Bayern Munich strengthened its position among the most prominent candidates to win the European Champions League title, after achieving a valuable victory (2-0) over its host Atletico Madrid yesterday (Tuesday), presenting a display characterized by defensive discipline and offensive effectiveness on the stadium that will host the final next June.
In front of coach Diego Simeone's team, known for its toughness and loud fans, the German champion appeared in a cohesive and mature manner despite the absence of a number of its influential players on the front line, in addition to coach Vincent Kompany, who continues to recover after fainting during one of the training sessions.
The victory came at an important time for Bayern, who tied (2-2) with Arsenal and (3-3) against Viking in their previous two European matches, which made obtaining the three points necessary to strengthen their hopes of finishing the league stage in the top eight places and grabbing a direct qualification ticket to the round of sixteen.
On the other hand, Atletico, which reached the semi-finals last season, entered the match with great confidence after avoiding loss in its last nine matches, achieving eight victories during them, but it found it extremely difficult to create dangerous opportunities in the face of the tight defensive organization of the Bavarian team.
Bayern had conceded at least four goals in the aggregate of the two-legged matches in each of their last four appearances during which they exited the tournament, but their defensive solidity this time gave them control of the course of the match, before Lennart Karl took advantage of an error by Robin Le Normand to open the scoring.
Aaron Danks, assistant coach of Bayern Munich, said in a press conference: “The way the players defended as one team and kept a clean sheet was a source of great happiness for us, and reflects a distinguished team performance.”
He added: “The match was an embodiment of the group’s spirit. The players persevered in the face of difficult circumstances and succeeded in achieving an important result on one of the most difficult European stadiums.”
Although Harry Kane's decisive pass and the powerful shot of Konrad Laimer stole the show in the second goal, the shot was the result of organized collective pressure that forced Atletico to lose the ball in a dangerous area.
Without the need for a phenomenal individual performance or a remarkable offensive display, Bayern succeeded in imposing its rhythm and containing the Spanish team for most of the match.
With Kane, who won the Ballon d'Or, Bayern has a squad brimming with talent and experience capable of keeping up with the continent's strongest clubs. If the balance between attacking power and collective discipline constituted one of the most prominent secrets of Paris Saint-Germain's success in winning the title twice, Bayern showed at the Metropolitano Stadium that it, in turn, possesses the same ingredients that make it a serious contender for the European crown.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters on Tuesday that his country will not allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate in the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships scheduled for next month in Alberta.
Canada, which is one of Ukraine's most prominent supporters in its war with Russia, has already condemned the decision taken by the Court of Arbitration for Sport earlier this week to allow the Russians to participate in the activities of the International Ice Hockey Federation.
The World Junior Championships are scheduled to be held from late December to early January.
“As long as Russia and Belarus support this illegal, unjustified and horrific war in Ukraine, and as long as this war continues, none of these athletes will represent their countries in Canada,” he said.
He added during a press conference at the end of a summit in Antigua, “So, if you are asking specifically about the World Junior Championships, the Russians will not participate in it.”
Earlier, the game federations in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and the Czech Republic announced that they would refuse to face Russia in the World Men's Ice Hockey Championship, which will be held next year in Germany.
Oleg Stepanov, the Russian ambassador to Canada, said that the decision is regrettable, adding in statements to the official TASS agency: “It is unfortunate that Carney’s office is interfering politics even in junior hockey competitions, which are supposed to be a unifying factor and not a cause of division.”
Unai Emery, coach of the English football team Aston Villa, admitted that the heavy loss to Barcelona, Spain, 0-3, in the European Champions League, showed that his team had not yet reached the level that qualifies it to compete with the elite European clubs.
The British news agency PA Media reported that Emery suffered another defeat at Camp Nou, coinciding with his celebration of his 95th birthday (presumably 55th), after Lamine Yamal scored Barcelona's early lead, before Rafinha added two goals in the second half, bringing the Spanish coach's number of defeats in the 16 matches he played at the Catalan team's stadium to 15.
This day was supposed to be an exceptional occasion for Aston Villa; His famous fan, Prince William, watched the match from the stands, in appreciation of the great development the team achieved during the four years that Emery spent at the helm of the coaching staff.
The Spanish coach succeeded in moving Aston Villa from the bottom of the English Premier League to the Champions League in just 4 years, but he realizes that his team still needs to go a long way to be able to keep up with the continent's top players.
Emery said: “Certainly, this test was not at the level we aspire to achieve, but there are a lot of things to be learned, and a lot of experience that we and the players can gain.”
He added: “This gave me a lot of information that I can analyze, so that we can compete at this level.”
He continued: “In general, we are performing great in the Champions League, but the match we played showed that we have work to do until we reach Barcelona’s level.”
He explained: “In some periods, we were close to achieving this, and we were also close to scoring goals, but we have to be more decisive in the attacking third. Perhaps the 3-0 loss was greater than we deserved, but we accept defeat.”
He added: “We still have a lot of work to do to reach this level. During the match, we were close to scoring because we created chances, but we must be more decisive in the attacking third.”
