Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone is bracing for a difficult first leg with Hannover in their Europa League quarter-final on Thursday.
Bundesliga outfit Hannover made light work of Standard Liege in their round-of-16 tie with a 6-2 aggregate win and Simeone, who has presided over just three losses in the 17 matches since he took charge at Atletico, noted many of their threats.
I have already watched their games against Werder Bremen, Brugge, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. We know a lot about them, Simeone said.
They have good winger s, especially on the left. Also through the middle where (Lars) Stindl is an important player because he can play in many different positions.
(Manuel) Schmiedebach is great as well in attack. (Sergio) Pinto is a go…
The Germans took the green blades of L viv Arena as one of the favourites to lift the European Cup this time. Under Joachim Loew the squad has shaped nicely. It is now choc-a-bloc with top talents who are envy of Europe and rest of the world as well.
Lying in the ‘Group of Death’ Portugal’s hope rested on Real Madrid ace Cristiano Ronaldo. Paulo Bento’s side has no shortage of talents on their armory. They don’t have problem with experience either, but the issue is do they enough world class players in their ranks capable of challenging for honours?
Germany as expected started the match lively creating early pressures. However, Portugal defence was equally up to task and comfortably thwarted away the dangers. In the second half, Bayern Munich striker Mario G…
Shane Long made history on Tuesday when he plundered the fastest goal in Premier League history in Southampton s clash with Watford at Vicarage Road.
The Republic of Ireland international showed superb determination to block Craig Cathcart s attempted clearance and then wonderful composure to clip over Ben Foster after just seven seconds.
He takes the record from Ledley King, who scored after just under 10 seconds against Bradford City in 2000.
Here, we take a closer look at the top five fastest goals in the Premier League s history.
Shane Long: Watford v Southampton, April 2019 – 7.00 seconds
There appeared to be little danger when Cathcart looked to play a long ball downfield from Roberto Pereyra s kick-off but Long had other idea…
Paris Saint-Germain boss Unai Emery has responded to Real Madrid president Florentino Perez s apparent encouragement for Neymar to sign for the club.
Perez was quoted by Marca as saying that Neymar would find it easier to win the Ballon d Or if he played for the European champions.
The comment is likely to further speculation surrounding the Brazilian s future, with reports suggesting Madrid are keen to bring him back to LaLiga next year.
However, Emery insists the former Barcelona star can achieve all his goals in the French capital.
He s here, in Paris, he told a news conference when asked about Neymar, who came third in the 2017 Ballon d Or standings behind Lionel Messi and winner Cristiano Ronaldo.
I m convinced he will get both collective g…
Frank Lampard is convinced Timo Werner will become a Premier League hit, with the Chelsea boss vowing: He will score a lot of goals for us.
Four goals and four assists from 14 league games is a modest return for a player whose 28 goals and eight assists in the Bundesliga last season made him a must-get player for the Blues.
Lampard s faith in Werner is nevertheless absolute, exemplified by the fact the German forward has started every league game this season for Chelsea, who head to struggling Arsenal on Boxing Day.
Where could be better to get back to scoring ways than at Emirates Stadium, where Arsenal have struggled desperately for results this season?
Clearly, as a striker, you want to be scoring all the time, because you get judged, Lampard said. T…
Harry Maguire saw red as England s disciplinary problems continued in a 1-0 Nations League loss to Denmark.
Having come from behind to beat Belgium 2-1 at the weekend, Gareth Southgate s side immediately ceded top spot in Group A2 as Christian Eriksen scored the only goal with a 35th-minute penalty.
It was the third spot-kick England have conceded in four Nations League matches this season, by which point Maguire had already accrued two rash bookings to earn their second red card of the campaign full debutant Reece James joining that list of ignominy after being sent off for dissent after the final whistle.
Mason Mount came closest to an equaliser from Declan Rice s 66th-minute corner, only for Kasper Schmeichel to produce a remarkable save.
Den…
England captain Harry Kane is hoping to win his first trophy within hours of joining Bayern Munich after completing his £100million move from Tottenham on Saturday.
Kane trained with his new team-mates this morning and could make his debut for the Bavarian giants in their German Super Cup game against RB Leipzig at the Allianz Arena tonight.
Victory over the German Cup winners would mean a first piece of silverware for Kane, who will wear the number nine shirt for Bayern after putting pen to paper on a deal until June 2027.
First run out. Feeling good. Looking forward to the game later
— Harry Kane (@HKane)
“First run out. Feeling good. Looking forward to the game later,” Kane wrote on Twitter.
The striker had earlier taken to soc…
Ralf Rangnick accepts Manchester United were a bit sloppy in their 1-1 Champions League draw with Young Boys, but insists his side could have won the game.
With United already confirmed as group winners, Rangnick took the opportunity to rotate his squad on Wednesday by making 11 changes to the side that started in the 1-0 win over Crystal Palace.
Mason Greenwood opened the scoring at Old Trafford with a spectacular finish early on as the Red Devils started strongly, but Young Boys equalised through Fabian Rieder shortly before the break and were the better side in the second half, finishing the game with 17 shots to United s seven.
Rangnick feels his men should have scored more during their strong first-half spell, but pointed out their lack of familiarity wit…
Captain Andrew Durante looks set to miss Wellington Phoenix s A-League clash against Brisbane Roar on Sunday afternoon.
The central midfielder has been laid low with a virus which caused vomiting and resulted in the 30-year-old spending Friday night in hospital.
Durante has been one of the rocks of the Phoenix defence since his arrival at the club in 2008 and has rarely missed a game.
He marshalled a novice back four in the 1-1 draw with Melbourne Heart last weekend and his absence will be a blow for a Phoenix side facing one of the most potent attacking teams in the league.
While Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert has named his skipper in the squad for Sunday s match at Westpac Stadium he is not hopeful he will take the field.
It has been that kind of…
Erik ten Hag has confirmed that Manchester United wanted to sign Harry Kane last year but were unable to bring him to the club.
The England captain joined Bayern Munich and has scored 43 goals so far in his maiden Bundesliga season.
United instead brought in Rasmus Hojlund from Atalanta, though the forward initially struggled to adapt to life in the Premier League, failing to score in his first 14 matches in the competition.
Overall, the forward has netted 14 times in all competitions, with eight of those coming in the top-flight, but Ten Hag admitted that the club did try to bring in a more high-profile striker.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: This club can only have outstanding players because the expectations are so high. Manchester United is the bigg…