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Man Utd to pay tribute to Charlton Tuesday night

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Bobby Charlton

Manchester United are expected to pay further tribute to Sir Bobby Charlton ahead of Tuesday night’s Champions League match at Old Trafford.

The United Trinity statue outside the ground was awash with tributes to Charlton on Sunday as supporters laid flowers and scarves, with many leaving deeply personal thoughts for one of the club’s most famous sons, following his death aged 86.

A book of condolence was opened at the International Suite inside the stadium, while current boss Erik Ten Hag and members of the United squad added their messages at Carrington.

United confirmed discussions were continuing to take place with Charlton’s family and UEFA for further commemorative plans ahead of Tuesday night’s Champions League Group A match against Copenhagen.

It is expected players will wear black armbands, with wreaths to be laid on the Old Trafford pitch and a minute’s silence observed ahead of kick-off.

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A key member of England’s victorious 1966 World Cup team, Charlton also enjoyed great success at club level with United, who became the first English club to win the European Cup in 1968.

Charlton made his debut for United in 1956 and went on to play 758 matches, scoring 249 goals.

Both were long-standing club records until they were overtaken by Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney, respectively. He was knighted for services to football in 1994.

Having won three league titles and one FA Cup at Old Trafford, Charlton left United in 1973 and went on to manage Preston before returning to the Red Devils 11 years later as a club director.

David Moyes took over from Sir Alex Ferguson as Manchester United manager in the summer of 2013, but the former Everton boss left the club after just 10 months, with the team seventh on the Premier League table.

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Now in charge at West Ham, Moyes reflected on the support shown by Charlton during what was one of the most testing spells of his managerial career.

“I’m deeply saddened and I send my condolences to all his family. The biggest thing everyone remembers, more than anything, is how great a man he was. He was such a good man,” Moyes said, quoted on West Ham’s club website.

“For me, it was difficult at times at Manchester United and he was incredibly supportive and always had something to say to me.

“He had a great wife in Lady Norma and even when I lost my job; she phoned my wife up, which was important at the time.

“For me, he carried off all the things that Manchester United were good for. He showed the traditions, he showed exactly how it should be.

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“He showed great humility wherever he went, but not only that at Manchester United, he was ultimately one of the main people in English football over the years.

“When you think of the greats who have come through English football, Bobby Charlton would be in there.”

It was announced on Saturday afternoon that Charlton had died peacefully in the early hours of the morning surrounded by his family.

Born in Ashington on Oct. 11, 1937, Charlton played in the World Cup final alongside his brother Jack – who died aged 85 in 2020 – and won 106 caps for England, scoring 49 goals.

European Cup success with United came 10 years after the Munich air disaster, which Charlton and manager Sir Matt Busby survived, but which claimed the lives of eight of his team-mates.

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Former team-mate Denis Law said on manutd.com: “Another sad day. What can I say? Sir Bobby was an unbelievable player and a gentleman. Manchester United meant everything to him.

“We had many special and successful years together and he was a joy to play with. He knew where every player was on the pitch and for me, that was a dream. I knew, if Bobby had the ball, it would find me and it did.

“What a striker of the ball he was. He could hit the ball so hard that I knew most keepers didn’t stand a chance. On the rare occasion they did manage to deflect it, it would drop nicely to me to finish it off.

“Along with George (Best), our partnership was sealed. The great part of playing with Bobby and George was that if one of us was having a bad day, the other two knew and that’s what made our relationship special.

“I am saddened by the news, like all football fans today.”

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Charlton was diagnosed with dementia and his condition was made public in November 2020, two days after his United and England team-mate Nobby Stiles died following his battle with the illness.

Tributes were left at Old Trafford this weekend, one which read: “Thank you, Sir Bobby, a hero to the worldwide football family.”

A message from a fan group, 1958, said: “History, dignity and integrity are what you gave to our great club. Our promise to you is to make sure it stays.”

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EPL: Salah makes history, surpasses Lampard’s goal record after Liverpool’s latest win

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Salah

Liverpool winger, Mohamed Salah, on Saturday, surpassed Chelsea legend, Frank Lampard’s goal record in the Premier League.

The Egyptian international achieved the feat after scoring a brace in Liverpool’s away Premier League 2-0 win against Bournemouth.

The match was played at the Vitality Stadium as Salah netted a penalty in the first half and another goal in the second half.

Salah’s two goals means, the former Chelsea and AS Roma star has now surpassed Lampard as 6th all time goal scorer in Premier League history.

The 32-year-old now has 178 Premier League goals with a goal ahead of Lampard, who now sit in 7th position on the all-time Premier League goal scorers chat.

He is, however, behind the likes of Alan Shearer, Harry Kane, Wayne Rooney, Andrew Cole and Sergio Aguero in the goal chat.

Salah has scored 21 goals for the Reds so far this season.

He could leave Liverpool in the summer as he is yet to sign a new deal.

His contract with Arne Slot’s side will expire at the end of the season.

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CAF unveils match schedule for AFCON 2025

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AFCON

The Confederation of African Football, CAF, on Friday announced the full match schedule for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.

Nine venues will be used across six cities for the continent’s flagship soccer event.

Hosts Morocco will will take on Comoros in the competition’s opening game at the newly-built 69,500-seater Complexe Sportif Prince Moulay Abdellah in Rabat on Sunday, December 21.

The country’s capital, Rabat, will have four match venues.

Other host cities are Casablanca, Agadir, Marrakech, Fes and Tangier, which will have one match each.

The four quarter-final fixtures will be played at the Sportif Prince Moulay Abdellah in Rabat, as well as in Tangier, Marrakech and Agadir.

The semi-finals will be in Rabat and Tangier, with the third-place play-off set for the Stade Mohammed V in Casablanca.

52 matches will be played during the biennial competition.

The Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire are the defending champions of the competition.

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BREAKING: UEFA Champions League knockout phase play-off draw confirmed [Full list]

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Champions League

The draw for this season’s UEFA Champions League knockout phase play-off draw has been conducted on Friday.

Eight teams have progressed straight to the round of 16 following the completion of the league phase.

They are Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Lille and Aston Villa.

They will all return to the competition in March, but others have more football to play before then.

The teams that finished between 9th and 24th, have a two-legged play-off to navigate in February.

FULL KNOCKOUT PHASE PLAY-OFF DRAW

Brest vs Paris-Saint Germain

Feyenoord vs AC Milan

Juventus vs PSV

Monaco vs Benfica

Man City vs Real Madrid

Celtic vs Bayern Munich

Sporting vs Borussia Dortmund

Club Brugge vs Atalanta

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