
Champions League format is launched.
Under the “week of football” idea
Uefa would develop a festival-type
event similar to its Nations League
finals, where two semi-finals and the
final are played in the same country in
the space of five days.
Another advantage in removing the
two-legged semi-finals is that it would
ease the pressure on the fixture calen-
dar given that there are likely to be ten
group matches rather than six under
the new “Swiss model”’ format.
Nasser al-Khelaifi, the ECA chair-
man and president of Paris Saint-
Germain, has spoken positively aboutWhere does City-Real epic rank
among the best European nights?
Matt Dickinson, senior sports writer
Manchester United 4 Real Madrid 3
April 23, 2003
Apart from the seven goals —
including a hat-trick for Ronaldo —
a standing ovation for the Brazilian
genius, David Beckham scoring an
incredible free kick on his last
European night for United and a
collection of superstars, including
Zinedine Zidane, Roberto Carlos
and Luís Figo, in an epic see-saw
contest, this was also the occasion
which reputedly persuaded Roman
Abramovich, in the stands at Old
Trafford, that he had to own a football
club. Not only an unforgettable
quarter-final, but game-changing too.Henry Winter, chief football writer
Manchester Utd 2 Bayern Munich 1
May 26, 1999
This final is still known in press boxes
as “the night of a thousand rewrites”
because those present had to keep
refiling, first with Bayern winning,
then United coming back to draw,
then United coming back to win. It
was mainly about Bayern control,
with 50 words of Teddy Sheringham
and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer glory on
top. It is still the favourite Champions
League moment I have covered, even
more than Istanbul 2005, even more
than Zidane’s volley at Hampden Park
in 2002. It was the suddenness of the
turnaround. It was a reminder of
never giving up, Fergie time, belief,
persistence. Any event that scrambles
deadlines is going to be epic.Matt Lawton, chief sports
correspondent
Juventus 2 Manchester United 3
April 21, 1999
The second leg of United’s semi-final
in Turin in 1999. It was a massive
moment for Sir Alex Ferguson’s
side to at last reach a Champions
League final. But it was the way
Roy Keane almost single-handedly
drove them there after Juventus
scored twice in the opening 11
minutes, the United captain
delivering a quite magnificent
individual performance in centralAfter Tuesday’s 4-3
at the Etihad, our
writers nominate their
favourite Champions
League matches
Ronaldo scores at Old Trafford — his hat-trick sent Real through 6-5 on aggregateNEWS GROUP NEWSPAPERS LTDMartyn Ziegler Chief Sports Reporter