Manchester United lost their 100% record in the Champions League this season with defeat at Galatasaray.

Striker Burak Yilmaz scored his fifth goal of the group stage early in the second half when he leapt highest to head in from a right-wing corner.

The home side created the best chances, with Anders Lindegaard saving from Yilmaz and Hamit Altintop, who also saw a shot rattle the United woodwork.

Teenager Nick Powell had United’s best chance when his header struck the bar.

With Cluj beating Braga, it was essential for Fatih Terim’s side to secure victory over the three-time European champions.

Those two sides have seven points and are both vying for second spot, while United remain on 12 points, having already won the group.

With qualification for the last 16 secured and having left several senior players at home, this encounter gave Sir Alex Ferguson the chance to see if the next generation could cope in an intense atmosphere.

Of particular interest to some United fans would have been the performance of those competing for a spot in central midfield.

Long-serving United pros Ryan Giggs and Michael Carrick looked leggy against Norwich in last weekend’s 1-0 defeat, with Ferguson bringing on a 38-year-old – in the form of Paul Scholes – to try to remedy the situation after his side fell behind.

Giggs and Scholes are the burning embers of what remains of the golden midfield that helped the club achieve its successes of the last 20 years.

The two players touted to lead the new generation of midfielders – Tom Cleverley and Powell – started at the Turk Telekom Arena.

Cleverley, 23, has seized his chance this season and produced a steady, if unspectacular performance, in Turkey, but alongside him was a player five years his junior trying to show his manager that he has a long-term future at the club.

Powell, who scored for Crewe in a 2-1 win against Morecambe a year ago yesterday, was excellent on his first Champions League start.

He seemed to forge a good understanding with forward Danny Welbeck, coped well with the physical presence of Brazilian powerhouse Felipe Melo and came closest to scoring for the Red Devils when his header came off the woodwork.

United’s other opportunities were merely half-chances, with the starting XI – with an average age of 24 – on the back foot for much of the match against a side fighting for their Champions League future.

Melo was impressive in midfield, although he was lucky not to get punished for some rough early tackles, while Yilmaz and the fantastic winger Nordin Amrabat were a constant threat in the final third of the pitch.

Yilmaz, who has scored all of Galatasaray’s goals this campaign, forced a great stop from Lindegaard, although the Turk should have scored when he failed to make a connection with a cross from three yards out.

Turkey international Altintop once again showed his potency from distance, forcing another great save from Lindegaard, before smacking the underside of the bar in the second half with a venomous effort which Lindegaard got a slight touch to.

United coped well with much of what was thrown at them, except for the one moment shortly after the restart when Yilmaz leapt ahead of team-mate Melo to head in the only goal of the match.

(BBC Football)

 

JUVE-CHELSEA 3-0

Chelsea were left on the brink of an ignominious exit from this season’s Champions League after a comprehensive defeat at the Stadio Juventus in Turin.

Juventus deserved their victory. Fabio Quagliarella deflected Andrea Pirlo’s shot beyond Petr Cech before half-time before Arturo Vidal struck on the hour.

With time running out, Sebastian Giovinco beat the Chelsea goalkeeper to the ball to prod in from 30 yards.

Chelsea could now become the first holders to go out in the group stage.

If Roberto Di Matteo arrived in Turin facing speculation over his own future after four Premier League games without a win, this defeat threw up far more questions than it did answers.

The permutations do not make pleasant viewing for Chelsea, who know that even victory in their final group game FC Nordsjaelland at Stamford Bridge may not be enough. If Juventus take a point against Shakhtar Donetsk, who have already qualified for the knockout stages, Chelsea are out.

The questions facing Di Matteo are likely to multiply in the days ahead. Some will centre on Fernando Torres, whose Chelsea career plumbed fresh depths as he was left on the sidelines until the 70th minute, even with his team-mates chasing the goals that might have breathed hope into their Champions League campaign.

The majority, however, will centre on Di Matteo’s position and owner Roman Abramovich’s infamous lack of patience – with Premier League leaders Manchester City due at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Chelsea managers have had their fate decided in an Italian cauldron before, of course.

Nine months ago it had been Andre Villas-Boas who went into the most critical match of his troubled tenure knowing a victory in Naples might be needed to prolong his tenure. Tonight it was Di Matteo’s opportunity to ease the growing scrutiny surrounding his position.

There were 11 internationals in Chelsea’s starting line-up, but there was none of the solidity that became their hallmark during last season’s European triumph. John Terry, Frank Lampard and the departed Didier Drogba were nowhere to be seen, instead the onus fell on the new generation in the most testing of environments.

Before kick-off, the home support unfurled a banner carrying the words ‘after Italy we’ll take Europe’ and it didn’t take long to see why there was such confidence in the stands.

More often than not, the danger stemmed from Andrea Pirlo, who tormented Chelsea’s back line all night. The onslaught started in the third minute, when Stephan Lichtsteiner ghosted onto Mirko Vucinic’s clever far-post cross, only to be denied by Cech with the help of the post.

Cech was on form and, with Gary Cahill and David Luiz at risk of being overwhelmed, he had to be. The Chelsea goalkeeper fielded a Pirlo free-kick as well as shots from Vucinic and Quagliarella, with the visitors’ only respite a mazy run by Oscar that led to a fierce low shot from Eden Hazard, which Gianluigi Buffon deflected wide.

Soon after, Ramires dribbled through impressively, only for Oscar to see his goal-bound shot blocked but things were beginning to look ominous for Chelsea and seven minutes before half-time they fell behind. Pirlo ambled forward and unleashed a low shot, which appeared to pose little danger until it took a wicked deflection off Quagliarella to wrong-foot Cech and roll into the net.

Chelsea came within an inch or two of falling further behind a minute later, as Luiz deflected Kwadwo Asamoah’s cross towards his own goal, only for Ashley Cole to clear the ball off the line. But from that moment, Di Matteo’s side surged forward and might have had an equaliser, only for Juan Mata to miscontrol Hazard’s right-wing cross.

Juventus started the second half with more purpose. Vucinic was denied a penalty after appearing to be held back by Cahill as he prepared to shoot.

The Italian champions were beginning to look like scoring every time they crossed the halfway line. Cech denied Pirlo and then Quagliarella in the space of a minute but a smaller margin of defeat would have flattered Chelsea and, on the hour mark, Juventus struck again.

Moments after Victor Moses replaced Cesar Azpilicueta, Vucinic found Asamoah wide on the left flank and the Ghanaian’s clever cutback was fired goalwards by Vidal, only for another cruel deflection to beat Cech once again.

Torres was thrown on but Chelsea never looked like a genuine threat. Juventus broke forward once again and when Cech charged off his line and out of his penalty area in a bid to hack clear a through-ball from deep, substitute Giovinco was able to beat him to the ball, prodding it past him to add salt into an already raw wound.

(BBC fOOTBALL) 

 

 

Former Rangers Football Club wins Big Tax Case appeal

The former Rangers Football Club has won an appeal against a tax bill over its use of Employee Benefit Trusts.

The club, which is now in liquidation, used the scheme from 2001 to 2010 to make £47.65m in payments to players and staff in the form of tax-free loans.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) had challenged the payments, arguing that they were illegal.

Rangers disputed the bill and a First Tier Tax Tribunal (FTT) has ruled the payments were loans that can be repaid.

The decision was welcomed by Murray International Holdings, who were majority shareholders of the old club until Craig Whyte’s takeover in May 2011.

However, HMRC said it was considering an appeal.

Liquidators BDO said they were reviewing the tribunal’s decision closely.

Rangers chief executive Charles Green said the verdict in the so-called Big Tax Case “undermines the validity” of a Scottish Premier League investigation into alleged undisclosed payments to players.

In its ruling – which was endorsed by two judges, with one dissenting – the FTT said the lengthy appeal had been heard over 29 days.

Split decision

“At a late stage in its deliberations it became clear that the tribunal would be unable to issue a unanimous decision. It is conscious of and regrets the consequent delay,” it said.

“The majority view reflects the argument that the controversial monies received by the employees were not paid to them as their absolute entitlement.

“The legal effect of the trust/loan structure is sufficient to preclude this. Thus the payments are loans, not earnings, and so are recoverable from the employee or his estate.”

The dissenting opinion came from Dr Heidi Poon, who concluded that the money received by the employees through the trust constituted earnings for income tax purposes.

The tribunal agreed to a request to anonymise the published form of the decision.

In a statement, Murray International Holdings said: “We are satisfied that the tax tribunal has now published its widely awaited decision and note the contents thereof.

“We are pleased with the judgement which leaves minimal tax liability and overwhelmingly supports the views collectively and consistently held by our advisers, legal counsel and MIH itself.

‘Ill-informed debate’

“This has been an exceptionally long, difficult and expensive process involving not just the tax tribunal but also significant efforts to resolve the matter with senior HMRC officials on a commercially sensible basis for all parties.

“We will therefore review the detailed content of the decision with our advisers and legal counsel to ascertain what action, if any, is now required by MIH.”

The MIH spokesman said that while the company had “respected the privacy” of the tribunal proceedings, “a substantial quantity of confidential information” about the case had made its way into the public domain stimulating “often ill-informed debate”.

The statement continued: “This has been wholly inappropriate and outwith the fundamental principles of natural justice.

“We therefore formally request that the relevant authorities investigate how these sensitive details have been released so widely.

“We have instructed our lawyers to retrospectively review online and printed publications relating to the case to identify whether legal redress is either appropriate or necessary.”

A spokesman for HMRC said: “We are disappointed that we have lost this stage of the court process and we are considering an appeal.

“The decision was not unanimous and the diligence of HMRC investigators was acknowledged by the whole tribunal.

“HMRC is committed to tackling avoidance and it is right that we challenge the type of avoidance seen in this case.”

A statement from BDO said: “The joint interim liquidators are reviewing the tribunal’s decision closely so as to determine the impact on the liquidation of RFC 2012 Plc.

“We are unable to provide further comment at this time.”

The former lawyer who advised Rangers on how to set up Employee Benefit Trusts, Paul Baxendale-Walker, welcomed the tribunal’s ruling.

He said: “This was tax planning which any taxpayer – rich or poor – can use. We now know that it was legal and effective. HMRC will now have to answer some very hard questions.”

BBC Scotland’s business correspondent David Henderson said the implications of the tax ruling were that “all those footballers who were playing for Rangers, happily being paid using these EBTs, may well get a letter in the post soon, saying ‘give the money back to the liquidators, for onward transfer to the creditors’.”

“That could include Sir David Murray, who allegedly took about £6m through this scheme.”

He said that while HMRC has lost its principal claim, because it is a creditor of Rangers, it may now recover other taxes it was not paid as the club collapsed, as a result of this latest ruling.

‘Loans repayable’

Old Rangers was under the control of Sir David Murray when it began using EBTs.

He sold the club for £1 to Scottish businessman Craig Whyte in 2011, while the tax liability was in dispute.

But Neil Patey, a partner at Ernst and Young, does not think former players and staff will necessarily have to return money they received.

He told BBC Radio Scotland: “The loans are repayable at some point during the lifetime or maybe even at death, from the estate. But that is between the trust and individuals.

“That will be at some point in the future, which is at the discretion of the trustee, in effect.”

The FTT, before three judges, concluded in January, one month before the old Rangers, now under the control of Mr Whyte, was forced into administration by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) over non-payment of tax totalling about £14m.

HMRC subsequently rejected proposals for a creditors agreement that would have allowed the old club to continue.

Administrators Duff and Phelps then negotiated a sale of assets to a consortium led by Charles Green for £5.5m.

He has since formed a new club, now playing in the Scottish Football League Third Division.

In a statement released in response to the tax case ruling he said: “The judgment will not affect the operations of the club nor the proposed flotation of the business as a public company.

“This case is historic and was a matter for The Rangers Football Club plc (‘oldco’) which is in liquidation.

He added: “The judgment serves to further undermine the validity of the SPL Commission into the use of EBTs.

“As we have said all along the SPL decision to press ahead with a commission was ill-timed and fundamentally misconceived.”

(bbc football)