Scotland defender Jack Hendry is relishing the prospect of facing Erling Haaland after enjoying previous battles against some of the world’s best forwards.
Hendry has a good chance of starting in Saturday’s Euro 2024 qualifier in Oslo despite missing Scotland’s opening wins with injury. Grant Hanley and Scott McKenna are absent with injuries ahead of this month’s double header.
Haaland also missed the March qualifiers through injury and will be determined to add to his 53 goals for club and country this season after helping Manchester City clinch the treble last weekend.
When asked how you stop the striker, Hendry said: “I think we will keep that amongst ourselves in the group, I don’t want to give too much away. But a lot of people have tried to stop him this season and they haven’t done.
“He is an amazing player with an amazing record this season but we will taking a look at the full team and trying to combat that.
“We will do our best but it’s something I will definitely be relishing if I get called upon, to try and get the better of him.
“Obviously he has had an amazing season and of course that’s the type of players you want to test yourselves against. If I am called upon it’s a game I will be really looking forward to, testing yourself against the best in the world.
“I think we concentrate on ourselves, we did that for the first two games. If we keep on focusing on ourselves that will stand us in good stead.”
The Club Brugge defender faced City last season in the Champions League and also Paris St Germain, helping his side to a 1-1 draw against a forward line of Neymar, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe.
“Not just big names, every game I am going into, I will have a quick look at the strikers I am coming up against, what their movements etc might be,” he said.
“Like Haaland, with every other player, I will study them and see how they are going to play and come up with a best solution on how to deal with them.
“But playing against top strikers like Mbappe will give me great experience going into these type of contests.
“The more games you play at that level the more confidence it gives you and I am lucky enough to have played quite a few games at that level now.
“I know that’s the level I can play at and I get a real excitement out of coming up against these type of players. It’s something the full team are looking forward to.”
Hendry missed three months of the season with a knee injury shortly after facing Benfica in the Champions League knockout stages in February, but he was back in the team for the final three games of the season.
Hendry, who had a loan spell at Serie A side Cremonese earlier in the season, said: “It was vital for me on a personal note at Club Brugge but also to now come into the international set-up, those games were vital for me to get that rhythm.
“They couldn’t have come about at a better time for Scotland. It was kind of an up-and-down season for me but I made sure I worked hard at Club Brugge to get those games and get those minutes and it has paid off coming into these games.
“I like to put myself out the comfort zone and went to play in Italy. The chance came up, it was probably just the wrong club at the wrong time, but I learnt a lot from it.
“Obviously there have been a few managerial changes at the clubs I have been at this season so it’s not been easy, with a couple of niggling injuries that recurred a couple of times. But that’s part and parcel of being a footballer and I still managed to get a few games under my belt.”
Europa Conference League: Aston Villa stunned by Olympiacos
Aston Villa were stunned by Olympiacos as they suffered a 4-2 home defeat in the Europa Conference League.
On what the Villa faithful hoped would be a famous night at Villa Park, they instead saw their team dispatched by their Greek opponents in the first leg of their semi-final encounter.
Ayoub El Kaabi scored a hat-trick for the visitors, who were 2-0 up inside 30 minutes on Thursday.
Ollie Watkins and Moussa Diaby struck either side of the interval to restore parity, but El Kaabi sealed his hat-trick from the penalty spot before Santiago Hezze added further gloss with a sensational finish. To add to Villa's misery, Douglas Luiz then missed a penalty late on.
In the other semi-final tie, Fiorentina took a 3-2 aggregate lead against Club Brugge.
M'Bala Nzola was Fiorentina's hero in stoppage time, scoring in the 91st minute to nudge the Serie A team ahead.
Hans Vanaken had scored from a penalty following a VAR check for handball in the 17th minute, cancelling out Riccardo Sottil's early opener, though Fiorentina restored their lead through Andrea Belotti before half-time in a frantic first half.
Thiago equalised for Brugge, but it was ultimately not enough.
Europa League: Wirtz and Andrich goals put Leverkusen on the brink, Marseille hold Atalanta
Bayer Leverkusen put one foot in the Europa League final as Florian Wirtz and Robert Andrich scored in Thursday's 2-0 semi-final first-leg win over Roma at the Stadio Olimpico.
Roma were masters of their own downfall as Wirtz opened the scoring after 28 minutes, Rick Karsdorp's horrible error allowing Alex Grimaldo to race into the area and tee up Wirtz to finish into an unguarded net.
Though Daniele De Rossi's hosts improved after the break, Andrich added a spectacular second with 73 minutes on the clock, the midfielder giving Mile Svilar no chance as he side-footed into the top-left corner from 25 yards out.
Roma should have pulled one back four minutes into stoppage time, but Tammy Abraham could only nod over from inside the six-yard box after a goalmouth scramble, and they now have it all to do in next week's second leg.
Leverkusen's unbeaten run for 2023-24 stands at 47 games across all competitions (39 wins, eight draws), and they are now overwhelming favourites to stamp their ticket to the final in Dublin.
The other semi-final tie remains in the balance at the halfway stage, with Atalanta being pegged back in a 1-1 draw with Marseille at the Stade Velodrome.
Having scored twice in La Dea's memorable win at Anfield in the last round, Gianluca Scamacca took in Teun Koopmeiners' pass before finishing low across goal 11 minutes in, but Gian Piero Gasperini's team couldn't hold on.
Chancel Mbemba was the unlikely goalscorer for Marseille, stepping out of defence to clip a 25-yard effort against the far post and in after 20 minutes.
Neither side could find a winner from there, meaning it's all to play for ahead of next week's return fixture at the Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo.
Orlando City v FC Cincinnati: Acosta hails visitors for absorbing punches
Luciano Acosta has hailed FC Cincinnati for coming through a testing period as they look to make it three straight wins in MLS play at Orlando City on Saturday.
After going unbeaten through their first six games of the season, Cincinnati suffered back-to-back 2-1 defeats against the New York Red Bulls and CF Montreal.
However, they have since bounced back with two wins over difficult opponents, seeing off Atlanta United and the Colorado Rapids by the same scoreline.
Acosta scored his 44th goal for Cincinnati – the most of any player in franchise history – in that latter game, and he believes their resilience has been key.
"I think it's just about our mentality," Acosta said. "We lost those two games and it was a bit of a punch that woke us up. But now it's about the mentality and getting back to it."
Head coach Pat Noonan said of Acosta: "I think what makes it more impressive is teams are going to try to prevent him from having an impact.
"When you're a key player and you're able to do what he's doing with the focus on stopping you in a lot of ways, that's what is unique."
Orlando, meanwhile, were beaten 2-1 by Toronto FC last week, halting their four-game unbeaten streak and dropping them to 13th in the Eastern Conference.
Forward Duncan McGuire felt the Lions should have taken maximum points from that game and is desperate to atone at Inter&Co Stadium.
"I definitely think we should've won," he said.
"I think how difficult this felt and how this feels for us right now is going to push us and motivate us to train hard all week, to get a win for the fans at home and get the job done."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Orlando City – Duncan McGuire
Maguire scored his fourth goal of the MLS season against Toronto last week – no other Orlando player has netted more than once in 2024.
Those goals have come from an expected goals (xG) figure of 2.7, with the United States international also attempting a team-high 27 shots this campaign.
FC Cincinnati – Luciano Acosta
Acosta has contributed to at least one goal in four straight MLS matches (one goal, three assists).
It is Acosta's fifth streak of four or more straight regular-season games with a goal contribution for Cincinnati, with Brandon Vazquez the only other player to achieve that feat for the team.
MATCH PREDICTION – ORLANDO CITY WIN
Orlando earned a win and a draw against Supporters' Shield winners Cincinnati last season, making them one of two teams (also the New England Revolution) to play Cincinnati twice in the 2023 regular season and not lose either match.
The Lions may just fancy their chances of another positive result against Noonan's men, who have only won one of their last three away games (one draw, one defeat).
Orlando have only lost two of their last 17 regular-season home matches dating back to last April, winning nine and drawing six, so viewers should expect a response to their loss last time out.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Orlando City – 49.3%
FC Cincinnati – 23.6%
Draw – 27.1%
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