Thomas Tuchel admitted Chelsea must improve after looking drained and exhausted in their 1-0 win at Crystal Palace, but praised his team s defensive solidity following Hakim Ziyech s late winner.
Ziyech s 89th-minute strike meant the Moroccan has scored in three successive league games for the first time since doing so in the Eredivisie with Ajax in September 2019, and kept the London club within seven points of second-placed Liverpool in the Premier League table.
Chelsea were far from their best throughout the contest, however, managing just nine attempts on goal in the match, while striker Romelu Lukaku had seven touches of the ball, the lowest figure since Opta s Premier League records began in 2003-04.
Speaking after the match, Tuchel conceded that Chelsea w…
We are just Belgium – De Bruyne calls for perspective after disappointing Nations League Finals camp
Kevin De Bruyne insists it is not realistic for Belgium to compete with heavyweights such as France and Italy after finishing fourth in the Nations League.
The Red Devils let a two-goal lead slip to lose 3-2 to France in last week s semi-final and were beaten 2-1 by Italy in Sunday s third-place play-off.
Despite being on course to end the year as FIFA s top-ranked national side for a fourth time running, De Bruyne has called for some perspective on the back of a difficult week.
We did well at times against some top teams and had many new faces who did more than a decent job today, he told Belgian publication HLN.
It s good experience for them to be able to play against opponents of this calibre, but unfortunately we lost twice.
With all due …
Barcelona striker Luis Suarez is excited for his Champions League reunion with former club Liverpool next week.
The Uruguay international left Anfield in 2014 for Camp Nou and is set to face his old team for the first time since his departure in Tuesday s semi-final first leg.
The 32-year-old has fond memories of his time on Merseyside and revealed the two eldest of his three children – Delfina, aged eight, and six-year-old Benjamin are eager to come with him to Merseyside.
My kids never go to Champions League games but they want to go to this one, he told the Guardian.
I was talking to [his wife] Sofi about Anfield and they said. We re going too. We ll all go, except maybe Lauti, [who was] six months [old] yesterday. Benja was v…
Ralf Rangnick suggested Liverpool have humiliated Manchester United this season following the Red Devils 4-0 defeat at Anfield on Tuesday.
It was the second time in 2021-22 that Liverpool have hammered United, with the Reds winning 5-0 at Old Trafford in November – but given they had a man sent off back then, Tuesday s result was arguably worse.
The nine goals United have conceded against Liverpool is the most they have ever shipped to one opponent in a single Premier League campaign – they last suffered a worse aggregate defeat across two fixtures against the same team back in 1892-93 (11-0 v Sunderland).
United s first-half display was particularly poor as Liverpool dominated throughout, with Rangnick s men making it to the break without attempting a s…
Neymar can still make a decisive impact on the World Cup, according to his former Barcelona team-mate Ivan Rakitic.
The Brazil superstar won his race to recover from a broken metatarsal in time for Russia 2018, but his performances so far have been patchy.
Neymar managed to punctuate a tale of missed chances – he has attempted more shots than any player in the tournament with 16 – by scoring a goal to round out the 2-0 stoppage-time win over Costa Rica in the middle of Brazil s Group E campaign, but his full-time tears drew a mixed response.
He drew another blank in the 2-0 victory against Serbia that set up a last-16 meeting with Mexico, but Rakitic has little doubt the most expensive player in the world will live up to his billing.
Neymar is among …
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers expects Kolo Toure to complete his move from Liverpool on Sunday.
The 35-year-old travelled to Glasgow for a medical and was in the stands to watch the Scottish title-holders International Champions Cup clash with Leicester City, which finished 1-1.
Rodgers who took Toure to Liverpool from Manchester City in 2013 expects the deal to be concluded within the next 24 hours and praised the Ivory Coast centre-back for his performances at Anfield, especially in their run to the Europa League final under Jurgen Klopp last season.
Hopefully by tomorrow that will be done, he said after the Leicester game, which the Premier League champions won 6-5 on penalties.
He ll be great for us, I took him to Liverpool for his experience and y…
Pep Guardiola is happy with his Manchester City squad and says he will not delve into the transfer market in January.
The reigning Premier League champions are enduring a difficult defence of their title this season and are already 11 points behind runaway leaders Liverpool after just 14 games.
Guardiola, however, says he will not be forced into bringing in new players next month, citing the refusal of clubs to part with key players midway through the season.
Speaking ahead of City s Premier League visit to Burnley on Tuesday, Guardiola said: I don t want any players in January. When they come for an incredible opportunity in January for the next four, five or six years maybe we could think about it, but that is not possible.
Normally, the players w…
Lucas Moura expects Leonardo to do right by Paris Saint-Germain amid the uncertainty surrounding the future of Neymar.
Brazil star Neymar is keen to leave Parc des Princes, with a return to Spain via Barcelona or Real Madrid considered his most likely escape route.
Despite the forward s apparent eagerness for a transfer, sporting director Leonardo says they have yet to receive a concrete offer for a player who only joined two years ago for a world-record fee of €222million.
Tottenham forward Lucas left Brazil for PSG in 2013 after Leonardo helped to broker a deal with Sao Paulo for the much-coveted winger.
The 26-year-old has never forgotten Leonardo s impact on his career and believes his return to PSG will be a huge boost to the club, althoug…
Manchester United’s Champions League match at Galatasaray is under threat from bad weather in Istanbul.
Heavy rain has been falling in the city throughout the day and there are concerns over the state of the pitch at Rams Park.
Nice night for it ||
— Manchester United (@ManUtd)
A statement from UEFA said: “We are closely monitoring the weather forecast and at this time the match will go ahead as scheduled.”
United go into the match bottom of Group A having lost three of their four games so far in this season’s competition, and without a win away to Galatasaray in their last three visits.
Galatasaray twice came from behind to win 3-2 when the sides met at Old Trafford in October, with Mauro Icardi scoring an 81st-minute winner …
Bayern end the year with a three-point gap on top / Image via insidespanishfootball.com
It was too easy for Bayern Munich, who ended up teaching the newcomers a lesson and showing them what Bundesliga is all about with a gripping 3-0 victory at the Allianz Arena.
Read our in-depth match report:
Form Guide Team News
The hosts headed into the final match of the first part of the Bundesliga season level on points with the unlikely high-fliers – newly promoted side RB Leipzig, a club which ran through the lower tiers of the German football and took the world by storm in their first-ever Bundesliga appearance.
Founded in 2009, Red Bull Leipzig have used all of the backing from their wealthy owners to succeed and surprise their more prominent rivals as they…