..::Football III::..

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Dortmund slam Bayern over Reus talk

Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke has vented his fury at Bayern Munich for discussing the future of Marco Reus in public.

Bayern chief Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has commented on the winger's contract in particular in recent weeks and hinted that Bayern are taking their time about making a move for the Germany international earlier this month.

Subsequently, Rummenigge claimed that Reus will have a €25 million release clause should the club make a move in 2015, compared to the €35m clause he has this summer.

Dortmund have understandably reacted with annoyance that their star player is being repeatedly touted by the Bundesliga champions.

Bayern have poached Mario Gotze and Robert Lewandowski off them in the past two summers, and Watzke criticised the Bavarians for their transfer talk.

"Borussia Dortmund must note with a certain annoyance that Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is currently bad-mouthing BVB's internal affairs through the media in the three-day rhythm," the BVB chief said in a statement on the club's website.

"We are sure that, for every football fan, it is obvious what the intention is behind such statements.

"We assume that Karl-Heinz Rummenigge accepts that he is further damaging the already tense relationship between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich.

"We will continue as we always have, of course, by never giving out our views on contract details of our players publicly."

 

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Official: Lampard joins Manchester City on loan

Manchester City have confirmed that former Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard has joined the club on loan.

The 36-year-old ended a 13-year stay with the Stamford Bridge outfit in July after agreeing to join new MLS outfit New York City on a free transfer, but has now joined the Premier League champions until January.

Lampard is expected be registered for City's Premier League and Champions League squads as he looks to maintain fitness ahead of the MLS season in March 2015, and called the loan move a "fantastic opportunity".

"Joining up with Manchester City is a fantastic opportunity for me to continue to train and play at the top level and make sure I am in top condition for New York City," he told the club' official website.

"This is a new chapter of my career and I'm really excited about the experience. "I met Manuel and some of the players in New York and I'm looking forward to getting into training and making a contribution for Manchester City ahead of my move over to New York."
Lampard becomes City's fourth summer signing, after Willy Caballero, Fernando and Bacary Sagna, and manager Manuel Pellegrini is delighted to be able to call upon Chelsea's all-time record goalscorer.

Pellegrini said: "Frank is a world-class midfielder and this is an opportunity which works perfectly for everyone, the player, Manchester City, and New York City.

"I'm looking forward to working with him and integrating him into our squad. New York have made a fantastic signing by recruiting Frank, and I'm really pleased that we'll be able to have him with us for the first half of our season and help prepare him for his new challenge."

"This is the perfect opportunity for Frank," New York City FC sporting director, Claudio Reyna, added. "He is in great shape following the World Cup, and training and playing with our colleagues in Manchester will enable to Frank to be fit and ready for our inaugural training camp."

The likes of ex-Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti and Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger have queried the move, but Jose Mourinho has insisted Lampard can do whatever he wants following the expiry of his contract with the club.

 

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Good Luck Lampard!
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'Ibrahimovic wants Juventus return'

Zlatan Ibrahimovic wants to leave Paris Saint-Germain to return to Juventus, according to a former coach of the Swedish striker.

The enigmatic 32-year-old has won two successive Ligue 1 titles with PSG, starring in both seasons, but has continually been linked with a return to Italy throughout his time in France.

Stefan Hansson, who befriended the Swede during his youth at Malmo, claims that the striker wants to go back to Serie A in the next year and has his heart set on the current Scudetto holders.

"He was young and crazy - now he's just crazy," the current coach of Indonesian club Mitra Cutra told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"We spoke on Skype a few days ago and he told me that he would like to return to Juventus, if not this year then next year. But it is not a matter of money."

Ibrahimovic, who scored both goals in PSG's Trophee des Champions win over Guingamp on Saturday, left Juventus in 2006 amidst the Calciopoli scandal which relegated the Turin club and subsequently played for Inter, Barcelona and AC Milan before moving to Parc des Princes in 2012.

Hansson will be taking charge of the Indonesian Super League All-Stars team which will face Massimiliano Allegri's men on Wednesday, with kick-off at 15:00CET.

 

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Higuain: Messi didn't make me want to ditch Napoli

Gonzalo Higuain has claimed Lionel Messi failed to convince him to join Barcelona this summer but joked his Argentina team-mate should move to Napoli.

During the World Cup group stages, before Luis Suarez's move from Liverpool became a reality, there were strong rumours that the ex-Real Madrid attacker would be swapping the San Paolo for a return to La Liga this summer with the Catalunya club.

Messi conceded it would be brilliant to play alongside his Argentina team-mate on a weekly basis at Camp Nou in June, but Higuain insists that he was never swayed by the four-time Ballon d'Or winner to ditch Napoli after a single season.

"Did I want to go to Barcelona? I always told the truth and that is that I wanted to think only of the World Cup and then I would return to Napoli," the striker told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"So I kept quiet and I had nothing to fear, because there was nothing to comment about.

"Messi said certain things and I can only be flattered by them. I believe that every player would love to play alongside a great champion like him, but that does not mean that I ever wanted to leave.

"But if Messi came to Napoli, that would be great."

Higuain mused that Antonio Conte's departure from Scudetto holders Juventus will level the playing field for the rest of Serie A's top clubs and predicts a better showing from him and Rafa Benitez's men than 2013-14's third-place finish.

"Although there is no Conte, Massimiliano Allegri is a good coach so Juventus will still be the opponent to beat," the 26-year-old added.

"Roma have reinforced and Rudi Garcia has a strong team, yet this year they are involved in the Champions League which will take away some of their energy, whereas last year they had no Europe to deal with.

"So it will definitely be a more balanced league. I do not think that there's a team capable of getting 102 points this season like Juve did last season.

"The advantage we have over the last year is that our project in motion, we know Serie A now and we have learned that we must not drop points against the smaller teams.

"Our failures should not happen again, we will always have the same attitude in every title race."

 

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Lewandowski: Dortmund still dangerous without me

Bayern Munich new boy Robert Lewandowski stressed it would be "dangerous" to think that Borussia Dortmund are no longer a title threat without him starring in attack for them this season.

The Poland international left Signal Iduna Park on a free transfer for the Bundesliga champions this summer, four years after joining Dortmund, in a move which had been on the cards for over a year and was sealed in January.

Jurgen Klopp's men have lost one of their star players for four successive summers now - Nuri Sahin to Real Madrid in 2011, Shinji Kagawa to Manchester United in 2012, and Mario Gotze and Lewandowski to the Bavarians in 2013 and 2014 respectively.

And Lewandowski has no doubt that BVB will be a threat to Pep Guardiola's charges in the Bundesliga title race regardless of losing him to their main rivals for the championship.

"Dortmund are always dangerous," the forward, 25, told Sport Bild. "They have often shown that they can come back from losses, like with Sahin, Kagawa and Gotze.

"To write them off before the season would be very dangerous. They are a serious competitor for us. We need the rivalry, it's part of football and the competition helps to spur you on and become even better.

"We need to have BVB troubling us to thrive."

Lewandowski is expected to make his competitive debut for Bayern when they face Dortmund in the DFL-Supercup on August 13.

The striker believes that the five months he continued to play for the Ruhr club in 2013-14, despite having signed a deal to leave, made him a stronger footballer mentally.

"I knew that I wanted to give everything until my last day with BVB," he continued. "I learned a lot. The experience made me stronger, especially psychologically.

"It was not easy to hide my excitement at joining Bayern, but I still brought my best performances on the pitch.

"Now I'm at Bayern, I want to win as many titles as possible - all of them, ideally."

 

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Atletico better than Barcelona, Real Madrid and Co. - Arda Turan

Atletico Madrid have proven that they are better than Barcelona, Real Madrid and the rest of Spain, according to midfielder Arda Turan.

The Turkey international was one of Diego Simeone's star men as the Rojiblancos romped to La Liga glory in 2013-14 and went within minutes of winning the Champions League final.

His performances have seen him linked with a move to Manchester United, but the 27-year-old was gushing about Atletico ahead of Wednesday's pre-season friendly against Turkish giants Galatasaray.

"Our Turkish fans shouted 'captain' when I arrived," he told reporters. "It is an honour, but I'm only one person in this team and we have to think about the game too.

"For us it is a very important game and we have to win all we have left before the Supercopa de Espana against Real Madrid. I'm working hard, I'm at the best club in Spain. I am a key cog in Simeone's system.

"Young Turks must leave Turkey like me to develop their technique."

Arda played for Galatasaray until Atletico forked out €12 million to bring him to the Vicente Calderon in August 2011.

 

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Rodgers warns Van Gaal: Premier League will take you by surprise

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers believes new Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal could struggle with the unpredictability of the Premier League.

The Dutchman has yet to lose since taking over at Old Trafford, and a positive pre-season campaign culminated in a 3-1 victory over the Merseysiders in Miami to claim the International Champions Cup.

Rodgers, though, believes Van Gaal has not experienced anything quite like the Premier League in his long and successful career and is convinced the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach has a challenge on his hands to adapt.

“I think what he’ll find is the competition in this league will be different from any other league that he’s worked in,” said the Northern Irishman. “In a lot of the other leagues there are one or two teams and those are the teams that are expected to win.

“This is a league where the top team plays the bottom team and on any given day you can lose. You don’t get that a lot in the other leagues. I think the competition will probably take him by surprise and that’s from foreign managers I have spoken to over the years.

“I’ve worked closely with foreign players who have come in and that real physical competitive nature will be different from anywhere else he’s worked before.”

Rodgers almost masterminded a stunning title tilt last season, falling just short, and he believes it will be even harder to claim Premier League glory in the upcoming campaign due to the abundance of quality at the top of the division.

“I think it’s going to be really as competitive,” the Liverpool boss continued. “Last season was great and right the way through there were four or five teams right up there, and then in the closing months it narrowed down a wee bit.

“The Premier League historically shows that it’s a very competitive league. Man United will want to bounce back, Chelsea will be strong, Manchester City are the champions so they’ll be the favourites.

“The likes of Tottenham have been up there the last couple of seasons. When Harry Redknapp was there they were a Champions League team. So the numbers are there to make it really competitive again and difficult to forecast.”

 

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Van Gaal holding up Vidal's Manchester United move - Sampaoli

Louis van Gaal is holding up Manchester United's purchase of Arturo Vidal due to concerns over the Juventus star's right knee, according to Chile coach Jorge Sampaoli.

The 27-year-old underwent surgery in May in the hope of fixing a persistent meniscus injury once and for all, with his fitness subsequently hampered during the World Cup.

Goal understands Vidal met with his agent and senior officials in July to discuss the possibility of a transfer to Old Trafford and Sampaoli says the reason no transfer has been completed is down to Van Gaal.

"Manchester United want Vidal, but Van Gaal has some doubts," Sampaoli told El Mercurio.

"Right now the great obstacle to his $80 million [£47m] transfer from Juventus to Manchester United is over the improvement of Arturo's knee.

"Vidal set a great example at the World Cup in Brazil by playing when he wasn't in perfect shape."

United have been chasing Vidal for much of the summer, with Juventus chief executive Giuseppe Marotta adamant the Chile star would only be sold if he expressed a desire to leave Turin.

Vidal, himself, has previously insisted he is "not going to Manchester", while new Juventus head coach Massimiliano Allegri has ruled out an exit following the player's return to pre-season training.

 

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EURO 2016 waladi De gea ta chance ekak thyenawa

Ow machan Neuer ge cover 1kak widiyata thamai Reina use kaloth use karanne
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AC Milan want revenge for last season - De Sciglio

Mattia De Sciglio says AC Milan want "revenge" after their dismal 2013-14 campaign.

The Rossoneri finished eighth in Serie A last season, some 45 points behind champions Juventus, and missed out on Champions League and Europa League football for the coming campaign.

Milan also performed poorly on their recent tour of the United States, with Filippo Inzaghi's men losing all three matches in the International Champions Cup.

However, De Sciglio is unconcerned and expects Milan to challenge in the league given the amount of time they will have to prepare for fixtures without European commitments.

"We all have a great desire for revenge - this year we only have the league so we will have the whole week to train well and be ready on Sundays," he told Milan's official website.

"The US tour? We didn't get good results, but against Liverpool we were more solid and compact as a team compared to the other matches.

"We want to go out onto the pitch and play our game, as the boss wants. I think we will have a great season."

De Sciglio picked up a knock in the 2-0 defeat to Liverpool last Saturday following a collision with team-mate Gabriel.

The full-back revealed the issue is not serious, although he could miss two weeks of training.

He added: "These things happen, he [Gabriel] had to go for the ball. It was a tough challenge, but I repeat, these things happen.

"It's nothing serious, it will need around two weeks to recover. Every day that passes things are going better."

 

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Benzema signs new Real Madrid deal

Real Madrid have announced that Karim Benzema has sealed a new contract with the club which expires in 2019.

The Frenchman has been at the club since 2009, when he moved to the Santiago Bernabeu from Olympique Lyonnais for a fee of around €35 million.

His current agreement with the European champions was due to expire next summer, leading to speculation over his future, but Madrid have confirmed that he has put pen to paper on a new deal.

"Real Madrid announce the extension of the contract between the player Karim Benzema and the club until June 30, 2019, the next five seasons," he club statement read.

Benzema has won La Liga once, the Copa del Rey twice and the Champions League on one occasion.

During their European Cup winning campaign last term, the 26-year-old scored five goals in 11 appearances, in addition to 17 in La Liga.

 

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Congratulations Benzema!​

 

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Slask Wroclaw 0-3 Borussia Dortmund: Ramos and Immobile on target for German giants

Adrian Ramos and Ciro Immobile were both on target as Borussia Dortmund beat Slask Wroclaw 3-0 in a pre-season friendly on Wednesday.

Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke hit out at Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge earlier in the day for commenting that forward Reus - who is still recovering from an ankle ligament injury - has a buy-out clause of €25 million that comes into effect next year.

However, the controversy over Rummenigge's revelations do not appear to have affected Jurgen Klopp's men, who continued their unbeaten record in pre-season ahead of the new Bundesliga campaign.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan was the star of the show for Dortmund in Poland, scoring the opener and setting up striker Immobile for the second in a comfortable victory at Stadion Miejski.

Substitute forward Ramos added the gloss to a fine performance late on with his first goal since joining from Hertha Berlin in June.

It took Dortmund just nine minutes to open the scoring, Mkhitaryan slotting into the bottom corner after surging towards the Slask box and playing an exquisite one-two with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Dortmund continued to press and their lead was doubled in the 20th minute, Mkhitaryan coming to the fore again by sliding a pass through for Immobile to coolly convert.

Aubameyang then drew a fine save from Slask goalkeeper in Wojciech Pawlowski at his left-hand post as the visitors sought to kill off an increasingly one-sided game with a third goal.

Both sides unsurprisingly made changes during the interval but Dortmund continued to dictate matters, Jonas Hofmann and Ji Dong-won both testing substitute home goalkeeper Jakub Wrabel in quick succession.

By contrast Ekstraklasa side Wroclaw never looked like threatening a comeback, and Dortmund's victory was sealed in the 82nd minute through a fine goal from Ramos.

The Colombia international cut in from the right before neatly combining with Hofmann, collecting the return pass and finding the net with a low finish.

 

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We don't know who will be Barca No.1 - Bravo

Claudio Bravo claims he is still unsure who will be named Barcelona's No.1 goalkeeper for the start of the season - but is determined to stake his claim.

The Chile international joined from Real Sociedad this summer along with rising Germany star Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who was signed from Borussia Monchengladbach.

With Victor Valdes having left Camp Nou at the end of his contract, the question over who head coach Luis Enrique will select as his first-choice keeper is yet to be answered, and Bravo admits the players themselves are still fighting for the spot.

"Luis Enrique hasn't told us anything. We don't know and we don't have to ask for explanations, we're there to make it hard for the coach and let him decide," he told reporters.

"The important thing is I've worked very well and been very comfortable in recent weeks, the reception from the squad has been amazing."

Luis Enrique has already confirmed Bravo will start against Napoli in Wednesday's pre-season friendly and the Chilean was eager to stress that the game was important for the team's preparations.

"All matches are as important, whoever plays in goal. The team is what counts."

 

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Bayern have turned down 'several' enquiries for Shaqiri - Rummenigge

Bayern Munich have rejected "several enquiries" from sides in England and Italy for attacking midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri, according to chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

The Switzerland star made just 10 starts in the Bundesliga for Bayern last season, though he still netted six goals and went on to become the standout performer for his country at the World Cup this summer.

Shaqiri has been heavily linked with a possible move to Liverpool, with Serie A giants Juventus and Roma also rumoured to be considering a bid for the 22-year-old.

Rummenigge has confirmed there has been significant interest in the player but insists he remains a valued part of Pep Guardiola's first-team plans.

"We've had several enquiries from teams in England and Italy. I've never had a conversation because we are convinced he will have a good career with us. He must stay healthy, [but] the coach is convinced by him," he told the club's official website.

Bayern are set to complete a deal for goalkeeper Pepe Reina in the coming days but Rummenigge suggested there would not be a large number of arrivals this summer.

"We have a good team. Pep wants 18 top players and five or six talents. He is very happy with his squad, he does not want unhappy players sitting in the stands," he said.

Borussia Dortmund became incensed by Rummenigge's public talk of Marco Reus' buyout clause after the winger was linked with a switch to the Allianz Arena.

The 58-year-old believes the two clubs retain a large amount of respect for each other, as proven by the mentality within Germany's World Cup-winning squad.

"A friendship seems to have sprung up between the players at the World Cup. This is a good thing," he added.

"We are competitors, both clubs want to fight for the championship, but we have respect for each other, no question."

 

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Neymar is bursting to be back, reveals Alba

Barcelona defender Jordi Alba says Neymar is itching to return to action as he continues his recovery from a back injury.

Neymar suffered a fractured vertebra following a challenge with Juan Camilo Zuniga in Brazil's World Cup quarter-final clash with Colombia and was not involved in Barca's 1-1 friendly draw with Nice.

However, Alba believes the forward will quickly be back to full fitness, telling reporters: "Neymar is very eager and excited, he'll recover quickly. He's very happy at Barcelona and, for us, he's an important player."

New boss Luis Enrique's proposed tactical switch to 3-2-3-2 has led to some concerns over Alba's place in the starting line-up for the new season but the Spain full-back says the coach's ideas are perfectly suited to the club.

"The ideas of Luis Enrique are very good for our style of football, the team is already mentally set to adopt them. This friendly will help us move one step further in our bid to begin La Liga in the best possible form," he said.

"Luis Enrique and his coaching staff can do great things. He's the right person at this time."

Veteran midfielder Xavi announced his retirement from international football this week and Alba concedes he will be a big loss to the national team.

"It's bad news for Spanish football without a doubt, because he has been key to this unbelievable success," he added.

Barca face Napoli in a pre-season friendly on Wednesday.