Blog (Page 226)

Barcelona boss Xavi Hernandez could not hide his frustration as he fumed at the refereeing decisions in their 1-0 Champions League loss to Inter. The La Liga side dominated possession but were unable to break down a dogged Inter side, although they were on the wrong end of two controversial VAR decisions. Pedri thought he had equalised in the second half, only for VAR to rule out the goal for an Ansu Fati handball in the build-up. In the second half, Inter defender Denzel Dumfries appeared to handle the ball in his own box but, once again, VAR ruled against Barça. Both decisions left XaviRead More →

Pumas has parted ways with head coach Andres Lillini, effective immediately.  Though the Argentine manager had just renewed his contract in May 2022, extending his time with the club through 2023, his downward spiral during the 2022 Liga MX Apertura rushed his exit. He now departs after two years with the club, leading them to the 2022 Liga MX Apertura final and 2022 Concacaf Champions League final under his tenure.  “The National University Club informs that it terminates the employment relationship, in common agreement, with Professor Andrés Lillini as technical director of the Pumas first team. Our institution appreciates the work carried out by AndrésRead More →

Graham Potter has spoken ahead of his second Champions League game in charge of Chelsea against AC Milan on Wednesday night. His first game in charge of the club also happened to be his debut in the competition as the Blues drew 0-0 with Red Bull Salzburg, meaning they head into Wednesday’s clash with Milan rooted to the bottom of group E with just one point to their name. Here are the highlights from the press conference. “Eddie has trained with the team for the last few days so is making progress. So he will be in the squad which is great news for usRead More →

Real Madrid will look to increase their lead in Group F when they host Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Wednesday. Los Blancos are two-for-two in Europe this season but they’re up against an unbeaten Shakhtar side who sit second in the group after victory over RB Leipzig and a draw with Celtic. While Real have more of the happy memories from past meetings between these two sides, fans will have a hard time forgetting their clashes at this stage of the competition in 2020/21, which yielded back-to-back wins for Shakhtar. Here’s all you need to know about this one. Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois isRead More →

Juventus return to European action on Wednesday night when they host Maccabi Haifa in the Champions League group stages. The Old Lady are still looking for their first points of the group stage campaign having lost each of their opening two fixtures, but got back to winning ways over the weekend with a convincing 3-0 victory over Bologna in Serie A. Maccabi sit bottom of Group H on goal difference having also lost their opening two games, meaning the points up for grabs on Wednesday are absolutely vital if someone can come away with all three. Here’s all you need to know about the game.Read More →

Another week, another Premier League club in crisis. And the crisis club of the week this week is a doozy. It’s a team that, despite spending a huge amount on attacking talent in the last few seasons, have only managed to score six goals in eight league games. A team that, despite having a strong squad on paper, currently play football that wouldn’t be out of place in the National League. That’s right, this week’s crisis club of the week is Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa. Here’s why: Villa fans were excited when Stevie G replaced Dean Smith following a hugely successful spell in Scotland withRead More →

Bayern Munich technical director Marco Neppe has revealed that the club made the decision to do everything they could to sign the ‘spectacular’ Jamal Musiala after seeing him in action as a 15-year-old for an England junior team. Although German-born, Musiala lived in England from the age of seven and was briefly in the youth setup at Southampton before joining Chelsea’s academy when he was eight. Musiala was at Chelsea for eight years in total, going on to represent England at various age groups, but when Bayern came calling in 2019 he decided to head back to Germany. That ultimately also influenced his decision toRead More →

There were 36 goals shared across the Premier League this weekend as fans were treated to some exceptionally clinical displays. Manchester City reminded everyone of the gap between themselves and rivals United – in case anyone needed reminding – with a dominant 6-3 victory, while Arsenal comfortably swatted ten-man Tottenham aside in Saturday’s north London derby. With a slightly funky formation, here are 90min’s picks for the team of the week. Meslier helped Leeds earn a point / Clive Brunskill/GettyImages It took a brave display from Leeds to survive for most of the second half of their clash with Aston Villa a player down followingRead More →

Fikayo Tomori admits he has a point to prove on his return to Chelsea in the Champions League with Milan following a tough spell on international duty with England. The 24-year-old has enjoyed regular game time at San Siro since leaving London in 2021, helping the Rossoneri win the 2021/22 Serie A title after falling out of favour at Stamford Bridge. However, his form has not yet convinced Gareth Southgate to make him a regular part of the Three Lions’ starting XI, having only made three appearances for the national side. He got no minutes in the recent international break, with Southgate continuing to showRead More →

Manchester United have told Cristiano Ronaldo that he will be allowed to leave the club in the January transfer window. The forward sought a move away from Old Trafford over the summer but could not find a suitor, and he has been used sparingly so far this season. (Daily Telegraph) Meanwhile, Erik ten Hag has told the United board not to hand out any new contracts to players until he figures out which ones are deserving of them. (Daily Telegraph) Arsenal are ready to hand Bukayo Saka a bumper £200,000-a-week contract in order to fend off interest from rival clubs. Manchester City and Liverpool haveRead More →