The new challenges Yaya Toure wants so bas can be found at Manchester City and the midfielder does not need to leave the Premier League club if he wants to slug it out for silverware, manager Manuel Pellegrini said on Friday. . Toure suggested this week that he might be interested in a new challenge and the Ivorian’s agent has said the 31-year-old would not be short of suitors if he decided to end his five-year spell in Manchester. . But Pellegrini believes the powerful Ivorian wants to stay and has urged the midfielder to play a crucial role in…
Author: David F.
Chelsea may be two wins left from regaining the Premier League title, but manager Jose Mourinho insists he is taking nothing for granted – including his fantastic record against Arsenal legend and manager Arsene Wenger. . The London rivals meet on Sunday with Chelsea 10 points clear at the top of the table. Victory at second-placed Arsenal would mean Mourinho’s team can clinch the title by beating Leicester City three days later. . But Mourinho said his unbeaten record in 12 games against Wenger was irrelevant. . “For me, achievement is to win (on Sunday),” he told reporters on Friday.…
Manchester United have suffered yet another defensive injury with right-back Rafael da Silva out for the rest of the season after breaking his ribs. . Manager Louis van Gaal said to MUTV that the Brazilian suffered the injury in an Under-21 match against Leicester this week. . United, who lie in third place, a point behind Arsenal and one ahead of neighbours Manchester City, do have centre-back Jonny Evans available again after a six-match ban for Sunday’s Premier League match at Everton. . But Michael Carrick, Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo remain sidelined. . Striker Robin van Persie, who has…
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has spoken to fantastic midfielder Marouane Fellaini about keeping his emotions in check when he makes his very first return to former club Everton on Saturday. . Fellaini left Merseyside to join United in a £27 million deal in August 2013 following five years in which he became a talismanic figure at Everton. . The Belgium international struggled for form during his first 12 months at Old Trafford under former Everton manager David Moyes and he was an unused substitute last April when United lost 2-0 at Goodison Park in what was Moyes’s last…
The draw for the semis of the Europa League on Friday made room for the possibility of an all-Italian final as Serie A sides Napoli and Fiorentina avoided each other. . Rafa Benitez’s Napoli will take on Dnipro of Ukraine while Fiorentina will face holders Sevilla in the semi-finals, with the first legs to be played on Thursday, May 7 and the second legs on Thursday, May 14. . Napoli, who are through to their first European semi-final since the side captained by Diego Maradona won the Uefa Cup in 1989, will be favourites to beat a Dnipro outfit appearing…
Manchester City will look to continue to draw etihad comfort from a poor season with a victory over FA Cup finalists Aston Villa on Saturday which would edge them closer to a top-four finish in the English Premier League. . With City 12 points adrift of leaders Chelsea, their focus now is on ensuring they qualify for next season’s Champions League by holding off the challenge from below of Liverpool in fifth and sixth-placed Tottenham, who they play on Sunday week. . The defending champions have struggled to regain last season’s form and focus which saw City win the Premier…
Barcelona will be given the chance to avenge their 2013 humbling by Bayern Munich after being put up against the Germans again in the Champions League semifinal draw on Friday which also pitted holders Real Madrid against Juventus. . Bayern thrashed Barcelona 7-0 on aggregate two years ago before going on to beat Borussia Dortmund to win their fifth European Cup. . Former Barca coach Pep Guardiola was on a year’s sabbatical at the time but will doubtless enjoy the challenge of trying to repeat that achievement on his first return to the Nou Camp since taking over at Bayern.…
Juergen Klopp is being tipped as Manchester City’s next manager after announcing this week that he would be leaving Borussia Dortmund at the end of the season after seven years in charge. . With Manuel Pellegrini’s future at Man City under scrutiny after his side’s feeble defence of the Premier League title and another disappointing Champions League campaign, speculation is rife that Klopp will replace the Chilean. . Pellegrini has one more year left on his contract. . British bookmaker William Hill said Klopp, who captured two Bundesliga titles for Dortmund and reached the Champions League final, was 5-4 favourite…
When Jose Mourinho jumped to weak Louis van Gaal’s defence in February, sympathising that he should be given time to get used to English football, even he might have been surprised at just how quickly and speedily his mentor has since adapted. . At the time, Van Gaal’s Manchester United were pleasing nobody, stodgy and struggling, but a run of six straight, ever more convincing wins sees them march to Mourinho’s Chelsea stadium on Saturday with the master ready to beat his pupil for the very first time. . If Van Gaal could orchestrate Chelsea’s third league defeat of the…
Aaron Lennon has been the reason for Everton’s recent Premier League revival and the on-loan winger’s fantastic work rate is starting to rub off on his teammates, manager Roberto Martinez said on Thursday. . The 28-year-old Lennon, who joined on loan from Tottenham Hotspur in January until the end of the season, has scored twice in his last three games as 12th-placed Everton have gone unbeaten in their last four Premier League matches after a slump that had them hovering dangerously close to the relegation zone. . “The work rate Aaron Lennon has, has been a massive influence, along with…
Chelsea duo Diego Costa and Eden Hazard were named on Thursday on the shortlist for the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) Player of the Year award. . The Premier League current leaders are the only club to have two players nominated for the end-of-season accolade. . Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho, Manchester United keeper David de Gea, Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane and Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez are also on the shortlist. . Brazilian-born Spain striker Costa is the league’s top scorer with 19 goals, having joined Jose Mourinho’s side from Atletico Madrid in the close season. . Belgian international Hazard has flourished…
Hopes of a suspense_filled end to the Premier League title race rest this weekend on Manchester United, who take their six-game winning streak to champions-elect Chelsea on Saturday. . Chelsea looked set to drop points at Queens Park Rangers last weekend, only for Cesc Fabregas’s 88th-minute goal to earn a 1-0 win that restored their seven-point lead over second-place Arsenal with a game in hand. . As things stand, Jose Mourinho’s side require only 12 points from their seven remaining matches to secure a first league title since 2010. . While a collapse seems unlikely, victory for United would present…
Four-time World Player of the Year and counting Lionel Messi has admitted that he struggled to overcome injuries in Barcelona’s first trophyless campaign for six years last season. . As well as the disappointment at club level, Messi suffered the devastation of losing the World Cup final with Argentina and saw Cristiano Ronaldo defeat him to win the World Player of the Year for a second consecutive year. . “Last season, I had an inconsistent season. I was out for a long time with injuries and I missed a lot of games,” Messi told Barcelona’s website. . “When I returned…
Barcelona have little or no time to relax after a stunning win over Paris Saint-Germain in midweek as the Catalans continue their quest for a treble continues when Valencia visit the Camp Nou on Saturday. . Luis Enrique’s men all but secured their place in the semifinals of the Champions League with a 3-1 dismantling of the French champions thanks to two wonderful goals from Luis Suarez. . However, a 2-2 draw away to Sevilla last weekend means should Barca suffer one more slip-up between now and the end of the league campaign, the destiny of the title will be…
Barcelona midfield maestro Andres Iniesta could miss Saturday’s La Liga game at home to Valencia after tests on Thursday showed he suffered a bruised pelvis in Wednesday’s 3-1 Champions League win at Paris St Germain. . Iniesta had to be taken off for Xavi eight minutes into the second half of the quarterfinal, first leg at the Parc des Princes after tangling with PSG midfielder Javier Pastore. . “According to the club’s medical staff, tests conducted on Thursday … confirmed heavy bruising in the sacroiliac joint,” Barca said on their website (www.fcbarcelona.es). . The La Liga leaders did not say…
Luis Suare, recently ‘ the disgraced one’ after the World Cup biting incident when Barcelona paid 81 million euros to buy him from Liverpool last July and a slow start in Spain prompted many to question the wisdom of the deal. . Nine months after and Suarez has silenced the doubters with a run of scoring in crucial games that has helped ensured the Catalan giants stay firmly on course for a repeat of their 2009 treble of Champions League and Spanish League and Cup titles. . The Uruguay forward scored both goals in Barca’s 2-1 win at Manchester City…
If Szczesny was still Arsenal’s 1st choice goalkeeper he would be sitting on the bench watching Saturday’s FA Cup semifinal against Reading rather than featuring in it, said manager Arsene Wenger. . But unlike last year’s semifinal when he was among the substitutes watching fellow Polish international Lukasz Fabianski featuring against Wigan Athletic, Szczesny will man the post while Colombia keeper David Ospina has the afternoon off. . It might also be one of Szczesny’s last appearances for the club after nine years in north London as Wenger could not say for certain that the Pole would be content to…
Jose Mourinho’s table-toppers are currently 7 points in front of second-placed Arsenal, who are involved in FA Cup semifinal action against Reading this weekend. . Third-placed Man United are a point further back, having played a game more than CFC, but Louis van Gaal’s men will arrive in London on a run of six consecutive victories. . Chelsea need just twelve points from their seven remaining matches to win their first league title since 2010 and while a defeat on Saturday wouldn’t spell the end of their challenge, it would give the chasing pack a glimmer of hope. . The…
Porto have one foot in the Champions League’s semifinals after their shock 3-1 win at home over Bayern Munich in Wednesday’s Champions League quarterfinal, first leg. . Porto carry a weighty advantage to Munich for Tuesday’s return leg at the Allianz Arena while Bayern have a glimmer of hope after their away goal, but still need to score at least twice at home. . “That result is a surprise and we knew it wouldn’t be easy against a side who control possession,” said Porto captain and goal-scorer Jackson Martinez. . “But we took our chances and proved that we can…
Luis Suarez scored a fantastic 2nd-half double as Barca appeared to crush Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League dream for another year with a 3-1 quarterfinal, first leg win at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday. . The visitors’ star-studed attack made their class count as Neymar solemlly converted from a Lionel Messi assist in the 18th minute to put Luis Enrique’s men in control, before Suarez produced two sublime finishes in the final quarter of the game. . PSG scored one in the 92nd minute from what was credited as a Jeremy Mathieu own-goal from a Gregory van der Wiel shot,…