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…
Cameroon great Samuel Eto’o was banned by FIFA on Monday from attending any national team games for six months. Eto’o, who has been president of the Cameroon football federation since 2021, faced two charges from an incident at the Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Colombia on Sept. 11. FIFA did not specify details of what happened at the round-of-16 game that Brazil won against Cameroon 3-1 after extra time. Eto’o…
The transfer window might be shut across Europe’s top five leagues, but the rumour mill keeps on turning! Transfer Talk brings you all the latest buzz, comings, goings and, of course, done deals!
Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong has said that the “mental trauma” of repeated ankle injuries has been “tough,” as he refuted reports that he earns €37 million ($41.3m) annually and turned down the chance to undergo surgery. De Jong, 27, has not played since April when he suffered his third ankle injury of the season in Barça’s Clásico defeat to Real Madrid at the Bernabéu. The injury forced him to…
Another entertaining weekend of European football action is in the books, with the main headlines going to Cole Palmer as he scored four goals in the first half to help Chelsea get a 4-2 win over Brighton & Hove Albion. Elsewhere in the Premier League, Arsenal were able to snatch two goals in stoppage time against Leicester City in their 4-2 win at the Emirates Stadium to continue firmly in…
Conor Gallagher has told ESPN he is “really excited” about playing for Atlético Madrid in his first derby with Real Madrid on Sunday, and said the atmosphere at their Metropolitano stadium is louder than what he’s used to in the Premier League. England international Gallagher, 24, joined Atlético from Chelsea this summer and has already made himself a fan favourite, scoring two goals in five LaLiga appearances. Both Atlético and…
Wrexham slipped to second in the League One table on Saturday after they played out a goalless draw with Leyton Orient in east London,