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TACTICAL EVOLUTION: WHY JOAO PEDRO IS FLOURISHING UNDER LIAM ROSENIOR BUT FAILED MARESCA.
Joao Pedro scores two stunning goals as Liam Rosenior’s Chelsea overcome defensive chaos to beat Napoli and reach the UCL Last-16.
You’ve got to wonder just how many “celebratory” and “insightful” LinkedIn messages Liam Rosenior’s been wading through these past couple of weeks. Four wins out of five, 13 goals, two clean sheets—no way his inbox survived unscathed.
After all, Chelsea just beat the reigning Scudetto winners, away from home, in the biggest match of Rosenior’s short managerial life. They’re into the Champions League last-16, and he did it against one of Chelsea’s old guard. If that doesn’t earn him a pile of glowing recommendations on LinkedIn, what does?
Antonio Conte, as always, didn’t sugarcoat things. With half his Napoli squad in the treatment room—no Kevin De Bruyne, no David Neres, no Billy Gilmour, no Matteo Politano—he looked like a man bracing for a storm. Before kickoff, the ever-irritable Italian just shrugged and said, “If the league started today, everyone would put Napoli between 8th and 10th place.” He wasn’t wrong.
Napoli didn’t exactly look up for it in the opening 20 minutes. Chelsea wandered around, poking holes, looking for a way in, and eventually got a penalty for one of those handballs that’s somehow both obvious and infuriating—Reece James’ free kick smacked someone’s arm in the wall. You know the type.
Enzo Fernandez buried the penalty, and only then did Napoli seem to remember they actually had to win to stay in the competition—and that Chelsea had just one centre-back on the pitch.
Nobody was shocked when Napoli’s two goals both left Wesley Fofana stranded and alone. First, Antonio Vergara danced past him to score his first senior goal—pretty much turning Fofana inside out, Maradona-style, in the Maradona stadium. Then Rasmus Hojlund beat him to a low cross and poked it home. Tough night for Fofana.
Rosenior got his lineup wrong, plain and simple. Trevoh Chalobah came on after an hour and cleared a dangerous ball from what every Chelsea kid learns is “the John Terry position”—front post, first to react. That shouldn’t have been a revelation for Rosenior, but somehow it was. Maybe he doesn’t trust his centre-backs. It’s hard to blame him, but just refusing to play them doesn’t solve much.
What Rosenior did get right was unleashing Cole Palmer from the right after halftime—where he’s been most dangerous for Chelsea. Palmer didn’t waste time. The only head he turned belonged to Joao Pedro, setting him up for two truly stunning goals.
First, Palmer slipped a clever pass around the corner after a slick move out from the back. Pedro’s first touch gave him a breath of space, then he smashed a shot from the edge of the box across the keeper and into the top corner. Gorgeous strike.
His second was just as good—Palmer played a quick one-two, Pedro spun in behind the Napoli defence, collected Palmer’s perfectly weighted through ball, calmed himself, and tucked it away. That’s four goals in five games now for Pedro, who honestly looked lost under Enzo Maresca.
But the real story here—what Rosenior’s been banging on about since he arrived—is the character his team showed. Some people will write this off because Napoli’s squad was threadbare, or because of Conte’s miserable Champions League record, or because of where they sit in the table. They’re missing the point.
Winning in that stadium, with such a raw, inexperienced group—that’s no small thing. This could be a turning point for Rosenior and his players, not just for this season, but for whatever comes next.
LEAGUE UPDATE: MAN UNITED’S CHAMPIONS LEAGUE HOPES BOOSTED BY COEFFICIENT POINTS SURGE
Manchester United move into fourth place as England's dominant UEFA coefficient makes a fifth Champions League spot almost certain.
Manchester United just got a real shot in the arm for their Champions League hopes this season. After knocking off Manchester City and Arsenal in back-to-back games, they’ve climbed into fourth place in the Premier League. It’s been a struggle for United to make the Champions League in recent years—their last run was in the 2023/24 season.
These days, finishing in the top four isn’t always enough for Premier League teams. UEFA now hands out extra spots, and it all depends on how clubs from each country perform across the Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League.
So, how does it work? UEFA takes each league’s overall coefficient score—basically, a measure of how well their teams do in Europe—and divides it by the number of clubs they have in these competitions.
This season, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea, Manchester City, and Newcastle all joined the European fight. Out of those six, only Newcastle had to go through the play-offs; the rest sailed straight into the knockouts.
Now that the Champions League group stage is done, you can really see which countries are in line for those bonus spots next year. Right now, England is out in front with 180,625 points. Germany follows with 107,000. Portugal sits in third with 14,700, and Spain is just behind on 14,375.
Here’s the key thing: the two countries whose teams rack up the best results across all three competitions this season each get a European Performance Spot—an extra Champions League place.
With England leading the pack, even a fifth-place finish in the Premier League could send United back into the Champions League instead of the Europa League. Newcastle took advantage of this last season.
If United hold onto fourth, they’re in. But there’s still a lot of football left. Interim boss Michael Carrick isn’t letting anyone get ahead of themselves—he’s already told his players to stay sharp.
Next up, United face Fulham at Old Trafford. They'll be chasing a third straight win and looking to keep Carrick’s perfect record going since he stepped in for Darren Fletcher.
JUST IN: PEP GUARDIOLA THANKS JOSE MOURINHO AFTER WILD NIGHT OF EUROPEAN DRAMA
Pep Guardiola thanks Jose Mourinho as Benfica’s last-gasp winner against Real Madrid sends City straight into the Last-16.
Pep Guardiola had a smile on his face and a message for Jose Mourinho after his old rival did him a huge favour, helping Manchester City sneak into the Champions League knockout rounds.
City took care of their own business, beating Galatasaray 2-0 at the Etihad. Haaland and Cherki got the goals, but the real drama was happening elsewhere. City’s spot in the last eight still hung in the balance because Real Madrid needed to equalise against Benfica. If they had, Guardiola’s squad would have been bumped into the play-offs instead.
That’s when Benfica’s goalkeeper, Anatoliy Trubin, pulled off something wild. He left his box, charged forward for a late free kick, and scored a brilliant goal. Benfica won 4-2. That goal kept Benfica alive in the competition—and, as it turned out, saved City too.
Guardiola admitted he and his players were glued to the screen in the dressing room, completely confused when they saw Trubin running up for that last free kick. “We were all in there, watching, and none of us realised Benfica still needed a goal to qualify,” Guardiola said. “So when their keeper went up, we’re all thinking, ‘What are you doing?’ But Jose knew. It was a smart move. Finishing in the top eight, with how tough the Champions League has become, feels really good for us. Now we can focus on being at our best by March.”
Bernardo Silva didn’t hide how relieved he felt. Skipping those extra play-off games really matters, especially when you’re chasing a quadruple. “A bit of drama, but we did it. We’re very happy because we avoid two more matches,” he said. “With all the injuries we’ve got and the crazy schedule, having those two weeks free to rest, get players back, and focus on the other competitions is huge for us.”
As for Mourinho, he looked proud after Benfica’s wild finish. He’s won this tournament twice before, and he believed his side deserved to stay in. “That was a fantastic goal, a historic moment—almost blew the roof off the stadium,” Mourinho said. “Honestly, for Benfica to beat Real Madrid, that’s massive.”
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