Liverpool cannot carry Balotelli any more

Liverpool's £16m gamble on the Italian, which seemed
reasonable at the time, has now rebounded and Brendan
Rodgers is left with a problem
The irresistible brilliance of Real Madrid's front six was more
than Liverpool''s great European tradition could withstand.
More than Mario Balotelli could be bothered to fight against.
More than Brendan Rodgers's team can cope with at this point in
their redevelopment.
Ripped apart by three Real Madrid goals in 29 minutes after a
boisterous start, Liverpool were in a lower solar system: one
measured by individual match-winning talent and sheer weight
of money. England's most successful European Cup club are
building, building, towards a future without Luis Suárez.
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Schalke to move for Torres

New Schalke coach Roberto Di Matteo is keen on reuniting with
Fernando Torres, his former charge at Chelsea, and will launch a
bid for the Spaniard in January.
Source:Goal
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Chelsea target Rudiger reveals he's an Arsenal fan

Stuttgart defender Antonio Rudiger has killed Chelsea's hopes of
signing him, admitting his 'heart beats for Arsenal'.
Source:goal
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Former Derby Countyfootballer Medi Abalimbasent to prison forpretending to be Chelseaflop Gael Kakuta

A former Derby County footballer has been sent
to prison for four years after fraudulently
pretending to be Chelsea winger Gael Kakuta.
Medi Abalimba, who played for Derby's youth
team, spent £163,000 on stolen credit cards
while telling people he was the France
Under-21 man.
Abalimba would allegedly swan into nightclubs
with an entourage of people, including
bodyguards and women, and spend thousands
on champagne in exclusive VIP areas.
He was eventually caught by police and found
guilty of fraud and 19 other offences, with Judge
Robert Atherton telling the 25-year-old he
committed 'sophisticated dishonesty'.
'There is here a catalogue of offences of
sophisticated dishonesty, fraudulently
representing that you were a person who you
were not.'
Kakuta meanwhile remains contracted to
Chelsea but is currently on-loan at Spanish club
Rayo Vallecano.
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Mario Balotelli swaps shirtswith Real Madrid’s Pepe athalf-time, is immediatelysubbed off by Liverpool

The controversial Liverpool frontman just has a
habit of messing up, and after turning in a
stinker of a first-half performance against Real
Madrid, went on to do it again.
That's right, things got even worse for Balotelli
as he trudged off 3-0 down at half-time – as he
thought it would be a good idea to ask for
Pepe's shirt. At half-time. Yes.
Brendan Rodgers had obviously seen enough
and immediately hooked Balo, replacing him
with Adam Lallana.
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Uefa champions league results

Champions league results
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Chelsea striker Loic Remy is refusing to rule himself out of this weekend's clash against Manchester United.

Chelsea striker Loic Remy is refusing to rule himself out of
contention for this weekend's trip to Manchester United.
The Frenchman limped out of Tuesday night's 6-0
Champions League Group G win over Maribor with a groin
injury shortly after opening the scoring.
Jose Mourinho, who is already without top goalscorer Diego
Costa for Sunday's clash at Old Trafford, said after the match
that he did not expect Remy to be fit to face United.
But Remy is hoping the injury is not too bad and is determined
to be available against Louis van Gaal's side.
"We will see with the scan," he said. "I really hope it is not too
bad. Fortunately I stopped playing because I felt something.
"I don't think it is too bad but I felt something. My groin.
"Yes, it's frustrating of course because I had a chance to play
because Costa is injured but I am not afraid.
"I don't think it is really bad. We will check and I really hope to
play again this weekend.
"It is a huge game but every game is tough. Especially this one
because it is a big game against a good opponent but I will try to
recover as quickly as possible."
Remy grimaced after scoring 13 minutes into the rout of
Maribor, but says he had already felt something was wrong.
He added: "It was a bit stiff, even my run and I didn't feel very
comfortable.
"That's why I prefer to come off but for me I have to care about
myself and if I'm not feeling very good it's better to leave for
another player who is 100 per cent."
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Olympiakos 1-0 Juventus:

An outstanding second-half performance from Olympiakos
goalkeeper Roberto helped earn his side a 1-0 win over Juventus
on Wednesday.
With the Greek side leading thanks to Pajtim Kasami's first-half
goal at the Karaiskakis Stadium in this Champions League Group
A encounter, Spaniard Roberto produced a string of superb
saves after the interval to ensure they claimed all three points.
In the space of 15 minutes midway through the second period,
he made remarkable stops to deny Alvaro Morata, Paul Pogba
and Carlos Tevez on what was a frustrating night for
Massimiliano Allegri's men.
Former Fulham man Kasami had earlier struck a low finish into
the bottom left-hand corner as Olympiakos continued their
strong recent run of results at home on Europe's biggest club
stage.
Over the past 12 months, Olympiakos have beaten Benfica,
Anderlecht, Manchester United and Atletico Madrid on their ow
soil, and this result against the Italian champions represented
their fifth consecutive home victory in the Champions League.
Juve, who dropped points in Serie A for the first time this season
on Saturday with a 1-1 draw at Sassuolo, had Chile international
Arturo Vidal back in the side after he was rested at the weekend,
but the midfielder failed to have a telling impact as Olympiakos
held on to move onto six points at the halfway stage in the
group - three more than Juventus.The hosts made a bright start,
Kostas Mitroglou flicking a half-chance wide before Alejandro
Dominguez brought a flying save out of Gianluigi Buffon with a
free-kick in the opening seven minutes.
Juve went close themselves five minutes later as Tevez's stabbed
effort was headed off the line by Omar Elabdellaoui as
Olympiakos failed to deal with Andrea Pirlo's corner.
Tevez did have the ball in the net in the 20th minute, but his
header was rightly disallowed for offside as the hosts showed
further hesitancy from a Pirlo set-piece.
The game continued to ebb and flow, and a superb touch and
volley from Dominguez flashed across the face of goal in the
27th minute.
Ten minutes before the break, Olympiakos opened the scoring
with a well-worked goal.
Dominguez led the break and played the ball to Mitroglou, who
laid a pass back into Kasami for the midfielder to fire left-
footed beyond Buffon from the edge of the penalty area.
Morata went close with a left-footed volley six minutes after the
interval.
Kasami should have doubled his and Olympiakos' tally on the
hour mark, but he rolled the ball wide from six yards after being
teed up by the influential Dominguez.
Juve almost took advantage of that miss five minutes later, but
Roberto brilliantly parried Morata's thumping effort from eight
yards.
Roberto performed heroics once more as the game entered the
final quarter of an hour, clawing away Pogba's cross before
keeping out Tevez's close-range effort with his legs.
With nine minutes remaining, he pulled off another outstanding
save, reacting sharply to tip Morata's fierce drive onto the
crossbar as Juve continued to press hard for an equaliser.
But a leveller did not arrive as the Greek side held on for a
battling victory that puts them in pole position to qualify for the
knockout stages.
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Galatasaray 0-4 Borussia Dortmund

Borussia Dortmund cemented their place at the top of
Champions League Group D with a dominant 4-0 victory at
Galatasaray on Wednesday.
Jurgen Klopp's men produced a trademark display of powerful
counter-attacking football and the game was essentially out of
sight by half-time as Dortmund raced into a three-goal lead at
the Turk Telekom Arena.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang opened the scoring when he
applied the finishing touch to Marco Reus' excellent low delivery
and the Gabon international doubled his tally shortly before the
20-minute mark.
Reus then put Dortmund in firm control in the 41st minute with
a stunning long-range effort.
There was a sour note for Dortmund when Sven Bender was
forced off with an apparent elbow injury in the second half, but
Adrian Ramos' goal a minute after coming as a substitute
completed the rout.
The victory was a welcome relief for Dortmund who suffered
their fifth defeat in eight Bundesliga matches this season at
Cologne on Saturday.
However, Dortmund continue to excel in Europe and their third
pool victory means another win in the return match with
Galatasaray on November 4 will confirm their spot in the
knockout stages.
It is a completely different story for the hosts, though, who have
just one point and face an uphill task to progress.
Dortmund were ahead after just six minutes when Henrikh
Mkhitaryan set Reus free down the left and his excellent centre
across the penalty area was side-footed home at the back post
by Aubameyang.
Galatasaray pushed forward in search of an equaliser, with Alex
Telles a threat on the left, but the visitors were a constant threat
on the counter-attack and the tactic yielded a second goal in the
18th minute.
Mkhitaryan released Lukasz Piszczek beyond left-back Telles on
the right and the Poland defender picked out the unmarked
Aubameyang, who adjusted his feet well to sweep beyond
Fernando Muslera from just outside the six-yard box.
Dortmund were finding gaps in the home defence with ease and
Shinji Kagawa should have done better when he shot tamely at
Muslera when one-on-one, while Aubameyang wasted a chance
for his hat-trick when he inexplicably hit the post with the goal
gaping from Mkhitaryan's delivery.
However, the third arrived four minutes before half-time when
Reus let fly with an unstoppable 25-yard shot that crashed over
Muslera's despairing dive and in.
Dortmund had to replace Bender with Matthias Ginter in the
55th minute, but it failed to disrupt the away side's flow and
Reus should have hit the target when his half-volley deep inside
the penalty area flew high into the stands.
The Germany international wasted another chance when he sho
straight at Muslera from the edge of the box, before Kagawa
dragged wide from 20 yards after showing neat foot work.
But Ramos capped the result in the 83rd minute as he collected
fellow substitute Ilkay Gundogan's throughball and kept his cool
to give Dortmund a huge shot in the arm ahead of a home game
against Hannover when they return to domestic action this
weekend.
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Liverpool 0-3 Real Madrid

Real Madrid ran out comfortable 3-0 winners over Liverpool at
Anfield on Wednesday evening, as Cristiano Ronaldo continued
his superb run of form.
The Portugal international netted for the 20th time in 13
appearances this season to open the scoring, and subsequently
moved within one of former Real stalwart Raul's Champions
League competition record of 71 goals.
While the European champions' first featured slick passing and
world-class finish, Liverpool were the architects of their own
downfall from there as Karim Benzema twice capitalised on
slack defending to net a double before half-time.
It was a matter of damage limitation for Liverpool after that,
with the Premier League side playing out a spirited second half
without a recognised striker.
Real retained their menace throughout but were able to leave
plenty in reserve for Saturday's mouthwatering El Clasico
showdown with arch-rivals Barcelona.
Under-fire forward Mario Balotelli retained the faith of home
manager Brendan Rodgers and the enigmatic Italian passed up
the chance to play through Raheem Sterling when Isco lost
possession in the second minute.
Ronaldo then thundered an early drive into the chest of Simon
Mignolet, while there were awkward moments for the Liverpool
goalkeeper's opposite number.
Iker Casillas parried the ball clear when a long-range Steven
Gerrard strike dipped awkwardly and the experienced shot-
stopper then showed poor handling from a 13th-minute corner
Casillas and Madrid's travelling fans had their nerves settled,
though, when Ronaldo opened the scoring in superb fashion
after 23 minutes.
Having exchanged passes with Benzema, the Ballon d'Or holder
charged onto a chipped return ball from James Rodriguez to
sweep home on the half-volley.
And Liverpool had a mountain to climb with half an hour
played, as Benzema looped a header beyond Mignolet on the
end of Toni Kroos' floated cross.
A rare moment of indecision allowed Glen Johnson to deny
Ronaldo five minutes before half-time but woeful defending
from the resulting corner sealed Liverpool's fate.
Pepe knocked down Kroos' delivery and the ball squirmed
beyond Mignolet and flailing Liverpool legs to leave Benzema
with a simple tap-in.
The recalled Joe Allen side-footed wide and fellow midfielder
Philippe Coutinho clattered a shot against the post from
distance, but Liverpool could not grasp a lifeline before half-
time.
Balotelli exchanged shirts with Pepe at the interval and it was his
last act, as Adam Lallana replaced the former Manchester City
man for the start of the second period.
Liverpool attacked in spirited fashion upon the resumption,
although a vital challenge from Martin Skrtel to stop a storming
run from Isco demonstrated the perils they still faced against a
counter-attacking Real.
Skrtel was caught napping by a rampaging Ronaldo in the 62nd
minute and Mignolet got behind a firmly struck shot, before
denying the same player from close range as Real sliced through
the home defence once more.
Sterling kept Casillas involved at the other end and Allen
scrambled a shot wide in the 72nd minute before Benzema and
Rodriguez combined incisively for the latter to steer wide in
front of the Kop.
Three wins from three means Real's passage from Group B is
already virtually assured, while Liverpool must bounce back
from consecutive defeats to overhaul second-placed Basel.
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Anderlecht 1-2 Arsenal

A late Lukas Podolski goal gave Arsenal a dramatic 2-1 win over
Anderlecht in the Champions League on Wednesday evening.
The striker struck in the 90th minute to give the Gunners all
three points, with Kieran Gibbs having cancelled out Andy
Najar's opener two minutes earlier with a superb volley.
The result leaves Arsenal on six points, and gives them their
second win in the group stage, following their 4-1 success over
Galatasaray
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CSKA Moscow 2-2 Manchester City

A late Bibras Natkho penalty earned CSKA Moscow a 2-2 draw
with Manchester City on Tuesday and left the Premier League
champions' European hopes in tatters in the process.
City manager Manuel Pellegrini had described the Group E clash
as a must-win game, but Natkho's late strike denied the visitors
at an Arena Khimki without supporters due to UefA sanctions
following issues of racism and crowd trouble.
Goals from Sergio Aguero and James Milner had looked set to
prove the difference for City in the first match of their double-
header against the Russian side.
The English champions moved ahead after 29 minutes when the
in-form Aguero continued his goalscoring streak with a simple
finish, before Milner added a second seven minutes prior to the
break.
With City on course for a first European win since last
December, Seydou Doumbia pulled one back for Leonid
Slutsky's side and, as the home side increased the pressure, they
were rewarded when a sloppy challenge from Aleksandar
Kolarov on Ahmed Musa resulted in a spot-kick being awarded
with four minutes remaining.
Natkho converted to rescue his side's first point of the campaig
and ensure City missed the chance to apply pressure to Bayern
Munich and Roma.
Musa scored twice in CSKA's 6-0 win over Kuban Krasnodar at
the weekend and almost opened the scoring on Tuesday with a
fizzed effort that veered wide of Joe Hart's left-hand post.
Former Manchester United man Zoran Tosic was next to
threaten 10 minutes in as City, having made five changes from
Saturday's 4-1 win over Spurs, looked somewhat disjointed
early on.
Pablo Zabaleta - among the players who returned to the starting
XI - shot wide after expertly controlling Yaya Toure's lofted ball
but, in an opening half-hour of few clear-cut chances, it was
Aguero who again provided the breakthrough for City.
Silva slipped in Dzeko, whose square ball laid on Aguero's eight
goal in his last five outings.
The Argentina international then played a key role as City
doubled their advantage, his wayward strike - following
Zabaleta's knockdown - finding Milner at the far post, who
turned home to double the visitors' lead.
Milner subsequently struck the post with the goal at his mercy,
having seen Dzeko's appeals for a penalty turned down followin
a tangle with Sergei Ignashevich.
CSKA's day looked set to worsen when Doumbia appeared to
pick up an injury, but the Ivorian then gave the hosts hope by
turning home Musa's cross from the right five minutes after the
hour.
City's failure to put the game to bed was then punished when
Musa went down under a challenge from Kolarov, giving
Natkho the opportunity to equalise with a nerveless penalty
that beat Hart as the goalkeeper dived to his left.
CSKA were therefore able to get off the mark at the third
attempt and inflict a heavy blow to their opponents' hopes of
reaching the last 16.
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Porto 2-1 Athletic Bilbao

Ricardo Quaresma's late strike helped strengthen Porto's grip o
Group H of the Champions League as they beat Athletic Bilbao
2-1.
The experienced winger struck 15 minutes from time at
the Estadio Do Dragao on Tuesday to keep the hosts two points
clear of Shakhtar Donetsk, who moved into second with a 7-0
trouncing of BATE.
Julen Lopetegui's side created the better chances early on and
were rewarded when Hector Herrera opened the scoring shortly
before the interval.
The Mexico international coolly fired home after a sublime ball
from Juan Quintero, butGuillermo Fernandez's first goal since
February brought Ernesto Valverde's men level.
Quaresma eventually grabbed the decisive strike, cutting in fro
the left-hand side and firing in an effort that goalkeeper Gorka
Iraizoz failed to keep out.
Winless Athletic remain rooted to the bottom of the
group ahead of the return fixture at the San Mames Stadium
next month.
Porto showed the most attacking intent early on without initially
managing to get behind the Spanish side's defence.
It took 16 minutes for a first effort on target to arrive as
Quintero's curled strike from distance was collected by Iraizoz.
Bilbao were denied a penalty when Bruno Martins Indi clattered
into Aritz Aduriz with referee Damir Skomina instead awarding a
free-kick for a foul on the Netherlands international.
Cristian Tello dragged a shot wide for Porto seven minutes
before the half-hour mark but Athletic's Mikel San Jose came
closest in a first half of few chances when he rattled Fabiano's
right-hand post with a deflected strike from outside the area.
The Porto goalkeeper then gave coach Lopetegui a minor scare
when he flapped at Markel Susaeta's delivery, but the hosts
claimed the lead shortly before the break courtesy of Herrera's
swept finish.
After taking care to remain onside, he had time and space to
dispatch Quintero's clever pass.
Athletic pulled level 13 minutes into the second half when
Fernandez got onto the end of Benat's incisive pass before
cutting inside Maicon and beating Fabiano to restore parity.
With a draw looking likely, Quaresma was Porto's hero late on a
he registered his first Champions League goal since scoring
against Besiktas in December 2007 during his first spell with the
club.
Fabiano was required to keep out Aymeric Laporte's header late
on as Porto held out to extend their advantage at the summit.
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Barcelona 3-1 Ajax

Neymar and Lionel Messi helped Barcelona get their Champions
League campaign back on track with a 3-1 win over Ajax at
Camp Nou.
The star forward duo have now both scored in each of Barca's
past five matches and Neymar gladly accepted a pass from his
partner in crime to net an early opener on Tuesday.
Messi doubled the advantage in the 24th minute - his ninth goal
of the season - and the prospect of Luis Enrique's team
bouncing back from their surprise 3-2 loss at Paris Saint-
Germain last time out in the Champions League was rarely in
doubt until substitute Anwar El Ghazi struck in the 88th minute
to set up a tense finale.
Ajax pressed for an equaliser, allowing Neymar's replacement
Sandro to seal the points on the break.
Barcelona can now look ahead to Saturday's eagerly anticipated
La Liga showdown with Real Madrid - where Luis Enrique will
finally have the enviable option of combining Luis Suarez with
Neymar and Messi in a formidable attacking trio.
Ajax - now without a win in nine away matches in Europe's
premier club competition - handed a first Champions League
start to left winger Ricardo Kishna, while Barcelona again
selected Marc-Andre ter Stegen for European action despite the
goalkeeper's shaky showing in Paris.
Messi started the night three goals shy of Raul's all-time record
of 71 Champions League goals, but the mercurial Argentine
played the role of provider in the seventh minute.
Some slick one-touch play from Barca allowed Messi to drive at
the Ajax defence and thread a perfectly-weighted pass into the
path of Neymar, who passed the ball home first-time.
Messi snatched at an opening of his own four minutes later but
he made no mistake midway through the half, just as Ajax
appeared to be growing into the contest.
Niki Zimling struck an aimless pass into midfield and Andres
Iniesta needed little invitation to thread a trademark through-
ball to Messi, whose shot squeezed home despite goalkeeper
Jasper Cillessen's best efforts.
That goal forced Ajax into the unenviable position of having to
chase Barca, and the visitors were almost picked off on the
break after 29 minutes when Messi found Pedro, the Spain
international shooting against the base of the right-hand post.
Iniesta sauntered through the Ajax defence six minutes before
half-time, only for Cillessen to deny him, and Ajax almost had a
lifeline before the break when Kolbeinn Sigthorsson's shot spun
wide having taken a deflection off Gerard Pique.
Barcelona resumed on the front foot and Messi prodded the bal
into the net from an offside position when Cillessen parried
Pedro's well-stuck 49th-minute drive, before the Barca talisman
weaved through several challenges to shoot into the side netting
Ricardo van Rhijn then sent a low effort narrowly wide from
Lasse Schone's pass and Ajax were offered another moment of
encouragement in the 63rd minute when Pique nervously sliced
a left-wing cross from Arkadiusz Milik onto the roof of his own
net.
Either side of that scare, Neymar and Messi departed to standin
ovations but Barcelona appeared to shift focus to their weekend
engagement as they closed the match in disjointed fashion.
El Ghazi bundled the ball home from close range and then Jord
Alba was forced into a desperate challenge to stop the teenage
winger from levelling matters, before Sandro scored his vital
third goal of the season in stoppage time.
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