Barcelona will face Boca Juniors in an exhibition match Saudi Arabia in December in honour of Diego Maradona.
The inaugural Maradona Cup will take place at Mrsool Park in Riyadh on December 14, a little over a year after the former Argentina star died in his homeland at the age of 60 from heart failure a fortnight after undergoing brain surgery.
Maradona played for Boca in 1981-82 before moving to Europe with Barca, where he won the Copa del Rey, the Copa de la Liga and the Supercopa de Espana.
He returned to Boca for the final two years of his career before retiring in 1997.
The match will take place in the week after Barca face Bayern Munich away in their final Champions League group game, with a LaLiga game at Osasuna scheduled for December 11.
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Celta Vigo coach Eduardo Berizzo said he does not know anything about the possible transfer of winger Nolito.
Barcelona are favourites to land the 29-year-old, while Arsenal are also reportedly interested in the Spaniard.
Nolito, predominately a left-winger, was on the books at Barcelona from 2008-2011 but only made five senior appearances for the club.
Reports suggest Luis Enrique is keen to bring Nolito back to Camp Nou, but Berizzo says he has not heard anything about an imminent deal.
I have no notification from my club that the exit of Nolito is true, he told reporters after his side s 2-0 Copa del Rey win over Cadiz on Wednesday.
It s not something new and it s not the first time I have had to answer this question.
But if it fin…
Market: Beijing Guoan win
Odds: 3/4 @
Hoping to find a route into the AFC Champions League spots this weekend, Beijing Guoan will welcome Wuhan Three Towns to the Workers Stadium on Sunday lunchtime.
Starting with the hosts, only continuing on what has been a stellar purple patch since opening up the 2024 campaign, Beijing Guoan are in the midst of a real purple patch. Last seen putting in another dominant display as they secured a 2-0 victory against Shandong Taishan, Ricardo Soares’ men have their sights firmly set on securing a lucrative AFC Champions League ticket this season. Extending on their FA Cup adventure on June 22nd as they secured a stellar 4-0 romp away at Suzhou Dongwu, the former Estoril boss has seen his high-flying squad win all of their pre…
Robert Lewandowski has made a strong first impression at Barcelona, with manager Xavi calling him an unbelievable signing .
Lewandwoski made his first appearance for his new club in their 1-0 friendly win against Real Madrid on Saturday, starting up top before being subbed off at half-time.
The 2021 Ballon d Or runner-up is coming off seven consecutive seasons of at least 40 goals in club competition, with Barcelona hoping he is still at the peak of his powers despite turning 34 years old next month.
Speaking to the media about the club s new front-man, Xavi had nothing but praise.
[Lewandowski] has adapted really well, he said. He s very humble – he s won almost everything in the world of football.
He has the humility to work hard for the t…
AC Milan have dismissed Sinisa Mihajlovic and promoted youth-team coach Cristian Brocchi as his replacement until the end of the season.
Mihajlovic left his role as Sampdoria coach and replaced Filippo Inzaghi at San Siro last June, but he leaves the club 10 months into his tenure, despite sitting sixth in Serie A and having navigated the team to the Coppa Italia final.
Saturday s 2-1 defeat to league leaders Juventus proved the final straw, extending Milan s winless run to five matches and leaving them 15 points adrift of third-placed Roma in the final Champions League qualifying berth.
A statement on the club s official website read: Sinisa Mihajlovic has been relieved of his role as AC Milan coach.
The club would like to thank Mihajlovic for the dedic…
Vincent Kompany said he was “disgusted” after being racially abused during Anderlecht s 2-2 draw with Club Brugge on Sunday.
The former Manchester City captain, now manager of Anderlecht, stated after the game that players and coaches were verbally abused throughout.
I go home disgusted and disappointed. My players, my staff and I were victims of racist insults, the 35-year-old told broadcaster Eleven Sports.
I want to get together with my staff, to be with the people who matter to me. We should not still have to experience this today.
Club Brugge, who were in the same Champions League group as Manchester City this season, released a statement after the game condemning the actions of their fans, saying: Club Brugge, its fans, staff, players …
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has warned Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe to ignore the increasing hype that surrounds him.
The 20-year-old has enjoyed a meteoric rise in recent seasons, playing an integral role in France s World Cup triumph last year and winning the inaugural Kopa Trophy in December – a new award given to the world s best male footballer aged under 21.
Ibrahimovic, who enjoyed a trophy-laden four-year spell at PSG between 2012 and 2016, has been impressed with Mbappe s achievements so far, but has cautioned him against getting swept up in the accolades that will surely continue to come his way.
Mbappe is fantastic, the LA Galaxy forward told the MLS club s official website.
He s young, he s won nice trophies so far and he s developing.…
It is easy to imagine how Manchester United landed on Casemiro s name in the week that followed their shambolic 4-0 defeat at Brentford.
United were preyed upon by the Brentford press, giving up three chances and two goals from high turnovers as Christian Eriksen – a false nine in their previous match – ended up as the deepest midfielder and struggled badly.
Through two games, no Premier League side have allowed more shots following high turnovers than United (eight).
At the very least, Casemiro – a five-time Champions League winner anchoring one of the great modern midfields at Real Madrid – should make United harder to play against.
Yet the 30-year-old, whose arrival at Old Trafford appears imminent, possesses a vastly different profile to the p…
Stefano Pioli has rejected suggestions Milan are favourites to retain the Serie A title this season, claiming the Rossoneri will struggle to match last campaign s tally of 86 points in a very competitive league.
Milan ended an 11-year wait for the Scudetto when they edged out rivals Inter at the end of a fierce title race in May, and began the new campaign with a thrilling 4-2 victory over Udinese last week.
But several sides, including Inter, Juventus, Napoli and Roma – all of whom also started the season with a victory – have been tipped to challenge Milan for their crown, and Pioli expects a difficult fight.
We have to be an interchangeable team, Pioli said ahead of Sunday s trip to Atalanta.
It will be such a balanced championship that it will b…
Bayern Munich head coach Hansi Flick believes Leroy Sane needs more time to establish himself with the Bundesliga champions.
Since joining Bayern from Manchester City for a reported €45million in July, Sane has scored three goals and provided three assists in seven Bundesliga games, three of which have been starts.
He has also created four big chances, with only Thomas Muller (six) and Serge Gnabry (five) creating more for Bayern.
His big chance conversion percentage is 50 per cent, while he has completed just 38.1 per cent of his attempted dribbles.
The attacker missed almost the entire 2019-20 season with City after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament and suffered a knee injury against Hoffenheim at the end of September.
Flick has largely b…