Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

Chelsea's US owners stunned as club knocked out of Champions League

The English club is currently struggling in the unfamiliar lower half of the Premier League, and they are at risk of their worst domestic league finish in almost 30 years

Chelsea's US owners stunned as club knocked out of Champions League

Chelsea's American owners witnessed their first season's last hope for any success crumble as their club, which they had acquired in a deal worth £4.25 billion ($5.28bn) last year, was eliminated from the Champions League by Real Madrid.

Chelsea is currently struggling in the unfamiliar lower half of the Premier League, and they are at risk of their worst domestic league finish in almost 30 years.


Furthermore, they were eliminated from the FA Cup and League Cup at the first hurdle.

Their only opportunity to qualify for next season's lucrative Champions League by winning the competition has vanished as a result of Real's 4-0 aggregate quarter-final victory, which included a 2-0 triumph at Stamford Bridge.

The prospect of a drop in income is raising fears among Chelsea fans that some of the club's best young players will be sold to meet financial rules.

The spectacular slump in the 2022/23 season - during which Chelsea have had three different coaches - stands in contrast with the string of heady campaigns under previous owner, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.

He was forced to sell the club by Britain's government last year following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

Chelsea were the most successful team in England in the period between Abramovich buying the club in 2003 and its sale in 2022, a run that included two Champions League triumphs in 2012 and 2021 and five English league titles.

That track record - and the surge in global support for the west London club along the way - explained Chelsea's appeal to a consortium led by LA Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly and backed by Clearlake Capital, a private equity firm.

On top of the deal to buy the club last May, they have invested a further 550 million pounds on players, spending in the January transfer window more than all the clubs in the top divisions of Spain, Italy, Germany and France combined.

But somehow they failed to buy someone capable of scoring goals on a regular basis with a gamble on former Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang failing at almost the first test.

Chelsea have scored 30 goals in 31 league games so far. By contrast, table-topping Arsenal have scored 74 and second-placed Manchester City have found the net 78 times.

Tuesday's blank was the fifth in six games in all competitions.

With no spearhead for their attack, Chelsea's managers this season - Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and now caretaker boss Frank Lampard - have all struggled to turn a collection of expensive stars and home-grown talent into a cohesive team.

Chelsea fans have turned their frustrations on the owners of the club and some were photographed remonstrating with Boehly in his executive box after last weekend's 2-1 home defeat by Brighton & Hove Albion. British media said an upset Boehly talked to players in the dressing room after that result.

More For You

Amanda Anisimova

The last American woman remaining in the draw

Getty Images

Amanda Anisimova stuns Aryna Sabalenka to reach maiden Wimbledon final

Highlights

  • Amanda Anisimova defeats world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in three sets
  • The American advances to her first Grand Slam final
  • Sabalenka’s run of Grand Slam finals ends
  • Anisimova will face either Swiatek or Bencic on Saturday
  • With the win, Anisimova is projected to reach world No. 7

American tennis star Amanda Anisimova produced the biggest win of her career by defeating world number one Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in the semi-finals of Wimbledon on Thursday. The result sends the 23-year-old into her first Grand Slam final, where she will face either Iga Swiatek or Belinda Bencic on Saturday.

The contest on Centre Court lasted two hours and 37 minutes and was interrupted twice during the first set due to spectators feeling unwell in the heat. Despite the stoppages, both players maintained their focus in a match marked by intense rallies and shifting momentum.

Keep ReadingShow less
HYBE Cine Fest 2025
HYBE Cine Fest 2025: How HYBE Cine Fest 2025 is India’s K-pop soft launch
Instagram/pvrpictures

HYBE Cine Fest 2025: BTS, TXT, and SEVENTEEN light up screens; here’s what it really means

You step into your local PVR today. The smell of popcorn hits you, but instead of previews for the latest Bollywood hit, the lobby is a sea of ARMY Bombs and CARAT Bong light sticks. Fans in TXT tees are swapping photocards. Someone’s already belting out a LE SSERAFIM chorus into a mic at the pop-up Noraebang station. Inside Screen 3? It isn’t a film, but a full-blown K-pop concert. Thousands of voices scream every word of BTS’s Dynamite, and tears well up during Jungkook’s solo. But this isn’t Seoul. It’s Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru, all this weekend. And HYBE? They’re taking notes, big ones!

What is Hybe Cine fest?

HYBE Cine Fest 2025 is a three-day cinema event (from 10 to 12 July) that brings some of the biggest K-pop concert experiences to the big screen across India. Organised by South Korean entertainment giant HYBE in partnership with PVR INOX and Trafalgar Releasing, the fest features full-length concert films from BTS, SEVENTEEN, TXT, ENHYPEN, ILLIT, and Katseye. Expect stadium-level production with cinematic visuals, surround sound, and collective fan chants, everything fans love about a K-pop concert, recreated inside a cinema.

Keep ReadingShow less
Elon Musk

The launch of Grok 4 comes amid criticism of the previous version

Getty Images

Elon Musk claims new Grok 4 AI is ‘smarter than PhD graduates’

Highlights

  • Elon Musk unveils Grok 4, calling it “the smartest AI in the world”
  • Grok 4 reportedly trained 100 times more than Grok 2
  • Musk says it performs at PhD-level across nearly all subjects
  • The launch follows controversy around Grok 3’s offensive responses

Musk launches Grok 4 AI model with bold claims of intelligence

Elon Musk has launched Grok 4, the latest artificial intelligence model developed by his xAI company, claiming it surpasses PhD-level intelligence across all academic fields.

Speaking at the launch, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO said Grok 4 had been trained using 100 times more data than Grok 2, which was replaced by Grok 3 in February this year. Musk described the new model as “the smartest AI in the world” and said it could achieve near-perfect results in graduate-level exams in almost every subject.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pakistan rejects claim of China’s role in border clash

Asim Munir

Pakistan rejects claim of China’s role in border clash

PAKISTAN’S army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir on Monday (7) rejected Delhi’s allegation that his military received active support from longtime ally China in its conflict with India in May.

The Indian Army’s deputy chief, Lieutenant General Rahul Singh, said last week that China gave Islamabad “live inputs” on key Indian positions.

Keep ReadingShow less