United News of Bangladesh

A dramatic final day of the Champions League league phase on Wednesday will decide the fate of six English clubs as they fight for top-eight spots and a place in the last 16. Arsenal, already through to the last 16, lead the standings and can secure top spot with a draw at home against Kairat Almaty. Bayern Munich will also aim for a top-two finish with a match at PSV Eindhoven. Liverpool, Tottenham, Newcastle United, Chelsea, and Manchester City are all still in contention. A win could ensure direct entry to the last 16, while failure may force them into play-offs. Manchester City currently sit in a play-off position but are level on points with Newcastle and Chelsea, with goal difference deciding the ranking. The English clubs face notable challenges, including matches against former managers. Real Madrid will play Jose Mourinho’s Benfica, and Chelsea meet their former coach Antonio Conte’s Napoli. Liverpool host Qarabag, Spurs travel to Eintracht Frankfurt, Manchester City face Galatasaray, and Newcastle take on Paris St-Germain. A total of 16 teams are competing for the six remaining top-eight spots, making the final fixtures crucial. All 18 matches kick off at 20:00 GMT, with the top-two finishers guaranteed to play the second leg at home through the knockout rounds leading up to the final in Budapest. The Champions League table is tightly packed, with only Arsenal already certain of advancement. The remaining English sides will rely on matchday results and goal difference to avoid the play-offs and secure automatic qualification for the knockout stage.   With inputs from BBC

Manchester City have withdrawn from the European Super League (ESL) and Chelsea are also preparing to do so, according to reports in the British media. Efforts to leave come just two days after both were announced as two of six English clubs to sign up to the controversial new competition. The ESL has been widely criticised since being announced on Sunday, reports BBC. Around 1,000 fans gathered outside Chelsea's Stamford Bridge home ground before their game against Brighton on Tuesday to protest their involvement. Chelsea and City were part of English football's 'big six' clubs - alongside Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham - to have agreed to join the new league. In total, 12 European clubs announced their intentions to form the breakaway league, which they hoped to establish as a new midweek competition. It was condemned by football authorities and government ministers in the UK and across Europe by Uefa and leagues associations. Chelsea were the first club to indicate they will not press ahead by preparing documentation to withdrawn. City withdrew soon after. Chelsea and City were not drivers of this plan, they were the last to sign and feared being left behind. It is not clear how easy it is or how binding the contracts are. The decision to try and have Chelsea leave was taken by owner Roman Abramovich and the club's board after witnessing negative global reaction to the Super League. There was a fear that it could do reputational damage to the club. Questions were raised internally as to whether fans would respond to the club if it continued with a proposal which has gone down so badly. The decision was made earlier on Tuesday before protests started outside Stamford Bridge. Earlier in the day, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson met with the Football Association, Premier League officials and fans' representatives, after which the government said it will take "whatever action necessary", including legislative options, to ensure the proposals were stopped. Johnson's stance is supported by Labour and the Liberal Democrats. A statement released after a meeting between the Premier League and the 14 clubs not involved said they "unanimously and vigorously" rejected plans for the competition. It added that it is considering "all actions available" to stop the competition and asked the six teams to end their involvement immediately. Meanwhile late breaking reports suggest Ed Woodward, executive vice chairman of Manchester United, has handed in his resignation in the backlash of the ESL's announcement, putting in doubt whether the club will now go ahead with the breakaway league. In a parallel development TALKSport is reporting that Andrea Agnelli has resigned from his post as president of Juventus, one of 3 Italian clubs involved in the fiasco.