Reina: Benitez was ´ideal candidate´

Newcastle United defender Florian Lejeune has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.

The 27-year-old sustained what the club have described as significant damage to his left knee during Saturday s 1-0 Premier League home defeat to Crystal Palace.

The defender will now miss his side s final five matches of 2018-19, as they battle to avoid relegation to the Championship.

Newcastle United can confirm defender Florian Lejeune sustained a significant knee injury during Saturday s game against Crystal Palace, Newcastle said in a statement.

The 27-year-old was forced off on a stretcher during the second half at St James Park after injuring his left knee – not the knee injured during pre-season which saw him miss the start of the campai…

Radja Nainggolan has criticised Mauro Icardi for his recent absence from the Inter side, claiming his team-mates paid the price for an off-field dispute.

Icardi was out of action for almost two months after being stripped of the Nerazzurri captaincy in February, with agent and wife Wanda Nara reportedly angering club officials with comments she made about the team before insisting her husband, sat in the stands, was available to play.

The Argentina forward finally returned with a goal and an assist at Genoa last week to boost Inter s hopes of Champions League qualification.

While Nainggolan is glad to have Icardi back, he does not believe the issues between himself and his wife and the club should have been allowed to impact the team.

Every player in a…

Competition: La Liga

Market: Real Madrid to beat Celta Vigo

Odds:

Spain s top league returns for yet another massive round of fixtures as every side in the league looks to pick up a vital three points from their game this weekend. With Barcelona building their advantage at the top, every side in the top-half is looking to keep pace with them, and with this in mind, Real Madrid travel to face Celta Vigo on Sunday.

Celta Vigo have been struggling this season and they are in need of a positive run of games that would help them to move away from the relegation zone. After 17 games they have won six, drawn three and lost eight, while they have scored 30 goals and conceded 25 times. This has all helped Celta to pick up 21 points for the season so far,…

The Football Association has welcomed the publication of a new anti-racism manifesto backed by Manchester City star Raheem Sterling. 

England forward Sterling has spoken in favour of the campaign, from The Times, which called for radical changes to be made in football. 

Up and down the game, across the world, black and Asian players, fans and coaches are subjected to racism, Sterling wrote in the newspaper. Every day, from park football to the Champions League.  

Sterling himself has been a victim of alleged racist abuse this season, both while playing for City at Chelsea and also for his country during a Euro 2020 qualifier in Montenegro, and called for teams to be docked nine-points if their fans are found to be guilty of racism.

The manife…

Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard has warned Merseyside counterpart Simon Mignolet that he may face an uncertain Liverpool future.

Mignolet was hailed as one of the top goalkeepers in the Premier League by Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers when he arrived at Anfield from Sunderland in June 2013. 

But the Belgium international s performance levels have dipped this season and Rodgers sent out a clear statement of intent by dropping him for last Sunday s Premier League clash at Manchester United in favour of Brad Jones, who has been promised a prolonged run in the first team.

Howard has sympathy for Mignolet and is blunt over what could happen next for the 26-year-old. 

I ll be honest and I think it s a hard road back now, Howard is quoted as saying by the Daily…

Wycombe Wanderers were held to a 1-1 League Two draw by Luton Town on Friday after agreeing a new contract with manager Gareth Ainsworth.

Chairman Andrew Howard made the announcement prior to the Boxing Day clash between two of the division s high-flyers, with Ainsworth extending the two-year deal he signed in April 2013.

Wycombe looked set to mark the occasion in style when Paris Cowan-Hall opened the scoring with a header after just three minutes.

Jonathan Smith spoiled the party five minutes later, though, with a right-footed strike into the top left-hand corner from outside the penalty area.

The result saw Wycombe slip to second on goal difference, while Luton lost third place to Burton Albion.

Shrewsbury Town are the new league leaders afte…

Seven-times reigning French league champions Lyon beat Toulouse 3-0 in their opening match of the 2008/09 campaign on Sunday to shoot to their usual spot at the top of the table.

Claude Puel took over from Alain Perrin last season and the culture of winning was maintained thanks to goals from Jean II Makoun and a double strike from Karim Benzema.

Puel, speaking on Canal Plus television, said afterwards: It s great to win by such a large margin when we are not yet 100 percent physically.

Meanwhile on Saturday, Marseille drew 4-4 in a dramatic fixture at Rennes and Paris Saint Germain fell 1-0 at Monaco as two of the nation s highest profile clubs had less-than-optimal starts to the season.

Bourdeaux, who finished as runners-up last season, started on…

The 2008 Olympic football final will be a replay of the 1996 edition, with Nigeria facing Argentina at Beijing s National Stadium. The Argentinians beat arch rivals Brazil 3-0 in the semi final on Tuesday.

No goals were scored in the first half at Workers Stadium but Argentina made the difference after the break.

Sergio Aguero broke the deadlock after 52nd minute and netted a second goal just six minutes later.

Although initially stunned by the two goals, Brazil did try to do something back but other than a goal disallowed for off-side, Dunga s men failed to threaten their opponents.

The decider came in the 76th minute when Argentina were given a chance to make it 3-0 from the penalty spot. Captain Juan Roman Riquelme stepped up and struck the ball right…

Sam Allardyce could be the man to lead the England football team to a brighter future, according to former Football Association chairman David Bernstein.

Bernstein was in charge of the FA when Roy Hodgson was appointed England manager, but admitted there remained a psychological problem within the team that prevented players from fulfilling their potential at major tournaments.

Allardyce masterminded Sunderland s successful fight against relegation from the Premier League in 2015-16 and Bernstein reckons the 61-year-old could restore some confidence to the England camp.

I m not saying we should have an English manager. But, of the English managers, I actually would go for Sam Allardyce, he said.

He s a very powerful character. I think he s got the pers…

Nigeria international Anthony Ujah has agreed to join Liaoning from Werder Bremen, the Bundesliga club have confirmed.

Bremen on Tuesday announced an undisclosed offer for the 25-year-old had been accepted and permission for the player to attend a medical had been granted.

It was not really our intention to give up Tony because he had an important role to play in our plans for next season, CEO Frank Baumann told the club s official website.

But he signalled to us a few days ago that he would like to accept the offer from China. Eventually we were able to find a mutually satisfactory solution, so we accepted his request.

Ujah, who joined Bremen on a four-year deal from Cologne in 2015, admitted the offer from Liaoning was too good to miss.

It s…