Football Blog (Page 229)

[ad_1] Inter Miami head coach Phil Neville has described striker Gonzalo Higuain as ‘one of the best’ he’s ever worked with in professional soccer. Despite hitting strong form for the Herons, scoring 14 goals in 26 MLS appearances this season, including six in his last six games, Higuain announced his shock retirement on Monday, effective at the end of the 2022 campaign. Across his own playing career with Manchester United, Everton, and England, Neville lined up alongside some of the greatest forwards of their time – and, in some cases, all-time – including Cristiano Ronaldo, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Wayne Rooney, Alan Shearer, and Michael Owen.Read More →

[ad_1] Being knocked out in the group stage of the Champions League for the second year running could have huge financial consequences for Barcelona. The Catalan side have made an excellent start to the season on the domestic front, sitting top of La Liga with six wins and one draw from their opening seven matches. Things haven’t gone nearly as well in the Champions League though with Bayern Munich and Inter both beating them in their last two European outings. As a result, they sit six points behind the former and three behind the latter at the halfway point of the group stage, and areRead More →

[ad_1] Antonio Conte has admitted that he needs more transfer markets before he can make Tottenham perform well on multiple fronts. While Spurs have made a relatively strong start to the season domestically, sitting third in the Premier League after eight matches, they’ve struggled in Europe. After being somewhat fortunate to beat Marseille in their first Champions League match of the season, they lost 2-0 to Sporting CP and followed that up with a 0-0 draw at Eintracht Frankfurt on Tuesday night. Conte puts those results largely down to the fact that he doesn’t have the squad depth to rotate his players to keep themRead More →

[ad_1] Barcelona are exploring ways to bring Lionel Messi back to Catalonia next year, sources have confirmed to 90min. Messi left Barcelona in emotional fashion in 2021 following 17 seasons and nearly 800 games after the club’s financial woes prevented them from handing him a new contract. He then joined Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer. His first year in the French capital was one of the least prolific of his career, but this term he looks back to his best and that has led to many Barça fans hoping that he could yet return to the club. Messi’s current deal expires at the endRead More →

[ad_1] Matchday three in the Champions League saw a number of twists and turns as eight teams took to the field across Europe on Tuesday. From the most entertaining of 0-0 draws to absolute goal fests and a particularly surprising upset over in Belgium, we got it all as the group stages reach the halfway mark. Liverpool and Rangers faced off in front of a fierce Anfield crowd, with plenty expecting a Champions League classic. Here’s how it all unfolded on the night. The positivity was back at Anfield / Eurasia Sport Images/GettyImages An early free-kick from Trent Alexander-Arnold set the tone for a brilliantRead More →

[ad_1] Barcelona boss Xavi Hernandez could not hide his frustration as he fumed at the refereeing decisions in their 1-0 Champions League loss to Inter. The La Liga side dominated possession but were unable to break down a dogged Inter side, although they were on the wrong end of two controversial VAR decisions. Pedri thought he had equalised in the second half, only for VAR to rule out the goal for an Ansu Fati handball in the build-up. In the second half, Inter defender Denzel Dumfries appeared to handle the ball in his own box but, once again, VAR ruled against Barça. Both decisions leftRead More →

[ad_1] Pumas has parted ways with head coach Andres Lillini, effective immediately.  Though the Argentine manager had just renewed his contract in May 2022, extending his time with the club through 2023, his downward spiral during the 2022 Liga MX Apertura rushed his exit. He now departs after two years with the club, leading them to the 2022 Liga MX Apertura final and 2022 Concacaf Champions League final under his tenure.  “The National University Club informs that it terminates the employment relationship, in common agreement, with Professor Andrés Lillini as technical director of the Pumas first team. Our institution appreciates the work carried out byRead More →

[ad_1] Graham Potter has spoken ahead of his second Champions League game in charge of Chelsea against AC Milan on Wednesday night. His first game in charge of the club also happened to be his debut in the competition as the Blues drew 0-0 with Red Bull Salzburg, meaning they head into Wednesday’s clash with Milan rooted to the bottom of group E with just one point to their name. Here are the highlights from the press conference. “Eddie has trained with the team for the last few days so is making progress. So he will be in the squad which is great news forRead More →

[ad_1] Real Madrid will look to increase their lead in Group F when they host Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Wednesday. Los Blancos are two-for-two in Europe this season but they’re up against an unbeaten Shakhtar side who sit second in the group after victory over RB Leipzig and a draw with Celtic. While Real have more of the happy memories from past meetings between these two sides, fans will have a hard time forgetting their clashes at this stage of the competition in 2020/21, which yielded back-to-back wins for Shakhtar. Here’s all you need to know about this one. Goalkeeper Thibaut CourtoisRead More →

[ad_1] Juventus return to European action on Wednesday night when they host Maccabi Haifa in the Champions League group stages. The Old Lady are still looking for their first points of the group stage campaign having lost each of their opening two fixtures, but got back to winning ways over the weekend with a convincing 3-0 victory over Bologna in Serie A. Maccabi sit bottom of Group H on goal difference having also lost their opening two games, meaning the points up for grabs on Wednesday are absolutely vital if someone can come away with all three. Here’s all you need to know about theRead More →