Udinese bid to take another big step toward a first major title when they visits Werder Bremen in the UEFA Cup quarter-final today as Italian soccer’s lone survivor in this season’s European competitions.
Despite knocking out defending champion Zenit St Petersburg in the previous round, Udinese are only 14th in the 20-club Italian standings.
But their appearance in the UEFA Cup quarter-finals has eclipsed Serie A clubs who have traditionally done well in Europe and Inter, Juventus, AS Roma and AC Milan have only the domestic competitions to concentrate on.
“This game is very important for us,” midfielder Gaetano D’Agostino said. “We are in high spirits and very motivated. We are aware we have the chance to write an important page in the Bianconeri history as we are playing in our first major European quarterfinal.”
Werder Bremen, whose only major European success was the 1992 Cup Winners Cup, are also below halfway in the Bundesliga.
“Udinese are certainly a different caliber of team,” said Bremen managing director and former German international Klaus Allofs. “They are very well organized, tactically disciplined and have a very dangerous counterattacking game.”
Bremen captain Torsten Frings says his team must try to avoid conceding a goal at home.
“Sure we can beat them, it’s a not a super team, but conceding a goal could be deadly,” the midfielder said.
The last eight round could set up an all French semi-final or a matchup of two teams from Ukraine.
Marseille go to Shakhtar Donetsk today while Paris Saint-Germain take on Dynamo Kiev, and the winners after next week’s return legs will face each other.
The other German survivor are Hamburg who host Manchester City, chasing their first major title since the 1976 League Cup.
City midfielder Stephen Ireland, who has been one of the team’s most eyecatching players this season, is doubtful because of an ankle injury. But Bulgarian left winger Martin Petrov, who has been out of action since August with a serious knee injury, could return after playing half of a reserve game against Newcastle.
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
The NHL postponed the Los Angeles Kings’ home game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday with several massive wildfires burning across the greater Los Angeles area. The Kings and Flames were scheduled to play on Wednesday night at the Kings’ downtown arena. The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers were scheduled to host the Charlotte Hornets in the same arena last night. “Our hearts are with our entire Los Angeles community,” the Kings said in a statement. “We appreciate the hard working first responders who are diligently working to contain the fire and protect our community. We appreciate the league’s support in keeping our
TWO IN A WEEK: Despite an undefeated start to the year playing alongside Jiang Xinyu of China, Wu Fang-hsien is to play the Australian Open with a Russian partner Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday triumphed at the Hobart International, winning the women’s doubles title at the US$275,094 outdoor hard-court tournament, while McCartney Kessler lifted the trophy in the women’s singles. Fourth-ranked Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China took 1 hour, 15 minutes to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, their second title in a week. Wu and Jiang on Sunday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US. Their winning ways continued in Australia as they stretched
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
RSS