Carlos Tevez turned his back on Manchester United. He hates the city of Manchester and he has been one long saga of troubles at Manchester City. Nobody denies his top scoring talent but he has been a nightmare to handle for City manager Roberto Mancini. After Tevez refused to come on as a 2nd half substitute in yesterday’s 0-2 loss to Bayern München in the Champions League, Mancini has had enough.
A furious Mancini has declared Tevez to be finished at the club. He has called for an emergency meeting with Manchester City’s wealthy owners from the Abu Dhabi United Group.

Mancini says the situation is impossible. When he was asked why Tevez refused to take to the field, Mancini replied: “He just refused to go on. I don’t know why. I cannot be happy with this situation. Would something like this happen at Bayern Munich, AC Milan or Manchester United? I am the manager. I decide everything. Carlos didn’t play at the start of the season because he has not had a pre-season for three years. He was not ready to play. If it was another player maybe this could happen, but for a player to refuse to go on in an important game like this is not right.”

Straight after the match Tevez told journalists: “I didn’t feel like playing, so I didn’t..” Today he has retracted it all as a misunderstanding, that he didn’t refuse to play. That’s certainly not Mancini’s view of the events.

Roberto Mancini stripped the Argentinian of the captaincy at the start of the season. Since then he has also discovered that being a regular starter is something he has to earn as well. Yesterday’s events could be the final nail in the coffin for Tevez. The manager is clear: If we want to improve like a team, like a squad, Carlos cannot play with us. With me, no – it is finished.

“It may not be my decision but if I’m deciding then, yes, he goes. For me, if a player earns a lot of money playing for Manchester City in the Champions League and he behaves like this – he cannot play again. Never. He has wanted to leave for the last two years. For two years I have helped him, and now he has refused to play. Never again.”

Fernando Torres has expressed his gratitude to the Chelsea fans for their support, despite the disastrous start at his new club. Since his £50 million move from Anfield to Stamford Bridge Torres has experienced the most miserable time of his professional football career.

Torres spoke to Chelsea TV after his first Premier League red card against Swansea on Saturday:
“Obviously, when you are doing great, scoring goals from the first day and doing good performances, it’s easy for the fans to love and support you. But the first six months for me at Chelsea have been very, very difficult and I have been struggling, and I have always had the support of the fans.
From the first day till now, every time I talk with them on the street, the cafe, everywhere, I can feel the support they are giving me so it is nice to start scoring for them.”

Torres has so far only scored three goals for Chelsea but despite poor form, terrible misses and a red card, there have been plenty of indications that he’s about to find back to his form of old. Torres will play in Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League match against Valencia before starting his three match ban in the Premier League.

The 1st leg of the round will be played on 16 February, the 2nd leg on 22 February 2012.

Porto (Portugal) – Manchester City (England)
Ajax (Netherlands) – Manchester United (England)
Lokomotiv Moscow (Russia) – Athletic Bilbao (Spain)
Red Bull Salzburg (Austria) – Metalist Kharkiv (Ukraine)
Stoke City (England) – Valencia (Spain)
Rubin Kazan (Russia) – Olympiacos (Greece)
AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands) – Anderlecht (Belgium)
Lazio (Italy) – Atletico Madrid (Spain)
Steaua Bucuresti (Romania) – Twente (Netherlands)
Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic) – Schalke 04 (Germany)
Wisla Krakow (Poland) – Standard Liege (Belgium)
Braga (Portugal) – Besiktas (Turkey)
Udinese (Italy) – PAOK (Greece)
Trabzonspor (Turkey) – PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands)
Hannover 96 (Germany) – Club Brugge (Belgium)
Legia Warsaw (Poland) – Sporting CP (Portugal)

The 2011/12 UEFA Europa League group stages kicked off on 15 September. From a total of 194 teams from 53 associations, listed below are the 48 teams who qualified for the group stages. The group winners and runners-up have advanced to the round of 32, where they were joined by the 8 third-placed teams from the group stage of the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League.

Group A
1. PAOK, Greece
2. Rubin Kazan, Russia
3. Tottenham Hotspur, England
4. Shamrock Rovers, Ireland

Group B
1. Standard Liege, Belgium
2. Hannover 96, Germany
3. FC København (Copenhagen), Denmark
4. Vorskla Poltava, Ukraine

Group C
1. PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands
2. Legia Warzaw, Poland
3. Hapoel Tel Aviv, Israel
4. Rapid Bucuresti, Romania

Group D
1. Sporting, Portugal
2. Lazio, Italy
3. Vaslui, Romania
4. Zürich, Switzerland

Group E
1. Besiktas, Turkey
2. Stoke City, England
3. Dynamo Kyiv, Ukraine
4. Maccabi Tel Aviv, Israel

Group F
1. Athletic Bilbao, Spain
2. Red Bull Salzburg, Austria
3. Paris Saint-Germain, France
4. Slovan Bratislava, Slovakia

Group G
1. Metalist Kharkiv, Ukraine
2. AZ Alkmaar, Netherlands
3. Austria Wien, Austria
4. Malmö FF, Sweden

Group H
1. Club Brugge, Belgium
2. Braga, Portugal
3. Birmingham City, England
4. Maribor, Slovenia

Group I
1. Atlético Madrid, Spain
2. Udinese, Italy
3. Celtic, Scotland
4. Rennes, France

Group J
1. Schalke 04, Germany
2. Steaua Bucuresti, Romania
3. Maccabi Haifa, Israel
4. AEK Larnaca, Cyprus

Group K
1. Twente, Netherlands
2. Wisla Krakow, Poland
3. Fulham, England
4. Odense, Denmark

Group L
1. Anderlecht, Belgium
2. Lokomotiv Moscow, Russia
3. AEK Athens, Greece
4. Sturm Graz, Austria

The 1st leg of the round will be played between 14-22 February, the 2nd leg between 6-14 March 2012.

Olympique Lyonnais (France) – APOEL (Cyprus)
Napoli (Italy) – Chelsea (England)
AC Milan (Italy) – Arsenal (England)
FC Basel (Switzerland) – Bayern München (Germany)
Bayer Leverkusen (Germany) – Barcelona (Spain)
CSKA Moscow (Russia) – Real Madrid (Spain)
Zenit St Petersburg (Russia) – Benfica (Portugal)
Olympique Marseille (France) – Internazionale (Italy)

The 2011/12 UEFA Champions League group stages kicked off on 13-14 September. From a total of 76 teams from 52 associations, these were the 32 teams qualified for the group stages (and how they qualified). The winners and runners-up went through to the Round of 16.

Group A
1. Bayern München, Germany (3rd in Bundesliga, beat Zürich in the League route)
2. Napoli, Italy (3rd in Serie A)
3. Manchester City, England (3rd in Premier League)
4. Villarreal, Spain (4th in La Liga, beat Odense in the League route)

Group B
1. Internazionale, Italy (2nd Serie A)
2. CSKA Moscow, Russia (2nd Russian Premier League)
3. Trabzonspor, Turkey (2nd Süper Lig, instead of champions Fenerbache who are banned)
4. Lille, France (1st Ligue 1)

Group C
1. Benfica, Portugal (2nd Primeira Liga, beat Trabzonspor in the League Route)
2. Basel, Switzerland (1st Swiss Super League)
3. Manchester United, England (1st Premier League)
4. Otelul Galati, Romania (1st Liga I)

Group D
1. Real Madrid, Spain (2nd La Liga)
2. Olympique Lyonnais, France (3rd Ligue 1, beat Rubin Kazan in the League Route)
3. Ajax, Netherlands (1st Eredivisie)
4. Dinamo Zagreb, Croatia (1st Prva HNL, beat HJK Helsinki and Malmö FF in the Champions Route)

Group E
1. Chelsea, England (2nd Premier League)
2. Bayer Leverkusen, Germany (2nd Bundesliga)
3. Valencia, Spain (3rd La Liga)
4. Genk, Belgium (1st Pro League, beat FK Partizan in the Champions Route)

Group F
1. Arsenal, England (4th Premier League, beat Udinese in the League Route)
2. Olympique Marseille, France (2nd Ligue 1)
3. Olympiacos, Greece (1st Superleague)
4. Borussia Dortmund, Germany (1st Bundesliga)

Group G
1. APOEL, Cyprus (1st First Div, beat Skënderbeu, Slovan Bratislava and Wisla Krakow in Champions Route)
2. Zenit St.Petersburg, Russia (1st Russian Premier League)
3. Porto, Portugal (1st Primeira Liga)
4. Shakhtar Donetsk, Ukraine (1st Ukrainian Premier League)

Group H
1. Barcelona, Spain (1st La Liga)
2. AC Milan, Italy (1st Serie A)
3. Viktoria Plzen, Czech Rep. (1st Gambrinus Liga, beat Pyunik, Rosenborg, Copenhagen in Champions Route)
4. BATE Borisov, Belarus (1st Prem.League, beat Linfield, Ekranas and Sturm Graz in the Champions Route)

A couple of hours before the transfer window closed, Tottenham blocked Giovani Dos Santos’ pending move to Spanish club Sevilla. The 22 year old Mexican’s relationship with the Spurs manager has been peculiar, ever since Harry Redknapp arrived at the club. A move away from the club was highly anticipated and the latest development has made the player furious.

Giovani came from Mexico to Barcelona’s youth academy as an 11 year old. He made it all the way to appearences in both Champions League and La Liga for the first team, before being transferred to Tottenham as a 19 year old. (These days his younger brother Jonathan Dos Santos is in the Barcelona first team squad.) Giovani was brought to Tottenham by their then Spanish manager Juande Ramos, however shortly thereafter Ramos was sacked and replaced by Harry Redknapp. The new manager acknowledged his obvious talent but criticised his attitude, complaining that the young Mexican spent too much time in nightclubs and lacked dedication in training. Giovani soon found himself sent out on loan to various clubs; first to Ipswich Town, then to Turkish club Galatasaray. At the same time Giovani worked his way into the first team of the Mexico national team, where he time and again has been outstanding in international games.

Giovani was voted runner-up as Young Player of the Tournament in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, catching the eye of football audiences around the world. He returned to Tottenham again ahead of the 2010/11 season but again found his opportunities under Redknapp very limited. He went on a successful loan spell to Spanish club Racing de Santander for the second half of the season. After the season finished he went with Mexico to play in the Gold Cup tournament in the USA. It was another chance for him to shine and help Mexico win the tournament. In the final against the hosts he scored the best goal of the tournament.

During this transfer window several clubs have chased Giovani’s signature and it looked like Sevilla had all but secured it. According to the player himself, and his agent, this move was blocked by Tottenham with less than two hours remaining.

“I was very surprised that with two hours left, my coach has changed his mind,” Giovani said in an interview with Fox Sports. “In three years at Tottenham I have not been taken into account and there has not been confidence in me at all. So I hope that this time I hear the truth when talking to him and we can get down to football. To be honest I already felt at another club, Sevilla, and we had already completed more than 50 per cent of negotiations. Almost everything had been agreed but then Spurs changed their minds, something I found very odd. Both myself and my agent have been left disappointed, sad and angry at the way Tottenham have acted. After such a long time without having any confidence in me I am now going to get my chance, which makes me feel weird. Even so, I mean to take this opportunity out of respect to the Tottenham fans and also because of the professional I am.”

Interestingly, the Tottenham fans have repeatedly called for Giovani to be given a chance to display his talent, like he already has done for Mexico and Racing Santander. So far Redknapp has seemed highly unlikely to utilise his talents. This season Redknapp has indicated that he intends to rotate his squad more, to be competitive both in the domestic league and cups and in the Europa League. Whether this will include Giovani Dos Santos we’ll have to wait and see.

Watch Giovani Dos Santos score in the Gold Cup final for Mexico: