Bordeaux coach Laurent Blanc has told his players to shrug off the disappointment of their League Cup final defeat and focus on Tuesday s Champions League quarter-final first leg at Lyon.
Holders Bordeaux were defeated 3-1 by Marseille in Saturday s final in Paris and have also seen a nine-point lead in the French first division whittled down to goal difference by Montpellier.
Defeat in a physical match to Marseille was far from ideal preparation for their trip to domestic rivals Lyon and Blanc says the reigning French champions must get the loss out of their system as quickly as possible.
We re lucky in a way because we have an important match on Tuesday in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, said Blanc, whose side have not reached this stage of Europe…
Italian Serie A outfit Fiorentina have completed the signing of midfielder Mario Bolatti from FC Porto. The fee La Viola have paid for the Argentine s services was not revealed, but reports have it to somewhere near the 7-8 million euro mark.
Bolatti began his career with Belgrano de Cordoba and spent four years with the club before joining Porto. He however struggled to settle at Porto and after making only 15 odd league appearances over a period of two years, was loaned out to Huracan in the summer of 2009. He was a revelation at Huracan and was named the best player of the 2009 Clausura by Argentine sports newspaper Ole.
Bolatti s loan spell expired at the end of December, but he made it very clear that he did not want to stay in Portugal. Barcelona, Boca Juniors and…
Crystal Palace defender Scott Dann is confident his team-mates can make it three wins from three at Goodison Park when they travel to Everton in the Premier League on Monday.
Palace s emphatic march away from relegation trouble in 2013-14 under Tony Pulis included a 3-2 win at Everton in April of that season and they repeated the scoreline with Neil Warnock at the helm five months later.
Dann, a boyhood Liverpool fan, scored in the first of those victories and he believes a side playing with supreme confidence guided by current boss Alan Pardew can repeat the trick.
Palace already boast notable away wins at Chelsea and Liverpool this season – Dann netted the winner at Anfield – and they were in irresistible form last weekend as they came from behind to demol…
Market: Roma win
Odds: 1/1 @
Looking to extend on what has been a stunning start to the 2021/22 campaign, a high-flying Roma will make the trip to the Stadio Marc Antonio Bentegodi on Sunday evening.
Starting with the hosts, while Verona might have managed to land themselves an eye-catching top-half finish last season, the Gialloblu have largely failed to keep up that momentum. Eventually opening the 2021/22 Serie A campaign last month with an action-packed 3-2 defeat against Sassuolo at the Stadio Marc Antonio Bentegodi, Igor Tudor s side have now lost each of their first three top-flight contests. Marking their return from September s international break with a toothless display as they were hit with a deserved 1-0 loss at the hands of Bologna on the road las…
Jurgen Klopp warned Liverpool that they cannot waste any opportunity to pick up points if they are to compete for the Premier League title this season.
The Reds are on the longest current unbeaten league run in England s top four tiers (14), last losing in March at home to Fulham.
Liverpool have also won their last eight games against Saturday s opponents Crystal Palace, scoring 24 and conceding just five times.
However, Klopp insisted his side must not pass up any chance to collect three points if they are to set the pace with their title rivals.
I am not too much in the other teams situations, but it s a good start for us, Klopp told reporters at Friday s news conference.
We have played some good football but if you want to be around the top s…
AC Milan must pay close attention to Edin Dzeko if they are to pick up their first points of the Serie A season against Roma on Friday, says Gennaro Gattuso.
Gattuso s men squandered a two-goal lead in their opening game of the 2018-19 campaign against Napoli, losing 3-2 after a disastrous second half.
Roma s visit to San Siro provides Milan with a chance to make amends but Gattuso knows they cannot afford to give any space to Dzeko, who opened his account with a sublime volley against Torino on August 19.
Roma have changed since last time we faced them, and we too are different, he told reporters.
I would like to see my team play as they did for the first 55 minutes against Napoli. However, Roma are an opponent with different characteristics.
…
Hull City and Aston Villa consolidated their creditable mid-table starts to the season with a drab goalless draw at the KC Stadium.
The sides came into the match in confident mood, Villa having sensationally come from behind to defeat Manchester City 3-2 seven days ago, and both were searching for a third consecutive Premier League win.
Returning Villa forward Gabriel Agbonlahor produced a stinging shot to draw a fine first-half save from Allan McGregor but, in truth, the Hull goalkeeper and his opposite number Brad Guzan enjoyed relatively untroubled afternoons.
Before that opening, Hull’s Danny Graham might have converted Ahmed Elmohamady s right-wing cross but the former Swansea striker failed to do so and his goal drought extended to 24 matches in all competition…
Chelsea secured their fourth consecutive Women’s Super League title by beating Reading on the last day of the season.
The Blues completed a double after winning the FA Cup earlier this month and did so despite the absence of players such as Millie Bright and Fran Kirby for the run-in.
Here, the PA news agency takes a look at some of the key players in Chelsea’s title-winning campaign.
Guro Reiten
Still in awe of this assist against Leicester earlier this season.
— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW)
An influential winger in the Chelsea set-up, Reiten has had a sterling year for the club.
The Norwegian tops the charts in terms of assists in the league this season, providing 11 in total and linking up well with striker Sam Kerr.
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Neymar wearing a Real Madrid shirt could be a possibility in the future, according to compatriot Roberto Carlos.
Lionel Messi was awarded a fifth Ballon d Or trophy on Monday, with Neymar finishing as the third best player of the world for 2015, behind his Barcelona team-mate and Madrid s Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Brazilian has established himself as an integral figure in the Barca side since
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his big-money switch from Santos in 2013.
However Carlos who made over 500 appearances across an 11-year spell with Madrid says he can see Neymar playing in the Spanish capital in the future.
Neymar is very young, he told Punto Pelota. I am sure next year he will finish even higher in the Ballon d Or.
I can see one day Neymar coming to Real…
(GSM) Real Madrid midfielder Rafael van der Vaart has dismissed reports suggesting that he would be leaving the club this summer, claiming that he was misquoted .
Van der Vaart was thought to be contemplating an exit from Santiago Bernabéu, with Liverpool and Chelsea in pole position to sign him.
Having completed a big-money move to Real from Hamburger SV in 2008, the midfielder has found it tough to hold down a regular starting berth, but looks willing to fight for his place.
But the Dutchman now claims he was misquoted and never intended to suggest that he was closing in on a move to England.
I m determined to stay at Real Madrid, Van der Vaart told De Telegraaf .
I want to stay here and succeed at Real. It s a shame that the English press …