Valencia manager Unai Emery is hoping history does not repeat when his side faces Atletico Madrid in La Liga on Saturday.
The fourth-placed side are eyeing off a spot in the Champions League for next season, but it was the Madrid club who denied Emery the chance to manage in Europe s illustrious football competition in the 2009/10 campaign, beating them 1-0 in May 2009 to oust them from the top four.
Emery was motivated to ensure they would not allow Atletico to do the same on Saturday, despite Valencia s six-point cushion from fifth-placed Athletic Bilbao and their 14-point buffer from Quique Sanchez Flores side.
Two seasons ago, Atletico Madrid cost us a lot of points that perhaps kept us out of the Champions League. So we are aware of their threat. We have t…
Schalke have announced that coach Felix Magath will leave the Bundesliga club with immediate effect.
Magath, 57, had been widely tipped for the exit owing to the team s disappointing form in the league this season.
A championship-winning coach with Wolfsburg and Bayern Munich, Magath was due to meet with club officials at an extraordinary session of the supervisory board on Wednesday, but chose not to attend.
The club later confirmed that he had been removed from the post, but a replacement is yet to be announced.
Schalke have very good reasons to part company with Felix Magath, chairman Clemens Tonnies said.
We will not communicate these reasons as a legal battle now awaits us. We re very disappointed about the departure of Felix, but we feel…
Paris Saint-Germain broke the Ligue 1 points record thanks to a 4-0 win over Gazelec Ajaccio on Saturday, while Lyon s stunning 6-1 victory against Monaco all but assured them of a place in the Champions League group stage.
Edinson Cavani scored a hat-trick as PSG dominated lowly Gazelec, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic adding gloss to the result in stoppage time his 35th goal of the season.
The result lifted the champions to 92 points for the season, surpassing their previous marker of 89, set in 2013-14.
In Lyon, the hosts had already opened up a 2-0 lead by the time Monaco s Lacina Traore was sent off for a second bookable offence in the 23rd minute, and goals from Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa and a second from Alexandre Lacazette doubled the advantage.
Ricardo Carvalho …
Ex-Bayern Munich striker Miroslav Klose feels the reigning Bundesliga champions have no reason to fear Juventus ahead of Tuesday s Champions League encounter, but has warned his former team they cannot afford to underestimate the Serie A giants either.
Bayern knocked Juventus out of the competition in 2012-13, recording 2-0 wins both at home and away, but Klose has made it clear the Italian side have made plenty of progress since.
Fear is the wrong word. Bayern don t have to fear any team in the world, the Lazio striker told the Bayern s website.
But they should definitely have lots of respect for Juve. They re a very clever team and it s not easy to knock them out of their stride.
Juve are further on than they were three years ago, partly thanks to …
Former Ajax, Inter and Crystal Palace manager Frank de Boer has been appointed as the new head coach of Atlanta United, the MLS Cup champions have confirmed.
The Dutchman has signed a multi-year contract with the team and will succeed Gerardo Martino.
De Boer won four successive Eredivisie titles during his time in charge of Ajax, but struggled to replicate his success during a disastrous three-month spell at Inter in 2016.
He took charge of Palace for the 2017-18 campaign, but was sacked when the Eagles lost their first four Premier League games.
However, he has now been handed a chance to revive his career in the United States, and Atlanta president Darren Eales is delighted to have secured De Boer s signature.
— Atlanta Uni…
Chelsea great Frank Lampard believes Romelu Lukaku is a good option to replace Diego Costa, but feels the Spain international s departure will be a blow.
Costa claimed head coach Antonio Conte no longer wanted him at the Premier League champions, despite his 22 goals in 2016-17.
Lukaku, 24, has regularly been linked with a return to Stamford Bridge after four strong seasons at Everton.
Lampard said the Belgium international would be a fine replacement, but added there were other possibilities.
I know Romelu from playing alongside him, it was early on in his career and he probably didn t get the chances in his first spell at the club, he told Sky Sports.
He s certainly developed to a huge degree since he left the club, Romelu would certainly be a…
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane believes Barcelona have a squad that is capable of fighting for everything .
After a trophy-less 2019-20 season, Ronald Koeman is rebuilding the Blaugrana, who have seen the likes of Luis Suarez, Arturo Vidal, Ivan Rakitic, Arthur and Nelson Semedo leave.
Philippe Coutinho has returned from his loan spell at Bayern Munich and Miralem Pjanic joined from Juventus, while Lionel Messi ended up staying after requesting a move.
Zidane, whose Madrid visit Real Betis on Saturday, said Barca were strong enough to again be challenging for titles.
I will be respectful. Besides, I don t know what s going on inside, that s why I don t want to get involved, the Madrid coach told a news conference.
I think each club has their …
Diogo Dalot admits he has gone through a tough journey at Manchester United after scoring his first goal for the club against Tranmere Rovers.
Making his first start in all competitions since October, Dalot struck a fine second in United s 6-0 FA Cup fourth-round victory at Prenton Park, turning smartly after collecting Anthony Martial s pass and firing home.
It was a moment to savour for the 20-year-old, who has been restricted to six appearances in all competitions due to injury.
Indeed, physical problems have largely halted Dalot s progress at Old Trafford since an encouraging first season following his move from Porto in 2018.
Speaking of his strike against Tranmere, Dalot told United s in-house media: Yeah, [the celebration] was more like a release o…
Luton have signed Barnsley captain Mads Andersen for an undisclosed fee.
The 25-year-old Danish central defender spent four years at Oakwell and made 175 appearances for the Tykes.
“I’m so excited. It’s a dream come true,” Anderson told the official Luton website of his move to the Premier League new boys.
Welcome, ! |
— Luton Town FC (@LutonTown)
“When I made my move in Denmark from Brondby to a lower team in the same division, me and my dad spoke about it and I said, ‘In one and a half years, I’m going to go to the Championship’, and that is exactly what happened.
“During that period I also wrote on a piece of paper ‘Premier League’, and stuck it on the fridge.
“I completely forgot about it, until my…
Scotland defender Jack Hendry will remain positive and make the most of their Euro 2024 opportunity after a seventh game without a win saw some fans turn against the team.
Boos rang out during and after the 1-0 Hampden defeat by Northern Ireland as Scotland failed to make the most of the vast majority of possession.
Conor Bradley’s first-half strike, which came courtesy of Nathan Patterson’s error, gave Michael O’Neill’s young side something to hold on to, and they did so successfully as Scotland struggled to hit the target or carve out a series of clear-cut chances.
Scotland had not gone seven matches without victory for 19 years – that sequence helped spell the end of Berti Vogts’ reign as manager.
But such runs can turn quickly in the other…