..::Football III::..

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Wolverine GTR

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    Barclays Premier League Fixture 2016.03.13

    Barclays Premier League Fixture 2016.03.13

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    Aston Villa Vs Tottenham
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    Wolverine GTR

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    Sir Alex Ferguson reveals his pick for the Premier League title

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    Leicester City will win the Premier League title with three games to spare, according to Sir Alex Ferguson.

    Claudio Ranieri’s side are currently five points clear at the top of the table with nine matches remaining, although Tottenham could cut the gap with a win at Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.

    But Ferguson, who guided Manchester United to 13 Premier League titles during his 27-year reign at Old Trafford, believes Leicester will fight off all challengers this season.

    “Of course they can,” said Ferguson, who was speaking at a Cheltenham Festival preview lunch which the Sunday Times attended.

    “I believe they will win it with three games to spare.”
     

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    Van Gaal: Rooney 'not even close' to Manchester United return

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    Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has admitted he is unsure when Wayne Rooney will play again and says he is "not even close" to a return to action.
    Rooney, 30, has been sidelined since mid-February with a knee injury, which was expected to keep him out for up to two months.

    But the forward is still a long way from making a comeback, casting some doubt over whether he can lead England at Euro 2016 in June and July.

    "Wayne still has weeks to go. He is not even close. I cannot say how many weeks, as you never know," Van Gaal told reporters.

    "It is a conservative healing what we are doing with the brace, not an operation or something like that."Rooney had already been ruled out of England's friendlies against Germany and Netherlands in March.

    The setback is a blow to United's chances of qualifying for the Champions League, with Van Gaal's men sixth and four points adrift of Manchester City in the Premier League.
     

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    Iniesta hails 'astonishing' unbeaten run

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    Barcelona captain Andres Iniesta believes the club's 37-match unbeaten run is an "astonishing" achievement.

    Lionel Messi scored one and set up three while Neymar grabbed a brace in a 6-0 win over Getafe on Saturday as Barca maintained their eight-point lead over Atletico Madrid in the La Liga standings.The dominant victory saw Barca stretch their winning run in the league to 12 games and extend their unbeaten run in all competitions to 37 games.

    Iniesta was happy to keep up the undefeated streak ahead of their Champions League return leg against Arsenal, in which Barca hold a 2-0 advantage."Thirty-seven games without losing is astonishing, and we want to extend it further," the Spain international said.

    "We’re going to try to keep our winning streak in the league, because it will help bring us the title."Barca coach Luis Enrique rested the likes of Luis Suarez, Dani Alves Ivan Rakitic and Sergio Busquets against Getafe to ensure their freshness for the clash against Arsenal at Camp Nou.

    "The rotations are key," Iniesta added. "The planning is one of the keys to ensuring the players remained fresh and motivated."We’re leading and playing at home, but we know that our opponents are dangerous.

    "The Arsenal game will require a 100 per cent effort from every player. We’re excited to go through but we have a lot of respect for Arsenal."
     

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    Diego Costa did not bite me, insists Barry

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    Everton midfielder Gareth Barry has insisted Diego Costa did not bite him during Saturday's 2-0 FA Cup win over Chelsea at Goodison Park.

    The striker was shown a second yellow card after a clash with the 35-year-old with television replays appearing to show the Spain striker attempting to bite Barry's neck.

    Costa and Chelsea have subsequently insisted the striker did not bite the Everton midfielder and Barry has now given his view of the incident.

    "Seen a lot of talk about the incident involving me and Diego Costa in the game last night. For the record Diego did not bite me," he wrote on Fanzai.

    Costa's dismissal was the first of his Chelsea career and led manager Guus Hiddink to joke after the match that he may take his controversial striker out to see the film 'Anger Management'.
     

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    :shocked:Troyes 0-9 Paris Saint-Germain: Ibrahimovic scores FOUR as title wrapped up in style

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    Paris Saint-Germain secured a fourth consecutive Ligue 1 title in stunning style, thrashing Troyes 9-0 in a club-record league victory on Sunday.

    Edinson Cavani, Javier Pastore and Adrien Rabiot had the champions three goals up within 19 minutes against the bottom-of-the table hosts.

    Zlatan Ibrahimovic moved past 100 Ligue 1 goals with a stunning hat-trick in under 10 minutes at the start of the second half, before Matthieu Saunier's own goal and a Cavani rebound from his own missed penalty piled the misery on Troyes, who ended with 10 men after Lossemy Karaboue's red card.

    Ibrahimovic added his fourth of the afternoon with two minutes left as PSG emphatically pulled 25 points ahead of second-placed Monaco with eight matches remaining, sealing the club's sixth Ligue 1 crown.

    Laurent Blanc's men will now set their sights on an historic quadruple, with their hopes in the Champions League, Coupe de France and Coupe de la Ligue still alive after a league campaign that has seen them win 24, draw five and lose just one of their 30 games.

    Any doubts over whether this would be the match that gave PSG title glory were quickly put to bed with a run of three goals in just under six first-half minutes.

    Troyes made a disastrous mistake to set up the first after 13 minutes when an awful square pass from defender Saunier allowed Cavani to race through on goal unchallenged.The Uruguay international's first attempt was saved by the legs of Matthieu Dreyer, but he was able to comfortably roll home at the second attempt.

    The second goal was the pick of the bunch, with Pastore latching onto Ibrahimovic's flick before surging past two defenders and dinking a superb finish over Dreyer, who had gone to ground.

    PSG then quickly moved three ahead when Cavani collected Pastore's clever pass and saw a shot pushed away by Dreyer, but the onrushing Rabiot slid home a left-footed effort on the rebound.

    At the other end, Kevin Trapp had to get out quickly to save from Babacar Gueye and Corentin Jean lashed the rebound into the side-netting, but Troyes were unable to reduce the deficit prior to half-time.A rampant PSG made it 4-0 just 21 seconds into the second half when Ibrahimovic collected Cavani's pass and fired left-footed beyond Dreyer.

    It was five after 52 minutes after excellent wide play from Angel Di Maria on the left led to him crossing for Ibrahimovic and the forward stretched impressively to divert a right-footed volley into the bottom corner.

    Ibrahimovic completed his treble three minutes later. This time it was Layvin Kurzawa who created the chance from the left and the Sweden striker guided a brilliant half-volley into the far corner from 20 yards for his 26th league goal of the campaign.Another Kurzawa cross led to PSG's seventh just before the hour, with Saunier's miserable day at the office continuing as he inadvertently put the ball past Dreyer.

    Trapp saved well from Jessy Pi, with Troyes unable to prevent the embarrassment from worsening when they had substitute Karaboue sent off for bringing down Cavani in the area as he bore down on goal.The striker took the spot-kick himself and saw a poor effort from 12 yards saved by Dreyer, but converted the rebound to make it eight.

    An unforgettable day for PSG, whose previous best result in Ligue 1 was a 6-0 romp against Guingamp last May, then saw them score a ninth with two minutes remaining when Pastore slipped through a pass for Ibrahimovic to fire home.
     

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    Arsenal 1-2 Watford: Ighalo and Guedioura send Gunners crashing out of FA Cup

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    Watford stunned FA Cup holders Arsenal with a 2-1 quarter-final victory that piled further pressure on Arsene Wenger at a mutinous Emirates Stadium.

    Recent slip-ups in the Premier League title race and the likelihood that Barcelona will complete a two-legged Champions League victory over Arsenal this week left a third consecutive FA Cup triumph as the most realistic prospect of silverware for long-serving boss Wenger this season.

    But they failed to make first-half dominance count, with Mohamed Elneny the main culprit in terms of missed chances, and Watford – without a goal in their previous three matches – capitalised on growing anxiety after the break.

    Hornets top scorer Odion Ighalo ended a run of 599 minutes without a goal with an opportunist strike before Adlene Guedioura hit a spectacular second after 63 minutes.

    Substitute Danny Welbeck reduced the arrears with two minutes to play and then struck the post in a breathless finale, but Wenger's men could not avoid a first FA Cup defeat since Blackburn Rovers left north London with a shock win in February 2013.Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud had the ball in the net after nine minutes but he was marginally offside when collecting Alexis Sanchez's throughball.

    Nathan Ake made a vital challenge in the Watford area with Joel Campbell poised to open the scoring, although the hosts were struggling to make much of an impression in the Watford area.

    Centre-back Gabriel was incredibly fortunate his rash, two-footed lunge on Troy Deeney went unpunished, while Elneny's woeful 30th-minute hack over the Watford bar lacked such danger but was similarly unaccomplished.

    Elneny endured another shocking miss following fine build-up play from Mesut Ozil and Campbell, and goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon's yellow card for time-wasting at the subsequent goal-kick underlined Watford's desire for the interval to arrive.

    Giroud headed over from a left-wing corner as Arsenal resumed on the front foot but Ighalo stunned Emirates Stadium in the 50th minute.Deeney flicked on Ake's long throw at the near post and Ighalo rolled Gabriel to steer a shot beyond David Ospina on the turn.

    The Watford strikers combined to similar effect two minutes later, with Gabriel again coming off second best as Ighalo shot over.Arsenal were rattled and Ighalo showed some of the form behind his recent drought when he misjudged a lunging attempt in the 60th minute.

    That wastefulness was almost punished as Pantilimon made a stunning reaction save to deny Giroud at his near post, but Watford grabbed the breathing space they required.

    Once more, Deeney was the provider – his excellent hold-up play crowned by a measured lay-off for the onrushing Guedioura to clatter an unstoppable drive into the roof of the net from the right corner of the area.

    Etienne Capoue prevented Giroud from converting a Calum Chambers cross at the near post and the France striker made way as part of triple substitution that saw Theo Walcott, Danny Welbeck and Alex Iwobi introduced.

    Welbeck stroked a measured finish into the far corner when he collected Ozil's clever backheel and the former Manchester United man should have spared the Wenger some awkward questions when he crashed over a minute later.
     

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    Capello: Dybala the best in the world for his age

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    Fabio Capello believes Juventus forward Paulo Dybala is the world's outstanding player in his age range.

    Dybala has excelled with the Serie A champions since his close-season switch from Palermo, scoring 18 times in 39 matches across all competitions to fill the void left by fellow Argentine Carlos Tevez.

    The 22-year-old's latest strike was a stunning curling effort to seal a 1-0 win over Sassuolo on Friday and former Juve, Milan and Real Madrid coach Capello was suitably impressed."No one at 22 years demonstrates the technical shots and personality he has," he told Gazetta dello Sport.

    "That goal against Sassuolo was extraordinary and exciting."Ex-Juventus forward Pietro Anastasi echoed Capello's thoughts and believes Dybala will be the most sought-after member of Massimilliano Allegri's squad at the end of the campaign – ahead of France international midfielder Paul Pogba.

    "Guys this is an absolute phenomenon. If I say that he is another [Lionel] Messi, believe me," Anastasi said.

    "Yes, with young people you need to be cautious, but Dybala is already a mature type, not a [Mario] Balotelli, so to speak."You will see that he will be the most wanted man on the next market, not Pogba."
     

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    Ibrahimovic: PSG's title win special to me

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    Zlatan Ibrahimovic insists every title has been special to him after his stunning four-goal haul helped Paris Saint-Germain seal a fourth consecutive Ligue 1 crown.

    The champions secured the sixth league triumph in their history with eight matches to spare after an astonishing 9-0 win over bottom club Troyes on Sunday, with three of the Sweden striker's four goals coming in under 10 second-half minutes.

    Ibrahimovic, 34, has scored 27 times in Ligue 1 this season - more than double any other player in France's top-flight - and he was thrilled to play his part in winning another trophy.

    "Every victory has a special taste," he said to Canal+ after the match."I am very happy to play with all these fantastic players and for almost four years we have won everything."I do not know how long it is going to last, so I took this opportunity. I don't know what else to say."

    Ibrahimovic is out of contract with PSG at the end of the season, but club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi expressed a desire to keep him at the club after the Troyes victory.
     

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    Bale will shine at Real Madrid when Ronaldo declines - Lineker

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    Former England international Gary Lineker is confident Gareth Bale can become Real Madrid's main man once Cristiano Ronaldo is out of the picture.

    The Welshman has had to settle for a place in Ronaldo's shadow ever since joining Madrid from Tottenham in 2013, but Lineker has little doubt the 26-year-old will flourish in the not too distant future,"Bale's a wonderful talent. He's a great player, he's unbelievably talented," Lineker told AS. "He's always going to be in the shadow of Ronaldo while he’s there, because all players are. But he could be the player that steps up once Ronaldo’s powers begin to wane.

    "I think he's amazing with Wales because he is the main man there and I think he revels in that, he enjoys it. He can't quite be that yet at Real Madrid because they've got a global superstar there who is pretty demanding and who will always be the key man.

    "If Cristiano got injured for a spell of time it wouldn't surprise me at all if Gareth stepped up to be the star player. I think he's got that ability within him. It's just whether he's got the personal inner belief in his own ability. And I think he has.

    "He’s more than capable of doing that. He’s a wonderfully talented player."
    Bale has scored 14 goals in 16 La Liga matches this season ahead of Sunday's trip to Las Palmas.
     

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    PSG want 'magic' Ibra to stay – Al-Khelaifi

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    Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has hailed "magic" Zlatan Ibrahimovic and revealed that the club hope the striker remains.

    The Swede was the driving force behind Les Parisiens' fourth Ligue 1 title in a row, which they secured on Sunday.

    Ibrahimovic - who hit 27 goals in just 24 appearances - will be free to join another club in the summer, however, with clubs in China and the United States amongst the frontrunners.

    However, Al-Khelaifi insists the capital outfit want the mercurial 34-year-old to stay after witnessing PSG seal another successful title run with an emphatic 9-0 win at Troyes.

    "Paris is magic, Ibra is magic. Everyone want Zlatan to stay. We will speak with him," the club official told reporters.Ibrahimovic has won a remarkable 10 trophies since moving to France from AC Milan in 2012.

    He will be hoping to add the Champions League to his impressive haul at the end of the current campaign, after inspiring his side to the quarter-finals of the competition with a win over Chelsea.
     
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