Espanyol look to sell stars amid mounting debts

Spanish top-flight side Espanyol have admitted they could be forced into a fire-sale of their best players this summer as they struggle to balance the books in the midst of the economic crisis.

The Barcelona-based club are believed to have total debts in the region of 160 million euros ($212m), with a significant lump of that owed to Spain's tax authorities.

Those figures are far higher than their overall budget for this season, and club spokesman Rafael Entrena says offers for their talented crop of players will be welcome come the end of the current campaign.

"It is possible that decisions will be taken that some will struggle to understand, but we must make an effort to balance the books," he was quoted as saying on the club's website.

"If we have to sell players to balance the books then that is what we will do, although right now we don't know if we will be buying or selling in the summer.

"We do not want to see the club fall into administration," he added, mindful that several clubs in La Liga, such as Racing Santander, Rayo Vallecano and Betis, are either in administration at the moment or have been in the recent past.

The total amount of money owed by Spanish clubs to the taxman has grown in recent years to reach 752 million euros ($998m).

The Spanish Sports Council (CSD) says plans to reduce the debt will be unveiled in the coming weeks.

Espanyol - with a squad containing numerous homegrown talents - currently sit seventh in La Liga and remain in contention for European qualification next season, providing their finances allow them to obtain a UEFA licence to compete in continental competition.

Clinical Bayern in charge after 2-0 win at Marseille

Bayern Munich took a huge step towards the Champions League semi-finals when goals by Mario Gomez and Arjen Robben gave them a clinical 2-0 win at Olympique Marseille on Wednesday in the first leg of their quarter-final tie.

Gomez gave Bayern the lead just before halftime when Robben's defence-splitting pass sent him clear and his shot beat Elinton Andrade who should have done better.

The Bundesliga side, who are desperate to reach the final that will be staged in their own stadium, dominated the second half and the outstanding Robben doubled their lead after 69 minutes to put them firmly in the driving seat for next Tuesday's second leg.

Marseille had a few early chances, notably when Rod Fanni's header was parried by Manuel Neuer into the path of Loic Remy only for the France striker to lash his close-range shot wide.

The French club's task will be even harder in the second leg as holding midfielder Alou Diarra picked up a yellow card and will be suspended.

"We did some good things until the opener but their goal really hammered us considering what we had achieved before they scored," Marseille manager Didier Deschamps told reporters.

"The second half was much harder. We faced a very good team. We played with heart but there's a gap between the two teams and everybody saw that."

Without centre back Souleymane Diawara and goalkeeper Steve Mandanda, both of whom were suspended, Marseille were never sharp enough to pose much threat to a Bayern side who had scored 22 goals in their previous five matches.

Bayern's coach Jupp Heynckes had said on the eve of the game that Marseille's main strength was their passion and the Stade Velodrome atmosphere but the disenchanted home fans were silent throughout apart from when they were booing former winger Franck Ribery on his first return to his old club.

All the noise came from Bayern's fans who had plenty to cheer about after a slightly nervy start.

Marseille did start brightly with Remy giving the visitors a let-off with his wayward finishing.

TAKE CONTROL

Bayern began to take control as the first half went on without carving out too many chances and they took the lead in controversial fashion after 44 minutes.

There was nothing wrong with Gomez's finish but the Bayern counter-attack began when Philipp Lahm handled the ball as he claimed it from Mathieu Valbuena.

Marseille, the 1993 champions, had a chance to level early in the second half when Remy took advantage of some sloppy defending to flick the ball past Jerome Boateng but his poked shot was then blocked by Neuer.

Robben produced a moment of real class to double the lead, playing a neat one-two with Thomas Mueller before sliding a shot beyind Marseille's third-choice keeper Andrade.

While Robben and Heynckes both said the job was not done after, Bayern look certain to reach another Champions League semi-final and a probably clash with Real Madrid who are well-placed after their first leg against Apol Nicosia.

"We achieved our goal which was winning here while keeping our goal clean," Heynckes told reporters. "I'm glad with the way we played the match.

"Though I have no doubt (for the return leg), I still have respect for Marseille. A quarter-final is two legs tie, I know soccer well enough to keep that in mind."

Kalou strikes as Chelsea down Benfica

Chelsea took a huge step towards the last four of the Champions League here on Tuesday after scoring a 1-0 victory over Portuguese giants Benfica in their quarter-final first-leg match.

A 75th-minute strike from Salomon Kalou gave Chelsea a hard-fought win at the Stadium of Light after Benfica had carved out the better chances but failed to land the knockout blow against their Premier League opponents.

The result also represented vindication for interim Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo, who had taken a huge gamble by surprisingly omitting veterans Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba and Michael Essien from his starting line-up.

The win puts Chelsea firmly on course to reach their sixth Champions League semi-final in nine seasons heading into next week's return leg.

"It's terrific, you couldn't have hoped for a better result," a delighted Di Matteo said. "I thought we looked good defensively. For 90 minutes we had to run and tackle, and I had to select a team that had the energy to compete.
"Nothing is over. There is still another 90 minutes to play. But we will have home advantage and we will try and qualify."

Di Matteo admitted he had taken a risk by opting to start with goalscorer Kalou. "He's come into the team after a long spell out, he got the goal and had a great game," he said.

"I didn't think it was a gamble but sometimes in life you have to take a little risk.
"With the fact we are playing all these games, it was important to select a team that had the energy for a high-tempo game."
A subdued first half saw neither side manage to get a grip on the game, with Chelsea failing to get a shot on target until Raul Meireles tested Artur with a fierce low strike on 40 minutes.
Benfica were scarcely much better, although the movement of Oscar Cardozo and Nicolas Gaitan had hinted at the home side's attacking threat.

Cardozo had been the first to draw a save from Petr Cech on 11 minutes, but his tame header from Gaitan's cross on the left was comfortably gathered by the Chelsea goalkeeper.

Gaitan was back in the thick of it on 20 minutes, threatening the Chelsea area following a quick free-kick only to shoot wide after getting goal-side of John Terry.
Chelsea forays into Benfica territory were few and far between, with Fernando Torres's high and wide shot on 22 minutes the sum total of their early efforts.
Benfica had one of the few attempts on goal in the 33rd minute when Bruno Cesar cut in from the right and shot, but again Cech was equal to the challenge, collecting the effort with relative ease.
It looked as if Chelsea were going to go an entire half without testing the Benfica goal before Meireles finally found his range five minutes before the break.
Ashley Cole picked out the Portuguese midfielder in space near the edge of the area and he unleashed a powerful low drive that Artur parried behind.
Benfica came out for the second half with a far greater sense of purpose and threatened the Chelsea goal twice in the opening five minutes.
Only a desperate goal-line clearance from David Luiz prevented a Benfica goal on 48 minutes, the Brazilian defender blocking Cardozo's thumping shot from the edge of the area.
Two minutes later Benfica were back on the attack, Pablo Aimar jinking forward and feeding Cesar, who tested Cech with a dipping long-range shot.
Yet Chelsea also had a golden opportunity to open the scoring on 53 minutes.
Torres curled in an inviting cross from the left but the unmarked Kalou could only head over from six yards with the goal begging.
Benfica remained in the ascendancy but Chelsea again were given a clear chance on goal on the 60-minute mark.
A long clearance by Cech somehow eluded all of Benfica's defence and found Juan Mata, who touched past Artur to go through on goal. The acute angle proved too much for the Spaniard, however, and his shot cannoned back off the upright.
Yet Benfica continued to look the likeliest to score, and Axel Witsel's deflected long-range shot flew just over on 65 minutes after a desperate block from John Terry.
A brilliant Cech save from Jardel's powerful close-range header then denied Benfica on 67 minutes as Chelsea survived again.
But with 15 minutes to go Chelsea struck with a goal from nothing.
Ramires, whose pace down the right had troubled Benfica all evening, once again surged down the flank into space.
The Brazilian midfielder fed Torres, who looked up and picked out Kalou, who jabbed home from close range to stun the Stadium of Light into silence.

Benfica never recovered their rhythm and Chelsea held on as the Portuguese side were beaten at home in Europe for the first time this season.

Ranieri leaves Inter Milan after six months

Crisis-hit Inter Milan parted company with coach Claudio Ranieri after six months on Monday, hours after club president Massimo Moratti had said the beleaguered coach was likely to stay on.

Ranieri left after a weekend defeat by old rivals Juventus, their sixth loss in 10 games in all competitions, left them struggling to qualify for next season's Champions League.

The Serie A club said on their website that Ranieri had left his post and Andrea Stramaccioni, who was on the coaching staff, would take temporary charge of the team, becoming Inter's third coach of the season.

"The President Massimo Moratti and all FC International would like to thank Claudio Ranieri and his staff for their professionalism and dedication and sincerity in recent months at the helm of the team," a club statement said.

Ranieri, the former Chelsea, Valencia, Juventus and AS Roma manager, took over at Inter last September but the side have struggled and are eighth in Serie A, 10 points behind third-placed Lazio who are in the final Champions League spot.

Inter Milan won the Champions League, Serie A and Italian Cup treble in 2010 under coach Jose Mourinho, who left immediately afterwards, and claimed the Serie A title five seasons in a row from 2006.

However, they have struggled since with an ageing team and twice this season broke the record for fielding the oldest side in the Champions League. Their team in the first game of the round-of-16 tie against Olympique Marseille had an average age of 31 years and 331 days.

Ranieri replaced Gian Piero Gasperini who was in charge for only five competitive matches, and was their fourth coach since Mourinho's departure, the club having parted company with Rafael Benitez and Leonardo last season

Moratti had suggested earlier on Monday that Ranieri would see out the season.

"I think so," Moratti told reporters when asked if Ranieri would stay in charge for the rest of the campaign.

"Of course (the Juve defeat) is a blow, it's also a rather undeserved defeat given the way we played in the first half, but seeing as we didn't score a goal, then obviously you can also concede."

Inter's only glimmer of hope this term has been the youth team winning a competition in London at the weekend and Moratti suggested it was time to give some of them a chance at senior level.

"I'm not the coach but I think there are already three or four who could feature for a few minutes, perhaps even more," he said.

Ranieri had previously defended his decision to bank on experience, saying young players could buckle easily under the pressure at the San Siro.

Ranieri made a slow start but a run of seven consecutive Serie A wins in December and January, including a 1-0 victory over neighbours AC Milan, suddenly had them talking of challenging for the title.

Instead, Inter suffered a dramatic loss of form which also included Champions League elimination at the hands of Olympique Marseille.

Man United edge Fulham 1-0, move clear

Wayne Rooney's 21st Premier League goal of the season secured a 1-0 victory for Manchester United over Fulham on Monday to put them three points clear on Manchester City in the title race.

Rooney's close-range strike after 41 minutes proved enough to see off an unambitious Fulham side and take the champions, who survied a strong late penalty appeal, to 73 points with eight games remaining.

City had moved top on goal difference with a 1-1 draw at Stoke City on Saturday but United responded with a ninth victory from their last 10 league matches and are now favourites to retain the title.

United manager Alex Ferguson, closing in on a 13th English championship with the Old Trafford club, said his team had deserved the three points despite tiring near the end.

"I thought for an hour we played very well, the passing was quick and decisive and we made some decent opportunities but Fulham put in a very determined defensive performance," Ferguson, who agreed that Fulham could have had a late penalty, told Sky Sports.

"A bit of tiredness came into our game and we started to give the ball away and they capitalised. The disappointing thing was that we never finished them off when we should have."

United struggled for fluency in the first half as Fulham initially posed some threat with American striker Clint Dempsey forcing a fine save from keeper David de Gea.

Gradually United exerted pressure and the breakthrough came with halftime approaching as a cross into the area bounced kindly off Fulham's John Arne Riise for the alert Jonny Evans to cut the ball back for Rooney to crash the ball past keeper Mark Schwarzer.

The home side improved after the break and should have spared themselves anxious late moments.

Ryan Giggs skewed one chance wide and Antonio Valencia squandered another when he shot straight at Schwarzer after being sent clear by Giggs's pass.

Schwarzer also made superb saves to twice deny Ashley Young as United searched for the killer goal.

It did not arrive, though, and Martin Jol's mid-table Fulham applied late pressure, Fulham having a strong appeal for a late penalty waved away when Danny Murphy tumbled in the area under a clumsy challenge from Michael Carrick.

"I think everyone in the stadium expected a penalty to be honest," Jol told Sky Sports. "But you have to be brave to give a penalty away at Manchester United.

"We could have had a result and I think they looked pretty nervous at the end."

Fergsuon said United should also have had a penalty but acknowledged that they had got a little fortunate.

"Certainly Michael Carrick caught Danny Muprhy's heels when he came back," Ferguson said. "But I think we deserved (some luck) because we completely dominated the game until that last 15 minutes."