..::Football III::..

[Wolverine GTR]

Athletic Bilbao 0-1 Barcelona: Luis Suarez seals the points in Liga opener

An exquisite Luis Suarez volley sealed a hard-fought 1-0 win for champions Barcelona at Athletic Bilbao in their Liga opener as Luis Enrique's men gained a measure of revenge for their 5-1 aggregate loss in the Supercopa de Espana.

Despite Athletic's stubborn defending in the third encounter between the sides this month, Barca took the lead early in the second half through Suarez's venomous strike.

A combative but lacklustre first half was punctuated by Lionel Messi's penalty miss just after the half-hour mark, the spot-kick having been awarded in dubious fashion after Suarez took a tumble in the area.

Defending champions Barca grew into the game in the second half, controlling much of proceedings after taking the lead, though their bad luck with injuries continued as Sergio Busquets had to be carried off on a stretcher and Dani Alves was also substituted with a knock. Athletic struggled to pose a threat as the match wore on, with Messi almost adding a second in the closing stages.

The contest got off to a sluggish start as depleted Barca, shorn of key players Neymar and Gerard Pique, struggled to penetrate Athletic's well-organised defence.Barca's injury woes increased inside of 20 minutes, with Alves having to be replaced by Sergi Roberto after picking up an apparent ankle problem.

Aritz Aduriz – who bagged a hat-trick in the first leg of the Supercopa de Espana – did go close for the hosts soon after, flicking a header just wide of the upright from Benat's free-kick.

But it was Barca who were given a glorious opportunity to take the lead when Suarez was clipped in the box by Gorka Elustondo, although the decision to award a penalty did seem harsh.

However, Messi's tame spot-kick, aimed towards the bottom-left corner, was easily parried away by Gorka Iraizoz, who was in action again moments later to prevent Suarez's cross-come-shot finding the net before Rafinha fired the rebound wide.

Messi was given a chance to make amends before half-time as Barca were awarded two free-kicks in quick succession, but both the Argentine's efforts were blocked by the wall.

Barca came out strong after the interval and finally made their possession count in the 54th minute – Jordi Alba latching onto an incisive pass from deep before picking out Suarez, who volleyed in with aplomb from six yards.Luis Enrique's side suddenly looked more like their usual selves and went close to adding a second when Roberto rattled the crossbar with a fierce effort from the edge of the box.

Ernesto Valverde soon introduced winger Ibai Gomez in the aim of testing the out-of-position Roberto, while Luis Enrique was forced into another substitution as Busquets went down after a collision with Aduriz.Iraizoz had to prevent Messi netting after a fantastic run from the Argentine, but the one goal proved to be enough for Barca.

 

[rcccc]

Ingolstadt 0-4 Borussia Dortmund: Reus leads rout to maintain perfect record

 

[rcccc]

Athletic Bilbao 0-1 Barcelona: Luis Suarez seals the points in Liga opener

.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Sporting Gijon 0-0 Real Madrid: Benitez starts with disappointing draw

Rafael Benitez endured a difficult Real Madrid debut as his new-look side were held 0-0 by La Liga newcomers Sporting Gijon at El Molinon.

The former Napoli boss has the task of building on Carlo Ancelotti's successful tenure at the Santiago Bernabeu, but the Spaniard has work to do based on this showing as his revamped forward line failed to break down an organised Sporting side.

In the absence of the injured Karim Benzema, Jese started up front in a 4-2-3-1 system – ahead of Gareth Bale, Isco and Cristiano Ronaldo.And while Real dominated first-half possession, it was Sporting who went closest to the opener when Antonio Sanabria saw a header rattle the crossbar 10 minutes before the break.

The Paraguay forward seemed to think the ball crossed the line after rebounding down, while Carlos Carmona headed a glorious chance wide early in the second half.

Benitez brought James Rodriguez on prior to the hour, but Real continued to dominate without reward, Abelardo Fernandez's plucky side standing firm.New signing Mateo Kovacic showed glimpses of his quality after replacing Isco with 20 minutes left, but there remains plenty for Benitez to ponder, notably his strangely out-of-sorts attacking unit.

Madrid began the Benitez era on the front foot, Ronaldo's deep cross almost finding Jese at the far post before Bale enjoyed the visitors' first opening.Following a delightful pass from Luka Modric, Bale rounded Pichu Cuellar, but could only find the side-netting from a difficult angle.

Sporting gradually grew into the game on their return to the top flight, but were threatened again when Jese fired across goal, with Isco's rasping drive dipping narrowly over the crossbar four minutes before the half-hour mark.

Real's re-jigged front line were kept at bay, however, and while Ronaldo's long-range strike needed tipping wide by Cuellar, Sanabria came within inches of opening the scoring when his header struck the bar.

A rejected penalty appeal for a coming together involving Ronaldo and Sergio Alvarez added to the visitors' frustrations and Carmona almost made things worse when he headed wide from inside the area early in the second half.

Jese made way for Rodriguez before the hour and with Ronaldo up top, Madrid continued to press, with Bale going close with a free-kick and Ronaldo inexplicably missing from close range with a header.

Kovacic was introduced as Sporting began to retreat deeper. Later, Marcelo headed over after Ronaldo's shot was parried.

Cuellar palmed a fierce Ronaldo drive away from danger with seven minutes remaining, while Modric also went close, but there was to be no late winner as Madrid's league campaign got off to an inauspicious start.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Mourinho decides against Terry red card appeal: It would be a waste of time

Jose Mourinho disagreed with the decision to dismiss John Terry in Chelsea's 3-2 Premier League win at West Brom, but reckons an appeal would be a "waste of time".

Terry was sent off by Mark Clattenburg in the second half following a foul on Salomon Rondon as the champions hung on for their first victory of the season.

Mourinho's past experience with appealing red cards leads him to believe there would not be a favourable outcome if they should try to overturn Terry's dismissal.

"Normally it's a waste of time for us," he told reporters.

"I think we should [appeal], but normally it's a waste of time. [Nemanja] Matic against Burnley last year was a waste of time. Thiago Silva against Liverpool was a waste of time. [Thibaut] Courtois."

Courtois was sent off in the 2-2 home draw against Swansea City and Mourinho revealed he had prepared his side to play with 10 men.

He added: "I have to do what's in my hands, which is to train 10 against 11. We did already a couple of times in Canada, we have to do more.

"We have to know what to do with 10 men when you are winning, 10 men when you are losing, 10 men when you're chasing a result, 10 men when you're defending a result and the difference between today and Swansea was exactly that.

"Against Swansea you have 10 but you want to change the result and today you have 10 and you want to keep a result."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Allegri: Juventus did not deserve to lose

Massimiliano Allegri was positive about Juventus' display in their first Serie A game of the season, despite losing 1-0 to Udinese.

The Bianconeri's title defence got off to a poor start as they went down to a Cyril Thereau goal after 78 minutes.

Allegri, though, was happy with his side's performance and feels they should have got something out of it.

"For 70 minutes we did what we had to do, all we missed was the goal," he said. "Playing against Udinese was not easy, we created chances in both the first and second half, but we had to defend better at the goal.

"We did not deserve this defeat, but football is like that. We had many chances but in the end we lost.

"We must remember that we are still in the beginning of the season and many of our players have just arrived.

"The team worked hard and created chances. Udinese scored with their first shot on goal, we must have the confidence to score a goal at any time and we must not lose patience.

"The aim is for us to challenge on three fronts. Of course having so many new players needs patience."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Fiorentina 2-0 AC Milan: Alonso and Ilicic down Mihajlovic's men

Josip Ilicic was in spectacular form as Paulo Sousa's Fiorentina beat 10-man AC Milan 2-0 at the Stadio Artemio Franchi to get off to a winning start in Serie A.

The Slovenia midfielder was the heart of some fantastic free-flowing moves and was rewarded for his efforts when he put the hosts further ahead from the penalty spot following Marcos Alonso's superb opener before half-time.

Fiorentina were terrific in the first half, and, after Ilicic went close and new signing Nikola Kalinic squandered a gilt-edged chance, Sousa's men were boosted by the sending off of Milan defender Rodrigo Ely on his Serie A debut.And Fiorentina wasted no time in making the most of their numerical advantage, with Alonso sending a curling strike into the net from the resulting free-kick.

The defeat highlights the size of the job ahead of new Milan coach Sinisa Mihajlovic, who succeeded Filippo Inzaghi at San Siro, while Sousa replaced Vincenzo Montella in a close-season of managerial change for both clubs.

The hosts started brightly as Ilicic almost caught Diego Lopez off guard with a long-range effort that forced the Milan goalkeeper into an instinctive stop.

Mihajlovic has spent big money to add 20-year-old Alessio Romagnoli to his defence, choosing to pair him with Ely, who has spent the last three seasons out on loan, in a youthful partnership.

But the duo were hapless as the increasingly influential Ilicic played through debutant Kalinic, only for the former Blackburn striker to fire a tame shot straight at Lopez.Milan almost took the lead against the run of play when Giacomo Bonaventura latched onto a cross at the back post, only to skew his header wide.

Fiorentina continued to flood forward, though, and Ely's milestone appearance came to a nightmare end after 36 minutes when he received his second yellow after bringing down Kalinic.Milan's misery was compounded moments later, as Real Madrid academy graduate Alonso stepping up to dispatch the free-kick into the top-left corner.

After a promising start to the second half for the visitors, Milan's defence was penetrated again as Federico Bernardeschi found Ilicic, who forced Lopez into another fantastic stop.

Ilicic was not to be denied a goal, however, and, after being taken down by Romagnoli following a surge into the Milan area, he calmly drilled the penalty low into the right corner.

Carlos Bacca, starved of service throughout his Serie A bow, should have directed a free header on target with 15 minutes remaining, but that was all that Milan could muster as Fiorentina eased to a comfortable victory.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Inter 1-0 Atalanta: Jovetic wins it late against 10-man visitors

Stevan Jovetic made an instant impact on his Inter debut as he spared Roberto Mancini's blushes with a stunning 94th-minute winner to secure a 1-0 victory over 10-man Atalanta.

The Montenegro star arrived from Manchester City for €12 million during the pre-season and, although he did not start at San Siro, the former Fiorentina forward marked his return to Serie A in style, clipping in a delightful finish to rescue a wasteful Inter at the death.

Despite their dominance, Inter had great difficulty turning their surperiority into chances during the first half, with Alejandro Gomez's early chance no doubt worrying Mancini.

An innocuous-looking injury to Mauro Icardi gave the Inter coach even more cause for concern, but his 15th-minute replacement Jovetic ultimately ended up saving the day.

Geoffrey Kondogbia, one of the new signings to start, was one of few Inter players to really catch the eye, before Carlos Carmona's dismissal for two yellow cards gave the hosts extra motivation.

Atalanta goalkeeper Marco Sportiello appeared to have kept Inter at bay and Rodrigo Palacio struck the post late on, but Jovetic popped up in stoppage time to give Mancini a winning – if slightly unimpressive – start to the season.

The first casualty of Mancini's big-spending close-season was club captain Andrea Ranocchia who had to be content with a place on the bench, as new recruits Jeison Murillo and Miranda occupied the two centre-back berths.

Despite the presence of the two talented defenders, Atalanta should have taken the lead within three minutes, but Gomez blazed over following Jasmin Kurtic's lay-off after Assane Gnoukouri was caught out in midfield.Jovetic was handed his debut after quarter of an hour in as Icardi failed to shake off a pre-match knock.

That change did little to increase the craft in the hosts' frontline, however, as Atalanta's disciplined defence initially showed no sign of being penetrated.

And when Inter did eventually create an opening through Palacio's powerful low cross in the 40th minute, Marten de Roon crucially diverted the ball over his own crossbar to deny Marcelo Brozovic a certain goal.Inter ended the half well on top, though a routine Sportiello stop thwarted Kondogbia just before the break.

Seemingly disenchanted by his side's lack of creativity in the first period, Mancini threw Hernanes on for Gnoukouri at half-time.But it was the lively Kondogbia who looked most likely to inspire Inter, as the midfielder forced Sportiello into action with a stinging long-range effort soon after the interval.

The home side continued to see more of the ball, but it was not until Carmona's 71st-minute red card for a second booking that Atalanta really began to feel the pressure.

Mancini desperately urged his men forward during the closing stages and Palacio struck the upright with a clever flick-on in the 90th minute
But ultimately Atalanta could not hold on, as Jovetic proved his class by curling in a fine finish from 18 yards, sparking scenes of elation on the Inter bench.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Martinez upbeat over new Everton signings but coy on Stones

Roberto Martinez revealed that Everton are closing in on "a couple" of new players after Funes Mori was at Sunday's defeat to Manchester City, but offered no update on the future of John Stones.

The River Plate defender watched on at Goodison Park as City equalled their club record of nine consecutive top flight wins with an impressive 2-0 victory thanks to goals from Aleksandar Kolarov and Samir Nasri.

Centre-back Mori has reportedly undergone a medical ahead of a £5.5 million switch to Merseyside, but Everton manager Martinez said the proposed deal is yet to be finalised.

"It's not done. He's here, we have to meet over the next 24 hours and see if we can conclude a deal with his club. I expect a couple of signings in the next few days," said the Spaniard.

Stones continues to be linked with a big-money move before the transfer window closes on September 1, with Chelsea making no secret of their desire to sign the England centre-half.

Martinez was coy over whether the 21-year-old, who played the full 90 minutes against City, has handed in a transfer request and stated that there is nothing new to report over the in-demand former Barnsley man.

He told Sky Sports: "There's nothing for me to comment on, we're just concentrating on the game and making sure we have the strongest squad we can at end of the transfer window."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Ramos: If it's not a win, it's not good

Sergio Ramos was disappointed with Real Madrid's 0-0 draw with Sporting Gijon on Sunday, insisting that anything other than a win is not good enough by his side's standards.

Madrid hit a total of 27 shots in Rafael Benitez's first league game in charge but failed to break the deadlock against the newly promoted hosts.

And Ramos was not happy with taking just a single point from the clash, insisting Los Blancos should have made the difference in the second half.

"It's not a matter of taking many conclusions yet. It is clear that the first half was not good enough, but in the second half we showed more initiative," he told Canal+.

"We wish we won three points. Everything that is not a win is not good."

Coach Benitez echoed his captain's belief that Madrid should have won the game, but admits his side are low on confidence.

"In the second half we could have won the game," he told reporters. "We were lacking confidence.

"We had many shots on goal, but we were not accurate enough.

"Sporting played very well, they were very tidy. They are players who have played together for a long time. It was not easy.

"Last year the team didn't win at the start of the season. We have just started, I'm optimistic. Now we will continue to adjust things and get physically better."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

'They refused to sell us Suarez' - Wenger has no sympathy for Liverpool over Sterling

Arsene Wenger has no sympathy for Liverpool over Raheem Sterling's exit because the club refused to sell Luis Suarez to Arsenal in 2013.

The winger became the most expensive Englishman ever when Manchester City paid £49 million for him earlier in August, completing a much-desired exit from Anfield after refusing to sign a new contract.

Arsenal famously bid £40,000,001 in an attempt to trigger a release clause in Suarez's contract, only for Liverpool to stand firm and hold on to the player - and Wenger has not forgotten.

"Liverpool is in a position they can make their own decisions," he told reporters. "They refused to sell us Suarez, so I cannot feel too much sympathy for them.

"I personally rate Raheem Sterling. We will see that in the longer term. I personally don't think that Sterling was making a lot of drama. It's just during the transfer window that that happened.

"During the season, the boy was quiet - never made any stupid statement. I don't think he made too much noise. He's a quality player. They bought Firmino. We will see what he will produce. He is a similar player.

"But let's remember, two years ago with Suarez, Sturridge, Sterling, they scored over a hundred goals. To score more than a hundred goals in the Premier League, you need special quality, and Sterling was part of that."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Mancini hails Inter after 'wonderful' win

Inter coach Roberto Mancini is adamant that his side fully deserved their desperately late 1-0 win over Atalanta on Sunday, declaring it a "wonderful" Serie A season opener.

An eighth-place finish last season ushered in a pre-season of upheaval, with the squad undergoing a significant overhaul in an attempt to make the club a force once again.

Inter dominated Sunday's clash from start to finish, though they initially struggled to make the most of their superiority.

A 71st-minute sending off for Carlos Carmona gave Inter the advantage they needed and Stevan Jovetic curled in a delightful winner right at the end on his debut, leaving Mancini delighted despite his team's wastefulness.

"I celebrated because I was very happy for the players," he told Sky Sport Italia.

"They gave their all until the end, played well and did not deserve to have to settle for a draw.

"Plus, Stevan scored on his debut, so it was all wonderful.

"I expected it to be tough, as Serie A is always extremely difficult at the beginning and Atalanta defended very well.

"Despite us having about 20 shots on target, we had to wait until the very end to score."

Geoffrey Kondogbia was another to make his club debut on the day and impressed in midfield, and Mancini only expects him to go from strength to strength.

"He is a very young player and he struggled at first because he was unaccustomed to the heavy workload in pre-season training that we do in Italy," he added.

"He was therefore a little heavy for a while, but over the last few days he's getting stronger.

"I don't want too much pressure put on him, as he too needs time to adapt."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Barclays Premier League 2015.08.24 Fixture

Barclays Premier League 2015.08.24 Fixture

Arsenal Vs Liverpool

​

 

[Wolverine GTR]

La Liga 2015.08.24 Fixture

La Liga 2015.08.24 Fixture

Granada Vs Eibar​

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Summer Transfer Window last week 1katath awa ahenam

De Bruyne to City
Benzema to Arsenal
Bale or Neymar to Manchester United?(Highly Unlikely)​

 

[rcccc]

Summer Transfer Window last week 1katath awa ahenam

De Bruyne to City
Benzema to Arsenal
Bale or Neymar to Manchester United?(Highly Unlikely)​

Benzema to Arsenal
Neymar to Manchester United
Bale to Manchester United

 

[rcccc]

Barclays Premier League 2015.08.24 Fixture

Arsenal Vs Liverpool

​

 

[Wolverine GTR]

The real Dortmund are back, says Schmelzer

Borussia Dortmund left-back Marcel Schmelzer has claimed the team are back to their best as they continued their impressive start to the season with a 4-0 win at Ingolstadt on Sunday.

The Ruhr outfit finished down in seventh in the Bundesliga last term but have raced top of the table this campaign with consecutive 4-0 wins under Thomas Tuchel, who has made the best start of any Dortmund coach in the league to date.

Schmelzer pointed out their progress under Tuchel and urged team-mates to keep up their recent levels of performance to stay above Bayern Munich in the standings.

"We don’t want to give away any points therefore it was really important that we played such focused football today," the defender told reporters after the match. "I think this is very important.

"We have done really well. The true Dortmund is like how we played in Ingolstadt, last week against Borussia Monchengladbach and in the second half of the game against [Europa League qualifying opponents] Odd.

"We played a good game for the full 90 minutes against Ingolstadt. In the first half we let a lot of good chances get away which was something that bothered us during half time."After the break we completely sorted ourselves out. On the whole it was a really strong game from us."

Fellow full-back Matthias Ginter opened the scoring with his low drive, although the youngster is keen to avoid making judgements based on the Bundesliga table just yet.

"We showed from the very beginning that we desperately wanted to win," Ginter, 21, said. "Apart from one effort in the second half, Ingolstadt didn’t stand a chance."It feels great that we have won twice in the Bundesliga this season, but topping the table after only two matches isn’t especially conclusive."

Tuchel nevertheless is keen for the side to remain at the summit and lauded Shinji Kagawa after the playmaker opened his league account."The table looks very nice, I’m happy for it to stay that way," he said. "I’m delighted for Kagawa as he really deserved it.

"He worked incredibly hard in the second half, created a lot and set the tone time and time again."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Kane: Goals will come for me

Tottenham striker Harry Kane is confident that he can overcome his goalless run and help turn around his side's slow start to the season.

The 22-year-old is without a goal in three Premier League games this season and has just two in his last 11.

Spurs have struggled with the England international, who scored 21 times in the league in 2014-15 to be second to only Sergio Aguero, battling to find the net but Kane insists that the goals will come once more as Mauricio Pochettino's men look to end their three-game winless league run when they host Everton on Saturday.

"I'm not worried about the goals. I know I've got goals in me," he told reporters after Saturday's 1-1 draw at Leicester City.

"If others are scoring, it doesn't matter as long as we're getting results - but that's what we've got to start doing.

"We finally got the breakthrough and then conceded straight after which was criminal. That isn't good enough."

After losing their Premier League opener at Manchester United, Tottenham have been held by Stoke City and Leicester but, as with his lack of goals, Kane is unworried.

"It's not the ideal start to the season but we've been playing well. We're not too concerned; there's a long way to go," he continued.

"We're still working on things. If we can get that win, we'll push on."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

I'm already under pressure, admits Bilic

West Ham manager Slaven Bilic concedes that the heat is already on to deliver results following an indifferent start to the 2015-16 season.

The Hammers opened their Premier League campaign with a stunning victory at Arsenal but have since lost consecutive matches following Saturday's 4-3 home defea by newly promoted Bournemouth on Saturday.

The Croatian boss, who replaced Sam Allardyce on a three-year deal this summer, is aware that he must address West Ham's form, having already seen the club bow out of the Europa League in the third qualifying round.

"I am under pressure," Bilic told the press. "That comes with the territory and that is why I have to turn it around.

"We were again second-best [against Bournemouth] and I don't like this situation. Playing like this, we can't expect to win many games.

Asked about boos from supporters, the 46-year-old replied: "I can't blame the fans. They are behind us, to be fair, in the first half and the second half but what do you expect if we are two down against a team?

"Okay, they are a good team who got promoted and, to be fair, it could have been worse at 2-0 down. The reactions from the fans were normal. The expectations are high anywhere you go."