Kylian Mbappe is shutting out criticism of his early-season performances for Real Madrid as he prepares to return to France duty for Nations League fixtures against Italy and Belgium.
Mbappe s arrival has not brought about a flying start to 2024-25 for Madrid, who have eight points from four games to sit four adrift of pacesetters Barcelona in LaLiga.
The former Paris Saint-Germain forward failed to score in his first three league games with his new club, only to get off the mark with a brace in Sunday s 2-0 win over Real Betis.
That made him the fourth player this century to see his first two goals for Madrid come in the form of a brace, after Ronaldo, Javier Hernandez and Dani Ceballos, while Ruud van Nistelrooy scored a hat-trick.
As Mbappe returns to …
Thomas Tuchel has warned his Bayern Munich team they will not only be facing Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals, but also going up against Los Blancos European aura .
While Tuchel will leave the Allianz Arena having suffered the ignominy of overseeing Bayern s first failure to win the Bundesliga title since 2012, he could yet bring Europe s top prize to Bavaria.
Bayern reached the last four with a 3-2 aggregate triumph over Arsenal, but they face a daunting task against the team that eliminated holders Manchester City in the last round.
Bayern are winless in their last seven games against Madrid, losing six and drawing one, and Los Blancos have won on their last three trips to the Allianz Arena – the longest winning streak ever recorded by a visiti…
Barcelona are interested in signing Raul Jimenez from Wolverhampton Wanderers in the January transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that Netherlands international forward Memphis Depay has interest from Premier League trio Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and Arsenal, and that former La Liga and UEFA Champions League winners Barcelona are eyeing Mexico international striker Jimenez as a potential replacement.
Jimenez did not have the best of times when he was at Atletico Madrid in La Liga in 2014-15. The striker has since done well at Benfica and now at Wolves in the Premier League, and Barcelona reportedly believe that the 31-year-old would make them a better and more potent team upfront.
The striker has scored 40 goals in 124 appearances in the Pre…
Tottenham Hotspur are interested in signing Jan Oblak from Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2023, according to . The Spanish publication has reported that Premier League club Tottenham have a good relationship with La Liga outfit Atletico, having loaned out right-back Matt Doherty to the Spanish club in the January transfer, and they want to use that to get a deal done for Oblak.
Oblak is one of the best goalkeepers in the world and is at the top of his game. The 30-year-old has been on the books of Atletico since 2014. Tottenham need to sign a new goalkeeper in the summer of 2023, as Hugo Lloris is not getting any younger.
Tottenham are fifth in the Premier League table at the moment with 36 points from 21 matches, three points behind fourth-placed Manchester United, w…
Carlo Ancelotti acknowledged sooner or later Real Madrid had to lose but Thibaut Courtois lamented Los Blancos defensive concentration after a 3-2 defeat at RB Leipzig.
Madrid were without the injured Federico Valverde, Karim Benzema and Luka Modric and fell two goals behind after strikes from Josko Gvardiol and Christopher Nkunku on Tuesday.
That marked the first time Madrid conceded twice in the first 20 minutes of a Champions League in a group stage match and just the fourth time in the competition in total.
Vinicius Junior pulled one back and Rodrygo scored a late consolation, but Timo Werner s strike inflicted a fourth Champions League defeat on Madrid in 2022, only in 2001 (five) have they suffered more.
However, Ancelotti refused to criticise Los B…
Rangers rode their luck to clinch a place in the Europa League quarter-finals after a 2-1 defeat in Serbia secured a 4-2 aggregate victory over Red Star Belgrade.
Hosts Red Star were emphatically on top after 10 minutes of the second half, leading through Mirko Ivanic s early strike and repeatedly threatening the Rangers goal.
Yet Ryan Kent took advantage of an injury to nearest man Cristiano Piccini to charge into space before sending a deflected strike into the back of the net, taking sting out of the contest.
Allan McGregor made a remarkable string of saves for the Scottish visitors, who reached the last eight of a European competition for the first time since losing to Zenit in the 2007-08 UEFA Cup final. A stoppage-time penalty from El Fardou Ben Nabouha…
Market: Monaco win
Odds: 19/20 @
Marking their return from the World Cup s festive break on Wednesday afternoon, Monaco will make the trip to Auxerre.
Starting with the hosts, while Auxerre might have made their Ligue 1 return over the summer, it appears that Christophe Pelissier s side are one of the leading relegation scrappers this time around. Last seen on top-flight duties when heading into the World Cup break with a 5-0 drumming away at defending champions PSG, the Whites open up Wednesday s fixtures sat in the bottom-three. Claiming just a single victory from any of their previous 11 Ligue 1 outings a run that stems all the way back to August 27th Auxerre could face a tricky test in midweek. Likewise, it should also be highlighted, Pelissier s men have pi…
Borussia Dortmund have completed the signing of Maximilian Beier from Hoffenheim, shelling out a reported €28.5million fee for the Germany international.
Beier enjoyed a breakout campaign in 2023-24, netting 16 Bundesliga goals to finish fifth in the league s scoring charts behind Harry Kane (36), Serhou Guirassy (28), Lois Openda (24) and Deniz Undav (18).
The 21-year-old, who won the second of his two senior international caps against Switzerland at Euro 2024, had 25 shots and scored six goals following a carry in the Bundesliga last term.
Both of those figures were the second-most of any player in the competition, with Xavi Simons recording 27 such shots and Guirassy netting seven times following a carry.
Beier s signing comes after Dortmund allowed …
It does not feel like it has been away for long, but the Premier League is back.
Just shy of the competition s 30th anniversary, the action gets underway a week earlier than usual as club football attempts to adjust to the upcoming mid-season World Cup in Qatar.
Narratives galore have emerged over the pre-season, but in terms of opening-weekend curiosity, it is fair to suggest Old Trafford will attract more than its fair share of intrigued glances.
Another new era begins at Manchester United on Sunday as Erik ten Hag takes charge of his first competitive match at the club.
There s a long list of managers who have failed to bring sustained success to United since Alex Ferguson s retirement nine years ago – Ten Hag will hope he can buck the trend, and …
New York City FC centre-back Thiago Martins accepts his side must improve their away form, starting with this weekend s trip to Eastern Conference rivals Toronto FC.
City enter Saturday s contest at BMO Field sitting fourth in the East following back-to-back home victories against Nashville SC and FC Dallas.
Nick Cushing s side are unbeaten in nine home league games stretching back into last season, but they have taken just two points from a possible 12 on their travels this term.
With a run of four successive road games to come, Martins is eager for NYCFC to get off the mark with their first away victory.
It s not easy, but we need to impose ourselves away from home, he said. We know away from home they press higher, they have the atmosphere, the stadiu…