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Garang Kuol is an “excitement machine” and can thrill for Australia at the World Cup in Qatar, Socceroos great John Aloisi has told Stats Perform.
Teenager Kuol is the most promising talent in Australia’s A-League and has already agreed a January move to Newcastle United in the Premier League.
The 18-year-old, who can play across the front line, only made his full debut for Central Coast Mariners in an Australia Cup tie in July.
But Kuol had previously made nine A-League appearances as a substitute, scoring four goals in just 189 minutes.
He also starred in the A-League All Stars Game against Barcelona and during his Australia debut versus New Zealand.
Aloisi, who played and scored for the Socceroos at the 2006 World Cup, now hopes to see Kuol given the opportunity to impress again in Qatar next month.
The 46-year-old now coaches Western United, who lost 1-0 to a Kuol goal in their last meeting with Central Coast in April.
“Well, I’m excited about Garang Kuol because having coached against him, watched him closely, he’s an excitement machine,” Aloisi told Stats Perform.
“And I don’t want to put too much pressure on him as well, because there’s still a long way to go in his career.
“But it’s great that he’s able to sign for a Premier League club. Hopefully he becomes the next big thing for Australian football. But we have to help him and also guide him.
“It’s exciting, and I’m sure that if he does get that ticket on the plane and he does come on, it will excite everyone watching, and all Australians will be following him and seeing how good he is.”
Inter have a chance to become the first Italian side to ever beat Barcelona twice in a Champions League campaign when they meet at Camp Nou on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Club Brugge are on the brink of their first trip to the knockout stages as they play Atletico Madrid.
Mohamed Salah can make history with one more Champions League goal for Liverpool on their trip to Scotland to take on Rangers, and Bayern Munich are one win away from their own record as they try to win an 11th consecutive group stage match.
Tottenham will look to break out of a scoring slump when they host Eintracht Frankfurt, while Porto and Bayer Leverkusen are battling it out in Group B.
With plenty of important matchups, Stats Perform has parsed through the data to preview the eight fixtures on Wednesday and shine a light on some of the more interesting angles.
Barcelona v Inter
Inter’s 1-0 victory against Barcelona at San Siro last week was their first triumph over the Spanish giants since April 2010, with Barca collecting four wins and one draw since.
With another win, Inter can become the first Italian side to ever beat Barcelona twice in the same Champions League campaign, although they have lost all five of their away fixtures at Camp Nou – their most losses at any away venue in the competition.
In fact, Camp Nou has not been a happy hunting ground for Italian sides in general, with a 3-0 victory for Juventus in 2020 marking the country’s only win at the venue in the last 17 tries (L13 D3).
It is not just Barcelona who have given Inter trouble on away days, with their last away win in the Champions League against a Spanish opponent coming back in 2004 against Valencia.
Working in Inter’s favour is road warrior Lautaro Martinez, who has scored six of his seven Champions League goals away from home.
Tottenham v Eintracht Frankfurt
After banking four consecutive wins against Borussia Dortmund between 2017 and 2019, Tottenham are now winless in their past five Champions League fixtures against German sides (D1 L4).
On the other side, Eintracht have enjoyed success when travelling to England in European competition, winning both of their previous two attempts – against Arsenal in 2019, and West Ham in April this year – in the Europa League.
However, this is a clear step up from the Europa League, and after winning their first ever Champions League away game last month (1-0 at Marseille), Frankfurt will be looking to become the only German team to ever win their first two away fixtures in the competition.
The 0-0 draw between these two sides in Frankfurt a week ago was the second consecutive Champions League game where Tottenham have failed to score a goal – also losing 2-0 to Sporting. The last time they went three games in the competition without scoring was back in 2011.
Striker Harry Kane will be key, as he boasts the best minutes-per-goal figure – 20 goals in 27 appearances for a goal every 118 minutes – of any English player with at least 10 goals in the Champions League.
Atletico Madrid v Club Brugge
Not many, if any, would have tipped Club Brugge to top Group B ahead of Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen and Porto, but they have defeated all three to lead with a perfect nine points and zero goals conceded.
One more win for Brugge would see them progress past the group stage for the first time, in their 10th Champions League campaign. By defeating Atletico, they would become the first Belgian side since Anderlecht in 2000 to win four games in a row in the competition.
Brugge are also one goal away from matching their highest goal tally from a single Champions League campaign, with eight goals in 2020-21.
Surprisingly, Atletico have struggled at home in the Champions League, snapping a streak of eight games without a win (D5 L3) by defeating Porto this season.
Brugge’s Ferran Jutgla has registered a goal and an assist in each of his past two Champions League games, and if he can manage to do it again, he will join Robert Lewandowski and Leroy Sane as the only players since 2003-04 to have a goal and an assist in three straight games in the competition.
Bayer Leverkusen v Porto
With Brugge seemingly cruising, Porto, Leverkusen and Atletico are likely fighting it out for one automatic qualification spot, and Leverkusen will feel good about their chances as Porto are winless in their last seven away games against German teams (D2 L5).
After defeating Atletico at home on the second matchday, Leverkusen will be looking to win consecutive Champions League home fixtures in the same campaign for the first time since 2014.
Patrick Schick is Leverkusen’s focal point going forward, attempting more than twice as many shots (12) as any of his team-mates this Champions League season, but he is yet to score, having missed a penalty against Porto in last week’s 2-0 loss.
Porto’s Mehdi Taremi assisted both goals in the reverse fixture, marking the first time he has been involved in multiple goals in a Champions League game, while the sending-off of Jeremie Frimpong gave Leverkusen their 11th red card in their history in the competition, trailing only Bayern Munich (21) amongst German sides.
Other fixtures:
Napoli v Ajax
5 – Napoli beat Ajax 6-1 in the reverse fixture at Johan Cruyff Arena, with the five-goal margin marking the heaviest defeat Ajax have ever suffered in European competition.
10 – With one more win, Napoli would become the fourth Italian club to ever mount a 10-game unbeaten streak in the Champions League, with six wins and three draws from their past nine fixtures.
Rangers v Liverpool
5 – Rangers have failed to score in their past five European games against English competition, including a 2-0 loss against Liverpool last week.
35 – Mohamed Salah has scored 35 Champions League goals for Liverpool – only Didier Droga (36 for Chelsea) and Sergio Aguero (36 for Manchester City) have scored more for a single Premier League club in the competition.
Sporting v Marseille
9 – Marseille have lost their past nine away fixtures in the Champions League, and with one more loss they would become the sixth team to ever post 10 consecutive away defeats in the competition, and the first from France.
18 – It has been 18 years since Sporting lost a home fixture against a French side in European competition, with that loss coming against Sochaux in the 2004 UEFA Cup.
Viktoria Plzen v Bayern Munich
31 – Bayern Munich are undefeated in their past 31 Champions League group stage matches (28W 3D) – which is an all-time high – and with one more win they will set the new record for consecutive group stage wins with 11.
32 – Viktoria Plzen have faced 32 shots on target in their first three games of this Champions League campaign – more than any other side. In the reverse fixture, Bayern had 13 shots on target.
Atletico Madrid’s Diego Simeone was emphatic that he has no interest in leaving his post after a decade in charge during his media availability for Wednesday’s Champions League fixture against the red-hot Club Brugge.
Simeone’s side are currently fourth on the LaLiga table, and also fourth in the Champions League’s Group B, trailing Brugge, Porto and Bayer Leverkusen after only scoring two goals total from three games.
A poor result against Brugge could spell the end of Atletico’s Champions League campaign, but with two LaLiga titles and two Champions League final appearances under his belt, Simeone said he understands the ups and downs that come with the job.
“I’m not going anywhere, I’m here,” he said. “I feel I have the same security as always. I was asked the other day if I saw myself somewhere else and my answer was no, absolutely.
“If I imagine that, it is because I am leaving, and I am not leaving, I am here. I hope to convey what I feel and that’s why I’ve been at this club for so many years.
“We know the importance of this game. We need to do well, for that we need to give our best and we need our fans to show up.
“We expected more from the first part of the season, but you always expect that. I see the players with great enthusiasm to improve. This is the way.”
Simeone also shouldered the blame for the form of Joao Felix, with the 22-year-old forward yet to score this season.
“Everything bad that Joao Felix does, I do it worse because it’s me who is not giving him what he needs to reach his potential,” he said.
“He hasn’t changed at all, his teammates who compete with him are better and the coach understands that.
“Joao is important for the club and for the team. In this campaign he has not found the most important thing for him, the goal, and that causes him frustration.”
Massimiliano Allegri insists he will not walk away from Juventus despite their dismal campaign hitting a new low with Tuesday’s shock Champions League loss at Maccabi Haifa.
Juventus were unable to respond to Omer Atzili’s first-half double as the Israeli outfit claimed a famous 2-0 win over the Bianconeri, turning up the pressure on Allegri.
Juventus are already 10 points off the pace on the domestic front after winning just three of their nine Serie A games this season, and their latest European reverse represents a severe blow to their hopes of progression.
With Paris Saint-Germain and Benfica sharing a 1-1 draw later on Tuesday, Juventus are five points adrift of the duo with just two games remaining in Group H.
With Allegri leading the Bianconeri to three defeats in their first four Champions League group games for the first time ever, chairman Andrea Agnelli was forced to deny the coach would be fired in the immediate aftermath of the loss.
Speaking to Sky Sports shortly thereafter, Allegri was adamant he remained up for the fight, saying: “I have never thought about resigning.
“When a challenge becomes more difficult, it becomes even more beautiful. You have to come out with courage, desire and passion.”
While Agnelli looked to absolve Allegri of blame after the defeat, he said he was “ashamed” of Juventus’ display, and the head coach concurred.
“Agnelli is absolutely right,” Allegri said. “It was one of the worst first halves we have done. It is not right to make a performance like that.
“We had the wrong attitude from the start. This match is difficult to explain, we just need to be silent.
“The performance was not up to par, especially from a character point of view. We just have to keep quiet, work and get out of this situation.”
Juventus’ next fixture sees them face Torino in the Derby della Mole on Saturday, and Allegri revealed the side will bunker down at their Continassa training ground until that crucial game.
“Tomorrow, we return and until the derby we will all stay in Continassa,” he added. “This is a duty we have towards the club, the fans and above all, ourselves.”
Oct 09, 2022 Champions League
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