Atletico Madrid star Diego expects a hostile reception when his team visit Hannover in their Europa League quarter-final second leg on Thursday.
The Brazilian played for Hannover s rivals Werder Bremen between 2006 and 2009 and scored 38 goals in 84 league appearances for the Bundesliga outfit.
Although he knows he is likely to be the target of jeers from the Hannover supporters, Diego said he will be focused on the game.
I never worry about that, I am used to it, Diego told AS.
This is not the first nor the last time I will go through this. I respect Hannover, the players and the fans, but when the game starts, I will give everything for my team to win.
Diego Simeone s side go to Germany with a slender 2-1 lead from the first leg, but face a …
John O’Shea could remain interim Republic of Ireland manager after the Football Association of Ireland revealed Stephen Kenny’s permanent successor may not be in place until September.
The 42-year-old former Manchester United and Ireland defender took charge of March’s friendlies against Belgium and Switzerland as officials continued their search for a replacement for Kenny, who lost his job in November.
However, director of football Marc Canham, who said last month the new manager would be announced “in early April”, confirmed on Friday the recruitment process was ongoing and could be for some time yet.
FAI Director of Football Marc Canham issues an update on the MNT Head Coach position
— Ireland Football (@IrelandFootball)
Canham t…
Frank Lampard could revive the Chelsea careers of Michy Batshuayi and Danny Drinkwater after pledging to take an open mind into pre-season.
New boss Lampard oversaw his first training session in Dublin on Friday ahead of friendly dates with Bohemians and St Patrick s Athletic.
Belgium striker Batshuayi and midfielder Drinkwater formed part of the travelling party and have been told they will get the opportunity to build a future at Stamford Bridge after failing to win favour with previous coaches.
Drinkwater did not play a minute under Maurizio Sarri last term save for a cameo in the Community Shield, while 25-year-old Batshuayi has made four Premier League starts since arriving at the club from Marseille in 2016.
Everybody who joins up, and it will be s…
New Swansea City head coach Paul Clement came down to the touchline to offer moral support in Tuesday s crucial 2-1 victory at Crystal Palace, says Alan Curtis.
Clement, who signed a two-and-a-half year deal to replace Bob Bradley at the Liberty Stadium, was supposed to take a watching brief at Selhurst Park but came to the dugout in each half.
The former Derby County boss watched on as his side claimed a dramatic three points with unlikely goalscorer Angel Rangel netting his first league goal since May 2013 in the 88th minute after Wilfried Zaha s sensational acrobatic strike had cancelled out Alfie Mawson s first-half opener.
And Curtis, who was in temporary charge, had no qualms with Clement s presence as Swansea moved off the foot of the table to close within…
According to , AS Roma wanted to sign Bernard from Everton on summer transfer deadline day. It has been reported that the Premier League club received interest from the Italian outfit on Monday.
The report has added that Everton made it clear to the winger that they did not want him to leave. The Toffees consider the 28-year-old Brazil international an important and valued member of the squad under manager Carlo Ancelotti.
Bernard joined Everton in the summer of 2018 when Marco Silva was in charge of the Toffees. According to , the winger made 25 starts and nine substitute appearances in the Premier League for the Merseyside club during the 2018-19 campaign, scoring one goal and providing three assists in the process.
During the 2019-20 campaign, the Brazil inte…
Harry Kane believes Tottenham can go all the way this season and win the Premier League after strengthening their squad during the transfer window.
Champions League runners-up Spurs opened their Premier League campaign with a 3-1 win over newly promoted Aston Villa at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.
Tottenham, who were fourth last season, have gone close to conquering the Premier League under Mauricio Pochettino – a runners-up finish in 2016-17 sandwiched between third in 2016 and 2018.
Spurs, however, have bolstered their squad after two consecutive windows without a signing – club-record recruit Tanguy Ndombele, who scored against Villa, Giovani Lo Celso and Ryan Sessegnon headlining the arrivals.
And Spurs star Kane is confident Tottenha…
This week sees the end of the group stages for this season s Champions League with honour, ambition and, yes, prize money on the line.
Two Spanish giants are being made to sweat on matchday six as Atletico Madrid need a win and a favour to stay in the competition, while Barcelona quite probably need to beat Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena to avoid dropping into the Europa League.
Atalanta and Villarreal will battle it out for second place in Group F, while Real Madrid and Inter face off at the Santiago Bernabeu to determine who will win Group D.
Group G will perhaps be the most dramatic, with all four participants in with a chance of finishing first or second, but what exactly does each team need from their final group game? Stats Perform has the answers f…
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Domestic football has been put on pause for a few weeks in favour of the return of the international break the first one of the new campaign. In the wake of the Euros and Copa America, as well as the Olympics, many would expect this to be a fairly inconsequential few weeks. Alas, the pandemic has ensured we have to speed up the process on the road to Qatar with Ukraine and France being two of the many European nations attempting to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Ukraine
Ukraine have a few star players within their ranks who are capable of producing moments of magic, but when you combine that with a squad that has an awful lot of heart and team spirit, it starts to get really interesting. They would…
Carlo Ancelotti defended his decision to substitute Toni Kroos during Real Madrid s 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich.
The two European heavyweights shared the spoils in a thrilling Champions League semi-final first leg at the Allianz Arena, where Vinicius Junior s late penalty levelled the tie.
Vinicius had opened the scoring in the 24th minute after latching onto Kroos delicious throughball, one of a game-high 15 line-breaking passes the Germany midfielder played during the first half.
The 34-year-old was replaced by Brahim Diaz for the final 14 minutes of the contest, which Bayern had turned around thanks to second-half strikes from Leroy Sane and Harry Kane.
But Ancelotti, who knows the support of Madrid s fans will be crucial when he welcomes his former cl…
Didier Deschamps recalled Raphael Varane to his starting XI for France s World Cup clash with Denmark.
Varane, who has not played since he was forced off with an injury in Manchester United s Premier League game with Chelsea on October 22, was one of three changes made to the France team for Saturday s game in Doha.
Deschamps confirmed on Friday that Varane had been fit to feature in the opening game, and had trained without any issues prior to France s second match of the tournament. The former Real Madrid centre-back replaced Ibrahima Konate in France s XI.
Les Bleus head into the match at Stadium 974 knowing that victory would ensure their progression to the last 16.
The holders thrashed Australia 4-1 in their opening Group D game, though suffered anot…