Harry Maguire insists Manchester United can still achieve things this season, despite the club s poor recent performances.
United s historic and humiliating 5-0 defeat at Old Trafford to rivals Liverpool last time out was their fourth loss from their last five domestic games, drawing the other.
The Red Devils are seventh in the Premier League, out of the EFL Cup and required two last-minute Cristiano Ronaldo winners to claim their six Champions League points, having suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat to Young Boys.
Maguire, though, believes it is early enough for United to turn their campaign around, with head coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in desperate need of an upturn in form as his position comes under increasing scrutiny.
There are lots of games to …
Lionel Messi has dominated the headlines for Barcelona since their 2019-20 season finished, but he showed little sign of letting off-field matters impact his performances as he helped secure a 4-0 win over Villarreal.
Barca were in action on Sunday for the first time since losing 8-2 to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals last month, a result that seemed to start a tumultuous chain reaction at the club.
Quique Setien was sacked and replaced by Ronald Koeman, Luis Suarez was deemed surplus to requirements and ultimately sold, that angered an already disillusioned Messi – who attempted to force a transfer, and supporters subsequently launched a bid to oust president Josep Maria Bartomeu.
But the Blaugrana returned to the pitch and blew Villarreal…
Hoffenheim defender Andreas Beck has signed a new contract that will keep him at the club until 2014.
The Germany international s previous deal was due to expire at end of the current season and there had been doubts that the 24-year-old was willing to extend his stay at the club.
But Beck, who was strongly linked with a move to Juventus in the off-season, has decided to add two more years to his contract after weeks of speculation about his future.
I am delighted to be able to extend my stay at Hoffenheim, Beck told the club s website. The decisive factor was that I can identify myself with the club s and the coach s concept.
Beck joined Hoffenheim from Stuttgart in 2008 and has featured consistently for the club since his arrival.
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Rob Page insisted he will take Wales forward after their Euro 2024 dream was ended by penalty shoot-out heartbreak.
Daniel James missed the decisive spot-kick as Wales lost 5-4 on penalties to Poland after a goalless draw at the Cardiff City Stadium.
Football Association of Wales chief executive Noel Mooney put Page’s position in the spotlight in October by saying the manager’s position would be reviewed if the Dragons did not qualify for Euro 2024 automatically.
Page and Mooney held clear the air talks after those comments – the 49-year-old remaining in post after Wales had to settle for a play-off place that ultimately ended in failure.
“I’ve got a great relationship with Dave Adams, the technical director,” said boss Page.
“We’v…
Stoke City chairman Peter Coates would gladly offer highly rated goalkeeper Asmir Begovic a contract for life.
The Bosnia-Herzegovina international, who represented his country at the FIFA World Cup last month, has been the subject of speculation linking him with a move away from the Premier League club with Real Madrid rumoured to be among his suitors.
But Coates, who saw manager Mark Hughes guide Stoke to a best ever Premier League finish of ninth last season, is eager to keep hold of the 27-year-old.
He s very much our player and nothing has happened recently to change that because we haven t had any inquiries for him, he said in quotes reported by The Stoke Sentinel.
My own preference is that he stays. He can stay forever as far as I m concerned.
Jose Mourinho says Real Madrid will have no shortage of motivation as they prepare to visit Lyon in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Ligue 1 side Lyon became something of a nemesis for Real in recent seasons, and were responsible for eliminating the Spanish giants in the 2009/10 competition s Round of 16.
With Mourinho at the helm, Real gained revenge last season, disposing of Lyon at the same stage to reach the quarter-finals for first time in seven seasons.
Drawn against each other in this year s group stage, the La Liga side recorded a comfortable 4-0 victory at their Santiago Bernabeu home on October 19.
But Real are yet to entirely banish their Lyon demons, with a first victory at the Stade Gerland still eluding them after four visits.
We…
Jose Mourinho claims it is game over for Manchester United s hopes of signing Gareth Bale, while the Real Madrid star insists he is not interested in the rumours.
The Wales international has been linked with a move to United amid talk of Madrid s pursuit of Monaco star Kylian Mbappe.
Mourinho said he would consider Bale to be available if he were left on the bench for the UEFA Super Cup against United on Tuesday, but the 28-year-old started alongside Karim Benzema and set up Isco to score his side s second in their 2-1 victory.
And the United manager accepts that any chance of bringing the former Tottenham man back to the Premier League appear to be over.
I think so, I think clearly the club wants him, the manager wants him, the player wants it, he said.…
Uzbekistan will be out for revenge in their Asian Cup quarter-final against South Korea on Thursday.
Uzbekistan coach Mirjalol Kasimov has boldly promised that his side will beat South Korea in their Asian Cup quarter-final in Melbourne.
The Uzbeks will head into Thursday s clash striving for revenge after their bid to reach the 2014 World Cup was thwarted by South Korea.
Uzbekistan lost their penultimate qualifier for Brazil 2014 in Seoul, in June 2013.
South Korea s 1-0 win meant that they did just enough to edge Uzbekistan by goal difference of one to automatically go through to the showpiece, despite Kasimov s side thrashing Qatar 5-1 in their final qualifier.
That forced Uzbekistan into a two-legged play-off against Jordan for the right to p…
Barcelona appear to have responded to Jurgen Klopp s claim that Camp Nou is not a temple by posting a video on social media that celebrates their famous stadium.
Speaking ahead of Liverpool s Champions League semi-final first leg at the home of the LaLiga champions on Wednesday, Klopp stressed the importance of his players not being overawed by Barca s ground, which has the largest capacity of any in Europe.
Klopp took his squad to see the Catalans Champions League home game against Borussia Monchengladbach in December 2016 and wants his side to remember that it is just a football stadium .
It wasn t a top game as such because Barcelona were pretty dominant, but it was important for the team to see that it was just a football stadium and not some sort of temple …
Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe could have ended up in Germany with RB Leipzig after they almost signed the 18-year-old in 2015, according to sporting director Ralf Rangnick.
Mbappe became one of the hottest properties in football last season, as he helped lead Monaco to the Ligue 1 title and the Champions League semi-finals, playing a starring role on both fronts.
After months of speculation, he eventually ended up staying in Ligue 1 and moved to PSG on a loan deal which is set to become permanent for €180million next year.
Things could have been rather different for the talented Frenchman, however, at least according to Rangnick.
We almost signed Mbappe, Rangnick told Bild. The problem was back then we just separated from our coach Alexander Z…