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YOURI TIELEMANS MAGIC: VILLA EDGES BASEL 2-1, SECURING CRUCIAL EUROPA LEAGUE PLAY-OFF SPOT

Youri Tielemans came off the bench to score the winner as Aston Villa beat Basel 2-1, securing at least a Europa League play-off spot. Read the analysis.

Youri Tielemans Magic: Villa Edges Basel 2-1, Securing Crucial Europa League Play-off Spot
Guessand & Tielemans Seal 2-1 Win

Youri Tielemans, coming off the bench in the second half, scored the winning goal as Aston Villa edged Basel 2-1, moving closer to securing a Europa League spot.

The victory puts Villa three points ahead in the top eight with only two games remaining, guaranteeing them at least a playoff spot.

Evann Guessand gave Villa a great start with an early goal, but Basel fought back. Leo Leroy had a goal disallowed for offside before Flavius Daniliuc equalised.

Tielemans replaced Matty Cash at halftime and quickly made an impact, scoring just eight minutes later to regain the lead for Villa with a well-placed shot.

Basel had been tough to beat at home in the Europa League, winning their last seven matches, making Villa's win at St. Jakob-Park that much more impressive. This extended Villa's winning streak to eight games across all competitions.

Early on, Basel created a few chances, forcing Marco Bizot to make saves from Dominik Schmid and Leroy.

Villa scored first after 12 minutes when Basel failed to clear a corner from Cash. The ball fell to Guessand, who turned and squeezed a shot past Marwin Hitz.

Despite Villa's control, Basel thought they had levelled when Leroy volleyed the ball into the bottom left corner. But VAR ruled that Schmid was offside in the build-up.

After the warning, Basel did manage to equalise when Daniliuc beat Bizot to a free kick from Xherdan Shaqiri and poked the ball into the net.

Villa responded when Tielemans, after receiving a pass from Emi Buendia, scored with a first-time shot into the bottom right corner from outside the box.

Tielemans’ substitution was key, and he almost created a third goal for Villa with a pass to Jadon Sancho, whose shot was saved by Hitz.

Basel nearly capitalised on some sloppy play from Sancho, but Philip Otele's shot went straight at Lamare Bogarde.

In search of an equalizer, Basel pushed forward, and Ibrahim Salah's header was blocked by Morgan Rogers, ensuring Villa's victory.

CRISTIANO RONALDO PROTESTS AL-HILAL'S BENZEMA DEAL BY SKIPPING AL-NASSR LEAGUE MATCH

Cristiano Ronaldo is fuming. Discover why the Al-Nassr star skipped his last match and is now threatening to leave Saudi Arabia.

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Ronaldo "considering leaving Saudi Arabia" despite signing 2027 contract extension

Cristiano Ronaldo has been the main attraction in the Saudi Pro League ever since he landed in the Middle East three years ago. Now, for the first time, it looks like he’s actually thinking about leaving. He’s frustrated. He feels the playing field isn’t level, and it’s starting to get to him.

Here’s the deal: Four clubs in the league—Al-Ittihad, Al-Nassr, Al-Hilal, and Al-Ahli—get their backing straight from the state. But Ronaldo sat out Al-Nassr’s match against Al-Riyadh on Monday night. Why? He was protesting. He found out Al-Hilal was about to sign Karim Benzema from Al-Ittihad, and that was the last straw. From Ronaldo’s perspective, Al-Hilal keeps getting more freedom to splash cash than everyone else. They’re the current champions, and Ronaldo still hasn’t managed to win his first Saudi title.

Saudi officials tried to calm him down. According to Diario AS, they reached out and argued that most of Al-Hilal’s extra spending comes from Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, not the Public Investment Fund (PIF). Al-Hilal just brought in Kader Meite for €30 million, Saimon Bouabre for €23 million, and now Benzema. Al-Nassr, on the other hand, only managed two free transfers this winter. Sure, they spent a lot more in the summer, but that didn’t seem to matter to Ronaldo.

Reports from Portugal, cited by AS, say Ronaldo’s not ruling anything out—not even leaving Saudi Arabia this summer. That’s despite just signing an extension with Al-Nassr until 2027.

And honestly, he has a point. Since he arrived, Al-Hilal have spent €647 million, while Al-Nassr have shelled out €410 million and Al-Ittihad €365 million. These numbers probably don’t include salaries—and let’s face it, nobody’s making more than Ronaldo. He’s supposed to return on Friday when Al-Nassr face Al-Ittihad, but right now, no one really knows if he’ll play or if he’s planning his next move.

N’GOLO KANTE SKIPS TRAINING AS AL-ITTIHAD BLOCK HIS MOVE TO FENERBAHCE OFFICIALLY

N’Golo Kante has gone on strike at Al-Ittihad after a paperwork error blocked his move to Fenerbahce. Can he still sign by Friday?

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Paperwork error halts N’Golo Kante’s transfer to Turkey at final hour

N’Golo Kanté didn’t show up for Al-Ittihad training on Tuesday, and it’s not hard to see why. He was all set to head to Fenerbahçe, but the deal fell apart at the last minute—apparently because Al-Ittihad messed up some paperwork. Kante was supposed to fly to Istanbul and sign, but thanks to this administrative slip, he’s stuck in limbo. There’s still a shot at reviving the transfer sinceKanté Turkey’s transfer window stays open until Friday, February 6.

Kante was one of the first big European names to jump to the Saudi Pro League, joining Al-Ittihad in 2023 after seven years with Chelsea. He’s been a key player in Jeddah, helping Al-Ittihad win the 2024-25 league title and the King’s Cup.

Then, in the middle of the January window, word got out that Fenerbahce wanted him. The Turkish club were eager to add a World Cup winner to their squad. The plan was to swap Kante for Youssef En-Nesyri, who’d head to Saudi Arabia. Everything seemed set until deadline day, when news broke that an error by Al-Ittihad in the Transfer Matching System stopped the transfer cold.

Fenerbahce didn’t hold back. They blamed Al-Ittihad directly, saying they’d done everything right: agreements with the players, medicals, paperwork, all wrapped up on time. But Al-Ittihad entered something wrong in the system, and that was that. Fenerbahçe even asked for an extension and reached out to FIFA, but nothing moved. In the end, the deal died, and Fenerbahçe put out a statement saying they understood the frustration and would keep working to strengthen the squad.

Meanwhile, Kante’s making his feelings clear. According to Ben Jacobs, he skipped training on Tuesday, still hoping the move to Fenerbahce can happen. Santi Aouna says talks between the clubs aren’t dead yet. L’Equipe is reporting that Kanté doesn’t want to play for Al-Ittihad while he waits for FIFA’s decision. With the Turkish window open until Friday, there’s still a glimmer of hope for Kante, though En-Nesyri’s move is off the table for now.

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