Month: November 2024

Ronald Koeman has been sacked as head coach of Barcelona following a poor start to the season. 

A 1-0 loss at Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday proved too much for the Camp Nou hierarchy, who pulled the trigger on Koeman s time with the club.

The Dutchman was brought in to replace Quique Setien in August 2020 and led Barca to Copa del Rey success in his first season, although they finished third in LaLiga and suffered a Champions League last-16 exit, as well as losing the Supercopa de Espana final to Athletic Bilbao. 

The hope was that Koeman could steady the ship in the face of the various financial challenges that were affecting incomings and outgoings at Barca, but after winning just 39 of his 67 games in charge, the former Southampton, Everton and Netherlands b…

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has changed the mood at Manchester United according to his former team-mate Laurent Blanc, who felt there was no more fun at Old Trafford during the closing days of Jose Mourinho s reign.

Solskjaer was named United manager on a permanent basis last week following a superb run during his tenure as caretaker boss, which began in the aftermath of Mourinho s December sacking.

The former United and Norway striker has been widely hailed for evoking the spirit of the club s illustrious past under Alex Ferguson and Blanc believes the uplifting effect of the current feelgood factor at Old Trafford should not be underestimated.

Asked to identify the main difference between Mourinho and Solskjaer s United tenures, former Red Devils centre-back Blanc tol…

Carlo Ancelotti expects to have several players back from injury in time for Real Madrid s Champions League opener against Stuttgart on Tuesday.

Jude Bellingham, Aurelien Tchouameni and Eder Militao are set to be available for the match at the Santiago Bernabeu, despite the Brazilian missing training as he required an extra day to recover fully.

Madrid won their record-extending 15th Champions League title last season, beating Borussia Dortmund 2-0 in the final to get their hands on the trophy.

Los Blancos were a force to be reckoned with in the competition last year, and were only behind for 7% of their total match time in the Champions League last season; the lowest percentage of any team.

Former mainstays Nacho, Joselu and the now-retired Toni Kroos ar…

Lautaro Martinez ended his goal drought and Inter s four-game winless run in Serie A with an excellent hat-trick in a 5-0 thumping of bottom side Salernitana. 

Inter have struggled for form since the turn of the year, but Martinez ended a wait for a league goal that stretched back to December as part of a first-half double that took his Serie A tally to 50. 

Martinez completed just his second hat-trick for the Nerazzurri in the 56th minute, with Edin Dzeko then bagging two in the space of five minutes.

Inter cruised to the final whistle and moved a point clear of Napoli and Milan – who meet on Sunday – at the top of Serie A. 

Salernitana may well have taken a shock lead in the fourth minute had Simone Verdi kept his effort from next to the pe…

Inter kept their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League last-16 alive as Romelu Lukaku s brace sealed a 3-2 win over Borussia Monchengladbach on Tuesday.  

Antonio Conte s side went into the game having failed to win any of their opening four Group B games, yet they got off to a fine start when Matteo Darmian s first goal for the club put them ahead early on.  

Gladbach, who would have qualified as group winners with a victory, drew level in first-half stoppage time thanks to Alassane Plea s header, but Lukaku restored Inter s lead with the first of two cool finishes after the break. 

Inter held on for all three points despite a second from Plea, meaning they go into next week s clash with Shakhtar Donetsk knowing a win   combined with …

There was an enticing Italian appetiser to Chelsea and Manchester United s lukewarm main course on Sunday.

Antonio Conte s Inter stretched their lead at the top of Serie A to seven points, beating Genoa 3-0 at San Siro thanks to goals from three former United players. They ve now won 14 of their previous 17 league games and failed to score just once in that run. They will more than likely become champions for the first time since 2010 under Jose Mourinho, the last manager to deliver trophies at United and the most successful modern coach Chelsea have had.

Assessing the match at Stamford Bridge through the lens of another game in another country probably tells you enough about the quality of the contest.

With Leicester City having lost to Arsenal and Manchester Ci…

France secured their passage through to the knockout round of the women s Euros as Group D winners after a 2-1 victory over Belgium, while Italy and Iceland drew 1-1 as both remain winless.

France were one of the stories of the opening round of fixtures, as they romped Italy 5-1 to get their tournament off to a brilliant start.

And they started their second game impressively too, going ahead after only six minutes when Kadidiatou Diani leaped highest at the back post to nod a Sakina Karchaoui cross into the back of the net.

However, the French were pegged back on 36 minutes with Belgium’s first shot of the match, when Janice Cayman poked a through ball from Tessa Wullaert past the oncoming Pauline Peyraud-Magnin.

Les Bleues had been completely dominant…

Liverpool forward Takumi Minamino has revealed he once broke a Guinness World Record after achieving the most high-fives in one minute.

As an 18-year-old, the Japan international conducted a total of 187 during his time at Cerezo Osaka, who had organised an event for the local community on January 14, 2014.

The unique record has since been surpassed by American Kaiser Permanente San Diego, who registered a total of 290 on April 21, 2016.

Nevertheless, it remains an achievement that Minamino remembers fondly.

About 200 people queued up in a line in a shopping centre and, as I was the youngest player in the team, I was chosen to join them,  he told Liverpool s official website.

I had to run down the line and high-five them and I managed to make…

Romelu Lukaku scored the winner to secure Chelsea s place in the FA Cup quarter-finals with a battling 3-2 win at Luton Town, after Blues owner Roman Abramovich announced he was selling the club.

Abramovich confirmed he had put Chelsea up for sale, saying the decision is in the best interest of the club before kick-off and Thomas Tuchel s side started slowly on the pitch on Wednesday.

Saul Niguez cancelled out Reece Burke s second-minute opener against a much-changed Blues side, but Harry Cornick restored Championship side Luton s lead in the first half at Kenilworth Road.

Timo Werner equalised after the interval, before teeing up Lukaku with 12 minutes left to ensure Chelsea s place in the last eight, which will be played on March 19.

Burke glanced a hea…

Barnsley closed the gap on second-placed Oxford in League One following a 3-0 victory over Shrewsbury at Oakwell.

Herbie Kane opened the scoring from the spot in the 20th minute after the Reds were awarded their first home penalty since March 2021, with Callum Styles adding a second just minutes later.

League One top-scorer Devante Cole netted a third with 15 minutes to play to leave the Tykes two points behind Oxford.

Barnsley were awarded a penalty after Barry Cotter’s strike from the edge of the box was blocked by the arm of the onrushing Carl Winchester.

Kane stepped up, firing to the right of Marko Marosi to give his side a 1-0 lead.

The Tykes swiftly doubled their advantage five minutes later. Cole countered down the right and crossed to S…