BARCELONA: Barcelona manager Hansi Flick says his side’s 4-1 win over Bayern Munich in the Champions League has boosted their confidence ahead of Saturday’s Clasico clash with Real Madrid.

Former Bayern boss Flick is happy to help Barca end their win streak over the German club.

“This win is unbelievable. Bayern are a good team, with great players who know how to play very well, you want to see them in action.

“Of course a win like this needs to be celebrated. It gives us confidence in our quality ahead of this Saturday’s game.

“What this team showed proved that you can achieve great success. We played very bravely, that’s why I’m quite happy

“We have less time than Real Madrid to prepare for the Clasico, but all the players want to play. We will be ready,” said Flick.

After losing six in a row – with Barcelona conceding 22 goals to Bayern’s just four, including an 8-2 defeat in the Champions League quarter-finals four years ago – the Spanish giants have been more aggressive this time around.

Raphinha scored a hat-trick to seal Barcelona’s win at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium, with former Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski also scoring.

Bayern burst into the game with a single goal through Harry Kane.

WOLVERHAMPTON, England: Manchester City’s controversial last-minute winner against Wolves in the Premier League on Saturday was justified and justified by his players’ patience, manager Pep Guardiola said.

As City looked set for a disappointing 1-1 draw at Molineux despite full possession, John Stones headed in a 95th-minute corner beyond the reach of Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa.

Referee Chris Kavanagh initially disallowed the goal because City midfielder Bernardo Silva was too close to Sa, but the video assistant referee (VAR) ruled he was not obstructing vision and Kavanagh reversed the decision.

“Bernardo didn’t disturb the position… Sa had perfect vision. Phil’s (Foden) corner and header were amazing,” said Guardiola, who wildly celebrated the 2-1 win, making it a club record 31 league games without lose.

“We are not used to winning games at the end of action, like Jurgen Klopp (former manager) in Liverpool where it happened many times. It is a good feeling for us,” he told the media.

Guardiola’s men had 78 percent of possession against Wolves, who are struggling at the bottom of the league and were desperate to defend once they took an early lead.

“With 11 players in the penalty box, basically it’s too difficult,” said Guardiola, recalling his side’s defeat at Molineux last season. “But we persevered… We stuck to our ways and it was too good.”

He however sympathized with the opposing team.

“We’ve been in that situation, when you lose at the end of the action. But this is the game,” said Guardiola.

“We played the way we wanted to play and it’s nice to be here, to score in the last 50 seconds and go top of the league (for a while).”

With Sparta Prague awaiting them in the Champions League early this Thursday morning, Guardiola said he did not believe injured defender Kyle Walker or midfielder Kevin De Bruyne could be ready to start.

“We have a few days to train, but I don’t think so (both will perform),” he said.

LONDON: Roy Keane says, Pep Guardiola is the right person to guide England, if Lee Carsley is not interested in becoming a permanent manager.

After losing 2-1 at the hands of Greece, England, who were temporarily controlled by Carsley, came back to beat Finland 3-1.

His gamble – dropping Dean Henderson for the first time in four years and deploying Trent Alexander-Arnold at left-back – proved to be paying off.

Liverpool defender Jack Grealish and Declan Rice were on target at the Olympic Stadium to secure victory in the UEFA Nations League action.

But England are still looking for Gareth Southgate’s replacement with Carsley more likely to return to guide the country’s under-21 squad.

According to Keane, England should be looking for the best manager to continue the mission of the group of talented players that are currently there.

“Take Pep (Guardiola), take the best. The FA needs to find the best, I don’t know if financial factors play a role.

“If Lee is not interested, the FA should continue to look for the right individual,” Keane said.

Guardiola’s contract at Manchester City expires next summer.

After winning his first two games as caretaker manager, Carsley began to be positioned as a candidate to replace Southgate on a permanent basis.

But the manager of England’s youth squad feels that he is not yet eligible for promotion and is more interested in continuing his mission with the under-21 squad.

LONDON: Predictions of the final standings of the English Premier League (EPL) have been revealed after a supercomputer made thousands of predictions of match results with some of them surprising.

Liverpool top the table ahead of their second international break of the season with new boss Arne Slot enjoying a dream start to his managerial career at Anfield.

Manchester City and Arsenal trail close behind with just one point separating the top three after seven games, while Chelsea have impressed under Enzo Maresca.

Erik ten Hag’s third campaign at Manchester United saw them look to challenge for the title but instead endured their worst start to an EPL campaign and remain 14th in the table.

Now, Opta’s supercomputer has processed the data and predicted fans will celebrate the new EPL champions next May ending City’s stranglehold on the English premier league.

The predictive points model uses statistics from the season so far to simulate and rank the 20 teams competing with United fans expected to have a bad year if the numbers prove true.

The computer picked Liverpool to win the title for the second time in the EPL era, fending off challenges from Arsenal and Manchester City to do so.

Chelsea – buoyed by the sensational form of Cole Palmer – were surprise favorites to finish second in what was seen as an encouraging result for Maresca after years of the club’s struggles.

The Blues are expected to finish ahead of their London rivals, Arsenal, with Mikel Arteta’s men predicted not to finish in the top four but instead slump to eighth at the end of the season.

Pep Guardiola’s City are expected to drop to third place after winning the league for a record four seasons in a row, with Tottenham fourth and Aston Villa fifth.

However, Manchester United is predicted to end the season in 10th place which will see the club face consecutive ‘disasters’.

Wolves, Leicester and Ipswich are predicted to be relegated to the Championship League after struggling in the early weeks of the EPL.

LONDON: Paris St Germain manager Luis Enrique said he did not know how long it would take his team to bounce back in European competition after losing 2-0 to Arsenal in the Champions League at the Emirates.

The French champions, who lost their prolific striker Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid last summer, lost for the first time this season.

Goals from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka netted for Mikel Arteta’s side, and PSG saw both of their efforts hit the post.

Enrique, who dropped striker Ousmane Dembele due to a disciplinary problem, accepted responsibility for the defeat but questioned the fighting spirit of his men in London.

“Today we performed below the level required for a game like this. Arsenal were much better in terms of pressure, intensity, they won every fight.

“It’s impossible to get positive results when you don’t win every battle on the pitch, their defense pressures our strikers and our defense doesn’t do the same to their strikers. Arsenal are better,” Enrique said.

The Spanish operator took PSG to the semi-finals of the Champions League last season after they beat his former club Barcelona in the quarter-finals with Mbappe scoring twice and Dembele also finding the target.

Dembele is considered Mbappe’s replacement in PSG’s attack this season, but Enrique’s decision to drop the player ahead of the trip to the Emirates raises questions.

The 27-year-old was punished by Enrique after he showed his displeasure at being sent off in Friday’s win over Rennes.