The Champions League semi-final draw took place Friday in Nyon, Switzerland and revealed a pair of enticing encounters in the penultimate round of the continental competition.
Real Madrid’s path to competing for a third consecutive Champions League title is far from easy after being drawn with Bundesliga champion Bayern Munich.
Semi-final 1: Bayern v Real Madrid. #UCLdraw pic.twitter.com/8A2vdgijqg
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) April 13, 2018
The clubs, who have won a combined 17 Champions League titles between them, will extend their record for the most common fixture in the competition when they meet for the 25th and 26th time in a European competition.
Bayern Munich will be the third consecutive league leader Real Madrid will face in the knockout round after progressing past Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus.
5 – Real Madrid have won the last five #UCL meetings against Bayern München, the best run for a Spanish team against the Bavarians. Classic pic.twitter.com/Vi7eryTnmG
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) April 13, 2018
Meanwhile, after bouncing Manchester City out of the Champions League, Liverpool managed to avoid the only two teams left in the tournament with a richer history in the competition and was drawn with a tricky Roma team that produced an even bigger upset in the quarter-finals by knocking out Barcelona.
Semi-final 2: Liverpool v Roma. #UCLdraw pic.twitter.com/GaKSr4OlGW
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) April 13, 2018
The clash will be a reunion of sorts for Mohamed Salah, who spent the last two seasons at Roma before moving to Anfield last summer and evolving into an elite attacker for Liverpool.
Dates for the semi-final fixtures haven’t been announced.
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — So much is different about the Los Angeles Rams these days. They’re coming off their first playoff appearance in 13 years, with a star-studded roster that now rivals any in the NFL, and the expectations are greater than they have been in more than a decade. The city is buzzing, the players are excited.
But one key similarity remains: Aaron Donald is absent.
Donald didn’t attend the start of the Rams’ offseason program on Monday. The reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year was absent for most of last year’s program and is still in search of a new contract, one that would make him one of the game’s highest-paid players. Donald is headed into the final year of his rookie contract, with no interest in showing up without a more lucrative deal.
After his team’s first workout, Rams coach Sean McVay said they are “proactive towards finding a solution to make sure that everybody feels good about that.”
Aaron Donald is set to make $6.89 million in the fifth year of his rookie contract. George Gojkovich/Getty Images
“What I think we feel good about is the dialogue that has existed,” McVay added. “We totally understand some of the other things that are going on with regards to wanting to get that deal. With respect to Aaron, we feel really good about where we’re at with that dialogue. This is a voluntary offseason program. You know he’s a guy that’s going to work hard on his off time, and that’s kind of where we’re at. We feel good about everything that’s going on with that.”
Donald, who remains in Pittsburgh, is set to make $6.89 million in what constitutes the fifth-year option of his rookie contract. The Rams can then keep him for up to three additional years with the franchise tag, but they have expressed a desire to sign Donald long term dating back to last year’s scouting combine.
Signing Donald to a long-term deal might actually give the Rams more space under this year’s salary cap, because the signing bonus is prorated for the life of the contract and would allow them to lower his 2018 base salary.
The Rams and Donald might be at a better place now, which could be evidenced by their exclusive, behind-the-scenes access to Donald’s hometown for their “Behind The Grind” documentary series. Donald likes playing for McVay and is excited about the direction of the team. The Rams, meanwhile, would be more willing to pay Donald now because he’s closer to free agency.
“I think the best thing that you have going is now there’s been a year of working together,” McVay said. “There’s a rapport; there’s a relationship that’s been established, and we’re in constant dialogue and communication. When this happened last year, we weren’t really involved in much communication between myself and Aaron. I think you feel good about at least knowing where he’s at.”
Locking Donald up may require at least $80 million guaranteed and an average yearly salary of more than $20 million.
Donald, Cooks and safety Lamarcus Joyner, who signed his franchise tag prior to Monday’s workout, can all be unrestricted free agents next offseason. The Rams would ideally sign all of them to long-term deals, though they face a July 16 deadline with Joyner.
Next year, their star running back, Todd Gurley, will be on the last year of his rookie contract, and the Rams might have to seriously consider a long-term deal for him, too. Gurley, represented by Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, is now in the same situation Donald was in last year. But he didn’t give much thought to staying away from the team.
Asked if he would like to start contract negotiations now, Gurley smiled wide.
“I think anyone would love to talk about contract situations.”
Offseason workouts are voluntary under the collective bargaining agreement. Players can be fined only for skipping the mandatory veteran minicamp, which for the Rams takes place June 12-14. Donald showed up to last year’s minicamp, but didn’t participate in any of the team activities. He then skipped all of training camp and the preseason schedule, staying away from the team until the day before the season opener.
“I mean, we’ve dealt with it before, and we also know that it’s a business,” Brockers said. “You have the best defensive tackle in the league right now going through contract situations. I’ll kind of just leave it at that. I don’t really want to talk about if he’s here, if he’s not here. We obviously know that he’s putting in the work to get back in shape.”
The Champions League semi-final draw was held Friday in Nyon, Switzerland, and the sounds of Bavarian groans were mixed with Merseyside glee as supporters of the four sides assessed their lots.
On the continent, things aren’t always as they seem, and while the Liverpool faithful may be ecstatic to draw Roma with a trip to Kyiv on the line, Eusebio Di Francesco’s men will be content to concede possession and force the high-flying Reds to penetrate a robust midfield and backline.
In the Spanish capital, Real Madrid supporters must be wondering what Zinedine Zidane and Co. have done to deserve a third consecutive league leader. For all the talk of Los Blancos’ luck in Europe, Real is tasked with yet another challenging draw in Bayern Munich on the heels of a group that featured a spirited Tottenham side and Borussia Dortmund.
With the semi-finals set to kick off the last week of April, here’s a glance at 10 compelling numbers providing a backdrop for what should prove to be a tasty next round of European soirees:
1: Liverpool has lost just one of its previous five matches with Roma including the 1983-84 European Cup final penalties victory.
3: Real Madrid’s draw of Bayern marks the third consecutive matchup with a league leader following knockout-stage victories over Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus.
5: Bayern has been eliminated from the tournament by Real on five occasions, more than any other European opponent.
6: Friday’s draw marks the sixth time on the bounce Bayern faces a Spanish team in the last-four, and since winning the 2013 installment, the Bavarian behemoth has been bounced by Spanish sides in each of the last four tournaments.
7: Bayern’s James Rodriguez won seven trophies in 110 matches with Real before joining the Germans on loan last summer.
17: Real and Bayern have won 17 European Cups between them, with the Spaniards boasting a record 12.
24: Real and Bayern have met on 24 occasions in European play, with the sides winning 11 times each.
33: Liverpool’s 33 goals lead the tournament, while its semi-final foe, Roma, has scored the fewest of the teams left standing (15).
39: Mohamed Salah has 39 goals for Liverpool in 44 matches in all competitions, compared to 34 in 83 when he played with semi-final foe, Roma.
1981: The last time the four European Cup semi-finalists came from Italy, England, Germany, and Spain was in 1981 when Liverpool topped Inter and Real bested Bayern. Liverpool went on to beat the Spaniards 1-0 in the final.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — When the San Francisco 49ers begin their offseason program Monday morning, linebacker Reuben Foster will not be joining them.
The 49ers released a statement attributed to chief executive officer Jed York, general manager John Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan on Sunday night saying that Foster will not be participating in team activities as he goes through the legal process stemming from his Feb. 11 arrest.
“Reuben Foster will not participate in team activities as he is tending to his legal matters,” the team said in the statement. “As previously stated, his future with the team will be determined by the information revealed during the legal process.”
The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office announced last Thursday that it was charging Foster with felony counts of domestic violence with an allegation that he inflicted great bodily injury, forcefully attempting to prevent a victim from reporting a crime and possession of an assault weapon. He also faces a misdemeanor charge for possession of a large-capacity weapon magazine.
Those charges were the result of a Feb. 11 disturbance call to a residence in Los Gatos. In a release from the district attorney’s office last week, officials said Foster, 24, physically attacked his live-in girlfriend, leaving her bruised and with a ruptured eardrum. The report went on to say Foster dragged her by her hair, physically threw her out of the house and punched her in the head eight to 10 times.
Foster was arraigned last week and ordered to have no contact with the woman involved in the case while remaining free on $75,000 bond. A plea hearing was scheduled for April 30.
The Niners are set to begin their offseason program Monday along with all other NFL teams that didn’t hire new head coaches. The voluntary workouts are focused on strength and conditioning for the first two weeks followed by three weeks of on-field work and individual drill instruction and capped off with 10 organized team activities.
Foster has spent time this offseason working out at the Niners’ facility on his own but will not be joining the rest of his teammates as they start the offseason program.
After Foster was charged last week, the Niners issued a statement saying they intended to follow the matter and noted that Foster “is aware that his place in our organization is under great scrutiny and will depend on what is learned through the legal process.”
In addition to the aforementioned felony charges in California, Foster is also facing second-degree marijuana possession charges in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, after an arrest there on Jan. 12. His next hearing for that is scheduled for May 2.
Either case could lead to discipline from the NFL, up to and including suspension. Foster’s cases will be reviewed under the league’s policies on substance abuse and personal conduct.
The league, in a statement released last week, said it was going to “continue to monitor all developments in this matter which is under review of the personal conduct policy.”
