Reborn Milan lacking firepower in bid to end 11-year drought
AC Milan is a club reborn on and off the soccer field.
Three years ago, Milan finished fifth in Serie A and was forced to withdraw from the following season's Europa League because of UEFA financial fair play breaches.
That came months after U.S.based hedge fund Elliott Management took over control of the club and assumed its debts of 164 million euros (then $190 million) stemming from Chinese owner Li Yonghong's missed loan repayment.
Milan is currently at the top of Serie A with an end to its 11-year title drought in sight, while new sponsorship deals continue to rectify the financial issues. The club signed its 28th new partnership deal in the last two years on Thursday with Japanese video company Konami.
Still, Milan ended up with a draw against Bologna on Monday, leaving it only one point ahead of second-place Napoli and four ahead of defending champion Inter Milan — which has a game in hand.
Milan travels to Torino on Sunday, shortly after Napoli hosts Fiorentina. Inter plays Hellas Verona on Saturday.
With only seven games remaining, Milan needs to find a solution quickly to its lack of goals. Against Bologna, the team had 33 shots on goal without managing to score. Milan has only scored four goals in its past six matches in all competitions, from 103 attempts.
Milan has scored 10 goals in its past 10 league matches. It scored 46 in its first 21 matches of the Serie A season.
Olivier Giroud has not scored for more than a month and Zlatan Ibrahimović's last goal came at the beginning of January – although the veteran forward has had injury problems. Among the younger attackers, Rafael Leão last scored in February and Brahim Díaz hasn't netted since September.
Tetê makes impact at Lyon after leaving Ukraine's war behind
The unexpected arrival of the Brazilian winger Tetê has given Lyon a boost in its bid to qualify for European competition.
The seven-time French champions added the highly-rated player under temporary rules allowing Ukraine-based soccer players to sign with clubs in other countries outside the normal transfer window periods because of the war back home.
The left-footed Tetê, who had been playing with Shakthar Donetsk, made an immediate impact in his first match with Lyon, coming off the bench to score the winner in the 3-2 victory over Angers last week. And that was after only three minutes on the field.
Following a roller-coaster season marked by many ups and downs, Lyon is in ninth place in the league standings with eight games to play. Lagging eight points behind third-place Rennes, returning to the Champions League seems to be a tall order, but Bosz's players have a good chance to secure a fourthplace finish.
Lyon faces a direct rival in the race for European spots in Sunday's trip to Strasbourg, which currently holds the Europa League qualifying place, six points ahead of Lyon. Leader Paris Saint-Germain, which has a 12-point lead over Marseille, travels to Clermont this weekend.
The 22-year-old Tetê, who trained at Grêmio, joined Shakhtar in 2019. Mainly used on the right side, he scored 31 goals in 108 matches, helping the Ukrainian club to a league-cup double in 2019.
Tetê really came to international prominence in October 2020 when he scored one goal and delivered an assist as a Shakhtar team depleted by coronavirus cases handed Real Madrid a shocking 3-2 home loss in the Champions League.
Before he left Ukraine, Tetê had been in excellent form, with nine goals and one assist in the local league, which has been suspended since Russia invaded the country.
Famous for his pace and dribbling skills, Tetê has already won over his teammates.
Benzema defying time to reach his best at age 34
At an age when most top athletes are hoping to maintain their form, Karim Benzema is reaching the pinnacle of his career.
The 34-year-old France striker is enjoying the best season of the 13 he has spent at Real Madrid and making a strong argument for being considered the top player in the world.
Benzema has put in remarkable back-to-back performances in soccer's elite club competition, scoring consecutive hat tricks in Champions League matches against Chelsea and Paris SaintGermain.
Benzema's three goals at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday gave Madrid a commanding 3-1 advantage in their Champions League quarterfinal with Chelsea. Last month he singlehandedly brought Madrid back against PSG with a stunning second-half treble to advance his team on a 3-2 aggregate score.
Madrid hosts Getafe in the Spanish league on Saturday before Chelsea visits the Santiago Bernabéu needing a big win to keep alive its European title defense.
But with Benzema playing like he is, Madrid has a great chance to add to its 34 Spanish league titles and 13 European Cups, both competitions records.
Fueled by Benzema's leaguehigh 24 goals, 10 more than his nearest chasers, Madrid leads Barcelona, Atlético Madrid and Sevilla by 12 points with eight games remaining in Spain.
Beside his two exquisite headers to put Madrid up 2-0 at Chelsea, Benzema has also shown that hustle pays off. Against both PSG and Chelsea he produced goals by pressuring goalkeepers into gifting him the ball. Add to that his superb sense of timing, knowing just when he should drop into midfield to help unlock the opposing defense and cue an attack, and you have what Carlo Ancelotti calls "a complete player."