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Anthony Martial has now gone almost three years since completing 90 minutes for Manchester United after being substituted against Newcastle.

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• Man Utd lost 1-0
• Martial subbed for Rasmus Hojlund
• Only played an hour

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Martial was brought off for Hojlund after an hour against Newcastle. During his time on the pitch, the Frenchman touched the ball just 17 times, the lowest number of the starting players on the pitch. He also failed to have a shot on goal or complete a dribble, and was dispossessed once. It continues an astonishing record as Martial has not completed 90 minutes in the Premier League for almost three years.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Martial has not completed 90 minutes for United since January 27, 2021, when they lost 2-1 to Sheffield United at Old Trafford. Shortly after that game, the striker tore his knee ligaments. He was also loaned to Sevilla during the 2021/22 season and, amazingly, he never completed a full game in La Liga either.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  Martial has been with United since 2015 and is now just 18 months away from qualifying for a testimonial at Old Trafford. Across the last two seasons in all competitions, he has scored just 11 goals.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR MARTIAL?

  His dire performance at St James' Park was equalled by just how bad Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes were, and United will now have to go away and lick their wounds. Martial has struggled to provide anything of value, and one has to think Rasmus Hojlund will be starting in his place against Chelsea on Wednesday.

USWNT legend Carli Lloyd hit back at a journalist for suggesting there is a "conflict of interests" in her commenting on Gotham FC matches.

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• Lloyd on pundit team for NWSL final
• Ex-USWNT star is co-owner of Gotham FC
• Hit back at 'conflict of interest' claim

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The former midfielder has been named as a pundit by American broadcaster for the upcoming NWSL final match between Gotham and OL Reign.

  The two-time World Cup winner has become an analyst since her retirement and she was a prominent voice in the media when USWNT competed in Australia and New Zealand in the summer.

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• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  However, the 41-year-old being involved despite owning a minority stake in Gotham has caused some controversy, with Meg Linehan, a writer for , suggesting that such conflicts should be disclosed to viewers.

• WHAT THEY SAID

  "Fully admit I’m not the target audience of shoulder programming around the NWSL, but I do think we have to figure out a way to at least call out conflicts of interest better when booking talent on these shows. We have to cite any potential ones in every article," Linehan wrote on social media.

  However, Lloyd did not appreciate the comment, despite not being named in the original post, and replied: "What’s the problem? It’s soccer. Talking about two teams in the NWSL final? And you can just @ me. It’s all good."

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  WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

  The NWSL – which recently announced a groundbreaking TV deal – will stage its Championship match in San Diego on Saturday.

Sophia Smith and Becky Sauerbrunn made a comeback as Twila Kilgore announced her USWNT squad for two friendlies against Colombia.

• Kilgore announced 27-member USWNT squad
• Portland Thorns duo Smith & Sauerbrunn make comebacks
• Lavelle missed out through injury

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  WHO IS INCLUDED?

  Portland Thorns duo Sophia Smith and Becky Sauerbrunn are back in the USWNT squad. Sauerbrunn, who missed the 2023 Women's World Cup due to a foot injury, makes a comeback into the national team while Smith was not included in the USWNT squad for the September friendlies as she was carrying a knee injury at that time.

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  WHO ELSE HAS MADE THE CUT?

  Interim head coach Kilgore has also named two uncapped players in the squad this time. Forward Jaedyn Shaw of San Diego Wave and Portland Thorns midfielder Olivia Moultrie have been included in the 27-member roster. This is Moultrie's first call-up to the national team while Shaw was included in the squad for the September friendlies but did not make her debut.

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  USWNT SQUAD IN FULL

  GOALKEEPERS: Aubrey Kingsbury (Washington Spirit; 1), Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage; 15), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars; 96)

  DEFENDERS: Alana Cook (OL Reign; 27/1), Crystal Dunn (Portland Thorns FC; 138/24), Emily Fox (North Carolina Courage; 35/1), Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave FC; 22/0), Sofia Huerta (OL Reign; 31/0), Casey Krueger (Chicago Red Stars; 40/0), Becky Sauerbrunn (Portland Thorns FC; 216/0), Emily Sonnett (OL Reign; 79/2), M.A. Vignola (Angel City FC; 1/0)

  MIDFIELDERS: Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns FC; 4/0), Savannah DeMelo (Racing Louisville FC; 4/0), Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyon, FRA; 135/29), Olivia Moultrie (Portland Thorns FC; 0/0), Ashley Sanchez (Washington Spirit; 26/3), Andi Sullivan (Washington Spirit; 51/3)

  FORWARDS: Mia Fishel (Chelsea FC, ENG; 1/0), Ashley Hatch (Washington Spirit; 20/5), Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave FC; 213/121), Midge Purce (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 24/4), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit; 24/6), Jaedyn Shaw (San Diego Wave FC; 0/0), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns FC; 34/14), Alyssa Thompson (Angel City FC; 7/0), Lynn Williams (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 57/17)

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  WHO HAS BEEN LEFT OUT?

  The most notable name to be left out of the current squad is the experienced OL Reign midfielder Rose Lavelle, who is recovering from injury. The 28-year-old has appeared in 91 international matches where she scored 24 goals. Tierna Davidson is also not fit on this occasion.

The England international could miss Sunday's massive Premier League showdown with Manchester City with an injury that has been a long time coming

Nobody was in the least bit surprised when Bukayo Saka set up Gabriel Jesus for Arsenal's opener in Tuesday night's Champions League game in Lens. It's what he does. Saka isn't just an outstanding talent, he's also on fire right now.

Indeed, that assist meant the winger was the first player across Europe's 'Big Five' leagues to rack up both five goals and five assists this season. However, if Saka's involvement in Jesus' strike was inevitable, so too was what followed.

Shortly after the half-hour mark at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis, Saka attempted a back-heel and felt a twinge in his hamstring. He gestured to the sideline that something was wrong and was promptly replaced.

Manager Mikel Arteta admitted afterwards, "It doesn't look good." And it really doesn't, from any perspective. Any injury to Saka, no matter the severity, is a major problem for Arsenal – but the timing is particularly disastrous in this instance, with their talisman now a major doubt for Sunday's massive Premier League showdown with Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium.

And yet while one cannot but feel sorry for Saka for maybe missing the biggest game of the season so far, it's hard to feel any great sympathy for Arteta or Arsenal for the worrying situation they now find themselves in, as this feels like a mess all of their own making.

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  'We need to protect Bukayo'

  When Arsenal triumphed 4-2 at Aston Villa back in February, the surprise title challengers were rightly ebullient after scoring twice in injury-time. However, Oleksandr Zinchenko, who had scored his side's equaliser just after the hour mark, wasn't entirely happy. Indeed, in his post-match interview he made a point of expressing his anger at some of the challenges that Saka had been subjected to at Villa Park.

  "Bukayo is an unbelievable player," the Ukrainian said. "All the full-backs from the other teams know he's so dangerous, so they try to provoke him, tackle him and the referees should know this. We can speak about [Lionel] Messi, Cristiano [Ronaldo], Neymar and players like this. The referees need to protect this kind of player, they need to look after them."

  It remains a very valid point. The game's flair players should always be protected by officials. But Arteta was under no illusions about the fact that opponents would continue to target their talisman.

  "Saka's going to have to deal with that [rough treatment] – and not every week, but every three days," the Spaniard said. "It's his game – teams are not stupid and they want to stop him. We need to protect him."

  But the Spanish coach arguably has not done a good enough job in that regard.

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  Eighty-seven appearances in a row!

  Saka hasn't sat out an entire Premier League game since May 2021. In the two years and five months that have followed, he has featured in a club-record 87 league games. Incredibly, 83 of those appearances came as a starter, which is testament to Saka's quality, consistency, durability and importance to Arteta's Arsenal.

  However, it's an incredible amount of football, particularly for one so young. Stress and strain are inevitable consequences of such a heavy workload, and burnout has long been a concern.

  Any Arsenal fan will tell you that there were times during the tail end of the 2022-23 campaign that Saka looked tired – which was wholly understandable, given how heavily involved the academy product had been in his side's surprise title challenge. He started all but one of Arsenal's 38 Premier League matches last season – and on the one occasion he began on the bench, he still ended up playing half an hour.

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  Arsenal's talisman

  Arteta's eagerness to have Saka on the field as much as possible is, of course, understandable. Arsenal are simply not the same side without him, as underlined by the dramatic dip in the quality of their performance after his enforced withdrawal against Lens, who ended up inflicting a first defeat of the current campaign upon the Gunners with a second-half goal from Elye Wahi.

  It's also worth pointing out that no Arsenal player scored more goals (15) or racked up more assists (11) in all competitions last season than Saka. However, even the Gunners have been aware of the need to find a quality understudy for Saka for some time now.

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  Why was no understudy signed?

  A concerted effort was made in the summer of 2022 to sign Raphinha from Leeds United, but the Brazilian made it clear that his preference was to move to Barcelona. It was presumed that Arsenal would then turn their attention to other targets but no other offers were made – despite their long-time interest in Bayer Leverkusen's Moussa Diaby.

  Even this summer, it was thought that the club might take advantage of talks with the Bundesliga outfit over the sale of Granit Xhaka to thrash out a deal for the France international. No move materialised, though, with Arteta preferring to waste £65 million ($79m) on Kai Havertz, a player that Arsenal most definitely did not need, while Diaby is now starring for Aston Villa in the Premier League instead.

Lionel Messi reportedly wants Luka Modric alongside him at Inter Miami, with David Beckham said to have already met with the Real Madrid midfielder.

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• Argentine superstar in the United States
• Joined by Busquets and Alba
• Croatian will be free agent in 2024

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  There has been speculation to suggest that veteran Croatian playmaker Modric is being lined up as the next marquee addition at DRV PNK Stadium. He has not figured as regularly for Real this season, with only 205 minutes of La Liga action taken in.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Modric is set to become a free agent at the end of the 2023-24 campaign – while a move in January has been mooted. He is now 38 years of age, but former Blancos star Pedja Mijatovic claims Inter Miami have their sights set on a deal following advice from Messi.

• WHAT THEY SAID

  The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner is said to want another star with a Golden Ball to his name by his side in Florida, with Mijatovic telling of Modric: “He has received offers from the United States, from many teams and from this one in particular. He already had the one in Saudi Arabia but he wanted to stay in Madrid. Messi himself has personally been interested in the possibility. In Croatia, a few days ago, Modric met Beckham, where they were eating.”

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  WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

  Beckham boasts strong ties to Madrid from his playing days, and the ex-Manchester United and England star is now a co-owner at Inter Miami. He has seen Messi deliver a historic Leagues Cup triumph in Miami, following a stunning move to the United States for the Argentine icon, and there is still a chance that he could deliver qualification for the play-offs through the MLS Eastern Conference.

Sergino Dest provided glimpses of his old self as he showed the qualities that make him so dangerous in his PSV debut.

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• Dest shines on debut
• Tillman and Pepi remain on bench
• PSV earn 2-2 draw at Ibrox

Dest's club career has been a rollercoaster since he initially departed Ajax for Barcelona and the U.S. men's national team star now returns to the Eredivisie in rebuilding mode. A disastrous loan spell with AC Milan last year did little for his confidence, and the hope was that a move back to the Netherlands with Dutch giants PSV could help him get back on track.

It's very early days, but Tuesday's performance in the 2-2 draw with Rangers showed plenty of positive signs. Dest was dangerous throughout as he started on the left, offering the attacking presence that has often made him such a weapon for the USMNT.

With the draw, PSV will now head back to the Netherlands confident in this Champions League play-off tie as the two sides look to book their place in the Champions League's group stages after this back-and-forth first leg.

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  WHAT HAPPENED?

  Dest started and made an immediate impact on the left-hand side, routinely getting forward to add danger to the PSV attack. The fullback provided several inviting crosses throughout the first half, but PSV lacked that finishing touch as they failed to score despite controlling play.

  It would come back to bite them just moments before halftime as Ibrahim Sangare's giveaway led to a goal from Abdallah Sima in the 45th minute.

  Sangare would make amends in the 61st minute as the midfielder himself provided a thumping finish to level the score at one apiece.

  Rangers would go on to retake the lead through a fantastic finish from Rabbi Matondo in the 76th minute, but a goal from Luuk de Jong shortly after ensured the two teams head to the second leg level at 2-2.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Dest started the match at left-back, having primarily played on the right for both the U.S. and Barcelona. He is, though, plenty capable of playing on that side, as Tuesday's effort proved.

  The fullback completed 91 percent of his passes and had five successful dribbles, providing his typical effort in the attacking end of the field. It's those qualities that made him a star at Ajax, after all, and that part of his game hasn't disappeared even with his struggles at Barcelona.

  Dest was also strong defensively, winning seven duels and a tackle through his 81 minutes on the pitch. His defensive awareness has long been the biggest criticism of his game, but Dest was solid enough and wasn't to blame for either Rangers goal.

  Dest wasn't the only American in the PSV squad, as Ricardo Pepi and Malik Tillman were named on the bench, but neither of the young attackers entered the field as PSV looked to see out the game and take the 2-2 result back to the Netherlands.

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  USMNT IMPACT

  The USMNT coaching staff will be thrilled to see Dest back on the field again after such a troubling season on loan with AC Milan. The American was all but excluded from the team after January, leading to him joining the USMNT in March as the loan European-based player in a midweek friendly against Mexico.

  His club struggles, thus far, have not cost him his USMNT place as Dest has remained the team's starting right-back. There is plenty of competition for that position, though, with the likes of Joe Scally and Bryan Reynolds growing into their own.

  Dest, though, offers an attacking presence that the other two can't come close to, making him a key player during Gregg Berhalter's first cycle and, most likely, the returning starter to begin Berhalter's second spell in charge.

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  GOAL'S GRADE

  Sergino Dest (7/10):

  A strong performance to begin life at PSV. Confident on the ball and made no real mistakes off of it in a performance that, for his sake and for the USMNT's, will hopefully be a sign of things to come.

  Malik Tillman (N/A):
  Surely wanted to come on against his former team after shining for Rangers last season, but it wasn't to be.

  Ricardo Pepi (N/A):

  Similar to Tillman, didn't come off the bench. For a while, it looked like the game was calling for him, but De Jong's late goal validated the decision to keep him on.

Leicester City are reportedly considering the signing of PSV Eindhoven wonderkid Noni Madueke this summer.

According to the Daily Mail, the Foxes have made an enquiry for the winger but face competition for the likes of AC Milan and RB Leipzig for his signature. However, the East Midlanders must ensure they get their first.

Put simply, Madueke is an extremely talented prospect. Arriving in the Netherlands from Tottenham in 2018, he has progressed through the club’s system to become a key player in the first team in Eindhoven.

The 2020/21 campaign has really seen him break through, having scored nine goals and notched eight assists in all competitions from the right flank.

It is form which has seen him draw comparisons to current Premier League starlet Phil Foden. Former England under-21 Manager Aidy Boothroyd said that whilst the young winger is lesser known than the Manchester City ace, he is a “little bit like” his compatriot.

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Leicester could certainly use the talents of Madueke. Current right-winger Cengiz Under is set to depart the club in the summer following the expiry of his loan deal from Serie A giants AS Roma, leaving just the likes of Ayoze Perez and Marc Albrighton to claim the right-wing position.

The current Foxes duo have netted just four goals between them in all competitions this season, simply not enough for a team harbouring aspirations of challenging at the top end of the Premier League whilst also potentially playing Champions League football.

Rated at just £12.6m by Transfermarkt, the possible arrival of the PSV youngster would certainly be a deal the Foxes could afford.

Rodgers should follow through with Leicester’s reported interest and do all he can to bring Madueke to the King Power Stadium in the summer.

AND in more news, find out which Leicester star stunk out St Mary’s with an awful performance on Friday…

Matt Turner has only spent 12 months at Arsenal, taking in seven appearances, but is it already time for the USMNT star to be considering a transfer?

The United States international completed a move to Emirates Stadium from MLS side the New England Revolution that had been agreed a few months earlier during the summer window of 2022. He knew what he was letting himself in for with Aaron Ramsdale already the established No.1 in north London.

Turner was, however, to take in just seven appearances during his debut campaign with the Gunners – with none of those coming in the Premier League. He has continued to be selected by his country, but needs more regular game time at club level.

Exit talk has been sparked in 2023, with GOAL quizzing former Arsenal star Ray Parlour on whether Turner was ever the right option, what the future could hold for him and whether Ramsdale will continue to see off competition to his place in Mikel Arteta’s plans.

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  Good enough?

  Quizzed by GOAL on whether Turner is good enough for a club of Arsenal’s stature and ambition, Parlour – speaking in association with – said, with the Gunners already being linked with another keeper: “I’ve seen the reports with David Raya at Brentford. You always need good goalkeepers. If you are going to have any chance of being successful, you need to have that. Maybe they have thought ‘is he up to the standard?’ I haven’t seen a lot of him, but Raya I’ve seen a lot of and he’s decent. Whether that deal is going to happen, we have to wait and see. You have then got two good goalkeepers. If there is then a problem with Ramsdale going forward, you have got no problems whatsoever bringing Raya into the team. I do believe that you need two top class keepers because if one gets an injury – it’s like losing your striker. Maybe that’s what they are looking at. It might up Ramsdale’s game a little because he knows he has competition around him.”

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  USA, USA!

  Pressed on whether Turner may have been signed by Arsenal as much for his links to the lucrative American market as his ability between the sticks, Parlour said: “He’s a decent keeper, there is no doubt about that. But if you want to try and win leagues, sometimes you need that little bit extra. Whether he has got that… Of course it’s great for the American market that he has come to England and playing, but it’s all about ability in the end. He might just be lacking a little bit. I don’t see him day to day but the coaches will be chatting with Mikel Arteta – they see him every day, and will be saying if he’s good enough. If he is called upon then he’ll do the best he can, but whether that is good enough to win your leagues and trophies is another matter. That is maybe why they are looking at other keepers.”

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  Time for a change

  The good will that has been afforded to Turner by the USMNT will not last forever, with Parlour saying when asked if the 29-year-old now needs a move as much for his international ambitions as domestic ones – with Nottingham Forest reported to have expressed interest: “You want to be playing. You probably get into the team at 18, 19 and you have got probably 16 years – 35/36 is probably the average age where people retire. You don’t want to be sitting on the bench every week, and at the moment he will be. I like that in a player. He wants to go out and play. You have got to keep your eye in. You can train as much as you like, but it’s not like game situations. Where is he going to play football? That is one reason why he might say to Arteta ‘look, I want to go out and play now’. If he does that, then players have all the power now and they can do that.”

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  Colourful character

  Turner has been forced to play second fiddle to Ramsdale at Arsenal, with the England international silencing critics that questioned his £24 million ($31m) fee when arriving from Sheffield United in 2021 with back-to-back relegations out of the Premier League under his belt. Parlour said when asked for his take on the enigmatic 25-year-old: “He’s done brilliantly. What I like about him is his character as well. He’s brilliant for the dressing room, which is so important. It’s not all about ability sometimes. He has got plenty of ability, but you have to look at the character as well and what he can bring to the dressing room. I think he has been excellent. He made some great saves last season in important games. He’s going to make a mistake here and there, all keepers do that, but most of the time he has kept Arsenal in it when he has to – concentration levels have been very good. He’s been a great signing. There were a few people who said ‘is he worth that?’ I spoke to Dave Seaman, who goes into training, and he says he’s a great character and an excellent goalkeeper. If Dave Seaman says that, I’m very happy.”

Bernardo Silva led the way for Pep Guardiola's side as they dethroned the European champions and booked their ticket to Istanbul

The best performance by Manchester City since Pep Guardiola's arrival? The best performance by Manchester City ever? Superlatives do not do what City produced against Real Madrid on Wednesday justice, and they will take some stopping in their quest to win the treble now.

Guardiola's side are now just three wins from becoming just the second English side to win the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in the same season. Inter in Istanbul is all that stands between them and a first European Cup. Playing like this, it's difficult to see how they don't make this a historic campaign.

Bernardo Silva led the way against Madrid, his two first-half goals just rewards for 45 minutes of football that saw City have 13 shots on goal – the joint-most Madrid have faced in a first half of Champions League football since such statistics were first collected almost 20 years ago.

Second-half goals from Manuel Akanji, via an Eder Militao deflection, and Julian Alvarez ensured the final scoreline reflected City's dominance, and ensured Madrid suffered their joint-worst defeat in the competition.

For Carlo Ancelotti and his team, their European magic finally ran out, and time will tell whether the Italian coach will be kept on given his side's struggles in La Liga this season. On this evidence, they need more than just a new coach and Jude Bellingham to get to City's level.

For City, though, their season and how successful it is will now be decided over the next 24 days. By the end of it, they may well add three more pieces silverware to their ever-growing trophy cabinet.

GOAL breaks down the winners & losers from the Etihad Stadium…

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  WINNER: Bernardo Silva

  Just two days after it was reported that Paris Saint-Germain had set their sights on the midfielder, Bernardo gave City every reason to tell any potential suitors to get lost. This was a career-defining performance. And it was not just because of the goals.

  The game was only a few minutes old when Bernardo weaved his way past Eduardo Camavinga and Vinicius Jr, and was then felled but somehow was not awarded a foul. He was at the heart of every move City made, so it was fitting that he opened the scoring, latching on to an incisive pass from Kevin De Bruyne and hammering it past Thibaut Courtois, who was in a confident mood.

  His second goal was less emphatic but no less impressive, as he followed the loose ball after Courtois had sent Ilkay Gundogan's shot into the air and glanced it into the net. He became the first player in a decade to score twice against Real Madrid in a Champions League semi-final, following in the footsteps of Robert Lewandowski (four goals for Borussia Dortmund in 2013) and Lionel Messi (two in 2011). And it's not like Madrid don't play many semi-finals.

  Bernardo signed his last contract with City in 2019 and it runs until 2025. But after a night like this, it shouldn't be hard for him to get a new one, especially if PSG are calling. With Gundogan at the end of his contract, City can't afford to lose both of their utterly brilliant midfielders.

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• LOSER: Madrid midfield

  If Real Madrid had any reason for optimism coming to an Etihad Stadium that was this loud, it would be based on experience. Indeed, the cool heads of Toni Kroos and Luka Modric have survived many a night like this — and some arguably even more difficult.

  But, for perhaps the first time ever, the duo went missing. Modric gave the ball away from the first minute, and was simply overwhelmed by a relentless City press. Kroos was a bit more steady on the ball, but constantly exposed in transition when Los Blancos didn’t have it. Fede Valverde, meanwhile, was nowhere to be found.

  There are already and will be more reinforcements on the way. Jude Bellingham seems likely to arrive, while Aurelien Tchouameni will certainly improve. But this trio, complete with two of the game’s greats, fell apart on Wednesday.

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  WINNER: Pep Guardiola

  The Catalan has suffered some of the worst moments of his otherwise remarkable coaching career against Real Madrid. There was the 5-0 aggregate thrashing when he was coach of Bayern Munich in the semi-finals in 2014. And there was last year's agonising defeat, when City lost the semi-final second leg by conceding twice in added time, which Guardiola compared to "swallowing poison".

  It would have been easy for him to have tried something different, but instead he stuck with what he knew best and trusted that his players would make no mistake this time.

  On Tuesday, Guardiola joked he would not "over-think" the game too much as he has been criticised for doing in the past, insisting he had "nothing special" planned. That was not entirely true. This was a truly special performance and was not the result of an inspired one-off tactical innovation.

  It was instead exactly what City have been doing this season, and in particular the last three months, which is to blow teams out of the water. This season, Guardiola's side have beaten Manchester United 6-3, Liverpool 4-1, Tottenham 4-2, Arsenal 4-1, RB Leipzig 7-0, Bayern Munich 3-0 and now Real Madrid 4-0. A simply stunning set of results, and Guardiola has been the mastermind of them all.

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  LOSER: Eduardo Camavinga

  Camavinga has, effectively, been playing out of position for nearly four months. Naturally a defensive midfielder, he has done a fine job at left-back. But on Wednesday, he was finally exposed.

  It was a shame that his first big blunder as a full-back came on the biggest stage, when he was entirely lost as Bernardo snuck into the box for City’s opener. But perhaps that revealed his clear issues at the position. Camavinga is a fine one-on-one defender, who can hunt the ball down in central areas, but defending space, as he had to do here, has never been his strong suit. City exploited that to no end.

  After a night like this, he might want to be moved back to his more traditional spot on a more permanent basis.

Aston Villa are facing the prospect of losing highly-rated academy starlet Carney Chukwuemeka amid reported interest from Manchester United and Manchester City.

What’s the story?

The 17-year-old is yet to make a first-team appearance for Dean Smith’s side, but has been making waves at youth level, predominantly playing for the club’s U23s this season at Premier League 2 level.

Now, The Guardian claim that both Manchester clubs are tracking his progress at Villa Park, with sides like RB Leipzig, Monaco and PSV Eindhoven also monitoring his development.

The report adds that Villa are keen to tie him down to a new longer-team deal however.

Transfer misery for Smith

Recently on the 1874 podcast, Gregg Evans spoke about how highly thought of Chukwuemeka is behind the scenes at Bodymoor Heath training ground, revealing that “he’s the one everybody’s talking about” and even hailing him as “the real deal”.

With the likes of Louie Barry also knocking on the first-team door but yet to see a taste of first-team action, there’s surely real pressure on Smith’s shoulders to start giving some of the club’s younger talents a chance, just like he’s done with Jacob Ramsey.

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And with the success of the likes of Jadon Sancho and Jude Bellingham in moving abroad to Borussia Dortmund, even interest from clubs like RB Leipzig are going to be very hard to turn down for Chukwuemeka if he feels like he’s got a much faster pathway to the first-team there.

Given the number of clubs interested, Villa are facing a real nightmare over losing one of their club’s highly-rated talents.

Meanwhile, Villa could land a bargain deal in this Premier League star…