Manchester City director of football Txiki Begiristain hopes the club can reach the final four of the Champions League once more despite being handed a tough group assignment at Thursday s draw in Monaco.
Begiristain, coach Pep Guardiola and an ex-Barcelona contingent at City that now includes freshly signed goalkeeper Claudio Bravo will travel to Camp Nou on October 19 before a return match on November 1 in the middle of their Group C campaign.
City were knocked out in the last 16 by Barca in 2014 and 2015 before a more favourable route helped them to the semi-finals, where they were unable to get past eventual winners Real Madrid last time around.
Borussia Monchengladbach, who the Premier League side battled to a pair of victories against in last season s gro…
that Liverpool are set to make an improved offer for Southampton full-back Nathaniel Clyne.
The Merseyside club saw a £10m offer for the defender rejected by the Saints last month, and will now make a new bid as they look for a replacement for Glen Johnson, whose contract has not been renewed.
Clyne, who won his fifth senior England cap as Roy Hodgson’s side beat Slovenia 3-2 on Sunday evening, has been valued at around £20m despite having just one year remaining on his current deal.
Since arriving at St Mary’s Stadium from Crystal Palace in July 2012, the 24 year old has racked up over a hundred appearances for the south-coast club, scoring five goals.
Should he make the move, he would reunite with former Southampton trio Adam Lallana, Ricki…
Alvaro Morata must improve his condition to be ready for the new Premier League season, believes Chelsea boss Antonio Conte.
Club-record signing Morata made his first start for Chelsea in a 2-1 International Champions Cup defeat to Inter in Singapore on Saturday, with Stevan Jovetic and Ivan Perisic on target for the Serie A side before Geoffrey Kondogbia s comical own goal.
The striker, who joined from Real Madrid for a reported £70million fee, started on the left of a front three with Michy Batshuayi playing down the middle, but the Spain international struggled to make an impression.
And Conte accepted Morata has work to do on his fitness, with the Community Shield against Arsenal set to get Chelsea s campaign under way on August 6.
Morata is just s…
Ignacio Ambriz said Queretaro must be at their best if they are to get a result against Atlas on Tuesday.
Since losing back-to-back matches, Queretaro are unbeaten in three to sit sixth in the Liga MX standings from 10 outings, eight points adrift of league-leading America.
The 2008 champions produced another impressive result on Friday, drawing 1-1 at home to fourth-placed Toluca.
And Queretaro coach Ambriz will be hoping for more of the same at Atlas, who are third in the table, as they aim to reach the play-offs.
I have a great team, very well run, we are playing very attractive football and I hope that we get a good result, said the 49-year-old.
We will improve the offensive end. Hopefully we have a good game that allows us to add [to our po…
Pep Guardiola does not believe he will return to coach Bayern Munich after the Bundesliga champions celebrated thei
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r third straight league title under his leadership with a 3-1 victory over already-relegated Hannover.
Mario Gotze hit a brace and Robert Lewandowski struck his 30th league goal of the season to cement his status as the German top flight s leading scorer.
Guardiola will take charge of Bayern for the last time in next Saturday s DFB-Pokal final against Borussia Dortmund and the coach, who will take over at Manchester City next season, ruled out a return to Bavaria.
I don t think [I will be back], Guardiola said. Bayern need a new coach, to fight on another level.
Bullseye!
— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN)
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A return to Lyon for Paris Saint-Germain outcast Hatem Ben Arfa would be welcomed by the club, president Jean-Michel Aulas has said.
Former Nice forward Ben Arfa has struggled in his maiden season at Parc des Princes, having failed to cement a place in Unai Emery s starting XI, making just 23 Ligue 1 appearances.
Despite limited playing time, the 30-year-old who started his career at Lyon before leaving for Marseille in 2008 has still scored four goals and seven assists in all competitions.
I would love him to come back, Aulas, who attempted to sign Ben Arfa in the close-season, told beIN Sports. But this time, it s up to him to call me.
The offers that were made to Hatem [by PSG], were three to four times higher than what Lyon could do.
…
Substitute Gavin Whyte scored late on to earn 10-man Northern Ireland a 1-1 Nations League draw against Romania in Ian Baraclough s first game in charge.
Baraclough officially took over as head coach in June after Michael O Neill stepped aside and his tenure got off to a dramatic start at the National Arena on Friday.
George Puscas put Romania in front after 25 minutes and Josh Magennis was dismissed shortly before half-time to make the visitors task all the more difficult.
But a string of impressive saves from Bailey Peacock-Farrell kept Northern Ireland in the game and Whyte headed in four minutes from time to earn his side a point in their Group B1 opener.
It’s all over in Bucharest. Gavin Whyte’s later header secures a point in Ian Baraclough’s …
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Sheringham added: I think he’s shown glimpses of his potential since joining the club he’s shown some nice flashes, but now it’s about doing that consistently. When you’re a £50 million player, there’s more expectancy on your shoulders. Now is the time for him to kick on, but he’s definitely demonstrated that there’s a good player in there.
The challenge for him is to score more and create more goals. Improve on your numbers from last season (5 goals, 10 assists in 30 Premier League games). I also want to see him being more positive, taking on and beating players.
Off the ball, I’d like to see him mastering the art of that deceptive far post run, because if he can do that, he’ll start racking up the goals for Tottenham. Those little tap-ins can real…