Aston Villa fought back from 2-0 down to beat Red Bull Salzburg and finish second in the Europa League league phase, but Ollie Watkins was forced off to compound their injury issues. Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba’s first Villa goal earned a late victory for the hosts, who had already qualified for the last 16, at Villa Park.
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Two sublime strikes from Joao Pedro fired Chelsea into the Champions League round of 16 as they finished sixth in the league phase table after a 3-2 win at Napoli. The Blues found themselves behind in Italy but responded well in the second half to dump Napoli out of the competition while avoiding two additional games in the knockout play-offs.
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Liverpool coasted past Marseille and put themselves in a strong position to finish in the Champions League top eight on a night where Mohamed Salah returned to the starting XI for Arne Slot’s side. A moment of genius from Dominik Szoboszlai gave Liverpool the lead in the first half, an own goal from goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli doubled their advantage and Cody Gakpo added a third in the 92nd minute.
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Liverpool’s record signing, Alexander Isak, is facing several months on the sidelines after undergoing surgery on an ankle injury that included a fractured fibula. Isak sustained the injury as a result of a heavy challenge from Micky van de Ven while in the process of scoring in Liverpool’s 2-1 win against Tottenham he was helped off in considerable pain and MRI scans confirmed Liverpool’s initial fears of a serious problem.
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Pep Guardiola said Friday that his departure from Manchester City is “not on the table” at the moment as he focuses on trying to wrest back the Premier League title. Guardiola, 54, is contracted at the Etihad until the end of the 2026/27 season but reports this week said City’s hierarchy were eyeing up potential replacements should the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach step away at the end of the current campaign.
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