Schalke have sacked Dimitrios Grammozis ahead of the run-in to the 2. Bundesliga campaign, with the club citing a loss of confidence in the coach s ability to earn them promotion this term.
Grammozis originally arrived in March last year as the successor to Christian Gross, but he was unable to keep Schalke in the Bundesliga with an 18th-placed finish.
The former Darmstadt coach was tasked with ensuring a swift return to the top flight this season, yet the seven-time German champions slipped six points off the automatic promotion places with Saturday s 4-3 defeat at home to Hansa Rostock.
Nils Froling s 95th-minute winner for Hansa also left Schalke four points behind Werder Bremen, who occupy the play-off place in third and have a game in hand.
Simon…
Victor Osimhen has been one of the top strikers in Europe during the first two months of the 2019-20 European season. The Lille striker has been nearly unstoppable this season, and currently ranks as the top scorer in France’s Ligue 1.
However, we must go back in time to fully understand the kind of player we are talking about. Osimhen’s name might be an unfamiliar name for the average football fan, but he has been around for a long period of time despite being only 20 years old.
Native out of Lagos in Nigeria, Osimhen first started making waves when he was a teenager and had his moment of glory during the 2015 U17 FIFA World Cup held in Chile. There, he was an instrumental part of The Super Eagles’ title run with 10 goals and scored in every single match. Scouts …
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin says the organisation will not repeat a pan-continental staging of the European Championship following Euro 2020, but has not ruled out further successful joint bids in the future.
Last year s rescheduled tournament, intended to celebrate its 60th anniversary, was beset by logistical difficulties presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2024 tournament will revert to a single nation host in Germany, but the 2028 edition could once again see multiple hosts, with a British Isles bid up against Turkey for duties.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Ceferin confirmed there will be no continent-spanning events in future, but he is not opposed to shared hosting between smaller neighbour nations.
We are not conside…
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp would find it tough to deal with another Champions League final defeat, according to Jose Mourinho.
Klopp s men are in the decider of Europe s premier club competition for the second straight season, facing Tottenham in Madrid on June 1.
The German saw his team suffer a 3-1 loss to Real Madrid in last year s final, while his Borussia Dortmund side were beaten in the 2013 decider by Bayern Munich.
Mourinho, a two-time winner of the Champions League, said another loss for Klopp would hurt.
If Jurgen wins it s an incredible achievement for him, Mourinho told Sky Sports News.
If Jurgen doesn t win, you know to lose three Champions League finals phew that has to be really, really hard, but he is a very positive guy, I m…
Inter coach Luciano Spalletti has confirmed his club s interest in Atletico Madrid full-back Sime Vrsaljko.
Rumours persist that the Nerazzurri are nearing a deal for the 26-year-old Croatian, who starred in the World Cup as his country reached the final for the first time in their history.
Such a deal could come as a surprise after Vrsaljko extended his contract in February, signing a fresh four-year deal.
But Spalletti has done little to quash the speculation, telling Calciomercato.com: We like Vrsaljko. The directors are working, certain things will be defined once our preparations begin, when our squad is more settled.
As more days pass and we approach the deadline, the situations change.
We re working on the pitch, so [Piero] Ausilio […
According to a recent report from Sky Sports, Kylian Mbappe is expected to join Real Madrid on a free transfer this summer.
The report goes on to suggest that the Frenchman, best known for playing a huge role in winning the World Cup for France back in 2018, will be snubbing a new deal that would’ve allowed him to stay put with Paris Saint-Germain.
Madrid, who will play in the Champions League final next weekend, have been going after him for quite some time and will likely see this as their main pursuit of the summer transfer window.
The big aim for Mbappe, in addition to making as much money as he possibly can, will be wanting to finally add the elusive Champions League trophy to his cabinet.
He s had a strong run with PSG and had some real success a…
Gabriel Jesus helped himself to a hat-trick as Manchester City came from behind to win 4-1 and end Dinamo Zagreb s Champions League hopes.
Dinamo were eying a place in the knockout stages for the first time in their history and they were going through when Dani Olmo s sublime volley opened the scoring.
City headed into the match on the back of a chastening derby defeat to Manchester United and with their place in the last-16 as group winners already secured.
However, Pep Guardiola s side summoned the fight to pull level through Jesus 34th-minute header and a quickfire brace early in the second half – taking the 22-year-old past 100 career goals – ended the argument, before Phil Foden got the goal his efforts deserved four minutes from full-time.
A s…
Verdict: Atletico Madrid to keep a clean sheet yes
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Having already secured their place in the UEFA Champions League knockouts, both Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid will have nothing more than prestige, couple of records and bragging rights to fight for on Tuesday night at the Allianz Arena.
Bayern Munich
Bundesliga champions have found life difficult over the last couple of weeks as they have seen a worrying dip in form which resulted in Carlo Ancelotti’s men suffering back-to-back defeats to Dortmund and FK Rostov, respectively. A highly surprising slump in Russia was Bayern’s second Champions League defeat this season, which ultimately forced them to settle for the second place in Group D, behind their Tuesday riv…
Arsenal are not interested in re-signing Cesc Fabregas from Chelsea, according to Talksport.
The thirty-one-year old spent eight years at Arsenal before returning to Barcelona in 2011 and then on to Stamford Bridge three years later.
He played over three hundred times for the Gunners, scoring fifty-seven times having made his debut for them aged just sixteen.
He is closing in on two hundred appearances for the Blues but has moved down the pecking order under Maurizio Sarri with Jorginho, N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic and Ross Barkley all having featured more regularly.
Reuben Loftus-Cheek has also had more playing time than the Spaniard, who made his first league outing of the campaign in Sunday’s 4-0 win at Burnley while he also played in Wednesda…
Diego Costa s stand-off with Chelsea and Antonio Conte has come to an end with confirmation he will rejoin Atletico Madrid in January.
The Spain striker helped Atleti to a remarkable LaLiga triumph in 2013-14, having scooped the Copa del Rey the previous season.
His success continued in England, with two Premier League winners medals in three seasons but there has been an inevitability regarding the end of his time at Chelsea for some months after the 28-year-old s relationship with head coach Conte broke down.
Costa is far from the first player to have succumbed to the lure of their old club, with plenty of stars having felt it irresistible to go back to what they know.
But how did they fare in their second spells? Here, we take a look at seven notable…