The pressure is on new Chelsea coach Andre Villas-Boas who is leading the Blues(***) worst start to a campaign since Roman Abromovich bought the club eight years ago. After losing to Bayer Leverkusen in the mid-week Champions League clash, Chelsea now need a win against Valencia to go through to the knock-out stages [GALLO/GETTY ]
Published On 25 Nov 201125 Nov 2011
Also in trouble are Chelsea(***)s rivals Manchester City. Their Champions loss against Napoli left Roberto Mancini(***)s men needing a win over Bayern in their final game, while hoping winless Villarreal at least draw against Napoli. "We should be realistic," said a cheery Mancini. "I do not think we have a team to win the Champions League this season." [GALLO/GETTY]
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Apoel Nicosia however became the first team from Cyprus to reach the knockout stages with a game to spare. A draw with Zenit St Petersburg in Group G was all they needed [EPA]
Rafael Nadal blamed a (***)lack of passion(***) following his group stage exit from the ATP World Tour Finals in London, following defeat to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Roger Federer [GALLO/GETTY]
But it was good news for Serbia(***)s Janko Tipsarevic who stepped in to replace Andy Murray who pulled out with a groin injury. A quick phone call and Tipsarevic earned $70,000 as his fee for being the on-site alternate and $120,000 for his sole win over Djokovic. Ka-ching! [GALLO/GETTY]
Good news for fans of American Samoa(***)s football team who have shaken off their official status as the world(***)s worst team after a 1-1 draw with Oceania rivals the Cook Islands. Following an earlier equally historic win over Tonga they move up from last-placed 204 on the FIFA world rankings. No press photographers at either game, so here(***)s a picture of a Samoan beach instead [GALLO/GETTY]
Headaches all round for English rugby following a confidential leaked review on England(***)s disastrous world cup campaign. "You sense for some players it was more about getting caps and cash than getting better" was one anonymous player quote [GALLO/GETTY]
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Frustration in Mumbai for battling legend Sachin Tendulkar who fell six runs short of his 100th international century in the final Test against West Indies. He probably won(***)t get a chance to reach that milestone now until either the one-day series against West Indies, or the four-Test series in Australia [GALLO/GETTY]
Carlos Tevez – remember him? The out-of-favour Manchester City striker has returned to Argentina without the club(***)s permission and in a bid to resurrect his career has reportedly held talks with AC Milan and Juventus [GALLO/GETTY]
In the battle of the brothers, Baltimore(***)s John Harbaugh lead a hard-hitting Ravens defence to victory over sibling Jim(***)s San Francisco 49ers. "I congratulated him and told him I loved him," said brother Jim, through gritted teeth [GALLO/GETTY]
