Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone praised the impact of returning Brazilian playmaker Diego during Sunday s 4-0 win over Real Sociedad.
The Brazilian, who moved from Wolfsburg on Friday, came off the bench to make his second debut for the club and score the final goal as Simeone s men moved top of La Liga.
Simeone was impressed by Diego, who spent a season on loan at the Estadio Vicente Calderon in 2011, adding that he will be able to get the best out of those around him.
Diego s arrival is just what we need, Atleti s coach said. He can give us personality, options in attack, aggression and whenever he gets the ball, you can sense danger – that’s what he showed (on Sunday).
He also brings out the best in (Diego) Costa who can now latch on to balls from Koke…
Pep Guardiola was handed his Barcelona break as a skinny teenager by Johan Cruyff so the Manchester City manager has no qualms in following suit with Phil Foden.
The 18-year-old Foden made 10 appearances across all competitions in 2017-18, and looks set for a more significant role this season following a stellar showing in the 2-0 Community Shield win over Chelsea at Wembley.
In a media conference ahead of Sunday s visit of Huddersfield Town, it was put to Guardiola that there are similarities with Foden s breakthrough and his own at Camp Nou under Cruyff at the start of Barca s fabled Dream Team era.
Guardiola benefited from Cruyff s insistence that a player s technical ability was more important than his physical stature a mantra that has stuck with the Catal…
Norwich City have confirmed the sacking of manager Alex Neil after a run of five games without a win left their promotion hopes in tatters.
Neil led Norwich to promotion from the Championship in 2015, but they were subsequently relegated from the Premier League under the 35-year-old s leadership.
The Canaries have been around the top six for most of the season, but results including a 5-1 thrashing at fellow promotion hopefuls Sheffield Wednesday on March 3 leave the club nine points adrift of the play-off places.
Club statement: Alex Neil leaves Norwich City with immediate effect.
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— Norwich City FC (@NorwichCityFC)
Norwich City can confirm manager Alex Neil s contract has been terminated with immediate effect, a club s…
Dayot Upamecano was sent off for the second time in five days as Bayern Munich’s Bundesliga title challenge suffered a massive blow with a 3-2 defeat at lowly Bochum.
In a game twice disrupted by fan protests, Jamal Musiala gave the visitors an early lead, but Bochum hit back through Takuma Asano and Keven Schlotterbeck before Bayern defender Upamecano was sent off for a second bookable offence.
Kevin Stoger converted the resulting penalty and although Harry Kane pulled one back with his 25th goal of the season, Bochum held on for a famous win which eased their relegation fears and lifted them to 11th in the table.
REMEMBER THE DAY. SUNDAY 18TH FEBRUARY 2024.
WAS FÜR EIN TOLLER ABEND ANNE CASTROPER!!!!!!
3-2
— VfL Bochum 1848 (@Vf…
Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder has been fined £11,500 by the Football Association for his biting remarks about a sandwich-eating assistant referee.
Wilder was offended when he spotted one of referee Tony Harrington’s assistants chowing down when the Blades manager went to see him after their 3-2 defeat at Crystal Palace last month.
Wilder, who has accepted the charge, branded the sight as a “complete lack of respect” and also called Harrington’s performance “ridiculous” in an interview with BBC Radio Sheffield after the game.
An FA statement read: “Chris Wilder has been fined £11,500 for media comments that came after Sheffield United’s game against Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Tuesday 30 January.
— FA Spokesper…
Competition: Liga BBVA
Market: Barcelona to win La Liga title
Odds:
After Real Madrid went down to their second consecutive league defeat, Ancelotti’s men have now given the advantage to Barcelona Atletico Madrid. While Atletico remain top of the table by a point, the Catalan giants Barceloa are now considered favourites to win the league come May.
888 Sport are giving odds of 3/4 for Barcelona to win what would be back-to-back league crowns, after Real Madrid won the 2011/12 league campaign.
Barcelona’s run-in looks favourable, with only one potential banana skin to come Atletico Madrid at home on the final day. Barca have only lost once at the Nou Camp this season which remains the only home points they’ve dropped, so Atletico have a big task…
Wales will be looking to record just their second victory in eight matches when they welcome Finland to Cardiff on Saturday.
Despite the hosts (44th) sitting 19 places ahead of their opponents in the Fifa world rankings, the head-to-head record between the sides points towards this being a tight encounter. Of the 11 matches to have taken place in history, the nations have four victories apiece with the remainder ending all square.
But Finland have had the upper hand in recent years and won both of the nations last encounters in qualification for World Cup 2010. Wales s last victory, meanwhile, came in Helsinki in 2002.
Chris Coleman s men picked up an impressive 1-1 away draw with Belgium in their last game the final fixture of their failed qualification camp…
Verdict: Both teams to score – No
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The Blues are taking a break from the Premier League title race to take part in the FA Cup fifth round clash against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux Stadium on Saturday.
Wolves
Sitting in 18th place in the EFL Championship, Wolves are preparing to host the Premier League leaders who will be a huge motivation for Paul Lambert’s men. Wolves will have to dig deep in order to keep their Cup ambitions alive as they look to add some value to their attractive brand of football. Paul Lambert has had his team play attractive but without desired results and the forthcoming match will be a rare opportunity to test the strength against the Premier League title chasers in the first sell-out since 2014…
French Ligue 1 champions are believed to be extremely interested in Juventus prodigy Moise Keane.
The 17-year-old is yet to sign his first professional contract with the Turin-based club and the French heavyweights are hoping they will be able to lure the youngster away from Juventus.
Moise Keane is represented by the notorious Mino Railoa who is personally unwilling to do business with Paris Saint-Germain and has already arrived in Turin to guard his protégée from the possible advances from Les Parisiens, according to .
youngster has been making huge waves with his impressive displays for Juventus U-19 set-up, whereas his dominant showings have already earned him a first-team Serie A debut with Juventus back in November.
Keane was also involved in s…
Barcelona have revealed Samuel Umtiti has tested positive for coronavirus.
The French defender s status was announced following COVID-19 tests carried out among the Barca squad on Thursday.
Umtiti is asymptomatic and isolating at home, the club revealed, though the centre-back was already certain to miss the Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich.
The 26-year-old who has made just 18 appearances in all competitions in the 2019-20 season had not travelled with his team-mates to Lisbon due to a knee injury.
After the PCR tests carried out on Thursday, the first-team player Samuel Umtiti has tested positive for COVID-19, Barcelona said in a statement.
The players is asymptomatic, is in good health and isolating at home.
The c…