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MANCHESTER: Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has called on the club’s supporters to consider the match against Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium, early Wednesday morning, as the final match in the mission to book a spot in next season’s Champions League.

City are currently fourth in the Premier League with 58 points after 33 matches – one point ahead of Villa who are in seventh place.

The top five teams will qualify for the main European competition next season.

“It’s a final and we need our fans. I’m sure they want to see City in the Champions League next season,” Guardiola told a news conference.

“Hopefully they will support us from the first minute. Don’t wait. Sometimes we are slow to warm up, sometimes the performance doesn’t work out.

“But right now, we really need them, we really need them to cheer, give us energy and make the stadium buzz. This is like a final for us.”

Guardiola also warned that Aston Villa are not easy opponents, not to mention the team beat City 2-1 in the last meeting in December.

In fact, he admired the performance of the Midlands club who nearly eliminated Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the Champions League quarter-finals recently.

MANCHESTER: Cameroon goalkeeper Andre Onana will return to Manchester United’s goal in the Europa League quarter-final second leg against Lyon despite making two errors in the first leg, Red Devils manager Ruben Amorim said today.

Lyon had previously managed to tie the game 2-2 thanks to two mistakes by Onana, which led to him being sidelined in the Premier League match against Newcastle United last weekend, which saw Altay Bayindir substituted and United lose 1-4.

The incident came a day after Lyon midfielder Nemanja Matic described Onana as “among the worst goalkeepers” in the club’s history.

However, Amorim still defended his men and placed his trust in Onana.

“Onana will play tomorrow,” said Amorim in a press conference ahead of the match at Old Trafford, early Friday morning.

In another development, young Dutch striker Joshua Zirkzee has been confirmed to be out of action this season after suffering a hamstring injury during a match at St James’ Park.

“Joshua has to forget the rest of this season. Our focus now is to prepare him for next season,” said Amorim.

“It’s a huge blow because he’s showing improvement in all aspects of his game. It’s not easy for any player to have that kind of momentum stopped.”

NEWCASTLE, England: Manchester United coach Ruben Amorim insisted he understood the criticism aimed at him and his team after another Premier League (EPL) defeat at Newcastle United early this morning, but claimed losing a game was worse than any personal curse.

Amorim’s team lost for the 14th time in the league this season – matching the number of defeats they suffered throughout the 2023-24 campaign.

United showed some impressive moves at St James’ Park but two goals from Harvey Barnes, capitalising on a number of defensive errors, left Amorim’s side stranded in 14th place in the table with six games remaining.

“I understand (the criticism) but I don’t care,” said Amorim.

“There’s nothing worse than losing a game. They can say whatever they want. I don’t want to defend myself or anything like that. If you look at where we are in the table, it says it all.

“When we were penalised for the second goal at the start of the second half, we started to get frustrated and we need to act better in moments like this, we need to deal with it.

“We need to improve a lot of things and our position is a reflection of our performance this season.”

On the verge of the worst EPL points tally in history, Amorim made five changes to the starting line-up, with the Europa League quarter-final second leg against Olympique Lyonnais taking centre stage early this Friday morning.

The change that stole the spotlight was when first-choice goalkeeper Andre Onana was left out of the squad, with Altay Bayindir making his EPL debut.

The Turkiye international struggled, however, with his mistake gifting Newcastle their fourth goal.

“Even if we put in a different starting line-up, we don’t know the outcome,” said Amorim. “But we have to make a choice, we played three days ago.

“We will analyse the game, but we need to focus on the next one, we can’t change this one, the next one is our big strength, so let’s focus on the next one this Thursday to perform better and win the match.”

SEVILLE, Spain: When Antony was loaned from Manchester United to Real Betis, the Spanish club were confident they were signing a player who would change the club’s fortunes and not a sad figure struggling in the Premier League.

Antony arrived at United for almost £81 million in 2022, but when he left the club last January he lost the sting that made him entertaining to watch at Ajax Amsterdam.

Once hailed for guiding the Dutch club to the Eredivisie title, the Brazilian winger failed to live up to his price tag and was loaned to Betis after picking up more yellow cards than goals scored in two-and-a-half seasons at Old Trafford.

However, Betis have plans for him and despite being mocked for their David Lynch-inspired video introducing their new player, the Seville-based club are now reaping the rewards.

Since his arrival, Antony has scored four goals and provided four assists in 12 appearances in all competitions as Betis battle to win the UEFA Conference League and qualify for next season’s Champions League.

“I’m very happy… I found myself, I need to find myself, I need to be happy, I need my family to be happy too. Every day that passes, I see it’s the best decision I’ve made,” Antony told DAZN.

“I enjoy this city, the clubs, every day. Seville reminds me of a lot of things from Brazil – the sun, the food, everything. The people here are also very friendly. I’m very happy and it’s important for us as Brazilians.”

The 25-year-old has rediscovered his confidence with the ball that he lost during his time at United.

Betis were 10th when he arrived but now – following six consecutive wins including a 2-1 win at local rivals Sevilla – Manuel Pellegrini’s side are sixth, six points off the top four.

Betis have not played in the Champions League since the 2005-06 season and are prepared to keep Antony at the club beyond the current campaign.

The club has no option to buy Antony but if it were up to them, he would make the Estadio Benito Villamarin his new home.

“I’m grateful to United for everything… I’ve had some tough times at United, but also some really good times,” he said.

“I’m also getting ready to be here today, having fun. Yes, today my mind is here, I’m very happy.”

VALENCIA, Spain: Defending Nations League champions Spain qualified for the semi-finals after winning 5-4 on penalties against the Netherlands, after the second quarter-final early this morning ended 3-3 and 5-5 on aggregate.

Donyell Malen missed a penalty and Barcelona’s Pedri converted the winning spot-kick in a thrilling encounter in which the Netherlands fought back three times to force a penalty shootout.

“Having extra time and penalties makes it even more epic, it’s a great match for the fans to watch,” said Spain coach Luis de la Fuente.

Mikel Oyarzabal opened the scoring for Spain but Memphis Depay equalised from the penalty spot.

Oyarzabal then grabbed Spain’s second goal before Ian Maatsen fired a powerful shot to force extra time.

Barcelona youngster Lamine Yamal, who also missed the penalty, scored a brilliant goal to put Spain ahead but Xavi Simons converted another penalty to force a shootout.

“It’s really nice to wear this jersey and to be able to score the winning penalty,” Pedri told TVE, whose team faces France in the semi-finals.

“We are Spanish and we are not afraid of anyone,” said Pedri.

After Spain struggled in Rotterdam last week when they drew 2-2 in the first leg, De La Fuente made several changes.

Oyarzabal and Dani Olmo came on for Alvaro Morata and Pedri, while Dean Huijsen made his first start against his home country and impressed.