MANCHESTER: Manchester United’s new co-owner Jim Ratcliffe has revealed the real reason he didn’t sack Erik ten Hag even though the club is enduring its worst season in the Premier League era.

Ratcliffe, 71, also explained why he felt the club had lost its way before his arrival and he was working to rebuild the English giant.

United finished the 2023-24 Premier League campaign in eighth place, the fastest achievement since the 1989-90 season.

A negative goal difference for the first time in 34 years and 14 league defeats – the worst since the 1989-90 season – further soured United’s image under Ten Hag.

But victory over rivals Manchester City in the FA Cup final ensured United will continue to play on the European stage this season.

When fans and observers called for the Dutch manager to be sacked, Ratcliffe decided to continue giving Ten Hag a chance rather than looking for a new manager for the sixth time after Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013.

“Erik is a good guy and did his best, but it was too much work.

“He’s trying to reshape the squad but at the same time trying to ‘repair the roof’,” Ratcliffe said.

MANCHESTER: Julian Alvarez is set to leave Manchester City to join Atletico Madrid for £81 million.

Man City bought the 24-year-old Argentine player for 14 million pounds from River Plate in January 2022.

After helping Argentina win the 2022 World Cup and 2024 Copa America, as well as two Premier League and European Champions League titles at club level, Alvarez’s price has soared.

Alvarez scored 36 times in two seasons at the Etihad as Pep Guardiola’s side became the first team to win England’s top four league titles four times in a row.

However Alavarez was second choice behind Erling Haaland throughout

playing in Manchester.

City now needs to find a new striker to support the Norwegian bomber.

ORLANDO: Barcelona beat Manchester City 4-1 on penalty kicks after the two teams tied 2-2 in a pre-season friendly in Orlando this morning.

The match at the Camping World Stadium was postponed for 80 minutes due to weather problems, the same situation that occurred during City’s first action when they lost 3-4 to Celtic in the tour series in the United States (US).

After the match started, Erling Haaland thought he had scored in the first 15 minutes but his visible push of the ball over the goal line was ignored by the referee.

Barcelona on the other hand opened the curtain on Pau Victor in the 24th minute. He managed to shoot a shot into the penalty box even though Kalvin Phillips tried to tackle him.

City equalized through 19-year-old Nico O’Reilly but Barcelona were back in front just before the break when Victor’s fine cross was finished with a precise shot by Pablo Torre.

The two teams made exchanges at the break seeing Pep Guardiola replace Haaland and Ederson.

City equalized soon after through Jack Grealish after getting a pass from Mateo Kovacic for the score to end at 2-2.

In the penalty shootout, Phillips was among the City players who failed to score the spot-kick that allowed Barcelona to win 4-1.

City’s next game is against Chelsea in Ohio on Saturday while Barcelona face La Liga challengers Real Madrid in New Jersey.

LONDON: World Cup winner, Joachim Low is reportedly also interested in the position as England manager.

Low, 64, who managed Germany for 15 years and helped the country lift the World Cup trophy in Brazil in 2014, is seen ready to discuss the matter with the English Football Association (FA) following the resignation of Gareth Southgate.

Apart from him, another German manager and former Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp, has also been the talk of the town in England but he is said to be clearly not interested in returning to football this summer.

Eddie Howe, Graham Potter and Lee Carsley are also reportedly on the FA’s shortlist.

The FA may prefer to choose a local operator but has not ruled out the possibility of hiring an outside manager.

The last game Low managed before stepping down as Germany manager was when the team lost 2-0 to England at Wembley in the Euro 2020 best 16 competition, three years ago.

The former Stuttgart and Fenerbahce manager then decided not to work since then.

Southgate earns 5 million pounds a year to manage The Three Lions and Low was only paid half of that amount during his last contract with the German FA.

Klopp earns 15 million pounds per season with Liverpool and the estimated average salary seems reasonable for the FA.

Under the management of Low, Germany also managed to advance to the final of Euro 2008 but lost 1-0 at the hands of Spain.

LONDON: The Swiss media claims that Murat Yakin’s squad need not be afraid when facing England in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals this Saturday.

England came out with an erratic performance in the tournament this time but they were still able to progress to the last eight after coming from behind to beat Slovakia 2-1 in extra time.

The Three Lions squad is scheduled to face Switzerland who eliminated the defending champions, Italy 2-0.

Switzerland’s biggest newspaper, Blick, believes Gareth Southgate’s England are not a big threat.

The newspaper referred to England’s lackluster performance in the Euros so far.

The publication referred to England’s ‘fragile performance’.

Blick also commented on the dullness of England’s attacking machinery which has only managed to score four goals in four games so far.

The last competitive meeting between the two nations was in the Nations League third-place playoff in 2019 which saw England win on penalties with goalkeeper Jordan Pickford among the scorers.

Switzerland finished second in Group A at this summer’s tournament with five points from three games.

England also collected five points in the group stage but managed to emerge champions of Group C.

HAMBURG: Turkiye scored late in the game to beat the Czech Republic 2-1 and advance to the last 16 of Euro 2024 as Group F runners-up.

Portugal, who lost 2-0 at the hands of Georgia, remain group champions and will face Slovenia, while Turkiye face Austria.

The Czech Republic needed a win to revive their chances of progressing to the knockout rounds but a red card on midfielder Antonin Barak in the 20th minute jeopardized their mission.

Turkiye captain Hakan Calhanoglu opened the scoring in the 50th minute but Tomas Soucek equalized 16 minutes later to revive the Czech Republic’s chances.

Turkiye, however, secured victory through Cenk Tosun’s stoppage time goal.

The Turkiye players then delayed the game until the final whistle, thus sparking a ruckus between the two teams after the match.

LONDON: Cristiano Ronaldo was seen taunting the Czech Republic goalkeeper and midfielder after Portugal rallied to win 2-1 in the first leg of Euro 2024.

The 39-year-old gave a fist gesture to Czech Republic goalkeeper Jindrich Stanek who was just sitting on the pitch and shouted something into midfielder Petr Sevcik’s ear.

Ronaldo’s celebration came after Francisco Conceicao scored the winning goal for Portugal in the 92nd minute.

However, many supporters do not seem to like Ronaldo’s actions.

“No class,” said one supporter on the X platform site.

“There’s no need to do that. It doesn’t even look great,” said another supporter.

Some also left comments such as ‘Messi would not do this to opposing players. That’s why Messi is the best player of all time (GOAT).”

“This video shows why I don’t like Ronaldo. Why is it necessary to celebrate a goal in front of the opponent’s face,” said another supporter.

“Terrible sportsman,” added another netizen.

LONDON: Manchester United and Manchester City met at Wembley Stadium last night for the second year in a row with the Red Devils emerging as champions of the English FA Cup.

Not only was the victory important for both teams to prove their prowess in Manchester, but the decision also determined which English club would play in Europe next season.

Erik ten Hag’s men produced the worst Premier League finish by a Manchester United team in the club’s history, finishing eighth and missing out on Europe for the first time in 10 years.

However, Bruno Fernandes and his teammates know that victory at Wembley could at least save their season and also play in Europe next season.

Both Newcastle and Chelsea will definitely support Manchester’s blue team to win the FA Cup because it will maintain their position playing in Europe.

By finishing sixth, Chelsea are guaranteed a place in Europe no matter what the result at Wembley.

If City wins it means they will play in the Europa League.

Because United pulled off one of the biggest upsets against their opponents, Chelsea will now be in action in next year’s Europa Conference League.

Newcastle are also too dependent on the hope that the four-time league champions in a row will lift the FA Cup trophy to ensure their place in Europe.

United’s success meant The Toons immediately missed their chances.

If Manchester City wins, everything will remain as before.

LISBON: 39-year-old Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo will make his sixth appearance at the Euros while defender Pepe is also on the 26-man list under Roberto Martinez.

Ronaldo, who has scored in every Euro edition since his first appearance in 2004, already has a collection of 14 goals in the tournament.

In fact, he also has a record of 10 goals in the qualifying campaign that took place last year.

“Cristiano? It’s better to talk to the data. He’s a player who scored 42 goals in 41 games with his club,” Martinez said of Ronaldo, who now joins Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League.

“That shows his physicality and his ability to stay fit, including the quality he displays in front of goal… something we really like and need.”

However, in the list announced by Martinez, Ronaldo is not the most veteran player listed since Porto’s defender, Pepe, who is 41 years old, will also take on team duties.

“Pepe’s role in the dressing room is very important, the way he values ​​the national team jersey. I think about it during the training camp, football is a constant struggle,” said Martinez.

Nine players from the English Premier League are also listed including Ruben Dias, Diogo Dalot, Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva and Diogo Jota.