Banega thrilled to repay Sevilla´s faith as Inter speculation goes on

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag was not particularly concerned about the injury suffered by Alejandro Garnacho on Sunday despite him requiring crutches as he left Old Trafford.

Garnacho was introduced in the second half of United s 0-0 draw with Southampton and went down hurt during the latter stages under a challenge from Kyle Walker-Peters.

The Southampton defender won the ball on the stretch in the penalty area, but Garnacho s right ankle appeared to get trapped between Walker-Peters legs.

Garnacho looked to be in agony but managed to play on until he was withdrawn in stoppage time as Ten Hag sought to bolster 10-man United at the back.

He was subsequently spotted leaving the stadium with the support of crutches.

Erik ten Hag provided a…

Louis van Gaal was sacked as Manchester United manager on Monday just two days after lifting the FA Cup at Wembley.

While his side too often have produced some forgettable football during his two years in charge, the inimitable Dutchman s remarks in the media will live a little longer in the memory.

From horny players and  fat journalists to sex-masochism and Mr Mike Smalling, here are some of Van Gaal s best one-liners during his time at OId Trafford

The most important difference is that I am training the players, not in the legs, but in the brain, in brain power.   Van Gaal explains part of his philosophy  (July 26, 2014)

I have never had an experience when you lose or draw at home when they are applauding you. They were very important…

Former Perth Glory defender Josh Mitchell has returned home, signing a two-year deal with the Newcastle Jets.

The Belmont-born 28-year-old was invited to a trial with the Jets three weeks ago, impressing coach Gary van Egmond.

Mitchell, comfortable on the left-hand side of defence and centrally, joined the Glory in 2010 after a spell with Romanian side Universitatea Craiova.

Van Egmond hinted at using the defender at left-back and said Mitchell, who failed to earn a new deal with Perth, brought several other strong qualities to his team.

I have coached Josh before and I know what he can bring to the team, he said.

Josh is a very good defender, he is naturally left-sided which helped as that was a position we were looking to fill.

He br…

Real Madrid continued their resurgent form with a 3-1 win over 10-man Athletic Bilbao in LaLiga on Tuesday.

Karim Benzema scored twice in the second half at Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, lifting Madrid to a fourth straight victory in all competitions.

Zinedine Zidane s men joined Real Sociedad and Atletico Madrid on 26 points atop the table, but they struggled for large parts at home to Athletic.

Madrid played more than 75 minutes against 10 men following Raul Garcia s red card, but Toni Kroos fine opener was cancelled out by Ander Capa.

But Benzema haunted Athletic once more to continue Madrid s winning run.

 Big with another brilliant header!!
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— Real Madrid C.F.  (@realmadriden)

Athletic had made a decent start before …

Neymar will be reassessed by Paris Saint-Germain to determine a recovery time after the Brazil star was ruled out of the Copa America with a serious ankle injury.

Brazil forward Neymar suffered a ligament rupture in his right ankle during Wednesday s 2-0 friendly win over Qatar in Brasilia.

Neymar left the ground in tears as he was carried down the tunnel in the first half before the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) confirmed the PSG star s absence from the Copa America, which gets underway on June 14.

Ligue 1 champions PSG released a statement on Thursday, which read: Neymar Jr. suffered a severe sprain of the outer lateral ligament of his right ankle in Brasilia during a warm-up match for the Copa America.

Paris Saint-Germain s Brazil striker wil…

​Tottenham have agreed terms with Sporting Lisbon for the transfer of defender Eric Dier, subject to the player passing a medical.

Dier has been a revelation for the Primeira Liga side after moving to Portugal at the age of 10 and joining their youth academy.

He made his first-team debut in August 2012 and featured in 13 league games last season as Sporting finished in second place to qualify for the UEFA Champions League.

However, Dier will not play in Europe s elite club competition after he agreed a deal to return to the country of his birth with Tottenham.

The 20-year-old will provide competition for places at the heart of Mauricio Pochettino s defence next season, fighting with the likes of Michael Dawson, Younes Kaboul and Jan Vertonghen.

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Liverpool F.C. boss Brendan Rodgers has revealed Jordon Ibe has looked absolutely sensational in training over the past two weeks as the player looks set to return to the Reds squad for Monday s English Premier League match against Newcastle United.

The England youth international, 19, has been out since suffering a knee injury in the UEFA Europa League encounter at Besiktas in February.

Ibe, who set up Philippe Coutinho s match-winner on his first-team debut back in May 2013 against Queens Park Rangers, has impressed in seven appearances in all competitions for Liverpool in 2014/15.

Jordon Ibe will come back in,  Rodgers told the club s official website. I have got to say, he has looked absolutely sensational in training. He has been out for a w…

Netherlands have managed to get themselves right back into the race for the top two spots in Group B of the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifications, which lead directly to the tournament next year. They did it by beating Greece in Athens, courtesy of a stoppage-time penalty put away by captain Virgil van Dijk.

Penalties

Given the way the match was settled, it only makes sense to start by discussing the penalty decisions, for there were two of them even if there was only one goal. In the 25th minute, the Greek defence had just cleared a Dutch corner and Quilindschy Hartman sent the ball back into the box, when Kostas Koulierakis was judged to have pulled Van Dijk to the ground. There was no doubt in the mind of referee Alejandro Jose Hernandez Hernandez from Spain as he blew the whistle …

Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb announced on Thursday that they had appointed Krunoslav Jurcic as their new coach, despite having earlier stated that former boss Ilija Loncarevic would return to take up the role.

Krunoslav Jurcic was the unanimous choice of the club s directors, Dinamo president Mirko Barisic told reporters.

He also added that the club would be parting company with forwards Bosko Balaban and Tomo Sakota, for financial and sporting reasons .

Jurcic, 39, is a former Croatian international midfielder who played for Dinamo as well as Italian sides Torino and Sampdoria before retiring in 2004.

On Thursday morning, the club had announced the departure of previous coach Marijan Vlak, who had been in charge since November 2008, and his replace…

Jurgen Klopp revealed he had spoken to Mohamed Salah about his disappointment over missing out on the Liverpool captaincy earlier this month.

In an interview with Diario AS, Salah said he was very disappointed not to be made captain against Midtjylland in the Champions League, while the star forward also refused to rule out a move to Real Madrid or Barcelona.

Trent Alexander-Arnold was made skipper for the encounter in Denmark, but Klopp revealed he had made a mistake.

The Liverpool manager said he had discussed his decision with Salah, who has scored 16 goals in 21 games this season.

I was captain for a long time in my career and I always thought what a job this is because there are not a lot of benefits and there is a lot of work, Klopp said.

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