🚨 Villa are only English club left in Europe, Leverkusen march on, Araújo not happy with Gundogan, no FA Cup replays & more
Today's round-up, featuring Arsenal, Aston Villa, Liverpool, West Ham and more...
Good morning everyone and welcome to the latest edition of the Daily Briefing - thanks for reading, and enjoy!
Today’s top stories:
FULL Europa League and Europa Conference League goals round-up
Dibu Martínez got two yellow cards vs Lille - but wasn’t sent off
Eric Dier was delighted Bayern knocked Arsenal out of Europe
Plus more from Liverpool, Real Madrid and Stuttgart
Arsenal
Declan Rice: “This is Arsenal Football Club, one of the biggest clubs in the world. I'm hurting. We are gutted but this is a young group. We need to stand tall and be counted for. We've got Wolves away, and that's where our big reaction is going to happen.”
Arteta: “We haven’t played in the competition for seven years; we haven’t been in this position for 14 years. There’s a reason for it, and we want to do everything. We have to learn from it. It takes years to make it happen for every club, if you look at that.”
Arsenal could look to sign new left back amid doubts over Oleksandr Zinchenko [GiveMeSport]
AS Roma
AS Roma have decided to extend the contract of Daniele De Rossi, club owners Friedkin family confirm. De Rossi will sign a new deal in the next few days after he initially signed a short-term contract valid until June.
Pioli: “Roma had more quality and determination than Milan” [Sky Sports Italia]
Aston Villa
Dibu Martínez did it again. Two penalties saved, shushing the crowd in France and helping Aston Villa to the Europa Conference League semi-finals. Martínez was also booked in the first half then he got a second yellow card in the penalty shootout - but he wasn’t sent off as the law states that ‘a player who receives a yellow card during the match 𝐚𝐧𝐝 penalties is NOT sent off.’
Barcelona
Barcelona have opened talks with talented midfielder Marc Casadó over a new long-term deal. Talks are ongoing and advancing well over a three-year contract until June 2027, as Barça consider Casadó an important talent for the present and future.
Ronald Araújo on Gundogan’s comments on his red card after the PSG game: “I’d rather keep to myself what I really think… I have my own codes and values that I think you need to respect.”
Ronald Araújo: “The subject of extending my contract is going well. At the end of the season we will sit down together with the club. I am very happy in Barcelona and I am always going to give everything until the end.”
Luis Enrique open to becoming Barcelona manager again [3Cat]
Bayer Leverkusen
Jeremie Frimpong makes it 13 goals and 11 assists after scoring again vs West Ham. 24 G/A in all competitions this season as right wing-back.
Bayer Leverkusen remain unbeaten this season after 44 consecutive games and Granit Xhaka typified the club’s elite mentality in his post-match interview [pictures from TNT Sports]:
Be the first to read EXCLUSIVE NEWS ARTICLES from me, Fabrizio Romano, Christian Falk, Neil Jones, Ben Jacobs, Jonathan Johnson Charles Watts and Matteo Moretto!
Bayern Munich
Tuchel: “We did great and will be ready for the semi-final against the biggest club in the world. The Real Madrid game will be totally different than the Arsenal one. Hopefully we get some players back to have alternatives. But in terms of team effort, this is the benchmark.”
Former Tottenham man, Eric Dier, stoked the fires after Bayern’s win over Arsenal, suggesting it was great to knock them out [Pictures from Sky Sports]:
Bayern remain clear on their plan for Jamal Musiala - no intention to sell their gem this summer. New contract proposal to be submitted soon and it will include an important salary increase + add-ons. Top clubs in England and Spain keep following Jamal but no talks as of now.
Chelsea
Si Phillip’s sources confirm PSG interest in Levi Colwill
Europa Conference League Goals Round-Up
Lille vs Aston Villa 2-1 (3-3 on agg, Aston Villa win 4-3 on pens): Dibu Martínez was the hero for Villa with two saves in the penalty shoot-out, but the Premier League club would’ve been knocked out were it not for Matty Cash’s 87th-minute goal. Villa had gone two down thanks to goals from Yusuf Yazici and Benjamin André [pictures from TNT Sports]:
Fiorentina vs Viktoria Plzen 2-0 (2-0 on agg): The visitors battled gamely against last season’s beaten finalists and even took the game to extra-time, however, they ran out of steam in the extra 30 minutes and goals from Nicolás González and Cristiano Biraghi sent the Italians through to their second successive semi-final.
PAOK vs Club Brugge 0-2 (0-3 on agg): Former Barcelona ace Ferran Jutglá ensured that the Belgians sailed into the semi-finals with a first half double on 33 and 45.
Fenerbahçe vs Olympiacos 1-0 (3-3 on agg, Olympiacos win 3-2 on pens): Irfan Kahveci bagged the only goal of the game in the 11th minute, but it was in vain as the visitors won the shoot-out to progress to the semi-finals.
Europa League Goals Round-Up
West Ham vs Leverkusen 1-1 (1-3 on agg): Although they would still have lost on aggregate, West Ham came within a minute of being the first side to beat Bayer Leverkusen over 90 minutes this season. Michail Antonio had given the Hammers hope with a goal on 13 minutes but the hosts couldn’t capitalise on their dominance. Jeremie Frimpong saved Leverkusen’s blushes in the 89th minute [pictures from TNT Sports]:
Roma vs Milan 2-1 (3-1 on agg): This tie was all over by the 22nd minute after Gianluca Mancini and Paulo Dybala had given the Giallorossi a two-goal lead on the night. Mehmet Zeki Çelik’s red card on 31 gave Milan hope, but it took until the 85th minute before Matteo Gabbia netted their first goal in either of the two quarter-final games.
Marseille vs Benfica 1-0 (2-2 on agg, Marseille win 4-2 on pens): Faris Moumbagna’s 79th minute goal was enough to send this game to extra-time before the hosts sent the Stade Vélodrome crowd wild with a shoot-out win.
Atalanta vs Liverpool 0-1 (3-1 on agg): Mo Salah’s seventh minute penalty looked as if it would start the ball rolling on another famous Liverpool comeback, but it proved to be the only goal of the game on another difficult night for the Reds, [pictures from TNT Sports]:
FA Cup
FA Cup replays will be scrapped from the first round onwards in the 2024-25 season. All rounds will also be played on weekends, including the fifth round which has been played in midweek for the past five seasons. The changes come as part of a new six-year agreement between the Football Association (FA) and the Premier League.
Our reader-funded model means we can provide you with the most reliable transfer news from football’s most authoritative journalists advertising free, but it does rely on some readers making a contribution by subscribing to the premium content, please try it out by clicking the ‘1 month for Free!’ button below.
Juventus
Danilo’s contract at Juventus is valid until June 2025 but also includes an option to extend until 2026. The option is triggered if Danilo will play at least 50% of next season’s games. Danilo’s priority remains to stay with Juve next season.
Allegri snipes at Juventus transfer strategy [Calciomercato]
Lille
Lille talent Edon Zhegrova has changed agent and joins Hasan Çetinkaya/HCM. The winger has 11 goals and 9 assists this season in Ligue 1 - one to watch this summer.
Liverpool
Klopp: “I liked the game (against Atalanta) a lot for a long time, the commitment, the desire, the power. This was the reaction we needed. I am happy with big parts of the game. We created 67 shots in the three games we didn't win. It's really strange.”
Liverpool told 27-year-old Premier League star would improve them [Stolpe Ind Podcast]
Real Madrid
Jude Bellingham: "If you’re at Real Madrid, you have to accept being criticised. If you're here, it means you can handle it. You get to put Real Madrid's badge on your chest everyday, you feel so grateful to be there. I could never dream of something like this.”
Bellingham certainly enjoyed the win over Man City as this fan video from the stands shows:
Vini Jr and Dani Carvajal fitness boosts ahead of El Clásico [MARCA]
Stuttgart
Serhou Guirassy, Bundesliga Player of the Month and still flying this season for Stuttgart. Guirassy has scored 27 goals in 25 official games, 25 of them coming in 23 Bundesliga games. Release clause remains valid for this summer around €17.5m.
40 Million Euro release clause for Frimpong? Surprised if that's not activated this summer.
I wonder if Villa’s Martinez knew that he could draw another yellow card during the pens w/out getting sent off?
He seems to be a real master of the dark arts, & frequently does things (WC celebrations for example) that are questionable, but he’s very good at shootouts & the mental game. I’d guess he knew he could get a second yellow w/ no consequences.
I’m starting to think of him a bit like I did of Zlatan through the last 2 decades- annoying, petty, egotistical & a bit silly when he played against my club, but when he played for my club, I was glad we had him and appreciative of the dark arts he employs.