Atlanta United 1-2 Toronto: Defending champs beaten as visitors advance to MLS Cup final

Chelsea interim manager Rafael Benitez will attempt to put sentiment to one side when he returns to Anfield to take on Liverpool.

Benitez was in charge at Liverpool from 2004 to 2010 and is loved on Merseyside after leading the club to an incredible 2005 UEFA Champions League triumph.
The Spaniard still lives in the area and spoke about the respect he has for the club, but added that he wants to win the fixture that could be crucial in Chelsea s hopes of finis
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hing second in the table.
I have a lot of respect, but I have to concentrate on my team, Benitez said.
I don t want any misunderstanding, so I will concentrate just on Chelsea and the game and try to enjoy it, especially if we can win.
I am a professional so I will try to do my best to achieve the targets …

Miroslav Klose has revealed he could move to the MLS after his contract with Lazio expires next year.

The 35-year-old Germany international striker joined the Serie A club from Bayern Munich in 2011 and has gone on to enjoy two fruitful seasons at the Stadio Olimpico, scoring 28 goals in 60 league appearances.

Injury has restricted his time on the pitch this term, though, and Klose who is his country’s joint record scorer with 68 goals is likely to leave Lazio at the end of the current campaign.

And the former Werder Bremen man has indicated he will choose between a move to the US or an emotional return to first club Kaiserslautern.

I have two offers from the States and I could return to Kaiserslautern where I started my career, Klose told Gazzetta dello Sport.…

Ajax held on for a goalless draw at Cypriot club APOEL in the first leg of their Champions League play-off on Tuesday after going down to 10 men.

Last season s Champions League semi-finalists named a strong starting XI that included several stars of their eye-catching 2018-19 campaign, such as David Neres, Hakim Ziyech and Donny van de Beek.

But they produced a lacklustre and ill-disciplined performance, earning seven yellow cards and one red for Noussair Mazraoui.

The Dutch side looked the better of the two teams in the first half, but their display was lacking the decisive touch in front of goal.

After the break, APOEL began to offer more of a threat themselves and went agonisingly close in the 58th minute, when Giorgos Merkis header hit the crossbar.

On his way?

Rafa Benitez is probably lucky that nobody really seems to be in charge at Anfield at the moment. With the two American owners seemingly being more interested in arguing with each other and trying to sell their shares than they are in the fortunes of the team, he might not come under the same sort of scrutiny from above that most managers do.

Worst

Tuesday’s defeat at home to Lyon was their fourth in a row and equals their worst run of form for twenty-two years. Let’s not forget they have had some real stinkers in those twenty-two years as well.

Prior to Sunday’s crucial game against Manchester United Liverpool find themselves seven points behind the champions, in a lowly eighth place in the pr…

Joe Hart hailed the vibe at new club Burnley after joining Sean Dyche s side to conclude a 12-year spell at Manchester City.

Hart, capped 75 times by England, won two Premier League titles with City but fell out of favour following the 2016 appointment of Pep Guardiola.

The 31-year-old has signed an initial two-year contract at Turf Moor, where he will compete for the gloves with fellow England internationals Tom Heaton and Nick Pope.

With Pope sidelined after undergoing surgery on a dislocated shoulder and Heaton battling to recover from a calf injury, Hart could make his debut in Thursday s Europa League tie at Istanbul Basaksehir.

And Hart is keen to get started at Burnley after spending the past two years out on loan at Serie A and West Ham.

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Conor Gallagher says Chelsea set the standard they have to reach with their FA Cup win at Aston Villa.

The midfielder scored his first goal of the season in Wednesday’s 3-1 fourth-round replay win.

Nicolas Jackson’s header and Enzo Fernandez’s sensational free kick helped the visitors to victory, despite Moussa Diaby’s injury-time consolation.

Chelsea, 11th in the Premier League, came into the game in disarray after 4-1 and 4-2 defeats to Liverpool and Wolves respectively and Gallagher knows they cannot let things drop.

“There was a lot of hunger and that’s what we need every game,” he said, with Chelsea hosting Leeds in the fifth round. “I think before the game you could sense that because the last two games have not been good enough by o…

Real Madrid striker Cristiano Ronaldo broke his own record for the number of goals scored in a Champions League group stage by netting his 10th in the game with Malmo on Tuesday.

The Portugal captain started the evening on seven, but a hat-trick against the Swedes saw him surpass his total from the 2013-14 season in which he scored nine times a figure matched by then Shakhtar Donetsk forward Luiz Adriano last term.

The record-breaking goal came in the 50th minute as Ronaldo collected the ball inside the box and hit home on the turn with a low shot that squeezed under the right arm of Malmo goalkeeper Johan Wiland.

He promptly wasted little time in grabbing an 11th as Rafael Benitez s men ran riot.

Ronaldo s efforts at the Santiago Bernabeu also saw him…

Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo will improve the more he plays after the coronavirus-enforced break, according to head coach Maurizio Sarri.

Ronaldo converted a penalty as Serie A leaders Juve routed 10-man Lecce 4-0 in Turin on Friday – the defending champions opening a seven-point advantage over scudetto challengers Lazio.

The five-time Ballon d Or winner took his tally to 23 goals in Serie A this season, though Ronaldo has been in the headlines for his lack of form since the 2019-20 campaign restarted earlier this month following the COVID-19 crisis.

Asked about Ronaldo post-match, Sarri told reporters: Cristiano now can play with a good fit. He needs to improve after the break and he is doing match after match.

He needs to play a lot. In the f…

Real Madrid spent in excess of 250 million euros on new talent in the summer with the target of dethroning Barcelona in La Liga and re-establishing themselves in Europe by winning the Champions League at their Santiago Bernabeu stadium.

But the Spanish giants failed on both counts with a last 16 exit to Lyon ending their hopes of a dream European final at their Bernabeu stadium as the nine-time champions have failed to get past the first knockout stage for six successive seasons.

Defeats to Barcelona in both Clasicos meaning they have lost the last four were pivotal in the title race as Barcelona notched a record 99 points to retain their crown and Real s own points record of 96 was not enough.

After watching arch rivals Barcelona win an historic League, King s …

Burnley have completed the signing of Joey Barton,.

The midfielder was available on a free transfer after leaving Queens Park Rangers at the end of last season and had been linked with West Ham United and Nottingham Forest.

However, he has penned a one-year deal with Sean Dyche’s side, who are looking to secure an immediate return to the Premier League following their relegation back in May.

Barton made eighty-six appearances for QPR, scoring six goals while he spent the 2012/13 campaign on loan at Marseille in France’s Ligue One.

Prior to his move to Loftus Road, he spent four years with Newcastle United, having begun his career with Manchester City while internationally he has one senior cap for England.

Burnley, who have taken five po…