Paris Saint-Germain head coach Mauricio Pochettino insisted his players were not distracted by Lionel Messi rumours ahead of Saturday s hard-fought 2-1 win over Troyes.
PSG commenced their Ligue 1 campaign with the come-from-behind victory after goals from new signing Achraf Hakimi and Mauro Icardi.
The Parisians have been heavily linked with Lionel Messi in recent days after Barcelona confirmed his departure but Pochettino insisted that had no impact on his team s display.
No, I don t think so, the players and the team have been focused, Pochettino said at the post-game news conference. They are professionals.
His name is associated with different clubs, there are plenty of rumours, but the players have remained committed, they will be until the end of…
Market: Derby County win
Odds: 4/6 @
Two sides who find themselves battling it out at opposite ends of the League One table, Derby will travel to Highbury when they meet Fleetwood on Saturday lunchtime.
Starting with the hosts, while some in Fleetwood’s camp might have had their sights set on mounting a genuine top-half charge this season, new boss Charlie Adam has a real job on his hands in 2024. Last seen on New Year’s Day putting in another downbeat performance as they slumped to a routine 3-1 loss at the hands of Shrewsbury, the one-time Stoke midfielder finds his squad sat rock-bottom of the League One table and rightfully tipped as a landslide relegation scrapper here. Already five points adrift of third-tier safety, the Lancashire-based outfit have co…
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has issued a firm hands-off warning to Barcelona over David Luiz, insisting they will reject all offers.
The 26-year-old has been heavily-linked with a shock exit, with the La Liga champions reportedly keen on luring him to Camp Nou.
But Mourinho poured cold water on any hope of a move, declaring Luiz will not be sold for any price.
No chance he is going to leave. He is a player we want to keep, Mourinho told BT Sport.
He is a player with four years (on his) contract, he just signed a contract last year.
We like him. He is an important player for the club and the club is not ready to sell him for any price.
The Brazil international joined Chelsea in 2011 and is just one season into a five-year deal signed last September.…
League Two side Mansfield Town have appointed caretaker boss Adam Murray as their permanent manager.
Murray, who has served as both a player and assistant manager since 2012, became caretaker last month following the departure of Paul Cox by mutual consent.
In his spell as caretaker Murray led Mansfield to a 1-0 win over Plymouth Argyle and a victory by the same scoreline in an FA Cup first-round replay with Concord Rangers.
Mansfield were beaten 3-0 by Luton Town last Saturday but that has not stopped the club from making Murray the youngest manager in the Football League.
Murray told Mansfield s official website: After much thought and consideration, I feel the time is right for me to take this step into management.
I m excited about this …
Serbia midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic has played down comparisons between his game and that of World Cup winner Zinedine Zidane, saying: I see myself as more of a Yaya Toure.
Milinkovic-Savic scored 12 goals in 35 appearances for Lazio as the Biancoceleste finished fifth in Serie A in 2017-18, and his performances drew comparisons to former France, Juventus and Real Madrid star Zidane.
The 23-year-old is now with the Serbia squad, preparing for their World Cup Group E opener against Costa Rica, and says he is relishing the pressure of stepping onto the game s biggest stage.
I think that I m in a really good place right now, he told FIFA.com.
Pressure? I love pressure, it gets the best out of me. That s when I feel the best and give maximum on the …
Karim Benzema came off the bench to give Real Madrid a 2-1 win over 10-man Sporting CP and keep their hopes of top spot in Champions League Group F alive.
Borussia Dortmund lead the way heading into the final matchweek, holding a two-point advantage following a scarcely believable 8-4 win over group whipping boys Legia Warsaw.
Madrid appeared condemned to second place when Adrien Silva s penalty cancelled out Raphael Varane s 29th-minute opener, despite Joao Pereira having already seen red for inexplicably punching Mateo Kovacic in the stomach.
Sporting managed to keep quiet returning hero Cristiano Ronaldo, who failed to score in a match against one of his former sides for the first time in the Champions League, but they could not prevent Benzema from expertl…
Manchester United have been knocked out of the Europa League after suffering a 3-0 defeat the second leg of their quarterfinal clash with Sevilla.
Though he admits his team lacked character at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, manager Erik ten Hag believes they have what it takes to bounce back once more.
Many times now after City, Liverpool, after Brentford, and everytime we bounce back.
Erik ten Hag says his Manchester United team do have character but it went missing last night against Sevilla
— Football Daily (@footballdaily)
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Riyad Mahrez s Wembley treble was the highlight of Manchester City s 3-0 FA Cup semi-final victory over Sheffield United, but he was more focused on avenging a different sort of hat-trick.
City had suffered defeat in the semi-finals of the competition for the past three years, part of a sequence that had seen them lose four out of five at Wembley – as many as they had in their first 18 at the ground since it reopened in 2007.
A cagey first half saw City head into the break just one goal ahead, with Mahrez on target, and he stole the spotlight in the second half to send the Championship promotion hopefuls packing.
His goals ensured he became the first player in history to score an FA Cup semi-final treble at Wembley and the first overall since Alex Dawson for Ma…
Accountants have voiced concern over the short-term viability of Liverpool s parent company as the club s American owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, attempt to refinance 350 million pounds of debt.
Annual accounts for Kop Football (holdings) Ltd., which were published on Thursday, showed that the parent company made losses of 42.6 million pounds in the year to July 2008, largely due to interest payments on the debt that was incurred to enable Hicks and Gillett to buy the club.
The club s accountants, KPMG, issued their warning in a note attached to the accounts.
It said: The group has credit facilities amounting to 350 million pounds which expire on 24 July 2009. The directors have initiated negotiations to secure the replacement finance required by the grou…
After seeing Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski get snapped up by the likes of Germany, Poland s football association (PZPN) is now scouting the globe s vast Polish diaspora for talent.
Polish fans and the PZPN alike dream of reviving a long-lost golden age, with their sights set on glory on home turf at Euro 2012, after failing to make it to the 2010 World Cup.
Getting budding internationals to opt for Poland is part of the strategy.
The goal is to never again to have cases like Podolski or Klose, said Maciej Chorazyk, 35, the PZPN s diaspora pointman.
The duo were born in Poland and emigrated to Germany as youngsters. Called up by Germany, they turned Poles into nervous wrecks during the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2008, when twists of fate drew Germany an…