Pep Guardiola can return to Barcelona whenever he wants according to club president Josep Maria Bartomeu, who said he sees the Manchester City coach running the club s famous La Masia training academy.
Bartomeu said he offered Guardiola the opportunity to take charge of La Masia towards the end of his four-year spell as Barcelona head coach.
Guardiola, who guided one of football s all-time great teams through one of the most successful periods in Barcelona s history between 2008 and 2012, opted instead to leave Camp Nou and enjoyed a spell as Bayern Munich boss before joining City.
But Bartomeu insists the door is never closed on a potential return.
He s a genius and he has the doors of his house open whenever he wants, Bartomeu told The Times.
…
Market: Both teams to score
Odds: 7/10 @
Getting a new era underway on Saturday afternoon, Nottingham Forest will welcome Bournemouth to the City Ground.
Starting with the hosts, eventually slumping to a 2-0 loss at home against Champions League dreamers Tottenham last weekend, that result was enough to cost Steve Cooper his job in the Nottingham Forest hot seat. Turning to ex-Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo, the Portuguese tactician has a real job on his hands. Coming under a huge amount of scrutiny since opening up the 2023/24 campaign, they have now recorded just a single point from any of their previous six Premier League appearances. In fact, aside from a 2-0 victory against Aston Villa on November 5th, Forest are without a win from any of their other 12 st…
Prediction: Juventus to win and both teams to score
Odds:
Bookmaker:
Andrea Pirlo will be aiming to add to his UEFA Champions League triumphs claimed as a player as he takes charge of Juventus in the Round of 16 for the first time against Porto at the Estádio do Dragão.
The former midfielder lifted two titles during his playing career and now faces the first-leg against the two-time winners on Wednesday evening in Portugal.
FC Porto
Having last lifted the UEFA Champions League under Jose Mourinho in 2004, the Dragons are once again attempting to disturb the established order. The Portuguese giants head into the knockout rounds having finished second in Group C behind Pep Guardiola s Manchester City. They impressed throughout the group stages,…
Cristiano Ronaldo sent his former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson his support and urged him to be strong after suffering a brain haemorrhage.
United confirmed on Saturday that Ferguson, 76, fell ill on Friday and has been in intensive care after undergoing a procedure which went very well , according to the club.
The Scot managed United for 27 years until 2013, enjoying an immensely successful career in Manchester which saw him win a host of trophies and discover many great players.
Arguably chief among the talents he developed was Ronaldo, whom Ferguson signed from Sporting CP in 2003 as a replacement for David Beckham.
Ferguson nurtured Ronaldo at United and the attacker won the first of his five Ballons d Or under his tutelage at Old Trafford i…
Tired of your mates recycling the same old football trivia questions from years gone by?
Bring them bang up-to-date and get them guessing with our Opta-powered Premier League quiz.
All the answers are at the bottom of the page, so you can claim the high ground when it comes to statistical knowledge!
1. Fulham could become the third team to concede two or more goals in 10 consecutive Premier League games. Who are the only other sides to manage this?
Scott: When you’re in this position, every game is must-win. It’s a tough game every game is in this league. We’re looking forward to it but understand the predicament we’re in.
— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC)
2. Sergio Aguero has scored 96 league goals for Manchester…
Thomas Tuchel was full of praise for Kai Havertz after the Germany international s star turn in Monday s 2-0 win over Everton.
Havertz was a big-money signing by the Premier League club prior to the start of the season, having impressed in the Bundesliga for Bayer Leverkusen in recent years.
However, after a solid beginning to his career at Stamford Bridge, the 21-year-old has found it tough going in recent months, not aided by contracting coronavirus in November.
Prior to the win over Everton at Stamford Bridge, Havertz had scored just once and created only two assists in 20 top-flight appearances.
But he was instrumental as Chelsea consolidated their place in the top four.
It was Havertz s neat first-time effort from a low cross that…
Best odds: 19/20
Bookmaker:
Manchester United travel to Austria to face LASK at the Linzer Stadion in the first leg of their Europa League round-of-16 encounter on Thursday evening. At the advice of the Austrian government, the hosts have decided for the game to be played behind closed doors due to the measures being implemented amid fears of the potential spread of the Coronavirus.
Having finished second in the Austrian Bundesliga last season, 12 points behind champions RB Salzburg, LASK started their European journey this term in the third round of the Champions League qualifications. They managed to get past Basel, but they were eliminated in the playoffs by Genk, which meant they had earned a place in the Europa League. They were placed in Group D, which the…
Barcelona are aiming for a record fifth successive Copa del Rey triumph on Saturday when they face Valencia, with the Catalans recent dominance in the competition seeing them reach the final sixth times in a row.
If Ernesto Valverde s men complete the feat, they will certainly have done it the hard way, as they have had to get past Real Madrid and Sevilla en route to the final and will now face a Valencia side who finished fourth in LaLiga.
The pressure is on, however. Barca disappointed supporters by failing to reach the Champions League final, despite beating Liverpool 3-0 in the semi-final first leg, and some are calling for Valverde to lose his job.
Winning only LaLiga when a treble looked extremely likely just a few weeks ago could potentially spell doom for…
Hansi Flick joked that Thiago Alcantara told him he was staying at Bayern Munich after winning the Champions League.
Thiago helped Bayern beat Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 in the final on Sunday to clinch a sixth European Cup/Champions League title.
The Spain international is contracted until 2021 but is widely expected to leave the club, linked heavily with a move to Premier League champions Liverpool.
Bayern head coach Flick joked the midfielder would stay, but said he simply wanted to thank Thiago.
No, [Thiago] told me he s staying. No, I m joking, he told a news conference.
No, quite simply I wanted to thank him. Just as I thanked all of the players.
Can t let go
— #UCLfinal (@ChampionsLeague)
I don t know, he doesn…
Sadio Mane has a hamstring injury but Liverpool do not yet know the extent of the problem, manager Jurgen Klopp said.
The Senegal star went off in the first half of the Premier League leaders 2-1 victory at Wolves on Thursday.
Mane pulled up when running for a Mohamed Salah pass and was replaced by Takumi Minamino 33 minutes in.
Klopp hopes the injury is not serious but will wait until further checks can be carried out on Friday.
Sadio, it s a real shame he had to go off, he told BBC Sport. Hopefully, it s not too bad, just a muscle tweak, but we will see tomorrow.
Klopp added in a news conference: He felt something in the hamstring. We don t know yet; we have to wait.
40 Liverpool are only the fifth team in English Football League hist…