Новости за 13.12.2018

Olivier Giroud came off the bench to salvage an under-strength Chelsea a laboured 2-2 draw at Vidi in the Europa League on Thursday. With the Blues already confirmed as Group L winners, Maurizio Sarri made 10 changes to the side that beat Manchester City last weekend and was almost made to endure an embarrassing defeat. The visitors made life difficult for themselves as an Ethan Ampadu own goal quickly erased Willian's 30th-minute opener, before Loic Nego fired the unheralded Hungarians into the lead 11 minutes after the restart. Читать дальше...

Five Ligue 1 fixtures, including those of champions Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille, have been called off due to anticipated riots in France. Protests, labelled 'gilet jaunes' demonstrations, have caused havoc across the country in recent weeks, particularly in Paris, with six Ligue 1 games having been postponed in matchweek 17. And, with police resources needed to deal with more expected riots, half of the scheduled 10 fixtures set to take place in matchweek 18 have now been postponed. PSG... Читать дальше...

Former Argentina boss Jorge Sampaoli has agreed to become head coach of Campeonato Brasileiro giants Santos. No other details have been confirmed at this stage, aside from the fact Sampaoli has accepted a proposal to lead Santos in the 2019 season. A contract is set to be signed this weekend, when the final terms of the 58-year-old's first post since leading Argentina at the 2018 World Cup will be finalised. Sampaoli masterminded Chile's 2015 Copa America triumph, leading to links with Premier League club Chelsea. Читать дальше...

Thomas Muller could be suspended for Bayern Munich's two Champions League last-16 matches following his kick to Nicolas Tagliafico's head in Wednesday's 3-3 draw with Ajax. Germany international Muller was shown a straight red card in the 75th minute when, attempting to control a high cross-field pass, his studs made contact with Tagliafico, leaving a cut on the defender. The 29-year-old may be dealt more than the manadatory one-match ban if UEFA deems the incident a serious offence at a hearing on January 10. Читать дальше...

If predictions are a mug’s game, the Championship will make fools of us all. There are any number of tales of clubs who have either clicked in or out of form and surged up or fallen back down the table. The relentlessness cycle of Saturday-Tuesday football allows momentum to play a greater role than might otherwise be expected. Just as you think you have the measure of the Championship, it pulls the rug from under your feet.But whatever happens between Christmas and May, Daniel Farke has changed the mood at Norwich City. Читать дальше...

PSV head coach Mark van Bommel has made contact with Arjen Robben over bringing the Bayern Munich winger back to the Philips Stadion next season. Robben, 34, has confirmed this campaign will be the last of his highly successful spell at Bayern, whom he joined from Real Madrid in 2009. The ex-Netherlands international is yet to announce his next destination, but hometown team Groningen are believed to be interested in engineering a move. PSV, where Robben spent two seasons over a decade ago, are... Читать дальше...

10. Climb the Football League pyramid with Salford CityThese are heady times at Salford City. The Ammies havebeen promoted three times in the lastfour years, are bankrolled by a Singapore billionaire and a bunch of Manchester United legends, and Adam Rooney is banging them in like namesake Wayne during his heyday.Flying high in the National League, Salford have their sights set on title success this year. With the kind of financial backing that makes Scrooge McDuck look skint, don’t bet against them... Читать дальше...

Former Juventus CEO Giuseppe Marotta has taken up a similar role at Serie A rivals Inter, the club announced on Thursday. Marotta joined Juve in 2010 and presided over a glorious period for the club, which included seven consecutive Serie A titles before stepping down at the end of September. The 61-year-old had been heavily linked with the presidency of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) towards the end of his tenure, but he strongly denied that and claims of talks with Inter surfaced soon after. Читать дальше...

Klopp's curious record against MourinhoJurgen Klopp's first Premier League win came against Jose Mourinho, and even Christian Benteke scored on that occasion. For the Special One, the timing of Liverpool's 3-1 triumph at Stamford Bridge in October 2015 was awful – from that point on the Chelsea crisis spiralled out of control, and the Portuguese was fired by the champions a few weeks later.That wasn't his first debacle against the self-proclaimed Normal One. In April 2013, Robert Lewandowski famously... Читать дальше...

Football Association (FA) chief executive Martin Glenn will step down from his position at the end of the 2018-19 season. In a statement released by the organisation, Glenn was praised for having "delivered much of what he came to do" and leaving "strong foundations for his successor". Glenn was appointed to the role in 2015 and his first major tournament with the FA ended in ignominy, as England were knocked out Euro 2016 by Iceland at the last-16 stage. Manager Roy Hodgson resigned and Glenn's... Читать дальше...

Thomas Muller has apologised for the high challenge on Ajax defender Nicolas Tagliafico which resulted in the Bayern Munich star being sent off in Wednesday's 3-3 Champions League draw. Muller was given his marching orders in the 75th minute after accidentally scraping his studs on Tagliafico's head when trying to control a high cross-field pass. The Argentina international suffered a cut but no serious lasting damage and was able to complete the match – later scoring a last-gasp equaliser. Muller's... Читать дальше...

Ronaldo Vieira isn’t one to hang around.The former Leeds midfielder swapped English football for Serie A and Sampdoria in the summer, following a path previously trodden by the likes of David Platt, Graeme Souness and Liam Brady. He was the latest in a line of young English talents to leave his comfort zone and seek success on foreign soil, but for Vieira it was just the latest chapter in an already eventful life story.Born in the West African nation of Guinea-Bissau in 1998, Vieira relocated to Portugal with his family at the age ofthree. Читать дальше...

Robert Pires says not even his former France team-mates Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry played at the same level to Lionel Messi, who "has something no one else has". Pires enjoyed a distinguished career and won many major titles playing for France, Arsenal and Marseille, playing alongside some of the world's biggest stars. Arguably chief among them were the likes of Zidane and Henry, with whom he won the 1998 World Cup under Aime Jacquet. Pires joined Villarreal in 2006 and his four-year stay... Читать дальше...

Phillip Cocu said he "fell in love with Istanbul" in a farewell message to Fenerbahce supporters after the club announced a "mutual agreement" had been struck regarding his October dismissal for plunging the Turkish giants into a relegation battle. Cocu was relieved of his duties as first-team coach at the end of October following a 3-1 home defeat by Ankaragucu, just four months after being hired. The former PSV coach won just three of his 15 competitive matches in charge, and things have barely... Читать дальше...

For a long time,no one kept a record of assists. Appearances made and goals scored have been noted downfor decades, but it's only relatively recently that we've begun to keep track of how many times a player has set a goal up.That's good news for modern-day playmakers, for whom assists are the most important currency. Not that you have to be a diminutive No.10to be a prolific provider -a no-nonsense centre-half, a flying full-back and a burly centre-forward areamong those to have registered three... Читать дальше...

We now know which teams will be contesting the Champions League's round-of-16 after the final group games saw the likes of Tottenham and Liverpool scraping through. Some teams had little difficulty booking their place, with Porto, Bayern Munich and Barcelona topping their respective groups unbeaten. Juventus and holders Real Madrid also progress as group winners, despite suffering shock defeats on Wednesday to Young Boys and CSKA Moscow, respectively. Those who emerged as leaders in the round-robin phase will ... Читать дальше...

Former France star Robert Pires thinks Barcelona would be unwise to offload troublesome winger Ousmane Dembele in order to re-sign Neymar from Paris Saint-Germain. Dembele arrived last year as a replacement for Neymar, who joined PSG in a world-record €222million deal. Injuries had a particularly damaging impact on Dembele's first season, while his time in Spain has also been plagued by suggestions of a poor attitude and bad timekeeping. His latest misdemeanour reportedly came last week when the... Читать дальше...

Ajax star Frenkie de Jong insisted he was yet to make a decision on his future amid links to some of Europe's biggest clubs. De Jong, 21, helped Ajax to a 3-3 Champions League draw against Bayern Munich, one of the clubs reportedly interested in his services, on Wednesday. However, the Netherlands international midfielder, who is contracted in Amsterdam until 2022, said he was yet to decide on his future. Asked if he had come to an agreement with Paris Saint-Germain, De Jong told Voetbalzone: "No... Читать дальше...

Marcelo does not believe Real Madrid have an attitude problem following their humiliating Champions League defeat to CSKA Moscow. Madrid crashed to the heaviest home defeat in any European competition in the club's illustrious history, the three-time reigning Champions League winners stunned 3-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu. Fedor Chalov, Georgy Schennikov and Arnor Sigurdsson condemned Madrid to a forgettable night in the Spanish capital, though Wednesday's result had no impact on Marcelo and his team-mates finishing top of Group G. Читать дальше...

Arsenal could be forced to sign a centre-back in the January transfer window amid the club's defensive shortage, head coach Unai Emery admitted. Emery's options in defence are limited after Arsenal centre-back Rob Holding suffered a season-ending knee injury last week, while veteran Laurent Koscielny is only set to make his first appearance since May in the Europa League against Qarabag on Thursday. Key duo Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Shkodran Mustafi are suspended for Sunday's trip to Premier League strugglers Southampton... Читать дальше...

The A-League will expand to 12 teams by 2020 after confirmation Western Melbourne Group and Macarthur South West Sydney were granted licences. After delays and plenty of speculation, Football Federation Australia (FFA) announced its decision on Thursday. The club from Melbourne will enter the competition in 2019-20, while the Sydney side is set to join a season later. "We have seen unprecedented interest from bids to be part of the Hyundai A-League and we are excited about our two new expansion... Читать дальше...

Cristiano Ronaldo is relishing the "beautiful part" of the Champions League and is confident Juventus will be ready for the last 16 despite their shock defeat at Young Boys. Italian champions Juventus crashed to a 2-1 loss to Young Boys but still moved through to the knockout phase as Group H winners ahead of Manchester United. Having already qualified for the round of 16 prior to kick-off, Juve were upstaged by Guillaume Hoarau's double en route to their first away defeat of the season. However... Читать дальше...

Robert Lewandowski said Bayern Munich have a lot more to show as he lamented his team's wastefulness in possession following Wednesday's absorbing Champions League draw at Ajax. Lewandowski scored twice and Bayern secured top spot in Group E with a thrilling 3-3 draw in Amsterdam, with both teams reduced to 10 men. Bayern twice led and yet twice let their advantage slip, including in stoppage time when Kingsley Coman's late strike was cancelled out by Nicolas Tagliafico in the 95th minute. While... Читать дальше...

Inspirational skipper Nabil Fekir deflected praise to his "heroic" team-mates after leading Lyon to the Champions League knockout round on Wednesday. The France forward and long-time Liverpool target scored the crucial 65th-minute equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Shakhtar Donetsk that confirmed Lyon's progression alongside Group F winners Manchester City. His rifled finish from Memphis Depay's cutback cancelled out Junior Moraes' first-half opener in frosty Ukraine and proved enough to preserve the Ligue 1 outfit's two-point buffer in second. Читать дальше...

Jose Mourinho says there was nothing in Manchester United's 2-1 defeat to Valencia on Wednesday that surprised him. A Carlos Soler strike and a Phil Jones own goal condemned the Red Devils to a loss at Mestalla, with a Marcus Rashford header proving mere consolation. United had already secured their place in the last 16 of the Champions League, but a victory would have seen them finish top of Group H given Juventus suffered a shock 2-1 defeat to Young Boys. Mourinho made eight changes to the team that beat Fulham 4-1 last Saturday... Читать дальше...