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Crystal Palace have been linked with a move for Everton midfielder Tom Davies as new manager Patrick Vieira looks to complete the rebuild of his first-team squad.

What’s the story?

According to Football Insider, the Eagles are monitoring the 23-year-old’s situation at Goodison Park ahead of a potential offer.

The report states that: “A Palace source has told Football Insider that Davies is on their radar going into next year and his situation at Everton will be monitored.

“Intriguingly, Davies is out of contract in the summer of 2023 and there has been no progress in talks over an extension.”

Imagine him and Conor Gallagher

The former England Under-21 international is a fan’s favourite at Everton after rising through the ranks at his boyhood club, earning plaudits for his full-blooded and committed displays for the Toffees.

After making his first-team debut back in 2016, Davies has made 155 appearances for the Merseyside outfit, scoring six goals and providing eight assists from a defensive midfield role.

Under ex-Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti, the youngster was in and out of the side last term but did put in a string of impressive performances, catching the eye of the Italian tactician with a standout display against Manchester United.

“I think, first of all, Tom is a really professional player, really focused on what he is doing,” Ancelotti said. “He has a strong sense of belonging to this club and this is also really important.

“The only thing I said to him is to simplify his work and his style of play. He plays in a position where tactically you have to be really focused. Watching the game against United, I think tactically he was perfect.”

However, he appears to have slipped down the pecking order under Ancelotti’s successor Rafael Benitez. Davies has only featured in 17 minutes of Premier League action in Everton’s opening six fixtures of 2021/22, throwing his future at the club into doubt.

His potential arrival at Selhurst Park would only further the already impressive recent recruitment of the capital club, creating a formidable midfield duo.

The £16.2m-rated Davies would be the ideal partner for loanee Conor Gallagher given he averaged 1.2 tackles and 1.4 interceptions per league game last term, providing a solid base for the more attack-minded 21-year-old.

Therefore, chairman Steve Parish must move for the Everton ace in the upcoming window, completing the transformation of the south London outfit’s engine room.

And, in other news…Forget Zaha: Palace beast who won 100% of his duels was Vieira’s real hero v Brighton 

Match facts

April 18, 2009
Start time 12.30pm (10.30GMT)

Big Picture

The formidable Andrew Flintoff makes Chennai stronger•Getty Images

On last year’s form, Chennai Super Kings will be favoured to make a winning start to their IPL campaign on Saturday, but Mumbai Indians have a couple of key factors going in their favour which could well make all the difference. Sachin Tendulkar, who missed the first part of the tournament last year, is fit and available from the start this time. Shaun Pollock will be missed with the ball, but his presence as mentor and Jonty Rhodes’ as fielding coach could be key, especially since both will be familiar with South African conditions.The big addition in the Chennai ranks is Andrew Flintoff, who will be available for the first part of the tournament. His bowling, especially, could be hugely vital for a team which struggled occasionally in that area last year. MS Dhoni has gained plenty more leadership experience since last June, and he’ll also have the vast tactical knowledge of Stephen Fleming, the coach, to tap into.Unlike some of the other line-ups, both sides have been pretty low-key so far, keeping the frills out and concentrating on the cricket. Chennai arrived early in South Africa to acclimatise to the conditions, while Mumbai have been in the news mainly for the announcement of their South African coaches. For a tournament which has been in the news for so many non-cricketing reasons, it can’t be a bad thing that it kicks off with teams high on talent but low on controversy.

Player form guide

Chennai: Suresh Raina sparkled in New Zealand, scoring an unbeaten 61 in a Twenty20 game and consistently getting the runs in the ODIs too. Dhoni has been consistent too, while Flintoff is coming off a superb matchwinning five-for in the last ODI against West Indies.Mumbai: Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh were outstanding with the ball in New Zealand, while Tendulkar was prolific in the Tests and the ODIs. JP Duminy has had a quiet series against Australia, though he managed quick cameos in the third and fourth ODIs.

In from the cold

Matthew Hayden last played an international game in early January this year, and it remains to be seen if he can replicate the form he showed for Chennai last year, when he hammered 189 runs at an average of 63 and a strike rate of 144.

Watch out for

Harbhajan v Murali: Harbhajan had an excellent tour of New Zealand, and he loves to bowl in the short formats. Muralitharan didn’t do the damage he was expected to in the last IPL, and this is an opportunity to make amends.Flintoff v Mumbai openers: It remains to be seen if Flintoff gets the new ball, but the fans could be in for a treat if he gets an opportunity to bowl at two of the most prolific ODI batsmen, Tendulkar and Jayasuriya.

Friendly fire

MS Dhoni v Sachin Tendulkar: They are easily the two biggest names in Indian cricket, but come Saturday, and they will walk out for the toss captaining rival teams to kick off a high-profile tournament. Knowing the respect they have for each other, though, there’s little chance of anything more unsavoury than the odd friendly banter.

Team news

Chennai need to decide on the opening partner for Hayden. The contenders are Parthiv Patel, Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan and M Vijay. The first two played last year, but neither was entirely convincing. The other issue is deciding on their four foreign players. Matthew Hayden, Andrew Flintoff and Albie Morkel are near certainties, but Muralitharan might pip home boy Makhaya Ntini for the fourth spot.Chennai Super Kings (probable) 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Parthiv Patel, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 MS Dhoni (capt/wk), 5 S Badrinath, 6 Andrew Flintoff, 7 Albie Morkel, 8 L Balaji, 9 Joginder Sharma, 10 Manpreet Gony, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan.Mumbai’s batting appears fairly well settled, but at least one bowling spot is up for grabs. With Sanath Jayasuriya, Duminy and Dwayne Bravo almost sure to play, the fourth foreigner’s spot will probably be a tussle among Dilhara Fernando, Lasith Malinga and Kyle Mills. Malinga could add firepower to the attack, but his inconsistency might tilt the scales in favour of Mills.Mumbai Indians (probable) 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Shikhar Dhawan, 4 JP Duminy, 5 Dwayne Bravo, 6 Abhishek Nayar, 7 Yogesh Takawale (wk), 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Dhawal Kulkarni, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Kyle Mills.For Morkel, Duminy and perhaps Ntini, it’ll also mean playing the IPL opener within hours of finishing the day-night ODI against Australia in Johannesburg.

Head-to-head record

The two teams split the two games they played in 2008, with each team winning at home: Chennai squeaked through by six runs at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, but Mumbai took revenge in convincing fashion, winning by nine wickets at the Wankhede Stadium.

Quotes

“Whatever has happened is over and done with. We all make mistakes learn from them. I’ve moved on as a cricketer and I’m looking forward to doing well for the IPL for Mumbai Indians. Keeping my fingers crossed that I perform the way I have been.”
“The expectations have definitely increased this time after we finished runners-up last time. If you compare us to the other teams, I think our team is well-balanced and definitely one of the favourites to win the tournament.”

Liverpool have been handed a major boost regarding the fitness of Takumi Minamino ahead of their upcoming Champions League fixture.

What’s the latest?

According to a report by This Is Anfield, the Liverpool winger was back in first-team training with Jurgen Klopp’s side following his recovery from a minor fitness complaint – which caused the 26-year-old to withdraw from international duty with Japan early and ruled him out of the club’s victory over Leeds United on Sunday.

Klopp will be buzzing

While Minamino is by no means a guaranteed starter in the Liverpool side, having featured from the off just 12 times in his career at Anfield to date, the return of the forward ahead of the Reds’ tantalising fixture against Milan will undoubtedly have Klopp buzzing.

Indeed, while the trio of Sadio Mane, Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah appear the most likely options to start for Liverpool on Wednesday evening, Minamino’s presence on the bench will provide the German manager with a different route when making substitutions in the latter stages of the fixture, in comparison to the victory at Leeds.

In the game at Elland Road, the 54-year-old had no other choice but to introduce Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for Jota in the closing stages of the match, playing the midfielder in the middle of a front three.

And, while this did not cause any problems with his side 2-0 up against 10 men, should the Reds be pushing for a late goal against the Serie A side on Wednesday, the option of adding Minamino to their attack would certainly appear to be a much-preferred move than once again bringing Oxlade-Chamberlain on.

With Divock Origi seemingly out of the picture, it’s a major boost for Klopp to have a natural attacking player available to him from the bench this evening.

In other news: Signed for £8m, now worth £58.8m: Edwards struck gold for Liverpool with £50k-p/w gem

The England captaincy baton has passed from one South African-born cricketer to another with Andrew Strauss named as Kevin Pietersen’s replacement for the tour of West Indies. That, however, is where the similarities end.Strauss was the obvious candidate for the ECB in their moment of crisis, but it still marks a remarkable turnaround for someone who, even as recently as the India Test series, was under pressure for his place. However, back-to-back centuries in Chennai have secured his long-term future at the top of England’s order. England will now crave some of that stability in his leadership.Many feel it is an honour that should have already come Strauss’s way on a permanent basis, two-and-a-half years ago, after he impressed during a locum spell in 2006 as a stand-in for Michael Vaughan and Andrew Flintoff. He secured a 2-0 series win against Pakistan, but was then overlooked to lead the Ashes tour in favour of Flintoff.Although this appointment is only for the four Tests against West Indies which start on February 4 in Jamaica, it is hard to see beyond Strauss for the full-time post.”He led the England team with distinction in 2006 when Michael Vaughan was injured,” was Hugh Morris’s brief comment on Strauss’s promotion.It is believed Strauss has been given assurances that he is not a stop-gap captain, although discussions are ongoing as to whether his role will include limited-overs cricket. At the time of appointing Pietersen as captain last August, Geoff Miller, the national selector, made it clear the ECB intended to have one captain for both formats.Strauss, however, hasn’t been part of the one-day set-up since the 2007 World Cup, but has always harboured ambitions to return to the limited-overs side. With the ICC World Twenty20 coming up in June and a 50-over World Cup two years away, England’s one-day strategy is again in turmoil.For now, though, Strauss has two weeks to get his mind right before the squad departs for West Indies on January 21. Suddenly, he has the weight of a nation on his shoulders.

Based on the evidence of the two games played this season, by Mumbai, the pitch has something for everyone, which might make it an enticing contest

Nagraj Gollapudi in Mumbai25-Dec-2008
Rahul Dravid will play his first first-class game at the Brabourne Stadium © Getty Images
There is an interesting fact about Rahul Dravid playing the quarter-final clash against Saurasthra from Friday: the game will be his first first-class match at the Brabourne Stadium. Dravid, who flew in to Mumbai from Mohali to join the squad previous evening, will be the main attraction, and his presence is likely to tilt the scales heavily in favour of Karnataka.Dravid might start with a few nerves, but his convincing return to form in Mohali against England where he scored a patient century, will be a definite advantage for Robin Uthappa’s team, which does not feature a single batsman who has crossed the 500-run mark this season. Even Uthappa, appointed the captain this year, has not been able to convert the starts, though he is the team’s highest run-maker with 455 runs including two centuries in the first three games. Probably the most reliable batsman in the side is B Akhil, an allrounder, who notched up a century and two half-centuries in the three games he played.The inconsistency of their batting order made Dravid’s return imminent even if it was close on the heels of the England Test series. “It was on the team’s request I came because it is a crucial game,” Dravid said after a light training session in the morning. Dravid had already made his presence felt in the two games he played, against Andhra and Baroda, as he rebuilt the innings after top-order collapses with two fifties. Karnataka won both the games.Uthappa was happy to have Dravid in the line-up, but pointed out Karnataka was confident even in his absence. “Rahul makes a difference, but it doesn’t boost the side,” Uthappa said.One performer who boosted Karnataka’s spirits, and is likely to play once again a winning hand, is Sunil Joshi. Probably the oldest player in the tournament, Joshi celebrated his 100th first-class match for Karnataka with 11 wickets in the final league match, against Maharashtra. His experience and the bounce on offer on the CCI pitch will be twin factors that might pose some tricky questions for the Saurashtra batsmen.Based on the evidence of the two games played this season, by Mumbai, the pitch has something for everyone, which might make it an enticing contest especially with Uthappa keen to avenge the close defeat Saurashtra inflicted on them last season. “We want to settle scores after the three-run defeat even if we had taken the first-innings lead the previous season [2006-07],” Uthappa said.Saurashtra have fought hard to make it to the knockouts for the second straight year after qualifying to the Super League three years ago. This time they got off to a false start after being forced to follow-on against Gujarat, a game they lost by an innings and 227 runs as they failed against the pace and spin of Siddharth Trivedi and Mohnish Parmar.Then, going into their final league game, against Hyderabad, they were in a must-win situation as Delhi were hot on their trail to qualify as the third team from Group A. But they got off to a terrible start, folding easily for 133 having elected to bat. But Ravindra Jadeja, probably their best player at the moment, picked a seven-wicket haul in the final innings to seal Saurashtra’s place in the last eight.Jadeja, who prospered with his handy cameos for Rajasthan Royals during the IPL, also shared the record partnership for the fifth-wicket with Cheteshwar Pujara, the team’s run machine and third on the leading scorers’ list this year, against Orissa as Saurashtra bounced back after the first-round loss. Jadeja, who bowls left-arm spin, is also the team’s leading wicket-taker with a tally of 30 wickets and just like Joshi has shown a penchant to excel in pressure situations.Pujara has been the backbone of Saurashtra’s batting as whenever he has scored big Saurashtra have been successful. He has knowledge of the local conditions having played for Indian Oil Corporation in the local corporate league and will be the key wicket Karanataka’s bowlers will be hungry for.This is the first instance both teams are playing outside home turf which will only add to the allure of the contest. Uthappa said the “consistent” nature of the pitch will provide an even game while Dravid felt it was beneficial for the players that the game was happening at a neutral venue. “Neutral venue is an interesting idea and should not be dismissed without fair trial. Lot of people have criticised pitches across the country but this is an opportunity to correct the faults”, Dravid said, implying there would be no pressure from either team on the nature of the pitch.Teams:
Karnataka (probable) Robin Uthappa (capt), KB Pawan, CM Gautam, Rahul Dravid, C Raghu, Thilak Naidu (wk), B Akhil, Sunil Joshi, R Vinay Kumar, KP Appanna/Sunil Raju, NC Aiyappa.Saurashtra (probable) Jaydev Shah (capt), Bhushan Chouhan, Chirag Pathak, Sitanshu Kotak, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindra Jadeja, Sagar Jogiyani (wk), Rakesh Dhruv, Sandeep Jobanputra, Kamlesh Makvana, Balkrishna Jadeja

Ashwell Prince’s unbeaten 72 helped guide the Warriors to a fighting draw against the his former team Cape Cobras at Paarl. Prince battled for more than four-and-a-half hours on the final day after his team appeared to be slipping to defeat at 87 for 5 after being set 268. However, Prince couldn’t do it alone and found stubborn support from Justin Kreusch, who used up 75 balls for his 18, and latterly Wayne Parnell with a 48-ball 11 to help see out the match. Claude Henderson and Charl Langeveldt were shaping as the match-winners with three wickets each, but struggled to breakthrough in the final session. Andrew Puttick’s first-day 105 set up the Cobras’ strong position as they ground their way to 340 in 135 overs. Francois Plaatjies then claimed a career-best 4 for 59 to earn the Cobras a lead of 77. They batted slightly more positively in their second innings, but didn’t declare until into the final morning. If that time had been given to the bowlers, the outcome could have been different.A slow contest between the Dolphins and the Eagles, also hit by poor weather, briefly came to life on the final day at Durban but still ended in the draw that appeared likely from the monent the Eagles scored at 2.5 runs-per-over in their first innings. During an opening session on the last morning, the Dolphins were bowled out for 275, a deficit of 145. However, their new-ball attack of Quinton Friend and Ugasen Govender reduced the Eagles to 6 for 4. The visitors then declared at 26 for 5, setting the Dolphins 172 in 35 overs. With bad light around, the chase wasn’t seriously attempted, but it at least enlivened the closing stages. Boeta Dippenaar (106) and Ryan Bailey (150) dominated the opening two days with a fourth-wicket stand of 217. “The pitch was very difficult on the first day,” Corrie van Zyl, Eagles coach, told the . “It was slow, with tennis ball bounce, and the ball moved around a lot. Bailey and Dippenaar did very well, in difficult circumstances, to bat us into a position where we could try to win the game. It was only the bad weather that prevented that from happening.”Faf du Plessis’s career-best 176 was the highlight of a weather-interrupted clash between the Titans and the Lions at Centurion Park. du Plessis cracked 27 fours and two sixes in his 243-ball innings after the Titans wobbled on 71 for 4. He added 156 with Pierre Joubert (61) before being caught at long off, but the runs continued to flow as Paul Harris hit 53. However, regular stoppages for bad light cut into the time available for the Titans to make the most of their strong batting performance. But at 161 for 5 there was an opening for the home side before Werner Coetsee struck an unbeaten 116 to erase any chance of the follow on. During a shortened final day Coetsee added an unbroken 126 for the seventh wicket with Matthew Harris.Player of the week – Faf du Plessis
Faf du Plessis showed sparks of his talent during the English season with Lancashire, but his 176 against the Lions confirmed the huge potential that has secured him a three-year deal in county cricket. He is currently maintaining his career in both England and South Africa, playing for Lancashire as a Kolpak, and he has yet to decide which country he wants to try and have an international future with. The player-drain from South Africa is a major issue, and they won’t want to lose someone of du Plessis’s quality.

Sky Sports journalist Michael Bridge insists that Japhet Tanganga was never likely to move to Galatasaray in this transfer window.

The Tottenham Hotspur defender was the subject of a loan bid from the Turkish club earlier this summer.

It was reported that Spurs actually accepted the offer but Bridge now insists that Tanganga was never keen on the move.

Indeed, he has remained with Spurs and played at right-back in the surprise 1-0 win over Manchester City on the opening weekend of the season, while he also featured in the 1-0 win over Wolves.

Tanganga has made a total of 25 appearances for the club’s first-team, and can play as both a full-back and a centre-back.

He is now likely to remain with the club beyond the end of the transfer window, particularly given his superb performance against City, in which he played a key role in Spurs keeping a clean sheet, and helping to keep quiet Jack Grealish, who was making his debut for City.

Bridge said: “I did hear the Galatasaray stuff was genuine and he didn’t really have any interest. I always found it a bit of a bemusing one because, firstly, Spurs have really got to watch their homegrown quota and I was a little bit surprised when I read about Tanganga.

“I got it in the sense that he’s had a lot of injuries and he needs a season on loan, I just didn’t think the Turkish league was the right place where Spurs could watch him develop.”

أكد محمد صلاح وساديو ماني بالفعل على وضعهما كأسطورتين حقيقيتين في ليفربول، ولكن مع مغادرة الأخير إلى بايرن ميونخ، فقد حان الوقت للتفكير في علاقة الثنائي حسبما قالت صحيفة “ميرور” الإنجليزية في تقرير لها اليوم الجمعة.

ساعد الثنائي الهجومي الديناميكي معًا في دفع الريدز إلى الفصل الأكثر شهرة في تاريخهما الحديث بعد أن فازا بكل بطولة كبيرة ممكنة في الأنفيلد.

إلى جانب روبرتو فيرمينو، أنهى صلاح وماني انتظار النادي الذي دام ثلاثة عقود للحصول على لقب الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز بعيد المنال.

على الرغم من إنجازاتهما المذهلة المشتركة، كانت هناك علامات استفهام طويلة حول ما إذا كان الاثنان تجمعهما علاقة جيدة، في الواقع، كانت هناك أوقات لم يكونا فيها مغرمين تمامًا ببعضهما البعض، وهنا يتبادر إلى الذهن مباراة خارج أرض ليفربول ضد بيرنلي.

مرة أخرى في سبتمبر 2019، كان ماني بالكاد قادرًا على احتواء غضبه عندما اختار صلاح عدم التمرير إليه رغم أن السنغالي كان في موقع يتيح له تسديد الكرة بسهولة في المرمى، بدلا من ذلك قرر المصري تسديد الكرة بنفسه والفرصة لم تسفر عن شيء.

بعد دقائق فقط، تم سحب ماني من قبل المدير الفني يورجن كلوب وتعين على زملائه في الفريق فيرمينو وجيمس ميلنر أن يعملا على تهدئته، حيث سيطرت عليه نوبة غضب.

تحدث صلاح في وقت لاحق عن الحادث لقناة “إم بي سي مصر” الفضائية، وأصر على عدم وجود خلاف بينهما، وقال النجم المصري: “نحن زملاء في الملعب وفي غرفة الملابس، لدينا علاقة احترافية للغاية”.

وأضاف: “كلانا يقدم كل ما لديه لمساعدة الفريق على الفوز، ربما نتنافس لإظهار من هو الأفضل، وهذا أمر طبيعي في أي فريق وحق مشروع لأي لاعب، ولكن في النهاية نحن نخدم الفريق”.

استمر صلاح في الاعتراف بأن كليهما يظهر أحيانًا ميول “أنانية”، لكنه أصر على أن الهدف النهائي هو دائمًا نجاح الفريق.

اقرأ أيضًا.. كوليمور ينصح ليفربول بصفقة جديدة: سيضع محمد صلاح تحت ضغط كبير

وواصل: “أحيانًا نكون أنانيين في بعض المباريات، لكن لا أحد يضع اهتمامه فوق الفريق، هذا ليس مقصودًا، سواء مني أو منه، ربما كان هناك بعض التوتر في مباراة سابقة والآن يحاول الجميع ربط كل شيء على طريقته”.

في حالات أخرى، لم يتمكن المهاجمان من استعادة العلاقات بعد هذا الانهيار الكبير على أرض الملعب، هذا هو المكان الذي يختلف فيه ماني وصلاح – على الرغم من ارتداء نفس القميص، بدا أن الثنائي في مهمة للتفوق على بعضهما البعض بطريقة لم تسفر إلا عن نتائج إيجابية للريدز.

علاقتهما المعقدة ورغبتهما في أن يكون أحدهما أفضل من الآخر جعل من الصعب على دفاعات الخصم التعامل معهما، في بعض الأحيان كان كليهما يدفعان بعضهما البعض لتحقيق هذا النوع من العظمة التي حققها القليل من مهاجمي ليفربول في التاريخ الحديث.

انتهت كل الأشياء الجيدة، وبعد لقب الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز وكأس الاتحاد الإنجليزي وكأس كاراباو ودوري أبطال أوروبا وكأس السوبر الأوروبي وكأس العالم للأندية، انتهى عهدهما المشترك في ليفربول، وضع صلاح أفضل ما في رسالته الوداع لـ ماني عندما كتب ببساطة: “لقد كانت رحلة رائعة!”.

اكتمل عقد المتأهلين إلى مونديال قطر 2022، بعدما ظفرت كوستاريكا بالمقعد الأخير المؤهل لكأس العالم.

وتستضيف قطر مونديال 2022، في البطولة المقررة بين 21 نوفمبر و18 ديسمبر، وتضم 32 منتخبًا بواقع 13 منتخبًا أوروبيًا، و6 منتخبات أسيوية، و5 منتخبات إفريقية، و4 منتخبات من الكونكاف، و4 من أمريكا الجنوبية.

ويلز نجحت في التأهل بعدما تغلبت على أوكرانيا في الملحق، وأستراليا كذلك تغلبت على بيرو، وكوستاريكا تأهلت على حساب نيوزلندا.  مجوعات كأس العالم قطر 2022 

المجموعة الأولى: قطر، الإكوادور، السنغال، هولندا.

المجموعة الثانية: إنجلترا، إيران، الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية، ويلز.

المجموعة الثالثة: الأرجنتين، المملكة العربية السعودية، المكسيك، بولندا.

المجموعة الرابعة: فرنسا، أستراليا، الدنمارك، تونس.

المجموعة الخامسة: إسبانيا، كوستاريكا، ألمانيا، اليابان.

المجموعة السادسة: بلجيكا، كندا، المغرب، كرواتيا.

المجموعة السابعة: البرازيل، صربيا، سويسرا، الكاميرون.

المجموعة الثامنة: البرتغال، غانا، أوروجواي، كوريا الجنوبية.

MatériaMais Notícias

A derrota diante do Barcelona-EQU, na última terça-feira, impediu o Alvinegro de assegurar uma classificação antecipada para as oitavas de final da Copa Libertadores. Agora com sete pontos em quatro jogos do grupo A – contra três das duas equipes que vem logo atrás – o duelo diante do Atlético Nacional, no próximo dia 18, no Nilton Santos, ganha ainda mais contornos de decisão.

No duelo diante dos colombianos, uma vitória do Botafogo classifica o time – com uma rodada de antecedência na chave – para a fase seguinte do torneio internacional. Ou até mesmo um empate pode bastar: se segurar o Nacional no Nilton Santos, bastaria um tropeço do Estudiantes no Equador – contra o líder – para garantir a vaga. Tudo está em aberto para a sequência. E Jair sabe disso.

– A gente lamenta. Com uma linda festa da torcida, queríamos resolver a situação o quanto antes. Mas ainda temos dois jogos. Tivemos que fazer nossa parte e não fizemos. Mas a vitória deles (Nacional) lá nos ajudou. De repente, até com um empate nós podemos classificar. Mas vamos buscar a vitória – analisou o técnico Jair Ventura depois do tropeço diante do Barcelona-EQU.

Além de o empate – com uma combinação de resultados – poder se favorável, o Botafogo terá mais um jogo no Nilton Santos pela classificação. O jogo no dia 18 será o segundo em sequência na casa alvinegra, pela Libertadores. E uma intenção da equipe será a de apagar a má impressão do último confronto.

– Paciência. Já passou. Tivemos várias chances. O torcedor tem o direito de ficar triste. Eles não ficaram, até aplaudiram no final. Mas sabemos do que somos capazes e não vai ser uma derrota que será terra arrasada – completou Jair.

A CLASSIFICAÇÃO:
Com vitória
Vencendo o rival no dia 18, o Botafogo estará garantido nas oitavas de final da Copa Libertadores. A equipe abrirá sete pontos em relação ao próprio Atlético de Nacional e ficaria garantindo com, no mínimo, quatro pontos de vantagem para a última rodada do grupo A, quando irá até a Argentina.

Com empate
Se somar apenas um ponto no jogo, o Glorioso garante que terminará na frente do Atlético Nacional no final do grupo. Com isso, o outro rival será o Estudiantes, que enfrenta o líder Barcelona, em Guayaquil. Um tropeço dos argentinos – com empate ou derrota – já bastaria para a classificação final.

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