Manuel Pellegrini became embroiled in some heated exchanges with the media following questions over Manchester City s form after their defeat to Manchester United.
Marcus Rashford scored the only goal of the game as Louis van Gaal s side sealed a 1-0 win at the Etihad Stadium to close to within a point of their neighbours, who remain fourth in the Premier League table.
Pellegrini walked out of a Sky Sports interview after the match when asked for his view on City s declining home form, with the 2013-14 champions having lost three of their last four home league games.
And the Chilean was equally irked in his media conference later when asked for his explanation over why City have taken just 51 points from 30 matches.
I cannot explain that, no. We are here…
Juventus head coach Massimiliano Allegri has revealed that he wants to stay at the club for a long time after winning his second consecutive Italian manager of the year award.
The 51-year-old, who guided Juve to a seventh straight Serie A title and 13th Coppa Italia triumph last season, beat off competition from Maurizio Sarri and Simone Inzaghi for the Panchina d Oro.
Allegri has picked up where he left off so far this campaign with a 2-0 win over AC Milan on Sunday maintaining their six-point lead at the Serie A summit.
They are well placed to qualify for the Champions League knockout stages, despite last week s 2-1 home defeat to Manchester United, and Allegri admits he is targeting European success in what he hopes is a prolonged spell in Turin.
I th…
Verdict: Both teams to score and over 2.5 goals
Best Odds:
Bookmaker:
World champions France are looking to seal the deal with in their Nations League group, and will qualify for next summer s semi-final stage with a point in Rotterdam.
Holland
Starting with the hosts, after Holland failed to qualify for back to back major tournaments, new boss Ronald Koeman has done an impressive job with his Netherlands rebuilding process. Although they may have suffered late heartbreak in Belgium last time out, Holland did leave with a point, even if the former Everton boss will feel that they deserved more. Also picking up a very eye-catching 3-0 win over bitter-rivals Germany last month, they have now lost just one of their last eight matches across all compet…
More corruption claims dogged FIFA on Tuesday, only two days before it picks the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosts, as Olympics chiefs vowed to probe one of their own officials caught up in the allegations.
As prime ministers and royalty headed for the Swiss city of Zurich ahead of Thursday s two announcements, fresh media allegations even prompted a call for football s world governing body to postpone the decision.
And Russia, one of the frontrunners to stage the 2018 tournament, railed against the move to award two tournaments in one go, saying it encouraged collusion.
The final decision will be made in a ballot among the 22 members of FIFA s executive committee on Thursday, the first time the hosts of two tournaments had been chosen at the same time.
A re…
A doctor accused of being part of a major athletics doping scandal has flatly denied a report that he implicated Spain s world champion football squad.
Eufemiano Fuentes, a medical doctor, was one of six people charged December 12 with trafficking offences in an athletics doping network after a police investigation known as Operation Galgo, or greyhound.
Leading sports daily La Marca ran a report Monday quoting a young man who claimed he had briefly shared a cell with Fuentes while he awaited questioning in the affair.
According to the paper, the man identified only as David told reporters of Fuentes: He told us that if he spoke we would not have the European Championships or the World Cup.
On Friday, sports daily Marca published a letter from Fuentes to…
Thomas Tuchel is drawing inspiration from Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber as Borussia Dortmund attempt to haul in Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga.
Dortmund were thrashed 5-1 by Pep Guardiola s side in October, but have since enjoyed superb form in the top flight to keep within eight points of the reigning champions at the summit.
Bayern travel to Signal Iduna Park early next month, but Dortmund must rely on favours from others if they are to stand a chance of winning their first league title since 2012.
Tuchel, however, says they cannot be distracted by Bayern s results and highlighted Kerber s shock victory over world number one Serena Williams in Melbourne as proof of the benefit of adopting the correct mindset.
Angelique Kerber c…
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone expressed his pride in guiding the La Liga champions to Supercopa de Espana glory on Friday.
Mario Mandzukic s 81st-second strike inspired Atletico to a 1-0 victory over Real Madrid in the second leg of their Supercopa tie at the Vicente Calderon.
The result Atletico s first win at home to city rivals Real in 15 years gave the Spanish champions a 2-1 aggregate triumph.
Speaking post-game, Simeone said lifting the Supercopa trophy for the first time since 1985 was the confidence boost his team needed ahead of the club s La Liga title defence.
Atletico kick-off their league campaign at Rayo Vallecano on Monday.
The Super Cup is a title that many of us in the club didn t have and it makes us very happy, said the Argentin…
Chelsea are interested in Sevilla s Pablo Sarabia, according to Sevilla-based outlet Estadio Deportivo.
The midfielder was apparently a subject of a bid of just under €40 million from Chinese Super League side Dalian Yifang in January, but Sevilla were not ready to part ways with him halfway through the season under any conditions. Paris Saint-Germain were also credited with interest in his services as they look to add quality to their middle section, with Adrien Rabiot practically certain to leave Parc des Princes.
The 26-year-old started his career with Real Madrid, but he only made one appearance for their first team before moving on to Getafe where he spent five years and scored 15 goals in 145. He has surpassed that figure this season alone with 17 strikes in 35 …
Lassana Diarra must pay a €10million fine to former club Lokomotiv Moscow after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled he had breached his contract.
The former Chelsea and Real Madrid star joined Lokomotiv from Anzhi Makhachkala during the 2013-14 season, but refused to turn up for training following a salary cut and a fallout with head coach Leonid Kuchuk – who was sacked in August 2014 – and went on to quit the club.
Lokomotiv took the case to FIFA and the midfielder then spent 15 months out of football without pay prior to joining Marseille last July as he was initially unable to join another team after his exit because of the contract dispute.
CAS has now ruled Diarra must pay €10m to the Russian Premier League club as well as €110,000 i…
Patrick Vieira insists there was never any chance of him replacing Unai Emery at Arsenal as he and Nice are 100 per cent committed to one another.
Former Arsenal captain Vieira has been linked with the Gunners job since Arsene Wenger s departure in 2018, but Mikel Arteta instead took over after Emery was sacked in November.
The Frenchman says there were no talks with Arsenal on this occasion, although the Nice coach is adamant he would have turned down any offer regardless.
No, but there is no place in my mind to have those kind of conversations, Vieira told the Daily Mail. My focus is here [at Nice]. This project suits who I am and what I want to achieve.
This rumour about the Arsenal job is not something that bothered me. I don t know what the future …