A late goal from Andre Schurrle saw Borussia Dortmund clinch a 2-2 draw against Real Madrid in Tuesday s Champions League encounter and extend their unbeaten run against the LaLiga side at the Signal Iduna Park to six games.
Madrid appeared to be on their way to their first away win against Dortmund following Raphael Varane s second-half goal, but Schurrle levelled three minutes from time with a superb finish.
Dortmund were high on confidence after winning four games on the trot, including a 6-0 thrashing of Legia Warsaw in their Group F opener, whereas Madrid came off two consecutive domestic draws.
Although the Santiago Bernabeu side were on a 22-game unbeaten run in the Champions League group stages heading into the game, their last defeat did come against Do…
Football Federation Australia (FFA) may have signed the A-League s own death warrant, according to former Newcastle Jets owner Nathan Tinkler, who has threatened to sue after being stripped of his licence.
Tinkler slammed the FFA as selfish , immoral and unethical after they took control of the Jets on Wednesday, and argued the football governing body may target other club owners next.
The 39-year-old threatened to sue the FFA for revoking his A-League franchise licence.
The way it s going, they [the FFA] might have a few more of these licences in their lap in the next couple of months, Tinkler told the Daily Telegraph.
They might have just taken the first step to folding their own competition.
The FFA and the former mining magnate have been ci…
Watford have announced the appointment of former Malaga and Rubin Kazan coach Javi Gracia as Marco Silva s successor on an 18-month contract.
Silva s dismissal was confirmed on Sunday, after Saturday s 2-0 defeat to Leicester City left them with just one win from 11 Premier League outings.
But Watford s decision was based on Everton s pursuit of Silva in November, when the Merseyside club attempted to lure the Portuguese coach away from Vicarage Road.
Watford felt that situation caused a significant deterioration in the their fortunes, a claim supported by the fact that the club have lost seven of the 10 league matches since Sam Allardyce took the reins at Goodison Park.
They have wasted no time in appointing a successor, however, with 47-year-old Spaniar…
Alexis Sanchez continued his fine run of for form by scoring twice in Arsenal s hard-fought 3-1 over a resilient Bournemouth at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
With Premier League leaders Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool all winning on Saturday the onus was on the Gunners to respond on home turf.
Arsene Wenger s men did not have it all their own way, though, as Bournemouth devoid of Arsenal-loanee Jack Wilshere put in a good showing in north London.
It was a mistake of their own doing that saw Arsenal take the lead when Sanchez pounced on Steve Cook s error to break the deadlock, but Bournemouth s efforts were rewarded before half-time when Callum Wilson levelled from the penalty spot.
Arsenal produced a marked improvement after the break and affo…
Mauricio Pochettino warned the Tottenham players who wanted off-season moves to refocus or face being dropped.
Spurs endured a close season of uncertainty amid talk over several of their players, with Christian Eriksen, Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen among those spoken about as each entered the final year of their contract.
After all that talk, the Champions League runners-up made a slow start to the season, collecting just five points from their opening four Premier League matches.
Now, Pochettino – whose side host Crystal Palace on Saturday – wants to see his players concentrate, or be prepared to watch from the sidelines.
I think we are all agreed that Tottenham always have more rumours than other clubs, he told UK media.
In one mon…
Mohamed Salah scored his 24th Premier League goal of the season as Liverpool moved up to second place with a 2-0 home win against former manager Rafael Benitez s Newcastle United.
Salah struck the opener, finding the net for his seventh appearance in a row for the Reds, maintaining a stunning run of goalscoring since arriving at Anfield from Roma.
Newcastle deployed a packed defence but Salah found a way through before half-time, finishing off Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain s pass to put Liverpool on track for a solid win ahead of Tuesday s Champions League visit of Porto.
And when Liverpool cut Newcastle open again, Sadio Mane finishing off a fine team move to score the 200th league goal of Jurgen Klopp s reign, the game was effectively over as a contest.
Beni…
Jose Mourinho says he has not yet been tipped off about the Chelsea team, having claimed he received some inside information ahead of Tottenham s previous Premier League meeting with their London rivals.
Spurs travelled to Stamford Bridge in February, their second tussle with the Blues since Mourinho had been appointed the previous November.
Chelsea beat Spurs 2-0 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium a month into Mourinho s reign, though the Portuguese appeared to have the upper hand in the return meeting earlier this year.
Mourinho claimed he had been given an insight into Chelsea s formation and starting XI, though he did not identify his source.
However, Chelsea again emerged victorious, beating Spurs 2-1 thanks to goals from Olivier Giroud and Marcos Alo…
With this weekend s stacked schedule opening up again on Saturday afternoon, we have another host of noteworthy meetings from across the continent. On that note, for those of you looking to stick on a Saturday acca, we have searched far and wide to find you a handful of helpful tips.
Saturday 13th February
BST 15:00 Grimsby vs Tranmere Rovers
After being left stunned by that shock 1-0 loss against relegation scrappers Stevenage on the road in midweek, Tranmere should be smelling a golden chance to make an immediate return to winning ways. Still shocking many across League Two since opening the New Year, Keith Hill s side now have a third-tier return at the top of their agenda. Despite dealing with a string of off-field issues last year, the Whites open this …
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Looking to pick up a crucial first-leg advantage on Thursday night, Ajax will travel to the Huvepharma Arena when they meet Ludogorets.
Ludogorets
Starting with the hosts, extending on their Europa League qualifying adventure earlier in the month as they secured an action-packed 6-3 aggregate victory against Astana, Ludogorets will be desperate to spring a major upset in midweek. However, despite mounting a stellar second-leg comeback at the Huvepharma Arena on August 17th, the Bulgarian heavyweights will be more than aware that they face a stern challenge over the next week. Failing to pick up any kind of momentum over the weekend while on domestic duties as they slumped to a toothless 1-0 loss at the hands of Cherno More, Ivaylo Pete…
Joe Hart stressed a consistency of message will help Celtic deal with major disruption in central defence.
Brendan Rodgers has lost Cameron Carter-Vickers, Stephen Welsh and summer signing Maik Nawrocki to injury for about eight weeks.
The blows came quickly in the wake of Carl Starfelt’s exit, while Yuki Kobayashi will also miss games against St Johnstone and Rangers.
Gustaf Lagerbielke is set to make his cinch Premiership debut against Saints on Saturday, while Liam Scales could come in for his first Celtic appearance in 18 months after spending last season on loan at Aberdeen.
Hart said: “I have had a few different partners to play with this season, but the message has been pretty consistent.
“A large percentage (of games) were obviously …