..::Football IV::..

[Wolverine GTR]

Chelsea boss Conte: 'I know that I'm doing a great job'


Antonio Conte fears for Chelsea's top-four hopes following their 3-0 thrashing by Bournemouth but is adamant he is doing a "great job" at Stamford Bridge.The champions' title defence has not really gathered pace this season with Manchester City 18 points ahead of the fourth-placed Blues and looking certainties to take the trophy to the Etihad Stadium.

Chelsea still have Champions League qualification to fight for but Wednesday's defeat to Bournemouth - courtesy of goals from Callum Wilson, Junior Stanislas and ex-Blues defender Nathan Ake - has made life more uncomfortable for Conte, although he remained bullish afterwards.

He told reporters: "I think the pressure is normal. It's normal for a coach, for a manager. It's normal if you are Chelsea's coach."After the first game this season [a home defeat to Burnley], you tried to put pressure on my job but I'm trying to do my best."I repeat: we are doing everything, we are doing 120 per cent. I'm exploiting this squad to the maximum level but if someone doesn't agree about this, I'm here.

"I have to accept every situation. I'm very relaxed about this. I know that I'm doing a great job, a great work, me and the staff and the players."Asked if he felt Chelsea were overachieving, he added: "Yes, yes. I think we are doing more. We are doing more, yes."He did admit, however, to some concern over their top-four ambitions.

"Yes, we must be worried. It won't be easy but this is normal. We have to struggle for a position in the Champions League. But I think the players, until now, are great, for their commitment and their behaviour. If they hadn't done that, our place in the table would be worse."If we are able to reach a place in the Champions League it will be a great success for us."

Conte finally got the physical centre-forward he craved in January - Olivier Giroud coming in from Arsenal to replace Michy Batshuayi who departed for Borussia Dortmund on loan - earlier on deadline day.

But he dismissed suggestions the transfer talk had disrupted his team's preparations."No but now it would be very simple to find a lot of excuses, a lot of alibis," he said. "This is not the right way. We made a lot of mistakes. Together. When we win, we win together. When we lose, we lose together."

Another worrying development for Chelsea was Denmark international Andreas Christensen limping off in the first half of Wednesday's game.Conte said: "We have played other games without Christensen. Injuries are a part of the game. It's not right to find excuses. This is not the right way to solve the situation. Only through work can you solve the situation.

"I think it's a hamstring problem for Christensen, but I don't know the extent of his injury. We have to wait one day, two days, three days to have a clinical examination."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Barcelona 1 Valencia 0: Suarez header gives Valverde's men slender first-leg lead

Barcelona took control of their Copa del Rey semi-final against Valencia after Luis Suarez's second-half header ended the visitors' resistance and secured a 1-0 first-leg win at Camp Nou on Thursday.

Ernesto Valverde's men looked to be in for a frustrating outing as they struggled to turn their domination into something meaningful, but eventually Lionel Messi clicked into gear and provided Suarez with the chance to give Barca the advantage.

The first half was a long one for Valencia, who restricted Barca's flow of chances but faced a seemingly endless barrage and only managed to see 21 per cent of the ball.For all of Barca's time in possession, however, they crafted little of note and struggled to break through Valencia's packed defence.

Things were slightly more open after the interval, though Barca's effectiveness in front of goal showed few signs of improvement, forcing Valverde to introduce Philippe Coutinho from the bench.

And with 23 minutes to go, Barca finally found a way through thanks to the combination of Messi and Suarez, securing a slender lead to take to Mestalla next Thursday.


In one sense, Barca could not have started the contest much better, as they dominated Valencia and attacked relentlessly, playing some wonderful football at times as they enjoyed 79 per cent possession in the first period. Yet, due to a combination of Valencia's stubborn rear-guard and Barca's attackers not quite clicking, the chances just did not arrive.

Opportunities threatened to present themselves on a couple of occasions, but an uncharacteristically heavy Messi touch saw him accidentally juggle the ball out of play in the 22nd minute, and Jose Gaya covered well to prevent Suarez collecting a through ball soon after.

The closest they went to the breakthrough was in the 39th minute, as Andres Iniesta flashed the ball across the face of goal, but goalkeeper Jaume Domenech managed to divert it just behind the lurking Suarez with his fingertips and Barca finished the first half without a shot on target.

Presumably fresh from choice words courtesy of Valverde, it took Barca less than two minutes to craft the first chance of the second period, as Messi thrashed a left-footed effort into the side-netting from a tight angle.The match's first shot on target followed soon after, though it came at the other end – Dani Parejo testing Jasper Cillessen from distance.



Coutinho replaced Aleix Vidal just before the hour mark, but unsurprisingly it was Messi who stepped things up to set up the equaliser, clipping a ball to the back post, where Suarez headed home.

Messi nearly added a second four minutes from time, curling a 25-yard effort just wide of the bottom-left corner, but Valencia never threatened to make them rue that miss as Barca cruised to victory.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Alexis to Man Utd a once in a generation bargain - Ex-Liverpool director


Manchester United got a "once in a generation" bargain when they snapped up Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal, according to former Liverpool director Christian Purslow.

Despite the Chile international reaching an agreement to join Manchester City, he made a shock move to Old Trafford towards the end of the January transfer window in a swap deal including Henrikh Mkhitaryan.United manager Jose Mourinho hailed the deal as a "fantastic" on for his side, and Purslow agrees that it was the Red Devils who came out of it looking better.

"We will never quite know the sequence of events that led to that potential transaction winding away into a United purchase," the former Liverpool managing director told Sky Sports News."It has the look from the outside, I don't know this to be true, that Arsenal out of nowhere had their dreams come true.

"Rather than being in a unilateral discussion with City taking their best player nearly on a free they had a little auction going when Mourinho and Antonio Conte both spoke up in early January that actually getting Sanchez was a once in a generation opportunity to buy a top player for not much money down.

"I think Arsenal suddenly had a little auction going. I suspect when Sanchez's agent said to Manchester City's executive team: 'you might have to improve my deal up a bit because United are here' - that [would have] felt like a breach in trust.

"They thought they had a handshake deal at best. I bet they were very angry about that and I suspect they thought actually let's walk away from this deal leaving Manchester United to sweep him up.

"Brilliant outcome for United, pretty good outcome for Arsenal on balance but I suspect not a very happy camp at City around the way that deal was conducted."
Sanchez made his debut for United as they beat Yeovil in the FA Cup, playing a key role in their second goal, before playing the full 90 minutes in the 2-0 defeat to Tottenham in the Premier League on Wednesday.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Mesut Ozil signs new long-term contract with Arsenal


Arsenal have confirmed that Mesut Ozil has signed a new long-term contract with the club.

As revealed by Goal on Wednesday, the 29-year-old has committed his future to the north London giants by signing a new three-year contract which will keep him at Emirates Stadium until 2021.

The Germany international's deal was set to expire at the end of the season and there had been interest from Manchester United and Paris Saint Germain, as well as big money offers from clubs in the Chinese Super League."We're delighted to announce that Mesut Ozil has signed a new long-term contract with us," the club confirmed via their official website."Congratulations Mesut - here's to many more years of success."

Writing on his official Instagram page, Ozil said: "It's been one of the most important decisions of my footballing career and that's why I had to think hard and talk with everyone who's important to me... "Good things take time! In the end I let my heart decide."Arsenal had already lost Alexis Sanchez to Manchester United in a swap-deal involving the arrival of Henrikh Mkhitaryan after the Chilean's contract entered its final six months.

But manager Arsene Wenger had been adamant Ozil would not be sold in the January transfer window, with the mercurial playmaker happy with life in London as he revealed in an interview with Goal last year.The news follows the club-record signing of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for £56million from Borussia Dortmund on transfer deadline day.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Dzeko flattered by Chelsea interest but 'Rome is home'


Edin Dzeko has admitted he was flattered by Chelsea's attempts to sign him in January, but could not bring himself to leave Roma.The Blues targeted the striker as they sought a backup option for Alvaro Morata, but their initial bid was deemed "not interesting" by Roma technical director Monchi.

After signing Emerson Palmieri from the Italian side, Chelsea remained hopeful of luring Dzeko to the capital until the final days of the transfer window but eventually turned their attention to other options and signed Olivier Giroud from Arsenal.

And Dzeko confirmed that he held talks with the reigning Premier League champions, but he feels at home in the Italian capital and did not want to move."It is true that negotiations have been conducted and that is all I can say about this topic," he told Klix. "There was a lot of speculation, falsehoods and even a few ridiculous stories, and I'm really flattered by Chelsea's interest, a club that I respect and admire very much.

"So many stories have been told about my departure from Rome over the past few weeks, but I am still here. After all, I am happy to stay because Rome has become my home and an indelible part of my life. "From the very first day I was accepted in Rome in an unreal way and I can never and will not forget it, and I have had some of the happiest moments in my life in this city.

"For the first time I felt the joy of fatherhood here when my daughter Una was born, and my son Dani was born in Rome. This city is now part of my life and it will always be."Despite finishing second in Serie A last season, Roma sit fifth in the table after 22 games and 16 points behind leaders Napoli.The Giallorossi have failed to win any of their last six in the league, but Dzeko is sure they can overcome their poor spell.

"The fact is that we haven't celebrated a win for a long time, which is very frustrating for us, but we haven't had enough luck in several games," he said."We're all working hard to get back to winning ways as soon as possible, but it's going to be difficult. We have quality and I'm convinced that it's a question of when we will end this bad run and find a winning rhythm."I believe that there are many more beautiful moments ahead of us and we will succeed in achieving all our goals together."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Cologne 2 Borussia Dortmund 3: Schurrle wins it late on as debutant Batshuayi impresses

Andre Schurrle's late strike secured Borussia Dortmund a dramatic 3-2 win at Cologne on Friday, with the Germany international bailing out two Roman Burki errors to cap off a two-goal debut from Michy Batshuayi.

Cologne had seemingly rescued a point after twice battling back from a goal down, but Schurrle struck six minutes from time to finally end their resistance after Batshuayi proved something of a point to parent club Chelsea with a brace on an impressive first Bundesliga start.

Batshuayi had been billed as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's replacement following his move to Arsenal and wasted no time in endearing himself to Dortmund fans, showing good awareness to wait for a cut-back before firing a strong left-footed effort into the net with 35 minutes played.He was guilty of a poor miss early in the second half, however, wasting the opportunity to put Dortmund in complete control and Simon Zoller capitalised on a Burki mistake to punish them with an equaliser after an hour.

Batshuayi swiftly made amends, producing a neat finish to double his tally and seemingly put Dortmund in control, yet Cologne fought back for a second time through Spanish defender Jorge Mere, with Burki arguably at fault again.

But Dortmund managed to avoid succumbing to a fourth successive draw, as Schurrle scored his first Bundesliga goal since March in style towards the end, giving coach Peter Stoger reason to celebrate upon a first return to his former club.


The first chance of an action-packed game fell to Milos Jojic in the 13th minute, but the unmarked former Dortmund man shot at Burki from the centre of the area following Christian Clemens' cut-back.

Dortmund threatened to capitalise on that let-off almost straight away.
Mahmoud Dahoud wanted a penalty after he appeared to be tripped inside the area, though he still managed to pick out Shinji Kagawa, whose fierce left-footed strike struck the crossbar.

Dortmund were not to be denied 10 minutes before the break, however.
Jeremy Toljan did brilliantly on the left, getting to the byline and dragging a pass back towards the penalty spot for Batshuayi, who punished slack defending by rifling emphatically past Timo Horn.

The Belgian had the ball in the net again on the stroke of half-time, but it was correctly ruled out for offside.Cologne's need to push forward left them exposed at times and Batshuayi should have punished them in the 56th minute, latching on to Schurrle's pass and shooting at Horn.

And Zoller levelled soon after, nodding in from close range after Burki parried a shot right to him.Batshuayi restored the lead just after the hour - producing a delicate finish to beat Horn after Pulisic's well-placed pass.

But back came Cologne, as Mere headed in his first Bundesliga goal, making the most of Burki's feeble attempt to punch a corner clear.Dortmund ultimately had the last laugh and secured all three points in the 84th minute, as Schurrle smashed home in powerful fashion from the edge of the box to round off a fine break and move Stoger's men up to second, at least until Saturday.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Ozil's new contract was Arsenal's cheapest option, says Wenger


Arsene Wenger says handing Mesut Ozil a new contract was the “cheapest option” available to Arsenal.As reported by Goal on Wednesday, Ozil has committed his future to the Gunners by inking a contract extension until 2021.

It is being widely reported that the 29-year-old has become the highest paid player in the club's history as a result, with speculation his wages have risen from around £140,000-a-week to £350,000-a-week.

But Wenger believes sourcing a replacement for Ozil - who had entered the last six months on his previous contract - would have proven costlier.“When you let a player go you have to buy somebody of the same calibre and if you add the transfer needed and the wages will be similar,” Wenger said.“On top of that we have to pay a transfer [fee].

“So, overall I think Mesut for us was the cheapest option. On the other side, all of our players are well paid. Very well paid. To feel sorry for them - I'm not sure that it's the most objective assessment.”Ozil's new contract completed a remarkable few days for Arsenal following the earlier arrivals of Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Both Ozil and Mkhitaryan are expected to feature as the north Londoners take on Everton in the Premier League on Saturday.

Aubameyang, however, faces a late fitness test for the match at the Emirates Stadium due to being ill over the past couple of days.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Mourinho's advice for injured Fellaini: Shut up and sign your new contract


Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho told Marouane Fellaini to "sign the contract and shut up" as the injured midfielder nears the end of his deal.

Fellaini, 30, is set to miss several weeks after suffering a knee injury in United's 2-0 loss to Tottenham in the Premier League Wednesday.The Belgium international is out of contract at the end of the season and Mourinho, in lighthearted fashion, said he had told the midfielder to sign a new deal.

"I told him yesterday, 'sign the contract and shut up'," Mourinho told a news conference Friday."I told him, 'don't gamble too much, sign the contract before you know the extent of the injury.'"Mourinho is unsure exactly how long he will be without Fellaini, who has made 12 Premier League appearances this season.

The Portuguese tactician revealed Fellaini could miss anywhere between two and five weeks."It is not an ACL, a complete rupture of any structure of the knee," Mourinho said.

"But we need him, the Champions League is arriving [United's first leg against Sevilla is February 21] and lots of tough matches to play and probably we are going to lose him for a few weeks. Two, three, four or five, I cannot say at the moment."Mourinho had already made it clear that he felt the 30-year-old was vital to his club.

Galatasaray, Besiktas and Paris Saint-Germain have been mentioned as possible suitors of a man who followed David Moyes to Old Trafford in a £27.5 million transfer back in the summer of 2013 and has not always been a fan favorite.

“It’s a very important player for me and is a great professional that is giving everything he can to help the team and there is a desire from myself, the board and the player to stay together,” said the Portuguese tactician in January. “That’s our objective. Are we going to reach, to agree?"I don’t know but what I know is that myself, the board and the player we would like to have a happy year."

 

[Heisenberg]

Dzeko flattered by Chelsea interest but 'Rome is home'


Edin Dzeko has admitted he was flattered by Chelsea's attempts to sign him in January, but could not bring himself to leave Roma.The Blues targeted the striker as they sought a backup option for Alvaro Morata, but their initial bid was deemed "not interesting" by Roma technical director Monchi.

After signing Emerson Palmieri from the Italian side, Chelsea remained hopeful of luring Dzeko to the capital until the final days of the transfer window but eventually turned their attention to other options and signed Olivier Giroud from Arsenal.

And Dzeko confirmed that he held talks with the reigning Premier League champions, but he feels at home in the Italian capital and did not want to move."It is true that negotiations have been conducted and that is all I can say about this topic," he told Klix. "There was a lot of speculation, falsehoods and even a few ridiculous stories, and I'm really flattered by Chelsea's interest, a club that I respect and admire very much.

"So many stories have been told about my departure from Rome over the past few weeks, but I am still here. After all, I am happy to stay because Rome has become my home and an indelible part of my life. "From the very first day I was accepted in Rome in an unreal way and I can never and will not forget it, and I have had some of the happiest moments in my life in this city.

"For the first time I felt the joy of fatherhood here when my daughter Una was born, and my son Dani was born in Rome. This city is now part of my life and it will always be."Despite finishing second in Serie A last season, Roma sit fifth in the table after 22 games and 16 points behind leaders Napoli.The Giallorossi have failed to win any of their last six in the league, but Dzeko is sure they can overcome their poor spell.

"The fact is that we haven't celebrated a win for a long time, which is very frustrating for us, but we haven't had enough luck in several games," he said."We're all working hard to get back to winning ways as soon as possible, but it's going to be difficult. We have quality and I'm convinced that it's a question of when we will end this bad run and find a winning rhythm."I believe that there are many more beautiful moments ahead of us and we will succeed in achieving all our goals together."

mama hithuwe dzeko yai kiyala.uu inna eka hodai roma wala

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Riyad Mahrez's behaviour won't help his career, says Danny Higginbotham


Former Manchester United defender, Danny Higginbotham has warned Leicester City’s Riyad Mahrez that his behaviour could jeopardise his career.

The Algeria international handed in a transfer request in a bid to fast-track a move to Manchester City but the deal fell through as the Foxes failed to agree to a fee with the Etihad Stadium outfit.Following the disappointment, the winger was absent as the Foxes lost to Everton on Wednesday and has failed to show up in training since the incident.

However, Higginbotham is certain that such attitude could put off managers hoping to sign the winger."Mahrez probably saw Manchester City as a dream move but it's not happened and that's why he's a little bit frustrated by it and annoyed emotionally,” Higginbotham told Sky Sports.

"If he does stay away from the training ground and if he doesn't get involved, he's going to be the one that loses out because it's going to affect him and affect other managers who do want him.

"What he needs to do, is what he did in the summer - come back in, get back involved with the dressing room again, show the ability he has got which got the bids and interest from Manchester City."When they won the Premier League, he signed a new contract. In the contract surely you get a fee you can be bought out for - that's something that should have been negotiated.

"If you're the football club you turn around to him and say 'Listen, get yourself back into the fold, we will let you go in the summer, this is how much we will let you go for and then you can move on from there'.

"He's now got to get on with it. It's the second time it's happened now and they'll be some players that are a little bit annoyed with him."I've been in situations in dressing rooms where players have wanted to leave but I've not been bothered in the slightest as long as it's not affected the team and he's not been out of order in the dressing room.

"The club holds the power because they have given him the contract, they're financially in a very stable position. Mahrez's problem will be that they've let some big players go, with the likes of Drinkwater and Kante leaving in recent seasons.

"There's having frustration but it's how you go about it. The one thing you don't do, unless he has permission to do, is stay away from training - that's not the way to go about things. All you are going to do is make the club dig their heels in even more.
"The best thing he can do now is get back involved in the team, go on and have a few good months until the end of the season and then see where the land lies," he concluded.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Premier League title race 'definitely' not over, Guardiola tells Mourinho


Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has refuted Jose Mourinho's claim that the rest of the Premier League are playing for second place this season.

Guardiola's men cruised to a 3-0 win over West Brom on Wednesday, while Manchester United's 2-0 loss at Tottenham left City with a dominant 15-point advantage at the summit.

Mourinho told a news conference ahead of United's game versus Huddersfield Town that, with 13 games remaining, his team must now aim to be "the first of the last, we have to try to finish second".

City travel to Burnley in Saturday's early kick off and, not for the first time in his career, Guardiola disagreed with his old Clasico rival.

"There are 13 games, 39 points to play for. We have 15 more, so it is not over," he told reporters."We have amazing tough games left to play. For example, tomorrow. You cannot deny and everyone knows here in England how complicated it is playing at Burnley.

"After that we have to go to Stoke City, Goodison Park. We have to play United, Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea. Definitely, it is not over."And Guardiola thinks there are few tougher assignments in English football than a trip to Turf Moor, despite having put seven goals past Sean Dyche's team over the course of meetings in the Premier League and FA Cup this season.

"We made a good performance against them in the Premier League and the FA Cup but it is completely different to play them at the Etihad Stadium," he said."Last season we won [at Burnley] but it was one of the toughest games we played last season.

"It will be tough. We have to avoid fouls, control the second balls and long balls to [Ashley] Barnes and [Sam] Vokes."They are masters, maybe one of the best teams in the Premier League in this style. The way they play in that system they create a lot of problems and put on a lot of pressure."From free-kicks and the corners they are so good. We have to avoid this kind of game as much as possible and do our game to make another step in the title race."

Guardiola will assess the fitness of David Silva after he hobbled out of the West Brom game with a blow to the hip.Long-term absentee Benjamin Mendy could return to training with his team-mates in March following cruciate knee ligament surgery and was retained in City's Champions League squad on Friday.

Record signing Aymeric Laporte was added to the 21-man list along with youngster Oleksandr Zinchenko, who has deputised effectively for Mendy and fellow knee injury absentee Fabian Delph at left-back over recent weeks.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

'I don't care about next year' - Zidane shrugs off Pochettino to Madrid rumours


Zinedine Zidane accepts other coaches being linked to his job comes with the territory of being Real Madrid boss.

The Spanish and European champions made it back-to-back wins in La Liga with an impressive 4-1 triumph at Valencia last weekend but remain 19 points shy of leaders and bitter rivals Barcelona.

A humbling Copa del Rey exit at the hands of Leganes still lingers and Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino is among those being talked of as a potential successor to Zidane, who has won the Champions League twice in two years at the helm."It's like that. Not just here, not just in Madrid. It's the daily work of any coach," the France great told reporters ahead of Saturday's trip to Levante."When things are difficult they talk about and a change and those who could come in.

"It doesn't affect me. It doesn't stop me doing my work and fighting and looking for what I want to do each day – improving things. "I am not thinking at all about what will happen next year, I don't care [for the moment]."

A mouth-watering last-16 clash against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League is on the horizon, with Madrid's remaining hope of winning major silverware this season on the line to further raise the stakes.Nevertheless, Zidane maintains his players are focused upon more immediate tasks against Levante and Real Sociedad in La Liga, where he is refusing to concede the title just yet.

"No, it's straightforward. If we think about the PSG game that's a mistake. The players don't think that," he said."The players think that we have to get our confidence back, as we have been doing. We've scored 11 goals in two league games, so just keep thinking about that.

"If we do things well, we will have a lot of possibilities to win the game. If we don't then it is going to be tougher."We have to do well in the league, finish as high up in the league as possible and think the league isn't over. That's all."

Zidane reported playmaker Isco and captain Sergio Ramos will be available to face Levante after overcoming respective thigh and calf complaints.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Thiago nearing Bayern return


Thiago Alcantara could return ahead of schedule from his muscular injury lay-off, according to Bayern Munich boss Jupp Heynckes.The Spanish midfielder limped out of Bayern's 2-1 win over Anderlecht in the Champions League in November and has not featured since.

An exact diagnosis of his problem was never revealed by the Bundesliga leaders but Heynckes is now hopeful the 26-year-old will be ready to feature again soon after making good strides in his recovery.

"We need to wait and see over the next two, three weeks with Thiago," Heynckes told a media conference. "It is looking good."He has worked phenomenally until now and can already take part in the beginning of [training] sessions."[But] one thing is clear, he will not return too early."

Saturday's trip to Mainz was always going to be too soon for Thiago, but Heynckes also has concerns over Sandro Wagner and David Alaba, while Arturo Vidal is definitely out."Vidal will miss Mainz with stomach flu," added Heynckes. "Sandro Wagner will probably be involved.

"[Alaba] hurt his pelvis in training yesterday. We will have to see how he feels today."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

'It's just rumours' - Mourinho plays down Ibrahimovic to LA Galaxy claims


Jose Mourinho is adamant that he will be the first to know if Zlatan Ibrahimovic agrees to leave Manchester United to join the LA Galaxy.The Sweden great has only made five Premier League appearances this season after suffering a major knee injury in April, and is currently sidelined as he continues to work towards full fitness from that setback.

United extended Ibrahimovic's stay for a second season in August despite his injury problems, but reports emerged this week that the former Barcelona and Inter striker has agreed a move to MLS.

However, Mourinho says that veteran Ibrahimovic has had plenty of opportunities to tell him if that is the case and is taking his silence that no news is forthcoming."I don't speak with players about media news," he told a news conference ahead of United's Premier League contest against Huddersfield Town.

"I see him every day, I'm not working directly with him but for example I was with the fitness coaches watching his work, he's with me before and after training and never mentioned anything to me."Not an opinion, comment, nothing at all, so I presume nothing is true in the news because I would probably be first to know from him, so I presume nothing."United fell 15 points adrift of leaders Manchester City with a poor showing in Wednesday's 2-0 defeat to Tottenham, a match that saw Marouane Fellaini brought on as a substitute and taken off again due to a knee injury.

Mourinho says it is not a long-term issue, but is problematic ahead of a busy run that includes the return of the Champions League, where United face Sevilla in the last 16."It is not an ACL [anterior cruciate ligament injury], not a complete rupture of any structure of the knee not as far as that," he added.

"But we need him, the Champions League is arriving, lots of tough match and probably we will lose him for a few weeks – two, three, four? I don't know."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

'It's a spectacle watching him' - Valverde asks for room to breathe for Messi


Ernesto Valverde said Lionel Messi must be allowed to breathe amid the weight of expectations on the Barcelona star.

Messi helped set up Barcelona's 1-0 first-leg win over Valencia in the Copa del Rey semi-finals on Thursday, turning provider for team-mate Luis Suarez.The five-time Ballon d'Or winner clipped a ball to the back post, where Suarez headed home in the 67th minute at Camp Nou .

Speaking about Messi post-match, Barca head coach Valverde told reporters: "When Messi plays the ball, everybody expects many things from him.
"Sometimes it's too much because we have to let Messi breathe a bit.

"It's true he is an awesome player as we have said many, many times. It's a spectacle watching him every day."Barca will take a slender lead to the Mestalla and Valverde added: "I wouldn't say the score is not that bad because I think the score is good because we won the match.

"Winning a match is really difficult and we did. Valencia didn't score, so we have to think that 0-0 is good for us at Mestalla but we won't go there looking to draw the match. We will go for trying to win it."Club-record signing Philippe Coutinho started the match from the bench before he was introduced approaching the hour-mark.

"It's true that Coutinho played on the centre because sometimes Messi likes playing on the right side," Valverde said. "If that happens we have to readjust a bit. Our idea is Coutinho should play on the sides, when Messi plays in the centre, but he can play everywhere."It's true that for Liverpool he used to play on the left but for Brazil he used to play on the right side. He can suit any place forward."

Meanwhile, Valencia boss Marcelino heaped praise on his team following their gutsy effort away to the La Liga leaders."It's not a good result, but we deserve a lot of credit for how much we competed," he said. "The tie is very difficult but open, we will fight with all our strength, it seems impossible but we will try to be heroes.

"The Mestalla will help us, the fans saw their team compete without a big part of their team. I think that Barcelona have only failed to score in two away games, hopefully we will be the third."

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Barclays Premier League Fixtures 2018.02.03

Barclays Premier League Fixtures 2018.02.03

Burnley Vs Manchester City

Bournemouth Vs Stoke City

Brighton Vs West Ham

Leicester City Vs Swansea

Manchester United Vs Huddersfield

WBA Vs Southampton

Arsenal Vs Everton

​

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Good Luck Manchester United!​

 

[Wolverine GTR]

LA Liga Fixtures 2018.02.03

LA Liga Fixtures 2018.02.03

Eibar Vs Sevilla

Real Betis Vs Villareal

Alaves Vs Celta Vigo

Levante Vs Real Madrid​

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Serie A Fixtures 2018.02.03

Serie A Fixtures 2018.02.03

Sampdoria Vs Torino

Inter Vs Crotone​

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Bundesliga Fixtures 2018.02.03

Bundesliga Fixtures 2018.02.03


Hertha Berlin Vs Hoffenheim

Mainz Vs Bayern

Freiburg Vs Leverkusen

Schalke Vs Werder Bremen

Wolfsburg Vs Stuttgart

Monchengladbach Vs Leipzig​