Pep Guardiola has called on Manchester City to improve defensively after Fulham failed to take a number of chances at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday. City edged the game 3-2 despite Fulham creating an xG of 2.4 compared to 1.5 from Guardiola’s side. Adama Traoré was guilty of missing three golden chances and was denied twice by Éderson in one-on-one situations. “There are actions we can defend better but step…
LEVERKUSEN, Germany — Hosts Bayer Leverkusen paid the price for being complacent after squandering a two-goal lead and losing control of the game before drawing 2-2 against promoted Holstein Kiel in the German Bundesliga on Saturday. Champions Leverkusen scored twice in the opening eight minutes but wasted a two-goal advantage for the third time in six Bundesliga matches this season. “I am not satisfied with our performance. It was our…
Spain coach Luis de la Fuente is concerned by reports that the country could be stripped of its 2030 World Cup hosting rights because the Spain football federation (RFEF) has yet to elect a new president. FIFA is due to ratify Spain, Portugal, and Morocco as main hosts of the 2030 tournament at its Congress meeting on Dec. 11. However, FIFA met in Madrid this week with representatives of the…
World Cup winner Paul Pogba’s doping suspension has been reduced to 18 months from an initial four years, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said on Friday. “The suspension is now 18 months, starting Sept. 11, 2023,” CAS director general Matthieu Reeb told Reuters. The decision means that the former France international will be eligible to make a return to competitive football in March 2025. Pogba welcomed the decision in…
FIFA has agreed on interim transfer rules aiming to help players change teams and go to the Club World Cup in the United States next June-July. The move on Thursday opens the door for players whose contracts expire on June 30 to sign early as free agents for one of the 32 teams who qualified for the relaunched FIFA club tournament. They include Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich and…
Real Madrid forward Endrick has said he isn’t affected by outside criticism after a defeat, stating “that’s what football is.” Endrick, who joined Los Blancos this summer from Palmeiras, became Madrid’s youngest player to start in a Champions League game aged 18 years and 73 days in Wednesday’s 1-0 loss at Lille. Asked about handling negative comments after defeats when playing for Madrid, Endrick said: “To be honest, I don’t…
Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins said he hopes to put down an England marker when he faces Bayern Munich in the Champions League tonight with Harry Kane in a race to be fit. Kane picked up an ankle injury at the weekend in Bayern’s 1-1 draw with Bayer Leverkusen, but Vincent Kompany is optimistic he will be available for Wednesday’s European clash at Villa Park. If Kane is fit to…
The walls of Pep Lijnders’ garage in his new Salzburg home are still bare. The unpacked boxes on the floor contain memories of his journey from coaching apprentice at PSV to becoming Jürgen Klopp’s “equal partner” at Liverpool, as Klopp calls it. There are framed photos, shirts and match balls from the several finals he helped the team reach. But there is one other keepsake he cherishes above all as…
Kylian Mbappé has recovered from injury and is available to play for Real Madrid against Lille in the Champions League, Carlo Ancelotti confirmed, saying “if there’s no risk, he’ll play from the first minute.” Mbappé suffered a thigh injury in Madrid’s 3-2 LaLiga win over Alavés on Sept. 24, with a source telling ESPN the forward was expected to be out of action for around three weeks. However, the France…
Under the cover of apparently “doing the right thing,” I think that Diego Simeone shamed himself, his club and LaLiga on Sunday during and after Atlético Madrid’s heated, controversial 1-1 draw with Real Madrid. By now, you’ve no doubt seen that the derby was temporarily halted because of a hail of objects thrown at Madrid keeper Thibaut Courtois, and that the eyes of the footballing world were turned to how…