Luis Garcia feels Diego Simeone has no need to leave Atletico Madrid in the near future, insisting the Argentine coach is already at a big team who are moving in the right direction.
Simeone has won La Liga, the Europa League and the Copa del Rey since taking charge at the Vicente Calderon in December 2011, while he also steered the team to the Champions League final – where they lost after extra time to Real Madrid – in 2014.
His work at Atletico has seen him linked with vacancies abroad, particularly in the Premier League, despite him signing a new long-term contract in March 2015.
However, Garcia – who spent a season playing for Atletico – feels Simeone is happy in the Spanish capital and does not necessarily need to move on to enjoy further s…
Spain captain Sergio Ramos insists the squad are together following Julen Lopetegui s shock sacking as coach on the eve of the World Cup.
Loptegui was removed from his post on Wednesday following Tuesday s announcement he is to take over as Real Madrid coach.
Fernando Hierro has been drafted in as replacement for the tournament, with Spain s first Group B match taking place on Friday against neighbours Portugal.
But Ramos has moved to quell any notion that La Roja s chaotic preparations for the World Cup have had an impact on the unity in the camp.
He posted on Twitter: We are the national team, we represent a shield, the colours, the fans, a country.
The responsibility and commitment are with you and for you. Yesterday, today and tomorrow, tog…
Southampton attacker Moussa Djenepo is hoping to become the next Sadio Mane as he uses the Liverpool star as inspiration.
Djenepo, 21, joined the club for a reported £14million from Standard Liege last year, and had scored two goals and provided two assists in 18 Premier League games before the season was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Mane spent two seasons at St Mary s before joining Liverpool in 2016 and the Senegal international has developed into one of the world s best attackers.
Djenepo is using Mane as inspiration and the Mali international hopes he can exceed what the Liverpool star has achieved.
Sadio is a big inspiration for me. I like him, he s a very big player, he told talkSPORT.
But I think I can be better [than him] …
None of the top four sides in the Championship won on Saturday, meaning Leeds United remained top of the table despite a disappointing 1-1 home draw with Derby County.
Bristol City and Swansea City, who started the day third and second respectively, played out a 0-0 draw, while Charlton Athletic suffered a second straight defeat, going down 2-0 at Wigan Athletic.
Preston North End, QPR and Nottingham Forest all gained ground towards the top of the standings with victories, while Blackburn Rovers, Cardiff City and Hull City were also among the winners.
Sheffield Wednesday drew 1-1 with Fulham and Stoke City moved off the bottom of the table after a goalless encounter at Brentford.
FRUSTRATION FOR LEEDS
Other results meant Leeds stayed top even…
AC Milan are set to complete the signing of Fikayo Tomori from Chelsea on a permanent basis, according to .
The Canada-born defender is a product of Chelsea s academy. He previously had loan spells with Hull City and Derby County, before a transfer ban in the summer of 2019 forced Frank Lampard, newly appointed as the manager at the time, to include him in his plans of the following season. However, the 23-year-old wasn t able to compete against Thiago Silva, Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen during the first half of 2020-21, which prompted the club to send him out to Milan on loan this January.
Since then, Tomori has impressed in Italy, making a total of 22 appearances and scoring a vital goal for the Rossoneri, and the seven-time European champions were keen to turn …
Nick DeLeon s stunning late goal led Toronto past defending champions Atlanta United 2-1 and through to the MLS Cup final.
With 12 minutes remaining in Atlanta on Wednesday, DeLeon produced a thunderous long-range effort that beat Brad Guzan and secured Toronto s spot in the November 10 final.
Toronto will travel to Seattle Sounders in a rematch of the 2017 decider, which the Canadian side won 2-0.
After Los Angeles FC s shock defeat to Seattle on Tuesday, there was another upset as Frank de Boer s Atlanta were dethroned on home soil.
Just sit back and admire it. |
— Toronto FC (@TorontoFC)
Julian Gressel gave Atlanta a fourth-minute lead after a selfless pass from team-mate Gonzalo Martinez at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
However,…
Ghana international Jordan Ayew has left Marseille to sign a four-year contract with Lorient.
Ayew, whose brother Andre enjoyed a loan spell with Lorient in the 2008-09 season, came through the youth system at Marseille but fell out of favour last term.
He spent the second half of the campaign on loan at Sochaux, where his five goals were not enough to prevent the club suffering relegation.
While Sochaux will begin the new season in Ligue 2, Ayew has ensured he will continue to play in France s top flight.
The style and the quality of play offered here suits me perfectly, Ayew told Lorient s official website.
I am also very impressed by the infrastructure.
I will try to bring my experience to this group in order to achieve the collectiv…
Prediction: Rayo Vallecano to win 2-1
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Girona and Rayo Vallecano will face each other in La La this week. The match between the White and Reds and the Red Sashes will be held at Estadi Montilivi and is scheduled to kick off at 4pm UK time on Thursday.
Girona
Girona finished sixth in the Segunda Division last season and won promotion to La Liga via the playoffs. Michel’s side are doing better than many expected them to and are 13th in the table at the moment with 16 points from 14 matches, as many as five points clear of the relegation zone.
Michel’s team are among the sides being tipped for relegation from La Liga at the end of the season, and while they need to be careful, they can be happy with how things are going…
Borussia Dortmund will hope the return of Ilkay Gundogan and Marco Reus can kick-start their underwhelming season at Cologne on Saturday.
Jurgen Klopp s men find themselves languishing 13th in the Bundesliga standings after seven matches, with Cologne one of only five teams below them in the table.
However, things are beginning to look up for Dortmund as their crippling injury list has started to ease with Gundogan and Reus both set to return.
Gundogan has been missing since August 2013 with a persistent back problem, while Reus injured his ankle against Scotland at the start of September, a similar issue to the one that kept him out of Germany s triumphant World Cup campaign.
Both players appeared for Dortmund in a friendly against Bochum s reserves on …
Market: Under 2.5 goals
Odds: 3/4 @
In what could prove to be a low-scoring showdown from St. Andrews on Tuesday night, Birmingham will welcome Huddersfield to town.
Starting with the hosts, while Birmingham might have enjoyed a shock purple patch when opening up the 2023/24 campaign, it is fair to say that the Blues have come crashing back down to earth. Showing some extended issues on either side of September’s international break, John Eustace’s side have the feel of a squad seeking a recent boost. Last seen over the weekend putting in another downbeat display as they slumped to a routine 2-0 loss at the hands of play-off hopefuls Norwich, the one-time QPR coach finds his squad in the midst of a six-match winless run across all competitions. Likewise, mar…