Young set for Inter Milan medical

Real Madrid can overcome their indifferent start to the season and deliver a major trophy, according to Kaka.

After finishing 19 points behind LaLiga winners Barcelona and being eliminated from the Champions League by Ajax in the round of 16 last season, Madrid have won just two of their opening five competitive matches of 2019-20.

Draws against Real Valladolid and Villarreal in LaLiga and a 3-0 defeat at Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League have left coach Zinedine Zidane s position under threat at a club where he won three consecutive European titles in his first spell as coach.

Kaka, who won the LaLiga title with Madrid in 2011-12 and the Copa del Rey a season earlier, noted the expectation around Santiago Bernabeu, telling Omnisport: For Real Madri…

Tuesday s Champions League schedule presents the chance for Marco Reus to set a new record for Borussia Dortmund, while Erling Haaland will hope to maintain his scoring run.

Reus drew a blank last time out in Europe, the Bundesliga side losing 2-0 to Inter, but will hope to make club history in the return fixture in Germany.

Barcelona are top of the table in the same group and the reigning LaLiga champions will be eager to preserve their unbeaten home run when they take on Slavia Prague at Camp Nou.

Liverpool are another team who seem to relish having home comforts, plus history tells us Chelsea should be feeling confident when Ajax visit Stamford Bridge.

We have picked out some of the notable numbers from Opta ahead of the eight games taking place at t…

Newcastle United are interested in signing Chris Wood from Premier League rivals Burnley in the January transfer window, according to . It has been reported that Wood is travelling to the North East to undergo a medical and will then sign a contract with the Magpies.

Eddie Howe’s Newcastle have met Wood’s release clause of £20 million, and the former Leeds United striker himself is keen on a move to St. James’ Park. The Magpies have been looking for a striker in the wake of the injury to Callum Wilson, with the team in real danger of getting relegated to the Championship at the end of the season.

Wood has scored three goals in 17 Premier League appearances for Newcastle so far this season. The 30-year-old New Zealand international striker scored 12 goals in the l…

Angel Di Maria and an as of yet unnamed Paris Saint-Germain team-mate had their houses broken into during Sunday s game with Nantes.

Di Maria was taken off midway through the second half at Parc des Princes, after a curious discussion between officials – including sporting director Leonardo, who appeared visibly angry – in the stands, and the coaching staff on the touchline over the phone.

The substitution caused confusion not only off the pitch, but also on it. PSG conceded just before Di Maria went off, and then again nine minutes later to throw away their lead and ultimately lose 2-1.

After Di Maria, who signed a new deal with the capital club earlier this week, went off, Mauricio Pochettino spoke to his compatriot in the dressing room before returning t…

Martin Montoya feels lucky to have been coached by Pep Guardiola, who he says is one of the world s best managers.

Montoya came through the Barcelona academy and played under Guardiola during his time at Camp Nou, the Catalan s spell in charge producing a trio of LaLiga titles and a brace of Champions League crowns.

Now at Brighton and Hove Albion, Montoya played the full 90 minutes in a 2-0 loss at Guardiola s Manchester City at the end of September.

And the 27-year-old, who joined Brighton from Valencia, hailed the impact the former Bayern Munich boss has had on his career.

In my opinion, he is one of the best managers in the world, Montoya told Omnisport.

I have been lucky to be coached by him, to have training with him, playing under him …

Antonio Rudiger is no stranger to putting himself in difficult and painful situations for the cause, as evidenced by the defensive lynchpin of Thomas Tuchel s Chelsea revival sporting a protective face mask during matches over recent weeks.

Nevertheless, even as a player who appears to relish a challenge and refuse to back down from a confrontation, Chelsea playing behind closed doors might have done Rudiger a favour earlier in the year.

The Stamford Bridge faithful, for all the success lapped up during the Roman Abramovich era, are certainly not shy when it comes to voicing their displeasure over an unpopular change in the dugout, of which there have been plenty.

There was the vocal backing for Roberto Di Matteo weeks after his sacking in 2012. Interim boss Rafa…

Former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger conceded he is perplexed by how far Mesut Ozil s stock has fallen at his old club.

Ozil suffered his latest ignominy this week when the Gunners left the German playmaker out of their 24-man Europa League squad for the group phase.

The 31-year-old is yet to make one of Mikel Arteta s squads this season and his most recent appearance was back in March before the coronavirus-enforced lockdown.

A move in the transfer window never looked like materialising given his reported £350,000-a-week wages, though his contract does run out at the end of this campaign.

It was Wenger who brought 2014 World Cup winner Ozil to north London from Real Madrid in 2013 and the Frenchman cannot fathom how such a creative player has fallen from g…

Verdict: Over three goals

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Arsenal have plenty of work to do if they want to book their place in the Europa League last 16. BATE Borisov secured a 1-0 in the first-leg clash in Belarus last Thursday after a turgid performance on the road from the Gunners.

Arsenal

Starting with the hosts, after coming off the back of their embarrassing 1-0 loss away in Belarus last week, Unai Emery will be glad to make a return to North London. With their away record heavily criticized, the Gunners have now lost three of their last five matches across all competitions and still find themselves out of the top-four in the Premier League. Despite their worrying record away from the Emirates, Arsenal have undoubtedly saved their best performances f…

The prestigious Ballon d’Or awards will be co-organised by UEFA from next year.

European football’s governing body has reached an agreement with Group Amaury, the owner of media companies France Football and L’Equipe, to “enhance the stature and global reach of the awards”.

Argentinian star Lionel Messi won his eighth Ballon d’Or title earlier this week after steering his country to World Cup glory last year, with Spanish World Cup star Aitana Bonmati winning the women’s prize.

Aitana Bonmatí made her way to the 2023 Ballon d Or!

— Ballon d Or #ballondor (@ballondor)

The merging of the awards means an end to the UEFA awards handed out in August each year, with the exception of the President’s Award which will still be present…

Neymar caused a stir after inspiring Paris Saint-Germain to victory over Manchester United when he said he wants to link up with Lionel Messi in 2021.

The Brazil star scored twice to help PSG to a 3-1 win at Old Trafford, a result that puts them in a strong position to reach the Champions League knockout stages.

Neymar joined the Ligue 1 champions from Barca for a world-record €222million fee in 2017, partly, it has been suggested, to escape the shadow of Messi at Barcelona.

The Catalans won the treble in 2014-15 with an attacking trident of Neymar, Messi and Luis Suarez, but it has been claimed the former Santos man left Camp Nou so he could have a better chance of winning the Ballon d Or.

Neymar has since repeatedly been tipped to return to Spain but …