Blog (Page 240)

Barcelona midfielder Aitana Bonmati has suffered a fresh injury setback just days after being declared fit by the club’s medical staff, further delaying the start of her 2022/23 campaign. Bonmati made 39 appearances in all competitions for Barça last season as the club secured another domestic double and returned to the Champions League final. She was then also a near ever-present for Spain at Euro 2022, missing only 12 minutes across La Roja’s four matches, before swiftly returning to club duty in the summer for pre-season after only a short rest. The 24-year-old, who has become one of the best midfielders in the world inRead More →

Ella Toone wants to achieve Champions League qualification with Manchester United and establish herself as an England starter in what promises to be a huge season for the growing star. Already one of the best players in the WSL after a 2021/22 campaign that saw her step into a leading role for a United side in transition, Toone became a household name in the summer thanks to her game-changing performances off the bench at Euro 2022. Having jointly led the WSL in assists last season, Toone scored crucial England goals in the Euro quarter-final and final en-route to England’s historic triumph. But with United againRead More →

Benjamin Pavard has admitted that he considered leaving Bayern Munich this summer after contact from a number of sides across Europe. Pavard has been an important player for the Bundesliga champions since joining from Stuttgart at the start of the 2019/20 campaign, and his form piqued the interest of several teams this summer – Manchester United and Chelsea were both rumoured to be keen. While a move never materialised, he has admitted that he considered leaving his current club for a new challenge. “I questioned myself, I had calls from different clubs with my agent,” the defender told Telefoot. “Afterwards, I had [a conversation with]Read More →

Barcelona have announced that they made a profit of €98m in the 2021/22 campaign. The Spanish club entered something of a financial crisis at the start of last season which saw them lose Lionel Messi to PSG as they were unable to offer him a new contract. Since then, they have taken a number of steps to try and address said crisis, having a number of players agree to defer wages, selling the naming rights of the stadium to Spotify and selling a considerable portion of their TV rights too. On Monday, Barca announced what the economic situation is at the club now, revealing theirRead More →

Robert Lewandowski has suggested that his summer transfer to Barcelona could help his chances of winning the Ballon d’Or, claiming the ‘path is shorter’ than it was at Bayern Munich. Bayern were initially reluctant to sell Lewandowski, who had scored 344 goals in 375 appearances for the club and 158 goals since the start of the 2019/20 season alone. But the player was keen on taking a new challenge and a €50m deal was eventually agreed with Barcelona. The 34-year-old Pole has started in Catalonia just as he left off in Bavaria, netting 11 times in his first eight appearances for Barça – including threeRead More →

Erik ten Hag wants Manchester United to sign Benfica striker Goncalo Ramos in January. The 21-year-old is valued at around £25m and has also attracted interest from Newcastle and Bayern Munich. Liverpool are the latest side to express an interest in Shakhtar Donetsk winger Mykhaylo Mudryk, who is expected to be available for around £50m in January. Manchester City winger Jack Grealish has told those close to him that he does not expect to remain at the club beyond next summer and has already asked his agent to search for potential suitors. Representatives from Paris Saint-Germain have reached out to Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante overRead More →

When the World Cup group stage draw for the 2022 tournament in Qatar was made back in April, it threw up some excellent matchups. Top seeds like Brazil, England and Argentina discovered their opponents as teams look to claim the trophy France won in 2018 in Russia. Which teams are staring down the barrel of a Group of Death? Who are already plotting their path to the final from the last 16? Here are the easiest and hardest groups at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. FIFA world rankings – ie ‘(1)’ – are correct as of 25 August 2022. Group A Qatar (48), EcuadorRead More →

The 2022 World Cup is just around the corner, with nations gearing up for their final international breaks before the tournament kicks off. England’s preparations for the tournament come in the form of two Nations League fixtures against Italy and Germany in October. After that, the next time the Three Lions will take to the field together will be against Iran for their World Cup opener on 21 November. With plenty of club football still to be played before the World Cup kicks off in Qatar, it’s easy to forget about it for the time being and postpone all the planning, be it from whereRead More →

Qatar’s record on human rights and its treatment of LGBTQ people has attracted criticism from the wider world. The nation was awarded the 2022 World Cup in 2010 and corruption allegations arose after, but the focus more recently has been on its human rights record. Here’s how fans and teams are protesting the tournament. The law in Qatar: “Whoever copulates with a male over sixteen years of age without compulsion, duress or ruse shall be punished with imprisonment for a term up to seven years. The same penalty shall apply to the male for his consent.” (Penal Code, Law No. 11 of 2004; Article 285)Read More →

The 2022/23 WSL season kicked off in style over the weekend, with a selection of shocks and stunning goals. Champions Chelsea were beaten by newly promoted Liverpool, Aston Villa stunned Manchester City in a seven-goal thriller and Arsenal and Manchester United both ran riot. Here are 90min’s WSL awards for gameweek 1. Villa registered their first ever win over Aston Villa / Barrington Coombs/GettyImages Aston Villa and Manchester City treated the Villa Park faithful to a rollercoaster of a fixture with swinging momentum, seven goals and a surprise result as Carla Ward’s side ran out 4-3 winners. Villa had led 2-0 thanks to goals fromRead More →