Platini: Champions League can accomodate 2022 World Cup

Liverpool made easy work of Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield in the 11th round of the Premier League on Sunday evening. Mohamed Salah opened the scoring in the 24th minute, Georginio Wijnaldum scored his first goal of the season in the 58th, Joel Matip headed in the third in the 67th, and Nelson Semedo diverted low cross from Trent Alexander-Arnold past his own goalkeeper in the 78th to set the final score at 4-0.

Champions stay calm through turbulence

Liverpool are weathering the storm that s perhaps the best way to describe the way the Reds title defence has been going. There have been shaky moments and questionable performances not least in that 7-2 defeat away to Aston Villa in early October as well as notable player absences through injuries, but they simply haven t all…

Liverpool left it late to secure a first Premier League win at home in 2021, with Trent Alexander-Arnold s superb stoppage-time strike downing Aston Villa 2-1 at Anfield.

The Reds rallied from a goal down to secure three crucial points in terms of the top-four battle, while the result is also a timely boost with a Champions League second leg against Real Madrid coming up in midweek.

Ollie Watkins – who scored a hat-trick in a stunning 7-2 win for his side when Liverpool visited Villa Park early in the season  gave the visitors a half-time advantage on Merseyside, his left-footed shot squeezing underneath Alisson.

Roberto Firmino had a potential equaliser ruled out by the video assistant referee before the interval, but Mohamed Salah scored the Reds �…

The MLS playoffs are here once more.

Los Angeles FC cruised to the Supporters Shield title, but the path to MLS Cup glory is far from straightforward even for the league s outstanding team.

Since 2011, only Toronto FC have successfully followed up a regular season championship by conquering the postseason.

Will LAFC join them, or can Bob Bradley s men be stopped? We take a look at the key issues surrounding the leading contenders heading into the playoffs.
 

ARE LAFC AND CARLOS VELA THE BEST EVER?

The above statistic may make for uncomfortable reading for Shield winners LAFC, but no past regular-season champions have been able to match the standards set by Bradley s side.

Toronto broke a points record that had stood for 19 years when the…

Former Germany international Dietmar Hamann has called for Hansi Flick to be replaced as the team s head coach after overseeing a pathetic group-stage exit from the World Cup.

A late double from substitute Kai Havertz helped Germany beat Costa Rica 4-2 in their final Group E game on Thursday, but Japan stunned Spain with a 2-1 win at the Khalifa International Stadium to send the four-time winners home.

Germany have now suffered group-stage eliminations from consecutive World Cups, having avoided falling at the first hurdle on each of their last 16 appearances at the tournament before 2018.

The coaches of some eliminated sides – such as Mexico s Tata Martino and Belgium s Roberto Martinez – have already announced their departures, and Hamann thinks Flick shoul…

17 Joe Willock s equaliser was Newcastle s 17th shot from inside the box against Spurs today; their most in a single Premier League game under Steve Bruce. Invited.

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe)

Spurs had Hugo Lloris to thank for keeping the score level in the 19th minute, as he produced a brilliant double save to deny Dwight Gayle.

But Newcastle did score soon after, Sean Longstaff teeing up Joelinton for an easy finish after Davinson Sanchez made a mess of a clearance.

Tottenham s response was swift.

Kane equalised from close range following a mix-up between Emil Krafth and Martin Dubravka from a Giovani Lo Celso pass.

And by the 34th minute it was 2-1 to Spurs, Kane once again finding the net as he latched on to Tanguy Ndombele s throughbal…

Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez took a point at Southampton as a positive after a drab goalless draw at St Mary s on Saturday.

The Magpies failed to produce a single shot on target as their wait for a first win of the season stretched into November, though the stalemate was enough to move them off the bottom on goal difference.

Newcastle have failed to win in any of their opening 10 league games for the first time since the 1898-99 season, but Benitez expressed satisfaction with his side s performance given the situation in which they entered the game.

I think we have to consider the circumstances, going away from home at the bottom of the table, getting a clean sheet and a point, you have to consider this more positive than negative, Benitez said.

…

Bayern Munich have completed and the signing of Raphael Guerreiro on a free transfer after his contract with Borussia Dortmund expires at the end of this month.

Welcome to FC Bayern, Rapha!

— FC Bayern Munich (@FCBayernEN)

Though Bayern and Dortmund are fierce rivals (the fiercest in German football when it comes to battling it out for the Bundesliga title), players swapping one of those clubs for the other isn t as rare an occurrence as one might expect. The stories of Robert Lewandowski, Mario Gotze, Mats Hummels, as well as Niklas Sule last year, are known to anyone following the German top flight.

Guerreiro, primarily a left-back but frequently deployed in midfield as well, joined Dortmund from Lorient in 2016 and has established himse…

Pep Guardiola and defenders. It s been an expensive exercise for Manchester City.

Still trying to fill the glaring void left by long-serving captain Vincent Kompany in 2019, and reeling after a stunning 5-2 Premier League drubbing at the hands of Leicester City, Manchester City have turned to Ruben Dias.

Benfica and Portugal centre-back Dias will cost City an initial £62million (€68m), plus £2.1m (€3.6m) in add-ons should the 23-year-old trigger various performance-related clauses.

Sunday s announcement, with Nicolas Otamendi set to move in the opposite direction, takes Guardiola s spending as City manager on defenders to in excess of £410m (€451m) since 2016.

1 For the first time in 686 games as a manager, Pep Guardiola has seen his side concede…

Luis Rubiales has been re-elected unopposed as the president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).

Rubiales is set to serve a four-year term, with his return to office a formality after former Spain captain and 2010 World Cup winner Iker Casillas withdrew his candidacy in June.

The 43-year-old took on RFEF s top job in May 2018 after predecessor Angel Maria Villar was sacked amid corruption charges.

He quickly became embroiled in controversy on the eve of the 2018 World Cup, sacking Julen Lopetegui after the Spain coach was announced as Real Madrid boss for the start of the 2018-19 season.

Under caretaker boss Fernando Hierro, Spain limped to a last-16 exit on penalties against hosts Russia.

Rubiales then clashed bitterly with LaLiga ch…

Luis Rubiales, president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), has refuted claims of wrongdoing amid controversy surrounding the Supercopa de Espana.

Messages and phone calls between Rubiales and Barcelona stalwart Gerard Pique have been leaked to the media.

The audio recordings revealed Pique helped negotiate a €24million commission when the Supercopa was expanded to four teams and moved to Saudi Arabia in 2020.

It was a deal reportedly worth €40m to the RFEF for every tournament played in the middle-eastern state.

Spanish publication El Confidencial, which released the audio on Monday, claimed Pique s Kosmos group, a sports entertainment company founded in 2017, would benefit to the tune of €4m per tournament over the six-year agre…