The Warm-Up: Ramsey shows Arsenal what they'll be missing; Chelsea's new shame

With a £400k-a-week contract, Serie A superstardom, virtually guaranteed silverware and decent pizza awaiting him at Juventus from next season you could understand if Aaron Ramsey started to ease off around this point. Just coast in until the end of the season, avoid injury and head off to Italy with a massive smile on his face and a big shopping list. But not a bit of it.

Last night, Ramsey showed exactly why Juve will make him the highest-paid British player in history with a superb performance in a 2-0 win over Napoli in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals. It was a dazzling display from Arsenal as they pressed ferociously all night and could easily have scored five against the second best team in Italy. After Ramsey’s opening goal, Lucas Torreira, equally excellent at the heart of midfield, also saw a low shot deflect in off Kalidou Koulibaly for a second.

Ramsey set the tone throughout with a tireless performance, sparking shouts of “sign him up” from the crowd. Well, it doesn’t quite work like that and Arsenal’s decision to withdraw their contract offer to Ramsey last year and wave him off on a free transfer has to rank as one of the biggest mysteries of modern times, second only to the disappearance of Lord Lucan, or the career of Chris Grayling. But there was no doubting his commitment: especially when he blazed over from close range in the second half and looked utterly distraught.

Unai Emery, sniffing around a fourth Europa League trophy like a dog around a bowl of Pedigree Chum, praised Ramsey for his selfless performance and his commitment to a cause he will soon abandon.

"Awesome,” said Emery. "I think he wants to do something important with us, to help us do something important because I think he feels all Arsenal.

But it looks like Ramsey will be denied an emotional reunion with his former midfield colleague Santi Cazorla before he nips off. Two late goals from Valencia saw them win 3-1 away at Villarreal last night after Cazorla scored a penalty for the home team.

There is apparently no end to the depressing parade of racism in football at the moment and once again it is Chelsea supporters under the spotlight this morning.

After alleged racist abuse directed at Raheem Sterling and antisemitic chanting during a match against MOL Vidi, Chelsea fans in Prague for the match against Slavia have been filmed singing Islamophobic chants about Mohamed Salah - their former player who will come up against them at the weekend in the Premier League.

Three fans were prevented from entering the match, which Chelsea won 1-0 thanks to a late goal by Marcos Alonso. "Where there is clear evidence of Chelsea season ticket holders or members involved in such behaviour, we will take the strongest possible action against them," read a club statement. “Such individuals are an embarrassment to the vast majority of Chelsea supporters who won't tolerate them in their club."

Liverpool condemned the chants too: “This behaviour needs to be called out for what it is - unadulterated bigotry. There is no place for this behaviour in football, there is no place for it in society. A crime of this nature has more victims than any individual it is aimed at and, as such, collective and decisive action is needed to address it."

The ankle injury sustained by Harry Kane in the Champions League win over Manchester City this week has been confirmed as a serious one. Not only is the striker expected to miss the remainder of the club season, he is also expected to be sidelined as England try and win their first senior silverware since 1966 at the Nations League finals.

A Tottenham statement read: “Following assessment over the past two days, we can confirm that Harry Kane has sustained a significant lateral ligament injury to his left ankle following a challenge in our Champions League quarter-final, first leg win against Manchester City.

“Investigations are ongoing and he will continue to be assessed by our medical staff over the coming week.”

This appears to be true:

And the kicker? The video has now been taken down due to a copyright claim.

Plus this is amazing:

The fourth Europa League quarter-final first leg starred the top two in the 2026 Ballon d’Or as Benfica’s Joao Felix and Eintracht Frankfurt’s Luka Jovic (on loan from, er, Benfica) duked it out.

Jovic, 21, took his tally for the season to 25 when scoring one of the German club’s two goals on the night at the Estadio da Luz, but the night was all about Felix, 19, as he not only bagged a hat-trick but notched up the assist for the other in a 4-2 home win. All the big clubs reportedly wanted him anyway, but this was a night to confirm his extraordinary talent.

Here’s BT Sport’s mini-highlights package on one of the best teenagers in world football:

Liverpool v Chelsea this weekend at a critical stage of the title race you say? Yes, it can only be the moment which spawned a thousand memes.

It doesn’t get any better with age, does it?

The football just keeps coming at the moment with Friday Night Football seeing Leicester City host Newcastle. And don’t forget, this weekend sees one of the highlights of the cycling calendar: Paris-Roubaix is live on Eurosport on Sunday!