Matteo Darmian is hoping to spoil Tottenham’s farewell party when Manchester United arrive for the final match at White Hart Lane. Fresh from securing their place in the Europa League final, Jose Mourinho’s men this weekend head to north London for what is sure to be an emotional fixture. Sunday’s Premier League encounter will be the final game in White Hart Lane’s 118-year history, with Spurs set to make a temporary switch to Wembley while their new ground is finished. Darmian expects the surrounding emotions to make a difficult match all the tougher and, while Europa League glory is United’s…
Author: David Folami
Bayern Munich’s president Uli Hoeness has told rivals RB Leipzig to ‘stop buying kids!’ if they want to run the champions closer next season, with Germany’s top clubs to clash on Saturday. Second-placed Leipzig capped their first year in Germany’s top flight by qualifying directly for next season’s Champions League while Saturday’s visitors Bayern are already confirmed as German champions. RB briefly kept Bayern off the top of the Bundesliga for three weeks last November with a transfer policy of signing raw, young talent — all five signings in the last year are 21 or younger. But Hoeness says RB…
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has conceded he cannot guarantee Eden Hazard will still be at the club next season, amid reported interest from Real Madrid. Hazard has bounced back in spectacular fashion from a disappointing 2015-16 campaign, scoring 15 goals to take Chelsea to within sight of the Premier League title. While Conte is adamant Chelsea do not want to sell the 26-year-old, he admits he cannot say with certainty the Belgian forward will not leave Stamford Bridge. “I think that it’s impossible for me to take this responsibility. Not only for Eden, but for every single player,” said the…
After a period of uncertainty, the South Africa Football Association (SAFA) have confirmed the appointment of Stuart Baxter as the coach of the Men’s senior national side the Bafana Bafana. Baxter will be given time off his duties as coach of Premier League Soccer side Supersport United to concentrate on national team duties as the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Nigeria in June looms. This will be Baxter’s second time in charge of Bafana Bafana after he coached the team between 2004 and 2005 before getting the boot. During that period, he played 23 games, winning 10, losing…
Super Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr has invited 25 players for residential camping and a friendly with Corsica later this month. First-choice goalkeeper Carl Ikeme misses out due to injury while the China duo of Brown Ideye and Odion Ighalo are once again left out as team skipper Mikel John Obi continues to recuperate from surgery. Ikechukwu Ezenwa leads a home-based quartet that includes Alhassan ‘Muazzam’ Ibrahim, Stephen Odey and Sikiru Olatunbosun. Mikel Agu is the surprise name on the list as he earns a second call-up while fit-again Wolfsburg striker Victor Osimhen is also included. The three-time African champions…
The referee pushed and labelled “dishonest” by Arsene Wenger will take charge of next month’s FA Cup final between the veteran French manager’s Arsenal side and London rivals Chelsea, the Football Association have announced. Wenger received a £25 000 fine for pushing Anthony Taylor, then the fourth official, during Arsenal’s Premier League win at home to Burnley on January 22. Referee Jon Moss said Wenger accused Taylor of being “dishonest to (his) federation” before using foul language towards the fourth official. Moss sent Wenger off after Burnley equalised with a penalty and the Arsenal manager intially stood in the mouth…
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has said his team is going through a rebuilding phase and the best is yet to come despite reaching the FA Cup final and leading the Premier League title race in his first season at the club. Chelsea last secured a league and FA Cup double in 2010 under Italian manager Carlo Ancelotti’s first season at the club, although Conte dismissed comparisons, saying he had inherited a squad in a difficult period, having finished 10th in the league last season. With defender Branislav Ivanovic and midfielder John Obi Mikel leaving Stamford Bridge earlier this year and…
Real Madrid, still crowing from reaching a third Champions League final in four years, will turn their focus to winning their first La Liga title since 2012 when they play Sevilla in their final home game of the season on Sunday. Real’s Champions League triumphs in 2014 and 2016 have distracted from rivals Barcelona’s creeping domination in the domestic league, with the Catalans winning five of the last seven titles. Even Atletico Madrid, who Zinedine Zidane’s side saw off for the fourth consecutive year on the European stage on Wednesday with a 4-2 aggregate victory, have won the title more…
Arsenal know they need a big slice of luck to finish in the Premier League top four but midfielder Granit Xhaka says the London club have not given up the chase. Arsenal, who beat Manchester United 2-0 on Sunday, will need fourth-placed Manchester City (69 points, 35 games) or third-placed Liverpool (70 points, 36 games) to slip up in their remaining games if they are to secure a Champions League spot for next season. They are currently sixth with 63 points from 34 games and can close the gap with a win at Southampton on Wednesday. Xhaka, who scored the…
How quickly affections can switch in soccer. Where once they would serenade coach Jose Mourinho at Stamford Bridge with an operatic flourish, now Chelsea fans have fallen headlong for another man driving them inexorably to the Premier League title. To the Bridge faithful, Mourinho’s “not special any more” now he’s pitched up at Manchester United but their embrace for coach Antonio Conte will be suffocating if he guides the Blues to a title-clinching victory at West Bromwich Albion on Friday. As the arty canvas held by his daughter at Monday’s home victory over Middlesbrough put it, the Italian is now…
Defender Gary Cahill admits there was a party atmosphere at Chelsea this week with the Premier League leaders 90 minutes away from clinching a second title in three years. A “buzzing” Chelsea head to The Hawthorns to face West Bromwich Albion on Friday knowing victory will deliver the championship in coach Antonio Conte’s first season in charge. The fiercely demanding Italian has revived the fortunes of a side who ended last season 10th and is expected to be rewarded with an improved contract and assurances about the club’s spending plans during the coming transfer window. But the immediate priority is…
Aaron Ramsey wants Arsenal to win the FA Cup for manager Arsene Wenger as the Gunners try to end a turbulent season with some silverware. Arsenal will play London rivals Chelsea in next month’s Wembley final after coming from behind to beat Manchester City 2-1 in a controversial last-four clash at the national stadium on Sunday. Victory, sealed by Alexis Sanchez’s extra-time winner, was a much-needed boost for all connected with Arsenal in a season that could yet end with the club missing out on a top four Premier League place, which brings with it the prize of Champions League…
Despite a brave performance and a 2-1 second leg victory, Atletico Madrid’s attempt to overturn a 3-0 first leg deficit from their Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid fell short. It is the fourth straight season Atletico have been knocked out of the competition by their local rivals. Here, we look at five key issues facing Atletico if they are to compete once more for their first ever Champions League next season. Wednesday’s win was inspired by a phenomenal atmosphere for Atletico’s last ever European game at the Vicente Calderon. After 50 years Atletico will swap their home by Madrid’s…
“This could be another big, big step for me,” Conte said. “In my career I enjoy to have this type of big challenge. I need to have this type of situation where you arrive and you have to work a lot and also to transform the situation in the right way. “At the start of the season it wasn’t easy. We faced a lot of problems and we had to solve a lot of problems. “When you finish 10th in the league it means that the problem is not only one, but there are a lot of problems. The problem…
Jose Mourinho admitted it will be “really hard” for veteran striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic to recover from his season-ending knee ligament injury. “Everyone is very sad. We were thinking about them. They have to be strong,” said Mourinho. “Unfortunately they won’t be the first or last players to get an important injury. “No player deserves to be injured but I think in this case it’s even more sad because Zlatan, in this stage of his career it’s really, really hard. “And Marcos probably at this moment in his career is playing very well for us and also finally getting a position…
Celta Vigo will draw inspiration from Athletic Bilbao’s 2012 victory over Manchester United when they face Jose Mourinho’s side in the Europa League semifinals on Thursday, says coach Eduardo Berizzo. A Bilbao side coached by Marcelo Bielsa defeated a United team who had reached the Champions League final the season before 5-3 on aggregate in the Europa League last 16 before losing to Atletico Madrid in the final. United have the upper hand ahead of Thursday’s second leg, having won last week’s first leg 1-0, but Berizzo said they would approach the game with the same fearlessness as his countryman…
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte dismissed persistent rumours linking him with a move to Inter Milan as his side prepared for a match at West Bromwich Albion on Friday that could give the Blues the Premier League title. Victory at The Hawthorns will see Chelsea crowned champions in former Italy manager Conte’s first season in charge of the London club and leave them halfway to a domestic ‘Double’ ahead of their FA Cup final against capital rivals Arsenal. Chelsea are seven points clear of second-placed Tottenham Hotspur, another London club, and need just three points from their final three league games…
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho defended his decision to prioritise the Europa League ahead of the semifinal second leg against Celta Vigo on Thursday. Mourinho rested first-choice players in Sunday’s 2-0 Premier League defeat by Arsenal and United’s hopes of finishing in the top four are fading. They lead Celta 1-0 from the first leg in Spain and victory in the final against Ajax Amsterdam or Olympique Lyonnais would seal a place in next season’s Champions League. “The situation is simple – 17 matches in seven weeks with 16 players is impossible. It was not a gamble, it was a…
Zlatan Ibrahimovic will continue playing for “many years”, the surgeon who operated on the 35-year-old Manchester United striker’s knee has said. Swede Ibrahimovic underwent surgery last week in the United States after suffering major knee ligament damage. “Fixed, done and stronger”, he declared after the operation carried out by Hong Kong-born Freddie Fu and Volker Musahl. And Fu, in an interview with Thursday’s South China Morning Post, gave his football A-list patient a glowing assessment. “He’s so healthy, so strong, biologically, bone morphology, everything, is absolutely very healthy. “He can still play for many years.” Fu, chairman of the department…
English football’s top administrator has defended the world record transfer of Paul Pogba to Manchester United that is now the subject of an investigation by Fifa, the global game’s governing body. The France midfielder’s £89.3 million from Italian club Juventus to the English giants in August 2016 has come under particular scrutiny amid reports the player’s agent will earn some £41 million from the deal. There has long been concern about how football agents, rather than just being paid by their client as is standard practice in other industries, can also earn money from clubs when conducting transfer deals amid…