Having previously triumphed at the Wanda Metropolitano, Liverpool emerged victorious from their second clash with Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday at Anfield and clinched the top spot in Group B with two matches to spare. Diogo Jota (13 ) and Sadio Mane (21 ) scored for the home side, both unsurprisingly assisted by Trent Alexander-Arnold. Atletico defender Felipe picked up a straight red card after taking out Mane in the 36th minute.
The Atletico approach
It seemed early on that the La Liga champions had come to Liverpool to try and outplay the hosts as they came closer to Alisson Becker than Liverpool did to Jan Oblak, but that lasted only a few minutes before Liverpool took full control of the flow and pushed them back. It may seem harsh to say that At…
Luis Enrique welcomed the imminent appointment of Xavi as head coach of Barcelona but doubts he can offer any worthy advice to the Camp Nou legend.
The long-awaited return of Xavi now appears a formality after Al Sadd announced Barcelona had agreed to buy the 41-year-old out of his contract.
Spanish newspaper Sport has reported Barcelona and Xavi are planning to split the cost of buying the coach out of that deal with the Qatar Stars League team.
Barcelona have encountered major financial problems but are optimistic Xavi will be the man who leads a turnaround of their fortunes on the pitch.
Heading into this weekend, they sit ninth in LaLiga after 11 games, having won just four times in the competition. A trip to face Celta Vigo in their test on Saturda…
A leading Saudi Arabian human rights activist says Newcastle are being used as a “tool” to legitimise Mohammed bin Salman’s regime and urged supporters not to underestimate the power of protest.
Members of the NUFC Fans Against Sportswashing group are set to stage a demonstration outside St James’s Park on Friday night, prior to the first of two international friendlies set to be staged by the Saudis at the venue this month.
Lina al-Hathloul, whose sister Loujain was imprisoned and tortured after leading a campaign to allow women to drive in her homeland, was on Tyneside this week to stress that shows of dissent can still have a significant impact on the actions of the regime.
NUFC Fans Against Sportswashing (NUFCFAS) – staunch critics of Saudi Arabia�…
Jude Bellingham struck at the death to salvage England a deserved draw against Belgium on a night of impressive auditions in the final match before Gareth Southgate’s Euro 2024 selection.
Three days on from the late loss to Brazil, the absentee-hit Euro 2020 runners-up faced another high-level test as the side third in FIFA’s world rankings hosted the team in fourth.
England were heading for another Wembley defeat after Youri Tielemans punished first-half errors either side of Ivan Toney’s penalty, only for Bellingham to secure a 2-2 draw in stoppage time.
Toney did well on his first start, as did fellow full debutants Ezri Konsa and, in particular, 18-year-old Kobbie Mainoo in the final friendly before Southgate names an expanded Euros squad on May 21.
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England continue their quest for European Championship qualification against Malta on Friday evening.
Ahead of the Group C clash at Ta’ Qali National Stadium, the PA news agency has taken a look at some of the talking points.
Yes, there really is more football…
You didn’t think the season was over, did you?
Made it to Malta
— England (@England)
The curtain may have come down on the mammoth domestic campaign with Manchester City’s Champions League triumph against Inter Milan, but now attention turns to international matters. Some players have had to pause their post-season break and others have yet to have any break before the straightforward Euro 2024 qualification doubleheader against Malta and North Macedonia.
Rashford to make …
One story is dominating the sporting agenda in Spain on Saturday: Xavi s potential return to Barcelona.
The Catalan giants have reportedly earmarked the club great to take over from the under-pressure Ernesto Valverde at the end of the season, and held informal discussions with him on Friday in Doha.
Xavi, 39, is currently coach at Al Sadd but would likely relish a return to Camp Nou, where he won eight LaLiga titles and four Champions League trophies during a glittering playing career.
A strong affinity with a club is not a guarantee of success, however, and we have taken a look at eight other examples of players returning to manage teams they starred for.
HITS
Pep Guardiola
After leaving Barcelona as a player in 2001, Guard…
England boss Sarina Wiegman is happy in her current role and has no desire to work in the men’s game.
Wiegman has done a brilliant job with the Lionesses since taking over in 2021, guiding them to Euro 2022 success before finishing as runners-up in this summer’s World Cup.
Following her exploits with the women’s national team, she has released a book called ‘What It Takes’, detailing her life as a coach and her philosophy in getting the best out of players.
EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT: We are so proud to be publishing What It Takes: My Playbook on Life and Leadership by Sarina Wiegman.
It is out on 9th November and available to pre-order now (Dutch edition also available):
— HarperNonFiction (@HarperNonFic)
In the book, the 54-yea…
Gareth Southgate took full responsibility for England s 4-0 humiliation by Hungary in the Nations League on Tuesday.
The Three Lions were embarrassed by their visitors at Molineux, paying the price for an abysmal performance that was in keeping with – but altogether worse than – their other disappointing displays this month, which have left England bottom of Group A3 with just two points.
It was England s worst home defeat in 94 years and stretched their winless streak to four, their longest such run since June 2014.
Roland Sallai put Hungary in front early on, but it was not until the latter stages that England s humiliation truly took shape.
Sallai got another in the 70th minute, and that was followed up by Zsolt Nagy s fierce effort and a delicate …
Market: Wrexham win
Odds: 8/13 @
Looking to widen their buffer at the top of the National League table this weekend, Wrexham will make the trip to a struggling York on Saturday lunchtime.
Starting with the hosts, while York might have managed to make their National League return this season, they are in the midst of what has become a nightmare run of form. With some in their camp starting to look over their shoulder at the drop zone, interim boss Tim Ryan finds his temporary squad enduring an eight-match winless run across all formats. Tumbling their way down the fifth-tier table, it should also be noted that the Yorkshire-based outfit have collected just a single victory since back on October 8th. Last seen putting in another downbeat display as they were hit w…
West Ham manager David Moyes is refusing to get carried away with his side s perfect start to the Europa League and insists his goal remains qualifying for the knockout stages.
The Hammers made it three wins from three games in Group H after defeating Belgian club Genk 3-0 at home on Thursday, following victories over Dinamo Zagreb and Rapid Vienna.
West Ham are only the second English side to win each of their first three group games in a single Europa League campaign without conceding a goal, alongside Tottenham in 2013-14.
The last team from any nation to achieve this was Sevilla who eventually won the competition in 2019-20 but Moyes would not be drawn on any comparisons.
I m keeping relatively calm because we ve got to go to Genk away and Vienna awa…