Sergio Ramos admits the appeal of Champions League football only added to the lure of an emotional return to Sevilla as he hopes the LaLiga side can win at Arsenal in his absence on Wednesday.
The 37-year-old won the competition four times during a trophy-laden spell at Real Madrid but is now back at his boyhood club following a stint with Paris St Germain.
The former Spain centre-back has been ruled out with a calf injury and has not travelled for Sevilla’s crucial Group B clash away to Arsenal.
Defeat for the reigning Europa League champions would leave their chances of progression into the Champions League knockout stages on a knife-edge with two games remaining.
Ramos will no doubt be desperate to feature in those fixtures and help keep Sevilla’s ambitions alive after making the “passionate” decision to return after an 18-year absence.
“I had received offers of going abroad, to Saudi Arabia, for instance – but this was a debt I had to my club, to Sevilla, the first team where I triumphed,” he said.
“This is also a personal debt towards my family, my parents, my grandparents – it’s very emotional, very passionate to me. This was a very personal decision, a decision made with the heart.
“The Champions League is something that everybody knows what it means, especially personally to me, when making a decision the Champions League is an important competition.
“Sevilla were playing in the Champions League and that was a plus in making such a decision.
“Arsenal are a consolidated team with young players with a well-defined style of play. They know how they play and we know it will be a very, very difficult game.
“Winning? Well, we know that Arsenal are an amazing team. But of course, the team will go there with the intention of taking the win, the three points home.
“We know how difficult it can be but we will try to play a serious game, very concentrated to try to make sure that they don’t have a lot of opportunities and we take advantage of the ones we have.”
Asked about his fitness ahead of Saturday’s 1-1 LaLiga draw against Celta Vigo, a match the World Cup winner was not involved in, Ramos replied: “Let’s take it one day at a time. It is true it’s not a big injury, it is a minor injury.”
Arsenal sit top of the group after a 2-1 win in Spain a fortnight ago but Mikel Arteta’s side have lost two of their three domestic games since.
Speaking at the Emirates Stadium on the eve of the clash, Sevilla head coach Diego Alonso praised Arsenal as one of the elite clubs in Europe.
“The game at a strategic and football level is complex,” he said.
“We are facing the fourth or fifth best team in Europe, they showed it last season, same in this one. It puts us in difficulties, but it also put us in difficulties two weeks ago. We competed well, with an unfair result for me because we did more for the game.”
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Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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