List of All Articles with Tag 'ma'

Wall Street banks have made “no significant moves” away from London’s dominant clearing service since Brexit, raising concerns

Pep Guardiola confirms Man City will make a tactical change against Real Madrid.

The UK government is preparing to lay out a series of extra protections for tenants in the biggest

Long after the final whistle blew at San Siro, that welcome sound gave way to a more wondrous noise as the old ground shook and the celebrations showed no sign of abating. The curva nord was still full with ultras, belting out club anthems. That was all to serenade the extended squad, club hierarchy and their families, who were all still on the pitch. In classic celebration scenes, the children of the players were at the other end having a game among themselves. You could have been forgiven for thinking they’d won the final itself. A cynical view would be that was precisely what this was, since they eliminated their greatest rivals, and the expectation is that either Manchester City or Real Madrid will just cruise to victory in Istanbul. The defiant nature of Inter’s performance might indicate such complacency would be a mistake, but it’s still hard to deny that as much of this was just about getting there again: a victory in itself. Inter have had far longer waits to get back to the European Cup final, going 38 years between 1972 and the treble of 2010, but those periods never felt like they would be endless. Not when you could parade some of the best stars in the world, among them Ronaldo. They were always close. That hasn't been the case since 2010, especially as the elite end of the Champions League has got so much narrower. There have been times in the last few years - and never more than right now - where it has felt like the list of realistic potential champions gets smaller every season. In this campaign, it is as if that group consists of only the English clubs, as well as Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and maybe Paris Saint-Germain due to Kylian Mbappe and Qatari wealth. Internazionale just wouldn’t have been included, not least because their financial scope has got smaller. It isn’t exactly a fairytale, mind. The ownership has changed twice since 2010, with ongoing questions over the current situation under Suning. That period has also seen the club overspend in a manner that now requires significant sales in the summer, not to mention European qualification itself, and has echoes of the club’s recent past. It's all been to keep up with a financial arms race constantly getting further away. As if to sum up so much, the Inter shirt doesn’t currently have a sponsor because the club say the cryptocurrency brand that previously adorned the black and white stripes did not pay them. And yet that situation, a little like this whole campaign, offered a throwback that almost came about by accident and adaptation rather than design. It’s an old-fashioned look for an old-fashioned sort of victory. The sense of history to all of that was also unmistakable. You can feel it right around the stadium and in all those celebrations. By winning this tie, Inter have reached their sixth European Cup final. That puts them just above Manchester United again. It leaves them well ahead of Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United and Paris Saint-Germain, all of whom would see themselves as prospective challengers for this historic competition going forward. The trophy tends to follow the money, after all. That is also why, for all these complications, there is something compellingly thrilling about this. It is not to say that the truest value in sporting triumph comes when the grand old institutions win. It is more that something has gone wrong if a club like Inter - let alone 99% of the continent - can be locked out of the top level. Their previous glory does restore a prestige, though, that could be felt around the city in the hours after the game and well into the early morning. When the ultras and families finally left San Siro, it just ensured the sound of deafening firecrackers nearby. Raucous singing could now be heard all around the stadium and the city. Only a half of Milan was celebrating, but it oddly made European football feel that bit bigger again. Read More Inter Milan have already made it clear how they’ll aim to win Champions League final Budget building and back to the future tactics have Inter Milan among the elite once more Inter vs AC Milan player ratings: Lautaro Martinez and Francesco Acerbi star for Nerazzurri Dimitar Berbatov warns Harry Kane not to ‘tarnish’ Tottenham legacy by leaving Back to the future tactics have Inter Milan among the elite once more Inter Milan have already made it clear how they can win the Champions League

Washington says no US citizens were in the convoy attacked in the south-eastern Anambra state.

A second Indonesian state-owned builder is seeking restructuring as the country’s construction push heightens worries about the sector’s

Tencent Holdings Ltd. grew revenue at its fastest pace in more than a year, fueling hopes the world’s

Before every home game, Luton Town’s club shop is teeming. The little building perched outside Kenilworth Road is like a temporary prefab classroom and inside it’s cosy: once you’ve bought a shirt or a mug or a woolly hat then you best be on your way to make room for someone else. It is a different world to the extravagance of the Premier League. Tottenham, for example, boast the largest club shop in Europe: half an acre of sheer Spursy-ness, selling everything from Spurs-encrusted party bowls to the Spurs Monopoly board game, complete with a 100-seat auditorium to consume even more Spurs from the comfort of a soft chair. These two clubs seem to exist on different planets, and yet they could well be rivals in the same league next season. Luton have climbed here by consistently punching above their weight. The club’s entire wage budget, around £6m, would buy one Manchester City sub. They are always swimming against the tide and the small but mighty Kenilworth Road is a monument to that – intimate and intense, like a particularly atmospheric cow shed, with 10,000 seats that sound like 50,000 when the linesman fails to spot a foul throw. Luton’s long-awaited move to a new venue at Power Court is still a couple of years away. So should they win promotion – having advanced to the play-off final after victory over Sunderland, this is a distinct possibility – what on earth will the Premier League giants make of a ground where away fans file through an alleyway and up a metal staircase that hangs over neighbouring gardens? “They will think it’s a tip,” smiles Alex, a Luton season-ticket holder in the club shop. He has been coming here since 2005, sitting in the same seat since he was three years old. “But it’s our tip.” *** Despite his reputation as one of the brightest managers in the Football League, Rob Edwards was expecting some hate from Luton fans when he took charge in November. He had only recently left Watford, their bitter rivals, and so when he sat down for his first press conference as the new man in charge of Luton Town, all he could do was try to defuse a potentially volatile situation. “It’s not as if I left Watford a club legend,” he joked. Edwards was referring to the way he was spat back out by Watford after only 11 games, a familiar story for managers who dare work for the trigger-happy Pozzo family. But far from holding a grudge, Luton fans seemed to get a kick out of sticking one to their rivals. “Welcome Rob,” read a banner at his first game away at Middlesbrough, which soothed some anxiety. His first home game at Kenilworth Road, a Boxing Day win over Norwich City, finished with the entire ground singing his name. It would prove to be the first win of many, with only two league defeats for the rest of the campaign meaning Luton finished third in the Championship and got themselves into the play-offs for the second successive season. A club with a tight-knit staff and limited funds have improved their league position every year for eight in a row, climbing from the Conference in 2014 to the upper echelons of the Championship, and now they are within touching distance of the top tier for the first time in 30 years. At the heart of their rise is continuity – midfielder Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu has been with the club from non-league – and careful planning. Losing manager Nathan Jones to Southampton was a sudden bruise, but Edwards was already on the radar. Luton had analysed his League Two-winning year in charge of Forest Green Rovers and found it was no fluke – the underlying numbers showed a manager deploying the kind of fast, aggressive football that Luton themselves used to dominate Leagues One and Two. They analysed his 11 games at Watford too, and discovered some good things in the team Edwards was building, despite the quick sacking. Preparation has been key in the transfer market too. Led by club legend Mick Harford, chief scout Phil Chapple and analyst Jay Socik, Luton have made a habit of identifying smart signings from across the Football League and some inspired loans from the Premier League too. Right-back James Bree left the club in January but Luton seamlessly replaced him with Cody Drameh on loan from Leeds, and the addition of Aston Villa’s Marvelous Nakamba has brought solidity in midfield. Buying Carlton Morris from Barnsley last summer was crucial, and he has racked up a career-best 20 league goals. They recruit a specific Luton type: as well as being technically sound and a good character, they have to be athletic, able to withstand a high tempo for 90 minutes and out-run their opposition. After all, this is what Luton are: a club who extract every last drop from whatever they have. No Championship side have won more tackles in the final third than Luton this season, and the result is a team that are often hard and horrible to play against. Edwards has found a balance between a pragmatic approach and a team who can play football too. A direct route to goal is always an option with the power and strength of Morris and the imposing Elijah Adebayo up front, and Luton have found they don’t need to dominate possession to win games. That might be a useful trait in the Premier League. But what really stands out is how Luton are run off the pitch. There is no billionaire benefactor here: the club were saved by their own fans and now they are supporter-owned, and the people in charge – chief executive Gary Sweet, chairman David Wilkinson and majority stakeholder Paul Ballantyne – are deeply invested in its future. As one member of staff told The Independent: “Our owners give a s**t, and that isn’t always the case in football.” *** One staff member, Bill Cole, has worked for Luton for five years and has been visiting Kenilworth Road for 76. He will miss it, but he won’t shed a tear when it’s gone. He reels off more than half a century’s worth of new stadium plans that ended in disappointment, and says Power Court is exactly what the club has been crying out for, for far too long. “I hope they build a metal pillar in front of the press box to remind us of The Kenny,” he smiles. At full-time of a late-April clash against fellow high-flyers Middlesbrough, buoyant Luton fans poured out into the narrow streets that run down the hill to town following a 2-1 victory. It was a crucial moment in ensuring Luton finished third, and Boro fourth to face Coventry. If these two sides are to contest the play-off final – the so-called richest game in football – then perhaps this win has set the tone. Cole has seen it all before, though, and has a warning. “In 1959 we played Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup final,” he remembers. “Two weeks earlier we’d played them here at Kenilworth Road and we stuffed them 4-0. But at Wembley, we never showed up.” But win or lose the play-offs, Luton are unlikely to change too much. They are going in the right direction and their progress is a result not of vast investment but of sound stewardship. Amid the game’s financial bonanza benefitting a few elite clubs, Luton are showing that there is still a place for a little meritocracy in football. Read More Luton Town one game from Premier League after comeback win over Sunderland How to watch Championship play-offs Dimitar Berbatov warns Harry Kane not to ‘tarnish’ Tottenham legacy by leaving Dimitar Berbatov warns Harry Kane not to ‘tarnish’ Tottenham legacy by leaving I don’t blame English fans for cynicism over US investment – Burnley’s JJ Watt Arsenal and Leverkusen in ‘advanced talks’ over Granit Xhaka deal

The agent of Julian Nagelsmann has aimed a dig at Chelsea after their failed pursuit of the manager.

A consortium of investors including Blackstone Inc. and Thomson Reuters Corp. sold £2.7 billion ($3.4 billion) worth of

A key European Union law on scaling up renewable energy has been delayed amid last-minute wrangling over the

Telkom SA, the South African telecommunications company, fell 30% in Johannesburg after the company warned it was considering