The Malaysian Insider :: Sports
The Malaysian Insider :: Sports |
| Benitez confident Shakhtar can do Chelsea a favour Posted: 04 Dec 2012 07:22 AM PST LONDON, Dec 4 — Chelsea's under-fire manager Rafael Benitez believes Shakhtar Donetsk can beat Juventus tomorrow and open an escape hatch for his side to reach the last 16 of the Champions League. Benitez's side must beat Danish side Nordsjaelland at Stamford Bridge in their final Group E match and hope Juventus suffer defeat in Ukraine if they are not to become the first holders to depart the Champions League at the group stage.  Benitez at the media conference at Chelsea's training ground in Cobham, south of London. — Reuters pic "We don't need a miracle," Benitez, who masterminded Liverpool's miraculous Champions League final victory against Milan in 2005 from a 3-0 halftime deficit, told reporters. "We just have to do our job. I'm convinced that Shakhtar can beat Juventus. The only thing we can do is win our game but I have confidence that Shakhtar will do well. "They have players that want to be seen around the world. They will want to win and I'm sure they will try." Benitez's rocky start — two 0-0 draws and Saturday's 3-1 defeat by West Ham United — has been hampered by not being able to call on the the experience of club captain John Terry or midfield stalwart Frank Lampard. Neither will be ready to face Nordsjaelland despite returning to training following knee and calf injuries. "Lampard has been training for two days with the group but it's too early for tomorrow. JT was training with the physios and it's still too early for this game," Benitez said, although both could be in contention for the weekend trip to Sunderland. Jovial mood Despite having to dealing with hostility from the home fans following his controversial appointment, Benitez was in a jovial mood at the club's training ground. "No," he replied when asked if he already felt under pressure. "If you analyse the three games we did a lot of good things. The first two clean sheets was a good point to start. "We did concede against West Ham but maybe we deserved to win that more than the others because we were much better in the first half. There are lots of positives." Benitez, the first manager in the era of club owner Roman Abramovich not to win any of his first three matches, said he would try to utilise his squad in the busy period ahead, which includes a trip to the World Club Cup in Japan next week. "They were playing too many games, a lot of minutes and you can't be fresh playing at that intensity," he said of the midfield trio of Juan Mata, Eden Hazard and Oscar, who have been less effective of late after a brilliant start to the season. "I can see the quality of these three players, when we are in possession they are very dangerous," he said. "It depends on the game... sometimes you need another approach. We have to manage better against strong physical teams." Mata said the players were unaffected by the negativity surrounding the appointment of his fellow Spaniard. "I'm not deaf, so yeah we are aware fans reaction but they are free to do what they want," he said. "When you change a manager it's because things are not going good. It's not my responsibility. We have an owner and people who are working to do their best for the club and as a player you just work with the manager... we are with him." — Reuters |
| Romania’s Rapid Bucharest file for insolvency Posted: 04 Dec 2012 07:08 AM PST BUCHAREST, Dec 4 — Troubled Romanian football club Rapid Bucharest said today they had filed for insolvency after running up huge debts. "We opened insolvency proceedings to save the club," Rapid's majority shareholder George Copos told reporters. "We're doing everything in our power to save Rapid."
Rapid, who played in the Romanian Cup final in May, have spent heavily in recent years but their players have not been paid for several months. "The difference between revenue and expenditure goes to €5 million (RM19.6 million) per year," said Rapid president Constantin Zotta. "It's terrible." The move could mean the end of professional football for Rapid as Romanian football regulations do not allow an insolvent club to have a first-division licence. "If they enter into any form of insolvency, they will not get a licence for next season," said Romanian Football League president Dumitru Dragomir. Yesterday, Dragomir said that seven first division clubs were on the brink of collapse due to spiralling debts. He accused the government of not supporting the sport. "We are the only country in the world that pays VAT to the players," Dragomir said. "Taxes are paid two or three times." Dragomir did not name the teams but local media said that Dinamo, Petrolul Ploiesti, Brasov, Universitatea Cluj-Napoca, Turnu Severin and Gloria Bistrita were the other clubs in danger. Many of the clubs face considerable infrastructure difficulties and are struggling to meet administrative, legal and financial conditions laid down by European football's governing body UEFA. Dragomir said he was concerned even for the top two teams in the country — league leaders Steaua Bucharest, who are playing in the Europa League, and champions CFR Cluj, who still have a slim chance of progressing to the Champions League knockout stages. "I am concerned about Steaua and CFR, there are financial problems," he said. "I don't know how it will be resolved." — Reuters |
Three-times Romanian champions Rapid and city rivals Dinamo, who have won the league 18 times, are among nine European clubs facing punishment from UEFA over payment arrears to other teams, their staff or tax authorities.| You are subscribed to email updates from The Malaysian Insider :: Sports To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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