Manchester City are adjusting to a significant blow against their Premier League title defence after confirmation Kevin De Bruyne will be sidelined for around three months with lateral knee ligament damage.
The Belgium midfielder, who was City s stand-out performer on the way to Premier League and EFL Cup glory last season, suffered the injury during a training session this week.
Pep Guardiola has an amply stocked squad from which to find solutions to this conundrum, although there is arguably no like-for-like replacement for De Bruyne s all-round midfield mastery.
Here we look at what fixtures City will have to tackle without their talisman and which rivals at home and abroad might be set to benefit from his absence.
Generous early season run
Ci…
Bayern Munich coach Carlo Ancelotti expects the Champions League to be even tougher this season due to the return of some big English clubs.
Manchester United and Chelsea are back in Europe s top club competition, and they could be joined by Liverpool.
While the last English club to win the Champions League was Chelsea in 2012, Ancelotti believes the return of the heavyweights is sure to make it tougher.
The Champions League this year will be more competitive because there are some really important English teams in the competition, the Italian said on Monday.
United, City, Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool – I think, and I hope, for Jurgen [Klopp, Liverpool manager] to win qualification.
The Champions League will surely be more competitive and mo…
West Ham United are interested in signing Shane Duffy from Brighton and Hove Albion in the summer transfer window, according to . West Ham manager David Moyes worked with the defender at Everton, and the Scotsman reportedly wants him at the London Stadium.
It has been reported that West Ham enquired about signing Duffy in the January transfer window, but the Hammers were turned down. The London club are now considering making a renowned effort to secure the services of the former Blackburn Rovers defender.
Duffy has been on the books of Brighton since 2016 and is a very experienced footballer. West Ham have struggled defensively this past campaign, and it is an area that Moyes needs to address this summer if they are avoid yet another relegation dogfight in 2020-21. It …
Germany suffered the ignominy of failing to get past the opening round of a World Cup for the first time since 1938 on Wednesday, and the media both local and international were quick to stick the boot in.
Because Sweden defeated Mexico 3-0 in Group F s other game in Ekaterinburg at the same time, Germany needed to just beat South Korea and they spent most of the game on top.
But they were devoid of craft in attack and, as their attempts to salvage a result got desperate, Korea picked them off on the break, scoring twice in second-half stoppage time to seal Germany s fate.
As such, they became the third successive world champions to fall at the first hurdle after Italy and Spain.
And the ridicule has been as brutal as expected from abroad, while the anger…
Match-winner Gonzalo Higuain understands why Maurizio Sarri dropped him for Sunday s crucial Serie A clash with Inter and is glad to have made a telling impact from the bench in Juventus 2-1 victory.
The 31-year-old was brought on just after the hour at San Siro after losing his place in the starting line-up to Paulo Dybala, who justified his selection for the top-of-the-table showdown by brilliantly opening the scoring in the fourth minute.
Lautaro Martinez levelled up from the penalty spot but Higuain proved to be the hero for Juve as he fired a low finish past Samir Handanovic to snatch three vital points late on.
Asked how he felt about being overlooked for a starting spot, Higuain told Sky Sport Italia: The coach makes his decisions. Paulo had been doing wel…
For a dominant midfielder aiming to make their mark in the latter stages of an international tournament, Zinedine Zidane indisputably remains the benchmark in the modern era.
France are two wins away from emulating their celebrated class of 1998, who prevailed 3-0 in the World Cup final against Brazil on home soil thanks largely to a first-half brace from Zidane.
The ex-Juventus and Real Madrid great was only just getting started.
At Euro 2000, he strode regally across a quarter-final against Spain – dispatching a precision free-kick to kick-off a 2-1 win. It was the era of golden goal extra time and Zidane displayed nerves of steel to down Portugal from the penalty spot in the semi-final. David Trezeguet brought a similarly abrupt conclusion versus Italy in th…
River Plate will be tough opponents in the first ever Superclasico Copa Libertadores final, according to Boca Juniors assistant coach Gustavo Barros Schelotto.
Boca booked their place in the two-legged final by triumphing 4-2 on aggregate against Brazilian side Palmeiras on Wednesday, a 2-2 draw in Sao Paulo enough to follow up a 2-0 home victory in the opening leg.
River s place in the decider remains subject to an appeal from Gremio after last season s champions were beaten in their controversial last-four clash, but Schelotto is looking forward to taking on his team s fierce rivals in Boca s 11th Libertadores final.
Gremio, Palmeiras and Cruzeiro in the previous round proved to be great teams, at the level of the Copa Libertadores and the differences bet…
Mohamed Salah says Liverpool s 1-0 loss to Inter will act as a wake-up call after the Reds were made to work hard for their place in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Leading 2-0 from the first leg thanks to late goals from Roberto Firmino and Salah, the Reds looked comfortable for the opening hour of Tuesday s second leg at Anfield.
However, Lautaro Martinez s first goal in the competition since November 2020 – a superb swerving shot from 20 yards – gave Inter serious hope of at least forcing extra time.
Alexis Sanchez s red card 107 seconds later proved damaging, though, as Inter failed to create any further clear-cut opportunities against their Premier League opponents.
The defeat is Liverpool s first at Anfield in all competitions since March 7…
Rudi Garcia rued Lyon allowing their Champions League fate to slip from their grasp with a 2-0 defeat at Zenit.
Lyon controlled the action in St Petersburg for long periods but lacked cutting edge in the injury absence of star attacker Memphis Depay.
Zenit s imposing centre-forward Artem Dzyuba headed the hosts into a 42nd-minute lead and Magomed Ozdoev s deflected strike six minutes from time made the points safe.
The result leaves Lyon level with Zenit on seven points heading into the final matchweek, knowing they must better the Russian Premier League champions result next time out to finish above them.
We owed it to ourselves to do better, Garcia told reporters.
We needed at least a draw to keep matters in our own hands when it comes to qu…
Competition: Euro 2016 qualifier
Market: Spain to win against Slovakia
Odds:
Spain face Slovakia in Group C of the Euro 2016 qualifiers tonight, with Vicente Del Bosque’s side looking to retain their European Championship crown following back-to-back triumphs in 2008 and 2012.
After a poor World Cup campaign, the side have undergone a transformation and are looking to reinvent themselves to be among the favourites to win retain the trophy in 2016.
Despite being the away side, Coral are giving odds of 2/5 for Spain to get all three points against Slovakia, but the Slovaks have amassed maximum points from their first game like Spain. A win for La Roja would put them top by three points, strengthening their chances of topping their qualifying group a…