Valencia head coach Gary Neville praised UEFA officials for their swift response to the removal of an offensive banner in Thursday’s Europa League tie at Rapid Vienna. The Liga club launched a complaint with European football’s governing body after Rapid supporters unfurled a banner with a message that translates as “b***h Valencia”. Neville complained to officials and the banner was swiftly removed, and the Manchester United great said Rapid’s coach Zoran Barisic also apologised following Valencia’s 4-0 win at Ernst-Happel-Stadion, which gave them a 10-0 aggregate triumph in the last-32 tie. “We saw the banner at the start of the…
Author: David F.
Sergio Ramos has brushed off Cristiano Ronaldo’s criticism of his fellow Real Madrid players and insisted he is proud of all his team-mates. Ronaldo claimed after the 1-0 derby defeat to Atletico Madrid that “if the rest of the Madrid players were as good as him, perhaps they would be first” in La Liga while also suggesting the likes of Jese Rodriguez, Lucas Vazquez and Mateo Kovacic were not of the standard required to win trophies. The setback against Diego Simeone’s men left third-placed Madrid nine points behind leaders Barcelona, who also have a game in hand, and four adrift…
Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich threw down the gauntlet to Borussia Dortmund ahead of next week’s crunch Bundesliga showdown by going 11 points clear with a 2-0 win at Wolfsburg on Saturday. With second-placed Dortmund hosting second-from-bottom Hoffenheim on Sunday, Bayern took the chance to extend their lead just four days after their Champions League draw at Juventus. Guardiola’s Bayern now have 62 points out of a possible 69, their tally exactly double that of Wolfsburg, who are eighth. Dortmund host Guardiola’s Bayern at their Signal Iduna Park stadium next Saturday after the Bavarian giants play Mainz at home on Wednesday…
Disgraced ex-Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness is due to be released from prison on Monday as he contemplates a return to the club he built into a European powerhouse. The 64-year-old has served 21 months of his three-and-a-half year sentence after being convicted in March 2014 of having evaded paying at least €28.5 million in taxes. Hoeness, the son of a German butcher who became a millionaire businessman, rose to fame as the driving force behind Bayern’s rise before his fall from grace. Even behind bars, Hoeness was never far from Bayern. As soon he as he was granted day…
Zinedine Zidane suffered his first defeat since taking charge of Real Madrid as Antoine Griezmann’s solitary strike kept Atletico Madrid’s faint La Liga title hopes alive with a 1-0 win at the Santiago Bernabeu. Griezmann finished off a lovely team move eight minutes into the second half as Atletico became the first visiting team ever to win at the Bernabeu three seasons in a row. Diego Simeone’s men move to within five points of leaders Barcelona while Real’s chances of landing just a second title in eight years now look completely gone as they now trail Atletico by four points…
Zinedine Zidane suffered his first defeat since taking charge of Real Madrid as Antoine Griezmann’s solitary strike kept Atletico Madrid’s faint La Liga title hopes alive with a 1-0 win at the Santiago Bernabeu. Griezmann finished off a lovely team move eight minutes into the second half as Atletico became the first visiting team ever to win at the Bernabeu three seasons in a row. Diego Simeone’s men move to within five points of leaders Barcelona while Real’s chances of landing just a second title in eight years now look completely gone as they now trail Atletico by four points…
Sepp Blatter warned Gianni Infantino on Sunday that miracles will be expected from him as the newly-elected Fifa president but there will be plenty of backstabbers if he fails to deliver. Blatter, currently serving a six-year suspension from football, saw his 18-year reign as Fifa chief officially end Friday when 45-year-old Uefa secretary-general Infantino was voted in as football’s most powerful man. But in an open letter to the Swiss-Italian lawyer, Blatter warned his successor to be wary of the pitfalls that come with the job. He also said he was ready to offer his help if required. “I congratulate…
When Raheem Sterling gazes out the window of Manchester City’s coach on the road to Wembley on Sunday, it will be no surprise if the winger’s dreams of League Cup glory are interrupted by a flashback to his childhood. Sterling’s presence amid the pomp and circumstance of City’s League Cup final showdown with Liverpool represents a remarkable triumph in the face of adversity for the 21-year-old. Only 11 years ago, Sterling was facing an uncertain future as a new arrival at Vernon House, a school for children with behavioural difficulties which is situated less than a mile from Wembley. Transplanted…
Liverpool can beat the “best team in the Premier League” when they take on Manchester City in the League Cup final at Wembley on Sunday, according to boss Juergen Klopp. The Reds are intent on landing their first trophy since winning the last of their record eight League Cups in 2012, and are full of confidence after a 4-1 victory over title contenders Man City at the Etihad Stadium in November. “Maybe from the squad side this (Man City) is the best team in the Premier League,” German Klopp, 48, told the BBC. “Maybe another team will win the league…
As the 22 players walk out onto the pristine Wembley turf for Sunday’s League Cup final between Liverpool and Manchester City, Daniel Sturridge will have more to prove than most. The injury-plagued Liverpool striker, who will be facing his former club, is fighting to emerge from a mid-career slump that threatens to cost him a place in England’s squad for Euro 2016. Having made just 11 Premier League starts since August 2014, the 26-year-old has disappeared from view at times and this week he issued an impassioned rebuttal to press reports he was considering his Anfield future. “I don’t think…