Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola still dreams of managing a national team in the future, according to his brother Pere Guardiola.
Pep Guardiola has never hidden his desire to lead an international team at a major tournament and has been heavily linked with Argentina and Brazil in the past.
The Catalan coach previously suggested taking charge of Spain was unlikely and he has a contract with City until the end of next season.
Pere Guardiola, who is an agent, part owner of LaLiga side Girona and this week opened a branch of his Media Base Sports company in Brazil, said a role outside of the club arena still appeals to his brother.
Brazil has recently seen an increased investment in foreign coaches, with Jorge Jesus, Jesualdo Ferreira, Jorge Sampaoli, Edua…
It s all in the timing, the control of the ball and the precision swing. Like a glorious golf shot, the perfect cross in football is beyond many players, but Trent Alexander-Arnold strikes the football with such pace, whip and dip that it s no wonder he celebrated Liverpool s opener against Arsenal as though he had headed the ball into the goal himself.
It s The Masters next week at Augusta.
This Emirates Stadium clash was a reminder of last season s Premier League masters in full flow, or at least that was the case for the final half an hour, because the first 60 minutes was so drab the tape should be wiped forthwith and we ll never discuss it again. Arsenal s players, thumped 3-0, would want the whole game deleted from memory, given they were abject from first whistle…
West Brom goalkeeper Boaz Myhill is hopeful he can establish himself as a first-team regular in the absence of the injured Ben Foster.
The Wales international stepped in for Foster in the club s 2-0 defeat to Swansea City in their last Premier League fixture.
Foster suffered a serious foot injury – expected to keep him out for another two months at least – in August and Myhill has the chance to step up.
But his position in the team is not guaranteed, with West Brom moving to sign goalkeeper Lee Camp on a free transfer before the transfer window shut.
Obviously every club wants new players, Myhill told The Birmingham Mail.
We as a group will always welcome good players. Of course, everybody wants to play every week.
It s not been possible for me. I…
(GSM) Liverpool coach, Rafael Benitez believes Liverpool will land one of the most difficult trophies to win should they sign off the 2009-10 campaign with Europa League glory.
The Reds boss reckons the calibre of opposition his side will have to overcome makes it one of the toughest cup competitions around, with a potential final date with host club Hamburg on the horizon should they see off Atletico Madrid.
I think the Europa League is massive compared, say, to the Carling Cup because of the teams left, he said.
The best possible finish to the season for us would be winning the Europa League or being in the top four. If not, then you have to understand that a bad season is part of the game. I ve not had many bad seasons, so that is a problem for me.
The pain of losing last season s Champions League final still haunts Atletico Madrid head coach Diego Simeone, who revealed he feels pain when hearing the iconic competition anthem.
Atletico lost on penalties to city rivals Real Madrid after the 2015-16 showpiece ended all-square in Milan.
It was the second time in three seasons Atletico suffered defeat to Madrid in a European final, having lost 4-1 after extra time in Lisbon and it was a result that left Simeone doubting his future.
Every time I hear the competition hymn I feel pain, Simeone told Onda Cero.
For me Milan was a failure. For me failure is not to reach the goal and I had the goal to win that Champions League and not win and it hurt me a lot.
I knew that the following season was go…
Las Palmas have announced the signing of Alen Halilovic from Hamburg on an 18-month loan deal.
The 20-year-old Croatia international only moved to the Bundesliga from Barcelona in July but has struggled to settle in Germany and has not played since October 21.
The attacking midfielder has now returned to LaLiga on a temporary deal, although Las Palmas have an option to make the move permanent should he impress in Gran Canaria.
Las Palmas and Hamburg have reached an agreement for the transfer of Croatia international player Alen Halilovic until the end of the 2017-18 season, a club statement confirmed.
In the loan contract, the club has been granted a purchase option for the young player.
La UD Las Palmas acuerda con el Hamburgo la cesión de Ha…
Paris Saint-Germain sealed a clean sweep of domestic French trophies for 2019-20 as Keylor Navas and Pablo Sarabia wrapped up a 6-5 penalty shoot-out victory over Lyon after 120 goalless minutes in the last ever Coupe de la Ligue final.
Thomas Tuchel s men had already clinched the Trophee des Champions, Ligue 1 and the Coupe de France, and despite the absence of the injured Kylian Mbappe on Friday, PSG just about did enough to see off Les Gones.
While both sides crafted several half-chances, the match s tempo resembled that of a pre-season contest as opposed to a cup final, and PSG – who were 1-0 victors in last weekend s Coupe de France showpiece – perhaps unsurprisingly looked a little sharper.
A flurry of activity towards the end of the opening 45 minutes …
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Barcelona will take on Napoli at Camp Nou in the second leg of their Champions League Round of 16 tie this weekend. The first leg of the tie ended in a 1-1 draw in Naples in Italy, and the Spanish giants will confident of getting the job done in the second leg, which is slated to kick off at 8pm UK time on Saturday evening. Both the Blaugrana and Napoli are attack-minded teams, and there should be a few goals in the game at Camp Nou.
Barcelona
Barcelona failed to win La Liga this past season, with bitter rivals Real Madrid clinching the title with relative ease. There are boardroom problems at Camp Nou, and the future of superstar Lionel Messi is also wrapped up in uncertainty. The Blaugrana are reportedly looking to sell a number of thei…
Successful manager
Roy Hodgson did an absolutely wonderful job as the manager of Fulham and it was a devastating blow for the club to lose him to Liverpool.
I wondered if this could be a very bad time for Fulham because their success seemed intrinsically linked to Hodgson, in the way that Charlton flourished under Alan Curbishley and then plummeted when he left.
Secret
It is now a not very well kept secret that later this week the current Ajax boss Martin Jol will named as Hodgson’s replacement. This is great news for Fulham fans and I think this appointment is about as good as you could have had.
There were plenty of other managers linked to the role. Sven Goran Eriksson is believed to have talked to Fulham but is now talking about signing an ex…
Premier League club Liverpool could be bought by a Chinese business tycoon within days, according to reports here on Monday.
Kenny Huang, head of Hong-Kong based investment company QSL Sports Ltd, is reported to be in talks with the Royal Bank of Scotland with the aim of taking full control of the club which has been up for sale since April.
A deal has to be done before the transfer window closes (on 31 August), a source close to Huang told BBC Sport.
Huang has made a firm proposal. The club s board has to sanction the sale and it could be sewn up in days.
Huang is offering to clear Liverpool s debt to RBS and hand new manager Roy Hodgson funds to do business in the transfer window. The tycoon also plans to build the club a new stadium.
Kenny…