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…
The winger was part of the Bayern side that won an unprecedented treble last season, as they added the UEFA Champions League and DFB-Pokal titles to their Bundesliga success.
During the close-season, Mario Goetze and Thiago Alcantara have joined from Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona respectively to add to the wealth of midfield talent already at the Allianz Arena that includes Thomas Mueller, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Franck Ribery.
But Netherlands international Robben believes that the additions can only be good for the team.
I think I will play. Obviously we have many good players and signed new ones, in general I like it because we made our team stronger, he said in a telephone interview with fans broadcast by Kicker.
We have more quality now. I don t think my …
Hellas Verona have signed midfielder Jacopo Sala from Bundesliga side Hamburg.
The 21-year-old joins the newly promoted Serie A outfit following a two-year spell at the Imtech Arena.
The Italy under-21 international failed to establish himself as a regular with Hamburg after moving from Chelsea in July 2011.
Sala will now link up with his new team-mates, who are tasked with keeping Verona in the top flight following their return after an 11-year absence.
Andrea Mandorlini has recruited heavily in the close-season, with veteran striker Luca Toni and experienced midfielder Massimo Donati among those to switch to the Stadio Marc Antonio Bentegodi.
Sala made eight appearances for Hamburg last term.
…
Varane on his way out of United
Crashing out of the Champions League last month and breaking a string of unwanted records, it is no secret that Manchester United have come under a huge amount of scrutiny this season.
With growing speculation over Eric ten Hag’s long-term future at Old Trafford, the Red Devils appear set for what will be a hectic January transfer window.
Although the ex-Ajax boss might be desperate to add to his squad during the January transfer window, it looks like several United’s first-team stars will be heading for the exit.
While United might have continued to show a string of defensive issues this season, Raphael Varane has struggled to find any kind of stability and there has been continued speculation over his relationship with ten …
Jaime Penedo was the hero for Panama as they beat Trinidad and Tobago 6-5 on penalties in the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarter-finals following a 1-1 draw at the end of extra time.
Penedo saved Lester Peltier s spot-kick in the ninth round of penalties at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Sunday to book the 2013 finalists place in the semi-finals.
Some dreadful defending from Trinidad handed Panama the lead in the 36th minute as Luis Tejada found the net from close range.
But Panama could not hold onto their advantage, and Trinidad equalised eight minutes after half-time when Kenwyne Jones glanced home from a set-piece.
Extra time could not separate the pair and they remained deadlocked in the shoot-out, although Daneil Cyrus missed for Trinid…
Bayern Munich sporting director Matthias Sammer has agreed a three-year contract extension with the club.
The former Germany international has held the role with the Bundesliga champions since 2012, with the club winning a host of domestic and European titles since then.
Sammer signed the new deal on Wednesday, with the 47-year-old now under contract at the Allianz Arena until June 2018.
I am grateful for the confidence of the board but also for the good cooperation with my colleagues, he said in a statement on the club s official website.
I promise that I will continue with the same passion and intensity with which I have fulfilled this task so far.
We all have big goals with Bayern. I want to help us to achieve this.
…
Eden Hazard stressed the importance of winning trophies every season at Real Madrid as the star signing eyes silverware in 2019-20.
Hazard swapped Chelsea for Madrid in a big-money move during the off-season after the LaLiga club s difficult 2018-19 campaign.
Madrid finished third behind bitter rivals Barcelona in LaLiga, crashed out of the Champions League in the last 16 and lost in the Copa del Rey semi-finals.
Hazard – who led Chelsea to Europa League glory last term – understands the importance of titles at the Santiago Bernabeu.
When you play for Real Madrid you need to win things every season. You need to win, win, win, Hazard told Jay Shetty via Madrid s official website.
If you don t win the Champions League the fans get down and t…
Things have not been so good for Jesus Vallejo in 2019 and he will definitely hope to have a better 2020. The reason for that is that he has been loaned last summer from Real Madrid, but by the end of the year it became obvious that his loan spell has not been a successful one. According to AS, Real Madrid are planning to recall Jesus Vallejo from his loan spell at Wolverhampton Wanderers this Janury.
The 22-year-old has only featured in two Premier League games since making a move from the capital of Spain to Molineux. The Blancos are, expectedly so, worried about the player s lack of playing time and they will be ready to make up the lost time.
Madrid are hoping to bring Vallejo back and then send him out on a new loan, to another club when the market reopens, amid …