Tottenham s impressive start to their UEFA Europa League campaign continued with a 2-0 victory over Anzhi Makhachkala on Thursday.
First-half goals from Jermain Defoe and Nacer Chadli saw the visitors take all three points in Moscow to increase their advantage at the top of Group K to four points.
Andre Villas-Boas, who won the competition with Porto in 2011, has seen his side win both of their group games without conceding a goal.
Sevilla and Rubin Kazan were two other sides who made it two victories from two matches, with the Russian Premier League side hammering Zulte-Waregem 4-0 at home.
The Liga team, meanwhile, relied on a penalty from Diego Perotti and Carlos Bacca s injury-time strike to beat 10-man Freiburg 2-0, with Fallou Diagne seeing red for the visi…
AC Milan have announced that midfielder Riccardo Montolivo damaged a cruciate ligament in his knee in Italy s draw with Spain on Thursday.
The 31-year-old was carried off on a stretcher after half an hour of the 1-1 draw in Turin, having come off worse in a collision with Sergio Ramos, and was sent for tests to determine the damage.
Milan have now confirmed that he will require surgery, meaning he faces a long spell on the sidelines.
AC Milan announces that, during last night s match with the Italian national team, Riccardo Montolivo suffered an injury to his left knee anterior cruciate ligament, a club statement read.
Due to the extent of the injury, the player needs to undergo surgery.
Montolivo has been blighted by a succession of injury pr…
Verdict: Both teams to score
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Last two Premier League champions square off at Stamford Bridge in the opening fixture of Matchday 8, with both sides hoping to improve on the poor start to the new campaign. Given that the match comes just after the international break, it remains to be seen in what shape the two sets of players will be on match day.
Chelsea
The 2014/2015 Premier League winners had a nightmare season last term, and the club desperately needed a world-class manager to get them back on the right track. The reality is they couldn’t have chosen a much better candidate than Antonio Conte, although the Italian has yet to make this team his own. The former Juventus boss decided to discard his favourite 3-5-2 formation and mos…
Massimiliano Allegri told his Juventus players to internalise their frustration and focus on training harder after defeat to Benfica put their Champions League hopes in peril.
A 2-1 loss in Turin followed last week s defeat by the same scoreline at Paris Saint-Germain, leaving the Bianconeri six points behind both of their early conquerors after two rounds of Group H games.
Allegri, in the second season of his second spell as Juventus head coach, appeared to point to the mental fragility of his team after the final whistle, saying they collapsed after going 2-1 behind in the 55th minute.
He has said he does not fear for his job, nor is he willing to engage in drawn-out public discourse about how the Turin giants might get back on track.
It is simple, acc…
Robbie Keane gave Monday s transfer deadline day a late twist by completing a loan move from Tottenham to Celtic.
The 29-year-old Ireland captain, who had fallen behind Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe in the White Hart Lane pecking order, has moved north in search of first-team football after Spurs signed Eidur Gudjohnsen, a similar style of player, on loan from Monaco.
Spurs boss Harry Redknapp admitted: Robbie wants to play and I have Crouch, Defoe and (Roman) Pavlyuchenko and I signed Gudjohnsen so it will be difficult to guarantee him a starting place and he has to be playing regularly so I have decided to let him go on loan until the end of the season.
Spurs also released Alan Hutton on loan with the Scotland defender joining Sunderland until the end of the…
Lukas Podolski showed no sign of rustiness on Wednesday as he came off the bench to rescue a 2-2 draw for Germany against Australia in Kaiserslautern.
The Inter striker has not enjoyed the most prosperous of starts to life at San Siro, although Germany s general manager Oliver Bierhoff backed Podolski to continue to play a part for the national side this week.
And the Arsenal loanee once again showed his quality to steer home a cross from fellow substitute Andre Schurrle nine minutes from time.
Joachim Low started Holger Badstuber and Ilkay Gundogan following their lengthy injury lay-offs, but the world champions delivered a largely lacklustre performance, despite taking the lead after 17 minutes through Marco Reus.
James Troisi s header deserv…
Serie A champions Juventus have been the latest club to be added to the increasing list of suitors for the talented 21-year-old Porto starlet Otavio.
Alerted by his most recent formidable form, Premier League rivals Arsenal and Manchester City are believed to be closely monitoring Otavio over the last couple of weeks, but Portugal media outlet are now reporting that the Old Lady has joined in the race.
Attack-oriented Porto midfielder has been in impressive shape this season, but the potential buyers need to be aware that the Brazilian international is unlikely to be sold on the cheap.
Otavio has a whopping £53.3 million release clause in his contract with the Portugal giants, and given the fact that he still has five years left in his contract with Porto, his…
Ralf Rangnick would be interested in succeeding Joachim Low as Germany head coach.
The former RB Leipzig boss has been out of work since leaving as the Red Bull head of sport and development last year.
Low announced this week he will be stepping down from his role with the national team after the Euro 2020 finals, having been in charge for 15 years.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has already distanced himself from the job, while Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann, another popular choice, appears unlikely to move into the international scene at the age of 33.
Rangnick, however, would happily speak with the German Football Association (DFB) about the opportunity.
It s a job that matters to anybody. In general, I can imagine many things, he told Sky Spor…
Prediction: Barcelona to win 2-0
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Real Sociedad and Barcelona will face each other in La Liga this weekend. The game is slated to kick off at the Reale Arena at 8pm UK time on Sunday and promises to be an exciting game of football.
Real Sociedad
Real Sociedad stared the season strongly, with David Silva in superb form. La Real were leading the La Liga table at one stage, and it appeared that they could go all the way. However, things are pretty much back to normal for the club from San Sebastian, with the team now challenging only for the top four.
Sociedad are fifth in the La Liga table at the moment with 45 points from 27 matches, as many as 18 points behind leaders Atletico Madrid. Imanol Alguacil’s side will head i…
J.League table-toppers Sanfrecce Hiroshima will look to bounce back from their first defeat in seven matches when they host Jubilo Iwata on Saturday.
Sanfrecce – who are the defending champions and lead the league by one point – saw their six-match winning streak come to an end at Urawa Red Diamonds last week.
Hajime Moriyasu s side were outplayed in the 3-1 defeat and will be desperate to atone for their slip-up at the first opportunity.
With the third-placed Urawa just two points off the pace, and Omiya Ardija, who are fourth, a further point back, Sanfrecce can ill-afford another defeat.
They will be hopeful top scorer Hisato Sato – who has scored 13 goals in 19 league matches – can hit the back of the net against a poor Jubilo Iwata side who have won …