Zinedine Zidane insists Real Madrid are not in crisis mode following their 3-1 Champions League defeat to Tottenham.
The holders were dispatched in ruthless style at Wembley on Wednesday, with Dele Alli scoring twice and Christian Eriksen adding a third before Cristiano Ronaldo netted a consolation.
The defeat came just three days after a shock 2-1 loss to Girona left the LaLiga champions eight points behind Barcelona domestically.
It was also their worst group-stage loss since a 2-0 defeat to Juventus in November 2008 and their first at this stage of the competition since a 2-1 loss to Borussia Dortmund in 2012.
Madrid s form has left Zidane facing the first serious questions about his capabilities since taking charge in January 2016, but he is adamant t…
Chelsea have reportedly made Monaco centre-back Benoit Badiashile their top defensive target in the January transfer window.
They have been strongly linked with RB Leipzig and Croatia standout Josko Gvardiol, but Fabrizio Romano believes Chelsea will have to break the record for the most expensive transfer fee paid for a defender to get a deal done.
Instead, the Stamford Bridge club are said to have pivoted to 21-year-old Monaco powerhouse Badiashile, who stands at six-foot-four and has racked up 106 club appearances since debuting at the age of 17.
Badiashile also earned his first senior caps for France this year, playing a full 90 minutes in UEFA Nations League fixtures in September against Austria and Denmark before ultimately missing out on the World Cup squa…
Lionel Messi ensured Luis Enrique s Barcelona reign ended with a trophy as he inspired a third consecutive Copa del Rey title with a 3-1 final win over Alaves.
The Barca coach announced his planned departure from Camp Nou at the start of March, with his side then falling short of rivals Real Madrid in LaLiga and Juventus in the Champions League.
But Luis Enrique belatedly added to the sizeable haul of medals collected in his first two years in charge as Messi showed his class in the last game to be played at Atletico Madrid s Vicente Calderon.
Having scraped past Atleti 3-2 on aggregate in the semi-finals in February, with Sergi Roberto and Luis Suarez both sent off, Barca looked in for a similarly nervy contest as Alaves started well and Theo Hernandez then equ…
Tottenham came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Juventus in Tuesday s Champions League last-16 first-leg clash in Turin.
An early double from Gonzalo Higuain appeared to have set the Serie A champions up for a comfortable victory, before Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen gave Spurs a slight advantage to take back to Wembley with two away goals.
Juve, unbeaten at home in the competition since losing to Bayern Munich in April 2013, took the lead inside the first two minutes through a fine volley from Higuain, although he was perhaps lucky not to be penalised for offside.
The Argentina striker made it 2-0 in the ninth minute from the penalty spot, but Spurs – buoyed by their weekend win over fierce rivals Arsenal – began to take control from then on and Kane s 33…
Arnaut Danjuma has joined Tottenham on loan until the end of the season after the north London club hijacked Everton s move for the Villarreal forward.
Danjuma – who was relegated from the Premier League with Bournemouth in 2020 – looked set to join struggling Everton.
Stats Perform understands Everton, who sacked Frank Lampard on Monday, had been expecting Danjuma to arrive at their Finch Farm training base to complete the formalities of his move on Tuesday. He had already undergone a medical with the struggling Merseyside club.
However, with the paperwork for the deal remaining incomplete, Spurs made a last-ditch move for the Netherlands international, who has opted to join Antonio Conte s men in their push for Champions League qualification.
Introd…
According to a recent report from L’Equipe, West Ham United are interested in making a move for Yann M’Vila. The 28 year old midfielder has been with Saint-Etienne since back in 2018, building up a reputation for himself as one of the most consistent midfield forces in Ligue 1. For those who don’t remember, M’Vila actually has a history in the Premier League from his days with Sunderland in 2015-16. He’s also played for Rennes, Ruben Kazan and Inter Milan, and also made a series of appearances for the French national team between 2010 and 2012.
M’Vila may not be the kind of flashy name that you’d associate with a team trying to break into the Europa League, but West Ham know what they’re doing. M’Vila would bring some much needed consistency to their midfield,…
The managerial situation at Chelsea is one that is often discussed, as the Blues seem to go through a lot of bosses. The current incumbent Antonio Conte’s future is in doubt after his team missed out on a top-four spot in the Premier League last season.
A number of bosses have been linked with the job including now ex-Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane and former Napoli boss Maurizio Sarri. However, the most interesting name linked with the job is , which makes him the second favourite behind Sarri. In fact, according to , Chelsea are set to offer Blanc the job at Stamford Bridge.
Why Laurent Blanc?
As soon as I read the story, I thought to myself why Laurent Blanc? The 52-year-old has been out of the game for two years after guiding PSG to three straight Ligue One tit…
Celtic assistant manager John Kennedy has reminded the players to focus on performances and ignore the pressure over points.
The cinch Premiership champions were briefly 10 points ahead of Rangers but that was cut to five points, with the Light Blues still holding a game in hand, following last weekend’s defeat by Kilmarnock.
Kennedy feels Celtic are far better served focusing on their game ahead of Saturday’s visit of Hearts rather than obsessing over capitalising on Rangers’ Viaplay Cup final commitments.
Kennedy said: “The thing for us is just to concentrate on performances, not get drawn into ‘you must win every game’ and the pressure.
“We don’t want to get too caught up in ‘what is the gap now?’ and ‘we need the points’.
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We are getting linked with some good players. I don t know anything about it, to be honest. If someone knows something about it, give them my number. That s the first I ve heard of it. He s a good player, though.
Those are the words of Rangers manager Steven Gerrard who has indicated that he doesn’t actually know all too much about the proposed deal that would see the Scottish giants make a play to try and sign Olivier Giroud. The Chelsea forward has been heavily linked with a series of top clubs across European football, as well as a few overseas.
Gerrard’s side are right in the mix in the Scottish Premiership title picture, whereas Giroud is struggling to make an impact in Chelsea’s first team. At this point in time it certainly seems unlikely that th…
Newly appointed Juventus coach Maurizio Sarri is on the same level as Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, according to Arrigo Sacchi.
Sarri was confirmed as Juve boss on Sunday, leaving Chelsea after just one season in the Premier League.
Reports suggested Guardiola was also a target for the Serie A champions, who sacked Massimiliano Allegri last month.
Sacchi – who won two European Cups and a Serie A title at the helm of AC Milan in the 1980s and 90s – feels Sarri is one of the best tacticians in the world.
Sarri is of the same level as [Jurgen] Klopp, Guardiola, [Mauricio] Pochettino, he said on Monday.
They have the same vision of work.
OFFICIAL | Maurizio Sarri is the new Juventus coach.
— JuventusFC (@ju…