Sport

Juventus Entire Board Resigns

By Web News 593

The entire board of directors at Juventus have unanimously resigned following an announcement by President Andrea Agnelli on Monday night, stating that the decision is in the “best interest of the club.”

The announcement was made after the Italian giants held an emergency board meeting after which the decision was made to resign en mass amid the mid-season World Cup break.

Managing director Maurizio Arrivabene is set to remain in charge of his administrative duties despite also resigning, with the club set to fall into a significant period of transition, the Daily Mail UK reports.

It was also learnt that Agnelli wrote a letter to all employees at Juventus to officially break the news to them.

The letter read “We are facing a delicate moment in society. Better to leave everyone together, giving the possibility to a new team to overturn the game.

“When the team is not compact it lends itself to the opponents and this can be fatal.

“At that moment we need to have clarity and contain the damage. I will continue to imagine and work for a better football club, comforted by a phrase by Friedrich Nietzsche: “And those who saw themselves dancing were considered crazy by those who did not hear the music.

“Remember everyone, we will recognise each other everywhere with a look: we are the people of Juve!”

In the 2021/22 season Juventus had a record-breaking loss of £220million (€254.3m) as published by the Turin club.

Punch/Olaolu Fawole

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Sport

Manchester City, Lyon Qualify for Champions League Quarter-Finals

By Web News 871


Manchester City finished off the job they started back in February by deservedly overcoming Real Madrid to reach the Champions League quarter-finals.
Pep Guardiola’s side will now face Lyon in the one-game knockout format in Lisbon after inflicting Zinedine Zidane’s first elimination from the Champions League, the French manager having won it three times in his three seasons in charge.
It was a victory City fully merited as their intense pressing game forced Real into mistakes, with France World Cup-winning defender Raphael Varane unable to cope with the pressing of Gabriel Jesus in particular.
He robbed Varane to set up Raheem Sterling in the ninth minute but Karim Benzema’s towering header before half-time set up the possibility of a tense second period.
City, though, created the better opportunities in an excellent performance – whereas Real missed the leadership and nous of central defender Sergio Ramos, who was suspended after being sent off in the first leg.
Without Ramos alongside him, Varane made another error when his headed back-pass fell short of Thibaut Courtois to allow the lurking Jesus to pounce in the game’s decisive moment after 68 minutes.

French Side Lyon Scale the hurdle on away goal:
Lyon survived a Cristiano Ronaldo-inspired comeback from Juventus to hang on and book a Champions League quarter-final against Manchester City.
Leading 1-0 from February’s first leg, the French side were handed a soft early penalty which Memphis Depay converted in style.
That left Juve needing to score three times to progress and Ronaldo got one back from the penalty spot.
He then thundered in his 130th Champions League goal but Lyon held on.
BBC

News Sport

Coronavirus: Juventus Player Tests Positive

By Web News 875

A player for Juventus, the Italian soccer champion, has tested positive for Covid-19, the club announced this on Wednesday, a worrisome development for football and a country struggling to contain the outbreak.

The 25-year-old defender, Daniele Rugani is believed to be the first player in the Serie A to test positive.

The team said in a statement that Rugani was “currently asymptomatic,” but that the club was following isolation procedures required by law for him and anyone who has had contact with him.

Rugani is not the first player in Europe to test positive for the Coronavirus German team, Hannover 96, confirmed earlier on Wednesday that one of its players had tested positive and was in isolation but the implications for Juventus, and for European soccer, could be far more severe.

Rugani was on the bench when Juventus played its title rival, Inter Milan, behind closed doors on Sunday, and his diagnosis means Rugani and his teammates, his coaches and assorted staff members must be quarantined for 14 days.

That will most likely make it impossible for Juventus to play the second leg of their round of 16 Champions league match against the French club, Lyon on Tuesday, and the news could lead to quarantine for Inter’s players and coaches as well.

Football in Europe has been hit hard by the outbreak of the Coronavirus as games in the English Premier League could be played behind closed doors.

League bosses, who insist they will take their lead from the Government, appear to be waiting for the lockdown call.

Other than the EPL, Spanish La Liga matches will also be played behind closed doors until at least 22 March, covering the next two rounds of top-tier fixtures in the country, to try and stop the spread of the coronavirus.

While the top two leagues in France will see games without fans until 15 April, Serie A football matches will be played behind closed doors until at least April 3 due to coronavirus concerns.

Ojeakhe Ozoya