Carlo Ancelotti has become the first coaching casualty of the season among Europe s heavyweights, with Bayern Munich sacking him on Thursday and placing assistant Willy Sagnol in interim charge.
The 58-year-old s time at the Allianz Arena has been brought to an end less than 15 months after he was appointed as Pep Guardiola s replacement, making it his shortest spell as head coach of a club since he spent a year at Reggiana in 1995-96.
Ancelotti won the Bundesliga in his only full season in charge, and claimed the DFL-Supercup in August, but reports of dissent within the dressing room have grown in recent weeks and came to a head when Arjen Robben refused to back him publicly in the wake of the 3-0 Champions League loss to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday.
It …
Xavi Simons has turned down a new contract with Paris Saint-Germain, with confirmation on Tuesday he will leave for PSV on a permanent basis until 2027.
Simons, who made 11 senior appearances for PSG since signing in 2019, was reportedly set to leave on a loan with the intent to develop and find an opportunity for regular first-team minutes.
That reported loan deal had PSV as the eventual destination upon renewing with the Ligue 1 champions but, after spending his youth career at Barcelona and PSG, the talented 19-year-old will return to the Netherlands on a free transfer.
The Eredivisie club confirmed Simons had the opportunity to extend with PSG but chose to work under new boss Ruud van Nistelrooy instead.
He was able to extend in France, but the youth…
Roma coach Luciano Spalletti expressed regret over his return to the club in a heated response to questions over the decision not to play Francesco Totti in his side s 4-1 victory over AC Milan.
Totti, who appears set to retire at the end of the season, has made just 15 appearances in Serie A this term and Spalletti has faced frequent questions about the veteran s involvement during what are likely to be his final days as a Roma player.
Milan supporters at San Siro had prepared a banner to say farewell to Totti, but Spalletti opted to send on Stephan El Shaarawy instead of the 40-year-old and was vindicated when the substitute scored Roma s third goal.
When asked about the decision, Spalletti who previously coached Roma for four years between 2005 and 2009 told M…
Ange Postecoglou called on wasteful Tottenham to not feel sorry themselves after they suffered a fourth defeat in five matches with a 2-1 home loss to West Ham.
Injury-hit Spurs appeared on course to claim a first win since October 27 at half-time after Cristian Romero returned from suspension to score in the 11th minute.
David Moyes’ side produced an impressive second-half turnaround, with Jarrod Bowen netting on the road again after 52 minutes before James Ward-Prowse fired a 74th-minute winner after an error by Tottenham defender Destiny Udogie.
“We weren’t good enough, we had enough dominance to win it and it’s another game where we didn’t show enough conviction.”
Ange’s post-match thoughts following
— Tottenham Hotspur (@Sp…
New York Yankees president Randy Levine has joined the board of Serie A football giants Milan, it was revealed on Saturday.
The move tightens the connection between the two sporting titans, with Yankee Global Enterprises, which owns the Major League Baseball team, having acquired a minority stake when investment firm RedBird Capital took ownership of Milan last August in a €1.2billion deal.
In a statement, Milan said: AC Milan today announced that Randy Levine, president of the New York Yankees, has joined the club s board of directors.
Mr Levine has been the president of the New York Yankees for over 20 years and is recognised globally as one of the most accomplished executives in the sports and entertainment industries.
Milan chairman Paolo Scaroni …
Alex Ferguson regrets not taking a more robust approach in Manchester United s UEFA Super Cup defeats to Lazio and Zenit.
United are back in the traditional European season curtain-raiser against Real Madrid in Skopje on Tuesday after winning the Europa League last term.
Champions League triumphs in 1999 and 2008 during their extended golden period under Ferguson also booked a place for United in the showpiece, although they were unable to add to the title they picked up in 1991 against Red Star Belgrade as Cup Winners Cup holders.
The priority for United was to continue their dominance of the Premier League, meaning the scheduling of the fixture on a Friday in Monaco on both occasions did not sit well with Ferguson.
Nevertheless, Lazio s buoyant celebrat…
Cristiano Ronaldo was denied a late winner as Al-Nassr were held to a 1-1 draw by Al-Raed on the opening day of the Saudi Pro League.
Mohammed Fouzair equalised from the spot at the start of the second half, cancelling out the 39-year-old s first-half goal at Al Awal Park on Thursday.
Al-Nassr dominated the opening exchanges, and when the visitors struggled to clear their lines from a corner, Ronaldo towered over everyone in the box to nod home Sadio Mane s delivery.
They found themselves on the backfoot minutes into the second half though Amir Sayoud s curling shot was saved, but Fouzair was dragged back by Aymeric Laporte when he tried to reach the rebound, resulting in the defender receiving a straight red card.
After a VAR review, the card was downgra…
Andre Villas-Boas has no interest in returning to the chaotic Premier League because he wants to work somewhere with a different philosophy.
Villas-Boas arrived in England with Chelsea in 2011, having built a reputation as a promising coach with Academica and Porto, and went on to manage Tottenham after failing to impress at Stamford Bridge.
The Portuguese left Spurs in December 2013 and subsequently took charge at Zenit and Shanghai SIPG, although he has been out of work since November 2017.
Villas-Boas, who took to rally driving after parting ways with Shanghai, is not enthused by the idea of another Premier League job.
Discussing his future options, Villas-Boas told Omnisport from the Bilbao International Football Summit: The Premier League? No.
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Mauritania fell to a 4-1 loss against Mali on their Africa Cup of Nations bow.
The tournament newcomers were not disgraced in Suez on Monday but found Mali s extra experience and quality in attack too much to handle in the Group E clash.
Mali captain Abdoulay Diaby scored a wondergoal to open the scoring and Porto striker Moussa Marega added their second from the penalty spot.
And they made sure of all three points when Adama Noss jinked into space and rifled home from the edge of the area, although Moctar Sidi El Hacen converted a consolation penalty before Adama Traore wrapped up the scoring with a stunning curler.
Mauritania showed few nerves on their AFCON debut and could have opened the scoring in the first minute, Ismael Diakite narrowly missing …
Cristiano Ronaldo has become only the second player in history to score 300 goals in LaLiga.
The Real Madrid star struck against Getafe on Saturday to reach his latest career milestone in just 286 appearances in Spain s top flight.
The only other man to achieve the feat is Barcelona s Lionel Messi, who did so in 334 outings, which perhaps highlights just how spectacular Ronaldo s scoring record really is.
Since arriving from Manchester United in 2009 for a then world-record fee of €94million, Ronaldo has established himself as Madrid s greatest goalscorer and arguably their finest ever player, winning 14 major trophies and breaking a string of records.
Trying to whittle down his league goals for the club into a standout 10 is no easy task, but here is…