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Após fracasso na Copa Sul-Americana, ao terminar a competição como vice-campeão depois de derrota por 2 a 0 para o Independiente Del Valle, o São Paulo voltou a treinar na manhã desta segunda-feira (3).

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> Relembre todas as derrotas do São Paulo em finais continentais

> Veja tabela do Campeonato Brasileiro e simule os próximos jogos

A delegação do Tricolor chegou na cidade de São Paulo na madrugada de domingo (2). Nesta segunda-feira (3), todo o elenco ‘bateu ponto’ no CT da Barra Funda. Aqueles atletas que atuaram por mais tempo na decisão realizaram atividades de regeneração.

André Anderson foi uma das maiores novidades. Afastado desde julho por conta de dores musculares na região do púbis, treinou normalmente com o restante da equipe. Com a evolução, o jogador deve voltar a ser relacionado em breve.

Anunciado em abril pelo Tricolor, o jogador esteve presente em somente oito partidas nesta temporada, com 268 minutos em campo. Faltando apenas dez rodadas para o término do Campeonato Brasileiro, o atleta poderá ser uma novidade em breve.

Já Arboleda e Gabriel Neves seguiram com seus tratamentos no Reffis. Nikão seguiu com sua transição física após umaavulsão no músculo adutor esquerdo, enquanto Caio e Moreira continuaram com seus tratamentos também.

Eliminado da Copa do Brasil e derrotado na final da Copa Sul-Americana, o São Paulo agora retorna seus olhares para o Campeonato Brasileiro. A equipe de Rogério Ceni encontra oAmérica-MG na próxima quinta-feira (6), às 20h, na Arena Independência.

Sem chance de título, a meta do Tricolor agora é buscar – pelo menos – uma vaga na Copa Libertadores no próximo ano. Para isso, os próximos jogos contarão com força máxima da equipe.

Noman Ali claimed seven wickets with guileful, accurate left-arm spin, then Naseem Shah’s sublime reverse-swing spell in the Colombo heat closed out the match, as Pakistan completed about a domineering a victory on Sri Lankan soil as has been achieved in the last several years.Pakistan’s bowling was spellbinding, but the numbers of this victory themselves are epic. Pakistan won by an innings and 222 runs, which is Sri Lanka’s worst-ever defeat at home. They did it inside four days, despite more than a day’s play having effectively been lost to rain and bad light. Noman’s figures for the second innings were 7 for 70. And Naseem bowled an unbroken 7.4 over spell that was pure fire and reverse swing to shut the door on the opposition.It was Noman’s flight, dip, and changes of pace that made him an especial threat. Sri Lanka had started their second innings nicely, their openers making 69 together. But the moment Noman came into the attack he produced a spectacular delivery to dismiss Nishan Madushka for 33, and would then go on to scythe through the batting order. The ball to Madushka was bowled from around the wicket, drifted in, dipped, pitched on middle and leg, then leapt off the surface to beat the batter’s outside edge and clip off stump. That was in the last half hour before lunch.After the break, Noman was unstoppable. Dimuth Karunaratne was caught at short leg by Imam-ul-Haq – another sharp take at that position for Pakistan, who have been spectacular with their close catching all series. Kusal Mendis then attempted to hit Noman inside out and spooned a catch to cover instead, having failed to get to the pitch of the ball. Dinesh Chandimal was out cheaply gloving an attempted lap sweep, and even Dhananjaya de Silva – who had had a good series – fell cheaply, holing out to long on to complete Noman’s five-wicket haul.Angelo Mathews, who hit an unbeaten half century as the devastation unfolded at the other end, was himself struggling against Noman, particularly early in his innings. He struck some big boundaries, sure, but in between were nervy defensive strokes. He eventually gained confidence. But none of the Sri Lanka batters were comfortable against Noman, as he got plenty to bite off the surface, kept testing them on a length, and bowled few loose deliveries.When he took his sixth and seventh wickets – having Sadeera Samarawickrama caught at point after getting the ball to bounce more than expected, before having Ramesh Mendis stumped – there was still the chance he might take all ten wickets in an innings.But then Naseem was putting in a heroic spell at the other end. It is difficult to overstate just how much he was getting the old the ball to swing, particularly into the right-hander. He’d cover the ball as he ran in, to conceal the shiny side, and by extension, keep the batter unaware as to which direction it would move. And he was bowling serious pace – sometimes touching the mid 140kph range.In one over to Ramesh Mendis the 62nd of the innings – he struck the batter on the pads three times in successive balls. On the first occasion Pakistan reviewed a not-out decision which was upheld because the ball was swinging down leg. On the next two, Ramesh reviewed out decisions, and they both turned out to be missing leg as well. The ball was curving fast and late.Eventually, Naseem would get some reward. He bowled an especially long spell, partly, you suspect, because he did not want to give the ball up. He bowled Prabath Jayasuriya who left a ball that cannoned into his off stump (further proof of how far this ball was moving laterally), then made an eruption out of Asitha Fernando and Dilshan Madushanka’s stumps as well.Mathews’ half-century always looked like it was coming in a losing effort, so far behind were Sri Lanka. And although there has been rain around, Babar Azam’s decision to have Pakistan bat two further overs early in the day ostensibly to let Mohammad Rizwan complete an eighth Test half century, did not hinder them at all, so good were his bowlers, and so readily did Sri Lanka’s batting succumb.

Unexpected appearance of a “big hole” in crease not enough to throw Smith off his stride

Andrew McGlashan08-Jun-20231:18

Steven Smith is chuffed at two half-volleys to start his day

Not much could knock Steven Smith out of his batting stride at The Oval as he compiled his 31st Test century although David Warner’s unusual guard nearly did it.A segment for Channel Seven by Ricky Ponting during the lunch interval on the second day brought attention to the crater Warner had created in the batting crease as part of a plan to aid his footwork.Unlike a normal batting guard where the marks run perpendicular to whichever stump the batter asks for, Warner dug what resembled a small trench parallel to the stumps with holes at either end.Related

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Smith, who came in following Warner’s dismissal shortly before lunch on the opening day, admitted it had taken him by surprise.”I nearly fell in it,” he joked. “I got used to it eventually but almost twisted my ankle a few balls to be honest then I sort of got used to it. I’ve never experienced that before on that side really, you occasionally get the edging of the footmarks at the backend of the game where you kind of fall into them where you are off balance, but when I’m moving to off stump and I’ve got this hole there it’s something I haven’t experienced before.”I’d no idea it was coming until I walked out and marked my guard and saw this big hole. Was just wondering who made this? Think I asked Marnus [Labuschagne] what was going on at the end, there’s a big hole I’m about to fall into. It was odd.”But once Smith was settled he was almost faultless until dragging Shardul Thakur into his stumps and he did not see a problem with Warner’s creative digging.”Maybe he should it more often, it worked for me,” he said. “He can keep digging that hole I suppose… whatever the batter needs I suppose to get themselves into a good position.”David Warner made 43 after employing a new method of marking his guard•Associated PressWarner, whose position has been under scrutiny, had made a compact 43 on the opening day, becoming increasingly assured after a tricky first hour, and later said it was as good as he had felt for 24 months.Ponting, who is Warner’s coach at Delhi Capitals in the IPL, explained that the method he was using was to aid his footwork and stop him going too far to leg stump.”He’s actually got a line going across the back vertical to the stump line,” Ponting said. “And look at each end of that line there, there’s two quite deep holes. Now I know for a fact, having worked with David Warner for the last couple of years, a lot on his batting, when he’s batting his worst, his trigger movement has gone back outside leg stump.”So only two days ago he came up with this plan of digging two holes and making sure that when he moved his foot that his foot stayed within those two holes. If he moved back and across, he could feel his heel going into the hole. If you move too far across to the off stump, then his toes go into the hole.”That’s the sign of a modern player, someone that’s played over 100 Tests still trying to find a way to get better.”Although what Warner did was unusual, it did not contravene any Laws which only come into play for the protected area in front of the popping crease where bowlers are not allowed to encroach in to and batters are not allowed to enter “without reasonable cause” or take their guard in.

Worcestershire trail by 392 runs as Ben Raine adds 71 for hosts before showers force early close

ECB Reporters Network14-Apr-2023Worcestershire 96 for 2 (Pollock 41, Libby 19*, Potts 2-41) trail Durham 425 for 9 dec (Bedingham 118, Raine 71, Lees 70, Gibbon 4-92) by 329 runsTwo wickets from Matthew Potts allowed Durham to make inroads into the Worcestershire batting line-up before rain ended day two prematurely in their LV= Insurance County Championship Division Two clash at Seat Unique Riverside.The home side posted 425 for 9 declared in their first innings after Ben Raine scored an impressive 71 to build on David Bedingham’s century and Alex Lees’ knock of 70 from day one, securing four batting bonus points to the total.Ed Pollock got the Worcestershire reply off to a blistering start, scoring 41 from just 26 balls before he was bowled by Potts. The England seamer produced a timely peach to remove Azhar Ali just before the close, signalling that he is well prepared to fill the void of Chris Rushworth’s departure. The visitors will resume day three 329 runs behind with eight first-innings wickets in hand.Resuming on 363 for 7, Durham were in need of further runs to shore up their exploits from day one. Raine continued his rich vein of form against Worcestershire following on from his century in the contest between the two sides at the Riverside last season. He sent a cut through backward point to the boundary to register his 14th fifty in first-class cricket.Raine and Paul Coughlin tormented Worcestershire with a record-breaking stand of 213 last season, and proved to be a thorn in their side again by reaching their century stand, securing the fourth batting bonus point for Durham in the process. There was no repeat of their mammoth effort as Coughlin fell for 42 and Raine was caught on the fence before Scott Borthwick declared.Pollock displayed no appetite to see out play until lunch as he unleashed an assault against the new ball. The left-hander bludgeoned nine boundaries to bring up the visitors’ fifty in the sixth over. The ferocity of Pollock’s innings fired up Potts and the England seamer took delight in dismantling his stumps for an entertaining 26-ball knock of 41.Azhar and Jake Libby were more sedate in their approach as the sunshine was gradually replaced by cloud cover. The elements allowed Potts, Raine and Coughlin to control the run rate while beating the bat on several occasions. It appeared as though Durham’s search for a breakthrough would end in frustration as the rain closed in.Azhar was put down by Ollie Robinson for 29 down the leg-side in a rare error from the gloveman. However, his reprieve lasted only two balls before Potts pinned the former Pakistan international lbw just before rain ended the day’s proceedings early.

Leeds United are no strangers to the loan market and they know how important it can be at Championship level, which is also the case for Daniel Farke.

The German head coach’s 2018/19 Championship title-winning campaign was bolstered by the loan addition of Jordan Rhodes, and his 2020/21 title-winning side at Norwich City had Ollie Skipp on loan from Tottenham Hotspur.

This season, Farke brought in Manor Solomon on loan from Spurs and Joe Rothwell on loan from Premier League side Bournemouth to bolster his Leeds side.

Leeds United's best loan stars

Both players have starred for the West Yorkshire outfit in the Championship so far this term, proving themselves to be very valuable additions to the group.

Rothwell has started 21 of his 33 appearances in the second tier this season, completing 91% of his attempted passes, and registered two important assists in the dramatic comeback against Sunderland last month.

Solomon, meanwhile, has racked up seven goals and seven assists in 20 Championship starts, which has led to him ranking incredibly highly against his positional peers in the division, as shown in the table below.

24/25 Championship

Solomon (per 90)

Percentile rank vs att. mids & wingers

Non-penalty goals

0.36

Top 10%

Shot-creating actions

5.09

Top 1%

Assists

0.36

Top 5%

Expected Assisted Goals

0.35

Top 1%

Successful take-ons

2.62

Top 2%

Stats via FBref

Both players have, therefore, had a positive influence on the pitch this season and Farke will be hoping that they will both have played a part in a promotion to the Premier League by the end of the campaign.

Leeds, and any club bringing in a loanee, do not always see the best of the players that they have on loan, though, and that was the case once upon a time with Ross Barkley.

Remember Ross Barkley's loan spell at Leeds

The Whites swooped to sign the English midfielder on loan from Premier League side Everton on a one-month loan in January 2013, with Neil Warnock in charge at Elland Road at the time.

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At the time of his loan spell with Leeds, Transfermarkt valued Barkley at just £3.8m after he had scored four goals in 13 games on loan at Sheffield Wednesday in the first half of the campaign.

BBC Sport’s Kevin Kilbane claimed the midfielder was “like Paul Gascoigne”, who scored ten goals in 57 caps for England, but the Whites did not see the best of his abilities, as he assisted one goal in four appearances before his return to Goodison Park.

Barkley went on to become a regular for Everton in the 2013/14 campaign, scoring six goals in 34 Premier League games, and that is when his career really kicked off.

By November 2014, less than two years on from his time with Leeds, the Manchester Evening News reported that the Toffees had placed a £60m price tag – a British record fee at the time – on the midfielder’s head amid interest from Manchester City.

This means that his value soared by a whopping 1479%, from £3.8m, between his one month at Leeds in January and February 2013 and the time of that report in November 2014.

Unfortunately, Warnock and the Whites did not get to see the best version of the talented ace, who currently plays for Aston Villa in the Premier League and has scored three times in 16 matches, as they only had him on loan for a month in the very early stages of his career.

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Tottenham Hotspur are revelling over a Spurs teenager’s quality behind-the-scenes, with the player currently waiting to make his full debut under Ange Postecoglou.

Tottenham prepare for Liverpool in Carabao Cup second leg at Anfield

Lucas Bergvall’s late first leg Carabao Cup semi-final winner handed injury-ridden Spurs a crucial advantage heading into their second leg at Anfield on Thursday evening, but it is a tough ask for Postecoglou’s side to come away from Merseyside unscathed.

What Harry Kane told Mathys Tel which convinced him to join Tottenham

Spurs made a dramatic late window swoop for the Frenchman.

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By
Emilio Galantini

Feb 5, 2025

Arne Slot’s Premier League frontrunners are England’s standout side right now, and they haven’t got the array of player selection dilemmas currently facing Tottenham amid their ongoing injury crisis.

Postecoglou, though, has benefited from the late January window arrivals of Kevin Danso from RC Lens and, most notably, Bayern Munich sensation Mathys Tel on a season-long loan.

Radu Dragusin is out for a lengthy period after suffering a serious ACL injury, while both Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero are working their way back to full fitness, so Danso’s addition is pivotal.

Postecoglou relied on youngsters to get Spurs through their first leg against Liverpool, with Bergvall putting in an impressive display, Antonin Kinsky dazzling on his debut in goal and Archie Gray performing excellently as a makeshift centre-back.

“I haven’t lost sight of the fact that we’ve got two 18-year-olds, one who’s playing at centre back (Archie Gray), it’s not even his position,” said Postecoglou after Tottenham’s first leg win over Liverpool.

“I just don’t think people really understand the level of performance that these young guys are giving us at the moment. We had a goalkeeper (Antonin Kinsky) on debut. Djed (Spence) is playing left-back, unbelievably well. Lucas is just growing all the time. He’s got that ability as a footballer to create space for himself.

“He’s got the quality, but he works awfully hard for the team as well. Like I said, we’ve been dealing with some adversity for sure, but we’ve had some growth in that, I’ve got no doubt about that. That’s been masked by poor results and poor form, for sure. I’ve got no doubt that when we get our players back, the foundations are really strong, with a group of players we can really grow with.”

Tottenham privately hailing "generational talent" Mathys Tel

Now, with another young starlet set to play a crucial role under Postecoglou in Tel, journalist Graeme Bailey has revealed that those within the club are privately hailing the 19-year-old.

Tel performed a major U-turn over joining Tottenham, originally rejecting their advances before Postecoglou and Harry Kane swayed him into changing his mind, and now the French starlet is set to bolster Spurs’ ranks as they look to finish the campaign strongly.

According to Bailey, Tottenham are convinced they’ve got a “generational talent” in Tel, who’s awaiting to make his debut for the club, as supporters anticipate what he’ll bring to the table.

“Tottenham are already celebrating behind the scenes in regards to the signing of Mathys Tel from Bayern Munich,” said Bailey, via X. “Spurs believe Tel to be a ‘generational talent’.”

The versatile forward racked up 10 goals and bagged a further six assists in all competitions for Bayern last term, and if he can replicate those numbers in England, Spurs would surely be tempted to trigger the rumoured £50 million buy-option clause in his loan deal.

The French titleholders have wonderful width and devastating dribblers, but the evolution of their midfield has been key to their transformation

There were just five minutes remaining at Santiago Bernabeu when Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey stupidly shoved Real Madrid counterpart Dani Ceballos to the ground right in front of referee Francoiz Letexier. A yellow card was the only possible outcome, and Declan Rice was rightly furious with his team-mate for getting himself suspended so needlessly for the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals.

Partey, who was immense in the comprehensive last-eight elimination of Madrid, would have been important no matter the opposition in the last four, but he's going to be all the more conspicuous by his absence at the Emirates on Tuesday because the Gunners are going up against Paris Saint-Germain, who boast the best midfield in this year's competition – any by some distance too.

• Getty Images
  

  From big-game bottlers to great entertainers

  Kylian Mbappe's decision to move to Madrid last summer was a major blow for PSG, particularly from a financial perspective. Losing one of the most valuable players in the world on a free transfer was an undeniable disaster for the club's Qatari owners.

  However, Luis Enrique repeatedly insisted that, on a purely sporting level, PSG could become a stronger, more balanced team without their talismanic forward, who accounted for 35 percent of the 124 goals they scored last season.

  The Spanish coach has been proven correct. Despite losing Mbappe, PSG have once again reached the semi-finals of the Champions League – and while playing better football than ever before. Indeed, the state-sponsored, superstar-obsessed club that most neutrals used to revel in seeing come up with new and exciting ways to get themselves knocked out of Europe have now become the purists' favourites – not least because of their wondrous use of width and the impressive amount of devastating dribblers they've managed to cram into their starting line-up.

  However, while the wondrous wing play of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia & Co. has rightly drawn plenty of praise from across the footballing world, their majestic midfield is arguably just as deserving of attention – particularly as its evolution has been utterly integral to PSG's transformation into one of the most likeable sides in European football.

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• Getty Images Sport
  

  'We lost almost every single duel'

  When PSG and Arsenal met at the Emirates earlier this season, the visitors didn't look anything like potential Champions League winners. The game was as good as over by the break, in fact, after goals Bukayo Saka added to Kai Havertz's opener, and Luis Enrique was left lamenting his side's complete inability to put the Gunners under any real pressure whatsoever.

  "Tonight, we were far away from the standards you need in this kind of match," the Spaniard told UEFA's official website. "I think we lost almost every single duel we contested."

  However, as former Arsenal winger Theo Walcott pointed out after the 2-1 win over Madrid at the Bernabeu, PSG are no longer anything like the side they were at the start of the season: "PSG hadn't really clicked then," the ex-England international told , "but they have now."

  And it was a win over another English side that proved the turning point in their 2024-25 campaign.

• Getty Images Sport
  

  'Something changed' during City win

  It's funny to think about it now but PSG were on the verge of an embarrassingly early Champions League exit when they hosted Manchester City on January 22. Had they lost at home to the 2023 winners, there would have been no way back for the runaway Ligue 1 leaders, as they'd only amassed seven points from their first six fixtures in the league phase, and PSG were 2-0 down after 53 minutes at Parc des Princes.

  However, as Luis Enrique said, "something changed" in and around the club that night. PSG's new crop of exciting young players proved not only their quality but also their mettle as they went about ridding the club of its reputation for bottling big games.

  The introduction of a revitalised Ousmane Dembele off the bench was key in that regard, while fellow winger Bradley Barcola also played a pivotal role in the fightback. However, as Pep Guardiola admitted afterwards, it was Vitinha, Joao Neves and Fabian Ruiz that really decided the game, as PSG's midfield trio ran rings around Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic.

  “They were better in the duels," the Catalan coach said. "And we could not cope with it as they were so fast. Everything happened in the middle and they had more players there. We could not control them defensively and that was the point: to defend we have to play and we could not keep the ball, or make an extra pass."

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  Relentless pressing

  Liverpool and Aston Villa found it just as difficult to retain possession against PSG in the knockout rounds, and although both Premier League teams fared better in their respective home legs, they still couldn't find a way past the Parisians.

  The primary problem is dealing with PSG's pressing. As Luis Enrique has proudly pointed out, whenever the ball is lost, his players never stop trying to win it back. To illustrate the point, seven players have won possession more than 68 times in this season's Champions League, and five of them play for PSG: Achraf Hakimi, Joao Neves, Vitinha, Nuno Mendes and Willian Pacho. Unsurprisingly, Neves and Vitinha rank joint-first among midfielders, alongside Joshua Kimmich.

  Neves has also won more tackles than any other player (31), while only Bayern Munich's Kimmich has completed more passes than Vitinha, whom Luis Enrique is now touting as the best No.6 in the world – and with some degree of justification.

In a move that could go a long way towards sealing their top four place, Nottingham Forest have now reportedly joined the race to sign a new forward worth over £34m this month.

Nottingham Forest transfer news

Those at the City Ground are in a better place than ever in the Premier League to sign some top talents. With the potential of Champions League football to offer, the likes of Baris Alper Yilmaz are suddenly realistic targets as Forest look to cement their place among the Premier League’s best in the remainder of the season, as their recent 1-1 draw against Liverpool proved they’re capable of doing.

As the January transfer window and their shock inclusion in the Premier League title race roll on, Nottingham Forest may well be one of the most interesting sides to watch across European football, especially if they win the race to sign one particular forward this month.

According to Firenze Viola as relayed by Sports Witness, Nottingham Forest have now joined the race to sign Luiz Henrique from Brazilian side Botafogo, who value their forward at €40m (£34m) plus add-ons this month.

Club now open to selling Nottingham Forest target with 23 goals last season

2024 was a very fruitful year for the striker.

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Barney Lane

Jan 17, 2025

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side are reportedly joined by Crystal Palace and Fiorentina in the race to sign the Brazilian this month and see him as a player who could provide key depth behind their frontline.

Henrique would likely play the same role as Awoniyi from the bench and could even replace the former Bundesliga star who has been linked with a move to West Ham United this month.

If the forward does depart then Forest’s depth could become exposed, making the arrival of Henrique all the more important before the end of the January transfer window.

"Direct" Henrique could replace Awoniyi

With the ability to play on both wings and in the leading role, Henrique could quickly become a key man at Nottingham Forest and replace Awoniyi should the forward depart this month. And whilst £34m+ is quite the fee for what would be a back-up player, Forest will certainly need the depth if they are to cause a few upsets in the Champions League next season.

Still just 24 years old, there’s also no reason why Henrique can’t eventually go on and replace Chris Wood, Callum Hudson-Odoi or Anthony Elanga under Espirito Santo. Scoring 13 goals and assisting another nine in all competitions for Botafogo in his last season in Brazil, Henrique was praised for his “direct” play by South American football expert Nathan Joyes.

Whether those at the City Ground will get the chance to see that “direct” ability for themselves remains to be seen, but Henrique is certainly one to watch.

Andrea Pirlo had to block his son's ban account in 2022, as the then teenager amassed gambling debts of €30k in illegal online scheme.

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Ex-Italy international took decisive actionSon forced to learn the hard wayAvoid repetition of the same words & topicsFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱Getty Images SportWHAT HAPPENED?

The ex-Juventus and AC Milan playmaker was able to shut his son Nicolo's account as his legal guardian. Just 17 at the time, he would be unable to open another account until he turned 18. It is believed the young man had become embroiled in the same illicit gambling schemes as Sandro Tonali. The Newcastle midfielder served a 10-month ban for his indiscretions from October 2023 to August 2024.

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A report by , suggests that Fiorentina midfielder Nicolo Fagioli, who was also banned for his involvement in the scheme, had informed suspected ringleader Pietro Marinoni about the issue between Pirlo and his son. The Serie D referee is accused of organising and recruiting footballers to take part in illegal gambling activities. Marinoni was suspended by Association of Italian Referees, after Milan's public prosecutor opened a case against 12 current and former Serie A players.

WHAT NICOLO FAGIOLI SAID

In a WhatsApp chat dated June 7th, 2022, Fagioli described Pirlo's son as "one of us" to Marinoni, but then also added:

"He went into debit recovery, but his father found out and blocked his bank account until he’s 18. Having a €30,000 debt at 17 is something else."

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Tonali told calciomercato in 2023 about Marinoni's role in recruiting him into the illegal activities. He said: "The person who initiated me to gambling is Pietro Marinoni, who comes from the same city as me and went to school with my sister. He was a referee.

"I was never threatened, but I was offered to pay off the debt in installments. I reached a debt of €500,000 with them. Their objective was to make me continue to gamble, but they never pushed for any payment."

The American scored his second overall goal for Palace and his first of this campaign

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Palace took a 2-0 lead thanks to Richards' corner goalFirst league goal of the seasonManchester City would rally back to make score 2-2 at halftimeFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱Getty ImagesWHAT HAPPENED?

U.S. international Chris Richards gave Crystal Palace a stunning 2-0 lead with a towering header off a perfectly placed Adam Wharton corner in the 21st minute. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough as would lose 5-2.

Palace had struck first through Eberechi Eze, who finished off a sharp counter-attack in the eighth minute. But Manchester City responded quickly, cutting into the lead with a goal from outgoing club legend Kevin De Bruyne in the 33rd minute. Just three minutes later, winter signing Omar Marmoush equalized to make it 2-2.

Manchester City would continue their onslaught in the second half as Mateo Kovacic, James McAtee and Nico O'Reilly would all add goals in the final 45 minutes.

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This match had huge implications for both sides, especially in Europe. Manchester City move up to fourth at 54 points with their win, placing them ahead of current fourth-placed team Chelsea, who play Sunday. With Palace losing, they are now at 11th place with slim chances of taking a European place.

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WHAT NEXT FOR PALACE?

Palace have a quick turnaround, facing another Champions League hopeful in Newcastle this Wednesday.