Manchester City must earn the right to be compared to Barcelona and other heavyweights of European football, insists manager Pep Guardiola.
The runaway Premier League leaders enter the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against Basel 4-0 to the good and arguably as the continent s form side.
A 3-0 victory over Arsenal at Wembley nine days ago secured the EFL Cup and, bolstered by a 16-point advantage over Manchester United at the summit of England s top flight, there is a sense of intrigue around whether this swashbuckling City side can launch an effective tilt at Europe s biggest prize.
Guardiola lifted the trophy once as a player at Barca and twice more as a manager, before leading Bayern Munich to three consecutive semi-finals without reward.
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Bacary Sagna has dismissed Eric Cantona and Karim Benzema s allegations of racism surrounding the selection of France s Euro 2016 squad by coach Didier Deschamps.
Benzema, who was not selected by Deschamps, made headlines last month when he said that the coach had bowed to a racist part of France by not choosing him, suggesting his Algerian heritage played a part in his non-selection as opposed to his ongoing involvement in an investigation into the alleged blackmail of fellow exiled international Mathieu Valbuena.
Former France international Cantona had already made such allegations which Deschamps denied and promised to return fire with legal action against the ex-Manchester United star.
Benzema is a great player. [Hatem] Ben Arfa is a great player, Cantona sa…
Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has assured out of favour striker Raul that his international exile could end at any time.
The Real Madrid star has not played for the European champions since 2006 after being controversially overlooked by former coach Luis Aragones.
But in an interview with Marca on Wednesday Aragones successor said: Raul s in the starting line-up for his club, he s playing well and can return, if I reckon that s the right thing to do, at any time.
Del Bosque, who coached Raul when he was manager of Real Madrid between 1999 and 2003, added: I ve said several times that the doors to the national team were never closed for Raul.
What s more he s the footballer who has scored the most goals for the national team.
Raul, with 4…
Radamel Falcao believes his former coach Andre Villas-Boas will be a big success at Tottenham.
Falcao shone under Villas-Boas at Porto as the Portuguese side claimed a league, cup and Europa League treble in 2010/11 before both went their separate ways.
The Colombian signed for Atletico Madrid, while Villas-Boas joined Chelsea, and although that move failed to work out for the Portuguese coach, the Atletico target man is sure his former boss will be hit at new club Tottenham.
Villas-Boas is a great coach, he told Goal.com. He is very young, very obsessive with detail, he feels and breathes football.
I don t know what went wrong at Chelsea, and it s difficult for me to assess the situation as I don t know the details, but I know him and I know he will d…
David Beckham is keen to make a splash when Inter Miami FC enter MLS in 2020.
And he has reportedly identified former Inter captain Mauro Icardi as a player to lead the club s attack in the United States.
Icardi is out of favour in Milan and could be set for a switch to the sunny beaches of south Florida.
TOP STORY – BECKHAM EYES ICARDI
Inter outcast Mauro Icardi has received an offer from David Beckham s Inter Miami, according to Argentine news agency Telam.
Icardi was stripped of the Inter captaincy in 2018-19 and new head coach Antonio Conte is reportedly determined to sell the striker.
With Icardi s future in Milan uncertain amid apparent interest from Serie A champions Juventus, a move to Miami for the 2020 season could…
Atletico Madrid defender Mario Hermoso had to be restrained after a confrontation with supporters of his team following Sunday s 2-0 home defeat to Villarreal.
After the final whistle, footage from inside the Civitas Metropolitano showed Hermoso exchanging angry words with fans while club coaching staff attempted to hold him back.
Hermoso was taunted from the stands in the wake of the 2-0 loss in LaLiga, and he frantically broke away from the clutches of the Atletico officials to climb over pitchside hoardings to attempt a confrontation with those targeting him.
He was pulled away by security as he and Atletico ultras went face to face.
Mario Hermoso trying to confront the fans.
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— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse)
England boss Sam Allardyce has left out Ross Barkley and Jack Wilshere of his first squad
Football is a game of opinions and the role of England boss raises more opinions than most jobs in football.
New Three Lions boss Sam Allardyce has named his first squad and there were few surprises.
The group of players he has chosen for Sunday’s World Cup qualifier against Slovakia shows that the experienced boss is looking to make the team solid again.
No Barkley, Wilshere or Rashford
The most striking thing about the squad selection was the fact that midfield ball players Ross Barkley and Jack Wilshere were omitted. The latter’s absence is no surprise considering he has spent much of his career in the treatment room.
The much-vaunted midfield…
Franck Ribery has labelled Carlo Ancelotti as a champion in all respects and hailed the positive atmosphere the Italian has created at Bayern Munich.
Ancelotti replaced Pep Guardiola as head coach at the Allianz Arena in the close-season and led Bayern to DFL-Superup glory against Borussia Dortmund, before starting their DFB-Pokal and Bundesliga campaigns with 5-0 and 6-0 thrashings of Carl Zeiss Jena and Werder Bremen respectively.
France winger Ribery criticised Guardiola s approach when speaking about the Manchester United boss in July, telling Bild: He lacks experience. Sometimes he talks too much. Football is very simple.
However, Ribery believes Ancelotti, who as a coach has won league titles in England, Spain, France and Italy as well as claiming three…
Chelsea winger Eden Hazard is close to signing a new lucrative five year deal with the club, .
The Belgium international, who moved to Stamford Bridge from Lille in the summer of 2012, has already made one hundred and fourteen appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring thirty-one goals, and was named the Blues’ Player of the Year for the 2013/14 campaign.
He has also won 50 caps for Belgium, with five of those appearances coming at this summer’s World Cup finals in Brazil.
Should he put pen to paper, he will follow Cesar Azpilicueta and international teammate Thibaut Courtois in doing so, with both having committed their future to the club in recent weeks.
Jose Mourinho’s men kick off their Champions League campaign with a home match…
Argentina have made an approach for Sao Paulo coach Edgardo Bauza to be their next boss, the Brazilian club confirmed.
Bauza, 58, featured three times for the Argentina national team during his playing career, while he coached mostly in his homeland before joining Sao Paulo in December 2015.
The Argentine Football Association (AFA) is searching for a new head coach following the resignation of Gerardo Martino in July.
Sao Paulo confirmed the approach on Thursday, saying in a statement: The coach of Sao Paulo, Edgardo Bauza, received on the afternoon of Thursday an invitation to meet with leaders of the Argentine Football Association [AFA].
Paton [Bauza] is one of the candidates to coach the selection of their country.
Sao Paulo said they expecte…