Table of contents for 30-Apr-2019 in MATCH!

1. EUROPE’S GRAFTERS! Nobody expected Spurs to even get out of their group after winning just one point from their first nine, but they showed spirit and determination by drawing at the Nou Camp to get through to the knockouts! Then, against Man. City, they were pushed to the absolute limit, but dug deep and got through on away goals! 2. AWESOME ADAPTABILITY! Injuries to the likes of Harry Kane, Eric Dier, Harry Winks and Erik Lamela have tested Mauricio Pochettino’s squad, but they’ve stood up to the test! Victor Wanyama, Lucas Moura and Fernando Llorente all played a massive role in getting them over the line v City – and they’ll have a big part to play in the double header against Ajax as well! 3. BEATEN THE BEST!…

500 Nicolas Tagliafico’s goal v AEK Athens was the 500th scored by an Argentinian in CL history. Wow! 2 Ajax are just the second team to dump Real Madrid out of a European knockout tie after losing the first leg at home! 6 Six of their starting line-up against Juventus in the quarter-final first leg came through Ajax’s academy! 1997 They’ve qualified for the semis for the fourth time during the CL era, and the first time since the 1996-97 season! 19 19-year-old captain Matthijs de Ligt is the youngest Dutch player to score in a CL knockout match since April 1996!…

1. AWESOME ANFIELD! Liverpool’s not-so-secret weapon is their eardrum-busting stadium Anfield – it roars on European nights! They’ve won four out of five Champo League matches there this campaign, and are actually on an incredible 13-game CL unbeaten run at home, beating the likes of PSG, Man. City, Roma and Napoli along the way... 2. IN-FORM FORWARDS! Barcelona might have the best attacker on the planet in Lionel Messi, but Liverpool probably have the most feared strikeforce in world footy! Sadio Mane is in the form of his life right now, while Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino have clicked into gear too! With 12 CL goals between them this season, Barça will be worried! 3. SAFE HANDS! The Reds lost two goals to keeper errors in last year’s Champo League…

NEWCASTLE V LIVERPOOL Can The Magpies scupper The Reds’ title hopes? In six seasons in charge of Liverpool, manager Rafa Benitez never won the Premier League, but he could have a big say on this season’s title race. The Newcastle boss has already helped out his old club by beating Man. City back in January, but he could put a serious dent in The Reds’ trophy hopes by winning here. Rafa hasn’t beaten Liverpool in five attempts since leaving Anfield – could this be the first time for him JORDAN HENDERSON The ex-Sunderland midfielder will get some stick from the Newcastle fans, but he can keep them quiet with abig display for his team! Hendo scored a double in Liverpool’s last win at St. James’ Park back in 2013, and…

STADIUM FACTS TEAM: Newcastle BUILT: 1892 CAPACITY: 52,354 RECORD ATTENDANCE: 68,386 v Chelsea, September 1930 NEAREST NEIGHBOUR: Sunderland LONGEST LEAGUE JOURNEY: Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth, 293 miles DID YOU KNOW? St. James’ Park featured on the cover of FIFA 13, with Lionel Messi celebrating on the pitch. Class!…

Liverpool 2019-20 Home Kit The 2018-19 campaign hasn’t even finished, but Liverpool are already gearing up for next season! They’ve revealed their new home kit, with a pinstripe design first used on Reds strips in 1982, a new-style collar and former manager Bob Paisley’s signature on the inside of the neck! The GK’s kit is all black, with a mega classy golden club crest, NB logo and sponsor! Home Shirt Price: £65 GK Home Shirt Price: £70 newbalance.co.uk Nike Flyknit 2 Tottenham & Chelsea Trainers Tottenham and Chelsea fans can show their pride with these Nike Epic React Flyknit 2 trainers! Each club’s kicks come in blue and white versions, and are totally customisable, meaning you can change the colours of things like the Nike Swoosh, the laces and the…

Both of the Nike Phantom cleats have been wrapped in a cool ‘Racer Blue’ colourway! Expect to see some of Nike’s heroes wearing these at this summer’s UEFA Nations League Finals too! SANE RATES NEYMAR! MATCH boot spies reckon Leroy Sane is a big fan of Neymar – well, his boots at least! We spotted the City star training in the PSG hero’s signature Mercurials! UMBRO’S MANCHESTER MURAL! Umbro was founded 95 years ago in Manchester, so to celebrate they put up this ten-metre high mural in the city, using football quotes from United and City fans!…

1 Spurs have reached the CL semis for the first time in their history! They got to the old European Cup semis in 1962! 12 Heung-min Son is now the highest scoring Asian player in Champions League history, with 12 goals! 14 Of the 16 CL goals they’d scored going into the semi-finals, 14 of them had come in the second half of matches! 24 Harry Kane’s second-leg strike against Borussia Dortmund made him the club’s all-time top scorer in European footy! 6 No Tottenham player has been directly involved in more of Spurs’ CL goals this season than Christian Eriksen. Hero!…

1. NOU CAMP FORTRESS! It’s no shock that the largest footy stadium in Europe can produce such boiling atmopheres – close to 100,000 supporters, home and away, pack into the Nou Camp! The fans there haven’t seen their side lose a CL match since 2013 – a 31-game unbeaten run – which is actually the longest in the famous tournament’s epic history! 2. KEEP-BALL KINGS! Man. United looked dangerous when they pressed Barça early on in their second leg, but the home side soon got into their rhythm – and then it’s really hard to stop them! They had over 65% possession in both ties v United, and average more possession than any team in this season’s tourno. It’s hard to win when you don’t have the ball... 3. MAGIC…

3 They lost all three of their Champions League group-stage away games for the first time in their history... 4 ...but went on to become only the fourth side ever to do that and still get through to the competition’s last 16! 9 Mohamed Salah has scored nine goals in 11 CL games at Anfield for Liverpool – only Steven Gerrard has more! 100% Virgil van Dijk has a 100% tackle completion rate going into the CL semis – and hasn’t been dribbled past once! 104+ No Liverpool player has run more than Sadio Mane this season – he’s the only Reds superstar to clock over 100km!…

★ STARS ★ ★ GAMES ★ ★ GOALS ★ ★ & MORE ★ EPIC TITLE RACE! We know only two teams get to celebrate automatic promotion to the Prem, but we’re shouting out to all three Championship clubs that have made this season’s title race proper exciting – Norwich, Leeds and Sheffield United! None of the three even reached the play-offs last season, so it’s been a real shock to see them battling it out with each other for one of the top two spots! PROMOTION HOPEFULS! The Championship play-offs are gonna be great fun to watch –there are some proper in-form teams battling it out! Aston Villa recently broke a 109-year club record by winning ten league games in a row, while West Brom have spent most of the…

Can you work out the mystery star from these clues? I started my youth career at Man. City, but never made an appearance for them! I’ve won over 20 caps for my country Republic Of Ireland. Get in! I currently wear the No.1 shirt for Sheffield Wednesday! TRANSFER TRACKER!  Fill in the gaps in the career of Republic Of Ireland and Aston Villa CM Glenn Whelan! SPORT SWITCH! Which EFL forward also enjoys curling? THE NICKNAME GAME! Match the cool EFL sides to their awesome nicknames! GROUNDED!  Which class EFL side plays their home games at this stadium? WORDFIT Fit the EFL goal grabbers into this big grid! FOOTY AT THE FILMS! Which Prem hero has a starring role in Avengers: Endgame? SPOT THE BALL! Mark where you think the…

GARETH BALE Bale’s future is in major doubt since Zinedine Zidane’s return – and he’s been linked with a return to the Prem! RAPHAEL VARANE Varane is one of Man. United’s top targets this summer – could the CB link up with fellow WC winner Paul Pogba ISCO Isco only started five of Real’s first 27 La Liga games this season, but he’s back in favour since Zidane came back! MARIANO Mariano replaced Ronaldo as Real’s No.7, but he’s not made much of an impact and could be shipped out!…

HOW TO VOTE! Go to the MATCH Facebook page now and you’ll see two shortlists – one for Player Of The Month and one for Goal Of The Month. Then just vote for your choice. Well easy! LACAZETTE The lethal Gunner showed why he has 85 composure on FIFA 19, with a sick lob over helpless Newcastle keeper Martin Dubravka! HUGHES It’s always a good idea to have a man on the edge of the box for corners – just ask Watford! Hughes slammed home a volley after it fell to him v Fulham! HAZARD The Chelsea megastar put in some 10/10 displays in April, and scored a class individual stunner against West Ham! SALAH MATCH is still watching the Liverpool star’s screamer against Chelsea on repeat – he’s been…

1. TOTALLY FEARLESS! MATCH doesn’t think that Ajax are underdogs anymore – they’ve proven that by knocking out European giants Real Madrid and Juventus! They’ll have massive belief that they can beat absolutely anyone now, and the way they celebrate after games shows the awesome team spirit and togetherness they have in their young squad! 2. FAST, ATTACKING FOOTY! Some of the footy Ajax have played during this year’s CL has been out of this world! They move the ball fast, pass in small triangles and attack with speed – and it’s so hard to defend against! They ripped one of Europe’s best defences apart in the last round with their wicked speed on the break through wingers Neres and Ziyech! 3. TERRIFIC TADIC! The ex-Southampton hero’s been on another…

180 They’ve had 180 attempts on goal going into the semi-finals – no team has had more than La Blaugrana! 3 Against United, they became the first side to score three goals from outside the box in a CL match since 2017! 6,000 They were the first team to complete over 6,000 passes in this year’s tourno – and the first to attempt over 7,000! 150 They’ve also been fouled more times than any other side – they’d suffered 150 fouls going into the semi-finals! 95 They have some pinpoint passers, but none more so than Brazil CM Arthur! He averages a 95% pass completion rate!…

DREAM TEAM EUROPEAN MOTMS! Check out this XI of Champo and Europa League MOTM cards… BARGAIN SKILLERS! Sign these sick five-star skillers without breaking the bank! WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU Email: match.magazine@ kelsey.co.uk Facebook: www. facebook.com / matchmagazine Twitter: www. twitter .com /matchmagazine FIFA SCOUT – FALSE NINES A ‘false nine’ is a forward that drops into midfield to help build attacks! You can sign these class stars to give your front line some extra spark! EDEN HAZARD ★ CHELSEA ★ Although his best position is on the wing, Hazard can also play CF with all the stats of a world-class false nine! We all know his dribbling is sick, but he combines it with 87 positioning and top-quality passing stats – as well as 84 finishing to…

10 JACK GREALISH Aston Villa He’s not played as many league games as some other stars on this listtbecause of injuries, but when he has played he’s looked class! An obviousshighlight of his – and for Villa fans – was scoring the winner in the Second City derby against Birmingham back in March. Hero! 9 ADAM WEBSTER Bristol City The Robins sold CB Aden Flint to Boro last summer, but replaced him aday later with Webster –and it’s turned out brilliantly! The ex-Ipswich CB has been arock, and carries the ball out so well that some fans have begun calling him ‘Webdini’ –after Italy ledge and FIFA 19 ICON Paolo Maldini! 8 JARROD BOWEN Hull The net-busting attacker was linked with a move to the Prem in January, but he…