Spain made the stunning decision to dispense with coach Julen Lopetegui on Wednesday, just two days before their first match at the 2018 World Cup.
Lopetegui was named as Zinedine Zidane s Real Madrid successor less than 24 hours prior, something Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales said he heard about just five minutes before the news was announced.
Following a delay to Lopetegui s news conference in Krasnodar on Wednesday, Rubiales, who travelled from the FIFA Congress in Moscow for talks, informed the media that the coach had been dismissed, with Fernando Hierro assuming his responsibilities for the World Cup.
Spain were considered one of the pre-tournament favourites, but the decision, which comes with a clash against Portugal s…
Former Barcelona defender Gianluca Zambrotta is unsure over whether the club s current vintage is superior to Pep Guardiola s treble-winning heroes.
Guardiola makes his latest return to Camp Nou this week as Manchester City manager in an eagerly awaited Champions League Group C clash.
The Premier League leaders must contain the star-studded forward line of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar, although Zambrotta suggested Guardiola had more world-class players at his disposal when he swept the board in 2008-09 than Luis Enrique does now.
Even if there is less reliance on Barca s feted La Masia academy in the present day, the ex-Italy international still recognises plenty of commonalities in his former employers playing style.
It is hard to say [which sid…
Best Odds: 19/20
Bookmaker:
Sat firmly in the driving seat to extend on their Champions League qualifying adventure, Sparta Prague will welcome Shamrock Rovers to the Czech Republic on Tuesday evening.
Sparta Prague
Starting with the hosts, putting in what was a routine performance away on foreign soil last week as they secured a 2-0 victory in Dublin, Sparta Prague will be seeking a repeat performance here. Hardly having to get out of third gear and now sat firmly in the driving seat, the Czech heavyweights appear to be firing on all cylinders. Picking up some perfect momentum last weekend as they stormed their way to a stellar 4-1 romp away at Teplice while on domestic duties, Lars Friis’ camp have come flying out of the traps since opening up the 2024/25 c…
Best odds: 10/11
Bookmaker:
Nottingham Forest are set to welcome Liverpool to the City Ground on Saturday afternoon for a clash between two former European champions. The game will be a part of the 12th round in the 2022/23 Premier League season, though Liverpool still have a game in hand on most of the league.
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest had an excellent 2021/22 season in the Championship and thus earned their place in the English top flight this term. Still, the number of signings they made this summer was stunning 23 new players, practically an entire squad.
It was clear from the start that so many new faces will take time to gel properly and form a compact unit, capable of battling it out against the rest of arguably the toughest league in t…
Ollie Watkins hailed a “massive three points” after Aston Villa came from behind to win 2-1 at Tottenham.
Giovani Lo Celso put Spurs in front after 22 minutes, before Pau Torres headed an equaliser in first-half stoppage time.
England forward Watkins scored a second just after the hour which proved enough to take Villa above their hosts and into the top four.
Unmatched.
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial)
“They are where they are in the league because of how they’re playing, so a massive three points,” Watkins told Sky Sports.
“It’s unbelievable, a great feeling and we are playing great football, but we’re not getting carried away.
“We’re not even at Christmas yet and we have some tough matches coming up, so we ha…
Gareth Southgate brought up 50 matches as England manager in Thursday s 5-0 World Cup qualifying defeat of San Marino.
The former Three Lions centre-back was appointed as England boss in September 2016, initially on a temporary basis before taking the reins full-time in November of that year.
Since then, England have breezed to 2018 World Cup qualification and reached the semi-finals, advanced to the last four again at the inaugural Nations League and then secured their place at the delayed Euro 2020 finals.
Southgate has been credited with restoring his country to the role of serious contenders on the international stage, but he still has not settled on a particular formula.
As well as handing out 43 debuts – the fourth most among all England manager…
Ander Herrera has spoken out against the planned creation of a European Super League, describing clubs involved as the rich stealing what the people created .
In a strongly worded post on Twitter, the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder expressed how it was pivotal in football for all clubs to be able to retain the dream of competing at the highest level.
The big six from the Premier League have combined with Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Real Madrid from LaLiga, plus Serie A clubs Inter, Juventus and Milan, to propose the introduction of a breakaway competition to rival UEFA s Champions League model.
The proposal sees those 12 clubs joined by eight more to play in two leagues across a span of midweek fixtures, followed by a two-legged knockout format to de…
Ralph Hasenhuttl was appointed as Southampton s new manager on Wednesday.
The Austrian signed a two-and-a-half-year deal and his first game at the helm will be an important trip to fellow Premier League strugglers Cardiff City on Saturday.
Mark Hughes was relieved of his duties on Monday despite keeping Southampton in the top flight last season.
But why have the Saints, who sit 18th in the table, turned to former RB Leipzig boss Hasenhuttl? We take a closer look at his managerial record with the assistance of Opta.
Introducing your new First Team Manager
Welcome, Ralph Hasenhüttl!
— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC)
FROM THE BOTTOM TO THE TOP
Aalen were 14th in the third tier when Hasenhuttl took over in J…
Zinedine Zidane does not expect Barcelona to be weakened by the off-field unrest that has blighted Real Madrid s LaLiga title rivals this week.
A potentially damaging row has broken out at Camp Nou after Barca star Lionel Messi hit back at director of football Eric Abidal, who suggested some players were not working hard enough prior to Ernesto Valverde s dismissal as coach.
Messi went public with his response in an Instagram post directly referencing Abidal s comments in which he wrote: When talking about players we should give names, because if not we are all getting dirtied and feeding things that are said but aren t true .
The situation is so serious that former Barca winger Francisco Jose Lobo Carrasco claimed Messi could be on the brink of exiting the …
Jose Mourinho will feature on beIN SPORTS coverage of El Clasico when Real Madrid and Barcelona go head to head in LaLiga on March 2.
The Portuguese served as an assistant at Barca and went on to become head coach at Madrid in 2010, maintaining the hostile relationship between the two clubs during his three years in charge at the Santiago Bernabeu.
And having left Manchester United in December, Mourinho will again take on a punditry role for one of the biggest matches in club football.
The former Chelsea boss was in the studio for beIN as they showed the Blues defeat at Arsenal last month.
We are delighted to welcome Jose Mourinho back to beIN SPORTS to entertain millions of viewers with his footballing genius once again across the 24 countries of the …