Manchester United claim vital Champions League victory, Bellingham strikes again for Real Madrid

Manchester United's Andre Onana celebrates with Sergio Reguilon after saving a penalty missed by FC Copenhagen's Jordan Larsson during their Champions League Group A match at Old Trafford. (Reuters)
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Updated 25 October 2023
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Manchester United claim vital Champions League victory, Bellingham strikes again for Real Madrid

  • Before kickoff at Old Trafford, United held a minute’s silence in memory of Bobby Charlton after the Red Devils legend died on Saturday at the age of 86
  • Arsenal beat Sevilla in the rain in Spain and Harry Kane was on target as Bayern Munich won a tough assignment against Galatasaray

PARIS: Andre Onana’s last-gasp penalty save secured a vital Champions League win for Manchester United against FC Copenhagen on Tuesday, while Jude Bellingham scored again for Real Madrid in their victory over Braga.

Elsewhere, Arsenal beat Sevilla in the rain in Spain and Harry Kane was on target as Bayern Munich won a tough assignment against Galatasaray.

Before kickoff at Old Trafford, United held a minute’s silence in memory of Bobby Charlton after the Red Devils legend died on Saturday at the age of 86.

They marked the occasion by claiming their first points in Group A as Harry Maguire’s 72nd-minute header secured a 1-0 win.

The result keeps alive their chances of advancing to the last 16 but they needed Onana to produce a brilliant save from Jordan Larsson’s 97th-minute penalty to see the game out.

The spot kick was awarded when Scott McTominay caught Mohamed Elyounoussi as he tried to hook a ball clear in the box, but Larsson — whose father Henrik briefly played for United in 2007 — could not convert the chance.

“It is incredible and a great night. Especially in the dying second when you concede a penalty, but a brilliant save from Andre Onana,” coach Erik ten Hag told broadcaster TNT Sports.

United are now back in contention to qualify but Bayern look set to run away with the group after making it three wins out of three with a 3-1 victory in Istanbul.

Kingsley Coman’s early opener for the German champions was canceled out by a Mauro Icardi penalty on the half-hour mark.

But Bayern pulled away in the second half, with Kane finishing in the 73rd minute to restore the visitors’ lead with his 11th goal in 12 games for his new club.

He then set up Jamal Musiala to wrap up the win.

Bayern have now won 16 consecutive matches in the Champions League group phase and have not lost at this stage in over six years.

“I don’t know how many group stage matches I’ve done as a coach, but it’s always super difficult — so it’s great to find ourselves with nine points after three matches,” said Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel.

Madrid, the record 14-time European champions, also have three wins out of three in Group C after Rodrygo and Bellingham scored in a 2-1 victory over Braga in Portugal.

Real coach Carlo Ancelotti was taking charge of his 200th game in the competition and he saw Rodrygo open the scoring on 16 minutes before Bellingham fired in just past the hour mark.

It was the England midfielder’s third goal in as many Champions League games for his new club, and his 11th in 12 matches altogether since signing from Borussia Dortmund.

Alvaro Djalo pulled one back for Braga, but Real can secure qualification for the last 16 when they host the Portuguese side next.

Napoli are second in the group after a 1-0 win at Union Berlin, who are still without a point.

Giacomo Raspadori scored the only goal in the second half as the Italian champions won without star striker Victor Osimhen.

In Group B, Arsenal bounced back from losing 2-1 to Lens in France in their last game as they beat Sevilla by the same scoreline on a sodden surface at the Sanchez Pizjuan.

Gabriel Martinelli ran clear to open the scoring in first half stoppage time and a fantastic strike by Gabriel Jesus made it two.

Nemanja Gudelj pulled one back for Sevilla but last season’s Europa League winners have won just twice in 13 games in this campaign.

“There are not many teams to have won here in the last ten years in Europe and we’ve done it,” Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta told TNT Sports.

Lens are second, a point behind Arsenal, after coming from behind to draw 1-1 at home to PSV Eindhoven with Elye Wahi canceling out Johan Bakayoko’s opener.

Last season’s beaten finalists Inter Milan are joint top of Group D with seven points after defeating Red Bull Salzburg 2-1 at San Siro.

Hakan Calhanoglu’s second-half penalty won it for Inter after Alexis Sanchez’s opener was canceled out by young Israeli Oscar Gloukh.

Real Sociedad are level with Inter thanks to a 1-0 win over Benfica in Lisbon secured by a Brais Mendez goal.

Benfica are still without a point and staring at an early exit.


Morocco banish any doubts about ability to host World Cup 2030

Updated 19 January 2026
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Morocco banish any doubts about ability to host World Cup 2030

  • Impressive stadiums, easy transportation links and a well-established tourism infrastructure ensured the 24-team tournament went off without any major hitch and will assuage any doubters about the World Cup in four years’ time

RABAT: Morocco’s successful staging of the Africa Cup of Nations means there should be no skepticism about its ability to co-host the World Cup with Portugal and Spain in 2030, even if Sunday’s final was clouded by a walk-off and defeat for the home team.

Impressive stadiums, easy transportation links and a well-established tourism infrastructure ensured the

24-team tournament went off without any major hitch and will assuage any doubters about the World Cup in four years’ time.

Morocco plans to use six venues in 2030 and five of them were used for the Cup of Nations, providing world-class playing surfaces and a spectacular backdrop.

The Grande Stade in Tangier with a 75,000 capacity is an impressive facility in the northern coastal city, less than an hour’s ferry ride from Spain.

Meanwhile, FIFA President Gianni Infantino condemned "some Senegal players" for the "unacceptable scenes" which overshadowed their victory in the final when they left the pitch in protest at a penalty awarded to Morocco.

African football's showpiece event was marred by most of the Senegal team walking off when, deep into injury time of normal play and with the match locked at 0-0, Morocco were awarded a spot-kick following a VAR check by referee Jean-Jacques Ndala for a challenge on Brahim Diaz.

security personnel at the other end of the stadium, Senegal's players eventually returned to the pitch to see Diaz shoot a soft penalty into the arms of their goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.

The match was played at the Stade Moulay Abdellah in the capital Rabat, which has a capacity of 69,500. The attendance for the final was 66,526.

Stadiums in Agadir, Fes and Marrakech were also more than adequate and will now be renovated over the next few years.

But the crowning glory is the proposed 115,000-capacity Stade Hassan II on ⁠the outskirts of Casablanca which Morocco hope will be chosen to host the final over Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

In all, Morocco will spend $1.4 billion on the six stadiums. Also planned is extensive investment in airports, with some 10 Moroccan cities already running direct air links to Europe and many budget airlines offering flights to the country.

An extension of Africa’s only high-speed rail service, which already provides a comfortable three-hour ride from Tangier to Casablanca, further south to Agadir and Marrakech is also planned. Morocco hopes all of this will modernize its cities and boost the economy.

On the field, Morocco will hope to launch a credible challenge for a first African World Cup success, although on Sunday they continued their poor return in the Cup of Nations, where their only triumph came 50 years ago.

They surprised with a thrilling run to the last four at the Qatar 2022 World Cup as the first African nation to get that far and will hope for a similar impact at this year’s finals in North America. They are in Group C with Brazil, Scotland and Haiti.