Blog (Page 253)

Antoine Griezmann has accepted that he’s limited to playing 30 minutes a match this season due to Atletico Madrid wanting to avoid triggering a clause that would force them to pay Barcelona €40m. The Frenchman has come off the bench around 30 minutes before the end of every match so far this season, and that’s not a coincidence. If he plays any more than that, a clause would be triggered that would force Atletico Madrid to pay Barcelona, his parent club, €40m to sign him permanently. They don’t want to do so as he’ll be available to sign on a free transfer come the endRead More →

Orlando City beat the Sacramento Republic 3-0 on Wednesday to lift the 2022 US Open Cup title. It marks the Lions’ first major trophy since becoming an MLS club in 2015, doing so in front of a sold-out Exploria Stadium. Orlando naturally dominated against their USL opponents but were frustrated by a disciplined defensive performance, failing to register a shot on target throughout the first half – though they were rarely worried by Sacramento in their own box. Midway through the second half, Orlando’s superior fitness began to show, and in the 75th minute, Republic defender Dan Casey was caught in possession, with the ballRead More →

Wolves have won their appeal to sign Spanish striker Diego Costa, 90min understands. The 33-year-old, who turns 34 in October, was approached last week after their summer signing Sasa Kalajdzic suffered a serious knee injury on his debut, but it soon became apparent that he did not meet the new work permit criteria laid out by the British government post-Brexit. To earn a permit to play in England these days, players must accumulate the right amount of points in the system. A player earns points based on the quality of the league of their last club, and any recent international appearances. Costa, who has notRead More →

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp gave a damning assessment of his team’s heavy 4-1 defeat to Napoli in the Champions League on Wednesday night, admitting the Reds need to ‘reinvent’ themselves and improve in ‘pretty much everything’. It was an incredibly lacklustre performance from Liverpool as a team. Joe Gomez was so poor in the first half that he was withdrawn at the interval, while Trent Alexander-Arnold barely seemed interested. Fabinho and Virgil van Dijk were also unusually poor, while Klopp even lost patience with Mohamed Salah an hour into the contest. “It looks like we need to reinvent ourselves. There’s a lot of things lacking.Read More →

Bayern Munich kicked off their Champions League campaign with a 2-0 win at Inter on Wednesday evening. Die Roten were dominant from start to finish at San Siro, while the Nerazzurri already face an uphill battle in the ‘group of death’ that also contains Barcelona. Summer signing Andre Onana had to be at his best to deny Joshua Kimmich early on, parrying away a low drive from the midfielder. The two sides went back and forth in the opening exchanges, with Danilo D’Ambrosio forcing Manuel Neuer into a save, while Kingsley Coman and Thomas Muller came close for the visitors. Bayern took a 25th-minute leadRead More →

Nottingham Forest have confirmed the arrival of former Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham defender Serge Aurier on a free transfer. The Ivorian right-back, who must still be granted a UK visa, was not bound by the transfer window as a result of his free agent status after leaving Villarreal at the end of last season. Aurier’s arrival caps off an incredible busy summer for Forest since their promotion back to the Premier League. As many as 21 new faces have now joined the club over the summer. A combination of injury, international duty and lack of form saw Aurier start only 10 La Liga games forRead More →

The 2022 MLS season is quickly coming to a close, but players are stepping. The action is heating up as teams strive to qualify for the playoffs, with CF Montreal dominating in the East and LAFC getting back to their winning ways in the West. But it all came down to Lucho Acosta, who lead FC Cincinnati to a 2-0 victory over Charlotte FC to inch closer to the Eastern Conference’s top seven. Here are the best goals of week 29… Ryan Hollingshead is quickest to react to put #LAFC ahead. Perfect start to the second half for the hosts. pic.twitter.com/hnD0RnQ9UZ — Major League SoccerRead More →

Fernando Ortiz made history with Club America on Tuesday, triumphing 3-0 over Atletico de San Luis to tie the team record for most consecutive victories at eight. The victory also propelled the Eagles to first place of the 2022 Liga MX Apertura table, with 28 points in 13 games and a record of 9W-3L-1D. Though Ortiz is on track to lead Club America to a successful liguilla performance, he maintained he “has not achieved anything” in the azulcrema club. “It is going to be a repeated phrase, but I am not paying attention to whether or not they succeed, I am not one of thoseRead More →

Barcelona Femini have confirmed the signing of England midfielder Keira Walsh from Manchester City. Walsh, who became a Euro 2022 champion this summer and was named in the team of the tournament for her exploits with the Lionesses, has signed a three-year contract until 2025. 90min revealed on Tuesday that Barça were confident of completing the deal ahead of Wednesday night’s Spanish transfer deadline, having already reached an agreement in principle over personal with Walsh and her representatives. The agreed fee, reported in Spain late on Tuesday to be €400,000 (£344,000), sets a new world record for a transfer in women’s football, smashing the previousRead More →

Atlanta United have announced they’ve suspended striker Josef Martinez for this weekend’s game against Toronto FC. The Five Stripes say the decision has been taken due to ‘conduct detrimental to the team’ from Martinez, who will not participate in team activities during his suspension period. Martinez – who has scored eight goals in just 1,329 minutes of MLS action this season – is scheduled to return to training on Monday, September 12. According to The Athletic’s Felipe Cardenas, the suspension is the result of an altercation between Martinez and Atlanta United head coach Gonzalo Pineda that took place following a 2-1 loss to the PortlandRead More →