Daily Mirror - 30.08.2019

DM1ST

mirror.co.uk/sport FRIDAY 30.08.2019 DAILY MIRROR^63

LAND THE BIG ONE AT LAST?

LLLLLLLYYYYYYY MMMIRRRRRRROOOOOOORRRRRRR

‘IT’S BEEN A

LONG ROAD’

drawn against Napoli, Salzburg and

Genk in Group E while Van Dijk (above)

posed with his awards alongside team-

mate Becker, who picked up UEFA’s

Goalkeeper of the Season trophy.

Dutch superstar Van Dijk said: “It has

been a long road but that’s part of my

journey, it’s part of who I am.

“I needed it like this, I’m not a player

who was 18-years-old and had that rise

straight away. I had to work hard for

every step of the way – that’s part of

me and I’m very happy about that.

“I’m very proud to get this trophy

and it’s all credit to everyone that’s

helped me along the way.”

Jurgen Klopp’s men will play Napoli

again in their group after they knocked

out the Italians at the same stage last

season.

They will also face Sadio Mane and

Naby Keita’s former club Red Bull

Salzburg and Belgium outfit Genk in an

easy start to the defence of their

European crown.

Anfield boss Klopp said: “Napoli

again! I don’t know how often I’ve now

played against Napoli but they’re a very

experienced side.

“I will need now to have another,

closer look at Genk and Salzburg but I

already know they are very young, very

exciting and very fresh, so it will be

interesting, 100 per cent.”

City will tackle Ukrainians Shakhtar

Donetsk, Croatian outfit Dinamo Zagreb

and Serie A side Atalanta.

Director of football Txiki Begiristain

said: “We have to keep being strong in

our country and if we do that, we know

we will have a chance in this

competition.

“In the Champions League,

everything has to be perfect because if

you have one mistake in the quarter-

finals, you are out. So it is important to

keep playing the way we believe.”

them in this position

now – not playing very

well. They have too many

unhappy footballers.

Mauricio Pochettino (above) is

trying to knit it all together. One

unhappy player is OK, but when you

have three or four...

I feel last season was a freak and

the start to this season suggests it

was. The consistency needed has

not been there for about a year now.

POCH UP AGAINST IT

THE Champions League final last

June will haunt Spurs’ players for

the rest of their lives.

They will never get a better

chance to win it – or a worse

Liverpool performance to cash in

on. They didn’t lay a glove on the

Reds and may never go back there.

There has been poor

management of the club to put

FROM BACK PAGE

ALL THE GROUP GAMES FOR

THE PREM CONTENDERS...

GROUP B

GROUP A

KEY DATES WHAT THE BOOKIES SAY

GROUP D GROUP F GROUP G

GROUP E GROUP H

GROUP C

ROAD TO ISTANBUL

LAST 16 1st legs: February

18-19, 25-26. Second legs:

March 10-11, 17-18

QUARTER-FINALS 1st legs:

Apr 7-8. 2nd legs: Apr 14-15

SEMI-FINAL 1st legs: April

28-29. 2nd legs: May 5-6

FINAL

Istanbul: Saturday, May 30

ODDS (thepools.com)

10/3 Man City

5/1 Barcelona

13/2 Liverpool

17/2 Real Madrid

10/1 PSG, Juventus

12/1 B Munich

20/1 A Madrid

22/1 Tottenham

33/1 Chelsea, B Dortmund

to Tottenham last season by

conceding three goals at home.

Meanwhile, Liverpool were keeping

Barca out 4-0. That is the difference.

In cup competitions, with away

goals, there is still a chink in their

armour in the way they play and don’t

keep enough clean sheets. They play

so open and so free.

Liverpool have the ability to shut

up shop and say, ‘You are not scoring

today’. That sets them apart in cup

competitions. City need a defensive

meanness to go with their free-

flowing game.

Not many teams outscore their

way to a Champions League. Even

that Real Madrid side who won four

on the spin had some grit – Sergio

Ramos, Dani Carvahal, Casemiro.

City have the players to do that. But

there is something about that club,

Champions League, playing at home...

That marriage is not perfect, in my

opinion.

I don’t think Pep can totally rest up

players domestically in order to target

the Champions League.

The league is so long and you

invest so much, when you get to

March, April in the thick of it, you

can’t weaken it too much.

You might rest one player, such as

Kevin De Bruyne, for a game ahead of

the big European ties.

He is a player who can win you a

Champions League.

PEP IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

P W D L F A WIN%

Bayern Munich 36 23 5 8 87 37 63.9

Barcelona 50 30 15 5 117 42 60

Man City 28 16 4 8 68 40 57.1

Total 114 69 24 21 272 119 60.5

Guardiola won the Champions

League twice with Barcelona.

He reached three semi-finals

at Bayern Munich but has not

gone beyond two quarter-

finals with Manchester City.

SON STUNS

Heung-min

Son nets to

help Spurs to a

shock triumph

against City

in the quarter-

finals stage of

the contest

last season

PSG

Real

Madrid

Bruges

Galatasaray

Juventus

At. Madrid

Bayer

Leverkusen

Lokomotiv

Moscow

Barcelona

Borussia

Dormund

Inter Milan

Sparta

Prague

Zenit St

Petersburg

Benfica

Lyon

Leipzig

ON TOTTENHAM

Bayern Munich

Tottenham

Olympiakos

Red Star Belgrade

Manchester City

Shakhtar Donetsk

Dinamo Zagreb

Atalanta

Chelsea

Ajax

Valencia

Lille

Liverpool

Napoli

Salzburg

Genk

TOTTENHAM’S GAMES

Wed Sep 18 v Olympiakos (A) 5.55pm

Tues Oct 1 v Bayern Munich (H) 8pm

Tues Oct 22 v Red Star Belgrade (H) 8pm

Wed Nov 6 v Red Star Belgrade (A) 8pm

Tues Nov 26 v Olympiakos (H) 8pm

Wed Dec 11 v Bayern Munich (A) 8pm

MANCHESTER CITY’S GAMES

Wed Sep 18 v Shakhtar Donetsk (A) 8pm

Tues Oct 1 v Dinamo Zagreb (H) 8pm

Tues Oct 22 v Atalanta (H) 8pm

Wed Nov 6 v Atalanta (A) 8pm

Tues Nov 26 v Shakhtar Donetsk (H) 8pm

Wed Dec 11 v Dinamo Zagreb (A) 8pm

LIVERPOOL’S GAMES

Tues Sep 17 v Napoli (A) 8pm

Wed Oct 2 v Salzburg (H) 8pm

Wed Oct 23 v Genk (A) 8pm

Tues Nov 5 v Genk (H) 8pm

Wed Nov 27 v Napoli (H) 8pm

Tues Dec 10 v Salzburg (A) 8pm

CHELSEA’S GAMES

Tues Sep 17 v Valencia (H) 8pm

Wed Oct 2 v Lille (A) 8pm

Wed Oct 23 v Ajax (A) 5.55pm

Tues Nov 5 v Ajax (H) 8pm

Wed Nov 27 v Valencia (A) 5.55pm

Tues Dec 10 v Lille (H) 8pm