Stories By Graham Ruthven

• Sport

  New proposals set to irrevocably alter Champions League

  The Champions League is where football’s great and good define themselves. While it was once the case that the World Cup represented the pinnacle of the global game, UEFA’s premier club competition now carries a reverence that makes it a more prestigious arena than any other.

• Sport

  Could Villarreal win another Europa League for Unai Emery?

  No manager has won the Europa League as many times as Villarreal manager Unai Emery. Indeed, the Spaniard has made the competition his own, winning it three years in succession between 2014 and 2016 with Sevilla.

• Sport

  Aidy Boothroyd is no longer working as England U21 manager

  2021 had the potential to be a memorable year for more than just one England team. While Gareth Southgate’s side are widely expected to be among the frontrunners at this summer’s Euros, Aidy Boothroyd and his England team boast the talent to make their mark at the U21 Euros which got under way last week.

• Sport

  Roy Keane isn’t the man to modernise Celtic

  A short stint as a Celtic player was memorable, if not exactly successful, for Roy Keane. Having been released by Manchester United, the Irish midfielder ventured north of the border to play for the club he’d supported as a boy.

• Sport

  Euro 2020 looking promising for Scotland

  For years, decades even, Scotland struggled to come up with an explanation for their national team’s failures on the international stage. A root-and-branch review into the structure of Scottish football was even conducted by the country’s former First Minister Henry McLeish as the long wait for major tournament qualification.

• Sport

  Can Guardiola carry Man City to the quadruple?

  “Four titles is a utopia,” insisted Pep Guardiola after scolding Oleksandr Zinchenko for even raising the prospect that this season could finish with a Quadruple for Man City. “It never happened before and I think it’s never going to happen,” the Catalan coach said, playing down the comments of his own player.

• Sport

  Tom Brady proves that Ronaldo could return to Manchester United

  In football, they say you should never go back but, despite this, speculation over a potential Cristiano Ronaldo return to Manchester United has spiked a number of times since he left Old Trafford over a decade ago.

• Sport

  Harry Kane needs to cut out dangerous play before somebody gets hurt

  On the basis of his disciplinary record, Harry Kane is a model professional. The centre forward has only ever been sent off once in his career and that came all the way back when he was on loan at Leyton Orient.

• Sport

  Solskjaer must give Dean Henderson a fair run in goal

  Dean Henderson has had a lot of time to observe and assess from the sidelines this season. After enjoying a breakthrough season on loan at Sheffield United, the 23-year-old has been second choice at Manchester United.

• Sport

  Is Mbappe vs. Haaland the new Messi vs. Ronaldo?

  The symbolism of Kylian Mbappe’s stunning hat trick at the Camp Nou last month was obvious. On the home turf of the greatest player of his generation, Lionel Messi, at a time when questions over his future at Barcelona linger, the French forward proved why he is at the vanguard of the next generation in a 4-1 win for Paris Saint-Germain.

• Sport

  Romelu Lukaku is Europe’s best striker right now

  Ole Gunnar Solskjaer saw no need for Romelu Lukaku at Manchester United. Indeed, the Belgian was pushed out of the Old Trafford exit door within months of Solskjaer’s permanent appointment at the club.

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