Manchester United 1 Liverpool 1 (1-3 agg): Coutinho brilliance ends Van Gaal´s Europa bid

A moment of magic from Philippe Coutinho secured a 1-1 draw for Liverpool and a place in the Europa League quarter-finals at the expense of bitter rivals Manchester United.

Jurgen Klopp s team claimed a dominant 2-0 win at Anfield a week ago but United were much improved from that lacklustre showing and sparked hopes of a turnaround when the impressive Anthony Martial won and netted a 32nd-minute penalty.

Visiting striker Daniel Sturridge struck the crossbar before Coutinho extinguished United s ambitions of a comeback with an exquisite solo goal on the stroke of half-time.

Louis van Gaal s team were criticised for their lack of creativity in the opening game – they created chances on this occasion but were regularly wasteful inside the area.

Klopp can …

Man City 3-4 Celtic: Hoops edge out Premier League champions in seven-goal thriller

Celtic edged out Manchester City 4-3 in a seven-goal thriller on Tuesday.

City won the Premier League title last season, retaining the crown for a fourth season running, but they were undone by the reigning Scottish champions in North Carolina.

Erling Haaland captained Pep Guardiola s team, and his header dragged City level after Celtic had taken a 3-1 lead by the interval.

Nicolas Kuhn scored twice for the Bhoys in the opening 45 minutes, either side of Oscar Bobb s effort, with Kyogo Furuhashi also getting in on the act for Celtic.

Bobb teed up Maximo Perrone to reduce the arrears before the Norwegian youngster supplied the cross for his compatriot Haaland to head home a City equaliser in the 57th minute.

But the day belonged to Celtic as, 11 mi…

Bayern Munich interested in Kyle Walker

Bayern Munich are currently considering a move for Kyle Walker from Manchester City this summer, according to German journalist Florian Plettenberg.

There has been no contact between the Bundesliga champions and the representatives of the England international as of yet, with no decision made. They are aware that he might leave the Etihad this summer, and with Benjamin Pavard set to leave Munich, they will need a right-sided defender with plenty of experience, so it makes sense for Walker to be on their radar. But for the time being, that s as far as things have gone.

Walker has, of course, been a very important part of everything City have achieved under former Bayern boss Pep Guardiola, winning a total of five Premier League titles, two FA Cups, four League Cups, two …

Sevilla, Valencia and Villarreal demand apology from RFEF president over ´gross disrespect´

LaLiga trio Sevilla, Valencia and Villarreal have united to demand an apology from Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales.

The clubs believe Rubiales showed them gross disrespect in private comments, which were reported by Spanish publication El Confidencial.

Rubiales appeared to disparage the trio as his least favourite sides in the Spanish top flight in a conversation with his father.

These comments included Rubiales seemingly expressing his hope for a Sevilla loss to Real Madrid in a 2020 match, and a message where he ranked the three clubs bottom of his preferences.

Sevilla s 2-1 defeat to Madrid in the aforementioned game saw a Luuk de Jong goal disallowed, with Rubiales commenting: They will be on my back about VAR.

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Bitesize Prediction: Cardiff City vs West Brom – 28/11/23

Market: Over 1.5 goals

Odds: 2/5 @

In what could prove to be an enjoyable affair on Tuesday night, Cardiff will welcome West Brom to south Wales in midweek.

Starting with the hosts, while Cardiff might have only just clung to their Championship status last season, the Bluebirds have made a string of improvements this time around. Marking their return from November’s international break with another eye-catching performance as they clinched a 2-1 victory away at Preston, Erol Bulut’s side are certainly riding an extended wave of momentum. Despite heading into the fortnight interval with an action-packed 3-2 defeat against Norwich, that is the only loss that they have suffered from their previous five battles against Championship opposition. With their sights …

Al Sadd v ES Tunis: Xavi trusts his side to learn from Club World Cup mistakes

Xavi trusts his Al Sadd side to learn from their mistakes and compete in the future as they attempt to finish their Club World Cup campaign on a high against ES Tunis.

The team representing host country Qatar missed out on a dream semi-final with European champions Liverpool after losing a thriller 3-2 to Monterrey last time out.

Leonel Vangioni and Rogelio Funes Mori goals left Al Sadd chasing the game and, although Baghdad Bounedjah halved the deficit, Carlos Rodriguez restored a two-goal lead to render Abdelkarim Hassan s late effort a mere consolation.

Al Sadd had laboured into that contest with an extra-time win over Hienghene Sport, leaving head coach Xavi to acknowledge his team have room to grow, even if he has been impressed by their attitude.

T…

Rumour Has It: Paul Pogba considering shock Manchester City switch

Manchester City have become a shock suitor for disgruntled Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba, with his contract set to expire at the end of this season.

Pogba, 29, has previously spoken about regretting his move to Old Trafford, and had been expected to leave the Premier League in the upcoming transfer window, being strongly linked with Barcelona and Real Madrid.

While the Frenchman has highlighted his desire to compete for trophies, he may not have to leave the city to get his wish, with a chance to insert himself into Manchester football folklore if he ditches the red for sky blue.

 

TOP STORY – CITY TO OFFER POGBA FOUR-YEAR DEAL WITH FREE TRANSFER

The Daily Mail is reporting City have interest in bringing in Pogba on a free transfer, …

Santos turn to ex-Argentina boss Sampaoli

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.

He took charge at Sevilla and an impressive 2015-16 in LaLiga led to his appointment to lead his country.

A Lionel Messi hat-trick in the final CONMEBOL qualifier against Ecuador ended Argentina s fears that they would fail to qualify…

Borussia Dortmund want Can

According to a recent report from Sky Germany, Borussia Dortmund have already held talks with Juventus midfielder Emre Can over the possibility of getting a deal sorted in time for the January transfer window. The German star has only started one game for Juve so far this season and didn’t feature in their Champions League squad, sending a clear and direct message that he probably isn’t going to be featuring into Maurizio Sarri’s plans anytime soon. 

Dortmund, on the other hand, are in desperate need of a few gritty, defensive stars that can help them to balance out the dynamic of their attack-heavy squad. 

Can is still viewed as a valuable talent on the world stage even though he isn’t considered to be the player he once was at this level, and Dortmund cert…

Former Atletico Madrid And Benfica Man Close To Joining Chicago Fire

Chicago Fire will start their new MLS season this weekend, when they meet up with Los Angeles Galaxy, but in the days leading up to the opening day of the season, there was plenty of talk of new arrivals in Illinois.

Veljko Paunovic s team has already brought in several players this winter, but now they are very close to signing Nicolas Gaitan from Chinese club Dalian Yifang. The Chinese club confirmed on their official Twitter profile that former Benfica and Atletico Madrid man has left the club in order to join Chicago.

The Fire did not confirm the signing just yet, but the deal is close to getting done according to several American journalists who follow this story. Nico Gaitan had scored just two goals in 28 matches for Dalian, who had to get rid of a forei…