MATCH! -julkaisun 15 February 2022 -irtonumeron sisällysluettelo

IN-DEMAND DAVID! Lille and Canada striker Jonathan David is one of the hottest targets in Europe right now! Premier League clubs Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham have all been scouting the forward, but The Blues will get a real taste of his ability when they face Ligue 1’s reigning champs in the last 16! LETHAL LEO! Perhaps the biggest story of the last 16 sees Lionel Messi take on old rivals Real Madrid! The former Barcelona captain is El Clasico’s all-time top scorer, including two hat-tricks and both goals in Barca’s Champo League semi-final success against Real back in 2011! CRISTIANO’S CURSE! Cristiano Ronaldo’s been paired with Diego Simeone’s team on five previous occasions in the CL knockout stages and helped his side eliminate Atletico Madrid every single time – including…

CHALLENGE 1 AC MILAN (AI) v LIVERPOOL The “Miracle of Istanbul” happened in 2005 when Liverpool turned around a3-0 deficit athalf-time to win the CL trophy on penalties! For this challenge, set up a CL final at the Ataturk Olimpiyat Stadium, give Milan athree-goallead and then win the game on penalties! DONE CHALLENGE 2 BARCELONA v PSG (AI) Barcelona lost their first leg to PSG4-0 in Paris in 2017, but managed to win 6-1 at the Nou Camp! Load up a Champions League game at Barca s stadium, give the AI a4-0 head start and try to win. The game doesn t have to end 6-1, just make sure you turn the match around! DONE CHALLENGE 3 LIVERPOOL v BARCELONA (AI) You must remember Liverpool s 4-0 win over Barcelona…

THIS WEEK: WIGAN FACTFILE Nickname: The Latics Date founded: 1932 Stadium: DW Stadium Capacity: 25,138 Did You Know? Wigan spent eight seasons in the Prem from 2005 to 2013! PLAYING STYLE Leam Richardson normally uses a 4-2-3-1 formation! He’s lucky that he has some really versatile players like Power, Naylor, Lang and Keane, while he also added quality to his frontline last month in Josh Magennis! THE GAFFER LEAM RICHARDSON The 42-year-old manager used to be a right-back for Bolton, Blackpool and Accrington Stanley, which is probably why Wigan are so good defensively! This is his first full season as permanent boss after acting as assistant manager previously! STAR MAN WILL KEANE Keane progressed through Man. United’s academy as a youngster and played two Prem games for The Red Devils!…

THE RED PACK Check out Izzy’s cool colour co-ordinated red kicks, with a high ankle support like the Nike Mercurial and MATCH printed on the side and by the laces! THE DAZZLE PACK There’s loads of top technology in Liam’s boots! As well as memory foam soles, it’s got remote control lights that make the boots change colour, a glow-in-the-dark sock and self-cleaning tech. Wow! THE FUTURE PRO PACK The MATCH Future Pro Pack, designed by Miles, should be worn by the wonderkids of the future, destined for greatness! THE WIZARD PACK Josie got the lightning bolt idea from Harry Potter, which is why we’ve called these boots the Wizard Pack! The right boot is black and the left boot is white! THE DELUXE PACK Zaina designed us the MATCH…

NAME THE TEAM! Can you remember the Man. United XI that lost to Young Boys last year? 1. SPAIN★GOALKEEPER FRANCE★MIDFIELDER PAUL POGBA 2. NETHERLANDS★MIDFIELDER 3. ENGLAND★CENTRE-BACK 4. SWEDEN ★ CENTRE-BACK 5. PORTUGAL★FORWARD 6. ENGLAND★RIGHT-BACK 7. BRAZIL★MIDFIELDER 8. ENGLAND★LEFT-BACK 9. ENGLAND★FORWARD 10. PORTUGAL★MIDFIELDER BABY FACE Name the PSG star from this snap from before they were famous! MATCH! WINNER! Name the striker who scored the only goal in Juventus’ 1-0 win over Malmo in December 2021! LEGENDARY Which Champions League clubs did these legends win the trophy with?…

DID YOU KNOW? Lampard had a 52.4% win percentage while he was in charge of Chelsea! 1 UNITING THE FANS! Lampard already has a big advantage over Rafa Benitez because he isn’t an ex-Liverpool manager! In fact, as a player he only won more matches against Tottenham than against The Reds, so he has an impressive history of picking up all three points against the club’s massive Merseyside rivals! 2 DELE AND VDB! His first two singings as manager of Everton were midfielders Dele Alli and Donny van de Beek who are two players desperate to prove a point! They’ve both spent most of season on the bench, but have the quality to be Champions League-level players if Frank can get them firing 3 DEVELOP YOUTH! Lampard has helped improve…

HOW HE WON IT! MATCH scouts picked out the Prem’s best players from January and asked our fans on social media to vote for the best! The Hammer beat the likes of Jack Harrison, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joao Moutinho! MEGA MOMENTS! Here’s why Bowen was chosen as MATCH’s monthly winner! NEWYEAR’S DREAM! CRYSTAL PALACE 2-3 WEST HAM JANUARY1 West Ham started 2022 in entertaining fashion with a dramatic 3-2 win over their London rivals Crystal Palace! The winger actually had a pretty quiet game in attack, but he worked really hard defensively to help support his full-back Vladimir Coufal! BANGIN’ BRACE! WEST HAM2-0 NORWICH JANUARY12 Bowen was mega unlucky not to walk a way with the match ball against Norwich – the Man of the Match scored twice but also…

THE SEASON THECHAMPIONS New York City FC weren’t even among the top seven in the overall regular season table, but they still came away with their first-ever MLS Cup! They faced Portland Timbers in the final, who needed a 94th-minute spot-kick to take the game to penalties. It was all for nothing, though – NYCFC still won the shootout 4-2. Mega dramatic! THECHALLENGERS New England Revolution won the 2021 Supporters’ Shield with ease after finishing 12 points above second-placed Colorado Rapids! They’ll be one of the big favourites again this season alongside third-placed Seattle Sounders, who recently signed Real Salt Lake baller Albert Rusnak. You can’t rule out The Timbers, either! THEMEGASTARS Former Man. United and West Ham striker Javier Hernandez scored 17 goals in 21 MLS games in 2021…

FAMEWO The centre-back hit his first-ever career goal in the dramatic 3-2 win v AFC Wimbledon! FOREST GREEN Forest Green Rovers recently extended their unbeaten run to 17 league matches! MARQUIS The Lincoln forward scored three in his first three games after joining last month! WOOD The Rotherham captain was sent off v Accrington Stanley after handling the ball in his own area! BURTON League One side Burton were fined earlier this month for some bad behaviour on the pitch! SCUNTHORPE The League Two club are sinking without a trace and fans are already dreading relegation!…

STOMP RACERS! Take a break from screensens and enjoy hours of indoor play with the award winning Stomp Racers™! MATCH has got three of them to give away! Easy to assemble, they do not require any technology or batteries! Each set includes a Stomp Launcher, race car and ramp, plus stickers for customising your car! In a race to the finish, jump and land on the pressure pad, hit the ramp at full speed and lift off the racers to witness jumps, stunts and tricks! Stomp Racers™ is available now from Amazon.co.uk, Halfords and John Lewis. CLOSING DATE: mar. 15 3 prizes! MITREFACUP FOOTBALL! Want to get your hands on the new Mitre Delta Match Fluo FA Cup Football and develop your close control, fancy footwork and individual skills? Look…

ACROSS 7. Most successful English club in Champions League history! (9) 8. The number of times Man. United have lifted the famous trophy! (5) 10. The month the final is being held! (3) 11. Only Women’s Super League team to win the Champions League! (7) 12. Winners of the Women’s Champions League in 2021! (9) 14. English team that Liverpool beat in the 2019 final! (9) 16. Tournament that teams who finish third in their group get relegated to! (6, 6) 19. Champions League’s all-time top goalscorer! (9,7) 20. Only team to have won all of their matches en route to the trophy! (6, 6) DOWN 1. The reigning European champions! (7) 2. Baller who scored the winner in last season’s final! (3, 7) 3. French giants who are the…

CHRISTIAN ERIKSEN BRENTFORD We were over-the-moon to see Christian Eriksen return to the Premier League! The Denmark midfielder has been through a lot over the past seven months, but now he’s ready to take the Prem by storm again. During his seven-year spell at Spurs, he scored 51 goals and contributed 62 assists, leaving as a huge fan favourite! BRUNO GUIMARAES NEWCASTLE If you haven’t seen it already, check out Newcastle’s transfer reveal for Bruno Guimaraes! The Magpies trolled Prem rivals Arsenal with newspaper reports suggesting The Gunners were the favourites to land the Brazilian. The Lyon engine has ended up with Eddie Howe though and his classy creativity is just what his side needed! LUIS DIAZ LIVERPOOL Liverpool hadn’t planned to sign Luis Diaz until the summer, but Tottenham’s…

LEROY SANE BAYERN MUNICH The ex-Man. City winger scored five goals and grabbed four assists in the group stage, making him one of the stars of the show! He’s already set a new personal best for the most goals in a single CL campaign! CL PEDIGREE He’s scored eight goals in 14 CL games since moving to Bayern, but had never looked light fighting for the Golden Boot before! FORM Sane managed five goals and assists combined across four games in December and January – he’s been electric recently! DOMESTIC RECORD It only took him 19 games to equal his goal record in the Bundesliga from 2020-21, but he’s nowhere near the Golden Boot contenders! CHANCES OF GOING THROUGH We’re definitely backing Bayern to beat RB Salzburg over two legs,…

REDS TO REIGN AGAIN? ✓ Liverpool’s impressive semi-final victory over Arsenal saw them qualify for the League Cup final for the 13th time – more than any other team in the competition’s history! ✓ If they go on to lift the trophy, they’ll move on to nine EFL Cup victories in their history, which would put them one ahead of Man. City at the top of the all-time charts! ✓ The Reds’ last five goals against Chelsea have either been scored by Sadio Mane or Mohamed Salah, so watch out for the two lethal forwards again! TEAM NEWS & LIKELY LINE-UP Takumi Minamino is the only player to have played every EFL Cup game for Liverpool this season, but we still expect him to make way for the final! Jurgen…

Keep reading MATCH for loads of top fantasy footy tips! MATCH’S TOP 20! Check out our league table after Gameweek 23! TRANSFER IN… Here are our biggest signing tips ahead of this fortnight’s action! PHILIPPE COUTINHO MF ★ ASTON VILLA £7 MILLION Villa’s decent run of fixtures continues, including a home game v Watford and a trip to Brighton this fortnight! BUKAYO SAKA MF ★ ARSENAL £6.4 MILLION It’s a DGW for The Gunners, with home games v Brentford and Wolves, but they blank on GW27 so it’s definitely a calculated risk! HARRY KANE FW ★ TOTTENHAM £12.3 MILLION Spurs’ re-arranged match v Burnley makes it a DGW26, and then they take on Leeds! We’re expecting Kane to get a haul! TRANSFER OUT… You should consider dropping these heroes for…

Women’s Champions League Ball The Women’s Champions League quarter-finals kick off next month, so adidas have released this special-edition ball for the knockout rounds! This year’s final is taking place at the Juventus Stadium, in Turin – a city surrounded by mountains – which explains the thinking behind the design on the stars. We think the mega brand have “peaked” with this pattern! Price: £130 adidas.co.uk adidas Predator Edge Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, feast your eyeballs on the new adidas Predator Edge! The Preds are one of the mega brand’s most famous boots, and these are the 19th different model (not colourway) since the original launch, taking over from last year’s Predator Freak. The four ribbed sections on the upper are designed to maximise swerve, power, control and…