Barely 4 years after hosting the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Russia now stands suspended from the Qatar edition of the tournament following the invasion of Ukraine, FIFA and UEFA released a joint statement, expelling Russia from all international football competitions by weekend. In retaliation to that “Russian President Vladimir Putin warned FIFA to stay out of the war in Ukraine. “If Russia does not play the Qatar 2022 World Cup, there will be no World Cup” states a viral social media statement that The Campusa Magazine has exclusively verified and found it FAKE. The only right way Russia can move forward with such a Decision is to appeal it. All match day 28 had taglines in favor of Ukraine in the current Russian conflict with the former.
Meanwhile Match Day 28 of Barclays Premier League had some series of interesting football with sorrows and excitements for respective Clubs.
Jesse Marsch’s first game as Leeds boss ends in defeat; Leeds produced an improved performance at the King Power Stadium; but Harvey Barnes’ strike, against the run of play, secured Leicester a 1-0 victory to open up the super packed weekend.
Arsenal moved into Premier League top four after thumping Watford 3:2 with a point ahead of United. It was a first Premier League victory for Eddie Howe’s side against top-10 opposition this season and once again showed their improved resilience and grit under their new manager as Newcastle beat Brighton 2:1 at St. James Park.
Meanwhile in the Manchester Derby, United players were left stunned before a 4:1 defeat to Man City with absence of their main striker Cristiano Ronaldo from the match. The Red Devils matched into the 55,000 Etihad Stadium psychologically dismantled without their number 7 who has scored 15 goals for United this season since returning from Juventus after 12 years in “exile”.
The Portuguese international’s form has drastically continued to dip ever since the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and appointment of Ralf Rangnick at Old Trafford. It’s also stated some figures in and outside the dressing room were angry that Ronaldo did not travel to show his support, with the forward not even in the stadium watching on from the sidelines.
Rangnick later confirmed Ronaldo was out of the Manchester derby with a hip flexor injury. Ronaldo was close to joining Man City before making drastically a U-turn to his former team Man Utd.
Relatedly, the team’s interim manager Ralf Rangnick has labelled Ajax manager Erik ten Hag as one of the “top coaches” in Europe though insisted no names have yet been discussed by the club as they seek their next permanent manager by end of June 2022.
Erik Ten Hag, Mauricio Pochettino and former Barcelona who is now the Spanish head coach Luis Enrique are among the candidates to become the long-term successor to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Rangnick is due to see out his time as temporary boss until the end of the season before undertaking a consultancy role at the club from July 1.
In other games Wolves 0:2 Crystal Palace, Norwich1:3 Brenford, Aston Villa 4:0 Southampton, Tottenham welcomes Everton and yet to find results on a late Monday night match.
