Lionel Messi hailed Argentina s resilience after his majestic display against Croatia ensured a World Cup that began with defeat to Saudi Arabia could end in glory.
Messi recorded a goal and an assist as Argentina posted a 3-0 win over Croatia at Lusail Stadium on Tuesday to reach their sixth World Cup final – a tally only bettered by Germany (eight).
Having opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the first half, Messi rolled back the years with a remarkable assist as Julian Alvarez completed his brace after the break, beating Josko Gvardiol twice before teeing up a simple finish for the Manchester City forward.
Messi now has the chance to cap his incredible career by lifting football s biggest prize, a prospect that appeared unlikely when Argentina lost th…
Prediction: Inter Milan win
Best Odds:
Bookmaker:
While we may be half way through the new campaign across Europe, that doesn t mean we can t sit back and appreciate the accomplishments of the 2020/21 season. We saw plenty of teams thrive and that was certainly true in Italy, with the Suppercoppa Italia helping to represent that. This week, the trophy will be contested by Serie A champions Inter Milan and Coppa Italia holders Juventus.
Inter Milan
Inter Milan have done a solid job of building on their title win across all sectors this season and this game will be a really interesting test of just how far they ve come. They re easily one of the most entertaining clubs to watch in world football and if they can put Juve to the sword, it ll give them …
Pep Guardiola said the gruelling demands placed on his Manchester City players by an intense schedule means he will be forced to make changes to his line-up in the coming weeks in order to protect their welfare.
City face four games in 11 days, beginning with Tuesday’s Champions League opener against Red Star Belgrade at the Etihad, before welcoming Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Saturday.
They play Newcastle in the Carabao Cup third round on September 27 and travel to Molineux to face Wolves three days later, all off the back of an international window that saw several of Guardiola’s team endure long trips to and from South America.
5 wins from 5
Highlights of our win at West Ham
— Manchester City (@ManCity)
City came…
Odegaard, who joined in January, impressed in his 20 appearances in all competitions under Arteta.
The Norway international scored two goals and provided two assists, while his average of 2.24 chances created per 90 minutes was the best return of any Arsenal player to play more than six times last season.
Ceballos first signed for Arsenal on loan in July 2019 and the deal was extended last September after an impressive campaign that began with two assists on his first Premier League start, a feat only previously achieved for Arsenal by Ray Parlour and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
The 24-year-old midfielder made 40 appearances for the Gunners last season, although only 25 of those came as a starter.
3 Dani Ceballos is just the third Arsenal player to register 2+ as…
Barcelona claimed a second Clasico victory in three days as the Blaugranes beat Real Madrid 3-1 in the Women s Champions League quarter-final first leg.
Just 48 hours after Xavi mastered a 4-0 rout at Santiago Bernabeu, the Femeni followed suit at Estadio Alfredo di Stefano; Alexia Putellas scoring twice as they came from behind to record a 40th consecutive win in all competitions.
Despite enjoying 57 per cent of the first-half possession, Barca trailed at the break after Olga Carmona struck in the eighth minute for the hosts, who also hit the post through Esther Gonzalez.
That was only the second goal the reigning champions had conceded in this season s Champions League – and first since their 5-1 rout of Arsenal in September.
But the visitors, who las…
It remains to be seen whether Pep Guardiola will re-sign with Manchester City.
Guardiola s contract expires at the end of the season in Manchester.
Should the Spaniard decide to move on, there are already two men on the list to replace him.
TOP STORY – CITY INTERESTED IN NAGELSMANN
Manchester City are eyeing RB Leipzig head coach Julian Nagelsmann as a possible replacement for Pep Guardiola, according to the Daily Mail.
Guardiola is out of contract at the end of the 2020-21 campaign and the City manager – who has been previously linked to Juventus – is no closer to re-signing.
Should Guardiola decide to leave after arriving in 2016, Nagelsmann and former Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino are early candidates.
…
Ivan Perisic came off the bench to score the decisive goal for Inter in a 2-1 victory over Juventus that gave head coach Frank de Boer his first home win as Inter coach.
The Croatian midfielder powered a header into the net in the 78th minute to send the San Siro crowd into raptures and the result was fully deserved.
In fact, the scoreline flattered Juventus, who came up against an Inter side playing their best football since De Boer was installed as coach and they would have been very fortunate had Stephan Lichtsteiner s 66th minute goal proved to be the winner.
Mauro Icardi scored his fourth goal in as many Serie A games to equalise shortly after and it was Icardi who provided the assist for Perisic to score the winner.
Inter, who struggled to play De B…
Borussia Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp is braced for a difficult start to the Bundesliga season in a landmark clash with Bayer Leverkusen.
Klopp will become Dortmund s longest-serving coach when he takes charge of Saturday s clash at Signal Iduna Park, having been appointed in 2008.
The charismatic tactician is set to break Ottmar Hitzfeld s record tenure at Dortmund and there will be a sell-out crowd to mark the occasion for a mouth-watering first league game of the campaign.
Dortmund finished 19 points adrift of champions Bayern Munich last season and have since lost prolific striker Robert Lewandowski to the Bavarian giants, so Klopp will be looking to new signings Adrian Ramos and Ciro Immobile to provide some firepower.
Klopp masterminded a 2-0 victory…
Manchester City are interested in signing Jamal Musiala from Bayern Munich in the summer of 2024, according to . The report has claimed that Premier League and UEFA Champions League winners City have been hugely impressed by Musiala and are keen on securing the services of the 20-year-old at the end of the season.
Musiala is a very good and promising young player who can operate as an attacking midfielder or as a winger. The Germany international has established himself as a regular for Bayern as well as for his national team. The 20-year-old has made one start and one substitute appearance in the Bundesliga and has given one assist in one UEFA Champions League appearance so far this season.
City are at the top of the Premier League table at the moment with 18 points fr…
Harry Redknapp was considering a move for Luis Suarez and said Eden Hazard was dead keen on a switch to Tottenham when he was manager of the club.
Redknapp s men eventually finished the 2011-12 season in fourth in the Premier League, while they reached the FA Cup semi-finals.
Then linked with the England job, the 69-year-old said Spurs were close to signing Suarez and Hazard.
I was managing a Tottenham team I thought could go on and win the title, I genuinely believed that, Redknapp told talkSPORT.
We got Louis Saha and Ryan Nelsen on free transfers – we were short, we had injuries at centre-half and I had no striker.
If we had gone out [and invested] then, Luis Suarez was the player we were looking at.
Suarez joined Liverpool i…