Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets and Luis Suarez all did not travel for Inter Miami s 2-1 victory over Vancouver Whitecaps, leading head coach Gerardo Martino to apologise.
The former Barcelona trio were expected to feature for the Eastern Conference leaders on Sunday, but were rested as Martino s side triumphed thanks to goals from Robert Taylor and Leonardo Campana.
Vancouver s BC Place was expecting a larger than usual home crowd to greet the global superstars, though Whitecaps Axel Schuster apologised once the hosts got wind of Messi s absence.
With Martino subsequently leaving Messi and his former Blaugrana stars at home, the Miami boss felt it necessary to offer his apologies to the expectant Vancouver crowd.
Obviously it is very important for us beca…
Hamburger SV are considering a January move for CSKA Moscow winger Zoran Tosic, .
The Bundesliga side are prepared to offer around €4 million for the player s services, but the Russians are holding out for more.
CSKA Moscow chiefs are ready to cash in on the player who hasn t been performing to his potential of late, but they will not sell him on the cheap.
The Serbian winger has a contract until June 2015 in Moscow, but it looks as though his long-term future at the club is in doubt.
Zoran Tosic played for Buducnost Banatski Dvor and Partizan before completing a dream move to Manchester United in January 2009, but he only managed to make two league appearances at Old Trafford before leaving for CSKA Moscow.
He has featured in 85 Russian Premie…
Celta Vigo forward Nolito believes it is inevitable Luis Enrique would join Barcelona as head coach should he be offered the position.
Speculation in Spain has continued to mount that Barca head coach Gerardo Martino will depart Camp Nou in the close-season after just one season in charge, with the Catalans unlikely to defend their Liga title, as well as losing the Copa del Rey final and exiting the UEFA Champions League at the quarter-final stage.
Enrique s name has been touted as a possible replacement, the 43-year-old earning plaudits for a solid debut campaign at Celta, with the club currently sitting 10th, after narrowly avoiding relegation in a 17th-place finish last term.
Furthermore, Enrique enjoyed a highly successful eight-year spell as a player at Barca as w…
Youssouf Mulumbu has denied reports he wants to leave West Brom in January for a more classy club.
Quotes were attributed to the Congolese midfielder last week regarding his future at the club and the professionalism of his team-mates.
The 26-year-old was also reported as saying a move to Arsenal was on the cards.
However, Mulumbu has insisted he was misrepresented and assured fans he is fully committed to Steve Clarke s side.
I did an interview with a French journalist last week but I am not very happy about how my answers have been reported, he told West Brom s official website.
I have been here for five years now and would never refer to my team-mates that way. I just spoke about the fact we need to get better at controlling games after the points we ve …
Jack Grealish could return for Manchester City as the champions host Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Saturday.
The England midfielder has missed the treble winners’ last three games with a knee injury and was also unavailable for international duty earlier this month.
The 28-year-old is now back in training, easing manager Pep Guardiola’s injury concerns after Bernardo Silva this week joined a casualty list that also includes Kevin De Bruyne, John Stones and Mateo Kovacic.
PEP Jack is coming back, training well and could be ready. Kova is almost [ready], the last part of the recovery but now we lost Bernardo for a few days and John, KDB, they are still out.
— Manchester City (@ManCity)
Guardiola said at a press conference: “We…
Javi Martinez, Franck Ribery and James Rodriguez did the damage as Bayern Munich claimed a commendable 3-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen at the BayArena on Friday, increasing their lead at the Bundesliga summit to 14 points.
Jupp Heynckes men were the controlling force for most of the match and, although Leverkusen found some hope through a deflected Kevin Volland goal, Bayern ended their hosts 12-match unbeaten run and claim a first win at the BayArena since March 2013 despite Robert Lewandowski s absence due to a knee injury.
The entertaining first half was initially end-to-end, with the two sides having fairly equal shares of the ball, but Bayern gradually gained control and identified Leverkusen s main weaknesses; their susceptibility at set-pieces and Karim Bellarab…
Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas insists Barcelona are the only club who can take care of superstar Lionel Messi.
Fabregas and Messi played together for three seasons, when the Spaniard was with the LaLiga giants from 2011-14.
The 29-year-old has no doubt Barca are the only outfit capable of caring for Messi, who is now sidelined with a groin injury.
Messi is the best in the world without any doubt, Fabregas told Cadena COPE.
I think the club are the only club in the world who can take care of Messi. They have done so in recent years.
They have always taken care of him. It s the best club for him.
Messi is expected to miss three weeks after suffering a groin injury in his side s LaLiga draw with Atletico Madrid on Wednesday.
Fa…
Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard is delighted to see his side in the Premier League title hunt late in the campaign.
Jose Mourinho s men are title favourites despite a 1-0 loss at Aston Villa last time out in the league, with Chelsea four points clear at the top.
Lampard, 35, is pleased to see his side, who last won the league in 2009/10, back fighting for top spot instead of battling for a European place.
For me, it s very simple – worry about yourselves, look after your own game, he said.
If we do that in as many games as possible between now and the end of the season, we ll give ourselves a great chance.
I m confident we can do it. We ve had two or three years of being off the pace now, and coming up short in terms of our league position, and it s grea…
Marco Asensio said he never thought about leaving Real Madrid following his starring display for Spain in Tuesday s demolition of Croatia.
It was the Asensio show in Elche, where the forward scored once and set up four more as Spain condemned World Cup finalists Croatia to the biggest defeat of their history – a 6-0 rout in the Nations League.
Asensio was linked with a move away from Champions League holders Madrid amid reports of a potential switch to Liverpool.
However, Asensio – who has five years remaining on his contract – told reporters: I ve never had the intention to go anywhere.
¡Gran noche con un ambiente espectacular!
— Marco Asensio (@marcoasensio10)
The 22-year-old has flourished at Madrid, winning eight trophies…
Alessandro Nesta believes David Beckham s Miami MLS franchise will be a welcome addition to United States football should the team ever get clearance to join the league.
Beckham, a former team-mate of Nesta s at AC Milan, exercised his option to create an MLS franchise in February 2014, with the club provisionally called Miami Beckham United.
However, with reported financing issues and no agreement with the Miami-Dade County in order to complete a deal for a prospective area of land for a new stadium, Beckham s franchise is some way off joining MLS.
Miami FC joined the North American Soccer League and they have just finished their maiden season in the division since Beckham s franchise deal was announced.
And Nesta, who is head coach at Miami FC, is conv…