Minnow Monaco motivated by final fantasy

Valere Germain celebrates scoring Monaco's third goal against Borussia Dortmund in their Champions League quarterfinal, second-leg match at Stade Louis II, Monaco, on Wednesday. Jean-Paul Pelissier / Reuters

MONACO - A brilliant Monaco side that has taken Europe by storm will not relent in its bid for glory after beating Borussia Dortmund to reach the Champions League semifinals, said coach Leonardo Jardim.

The team from the Mediterranean principality was too good for its German opponent in Wednesday's quarterfinal second leg, winning 3-1 at Stade Louis II to advance 6-3 on aggregate.

"We have won nothing, but we have made history," Portuguese coach Jardim declared after the match, as his side extended a run that began in the third qualifying round against Fenerbahce last July.

Teenage sensation Kylian Mbappe, skipper Radamel Falcao and substitute Valere Germain were the Monaco marksmen, with Marco Reus netting for Dortmund on a memorable night for the host.

The last team to come through two qualifying rounds to reach the semifinals of the Champions League was Dynamo Kiev in 1999, although the format was different in those days.

Nobody expected Monaco - conqueror of Pep Guardiola's Manchester City in the last round - to get this far, but it has done it by playing a superb brand of attacking soccer that has produced 141 goals so far this season.

Now it is preparing for its first semifinal appearance since 2004, joining Juventus, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in the draw.

None of those teams will fancy playing Monaco, which for all big-spending Paris Saint-Germain's efforts in recent years will be the first French representative in the last four since Lyon in 2010.

"We have taken France into the semifinals. We want to enjoy it, but all four sides are capable of winning the competition," said Jardim, whose team was visited by Prince Albert of Monaco in the dressing room after the match.

Monaco is not just fighting for glory in Europe - it is also atop the French league standings and in the French Cup semifinals. But fatigue might be its biggest foe now.

"It's not easy to play in Europe and try to win the league. We are the team that has played the most games in Europe, so it's tough," added Jardim, who has been linked as a possible successor to Arsene Wenger at Arsenal by the British media.

"Maybe if we had lost in the last 16 we would be fresher now, but we won't ask our players to change their mentality. We just need to recover well."

A crucial weekend game at Lyon provides an opportunity to maintain the momentum.

"If I have to choose, it's normal to prefer to win the Champions League, but maybe our chances of winning it are slimmer than winning the league. We will give everything in both," added the coach.

For Dortmund, elimination was hard to take after the tie was overshadowed by a bomb attack on its team bus en route to last week's first leg which left defender Marc Bartra with a broken wrist.

Bartra was there to support his teammates in Monaco but it was another difficult night as their bus was delayed in leaving for the ground, held up for security reasons.

"It was the worst thing that could happen a week after the attack - everyone was on the bus ready to go but we were not allowed to," said coach Thomas Tuchel.

The start of the match was delayed by five minutes.

"It's only eight days after the terrible attack so we shouldn't lend too much significance to the team's performance," added Tuchel, who was taking charge of Dortmund for the 100th time.

"It was very difficult for the players, so I can't be too critical. We felt ready to push for a semifinal place before the tie but things changed dramatically."

Dortmund is fourth in the Bundesliga.

"We will not be favorites next year but we need to qualify first and then be as unpleasant to play against as possible," said the coach.

Agence France-Presse

EPL clubs post pre-tax losses

Revenues for Premier League clubs hit a new record of $4.5 billion in the 2015-16 season, but top-flight teams still recorded pre-tax losses of $140 million, according to sports - finance experts Deloitte.

The record revenues were nine percent higher than the previous top total of $3.9 billion posted in the 2014-15 campaign, with Manchester United and Manchester City responsible for more than half of that increase.

United's revenue grew to $660 million, which saw it top the Deloitte Football Money League for the first time since 2003-04 as the world's highest revenue-generating soccer team.

Increased wage costs, up by 12 percent to $3 billion, were the main factor in the combined losses of England's 20 elite clubs.

It is the first time Premier League teams have posted an aggregate pre-tax loss since the 2012-13 season.

Agence France-Presse