Nicollin wary of Hazard

Matias Almeyda will step down as coach of River Plate after Sunday s Primera Division game against Lanus.

The 38-year-old oversaw the club s immediate return to the Argentine top flight after their relegation in 2011, but their current league position of ninth with two rounds left has apparently forced the club s management to act and show their trainer the door.

My time as a River Plate manager is over, Almeyda said at a press conference on Thursday.

I ve left
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a big part of me in this club during the last few months. I m spent.

I m not going to throw a smoke bomb by saying bad things about anybody. I m not one of those people who sets fire to the place before leaving.

River Plate are bigger than any of us and from now on, I ll be…

Advantage Bayern Munich. Super Mario Gomez strikes late to secure another memorable victory for the Bavarians. Real Madrid extends their poor form in German soil having won only once in 23 matches. Further, Bayern has extended their home wins against Los Blancos to nine games in 10 outings, having drawn the other one.
However, Madrid can take solace from the fact that they have got the most important away goal, and in this format, it can be vital as Jose Mourinho’s men will start as favourite at the Santiago Bernabeu. Here are my five observations from the match.

Disorganized structure

Real Madrid suffered intense pressure from the home side in the first half due to their disorganized set up in formation. They started with four front men – Ronaldo, Benzema, Ozil a…

Tottenham Hotspur are determined to get Harry Kane to sign a new contract with the club, according to The Athletic. Apparently, a sale this summer is not considered at all, despite interest from elsewhere and the reported willingness of Manchester United to make the England captain the most expensive player from the country ever.

It s a somewhat risky business by Spurs, providing they truly mean to refuse all offers this summer even if Kane doesn t sign a new deal between now and the end of the season, with the prospect of losing their record goalscorer without compensation in 2024 appearing on the horizon.

Be that as it may, the negotiations between Spurs and Kane are ongoing at the moment. No concrete offer has been defined, but things appear to be heading towards it.…

Portugal boss Fernando Santos insisted his side have many things to improve despite securing a 4-0 win over Israel in their final pre-Euros warm-up game.

Bruno Fernandes got on the scoresheet either side of Cristiano Ronaldo and Joao Cancelo strikes as the defending champions prepared for this summer s tournament with an emphatic win.

But, speaking after full-time, Santos shared concerns over elements of the performance, including a lull during the first half.

“The first part, not being extraordinary, was good, he told RTP.

We did very well in the first 20 minutes, with great intensity in the various moments of play, circulating the ball well and looking for the flanks. 

Then we had a quarter of an hour with less [urgency], but we accelerated…

John Stones believes the fight to earn a place in Pep Guardiola s starting line-up will ensure there is no let-up from Manchester City s players this season.

City eased to a comfortable 2-0 win over Fulham on Saturday to give Guardiola victory in his 250th game in charge of the club and his 700th in management.

Raheem Sterling s goal and a Kevin De Bruyne penalty secured the points as City recorded back-to-back victories in the Premier League for the first time this season.

After a slow start to the campaign City have looked more like their old selves of late and have scored as many goals in their last two league games (seven) as they had in the previous seven.

16 Manchester City are unbeaten in their last 16 meetings with Fulham in all competitions (W…

Iker Casillas has rubbished reports he is set to leave Porto and become the latest high-profile name to move to the United States.

The former Real Madrid goalkeeper had been linked with a move from Europe, with Miami named as a possible destination.

Casillas has established himself as first choice in the league for Porto after leaving Madrid at the end of the 2014-15 campaign, but the 34-year-old was unable to help them claim the Primeira Liga title.

Speculation had suggested he could follow the likes of Andrea Pirlo, David Villa and Steven Gerrard to the US, but he is keen to remain with Porto.

I m not going to Miami, he is reported as saying by AS. I m very happy here, everyone has really welcomed me.

Obviously I would have liked to have pla…

Christian Gourcuff is set to be named as the man to take charge of Ligue 1 outfit Rennes next season, according to club president Rene Ruello.

Ruello said the former Algeria coach, who has previously managed Rennes, had not yet agreed terms but that both parties were keen on a deal.

Christian Gourcuff will be the Rennes coach, Ruello told French regional newspaper Ouest-France.

We have not talked about the conditions; they are not of interest, but the sporting project of Rennes.

Rennes sit in seventh in Ligue 1 with one game still to play and Gourcuff would arrive with a fine standing in the French game, having spent 25 years as coach of Lorient across three different spells between 1982 and 2014.

Gourcuff coached Rennes in the 2001-02 season…

It has been revealed here that the Manchester UnitedÂ’s winger Cristiano Ronaldo will more than likely be ready for action by the end of September and not later that was previously expected.

Since his ankle surgery in July he has made quick progress and his rehabilitation has gone without any incident. That, according to Ronaldo, is in despite the rumours that he had suffered a setback and will only be ready by November.

The twenty three year old Portuguese winger added in an interview with News Of The World that he was also in very good mental and physical condition and that, at this stage, would be in the line up to face Bolton Wanderers in four weeks time on 27 September 2008.

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Erik ten Hag ruled out rotating his Manchester United squad for their Europa League second leg at Real Betis despite a testing schedule.

United head away to their LaLiga opponents on Thursday with a 4-1 advantage at the halfway point in their last-16 tie.

With a comfortable three-goal cushion and an FA Cup quarter-final with Fulham to come on Sunday, there had been suggestions Ten Hag would alter his XI.

But the Dutchman said he would name what he considers his strongest team for the clash, intending to treat the match with the respect he believes it deserves.

It is always serious, he said. We will play our best team. We have to put up a team that can adapt during the game.

We know our opponent can, as they have really good players. We have to b…

Bayern Munich will travel to Bayer Leverkusen in the semi-finals of the DFB-Pokal, with last season s finalists Eintracht Frankfurt visiting Schalke.

A 2-1 win over Schalke on Saturday means a sixth consecutive Bundesliga title looks to be something of a formality for Bayern, who thumped Paderborn 6-0 in midweek to secure the showdown with Leverkusen.

Julian Brandt s double brought Leverkusen back from 2-0 down at home to Werder Bremen, who they then beat 4-2 in extra time thanks to goals from Karim Bellarabi and Kai Havertz.

Eintracht lost 2-1 to Borussia Dortmund in the final last season and eased past Mainz 3-0 in the quarter-finals, while Schalke were able to punctuate back-to-back Bundesliga losses by beating Wolfsburg 1-0.

And there you have it!

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