MACHEDA: PANATHINAIKOS TROPHY HAUL DISCLOSED

Italian striker Federico Macheda has found a home at Panathinaikos in Greek football. The Ex-Manchester United star was a journeyman before he signed for Panathinaikos as a free agent three years ago.Federico Macheda had turned out for ten different teams as a professional footballer, including three-time European champions Manchester United before he signed for Greek Super League giants Panathinaikos at the age of 27.

Macheda had burst onto the scene at Manchester United when he scored the winner to lead the Red Devils to a 3-2 comeback win over Aston Villa at home. He came off the bench to help Manchester United to victory and boost their Premier League title hopes with arch rivals Liverpool breathing down their necks. In the end, Manchester United were able to see off Liverpool to win a third successive league title.

Federico Macheda signed a three-year deal at Panathinaikos when he joined the Greek club on a free transfer in September 2008. The 30-year-old striker has not won a major trophy in his three years at Panathinaikos. In his debut season as a Panathinaikos, Federico Macheda scored 11 goals in 28 games in all competitions. The Italian player scored ten goals in the league plus one goal in the Greek Cup outing with Panetolikos.

Machedaweighed in with his best season as a professional footballer in his second season at Panathinaikos. The Italian striker scored 15 goals in 37 appearances in all competitions and 14 of those goals came in the league.

In August 2020, Macheda signed a new deal that would take him till the summer of 2023. The Italian player was able to extend his stay by two more years since he had one more year to run by the time he signed a new contract.

Federico Macheda scored ten goals in 33 games in all competitions last season and he has not scored in three games this season.

JOURNALIST DRAWS EBOUE COMPARISON WITH LOKONGA

English journalist James McNicholas has drawn comparison between Emmanuel Eboue and Belgian international Albert SambiLokonga. McNicholas is the Arsenal correspondent for popular English publication The Athletic. He drew the comparison between Emmanuel Eboue and Belgian midfielder Lokonga after the latter had a game to forget in the last Premier League match at Liverpool.

McNicholas was on the Arsecast Extra podcast when he made the comparison involving Emmanuel Eboue. According to him, Lokonga had a stinker for the first five minutes of the second half during the Liverpool game and he had to be substituted for England international Ainsley Maitland-Niles. He went on to compare the situation to the situation with Eboue several years ago.Ivorian man Emmanuel Eboue came on as a second half substitute during a league game against Wigan Athletic at the Emirates Stadium in 2008 and he went on to have a poor game to the extent that legendary Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger had to sub him off to a chorus of boos from the Gunners fans at the match venue.

Lokonga, 21, had his poorest game for Arsenal since he joined the North London giants from Belgian club Anderlecht this summer. Arsenal paid £17m to secure his transfer from Anderlecht during the summer’s transfer window. The young Belgian national team player was not expected to play as much as he has done in the Premier League this season till date. He has played a lot in the Arsenal midfield mainly due to the knee injury sustained by Swiss player Granit Xhaka.

McNicholas said that the plan was for Lokonga to leave the field at the start of the second half for Ainslay Maitland-Niles before hosts Liverpool scored their second goal. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta had planned to sub Lokongaoff immediately he started to struggle at the start of the second 45 minutes.

MILAN DESERVED CHAMPIONS LEAGUE WIN – GRIEZMANN

Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann was frank in his assessment of his team’s performance during the Champions League home clash with Italian Serie A giants AC Milan. Brazilian player Junior Messias came off the Milan to score the lone goal to give the Rossoneri a 1-0 away win over the Spanish La Liga champions. Milan were able to boost their knockout stage qualification hopes with the big win recorded at the new Wanda Metropolitano.

Antoine Griezmann spoke about the Milan game shortly after the final whistle as monitored by Italian publication II Correiredello Sport (CdS). According to him, AC Milan deserved the victory as they were the better team.

The Frenchman also said that the plan from Atletico Madrid for the game didn’t work well as Milan had studied them well. Antoine Griezmann is hopeful that the Atletico Madrid players will raise their game for the final Group B clash with FC Porto. Atletico Madrid need a win away from home to seal a place in the knockout stage.

Griezmann would not have been available for the Milan game if not for the decision from European football’s governing body, UEFA to reduce his ban from two games to one game after he was sent off against Liverpool during the third set of games in their group. The ex-Real Sociedad and Barcelona attacker was sent off in the second half of the first meeting with Liverpool this season due to the high boots raised against opposition striker Roberto Firmino. He had scored twice to pull the game level at 2-2 before his sending off. In the end, his team lost 3-2 at home to Liverpool before recording another loss away from home. Antoine Griezmann was suspended for the second meeting which ended in a 2-0 away defeat for his team.