Ancelotti expects Modric to retire at Real Madrid

Carlo Ancelotti claims Luka Modric will retire at Real Madrid, comparing the 36-year-old midfielder to his former charge, AC Milan legend Paolo Maldini.

The Croatia captain has been extending his contract year-by-year for a while now. His current one, therefore, expires at the end of the season, but Real boss Ancelotti isn t worried about losing his most creative player.

Modric joined Real from Tottenham Hotspur back in 2012 for a reported fee of €35 million, and despite being maliciously branded as the worst signing of the summer by the Spanish press at the time, he has so far made 429 appearances for the club, scoring 31 goals and laying on 70 assists. He has helped the team win four Champions League trophies and as many FIFA Club World Cups, three UEFA Super Cups, …

This is Inter! Martinez has eyes on Scudetto after Milan derby victory

Lautaro Martinez declared Inter showed their true colours in Sunday s 3-0 derby victory over Milan at San Siro.

The Nerazzurri moved four points clear at the top of Serie A thanks to a double from Martinez and Romelu Lukaku s 23rd goal of the season in all competitions.

Lukaku crossed for his strike partner to nod in after only five minutes and each of them scored after the interval to put the game beyond Milan s reach.

Having been eliminated from European competition in December and beaten in the Coppa Italia semi-finals by Juventus, the Scudetto remains Inter s only hope for silverware in 2020-21.

Martinez is now determined to end the club s 11-year wait to become champions of Italy again.

This is what we are: we re united, we work every day to…

Fabinho backs Salah to become one of Liverpool´s greatest ever

Fabinho thinks Mohamed Salah could go on to be regarded as one of the greatest players to ever pull on a Liverpool jersey after signing a new contract.

Salah ended speculation around his future by agreeing a new three-year deal on July 1 – the Egypt forward only had 12 months remaining on his previous deal with the Reds and could have departed as a free agent after the 2022-23 season.

That would have been a significant blow for Liverpool considering Salah s impact since joining from Roma in 2017.

The 30-year-old has made 254 appearances for the Reds and scored 156 goals, assisting 58 more.

Those 156 goals rank Salah ninth on the list of Liverpool s record scorers, while his Premier League goal involvements tally of 164 is third only to Robert Lewandow…

Kingsley Coman extends Bayern contract to 2027

Kingsley Coman has signed a contract extension at Bayern Munich that runs until 2027.

Bayern confirmed the new deal for the 25-year-old on Wednesday.

The France winger s previous contract was due to run out in 2023 but Coman has signed on for an additional four years at the Allianz Arena.

Coman initially joined Bayern on loan in 2015 before completing a permanent transfer two years later.

He has won six Bundesliga titles, three DFB-Pokal trophies and the Champions League during his time at the club.

 

— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN)

Speaking about his extension, Coman told Bayern s official website: I m very happy because FC Bayern are one of the best clubs in the world and I know we still have a lot of opportunities and big…

´We won´t have success playing like this´ – Hummels not happy after Borussia Dortmund beaten by Rang

Borussia Dortmund defender Mats Hummels expressed his dismay at the manner in which his team were beaten by Rangers in the first leg of their Europa League knockout round play-off at Signal Iduna Park on Thursday.

The Bundesliga outfit lost 4-2 to the champions of Scotland, finding themselves 4-1 down after 54 minutes before Raphael Guerreiro fired a late goal back to add to Jude Bellingham s earlier effort.

Marco Rose s men were all over the place at the back, with a James Tavernier penalty and Alfredo Morelos goal giving them a 2-0 half-time lead, before John Lundstram made it three and a Dan-Axel Zagadou own goal restored the three-goal cushion after Bellingham briefly reduced the deficit.

Hummels was far from happy after the game, lamenting the way he and hi…

Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel lauds ‘world-class’ Harry Kane ahead of Turkey trip

Bayern Munich boss Thomas Tuchel has hailed “world-class” Harry Kane ahead of their Champions League trip to Galatasaray where the German giants could move five points clear at the top of Group A.

Tuchel’s men have won both of their group matches so far but will come up against another unbeaten side in the form of the Turkish champions on Tuesday, and the goalscoring prowess of Kane could prove key in the clash.

The England captain took his tally to 10 goals in 11 appearances for Bayern when he found the back of the net in Saturday’s 3-1 win at Mainz, and Tuchel has praised the way his star striker has started since his summer arrival in Germany.

Another game, another goal moves onto nine for the season in the Bundesliga

— FC Bayern Munich (…

De la Fuente determined not to underestimate Georgia

Luis de la Fuente says Spain will not make the mistake of underestimating Euro 2024 surprise package Georgia in the round of 16.

Spain cruised through the so-called group of death , winning all three of their games against Croatia, Italy and Albania without conceding a single goal.

Meanwhile, Georgia progressed as one of the best third-place teams after stunning Euro 2016 champions Portugal with a 2-0 victory in their final group game.

La Roja also met Georgia in Euro 2024 qualifying, earning a memorable 7-1 victory in the away fixture.

However, De la Fuente was quick to praise the improvement in their opponents since that meeting, noting that Spain had to expect a bigger challenge this time around.

It was a very important game for us, we arrived…

´Austrian Messi´ and Simeone´s ideal midfield schemer among LaLiga´s exciting newcomers

LaLiga has seen a lot of upheaval over the past few months, none more so than since the start of August as Lionel Messi s future unravelled.

This will be the first season that LaLiga has been without Messi since 2003-04, and as such there are plenty of people suggesting Spain s top tier has subsequently lost much of its appeal.

Be that as it may, even with spending significantly limited among clubs this year, there are still some interesting new arrivals to LaLiga.

Below, Stats Perform uses Opta data to look at five of them…

Memphis Depay, forward Barcelona, free transfer from Lyon

Granted, Barcelona s rocky financial situation means it is yet to be confirmed if Depay will be registered for the start of the season.

But assuming Depay is …

Inter 0-1 Real Madrid: Rodrygo late show gets Los Blancos up and running

Rodrygo silenced San Siro with a last-gasp winner as Real Madrid overcame Inter 1-0 in Champions League Group D on Wednesday. 

A scuffed volley off a lovely cushioned pass from fellow substitute Eduardo Camavinga saw Rodrygo give Madrid all three points in former Milan boss Carlo Ancelotti s first European game since returning to the helm. 

Inter dominated the first half but both Edin Dzeko and Lautaro Martinez failed to find a way past Thibaut Courtois when presented with chances you would have expected them to tuck away.

The game appeared to be destined for a draw until Rodrygo s 89th-minute strike left Samir Handanovic rooted to the spot, giving Madrid a win away at Inter in the Champions League for the second straight season.

FT: 0-1
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Prediction: Uruguay vs Argentina

Prediction: Argentina win

Best Odds: 

Bookmaker: 

The pause button has been hit on domestic football and in its place, we ve got the return of the international break. It s the final one of the year but it s certainly important as the road to next year s FIFA World Cup in Qatar continues.

Today, we re going to take a look at what should be an enticing clash between old rivals Uruguay and Argentina in CONMEBOL qualifying.

Uruguay

Uruguay always seem to take up the role of the bridesmaid but with their iconic squad slowly starting to age, you d have to think they ll be dying to make one last push for World Cup glory. They came close all the way back in 2010 by making it to the semi-finals and this time around, if they can edge past a tough run …