Gareth Bale did not suffer a new muscle injury in Real Madrid’s 0-0 draw against Atletico Madrid on Saturday, according to reports in Spain, and could return for next weekend’s trip to Alaves. Madrid coach Julen Lopetegui said the 29-year-old had felt a problem in an abductor muscle, with his substitution being “precautionary,” and he was not included in the squad for Tuesday’s Champions League game at CSKA Moscow. Radio station Cope and newspaper Marca said initial examinations had shown no serious problem, although a further scan may take place on Tuesday. A record of more than 20 muscle injuries…
Author: David Folami
Mauricio Pochettino has said he nearly became a teammate of Barcelona’s Lionel Messi at Espanyol in 2005. Pochettino, whose side face Barca in the Champions League on Wednesday, revealed that Messi had been close to moving to Espanyol before staying at the Camp Nou. “I started to hear about him when I was at Espanyol — a small guy playing in the academy in Barcelona,” Pochettino said. “He arrived when he was 13 years old, going from Argentina to Barcelona. Then I heard he was so close to signing for Espanyol — very close — in the season Barcelona played…
So it comes down to this: Can Jose Mourinho ever produce the exciting and successful Manchester United side that fans crave? You sense they would accept the endless sideshow that comes with this manager — even accept not winning things — if they could see a team worth watching again. In other words, can he reinvent himself as a coach in the way the late David Bowie did repeatedly as a rock star? Can Mourinho accept that the formula, which brought him so much success, does not work so well in the modern era? One of Bowie’s signature tracks was…
Pep Guardiola has ruled out any chance of a move for Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe insisting “that is not going to happen.” Reports suggested that Manchester City were planning a £200 million move for the World Cup-winning striker with the French champions potentially facing Financial Fear Play issues. “That is not going to happen,” Guardiola told a news conference ahead of City’s Champions League clash with German side Hoffenheim. “Sometimes I don’t understand where that news comes from. “Man City doesn’t have or is going to spend the money that Mbappe and PSG deserve. PSG is not going to…
Lionel Scaloni has said he has not contacted Sergio Aguero to discuss a possible return to the national team despite the Manchester City striker’s excellent start to the season. Aguero, the second leading scorer in the Premier League with five goals, played for Argentina at this summer’s World Cup in Russia but did not feature in two friendlies last month: a 3-0 win over Guatemala in Los Angeles and a 0-0 draw with Colombia in New York. The 30-year-old will not be in the squad for the game against Iraq on Oct. 11, or the clash vs. Brazil five days…
Thomas Tuchel has said he does not believe Ligue 1 football reduces his side’s chances in the Champions League. “Ligue 1 is a very physical league,” Tuchel told a news conference ahead of Saturday’s trip to Nice. “In each team, there are very fast players, dangerous wide men with plenty of speed and endurance. “Le Championnat is very balanced and of high quality. There are teams like Monaco, Marseille and Lyon but also Lille, Nice and Toulouse, who are strong. I do not agree that Ligue 1 is a problem for us. “We have our own limits and we have…
In the 26-year history of the Premier League, it’s difficult to remember many more dramatic shifts in style between Chelsea pre-Maurizio Sarri and Chelsea under the Italian manager. Even Arsenal’s transition from George Graham’s defensive-minded football to Arsene Wenger’s artistic attacking was aided by the one-season reign of Bruce Rioch, who had the demeanour of Graham but preached the importance of playing out from the back and loaded his side with creative talent. Chelsea have not had that type of transition manager and Sarri will have to initiate, and complete, a similar reversal himself. It’s not merely that Chelsea were…
The Spanish Referee Committee (CTA) has requested a review of the tool used to determine offside positions in Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology. Reports in Spain said Leganes’ opening goal in their 2-1 win over Barcelona on Wednesday should not have been awarded because Jonathan Silva was offside when he received the ball before setting up Nabil El Zhar. El Chiringuito TV reported that the lines drawn by VAR when looking at the position of the striker and the defender were off and, had they been straight, Silva would have been shown to be ahead of play by 16 centimetres.…
Italy international Jorginho has said he chose to join Chelsea over Manchester City because of Maurizio Sarri’s arrival at Stamford Bridge. However, City were unable to finalise an agreement with Napoli, and Jorginho joined Chelsea in a deal worth €60 million. “There are a lot of things behind a negotiation process,” Jorginho said, when asked about his decision to join Chelsea over City. “I believe Sarri’s arrival played a big part on it. “And there’s also the greatness of Chelsea, such a big club. So these factors helped me making my mind.” Despite Jorginho having already been at Napoli for…
Everton forward Richarlison could be switched from his regular position on the wing to striker in Saturday’s Premier League game against promoted Fulham, manager Marco Silva said on Friday. He struck twice on his first international start for Brazil to seal a 5-0 friendly win over El Salvador this month to leave Silva mulling the new role for the 21-year-old. “He could be one of the strikers. It is possible, everything is possible. This week I can tell you he worked some moments as a striker. It is up to me to decide tomorrow,” Silva told a news conference. “We…
Hertha Berlin stunned Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich 2-0 on Friday for their first win against them in nine years, snapping the champions’ unbeaten run this season and moving the Berliners joint top in the league. Hertha captain Vedad Ibisevic sent Manuel Neuer the wrong way to score with a 23rd minute penalty after Jerome Boateng had brought down Salomon Kalou. Slovak forward Ondrej Duda continued his sensational form with his fifth goal of the season, firing in on the stroke of half-time. Bayern, without injured Leon Goretzka, had their share of chances with Arjen Robben in the first half and…
Unai Emery is confident that Aaron Ramsey won’t let his contract situation affect his performances and called on the midfielder to show his quality amid a stand-off between the club and player over new terms. Emery indicated that he has no plans of dropping the Wales international, though, and said he isn’t worried that his performances could suffer. “I don’t think so,” Emery said ahead of Saturday’s home game against Watford. “I am sure the best for us and the best for him is to take this opportunity to do the best performance each match, to show every supporter his…
Jose Mourinho has refused to expand on his reasons for stripping Paul Pogba of the vice-captaincy or the trigger for a tense exchange between the pair at training but did warn “no player is bigger than the club.” “He’s a player like the others, no player is bigger than the club and if I’m happy with his work he plays, if I’m not happy he doesn’t play,” Mourinho said. “I’m happy with his work this week, really happy. “Manchester United is bigger than anyone and I have to defend that.” Mourinho and Pogba’s training ground confrontation has come amid a…
Richard Russell has shared his confidence over Adele‘s next record – as well as revealing what he looks for in an artist before signing them to XL Recordings. Russell is the owner of XL Recordings – home to the likes of Adele, The xx, FKA Twigs, Arca, Sigur Ros, Arca, Thom Yorke and Jungle. Speaking to NME on the red carpet of the Mercury Music Prize, where he was nominated for the collaborative album ‘Everything Is Recorded’, Russell remained tight-lipped about what to expect from Adele’s upcoming fourth album, he did praise her recent ‘Titanic’ themed birthday party. “I went…
Veteran actress, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, is presently under heat for her comment, which was aimed at judging what female celebrities wore to the just concluded Africa Movies Viewers Choice Awards held in Lagos on Saturday. The actress allegedly wrote: “The men were well suited looking so modest and handsome while the women were almost nude, though they look so beautiful but you can see that there dresses are either showing their upper thighs or boobs. Except Omotola…her dress is so lovely and divine, with her awesome curves. Other women celebrities should goan learn dress sense from her(sic),” . And many people…
Nicki Minaj has a message to anybody out there who’s rooting for her fall from pop culture grace: you’re giving into one of humanity’s most unattractive qualities. In a preview of her cover story for Wonderland’s Autumn 2018 issue, Minaj, 35, opens up about the fickle nature of celebrity — and how some people are actively hoping the Queen rapper gets dethroned. “I’ve been at the top of this totem pole for a very long time,” she tells the glossy. “Sometimes people just want to see someone who’s been at the top fall, just to see if it can happen.”…
Davido has announced that he is working with Kiss Daniel on his next single. The DMW boss who cancelled his tour of the United States and has returned home to support the governorship ambition of his Uncle, Senator Ademola Adeleke is back making music and this time he is working once again with Kiss Daniel. He made this known through a post shared on his Twitter page on Tuesday afternoon, September 18 with the caption, ”Kissdaniel x OBO… soon come.” The duo had earlier worked together on the remix of Kiss Daniel’s hit single, ‘Woju’ which also featured Tiwa Savage.…
Nothing to see here, just Cardi B hanging out with her rival’s ex… The 25-year-old partied with Nicki Minaj’s former boyfriend Meek Mill on Thursday night at the Billboard 2018 R&B Hip-Hop Power Players event at Legacy Records in New York City, where the latter was honored with the Impact Award. Cardi, wearing a lime green fur-lined coat and a light blue wig, and Meek were photographed hanging out together along with rapper Marlo and Pierre “Pee” Thomas, co-founder of the Atlanta-based record label Quality Control Music. The event took place three weeks after Cardi and Nicki got into a…
Nicki Minaj and her rumoured boo, Lewis Hamilton are presently in Dubai having funny and these photos aren’t far from it. Both celebrities took to their Instagram pages to Thursday, September 27, 2018, where they shared photos while riding on ATV in Dubai. Nicki Minaj captioned her own photo with the quote; ” Caribbean tingz what I on. Me & Lewis gettin paper like what ink dry on. #Versace.” It is not clear if these guys are actually dating but they have been spotted lately hanging out together. If these guys are actually dating then we can confirm that Lewis,…
Desmond Elliot has shared a first look of what to expect from his upcoming movie, ”That Which Binds Us.” What happens when ‘culture’ and ‘tradition’ continue to stand as a justification for oppression in the society? That is one question that veteran actor and lawmaker Desmond Elliot puts to the front burner in his new directed film, ‘That Which Binds Us.” The movie produced by Dayo Amusa tells the story of a widowed woman, Toke Nwachukwu played by Uche Jombo, who has to deal with her husband’s family who invade her home immediately after the loss of her husband, and…