France captain Kylian Mbappe has received criticism for snubbing the upcoming UEFA Nations League games against Israel and Belgium despite being fit to play for Real Madrid. The 25-year-old suffered a muscle injury a month ago but returned to the pitch as he came off the bench in the Champions League loss at Lille last Wednesday. In his squad announcement on Thursday, France gaffer Didier Deschamps left Mbappe out of the squad, saying he lacked preparations, after playing less number of matches. The forward also started the Los Blancos’ game against Villarreal on Saturday. “Either you’re injured, and you don’t…
Author: Somto Isaac
Real Madrid bounced back from their loss in the Champions League with a 2-0 win over Villarreal in LaLiga on Saturday, but it came at a cost. Defender Dani Carvajal confirmed he will undergo surgery after suffering a cruciate ligament injury. The 32-year-old was stretchered off in injury time after a duel with Yeremy Pino led to him spraining his right knee in an unnatural manner. “Serious cruciate ligament injury confirmed, I’ll have to undergo surgery and be off the field for a few months. “Looking forward to starting the recovery process and coming back like an animal. Thank you…
Inter Milan gaffer Simone Inzaghi has demanded more focus from his side and better defensive discipline after their narrow win against Torino on Saturday. A hat-trick from Marcus Thuram helped the defending champions to a 3-2 win after their visitors went a man down following a red card to Guillermo Maripan. The win increased Inter’s winning run to three games but Inzaghi was not particularly pleased with his side’s performance. “Clearly, we need to improve in some aspects, we pay a heavy price for every tiny distraction,” he said. “We worked really hard on details that need to be whittled…
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has bounced suggestions Chelsea are ready to match the likes of Manchester City and Arsenal, although admitting that the Blues are improving. The London side finished 12th in 2022-23 campaign and sixth last season as they missed out on Champions League football but they have began this term in good form as they are fourth with 13 points from six games. Maresca is mainly tasked with getting Chelsea back to Europe’s premiere competition after he replaced Mauricio Pochettino in June. “I don’t think we can compete with City and Arsenal. City have worked with the same…
Paul Pogba was provisionally suspended for four years due to doping by Italy’s national anti-doping organisation [NADO Italia] in September 2023 after testing positive for DHEA — a banned substance which raises testosterone levels. The 31-year-old — who denied any wrong doing — has now seen the suspension cut from the initial four years to 18 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport [CAS]. “The suspension is now 18 months, starting September 11th, 2023,” said CAS director general Matthieu Reeb to Reuters. “Finally the nightmare is over. Following the decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, I can…
Retired Uruguay striker Luis Suarez has slammed Marcelo Bielsa, saying his coaching style has split the national team leading to some players intending to quit playing for the country. Suarez – who is Uruguay’s all-time top scorer – retired from international football in September – revealed Bielsa’s tactics and changes since he took over last year has caused stirred negativity in the team. “I will ask the fans not to take it out on the players when things go wrong. Bielsa has divided the whole group because of the way he trains,” Suarez said to DSports in an interview. “The…
Real Madrid suffered a shock 1-0 loss in the Champions League at Lille on Wednesday, and manager Carlo Ancelotti believes the criticisms is a valid one due to the performance of his side. Lille picked up maximum points courtesy of Jonathan David’s penalty in first half stoppage time, handing a first loss in all competitions to Los Blancos since January. The 15-time winners just have three points after two games following their opening win over VfB Stuttgart. “Everything was pretty bad. We did badly with the ball, although the team was quite compact in the first half, it was difficult…
Aston Villa head coach Unai Emery stated John Duran’s winning goal against Bayern Munich came as a result of a pre-planned tactic. Duran came on in the contest at Villa Park as his late lob over Manuel Neuer earned the English side a 1-0 win over the German giants. “In the analysis we did, we were speaking a lot about the usual position of Neuer, which is high.”He (Duran) had in his mind this possibility about Neuer,” Emery said. The 20-year-old Colombian sent the Villa Park crowd into ruptures with his goal in the 79th minute, receiving a long ball…
Juventus gaffer Thiago Motta was extremely pleased with his side’s show of great spirit in their 3-2 comeback win at RasenBallsport Leipzig in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday. Juve battled despite two early injuries and a red card as they came from a goal down to triumph on the night thanks to Francsico Conceicao’s late goal. “It was a good match, even in the first half where we made some mistakes in the details,” said Juve coach Thiago Motta. “In the second half, we did better, even playing with 10 men. It was a great performance and a great…
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has stated the club will make a late decision on whether Kylian Mbappe will feature in the Champions League trip to France to face Lille. The Frenchman, who picked up a muscle problem in the 3-2 win against Deportivo Alaves last week, has recovered from the issue. The 25-year-old missed the draw at bitter rivals Atletico Madrid last week Sunday. “Mbappe has recovered very well, very quickly,” Ancelotti informed reporters. “He trained yesterday and today, he will do the full training session with us. Then we’ll make the decision together because the last thing we…