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GOAL sat down with Lagerway to discuss how Atlanta could move from edge playoff contenders to among the best teams in the Eastern Conference.

Atlanta United president Garth Lagerway took exception to a question asked of him in early February. Asked about the "miracle" upset that was Atlanta's knockout of favored Inter Miami in the first round of the 2024 MLS playoffs, Lagerway made it clear that the club's next playoff win – and he's sure that there will be one – won't be considered so seismic.

"I was like, 'OK, what would it take for it not to be a miracle that we win in the playoffs?' " Lagerway told GOAL. "Maybe, we get to the point where we're expected to win in the playoffs and we're favored to win."

That's exactly what Atlanta have done. It has been a chaotic 12 months for the club. They sold their three best players last summer, letting Caleb Wiley, Thiago Almada and Giorgos Giakoumakis go for a combined $43 million – the most lucrative trio of outgoings in MLS history. Instead of plummeting to the depths of MLS, they stayed afloat, beat Lionel Messi and Miami in the first round of playoffs, and showed that there is enough to work with here to make something special.

The logical next move, though, was to reinvest – and push back towards the top. The good news was the plan was already in place. Atlanta needed a striker, and, ideally, two other attacking players. Aleksey Miranchuk was taken care of in August. The two other newcomers were sorted within a month of the offseason.

"We were actually able to deploy the capital then more quickly that even than I thought we would be able to," Lagerway says.

The other two – former Middlesborough striker Emmanuel Latte Lath and returning hero Miguel Almiron – would seem to take Atlanta from fringe playoff contenders to among the best teams in the Eastern Conference. Throw in a new sporting director, Chris Henderson, formely of Inter Miami. Add a head coach who has won MLS before, Ronny Deila, coming off two separate stints in the Belgian top flight. And suddenly, this is a team that has a legitimate shot to win it all.

But what seems a hurried process has actually been a calculated. Some of these names have been on Atlanta's radar for a year.

"What I would say is we track players, usually for six to 12 months," he said. "The thing for MLS teams is what we want ideally, is players that are running down toward the end of their contract, because then you get a more favorable economic deal."

So much for that. Almiron and Latte Lath were bank-breaking moves. Add them together and the club spent over $30 million – Latte Lath is a new MLS transfer record signing. But he turned down Premier League offers to come. Atlanta have a proper player on their hands. So yes, it does break precedent. But Atlanta had money to spend, an owner who encouraged reinvestment, and a top-down model to make this all work. That playoff "miracle" should the same result occur might not be such a surprise.

Ahead of the MLS season, Lagerway talked about Atlanta's busy offseason, how they signed Almiron, and why this could be their year in the latest GOAL Convo.

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  ON SELLING AT THE RIGHT TIME

  GOAL: Why did you sell when you did? Because you guys made $50 million from three sales?

  LAGERWAY: It was reported that way. The reality is, it was probably from five sales that we made $53M. We had sell-ons on a player named Esequiel Barco as an example, to Russia from Argentina. Now, obviously the three, Almada, Giakoumakis and Wiley, those three together were around $43M… To answer "Hey, why sell?" then the answer is, you have to sell to the people with the money, and you have to sell when they want the player. That's maximizing your market value. And the decision we made, on a basic level, was we didn't think we were going to win the championship with the team that we had last year.

  And so then we became like, "OK, we're going to liquidate the portfolio." Basically, we're going to sell off all our assets. OK, so how can we do that to maximize value? Because if we maximize the value, then we get to make all the other decisions. If you don't have the value, then you don't get to the next step of making the other decisions. And so we were able to be pretty successful in terms of offloading the assets and maximizing market value. But that came at a significant cost in that it was in the middle of our season. And because the MLS season doesn't align with the European season, at least not so far, we had to then go literally months. We made some of the deals, I think, in April and May, ahead of the Euros and Copa America, and then couldn't replace them until our window opened in July. So we literally had months where we were playing without the replacements for those players.

  GOAL: How did you manage that?

  LAGERWAY: Well, sure enough, we were able to get in Pedro Amador for Caleb Wiley, and were able to get in Aleksei Miranchuk for Thiago Almada. We wound up getting 18 goals from our strikers that played in lieu of Giakoumakis. So although we didn't replace him, we actually got decent output from the strikers. That was credit to Rob Valentino would become our interim coach. That's why we went on the run at the end, because we finally replaced the players.

  Then we went on that little run and beat Miami. So, it all started to come together, but we really didn't feel like we had enough experience from a staffing perspective long term. And so then we brought in Ronny Deila. We brought in Chris Henderson. We brought in David Tenney, who, for me, is the best sports scientist in North America. We wanted to make sure we managed all these new assets we were acquiring. And we did.

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  ON A BUSY OFFSEASON

  GOAL: So how did you go about making those signings?

  LAGERWAY: We said, "OK, now we're aligned, now we can start pushing the capital out." We didn't want to spend a bunch of money on players and profiles that maybe didn't match the long term management of the club. And so once we got into December, got the management aligned, and hired Chris Henderson a couple days before Ronny, to make sure those two were lined up as well, we were actually able to deploy the capital then more quickly that even than I thought we would be able to.

  We got Miguel Almiron, which is a no brainer on and off the field for us in terms of the returning hero, coming back to Atlanta United. And we get Emmanuel Latte Lath. But the other thing we switched on a really basic level, because we were buy, develop, sell. And we had some really good additional success with that. If you come to Atlanta and you stay for a year or two, that you can be sold on, and you can go other places, which is great for the players and great for the club too. What we've tweaked is to say, "Hey, we really would like players that want to be in Atlanta." And we believe Atlanta is a big enough club now.

  MLS is rising, the World Cup is coming, in our building, Mercedes Benz Stadium. We had the Copa America. Now we have the Club World Cup this summer. We have the World Cup next summer. U.S. Soccer relocated to Atlanta last year. We are becoming an international soccer city. I understand that sounds silly to say on some level, when you have 120 years of soccer all over the world. And I'm not claiming we're the greatest or anything like that. But the city itself investing in soccer. We have the biggest fan base in America. These are all objective facts that maybe lead up to, "Hey, our fan base deserves players that want to play for Atlanta."

  Miguel Almiron, coming home as the returning hero, so to speak – we think that really matches. We have a highly motivated player to make Atlanta do well. Latte Lath is the same. We were competing with Premier League teams for his signature, and he chose to come to Atlanta. So that's hopefully a good sign that this is a place where he wants to make his future. A year ago, we had signed a player like Bartosz Slisz, who had offers in Italy, had some offers in Germany. And so we really thought that that was important to our core and to our locker room, to have players that wanted to be in Atlanta, win for Atlanta, and we thought that that was a good match for our fan base who expects us to win – as they should – as giving us the most support in North America.

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  ON PREPARING FOR SUMMER MOVES

  GOAL: I was wondering how far in advance, from a scouting perspective, do you have these names in mind? How far in advance are you thinking, "We're going to have this much money, here's who we're spending it on?"

  LAGERWAY: So in MLS there's the discover rule, which means you can only have one team at a time talk to the players. Charlotte had the discovery rights and so, like last summer, we couldn't talk to Almiron. Charlotte had the right to do that. They were trying to sign him. So it didn't matter. It wasn't on the radar. It was other targets. And then, in the winter, Charlotte eventually came around and said, "Hey, we're not sure we want to spend this much on Almiron. We have another target." So they gave us a call and said, "Hey, would you guys be interested in [Almiron]?" And then that started the conversation. We said, "Hey, we have to talk to the owners to try to figure out what's possible and what's not." Eventually we did that. And then it kind of snowballed from there. And so that one is very much a specific case, though, right there is literally one player with that level of influence in Atlanta, and that would be known to all MLS teams.

  What I would say is we track players, usually for six to 12 months. The thing for MLS teams is what we want ideally, is players that are running down toward the end of their contract, because then you get a more favorable economic deal. So if you can hopefully build your team and be successful, and then once you get to that base level success, you're kind of changing one or two players every transfer window, and you're able to kind of line up when players run out of contract, and then you acquire them. Now, obviously, when we set the league record for a transfer fee on Emmanuel Latte Lath you'll say, "Hey, that doesn't really sound like a free transfer strategy." You're right, but we really felt like we needed this impact player as a striker. We had the resources available, and so we reinvested them.

  And that's one of the things about having the ownership that we do, you know, with Arthur Blank, we have his full support. Any money we have goes back into the team. So we're very, very lucky in that sense. And we're lucky to be part of this bigger organization where, you know, this is an NFL-level organization serving us from a financial perspective. Our building is a $2 billion building. Even when players like Messi walk into Mercedes Benz stadium, they're like, "OK, this is a proper stadium." So we have some of these advantages, and we're able to sign some players on those timelines, and hopefully they'll make an impact.

  GOAL: On the Latte Lath signing, one thing that struck me is, obviously, that there's the price attached to it. But even if that deal didn't go through, you were looking into other names. Was there a sense that you to make an impact signing? Or bring in a big name?

  LAGERWAY: I think big name, I want to be careful with – just because I don't think any of these guys are household names, if we're being honest about it. But we had sold Giakoumakis in April of the year before. It was one of those where I don't know that we to sign, but it was definitely a goal of ours to sign. So yes, we had offers out on multiple players, and we had that alignment from December, so we knew if we had the sporting director and head coach in agreement on the type of player, there's more than one of those players.

  So you go do that, and then hopefully that maximizes the chances. But we signed three designated players in this window. That's more than I've ever done in my career. So, like, I can't sit here and be like, "Oh yeah, that was the plan all along." We were fortuitous in terms of, in particular, the Klich acquisition – D.C. United holds on to the designated player tag, but we get the player at a reduced price, in addition to the other two that we paid, obviously bigger money for.

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  ON BEATING MIAMI

  GOAL: That Miami win in the playoffs made headlines, not just in America, but around the world right by virtue of who you beat. On the back of that, did you feel a bit more pressure this offseason to get it right? As if to say, you know, we can build on that?

  LAGERWAY: It's funny. I would actually say I felt a little bit of relief. I had been here going on two years at that point, and we hadn't won anything. I had won and had some success in Salt Lake and had some success in Seattle. And so I was like "Man, I hope we can recreate this in the third place in Atlanta." And we really hadn't had a ton of success. And so we got the players right at the end of the season with Rob Valentino's influence, we were able to put together that run. So it honestly was like a little bit of like stress relief. Some of the same things, the same concepts can work. It set up that offseason of change in the management change, into the head coach and now signing more players. It gave me a little confidence that maybe we are starting to trend the right direction.

  GOAL: Almost a sense of "this is working?"

  LAGERWAY: Exactly. My job is to build the organization. But the way you see the progress is through the success on the field. And so it felt like you laid all this foundation. And so it was, in that sense, really gratifying to see Rob's success, as well as the team's success. Importantly, it gave us something to build on going into 2025, where now the group the players believe, "Hey, we can do this. We just knocked off, you know, the No. 1 seed, the team that set the points record in the regular season last year. We can be a good team." And so I think that was an important psychological boost for us heading into the season.

Celtic could be set to make a massive profit on one of their star men after it emerged that a Premier League side may come calling with a boatload of cash if they sell their own talisman.

Celtic enjoying excellent season start

Aside from being thrashed 7-1 by Borussia Dortmund, it has been an almost perfect start to the season for Brendan Rodgers and Celtic. The Bhoys have won nine of their opening ten Scottish Premiership games, with their one draw coming against Aberdeen, who sit level with Celtic on 28 points in the early season running.

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In the Scottish League Cup, it was far less close, with Celtic thrashing Aberdeen 6-0 to progress at their expense, while they have also enjoyed success in the Champions League.

Though that thrashing cast doubt on their ability to compete on the European stage, they have followed it with a draw against Europa League holders Atalanta and most recently an impressive win over German outfit RB Leipzig to put themselves in a strong position to reach the next stage of the competition, with theoretically easier fixtures still to come.

Losing just once all season, Rodgers’ side appear likely to sweep the Scottish honours board after winning a double last season, and could even go one further to claim yet another treble, with no other side in Scotland as good as the Hoops on current form. That form has not gone unnoticed, and now one club south of the border could be set to pounce on their success.

Brentford eyeing Nicolas Kuhn

That comes as one report reveals that Brentford are considering a January move for Celtic winger Nicolas Kuhn, who impressed against Leipzig and grabbed two goals.

The Bees are braced to lose club top scorer Bryan Mbeumo amid interest from across top clubs in the Premier League, and they are set to demand in excess of £40m to let him leave the club despite him having just 18 months left to run on his contract.

Then, according to the Boot Room, they see Kuhn as a “potential replacement” for the 25-year-old, which would see them make a move in January if Mbeumo departed.

It is added that while Celtic weren’t planning to cash in on their forward just 12 months after he arrived at Celtic Park, “the chance to make a substantial profit may be hard to resist provided Brentford are willing to meet that £25 million asking price”.

Having paid just £3m to land him in 2023, a £25m sale would see them make a roughly 833% profit on their star man, while it would see Kuhn join Kieran Tierney as Celtic’s third biggest sale (a record that was broken by Matt O’Riley’s move to Brighton in the summer).

Under contract until 2029, Celtic are under no immediate pressure to part ways with Kuhn, but may find the allure of a mammoth fee too much to turn down.

Carlo Ancelotti opened up on Endrick's lack of game time while drawing comparisons with Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo.

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• Ancelotti addressed Endrick and Guler's lack of game time
• Drew comparisons with Vini Jr and Rodrygo
• Madrid face Real Sociedad on Wednesday

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Endrick and Arda Guler have seen limited game time in the 'new Galactico' era at the Santiago Bernabeu. With stars like Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo and Jude Bellingham in the ranks, Ancelotti has been reluctant to hand out starts to the teenage attackers. The young Brazilian recently discussed the challenges he is facing at Real Madrid since moving to the club last summer.

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• WHAT CARLO ANCELOTTI SAID

  Los Blancos boss Ancelotti has addressed the youngster's situation at the club as he told reporters: "Endrick is not going to be Rodrygo or Vinicius Junior but he is going to be a great striker. There is no Endrick issue at the moment, let’s see what happens."

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Further speaking on Guler and Endrick's limited appearances, the Italian added: "Any player who has doubts can speak to me directly. I speak every day with young players, with Endrick and with Guler. I have read that there is a problem (with Guler) but this is not something I am aware of. The competition for places is very high.

  "I am with these young players every day, sometimes they are happy and sometimes they are not. This is absolutely normal. I want players who are angry if they don’t play."

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  WHAT NEXT FOR REAL MADRID?

  The defending champions will be back in action on Wednesday as they take on Real Sociedad away from home in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final fixture.

Some fans have claimed that Mohamed Salah's chances of winning the Ballon d'Or this year are "dead" after Liverpool's exit from the Champions League.

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• Fans says Salah's Ballon d'Or hopes over
• Liverpool exit Champions League at the hands of PSG
• Raphina billed as new favourite for Golden Ball

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Salah, who has had a stellar outing with Liverpool in the 2024-25 campaign so far, was being considered as one of the frontrunners to win the Ballon d'Or in 2025 until Liverpool's Champions League round of 16 second-leg fixture against Paris Saint-Germain. As the French champions progressed to the quarter-finals after beating the Reds 4-1 on penalties at Anfield on Tuesday, many fans claimed that Salah's hopes of winning the Golden Ball are now over. Salah was seen breaking down in tears after the defeat, and some social media users attempted to rub salt in his wounds.

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• WHAT THE FANS ARE SAYING

  On X, reacting to photos of the emotionally-drained Liverpool star, a fan named Juje Punter wrote: "Balon d'or hopes are dead now. That's his pain. The best chance he possibly got. Soon to be Raphina's award."

  Barca Spaces posted: "No Ballon d’Or for him. It’s Raphinha’s."

  An X handle named DesmundOris wrote: "He knows his chances of getting the Ballon D’Or just got slimmer. The fear of Raphinha is real."

  MOOD-Football posted: "Salah gave everything this season, but football is cruel. From Ballon d'Or frontrunner to crashing out early, this one hurts deep."

  Imran Rafiq sympathised with the Egyptian star as he wrote: "Mo Salah has had an outstanding season, but Liverpool's loss to PSG yesterday likely ended his Ballon d'Or chances. This Liverpool side relies heavily on him. He’s bailed them out countless times this season, but yesterday just wasn’t his night."

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  On the day Salah failed to deliver for his team, Barcelona winger Raphinha once again starred for his club with a brace as they thrashed Benfica 3-1 in ther second leg of their tie to progress to the quarter-finals 4-1 on aggregate. The Brazilian is now the top scorer in the Champions League with 11 goals to his name. He has also scored 13 goals in La Liga, which makes him the fourth-highest scorer in Spain. As Raphinha continues with his incredible form, he has now emerged as a serious contender to bag his maiden Ballon d'Or in France later this year.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR MOHAMED SALAH?

  Salah will now dust himself off before trying to bag his first trophy of the season for his club on Sunday as Liverpool lock horns against Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup final.

We are now 11 games into the Premier League season, and it would be fair to say that Arsenal have not been having the best of times.

Mikel Arteta’s side and their supporters were hoping that this would be the season that they finally beat Manchester City to the title, and while Pep Guardiola’s side have stumbled as well, Liverpool have taken their place atop the table, nine points ahead of the North Londoners.

Now, the Gunners have faced injury problems and a few harsh refereeing decisions, but at the end of the day, the team just haven’t performed well enough on the pitch.

That said, there have been a few standout players, notably Bukayo Saka, who continues to be a shining light in an otherwise bleak campaign, although even he is being outscored by a former Arsenal youngster who was sold in the summer and has since seen his valuation explode thanks to his form, which has seen him outscore Victor Osimhen as well.

Saka's form this season

Yes, while his teammates around him have struggled to reach the levels they did towards the backend of last season, Saka has continued to demonstrate just why he’s one of the best players in Europe, let alone England.

For example, in just 15 appearances across all competitions, the North Londoner’s irrepressible poster boy has racked up a staggering haul of four goals and eight assists, equating to an average of a goal involvement every 1.36 games.

Moreover, according to FBref, which has compared players in similar positions across Europe’s top five leagues, the Champions League and Europa League over the last 365 days, the 23-year-old dynamo ranks incredibly high for some important statistics.

In short, the 42-capped Englishman has been a tour de force for the Gunners in recent seasons as well as this one, and so long as he’s in the team, there is every chance they can get back to their best of the last two years.

Yet, the Ealing-born icon is still being outscored by a former youngster who Arteta sold over the summer. A promising centre-forward who is now worth significantly more than he was just a few months ago.

The promising striker outscoring Saka and Osimhen

Arsenal got rid of a number of talented players over the summer, some for hefty sums of money, like Emile Smith Rowe and Eddie Nketiah, and some just on loan, like Reiss Nelson and Fabio Vieira, but the player we are talking about was sold from the club’s academy, Mika Biereth.

Yes, the up-and-coming Danish striker, who impressed on loan with Motherwell and Sturm Graz last season, producing 24 goals and assists across 37 appearances between the sides, was sold to the latter for just £4m in early July.

Unsurprisingly, the “fantastic” young forward, as dubbed by Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell, who openly compared parts of his game to both Erling Haaland and Harry Kane, of all people, started this season like a house on fire and currently has a tally of nine goals and two assists to his name in just 20 appearances.

This means that not only is the former Gunner outscoring Saka at present, but also Nigerian superstar Osimhen, who has been consistently linked with a move to the Emirates over the last year or so and has a tally of eight goals and four assists in nine games so far.

Such an incredible start to life with his new permanent club has also seen the London-born poacher’s valuation explode.

In 2024, CIES Football Observatory now currently value him at up to €18m, which is about £15m, or a 170% increase on the fee he cost the Austrian side just a few months ago.

Ultimately, Arsenal probably did the right thing in letting Biereth go out and make a name for himself without having to worry about where he’ll go on loan the following year, but given his start to the season and soaring valuation, we’re sure Arteta wishes he kept him around for a little while longer.

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Celtic return to European action on Wednesday night as they prepare to welcome Belgian side Club Brugge to Glasgow in the Champions League.

The Hoops have played twice in the Scottish Premiership, and had an international break, since their last outing on the European stage, which was their 3-1 win over RB Leipzig at Parkhead earlier this month.

Two goals from winger Nicolas Kuhn and one from Reo Hatate secured all three points for the Scottish giants against the Bundesliga side, and that was the second win in four outings for the club in the competition.

Brendan Rodgers’ team come into this clash with Brugge, though, off the back of an emphatic 4-1 win away at Hearts in their last Premiership game.

Kyogo Furuhashi and Kuhn scored the opening two goals in the game, within the space of five minutes in the 55th and 60th, before substitute Adam Idah came off the bench to score twice to seal the win for the Hoops.

How Celtic's attack could line up against Brugge

After the Ireland international’s burst off the bench against Hearts, Rodgers could have a decision to make in the centre-forward position against Brugge on Wednesday.

Kyogo has not enjoyed a perfect start to the campaign in the Champions League, with a return of one goal from 1.89 xG and zero assists in four appearances and three starts.

Meanwhile, Idah has scored one goal from 1.26 xG and zero assists in four outings, although he has only started one of the games – the 0-0 draw with Atalanta.

On the flanks, Daizen Maeda and Kuhn should retain their positions in the starting XI, given the impact that they have made in the competitions this season.

As you can see in the table above, both players have outscored Idah and Kyogo respectively, and outperformed their xG tallies, whilst Kuhn has also provided an assist.

The Celtic wide men have showcased their ability to make a difference in the final third and should both be unleashed from the start against Brugge, as they could use their quality to win the game for the Hoops – particularly with the strikers struggling to consistently find the back of the net.

Whilst Rodgers will have plenty of focus on how his team will attack the game at Parkhead, the Northern Irish head coach will also be well aware of the threat that the Belgian side pose, particularly with their in-form left-winger Christos Tzolis set to star.

Christos Tzolis' form for Club Brugge this season

The Greek international’s quality will already be well-known to one of the players in the Celtic squad, as Adam Idah played alongside him during their time at Norwich City.

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They played 16 matches together in England and the Irish forward may be able to provide the group with a little bit of insight on him thanks to that.

The coaching staff will, however, have plenty of footage of his performances for Brugge this season to show the players, to make them aware of the threat that he poses to the defence.

Tzolis joined the Belgian side on a permanent deal from Fortuna Dusseldorf, shortly after he had left Norwich to sign for the German team, and has thrived in his new environment, with a return of eight goals and two assists in 20 appearances.

The 22-year-old star, who has scored one goal and created six chances in four Champions League games, enjoyed his best performance of the season against Sint-Truidense in the Pro League on Saturday.

As you can see in the table above, Tzolis, incredibly, found the back of the net four times in just 58 minutes from the left flank in the league in his last match.

Also a scorer in his previous match before that for Finland, the former Norwich City winger clearly, given his form in the Pro League and the Champions League, poses a huge threat to Celtic ahead of the clash on Wednesday night.

However, Rodgers may not need to worry too much about the forward because he has a right-back in his squad, in Alistair Johnston, who can combat the Brugge gem.

Why Alistair Johnston is equipped to deal with Tzolis

The Celtic full-back, who was recently hailed for his “phenomenal” work rate by the manager, must be unleashed once again from the start because he has the ability at both ends of the pitch to deal with Tzolis’ quality.

Firstly, Johnston’s strong defensive work gives him the best chance to prevent the Greek star from influencing the game in the final third as a scorer or a creator.

In the Champions League this season, the £3.5m Canada international ranks third in the squad for tackles (2.8) per game and second for interceptions (one) per match, whilst also ranking first in both statistics among full-backs.

Johnston has also won 71% of his ground duels and 71% of his aerial battles in his four appearances in Europe this term, which shows that he has been able to dominate opposition players in physical contests to stop them from beating him.

In those four games, no left winger has provided a goal or an assist against Celtic. Even in the 7-1 defeat to Dortmund, Jamie Gittens did not score or assist any goals and failed with four of his five dribble attempts.

As you can see in the table above, Johnston also has the attacking quality to push Tzolis, or any winger, back by forcing them to track back and help out their full-back, as he provides a threat as a scorer and a creator from right-back.

Therefore, the Canadian star could play an incredibly important role on Wednesday night by providing the defensive strength and attacking quality to combat the threat of Tzolis.

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San Diego Padres stars show support at Snapdragon stadium as San Diego FC secure draw vs Crew

• Machado hosts Padres teammates at Snapdragon Stadium
• Fernando Tatis Jr. among Padres players in attendance
• San Diego FC earns 1-1 draw in home match

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  WHAT HAPPENED

  Manny Machado, a founding partner of San Diego FC, orchestrated a remarkable show of support by bringing nearly the entire San Diego Padres roster to the club's second home match at the Snapdragon Stadium against Columbus Crew Saturday.

  The atmosphere was electric as the baseball stars showed their solidarity with the city's newest sports franchise. The MLB stars also met San Diego FC’s star Hirving Lozano and a few other SDFC players before the game, and were even cheered on the field, with the crowd showing their love for the Padres.

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• WHAT SAN DIEGO FC POSTED

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  The expansion San Diego FC played their second home match, with Maximilian Arfsten opening the scoring for Columbus in the 12th minute. Onni Valakari equalized for San Diego FC in the 68th minute with SDFC’s first home goal, resulting in a 1-1 draw.

  The match was notable for being San Diego FC's second home game at Snapdragon Stadium, with the team maintaining their unbeaten start to the season.

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  WHAT’S NEXT?

  Following their unbeaten start to the 2025 MLS season, San Diego FC have moved up to second place on the Western Conference table behind the Vancouver Whitecaps, who have won all four games.

  The expansion side go on the road next to face Austin FC before returning to the Snapdragon Stadium to host Los Angeles FC on March 24 and 30, respectively.

Chelsea are now prepared to sell a “leader” in January so they can sign an £83 million player, with Enzo Maresca’s side already making contact over a potential move.

Chelsea thrash Southampton 5-1 to extend unbeaten Premier League run

The west Londoners have been tipped as potential Premier League title contenders after a fine start to the campaign, even if Maresca continues to rebuff notions that they could end the club’s near nine-year-long wait for a domestic crown.

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The Magpies have set an enormous price tag.

By
Emilio Galantini

Dec 5, 2024

Chelsea haven’t won a title since Antonio Conte led them to the honour in 2016, but they’re making a serious go of it this season – lying just seven points behind league leaders Liverpool and losing just twice.

They came at the hands of Arne Slot’s side and current champions Man City, with Maresca yet to taste a single loss in the league since their defeat at Anfield in October.

Chelsea thrashed Southampton 5-1 at St. Mary’s to extend their unbeaten domestic run to six games, and it is practically impossible to get at least a little bit excited given just how well they’re playing right now.

Since arriving at Stamford Bridge from Leicester City in the summer, Maresca has implemented an exciting, attack-minded style of play which has pleased both critics and supporters – but Chelsea’s boss is still refusing to get drawn into debates regarding this year’s title race.

“We’re not in the title race. We are not, in my opinion,” said Maresca on Chelsea’s prospects of winning the league.

“What I said to the owners and the sporting directors the first time I met them, because of the age, and because of how good the squad is, for me Chelsea in the next five to 10 years will be one of the teams, or the team, that is going to dominate English football.

“This is what I said this to the club the first time I met them. No matter who will be the manager, for the next five or 10 years, because of the age, the squad, you can dominate English football, and I still think exactly the same.”

Nevertheless, Chelsea will be going into their game against inconsistent Tottenham on a real high, with defender Axel Disasi even managing to get on the scoresheet against Southampton after returning to the starting eleven.

Chelsea prepared to sell Axel Disasi in January so they can sign Tomas Araujo

The Frenchman had missed out on a place in their previous five Premier League matchday squads, but was handed the opportunity to start against Southampton by Maresca.

Disasi ultimately repaid his manager’s faith with a solid display, but there have been reports in the build up to January that Chelsea may look to offload Disasi and free up space for another centre-back.

Chelsea are scouring the market for another central defensive star, and they’ve been linked with Benfica star Tomas Araujo.

TEAMtalk have an update on their interest in the Portuguese, as Maresca looks to reshape the squad into future dominators of English football.

It is believed that Chelsea are prepared to sell Disasi in January and have made contact over Araujo, with their defender’s sale seen as crucial to potentially striking a deal for the latter defender.

Despite being called a “leader” in defence at points, Disasi is also seen as “limited” by some behind-the-scenes at Chelsea, prompting their interest in Araujo, who is believed to have an £83 million release clause in his contract.

The 22-year-old, who can also play at right-back, is emerging as one of the Primeira Liga’s most promising defenders – which has apparently turned heads in west London.

Botafogo have blown up their title winning roster, and might struggle for results in a tough group

Well, that's not how you keep a title-winning team together. Botofago enjoyed one of the best seasons in club history last year, completing an unlikely Brazilian Serie A-Copa Libertadores double despite being outsiders when the campaign kicked off.

They have followed that not by retaining the side, but rather by blowing it up. Star players Luiz Henrique and Thiago Almada both left the club in January. Top scorer Junior Santos also left. Early season results have been poor. They were battered by Racing Club in the Recopa Sudamericana – a clash between the winners of the Argentine and Brazilian top flights.

Still, this is a historic club with fans around the world. And even if it was just a solo season of glory, then it wasn't a bad one for supporters to hold onto. It could have implications for the Club World Cup, though, where a weakened side might struggle in a group that also includes PSG and Atletico Madrid.

The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup will be played in 12 stadiums in 11 U.S. cities, from the opener on June 14 until the final on July 13. In the U.S., fans can stream or watch matches on DAZN or TNT. Leading up to kickoff, GOAL will provide scouting reports on each of the 32 participating teams in the expanded field.

Next up is Botafogo, with a look at key players to watch, and expectations for the reigning Brazilian champs in a tough group.

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  The Basics

  DOMESTIC LEAGUE: Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A

  CLUB WORLD CUP HISTORY: Never qualified

  GROUP: B (Seattle Sounders, Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico de Madrid, Botafogo)

  OPENING MATCH:  Seattle Sounders – June 15, 10 p.m., Seattle

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• How they got here

  Botafogo were the last side to clinch a spot in the competition, qualifying after beating Clube Atletico Mineiro in the 2024 Copa Libertadores final – despite playing the game with 10 men for almost the entire 90 minutes.

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  The player to watch

  Well, that depends. There is scattered talk that Thiago Almada could be back in time for the Club World Cup – but that runs off the hefty assumption that Lyon would be willing to terminate his loan slightly early.

  Jefferson Savarino is the star man otherwise. The Venezuelan attacking midfielder is a smooth operator in the final third, who hit double digits in both goals and assists in their title winning season. The 28-year-old will need some help around him, though, if he is to replicate those kinds of numbers in the United States this summer.

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  Realistic Expectations

  A few months ago, Botafogo would have been trendy outsiders to bump one of PSG or Atletico out of the tournament in the groups. Now, though, this looks more like a rebuilding side than title-winning unit. Expect them to be down at the bottom, likely scrapping it out with Seattle Sounders.

  They would need an improbable win over Atleti or the Parisians – as well as a result against Seattle – to make it into the knockouts.

Andrea Pirlo rolled back the years with a stunning 25-yard free-kick during AC Milan Glorie's thumping defeat to Tottenham Legends in a charity game.

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• Tottenham Legends beat AC Milan Glorie 6-2
• Pirlo scores stunning 25-yard free-kick
• Keane scores hat-trick for Spurs

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  On Sunday, iconic former Tottenham and Milan players lined up to face one another in aid of the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation. With Spurs 6-1 up and cruising at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday, ex-Italy international Pirlo stepped up and curled a sumptuous effort into the top corner to make the scoreline a bit more respectable.

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• WATCH THE CLIP

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Pirlo has been retired from football for quite a few years now but his effort shows that form is temporary and class is permanent in the 6-2 loss. Football fans enjoyed an entertaining contest where Robbie Keane grabbed a hat-trick for Tottenham and legends such as Dimitar Berbatov, Cafu, Serginho, Jermaine Defoe, and more, featured. Plus, thousands have been raising money for the club's charity.

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  WHAT NEXT?

  The current Tottenham team are next in action on April 3 away to local rivals Chelsea in the Premier League, and under-fire head coach Ange Postecoglou will be desperate for a morale-boosting victory.