Match Events

0′ The match is about to start!

16′ Abraham’ header denied

26′ GOAL! Burnley 0-1 Chelsea (Ziyech)

45′ Werner’s shot stopped

49′ Yellow Card! Kevin Long booked

50′ Mount’s free-kick stopped

52′ Mount’ long shot too straight

58′ Barnes’ long-shot wide out

63′ GOAL! Burnley 0-2 Chelsea (Zouma)

70′ GOAL! Burnley 0-3 Chelsea (Werner)

75′ Reece James fires his shot into the sky

80′ OFFSIDE! Giroud’s goal disallowed

88′ Pope denies Thiago Silva’s header

Line-ups

Burnley XI: Barnes, Stephens, Westwood, Wood, Kevin Long, Lowton, Tarkowski, Taylor, Pope, Brownhill, McNeil

Subs: Jay Rodriguez, Vydra, Brady, Peacock-Farrell, Dunne, Richardson, M. Thompson

Chelsea XI: Thiago Silva, Zouma, E. Mendy, Kante, Werner, Ziyech, Abraham, Mount, Chilwell, Havertz, Reece James

Subs: Azpilicueta, Caballero, Giroud, Jorginho, Rudiger, Hudson-Odoi, K. ŽigerRelated： Chelsea

Turin [Italy], October 29 (ANI): Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman is pleased with the team’s victory against Juventus and said it was his side’s “best game” of the season.

“This was our best game all season. This is a big win against an important European side and we were able to play the football we’re trying to impose,” Goal.com quoted Koeman as saying.

“I wanted us to play with three at the back, pushing one man forward to have extra in the middle of the pitch. That meant we created a lot of goal chances and, frankly, I think we should have finished the match off much earlier. I’m very content with the football we played, with the result and especially with the character my team showed,” he added.

Barcelona defeated Juventus 2-0 in the Champions League here on Thursday.

Ousmane Dembele scored the opening goal of the match in the 14th minute, handing Barcelona a lead. Lionel Messi then successfully converted a penalty in the 901st minute to seal a 2-0 win for Barcelona.

Koeman also expressed elation on Twitter as he wrote: “Great match from our side, happy with a well-deserved win!”During the clash, Juventus was without their star player Cristiano Ronaldo, who missed the match because of a positive Covid-19 diagnosis. In order to play, the Portuguese was needed to test negative on Tuesday as protocol states that a player must have a negative test 24 hours before kick-off, Goal.com had reported.

Previously, Ronaldo had tested positive for coronavirus on October 13 while on international duty with Portugal. (ANI)

The left-back was sent off for a challenge on Southampton’s Kyle Walker-Peters during a 2-0 loss at St Mary’s on Sunday, though the Premier League leaders appealed the decision.

The red card, described as a “joke” by Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti, has not been rescinded but Digne will now only serve a one-match ban.about:blank

A Football Association statement issued on Tuesday read: “An independent regulatory commission has upheld a claim of clearly excessive punishment in relation to Everton FC’s Lucas Digne.

“The defender was sent off for serious foul play during a Premier League fixture against Southampton FC on Sunday 25 October 2020 and would have been suspended for three fixtures.

“However, the independent regulatory commission has withdrawn his original suspension and applied a one-match suspension instead.”

The Frenchman was shown a straight red card by referee Kevin Friend in the 72nd minute when he stood on the back of Walker-Peters’ legs.

It looked accidental and Ancelotti was critical of Friend’s decision.

“The red card was a joke,” he said. “It was not intentional. Maybe it could be a yellow but for sure it was not violent conduct. They could check better.”about:blank

Digne will now only miss the game with Newcastle and will be available for the matches against Manchester United and Fulham.

Ashanti Gold have suffered a big blow after thieves stole equipment for repair works at the Len Clay Sports Stadium worth over USD$172,000 ahead of the 2020/2021 Ghana Premier League.

READ MORE: Give me Kotoko coaching job and I will win them Champions League- Dong Bortey

The stolen items are cables for the reinstallation of floodlights at the Len Clay Sports.

“The items are cables for the installation of the spoilt floodlights at the stadium. The items worth over USD$172,000.

“However, plans are underway to get the issue fixed.

“The police have started an investigation into the matter to bright the perpetuators of the crime to book,” Emmanuel Frimpong CEO of Ashanti Gold told Pulse.com.gh.

There are also reports the thieves dug a tunnel to get into the stadium to steal the cables meant for the floodlights.

Meanwhile, the Len Clay Sports Stadium is supposed to undergo reinspection before it is approved by the Club Licensing Board for usage for the 2020/2021 Ghana Premier League.

Only four stadia namely Accra Sports Stadium, Cape Coast Sports Stadium, Nana Gyemang Badu Park and WAFA Park have been cleared for usage by the board.

The Ghana Premier League will kick off on November 13, 2020.

AshGold will open the season with a clash against Karela FC at the Len Clay Sports Stadium.

Arsene Wenger has warned the Premier League that it could be destroyed if the European Super League eventually comes into place.

After the drastic proposals of Project Big Picture – which was led by Manchester United and Liverpool – were quashed following a meeting with Premier League clubs, the European Super League was the next plan to be drafted.

Talks have since taken place over the set up of the new £4.6billion European League but former Arsenal boss Wenger, now head of global football development at FIFA, insists its creation could have a catastrophic impact on the English game.

Wenger told the Guardian: ‘The Premier League has a superiority. The project [Big Picture] wanted to reinforce this superiority.

‘The other leagues tried to destroy the advantage the Premier League has. For them, the best thing to attain that is to create a European league.

‘So that means to destroy the Premier League, basically. So if they get the agreement from the English big clubs, it will happen.’

Wenger then claimed the main target by the driving forces behind the European League is to ‘make more money’.

When quizzed on whether the European Super League is football driven or business-led, Wenger replied: ‘It is football as well. But of course, we are in a period of owners who are investors.

‘What are the investors’ first target? It’s to make more money. And so that the European Super League is one way maybe to make more money.’

The European Super League competition is expected to involve between 16 and 18 teams, and will be played at midweek during the normal European club season.

It would start as a typical league campaign before the top-performing teams would enter a knockout competition to crown a champion.

Relegation could form part of the new league, and it is believed that some ideas from an earlier iteration could be adopted within this new proposal.

Outgoing Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu dropped a bombshell this week when he revealed he had ratified the club’s participation in the European Super League before announcing his resignation.

The Catalans are one of several European clubs who would likely become part of the new competition, which is threatening to replace the Champions League in the coming years.

But following Bartomeu’s bombshell, FIFA have distanced themselves from the notion of a breakaway league.

A FIFA statement read: ‘FIFA is not aware of any agreement.

‘As we already said last week, the topic of a so-called ‘European Super League’ comes up every now and then and FIFA has no wish to comment further on this since there are already well-established football institutional structures to deal with it.

‘Generally speaking, and as stated again last week by the FIFA president, the focus for FIFA is on global football development and the new Club World Cup, and not any European Super League.’

Barcelona are furious with El Clasico referee Juan Martinez Munuera for giving a penalty in Saturday’s match – with one Spanish paper discovering that his family are die-hard Real Madrid fans.

The official awarded Real Madrid a controversial 61st minute penalty after Sergio Ramos went down quite easily when Barcelona’s Clement Lenglet took hold of the Madrid captain’s shirt in the box.

After consulting VAR, Martinez Munuera gave the visitors a penalty at the Camp Nou to the disgust of many Barcelona figures, with Ramos stepping up to score the spot-kick to put Madrid ahead in Saturday’s 3-1 victory.

And Spanish news outlet SPORT have discovered that Martinez Munuera’s father, Juan Ramon, is a founder of a Real Madrid fan club – Los Amigos de Benidorm – alongside former Valencia president Eduardo Zaplana.

Juan Ramon is also a former referee in the Spanish third division and was known to officiate matches wearing a Real Madrid shirt underneath his referee’s uniform.

His other son, Miguel Martinez, was a linesman in Saturday’s El Clasico as he lined up for the crucial El Clasico clash alongside his brother.

Barcelona have handed in a complaint to Spanish FA president Luis Rubiales about the officials’ performance in Saturday’s Clasico.

Juan Martinez has been a referee for 11 years but also works as a policeman in Alicante.

Also in the Spanish press, sports news outlet AS spoke to former professional referee Iturralde Gonzalez, who was unconvinced about Martinez Munuera’s controversial second-half call this weekend.

The former official said: ‘There is a grab to the shirt, but it is not prolonged, it doesn’t last. In my opinion it’s a really tight call.’

However, Gonzalez admitted that Martinez Munuera failed to give Real Madrid a penalty earlier in the game that was more clear-cut.

In the 48th minute, Ramos and Lenglet were clashing again at a corner, with the Madrid captain going down following a challenge by the Frenchman.

Gonzalez added: ‘Ramos is looking to get an effort off at the front post, VAR does not check it because it would not be deemed a clear and obvious error, but a penalty is not given.’

Mundo Deportivo has also slammed the penalty call during the El Clasico game, choosing the headling: ‘VAR Injustice’ on Monday morning, claiming that several VAR calls have suspiciously fallen in the favour of Real Madrid in recent weeks.

Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman took a similar tone in his post-match interview, claiming that VAR only acts against Barcelona in the Spanish top-flight.

The Dutch boss told BarcaTV on Saturday : ‘Every decision goes against us. In five games there have been none in our favour. I don’t think it’s a penalty. VAR in Spain only acts against Barcelona.’

MARCA, on the other hand, decided to praise Madrid boss Zidane in Monday morning’s paper, describing the French boss as the ‘winner of the Clasico’.

Saturday’s result took Zidane’s side to second in LaLiga, one point behind leaders Real Sociedad with a game in hand and six clear of Barcelona – who lie in 12th spot.Related： Real MadridBarcelonaRamosZidaneLenglet

Under-siege Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu and the entire board could resign today in protest at the government allowing a vote of no confidence to go ahead at the club.

The Covid-19 situation is worsening by the day in Catalonia – with many of the club’s members who would vote being categorised as vulnerable – currently expected to vote on November 1 and 2. In total, 800 club members have died of coronavirus since March.

The board of directors are meeting on Monday to approve the club’s financial plan for the 2019-20 season and budget for next season.

And Bartomeu may propose to those present that he and everyone on the board tender their resignations en masse if no delay is granted for the vote, according to Sport.

Spain has declared a six-month ‘state of alarm’, delegating emergency responsibilities to the Catalan region for that period and a curfew has been imposed in the city among other stricter measures.

Citizens in the region have been told to stay at home and yet there has been approval for the vote of no confidence to take place on November 1 and 2.

Barcelona sent a letter to the Secretary of Sports of the Generalitat on Sunday asking for a postponement and the crux of the matter is how the board are supposed to travel in for a vote when everyone else in Barcelona has been told to stay at home.

Many of those voting are in the vulnerable category over the age of 60. During the pandemic, 800 club members have already died due to coronavirus.

If the Generalitat de Catalunya stand firm with November 1 and 2 as the dates to vote, Bartomeu is willing to propose a mass resignation today.

A club source told Sport: ‘We will not be complicit in this nonsense. People’s lives are more important, because there will always be time to vote.’

Another issue is that the Assembly of Compromisary Partners must give the green light to the financial proposals presented at today’s meeting of directors.

There is not yet a date in the diary for this and a mass resignation would render it impossible.

And yet the meeting could well be the last this board have together. The club have been in turmoil on the pitch and at boardroom level in recent months with the key moment being Barcelona’s 8-2 Champions League humiliation by Bayern Munich.

Their woes continued at the weekend with a 3-1 defeat by Real Madrid in El Clasico.

At midnight, the deadline for the club to announce the vote officially on November 1 and 2 expires so the muddied waters should soon become more clear.