Tuesday, 25 March 2014

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Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

Cellino barred from Leeds takeover

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 03:00 PM PDT

• Italian fails owners' and directors' test over tax fraud
• Lawyers announce intention to appeal against decision

Massimo Cellino's deal to buy Leeds United was rejected by the Football League, casting serious doubt over the club's financial future with the Cagliari owner having spent around £10m funding the club in recent months.

The Italian, whose company Eleonora Sports agreed a £25m deal to buy 75% of Leeds from Bahrain-based investment bank GFH Capital in February, was rejected under the League's owners and directors' test after being found guilty last week in an Italian court of failing to pay €388,500 of import tax on a yacht.

Cellino's lawyers announced last night that the 57-year-old intends to appeal a decision he admitted had made him "feel like I will jump from the window right now".

Leeds wrote to the League last week following a protracted saga that provided its most chaotic night at the beginning of February, when the manager, Brian McDermott, was sacked apparently at the behest of Cellino, only to be reinstated later.

The League's board, including chairman Greg Clarke, voted unanimously to reject Cellino's ownership and disqualify the 57-year-old's bid, despite the fact that the Italian legal system allows for an appeal on the import tax verdict. A statement said: "The board considered detailed legal advice with regard to the application of its regulations within the context of a decision made under Italian law. Having fully considered the matter, the board agreed unanimously that the decision of the Italian court does constitute a disqualifying condition under its owners' and directors' test.

"The relevant disqualifying condition being that Massimo Cellino has been convicted of an offence involving acts that would reasonably be considered to be dishonest."

Cellino told the Guardian last night: "I'm not a dishonest man. If they say I did this I am stupid. Why would I do something like this, because I am a fool, I am stupid.

"There's different justice in Italy, I prefer the English way but I am in Italy unfortunately. I pay millions and millions at clubs and they [the courts] say I tried to screw them over for a small amount. It's stupid. I could pay that tomorrow.

"I am not a dishonest crook. If I made a mistake it was not on purpose. I'm shocked, I'm very shocked. I feel like I will disappear, I am so ashamed of myself you have no idea. It's not about the money at the moment.

"I didn't try and do anything bad to Leeds, to anyone, I just wanted to do something good. I'm so shocked that I feel like I will jump from the window right now. I feel so ashamed. Why did they take two months to wait for the decision of the Italian court. I could have delayed the trial for one or two years if I had wanted."

A Leeds statement said: "The club and its shareholders are disappointed at the decision of the Football League not to approve Massimo Cellino as a director of Leeds United. However, the board will continue discussions with the Football League and Eleonora Sport to find a solution that is suitable to all parties.

"Our shareholders continue to support the club directly or through additional investments as has always been the case. We would like to reassure the fans of the continuity of our great club."

James Riach

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Leeds adrift in sea of uncertainty as League casts off Massimo Cellino

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 02:48 PM PDT

Championship club must find fresh investment funds quickly after the Italian's attempt to buy a majority stake was rejected

For Leeds United the future remains uncertain. There have been turbulent times at Elland Road over the past 10 years but none more so than the situation over recent months. Now, following the decision by the Football League to reject Massimo Cellino's takeover, there is at least a semblance of closure in a saga that has played out dramatically since the Italian's interest first became apparent. Yet the club's plight has arguably never been more fraught with danger.

Credit must go to the League who, unbowed by pressure from the club to make an announcement on Friday, declared on Monday that Cellino has been disqualified from buying a majority stake in Leeds under the "owners' and directors' test" after being convicted in Italy of failing to pay €388,500 (£235,000) of import tax on Nélie, a yacht seized by police and customs officials in June 2012.

Given that the Italian has been bankrolling the club for the past two months – paying wages and staff costs as well as providing money for loan signings – it leaves Leeds in a perilous position.

David Haigh, the club's managing director, who was due to become the chief executive under Cellino's regime, declared earlier in the month that there was "no chance" of Leeds going into administration and that United were in "good hands". Indeed, a club statement issued on Monday on Monday said: "We would like to reassure the fans of the continuity of our great club."

The reality is that Cellino is owed a significant reimbursement. It is understood he has put around £10m into Leeds since January and reports in the local media say he is due interest of 10% on the money injected. Given that Leeds are operating on losses of approximately £1m a month, Haigh's assertion will do little to dampen fears of supporters who are deeply concerned about the club's future.

Gulf Finance House, the Bahrain-based bank who bought the club from Ken Bates in December 2012, must now go back to the drawing board in their desperate search for fresh investment. Cellino told the Guardian: "GFH tried to sell to me because they needed to sell Leeds, not because they wanted to."

GFH could turn to Mike Farnan and the Together Leeds consortium, who still have an interest in buying the club. However, given the controversy that has blighted GFH's tenure, who knows what the future holds?

Serious questions must be asked regarding the background checks that the Bahrain investment bank compiled on Cellino before agreeing to sell a 75% stake in the club to his company Eleonora Sports in February. Cellino, who lives in Miami and has been president of the Serie A club Cagliari for more than 20 years, is certainly a colourful and controversial character, and even the quickest of internet searches would have discovered that he had a number of charges to his name in Italy.

The Football League's rules, laid out in its "owners' and directors' test", are clear. Maligned following the takeovers at Birmingham City, Notts County and Coventry City in recent times, the organisation has acknowledged that more responsibility has to be taken to protect clubs and find out who prospective owners are and where their money is coming from.

If GFH had done the same, then Leeds would not be in this predicament. They would have ascertained that Cellino has a 2001 conviction for false accounting, for which he was given a 15-month suspended prison sentence, and that he is under investigation for alleged misuse of public funds relating to work on Cagliari's Quartu Sant'Elena stadium.

There is also the matter of two trials for alleged evasion of import duty this year, one relating to another yacht, the other to a Range Rover. Cellino denies wrongdoing on both counts.

The most pressing offence that GFH would have discovered, though, was the charge against the Italian in a Sardinia court accusing him of illegally evading import duty on Nélie.

The guilty verdict that was delivered last week, subject to appeal, was the key decision that caused the League to vote unanimously to disqualify Cellino from taking control of Leeds.

The problem for GFH was that Cellino was the man offering far more money for Leeds than any other bidder. In a frantic attempt to secure the financial future of the Championship club, glaring oversights were made that now leave Leeds in a much more dangerous position than before the Italian entered the picture.

Despite Haigh insisting that administration was not on the agenda, even the suggestion of such a fate, which would lead to the club being docked 10 points, could put off investors. Anyone interested in securing the club might be persuaded to hold out and wait.

If Leeds descend into deeper financial trouble and administration becomes a possibility, investors would most likely wait and then swoop in to buy the club for a vastly reduced sum.

Cellino claims he is not motivated by money and repayment is not an immediate priority. However, Leeds' future is in the balance – not for the first time.

James Riach

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Billy Davies left to reconsider his style by Nottingham Forest sack | Louise Taylor

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 02:41 PM PDT

As he approaches his 50th birthday the abrasive Glaswegian has a shattered reputation to rebuild

"Nippy Sweetie" is a Glaswegian term often used to describe irritable little men with sharp tongues and loud voices.

Billy Davies readily acknowledges that he represents a classic example of the breed. Standing 5ft 5in – although he maintains he is actually 5ft 6in – the 49-year-old manager sacked by Nottingham Forest for a second time on Monday has paid the price for failing to control a personality which latterly seemed to have crossed the border into downright paranoia.

If the impressive collection of Championship manager of the month awards he accrued during successful stints with Preston North End, Derby County, whom he led into the Premier League, and Forest are testimony to a genuine managerial talent, Davies could never quite escape his self-destructive insecurities.

"He's 5ft 5, he's from Glasgow and he owns a Rottweiler called Axel, that's all you need to know" was the standard response from local reporters covering Preston when the nationals called for information on a head coach then perceived as a rising star.

In Lancashire Davies was noted for installing a film editing suite in his house, assembling montages of his Preston players' flaws and staying up until the small hours pondering how to rectify them.

During his latest stint at the City Ground this interest in video technology took a slightly sinister turn, involving the covert filming of journalists at Forest press conferences. Or at least those he had not already barred. Only the club website and a regional television station seemed safe from Davies' enthusiasm for blanket media bans as Forest morphed into "the Midlands' answer to North Korea".

If a run of eight games without a win, culminating in Saturday's 5-0 defeat at Derby, finally prompted Fawaz Al-Hasawi to dismiss Davies while preparing to find another manager to re-ignite Forest's play off ambitions, trouble had been brewing for some time.

Long-serving club staff were sacked without explanation while Jim Price, Davies' cousin and agent, joined Forest in a senior role. After being suspended as a solicitor, Price was barred from taking up an official role as a director because he would not have passed the Football League's fit and proper person test.

Davies became embroiled in ludicrous rows with photographers during games at Millwall, Brighton and Barnsley. But Al-Hasawi's patience really started wearing thin when the Kuwaiti owner became engaged in a disagreement over transfer market policy with a manager who had spent £9m since his return in February 2013.

If a five-game touchline ban imposed for using abusive language to a match official following a 2-2 draw at home to Leicester in February – (although Davies denied making physical contact with Anthony Taylor, the referee, in the tunnel afterwards but lost his appeal against the last three fixtures of that suspension heard by the FA ) – hardly helped his cause, a recent refusal to talk to the media for "legal reasons" finally appeared to raise red flags in the boardroom.

Davies' obsession with conspiracy theories and old grudges was starting to grate – possibly even among a group of players containing several huge admirers of a Glaswegian who will begin life at any new club watching from the stands while he serves the final three games of his touchline exclusion order.

Despite being hampered by a series of injuries to key personnel, including the at times brilliant Andy Reid, there was a sense that Forest were starting to surrender too easily while acquiring far too many unnecessary enemies. The tunnel altercation with Taylor precipitated Davies' second banishment from the dugout this season following a brush with Craig Pawson, another referee, in August.

Negotiations with Neil Warnock – who would have seemed like football's answer to Kofi Annan compared with Davies – hit a glitch last night, with Gary Brazil, the academy manager, in temporary charge for Tuesdaynight's match against Charlton.

To Davies' advocates this misrepresents a smart manager capable of real cleverness and, at least before he fell increasingly under Price's spell, genuine charm and smart humour. In January, when many still believed he would return Forest to the Premier League, Reid was at pains to praise his manager. "Billy Davies is absolutely fantastic," said the Irish midfielder. "His tactics are second to none. We go into matches knowing exactly what we're up against and how we're going to beat it."

Two months is a long time in football. As he approaches 50, Davies has a shattered reputation to rebuild. The road to redemption could be slow and winding.

Louise Taylor

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David Beckham's grand plan for Port Miami stadium for new MLS team

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 01:27 PM PDT

A 25,000-seater waterfront venue would be perfect for the city's new MLS team but Miami Beckham United Stadium is a long way from becoming a reality

Chris Smith

Football League steps up to plate with Leeds United ownership decision | Owen Gibson

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 12:43 PM PDT

Preventing Massimo Cellino from taking a majority stake in the Championship club shows a shift from the game's relationship with money to applying the rule book

For a fanbase inured to secrecy and broken promises the tale of a yacht called Nélie and the disbarring of Massimo Cellino from owning Leeds United is just another page to add to the club's sorry story since Peter Ridsdale infamously "lived the dream" on borrowed cash.

But for the Football League it marks something of a milestone. While intervention under its owners and directors test has recently led to subtle changes behind the scenes at some clubs, not least at Nottingham Forest, this is the first open-and-shut case of a prospective club owner being struck out by the rule.

In taking the view that Cellino's recent conviction in a Sardinian court for non-payment of import duties on a boat constituted a disqualifying condition under its "dishonesty" test, it represented one small step in football's relationship with money and a giant leap in the willingness of governing bodies to apply their own rule book.

In one sense it looks like an obvious call, given the coincidence of the court case's proximity to the Football League's deliberations. On the other the picture was clouded by the fact that the ruling was based in Italian law and Cellino's lawyers are believed to have argued that it was a civil, administrative matter rather than a criminal one. An appeal remains possible but will have to be lodged within 14 days.

On previous occasions the impression has been given that football's governing bodies were looking for excuses not to implement their fit and proper persons test rather than apply it. Despite the globalisation of the game and the procession of owners from home and abroad alighting on English clubs for a myriad of not always munificent reasons, the refrain was always that little could be done above and beyond the law of the land.

That was before the financial meltdowns at Liverpool, where Tom Hicks and George Gillett borrowed their way to infamy, and Portsmouth, where a jaw-dropping series of transactions precipitated freefall and forced the Premier League to beef up its own tests and introduce new rules requiring clubs to provide advance financial information.

At Football League level the picture is more complex. Just before Greg Clarke was appointed chairman the league had its own wake-up call with Notts County – the country's oldest league club pushed to the brink of oblivion in a surreal tale that took in Jersey-based fraudsters, North Korea, Sol Campbell and Sven-Goran Eriksson.

Football League resources do not allow for the kind of investigatory oversight that is now commonplace in the Premier League, while the absolute numbers are obviously larger (72 clubs compared with 20). The worst problems now manifest themselves not in the top flight but at Championship level, where a perfect storm of the need to gamble on promotion to the promised land, the increased firepower of rivals fortified by parachute payments and rising costs make even clubs with sizeable fanbases an unappealing prospect financially.

As a result, some of the most famous names in English football have tended to attract investors with ambiguous intentions or sources of income. Birmingham City's current travails are an extreme example of where that road can lead.

The Football League deserves some sympathy, while many of its clubs remain in financial difficulty and crying out for investment. But there appears to be a belated realisation that it also has a responsibility to discover who the ultimate owner, or prospective owner, of any club is and where his money comes from.

It does not help Leeds fans very much in their current predicament – with the Bahraini owners GFH reluctant to commit to further funding and faced with having to find another buyer – but it must be hoped some good will come of the Football League's belated line in the sand.

Strange and disconcerting as it is, there appears to have been a recent outbreak of common sense amid the ruling bodies that make up English football's dysfunctional family.

First the Football Association built a carefully argued and impeccably researched case against Nicolas Anelka over his antisemitic quenelle gesture. Then, despite an ultimatum from the Hull City owner, Assem Allam, it knocked back his crackpot plan to change the club's name to Hull Tigers. Now the Football League has found a backbone.

Owen Gibson

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Oxlade-Chamberlain and Gibbs both cleared for Arsenal

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 11:23 AM PDT

• Gibbs has red card against Chelsea rescinded
• Andre Marriner appointed to referee Southampton v Newcastle

Andre Marriner has been spared the indignity of a temporary demotion from the elite list of Select Group referees and will officiate in the Premier League this weekend despite sending off the wrong player during Arsenal's thrashing at Chelsea last Saturday.

The Birmingham official will take charge of Southampton's game against Newcastle United at St Mary's with Professional Game Match Officials Limited, the body who appoint referees for Premier League fixtures, having considered his mistake as an isolated error. Marriner had sent off Kieran Gibbs for deliberate handball in preventing a goalscoring opportunity, when it had actually been Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain diving to his left on the far post to tip Eden Hazard's shot away.

Neither player is to serve a suspension as a result of the incident early in the derby at Stamford Bridge, with an independent regulatory commission confirming on Monday that Gibbs' red card had been a case of mistaken identity and determining that Oxlade-Chamberlain's was actually wrongful dismissal as Hazard's shot had been drifting wide. Arsenal's appeals were therefore upheld, with the pair available to feature in Tuesday's visit of Swansea to the Emirates Stadium.

The fact that Oxlade-Chamberlain's offence did not, in the commission's view, warrant a red card hardly reflects well on Marriner, who had apologised to Arsenal's manager, Arsene Wenger, and Gibbs in the wake of Saturday's error. The referee is understood to have been left distraught by his mistake, though colleagues on the 18-strong elite panel of referees have rallied around him at their fortnightly training at St George's Park. The incident was discussed among the officials in their technical session overseen by Mike Riley on Monday – the referees also undertake physical training and testing on their two-day meet – with the onus very much on learning lessons to avoid a repeat in the future.

Marriner had apparently been unsighted by the diving goalkeeper, Wojciech Szczesny, and had immediately sought clarification from his assistant referees and fourth official over what precisely had occurred at the far post. However, while the additional officials confirmed an offence had taken place which warranted a penalty, they were unable to determine the identity of the player concerned. The referee, who has conceded he should have moved immediately to identify which Arsenal player was lying on the turf after his dive, therefore stuck with his initial assessment and sent off Gibbs, despite both players' protestations to the contrary.

PGMOL had the option to relegate Marriner to the Football League for a week as punishment for his error, but prefer to resort to that tactic only when an official has been guilty of consistently under-performing in the topflight. For what is considered a one-off error – and cases of mistaken identity remain rare – the favoured tactic is for the official to "get back on the horse" at the first opportunity. He had not been allocated a fixture in midweek, but the game at St Mary's offers Marriner a chance to make amends of sorts.

Dominic Fifield

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'We are still fighting,' says David Moyes ahead of Manchester derby – video

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 09:58 AM PDT

Manchester United manager David Moyes says his players want to prove to the supporters that they are still fighting hard

Andre Marriner continues refereeing after Arsenal red card clanger

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 09:21 AM PDT

• Marriner to take charge of Southampton v Newcastle
• Official sent off wrong Arsenal player at Chelsea

Andre Marriner has been given a match to referee this weekend despite his blunder in sending off the wrong Arsenal player against Chelsea.

Marriner will take charge of Southampton v Newcastle on Saturday, a week after he sent off Kieran Gibbs instead of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for a deliberate hand-ball in a case of mistaken identity.

The referee, who was in charge of last year's FA Cup final, apologised to Arsenal after the game – a 6-0 defeat against Chelsea – but has received support from the Everton manager Roberto Martínez who believes it is not in the interests of football to challenge every error made by match officials.

Martínez said: "Andre Marriner has incredible experience and it was one of those situations that happens in football. We have an elite group [of referees] in our league and for me it is one of the best in world football.

"Errors are part of the game and there will be errors, misjudgments and mistakes but that is part of football and you need to accept it because that is what makes football what it is.

"It should be part of the game. It is not a black and white decision at times, it is a little bit more of interpretation. I think we need to rely on the referees and I think the referees in this country are as good as they get."

Martínez believes introducing live video replays for decisions during matches would be going too far.

He said: "I think we would be going a little bit too far. I think goal-line technology was a really important breakthrough but from that point on I think we need to allow referees to do their job."

The former referee Dermot Gallagher had argued that Marriner should not be relieved off any matches as a result of his error, saying it was just "a genuine mistake and that's all it was".


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FA gives green light for clubs to use artificial pitches in FA Cup

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 09:10 AM PDT

• Synthetic pitches will be allowed in every round of competition
• 3G surfaces praised for running costs and weather resistance

Artificial pitches will be allowed in all rounds of the FA Cup from next season in a move which could herald a major change in attitudes to the surface.

Artificial pitches are at present banned from the first round of the FA Cup onwards and in the Conference upwards – in January the Conference rejected a bid to change the regulations.

The FA's decision could be a significant game-changer, ever though the Premier League said it had no plans to look at the issue because its clubs have the resources to provide top-quality grass surfaces. A 3G surface, or third generation, is a long piled tufted carpet with rubber and sand infill.

The FA's general secretary, Alex Horne, said: "Clubs are increasingly seeing the benefits of using 3G surfaces across the football pyramid and clubs who play on those surfaces can now retain home advantage in the competition.

"They are a very useful asset and capable of delivering 50-plus hours per week as compared to a natural turf pitch which can deliver perhaps five hours per week.

"This is clearly an advantage for clubs, or communities, wishing to deliver a pitch with sustainable running costs. The value of 3G pitches has been clearly demonstrated during the recent wet weather where leagues within the grassroots game have migrated to them to address fixture backlogs."

There are only around 600 good quality artificial pitches in England and the FA is looking to substantially increase that number.

The sports minister, Helen Grant, welcomed the move and called on the Conference to allow 3G pitches.

The sports minister has already held talks with the FA and the Conference on the issue - Maidstone United, who had unsuccessfully sought the rule change, are in her constituency.

Grant said: "I believe that allowing 3G pitches in the Conference would now be a sensible step. Of course it is for the Conference in conjunction with the FA to make any decision on the use of 3G pitches. I will continue to press the case for a change of the rules and will be holding formal discussions with football authorities over the coming weeks."


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Football Weekly: Arsenal all at sea as Andre Marriner loses the plot

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 08:58 AM PDT

Strap yourself in for a 45-minute show without a single pun as Max Rushden hosts this edition of Football Weekly, joined by Barry Glendenning and Pauls MacInnes and Doyle.

We start with Chelsea's 6-0 destruction of Arsenal and the performance of referee Andre Marriner, who only went and sent off the wrong player. Oops! That result leaves the Gunners' season once again in the bucket marked 'crisis', while Chelsea happily added to their goal difference – but they're still some way short of the totals accrued thus far by Liverpool, 6-3 winners at Cardiff, and Manchester City, 5-0 spankers of Fulham.

Next up, we turn out attention to Europe. Sid Lowe gives his take on a typically calm clásico, and we analyse the draws for the Champions League and the Europa League quarter-finals. Yes, the Europa League, people.

Finally, we round up all the news from the bottom of the Premier League and look forward to a midweek round of fixtures featuring the Manchester derby and Liverpool taking on Sunderland.

Oh, and well done Cambridge United.

Ben Green
Barry Glendenning
Paul MacInnes
Paul Doyle
Sid Lowe

Swansea's Garry Monk defends players ahead of Arsenal fixture – video

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 08:49 AM PDT

Swansea manager Garry Monk says he has complete confidence in his squad despite the defeat to Everton at the weekend

Manchester United v Manchester City: Manuel Pellegrini expects tough derby – video

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 08:48 AM PDT

Manuel Pellegrini says Manchester City should underestimate Manchester United when they meet on Tuesday

The Fiver | Pre-ordained by malign forces who are out to get Real Madrid

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 08:40 AM PDT

Click here to have the Fiver sent to your inbox every weekday at 5pm, or if your usual copy has stopped arriving

JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE PARANOID IT DOESN'T MEAN THEY'RE NOT ALL OUT TO GET YOU

The Fiver's fast-talking, bull-hating, cape-waving, castanet-clacking, siesta-taking Spanish cousin Juan Miguel Manuel Ole! Ole! Ole! Lispy Bit Fiver was so excited by the drama of last night's classic clásico between Real Madrid and Barcelona that he could barely sit down and eat his dinner of paella, chorizo sausages and sangria at two o'clock this morning. Jabbering even more loudly than usual about the various injustices visited upon both teams – penalties, a red card, Pepe taking his now customary dive only to have his head used as a welcome mat by Sergio Busquets, etc and so on – he even went so far as to suggest that sinister forces were at play, donning a tinfoil hat and blocking up his windows with Polythene before announcing that "they" wanted Real Madrid to lose because "they" are jealous and "they" didn't want Barcelona to be eliminated from the title race. Of course, with extreme paranoia being a Fiver family trait, we'd expect to hear that kind of nonsense from our cousin, but for some inexplicable reason we expected a little more grace and common sense from Him.

"Real Madrid is the greatest club and there is a lot of envy around it," said La Liga's preening answer to Fox Mulder. "It's tough because a lot of people did not want us to win and Barcelona to be out of the title race. They probably do not want Real to win this league. It makes me think that you don't only win matches on the pitch but also with a little bit of help from outside." Yes, help from outside – as in outside the penalty area, which is where Ronaldo was fouled for the penalty from which he put Real Madrid 3-2 up in the second half, although he failed to explain how that fits in with his conspiracy theory. Perhaps he couldn't, because he was instead too busy criticising the "pale" complexion of referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco, who he decided was too cowardly to referee such a big game. "I don't want to use the referee as an excuse but if you analyse the 90 minutes there were a lot of mistakes," He fumed, using the referee as an excuse.

Last night's match was notable for several events: another Lionel Messi masterclass, more pantomime villainy from the increasingly preposterous Pepe, fairly underwhelming performances from expensive signings Gareth Bale and Neymar, and a 19th career dismissal for Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos, a La Liga record for the fabled bullfighting fan who has seen more red than any number of unfortunate Spanish toros. "It's always the same. I didn't touch Neymar. But there's no point talking about it, it changes nothing," Ramos said, talking about it. "Everyone can see what happened today. We could have got something from the game but got nothing. There are some things you can't fight against. This was pre-meditated."

So there you have it – the outcome was pre-ordained by malign forces who are out to get Madrid and ensure impoverished and success-starved underdogs Barcelona the title. Quite how they'll knobble Real's city rivals Atlético, who benefitted most from the pallid Señor Mallenco's apparent largesse by staying top of the table, remains to be seen.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"It's his problem, I know he was at home. He did not stay for the game. If there is a problem I will talk with the club. I want to know why he left. He came with us [to the pre-game camp] and he left. He was not on the bench. He left" – Monaco manager Claudio Ranieri reveals Eric Abidal went awol during Sunday's Ligue 1 game with Lille. "Everything back in order. Apologies made to the team," parped Abidal via social media apology network Twitter.

FIVER LETTERS

"A life's ambition achieved" – Julia Beffon.

"Re: Dan Levy taking umbridge with AVB considering Peter the Great as a good role model (Friday's Fiver letters). Has the Spurs chairman not got more important things to do than writing to the correspondence pages of a popular tea-timely email or has he personally taken on the responsibility to monitor AVB's behaviour in relation to the contractual separation terms and conditions?" – Matthew Scrivener (and 1,056 others).

"God's teeth, can we put an end to this. You can have a blank piece of paper with a watermark, therefore satisfying both criteria (Fiver letters passim). Now, can we get back to more important stuff like how to get your phone number to a sociable and friendly romantic on Guardian Soulmates without having to pay the subscription fee?" – Chris Steele.

"I would suggest that if someone were to write on a piece of paper in an ink that was exactly the same colour as said paper so that the writing was invisible, they could be said to have marked that paper, but had no impact on its innate 'blankness'. I know I should be ashamed of myself for writing this email, but I'm not. In fact, I'm quite proud of myself" – Ben Mimmack.

"As if Friday's Fiver wasn't poor enough, you included a link to a Venga Boys track, which was at the beginning. Were you aiming to lower the standard so much that anything thereafter would be considered impressive? I'm not sure if you managed it" – Ben Kippin.

• Send your letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. And if you've nothing better to do you can also tweet the Fiver. Today's winner of our prizeless letter o' the day is: Julia Beffon.

JOIN GUARDIAN SOULMATES

We keep trying to point out the utter futility of advertising an online dating service "for interesting people" in the Fiver to the naive folk who run Guardian Soulmates, but they still aren't having any of it. So here you go – sign up here to view profiles of the kind of erudite, sociable and friendly romantics who would never dream of going out with you.

BITS AND BOBS

Nottingham Forest have booted Billy Davies out of the club, with Neil Warnock next in line for the manager's job.

The Football League has – shock, horror – blocked Massimo Cellino from taking over Nasty Leeds under its 'owners' and directors' test'. "The relevant disqualifying condition being that Massimo Cellino has been convicted of an offence involving acts that would reasonably be considered to be dishonest," bugled a League statement.

Arsenal's Mikel Arteta has publicly apologised for the team's 6-0 spanking at Chelsea. "We have to take it on the chin because it is unacceptable to lose another big game like this," he wibbled. "I don't know what else to say apart from sorry to everyone at the club [and] the fans."

Uefa has ordered a section of Bayern Munich's Allianz Arena to be closed for one game after a homophobic banner was displayed at the Big Cup match with Arsenal.

The FA has cleared 3G synthetic pitches for use in next season's FA Cup. Meanwhile, clubs in Germany's top two divisions have voted against the introduction of goalline technology.

And Glen Johnson reckons neutrals want Liverpool to win the Premier League this season. "Nobody wants the same teams to be winning it over and over again," honked Johnson, who plays for a club that won 11 league titles between 1973 and 1990.

STILL WANT MORE?

AC Jimbo is away with some strong men, so Max Rushden is in the pod for Football Weekly.

Just the 10 [TEN – Fiver vidiprinter] talking points from the weekend's Premier League action.

It was the clásico of the century, reckons Sid Lowe. And he should know.

Goals of the week, starring Bébé, Orlando Engelaar and, er, Bobby Zamora.

Older footballers are fitter than ever, so why are there so few of them? Sean Ingle crunches the numbers.

Paolo Bandini has got all the latest hot Serie A chat, focusing this week on Sampdoria under Sinisa Mihajlovic.

Oh, and if it's your thing, you can follow Big Website on Big Social FaceSpace.

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IS THIS REALLY CELTIC'S 1975 POLAR BEAR TROPHY?

Barry Glendenning

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Sid Lowe on Real Madrid 3-4 Barcelona

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 08:17 AM PDT

There have been 43 clásicos the 21st century, a number of them classics. But this might have been the most fun of all

As one former Barcelona player puts it: "It is the game of the century, even if there are eight of them a year." It is a comment not just on the excellence and the expectation that comes with Real Madrid v Barcelona but also on their eclipse of all else, on the dominance and potential dilution of a rivalry in which they have played each other 19 times in the last four seasons and will meet at least once more this and in which they alone account for over 60% of Spanish football fans and millions more round the world; on the pressure, the power and the politics; on the way every meeting appears to end eras and close cycles, epochs defined in a day; and on the impossibility of ever living up to the hype.

Not because the matches are no good – mostly they are – but because everyone's watching. "Go to the moon: Madrid, Barcelona," laughs Hristo Stoichkov. Because Madrid and Barcelona have made more money than anyone else every year for four years; because this summer they signed the world's two most expensive players; because every one of the last 19 winners of the Fifa world player of the year award has played for them at some point and because they alone have won La Liga in the last decade, plus three European Cups each since 1998, more than anyone else; and because they have Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. And how do you ever live up to that?

Like this.

The game of the century? This time it might just have been. The clásico of the century, at least. When the final whistle went just before 11 o'clock on Sunday night, they embraced, exhausted but exhilarated. And that was just the fans. High in the north stand, there were 300 Barcelona supporters and they leapt up and down. Below, Barcelona's players celebrated a 4-3 victory. Madrid's supporters stared in disbelief, spent. But they'd really lived it too. Even Carlo Ancelotti called it a good game, despite losing. Brazilians Neymar and Marcelo were the last players to leave, walking off the pitch talking to each other from behind their hands. "Well, that was pretty tasty, eh?"

There have been 43 clásicos in the 21st century. Some stood out for their symbolism as much as their skill: from the pig's head to the pasillo. There have been three 2-2s and two 3-2s in the last three seasons alone and you have to go back 33 games for the last 0-0. There was the 3-3 draw when a 19-year-old Messi scored a ludicrously good hat-trick, or Ronaldinho getting a standing ovation from the Santiago Bernabéu. There was the 6-2 of course and, for technical perfection, there may never have been a performance like the 5-0. They'd waited 21 years for a cup final meeting which finally arrived in 2011 and was won by a Ronaldo header of brutal beauty, while for importance nothing matches Champions League semi-finals in 2002 and 2011. Then there was last season's homage to Catalonia that became a homage to football.

But this might have been more fun than all of them. It was important too. Madrid's opportunity was Barcelona's obligation. Tata Martino described it as a last chance. Defeat would put his side seven points behind their rivals, the title gone. Instead, they are alive; this is a game that has done a service to Spanish football – a deeper one even than it first appeared. At the end, everybody was trying to catch their breath. First Barcelona led, then Real Madrid did, twice, and finally Barcelona did again. From 0-1 to 2-1, from 2-2 to 3-2 and from 3-3 to 3-4: seven goals, three penalties one red card and one wide open title race. Hay Liga, as they say. There is a league. There certainly is.

So much happened that it was hard to know where to start. So, with crushing inevitability, they started with the referee. There were three penalties, two of which were doubtful: Ronaldo was outside the area when he had been fouled by Dani Alves, while it was not clear whether Sergio Ramos had caught Neymar for the penalty that made it 3-3 and earned Ramos a red card.

At the time, Ramos hardly protested. Afterwards, he did, climbing atop a metal box to say: "If they wanted to tighten up the title, they've got what they wanted." A few metres away, Ronaldo was calling conspiracy, decrying Madrid's supposed lack of power. He described the referee Undiano Mallenco as "white". Not white as in Madrid but white as in pallid, lacking in personality. "If you play for Madrid you don't get the same treatment," he said. "It obviously annoys people for Madrid to win. They're envious. It doesn't interest anyone for us to win and the referees know that."

"We live in a country where after a spectacle like this people always try to explain it through the referees," Gerard Piqué said. Perhaps he would say that but he had a point. Ronaldo and Gareth Bale appeared fleetingly but left moments; Neymar did little to dispel the doubts, or explain why he started over Pedro or Alexis Sánchez, but he was at the heart of two of Barcelona's four goals. The defending might have been dreadful at times but that probably made it even better as a spectacle and an occasion. And at the other end, it was often sublime and at speed too. All played against a wall of noise and racing heartbeats.

AS's front page called it "a footballing storm". Marca called it "beautiful, full of emotion". Few, though, expressed it like El Mundo Deportivo, who were chucking the exclamation marks around with abandon. "DELIRIUM!" ran the headline on the front page. "MONUMENTAL" it said on the next page. "Everything is possible!" came next. Then "Immense!". The page after that didn't say anything about the game: it was a full-page advert for Barcelona-branded Japanese knives, in which Tello cuts mushrooms, Pedro slices tomatoes and Víctor Valdés is busy taking a meat cleaver to a courgette in a picture that makes you wince in anticipation and screams "opening scene of Casualty" at you. "The best team on the pitch, the best team in the kitchen," runs the slogan.

They were perhaps half right. All season there have been debates and doubts but this was Barcelona being Barcelona, racking up 708 passes to Madrid's 336, and creating 17 shots; they could claim to have deserved this victory. Yet there was not much in it and Madrid claim to have deserved it too. At 2-1 and again at 3-2, Madrid had looked more likely to win; equally, at 1-0 Barcelona could have made it 2-0 or 3-0 and suddenly found themselves 2-1 down. "We were in control at 3-2," Ancelotti said, which might have been an exaggeration but Barcelona never had it easy and if they claimed possession it did not always bring them the security they sought. Ancelotti was certainly right when he insisted that his team had played well.

This was a brilliant game, too much fun, too much going on, too significant for the league, to focus on the referee; a game in which records fell and the football flowed. Only once before had there been more goals in a clásico this century. The first goal was Messi's 19th in the clásico, more than anyone else ever, and two more followed. For the first time in 101 games, Ronaldo had scored but Madrid had lost. And Alves beat Madrid for the 13th time – a new historic record in La Liga. Then there was Karim Benzema's gorgeous thigh control and volley for the second Madrid goal; Andrés Iniesta doing what Iniesta pretty much never does and smashing in a rocket, hard and straight with his left foot, before going back to doing what he always does and gliding about; that pass from Cesc Fábregas; and those passes from Xavi.

Above all, there were the men who spent the final minutes before the game, talking to each other through the huge metal fence that separates the team in the tunnel like sweethearts in jail: Ángel Di María and Messi. Both Argentinians were astonishing. Di María made four clear chances for Benzema, despite appearing to faint after the first goal, tearing Barcelona to bits on the left. As for Messi, on his first goal, he drove the move, a sudden burst of intent and acceleration changing everything, before playing in Neymar, who lost the ball. As Messi reacted to reach it, it was as if he was saying: "Oh, get out the way, then. I'll do it." And so he did. It turned out to be just the start. It ended with a hat-trick, Messi's second penalty buried high in the top corner.

"There's no point talking about Messi. It's eulogy after eulogy and record after record. I just hope he gives me the match ball! I think he broke another record today, didn't he?" Martino said. "We knew that either the league restarted or it was completely over. Now we're totally back in it."

Just one point separates them from the top now. Outside, Barcelona's players were departing the stadium and boarding the bus, embracing friends on the way through, all high fives and big smiles.

They were not alone. In an AVE train carriage somewhere in the dark between Seville and Madrid, they were celebrating too. Spain's two biggest teams, the world's biggest clubs, rekindled the greatest rivalry in sport and this time it did live up to the hype. The game of the century. Madrid and Barcelona met in a game that was decisive for the destiny of the title, a clash that would define the rest of the season, and at the end of it the league had a new leader. But it was neither of them. Atlético Madrid are top.

Talking points

• Atlético Madrid travelled back from Seville as league leaders having defeated Real Betis 2-0. It turned out to be a little harder than they expected, especially with Betis coming off an exhausting and emotional penalty shoot-out defeat to rivals Sevilla in the Europa League on Thursday night, but a red card for Braian changed things. The card was, in the words of Atlético captain Gabi, "both totally justified and also decisive". Betis manager Gabi Calderón only half agreed. He kept up his recent discourse by moaning: "I feel that referees don't respect us." Gabi then got the first with a belter and Costa added the second, his 23rd of the season.

• Elche lost 1-0 at Granada but there was good news: Charlie I'Anson started and played very well.

• New manager, same old results. Still no wins for Getafe. That's 14 weeks without a win now. They were much improved against Athletic but were beaten by a brilliant goal, curled in by Markel Susaeta. That was probably the weekend's best but Alberto Bueno's volley for Rayo in the 1-1 draw at Valladolid was pretty good too: Rayo are now unbeaten in four.

• And in the weekend's most predictable result, Espanyol and Levante drew 0-0.

Results: Celta 0-2 Málaga, Granada 1-0 Elche, Espanyol 0-0 Levante, Valladolid 1-1 Rayo, Athletic 1-0 Getafe, Osasuna 1-2 Sevilla, Betis 0-2 Atlético, Valencia 2-1 Villarreal, Real Madrid 3-4 Barcelona. Monday: Almería-Real Sociedad.

• Latest La Liga table

Sid Lowe

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Moyes: United not far behind City

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 07:46 AM PDT

• Manager says his team are still a force ahead of derby
• Michael Carrick may continue at centre-back

David Moyes wants Manchester United to prove they are still a force to be reckoned with by beating Manchester City on Tuesday night.

City are big favourites for the derby at Old Trafford due to their higher league standing and the fact that United have struggled against the top teams in the league this year.

A 1-0 victory against Arsenal aside, Moyes' men have not beaten any of the sides in the top nine in what has been a truly disappointing maiden season for the Scot. Moyes wants that to change on Tuesday though.

"We we want to try and perform better in the bigger games than what we have done," the United manager said. "It will be important for us to show the level of what we have got.

"I think we have got the level and we are not as far away as many people would have us and I have no doubt it will improve. We want to show we are still in there fighting. We will do everything we can to win. We go out to win every game, not just the derby game.

"Obviously it means a lot more to the supporters and the city if you win a derby game."

United are 12 points behind City, and Manuel Pellegrini's men have played two less matches.

The Red Devils go into the match on the back of encouraging wins against Olympiakos and West Ham. United had to field Michael Carrick at centre-half at Upton Park because of injuries to Chris Smalling, Jonny Evans and Rio Ferdinand. Nemanja Vidic was also absent through suspension. The United captain remains banned for the visit of City, but Moyes would not give away anything about the fitness of the three injured players.

"For this Barclays Premier League game we'll do everything we possibly can to get the [injured] players back," was all that Moyes would say when questioned on the matter at his pre-match press conference.

Should none of the trio be fit, Moyes is certain he has a good enough back up in Carrick.

Carrick performed well keeping Andy Carroll quiet on Saturday, but the pace of Alvaro Negredo, who is expected to lead the line for City in the absence of the injured Sergio Agüero, will present the England midfielder with a different and perhaps more dangerous threat.

Moyes said: "Michael did great at centre-half. He's played there before so it wasn't a problem.

"We even considered putting [Marouane] Fellaini back there as well, so I think we've got people who can do that if we have to.

"We gave Patrice Evra a rest but if we have to, I think we can put him there as well and he would cope manfully.

"It was great that the squad mucked in and that's the way it should be, when you are short in areas and it's all hands to the pumps.

"We were short on Saturday and Michael certainly played really well."

Rooney made Saturday's game in east London one to remember as he scored a stunning goal from just inside the West Ham half.

The England striker then added a second to move above Jack Rowley into third in the club's all-time top scorers list.

Moyes thinks Rooney may have a big bearing on the outcome of the derby, which comes six months after City hammered United 4-1 at the Etihad Stadium.

"Wayne's form throughout the season has been very good and his goal capped off what everybody is aware he's capable of," the United boss said.

"He's spoken about a lot because of his ability as a footballer. He showed it on Saturday in a way maybe everybody is aware he's capable of, but which many others maybe aren't capable of.

"But more importantly for me is how well he's played for the team - that's a big thing.

"From the first game he's been a great team player. I don't know if he'll be the key man because this game has got many, many top-class players in it, so I wouldn't necessarily say he's the main man, but he's certainly one of them."


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Real Madrid v Barcelona: el clásico – in pictures

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 07:16 AM PDT

The second clásico of the season saw Madrid take on Barcelona at home at the Bernabéu stadium. A thriller of a game saw seven goals, and a bundle of controversy. We bring you the best images from the match

Tom Simpson

Barcelona's Gerardo Martino hails team spirit after win at Real Madrid – video

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 06:45 AM PDT

Gerardo Martino says his Barcelona team played a formidable match to beat Real Madrid in a thrilling clásico clash on Sunday

Coventry chief executive 'attacked by fans in pub'

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 06:43 AM PDT

• Tim Fisher reportedly had glasses and chairs thrown at him
• Incident took place after Coventry's defeat at Brentford

Coventry chief executive Tim Fisher was reportedly attacked by his own club's fans following Saturday's 3-1 defeat to Brentford.

According to the Coventry Telegraph, sources close to Fisher confirmed that he was set upon in a London pub and had chairs and glasses thrown at him. The paper said Fisher did not sustain any injuries and had not reported the incident to the police.

Fisher had entered the pub to use the toilet while he waited for a train. According to witnesses, some fans who tried to come to Fisher's aid then clashed with those who had been targeting him.

Relations between City owner Sisu and supporters have become increasingly strained this season after the club moved to play home matches 35 miles away at Northampton's Sixfields stadium.


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Brazil to order army into Rio slums as violence escalates before World Cup

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 06:36 AM PDT

Military deployment expected after spate of fire-bombings, murders and attacks on police bases in city's favelas

The Brazilian authorities are poised to send the army into the slums of Rio de Janeiro less than three months before the World Cup. The move follows attacks on police that have resulted in the most tense standoff for years in the favelas.

The Rio state governor, Sérgio Cabral, has requested the reinforcements after assaults on police bases, apparently co-ordinated by the city's biggest gang, Comando Vermelho.

An escalation of murders, revenge killings and fire-bombings have prompted talk of a war between the police and gangsters. Favela residents and NGOs say the situation is now more tense than at any time since 2010, when the authorities began a "pacification" programme to regain control of communities from armed traffickers.

The government is expected to announce details of the military deployment in the coming days, before the expected arrival in June of hundreds of thousands of football fans, players and support staff for the seven World Cup matches that will be held in Rio.

The pacification campaign is a crucial element in the city's preparations for the tournament. Since it started, 38 police pacification units (UPP) have been established in favela communities, which are now occupied by more than 9,000 police.

Until last year, the gains in public security were evident. But confidence in the programme has been sapped by a series of human rights abuses by police officers.

Sensing a swing in public opinion, imprisoned Comando Vermelho leaders are said to have ordered their members to go on the attack.

Five police officers have been killed since February. The most recent of them was an officer shot in the throat during an altercation with two youths in a favela at the weekend.

Last Thursday, police posts in three favelas were set ablaze. The Mandela UPP – located in the Manguinhos complex, which was visited by Pope Francis last year – was gutted, two police cars were set ablaze and several other units attacked. Rio's political leaders say the attacks are co-ordinated.

"It is clear that criminals want to weaken our policy of pacification and take back territories that were in criminal hands for decades," said Cabral, who will meet Brazil's president, Dilma Rousseff, on Friday. "The state will not back down. The public may be sure we shall act."

Residents say revenge killings by police death squads are on the rise. The most recent occupation resulted in two deaths as police moved into the favela communities in Manguinhos, Lins and Alemão on Friday night. Military police spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Claudio Costa said the killings occurred when police confronted drug traffickers. Those trapped in the middle fear a return to the bad old days.

"It's definitely more tense than at any time since the UPP began," said Hercules Ferreira Mendes, president of the Caracol residents association, which represents 8,000 inhabitants in Penha. "The traffickers are trying to take back the territory they held for so long. People are afraid to stay out at night. The later it gets, the more shootings and confrontations you hear. Nobody knows what will happen next."

Although the biggest impact is felt by residents, the increased tension is likely to worry World Cup organisers. Many of the million or so fans expected for the tournament along with many national teams will pass by the Penha and Maré favelas on their way to and from Rio's international airport. The Nossa Senhora da Penha church, perched high on a nearby hill, is one of the most visible sights on the road.

The reasons for the surge in violence are disputed. Police blame drug traffickers for the new offensive. Others say the main problem is that pacification has not been followed by improvements in social services and infrastructure despite promises from politicians.

Adding to the tension are human rights violations by police, which add to the widely held impression in the favelas that they are no better – and often a lot worse – than the gangsters they replaced.

Last week, passersby recorded video of a police car dragging an injured woman along a street after the officers had thrown her in the boot. Mother-of-four Claudia da Silva Ferreira died soon afterwards in hospital.

Many trace the start of the current increase in violence to the torture and apparent murder of Amarildo de Souza, who disappeared after being given electric shocks and asphyxiated during questioning by UPP officers in the Rocinha favela last July. Despite the arrest of the local police chief and more than a dozen officers, the case severely eroded public trust in the pacification mission.

"I knew at that moment that the UPP was finished. If I were a bandit, I would think 'great'. It was like a bomb that blew up everything," said Yvonne Bezerra de Mello, of the Uere Project, which educates children in the Maré favela community.

"The gangs have been very quick to reorganise. They're very good at training their troops. Now our city is completely out of control."

However, official statistics suggest the city has seen worse. Murder rates and gun crimes remain well below the peak of the mid-2000s. But armed robberies are back on the rise and with both sides in the drug war preparing for an escalation, long-time observers warn that the risks of even deadlier clashes are on the rise.

"It's on course to be the worst it's ever been," said Nanko van Buuren, a Dutchman who has worked in Rio's favelas for 25 years and whose Ibiss foundation runs programmes in 68 communities.

"I think when the federal troops arrive, there'll be a war in some areas. If it doesn't go well, we'll also see protests during the World Cup."

Although the spotlight is on Rio, this is by no means the most dangerous of Brazil's cities. According to a recent study by the Mexico-based NGO, Citizen's Council for Public Security and Penal Justice, Brazil has 16 of the world's 50 most murderous cities – more than any other country. Six of those cities will host World Cup games – Fortaleza, Natal, Salvador, Manaus, Recife and Belo Horizonte. Rio does not even make the list.

Jonathan Watts

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Jermain Defoe and Robbie Keane on target again as MLS beats the weather

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 06:23 AM PDT

Graham Parker and Malena Barajas: a weather-hit MLS weekend sees Jermain Defoe score in his home debut for Toronto FC and Robbie Keane's third goal of week

Graham Parker
Malena Barajas

Mikel Arteta says sorry for Arsenal's 'embarrassing' Chelsea defeat

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 05:41 AM PDT

• Midfielder vows to 'put it right' against Swansea on Tuesday
• 'I am expecting a big reaction. Saturday was not good enough'

Midfielder Mikel Arteta has issued a public apology on behalf of the Arsenal players for the "unacceptable" and "embarrassing" 6-0 humiliation at Chelsea on Saturday - and vowed they will get things right when Swansea come to the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night.

The heavy defeat on Saturday lunchtime ruined manager Arsène Wenger's 1,000th match in charge and severely dented any Premier League title ambitions, with the Gunners now in fourth place, albeit still with a match in hand on the leaders.

Wenger - who cancelled Monday morning's scheduled pre-match press conference - has been left puzzled by his side once again failing to turn up in a big game; Arsenal found themselves 3-0 down by 17 minutes, and played out the rest of the match with 10 men following the sending-off of defender Kieran Gibbs in a case of mistaken identity, which is expected to be overturned by the Football Association.

Arteta accepts the Gunners were "just not good enough" and have no option but to raise performance levels against the Swans, with the squad having held a debrief session at their London Colney training base on Sunday.

"We paid for our own mistakes. We have to take it on the chin because it is unacceptable to lose another big game like this," the Spaniard said to Arsenal Media.

"You cannot only just move on, you have to analyse what you have done and react. I am expecting a big reaction on Tuesday [because] Saturday was not good enough for this football club.

"The good thing is we have a lot of things to play for and we have always reacted to disappointments and difficult moments, but this one is a really hard one to take, it was a massive game for us and for me it is unacceptable.

"The pressure we put on ourselves by losing games like that is massive and there is no need for it.

"We just disrupted the good season we were having. I don't know what else to say apart from sorry to everyone at the club, the fans, and we promise that we will try hard to put that right."

Arteta stressed none of the players wanted to produce another shocking display like they did at Stamford Bridge - which had followed on from heavy defeats at both Manchester City and Liverpool earlier in the season.

"It hurts deeply inside. It is embarrassing to be on a football pitch in that situation," he said.

"Psychologically it is really hard, and when you go through that you analyse it and you know you don't want to be in that situation again.

"I promise everyone that we have that hunger to put it right. On Tuesday, we have an opportunity again at home and we just need to bounce back."

Arsenal are hoping defender Laurent Koscielny will shake off a calf problem which saw him replaced at half-time to be fit to play on Tuesday.

The club are also understood to be set to appeal against Gibbs' dismissal by referee Andre Marriner, for which the official quickly apologised on Saturday after the match.

The suspension would instead be transferred to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who had committed the handball and indeed admitted his guilt at the time but was waved away.

However, Arsenal may then also move to have that red card downgraded, claiming the midfielder had not in fact technically prevented a clear goalscoring opportunity as the shot from Chelsea's Eden Hazard looked to be going just wide.


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Bayern hit with partial stadium closure for banner

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 05:02 AM PDT

• Club punished ahead of Manchester United game
• Follows crowd abuse during Arsenal match

Bayern Munich have been sanctioned with a partial closure of their stadium for the Champions League quarter-final against Manchester United after fans displayed a homophobic banner against Arsenal.

Uefa's control and disciplinary body ordered that the section of the stadium where the banner was displayed should be closed for the second leg against United.

The club have also been fined €10,000 for the "discriminatory behaviour" over the banner, which also targeted Arsenal's German midfielder Mesut Özil.

Uefa said in a statement that as a result of "Bayern supporters … displaying of an illicit banner, the Uefa control and disciplinary body has decided to order the partial closure of the [stadium] in particular, the closure of sector 124 for Bayern's next Uefa competition home match, namely their Uefa Champions League quarter-final second leg against Manchester United on April 9."


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Massimo Cellino barred from Leeds United takeover by Football League

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 04:31 AM PDT

• Cellino fails League's 'owners' and directors' test
• Businessman found guilty of tax evasion in Italy
• Leeds 'disappointed' at League's decision

The Italian businessman Massimo Cellino has been disqualified from buying a majority stake in Leeds under the Football League's "owners' and directors' test".

Last week, a court in Sardinia found Cellino guilty of illegally evading import duty, a criminal offence. The owner of the Serie A club Cagliari was ordered to pay a €600,000 (£500,000) fine after the court convicted him of failing to pay €388,500 in tax on Nélie, a yacht seized by Italian police and customs officials in June 2012.

The decision leaves Leeds in a state of limbo over its future ownership – Cellino has already paid more than £2m into the club.

The Football League said in a statement on Monday: "At its meeting yesterday evening, the board of the Football League considered the eligibility of Massimo Cellino. The board considered detailed legal advice with regard to the application of its regulations within the context of a decision made under Italian law.

"Mr Cellino was recently found guilty beyond reasonable doubt by a court in Sardinia of an offence under Italian tax legislation relating to the non-payment of import duties on a boat. This resulted in a fine of €600,000, an order for the payment of trial costs and the confiscation of the boat in question.

"Having fully considered the matter, the board agreed unanimously that the decision of the Italian court does constitute a disqualifying condition under its owners' and directors' test. The relevant disqualifying condition being that Massimo Cellino has been convicted of an offence involving acts that would reasonably be considered to be dishonest.

"In line with Football League regulations, Massimo Cellino is entitled to appeal against the decision within 14 days. In such circumstances, the League would seek to expedite the process to deliver certainty to all parties in the shortest possible timeframe."

The news will come as a blow to Leeds as the club continues to seek the investment it needs to prosper. However, in a statement on Monday afternoon the club tried to reassure fans it was not in any immediate financial trouble.

"The club and its shareholders are disappointed at the decision of the Football League not to approve Massimo Cellino as a director of Leeds United. However, the board and executive management of the club, will continue discussions with the Football League and Eleonora Sport to find a solution that is suitable to all parties.

"Our shareholders continue to support the club directly or through additional investments as has always been the case. We would like to reassure the fans of the continuity of our great club."


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Stoke City's Mark Hughes celebrates 4-1 victory over Aston Villa – video

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 04:06 AM PDT

Stoke City manager Mark Hughes says his team were in total control of the game against Aston Villa on Sunday in which they walked away with three points

The best goals of the week: Bébé, Benzema, Engelaar and … Zamora

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 04:01 AM PDT

Featuring a halfway-line stunner from down under, a goalkeeper scoring from downtown, plus a freak goal at the Riverside

Orlando Engelaar (MELBOURNE HEART v Central Coast Mariners)

Bébé (PAÇOS DE FERREIRA v FC Arouca)

Vaclav Kadlec (EINTRACHT FRANKFURT v FC Nürnberg)

Andreas Cornelius (FC COPENHAGEN v Randers)

Bilal Basacikoglu (HEERENVEEN v NEC Nijmegen)

Karim Benzema (REAL MADRID v Barcelona)

Johnny Russell (DERBY COUNTY v Nottingham Forest)

Josh Sheehan (SWANSEA CITY U-19s v Cardiff City U-19s)

Tim Roberts (FOLKESTONE INVICTA v Horsham)

Er, Bobby Zamora (QPR v Middlesbrough) … sorry Dimi Konstantopoulos

… and a celebration from Hidetoshi Wakui (NOMME KALJU v Flora)


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