Month: December 2024

Atalanta president Antonio Percassi has hit back at claims that he sold midfielder Giacomo Bonaventura to Milan on the cheap.

Bonaventura moved to San Siro ahead of last week s transfer deadline for fee reported to be worth around €7million.

Percassi has come in for criticism for being unable to command a bigger sum but the Atalanta supremo is adamant that it was a good piece of business.

He told Bergamo TV: I ve been accused of selling him on the cheap.

That s almost offensive to me seeing as I have made my fair share of business deals in the past.

The truth is that player values have fallen because co-ownership deals no longer exist. These deals in the past made it easier to cover up mistakes.

At the end of the day, we have to make …

Prediction: Real Madrid to win and both teams to score

Odds:

Bookmaker:

Zinedine Zidane s Real Madrid will look to rectify their poor away record in La Liga on Sunday as they do battle with Real Betis at the Estadio Benito Villamarín.

The current La Liga champions currently sit fourth in the Spanish top-flight and will hope to get their pursuit of league leaders, Barcelona back on track.

Real Betis

With the visit of Los Blancos coming, Betis have so far been enjoying a positive campaign in 2017/18. The Andalusian outfit currently sit eighth in the league standings with 33 points from 23 games. Quique Setién s troops are only four points behind fifth-placed, Villareal, so a victory in Sunday s fixture could go a long way in securing Europea…

Everton fans must have had an all too familiar sinking feeling when Sadio Mane scored a 94th-minute winner for Liverpool in Monday s Merseyside derby.

Mane was on hand to score the only goal of the game in the Premier League encounter after substitute Daniel Sturridge s effort had struck the post.

The Senegal international s late intervention gave the travelling support plenty to cheer about going into Christmas, and it is not an unusual feeling for the Liverpool fans.

It marked the fourth time the Reds have earned a stoppage-time winner against their fierce rivals, more than double the amount they have against any other opponent.

4 Liverpool have won twice as many Premier League games with 90+ minute winners v Everton (4) than they have vs any other oppo…

Jordi Gomez has agreed a three-year deal with Premier League outfit Sunderland, the club announced on Thursday.

The Spaniard will move to the Stadium of Light on July 1 upon the expiry of his contract at Championship side Wigan Athletic.

Gomez, a youth product at Barcelona, moved to Catalan rivals Espanyol in 2007 and spent two years at Estadi Cornella-El Prat.

Roberto Martinez brought Gomez to Britain when he signed him on a season-long loan for Swansea City in June 2008.

After impressing at the Liberty Stadium, Martinez once more recruited Gomez for Wigan ahead of the 2009-10 season.

During his time at the DW Stadium, Gomez collected the FA Cup in 2013 and notched on 11 occasions during his final season on Lancashire.

Sunderland head coach Gus Poyet…

Manchester United will be without Harry Maguire for Tuesday s EFL Cup semi-final first leg against a Manchester City side showing eight changes at Old Trafford.

Maguire was a doubt with an injury that troubled him during United s 0-0 FA Cup draw with Wolves on Saturday, with City having progressed in that competition at the expense of League Two Port Vale.

With Maguire absent, Phil Jones was picked to start alongside Victor Lindelof, while Marcus Rashford took the captain s armband and Mason Greenwood played up front.

There was also a spot for Fred as the hosts made five changes, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka in at right-back and Jesse Lingard back in the starting XI, while Anthony Martial had to be content with a place among the substitutes.

City boss Pep Gu…

Nantes have announced they will retire their number nine jersey after the body recovered from a plane wreckage in the English Channel was confirmed as that of former striker Emiliano Sala.

The UK s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) confirmed on Wednesday that a body had been passed to the Dorset Coroner, having been recovered with the help of specialist contractors, and it was identified as Sala a day later.

The Piper Malibu aircraft disappeared with Sala and pilot David Ibbotson aboard on January 21, with the 28-year-old en route to Cardiff City having completed a club-record transfer from Ligue 1 side Nantes.

Sala had been a fan favourite at Nantes prior to his transfer, having scored 42 Ligue 1 goals in the last three-and-a-half years, with 12 of those…

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rs after the defeated Bundesliga champions did not watch Eintracht Frankfurt hoist the DFB-Pokal trophy aloft.

Bayern s season ended on a disappointing and controversial note following Saturday s shock 3-1 loss in the Berlin showpiece – incoming head coach Niko Kovac denying his new club the double.

Ante Rebic scored a brace having netted in the first half and again on the counter-attack with eight minutes remaining after Robert Lewandowski had equalised for Bayern.

VAR had ruled in favour of Rebic for Frankfurt s second goal in the 82nd minute and Kovac s men were fortunate again when referee Felix Zwayer turned down penalty appeals from Bayern players in the fourth minute of stoppage time – Kevin-Prince Boateng appearing to foul Javi Martinez.

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Atletico Madrid have completed the signing of Matheus Cunha from Hertha Berlin for a reported €26million fee.

Cunha, who is Brazil Under-23s  all-time leading goalscorer, joins Diego Simeone s side on a five-year deal and will provide capable support to talisman Luis Suarez up top.

Speculation had linked the 22-year-old to Everton, Atalanta and Napoli, but the reigning LaLiga champions swooped in to secure his services after a move for Dusan Vlahovic fell through.

Cunha initially moved to Europe to play for Swiss side Sion, subsequently joining RB Leipzig before finding a new home with Hertha in 2020.

Last term, the versatile attacker scored eight and assisted six across 28 games in all competitions, leading Hertha s charts ahead of second-place Dodi …

Zinedine Zidane s return to Real Madrid has pleased Iker Casillas, but Porto s goalkeeper believes that Los Blancos hierarchy must realise they have made mistakes.

Zidane quit his role at Madrid in May 2018, following a third successive Champions League triumph, but made a sensational comeback to the club following Santiago Solari s sacking.

Madrid bounced back from their Champions League exit to Ajax by beating Celta Vigo 2-0 in Zidane s first game back in charge, but sit 12 points adrift of LaLiga leaders Barcelona.

And Zidane s former club-mate Casillas has urged Madrid to learn their lessons following a turbulent nine months in which both Solari and Julen Lopetegui – Zidane s initial replacement – both lost their jobs.

It is clear that the hiri…

Holders Real Madrid take on Juventus in the Champions League final on Saturday in the culmination of an intriguing bid to make history. 

Zinedine Zidane s men have already clinched LaLiga glory for the first time since 2011-12 and will now look to become the first team to successfully retain the trophy in the Champions League era.

Madrid have played 12 games in European club football s elite competition to get this far and Juventus now await, with Massimiliano Allegri s side looking to clinch a historic treble.

Here, we look at the capital side s road to Cardiff.

Destiny:

?

— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid)

GROUP STAGES

Madrid made a somewhat underwhelming start to their European campaign as they appeared to be on their w…