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…
Mohamed Salah continued his remarkable Anfield scoring record with two goals in Liverpool’s 3-0 victory over Brentford to bring up his 200th in English football.
Only Manchester City’s Erling Haaland has scored more in the Premier League this season than the Egypt international, who took his tally to 10 by scoring for the sixth successive home game to write another entry in club’s history books.
Intriguingly, the pair will meet in a mouthwatering first-versus-second encounter at the Etihad Stadium immediately after the international break in what will be a true test of Liverpool’s title credentials.
Three goals, three points and a clean sheet
— Liverpool FC (@LFC)
After a complete midfield rebuild over the summer following a fifth-pla…
With just a single Serie A ticket left up for grabs this month, Cagliari and Bari will both be desperate to pick up what could be a crucial first-leg advantage when they meet at the Unipol Domus on Wednesday night.
Suffering play-off heartbreak last season and making it clear that they’re desperate to go one step further this time around, the Islanders certainly impressed many as they edged past Parma thanks to an action-packed 3-2 aggregate win last weekend.
However, although Claudio Ranieri’s squad might open their first-leg showdown in the midst of what has been a stellar run of form, the former Leicester boss will know the importance of laying down a marker here.
With both Cagliari and Bari equally priced at 10/11 with to claim a hugely lucrati…
Paris Saint-Germain are reportedly eyeing Manchester City forward Sergio Aguero.
Aguero, 32, is out of contract at the end of the season and his future with the Premier League giants is uncertain.
And PSG are apparently eyeing the forward.
TOP STORY – PSG EYE AGUERO
Mauricio Pochettino and PSG have Aguero in their sights on a free transfer at the end of the season, according to the Mirror.
Mauricio Pochettino sets sights on Sergio Aguero as first headline transfer as PSG boss |
— Mirror Football (@MirrorFootball)
Injuries have limited Aguero to just nine appearances in all competitions this season.
Aguero is Manchester City s all-time leading scorer with 256 goals.
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Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard has revealed his view that should the club decide to sign Philippe Coutinho on a permanent basis from Barcelona at the end of the season, money would not be an issue.
The Brazilian playmaker had a rather trying time at the Camp Nou after moving there from Liverpool for €160 million in January 2018. He said he had left the Merseysiders to win the Champions League with Barcelona at the time, and he ironically had to leave the Catalans to do that with Bayern Munich in 2019-20. Having been unable to establish himself as an important player at Barcelona even after his return from Germany, the 29-year-old joined Aston Villa on loan in January.
The loan agreement between the two clubs is said to contain a clause set at €40m which enables …
Zinedine Zidane hailed Real Madrid s 4-0 win at Eibar as a complete performance and urged his players to maintain their momentum.
Sergio Ramos and Karim Benzema scored first-half penalties at Ipurua after the latter opened the scoring with a close-range finish inside 17 minutes.
Federico Valverde added a fourth goal his first for the club just after the hour mark, as Madrid moved three points in front of Barcelona ahead of their bitter rivals game in hand with Celta Vigo later on Saturday.
It feels great to win here, Zidane told Movistar. This is not an easy stadium to visit. Every time a team comes here they suffer, but we started well.
The first half was phenomenal in every way. We controlled the areas where the opponent could cause damage. We pla…
Tammy Abraham described scoring for Chelsea as a boyhood dream after his brace at Norwich City secured a breakthrough Premier League victory for Frank Lampard.
Recalled in place of Olivier Giroud, striker Abraham justified his coach s faith by netting twice in a 3-2 thriller at Carrow Road on Saturday.
The goals were his first for the club he joined as a junior and ended Lampard s winless start as Maurizio Sarri s successor.
Abraham opened the scoring in the third minute and finally finished off a vibrant Norwich with the only goal of the second half, his pace on the counter-attack catching out the Canaries.
It s something I ve always dreamed about doing, the 21-year-old told BT Sport.
I ve always wanted to play for my childhood club, be in the …
Barcelona are reportedly open to big-money offers for Manchester United target Frenkie de Jong.
De Jong, who has 40 caps for the Netherlands, arrived at Barcelona from Ajax for a €75million fee in 2019, accumulating 137 appearances for the club in all competitions.
The midfielder has been a key pillar in Barcelona s line-up this season, appearing 44 times, but the Catalan giants may be ready to move on as the interest from United intensifies.
TOP STORY – BARCA ARE CONSIDERING OFFERS FOR DE JONG
The Blaugrana are open-minded about potentially parting ways with De Jong, who is being closely linked with his former Ajax coach Erik ten Hag for his new venture at United.
He is one of the main players on the Red Devils wish-list, which Fichajes r…
Paul Pogba should leave Manchester United at the end of the season, Wayne Rooney believes.
Pogba, United s record signing, returned to Old Trafford in 2016 after flourishing at Juventus.
The France star had not got an opportunity at United earlier in his career, but became one of Europe s leading midfielders while in Turin.
However, the move has failed to bring the success that had been envisioned, with United only winning two trophies since Pogba signed.
Pogba s future has long been up for debate, and Bruno Fernandes form since his arrival in January 2020 has placed further scrutiny on the 29-year-old s place.
His contract is up at the end of the season and, so far, there has been no agreement made on a new deal, and Pogba s former team-mate R…