Premier League leaders Manchester United are set for another boost with Nemanja Vidic a certain starter against Sunderland on Saturday.
Still jubilant from Sunday s last-ditch 3-2 win over neighbours Manchester City, which pulled Alex Ferguson s men six points clear at the top, United will come up against a similarly rejuvenated force in Martin O Neill s Sunderland.
Sunderland strode to a confident 3-0 win over fellow strugglers Reading on Tuesday to launch themselves out of the drop zone, albeit by just a point.
But Saturday s assignment at Old Trafford will pose a far greater challenge for O Neill s side, especially given Vidic s inclusion.
Manchester United s porous defence escaped yet again at City despite conceding two goals and it seems almost unfe…
Diego Simeone insists Atletico Madrid cannot stop pushing in their pursuit of Champions League qualification after a narrow 1-0 victory over Mallorca.
Los Rojiblancos tightened their grip on fourth place in LaLiga, with Rodrigo Riquelme s fine individual effort in the fifth minute enough to secure back-to-back wins.
With four games remaining, Simeone s side moved onto 67 points, six clear of fifth-placed Athletic Bilbao, who they beat 3-1 last weekend.
The Atleti boss was thrilled by his players performance levels, but has urged them not to rest on their laurels.
Hay un amigo en mí.
— Atlético de Madrid (@Atleti)
The team interpreted the plan very well, he said. The commitment was incredible from [Angel] Correa to [Jan] Oblak to pla…
Hector Bellerin has revealed he left Barcelona for Arsenal at the tender age of 16 because the Premier League side made it clear they desperately wanted him.
The right-back was set to sign professional terms with the Catalans when the Emirates outfit came knocking in 2011 and he did not need to think twice about their offer after paying Arsenal a visit.
When you get to 16 at Barcelona, it s the age that you sign your main contract. I was about to sign that but we knew there were a lot of other options because you always get them from other teams at that time. I didn t have the option to come to Arsenal until I was right about to sign with Barcelona, Bellerin told the official Arsenal website.
When it came, they were so serious about it, more serious than any ot…
Kaka is on the verge of becoming Brazil s all-time leading goalscorer in World Cup qualifying, but believes Neymar will just break the record sooner rather than later anyway.
The Orlando City midfielder has been called up for Brazil s upcoming qualifiers due to the injury sustained by Liverpool s Philippe Coutinho.
Kaka currently has 10 goals in World Cup qualifiers and just needs two more to overtake current holders Romario and Zico, who have 11 each.
It will mean a lot to me, Kaka said. If I score two goals now and become the all-time scorer of the qualifiers, in a team with so many great players at a high level, it will mean a lot to me.
I have been aware of this feat since the 2010 qualifiers but didn t know how many I needed.
Now I know I …
Portuguese media outlet Abola claims that Primeira Liga giants Benfica are interested in signing the Argentine central defender Cristian Lima this summer.
Benfica are said to have already tabled a contract proposal for the player who is in his final year of contract with Belgrano who are playing in the Argentine Superliga.
Cristian Lema is presented with a three-year deal with a yearly wage package in excess of €1.5 million, plus add-ons and bonuses.
The 27-year-old Belgrano has been at the club since 2015. He has enjoyed a highly successful season at the club, making the total of 23 league appearances and scoring seven goals in the process.
Belgrano remain hopeful they will be able to persuade Lema to sign a contract extension but will face a d…
BUFFON ON… SQUAD NUMBERS
I chose 88 because it reminds me of four balls and in Italy we all know what it means to have balls: strength and determination. And this season I will have to have balls to get back my place in the Italy team.
BUFFON ON… VAR
You told us that VAR would be used in clear-cut incidents where there were mistakes, but now you are even checking the replays for a trodden toe or a finger in an ear. It s no longer football… it s turning into water polo. It takes too long. I didn t celebrate when we were awarded a penalty because six minutes had passed.
Six clean sheets in a row for the first time in our history.
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen)
BUFFON ON… HIS GOAL
More than 25 years ago I made my vow:…
Ralf Rangnick says Anthony Martial s desire to leave Manchester United is understandable .
Martial s playing time has been limited this season, with just four starts across all competitions and a further six substitute appearances totalling just 358 minutes.
Rangnick said the France international had expressed his desire to leave, and while he can see the player s point of view, he is not opposed to keeping Martial around to maintain the squad s depth.
We spoke at length on Wednesday, Rangnick said reporters.
He explained to me he s been at Manchester United now for the last seven years and he feels it s the right time for a change, to go somewhere else.
I think in a way this is understandable, I could follow his thoughts but on the other ha…
Market: Bolton Wanderers win
Odds: 3/4 @
With a golden chance to extend on their recent purple patch this weekend, Bolton will host Walsall from behind closed doors on Saturday afternoon.
Starting with the hosts, despite a dreadful start to the 2020/21 campaign, Bolton find themselves enjoying a stellar purple patch. Now sat within striking distance of breaking into the automatic spots and seen as a leading contender to book a League One return this season, Ian Evatt s men are enjoying an unbeaten run that stems back to January 23rd. Landing a 1-0 win against Port Vale last weekend and still boosted by that eye-catching victory against second-place Cambridge earlier in the month, The Whites should be smelling a golden chance on Saturday afternoon. Unbeaten in e…
Germany s national team director Oliver Bierhoff has left his role in the aftermath of the side s dismal World Cup campaign.
Bierhoff, who was a Euro 1996 winner and a runner-up at the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea as a player, first assumed his role with the German Football Association (DFB) in 2004.
The former Milan forward oversaw Germany s fourth World Cup triumph in Brazil eight years ago, but the team have since suffered consecutive group-stage exits at the tournament, finishing behind Japan and Spain in Group E at this year s competition.
The likes of Philipp Lahm and Dietmar Hamann reacted to the team s elimination in Qatar by calling for significant changes in German football, and the first of those will see Bierhoff depart.
DFB presid…
Barcelona could hand deadline day signings Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo their debuts against Osasuna on Sunday in a match coach Xavi is expecting to be a tough test for the reigning champions.
Portugal duo Felix and Cancelo were brought in on season-long loan deals on Friday from Atletico Madrid and Manchester City respectively and have been immediately named in a 22-man squad for the trip to Pamplona.
Inigo Martinez, a summer signing from Athletic Bilbao, is also in the squad for the first time after recovering from injury while Barca welcome back forward Raphinha from suspension after his opening-weekend dismissal at Getafe.
João and João
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona)
Xavi said: “The two newcomers (Felix and Cancelo) have trained with us …