Paul Pogba has warned Manchester United they will continue to fall short of winning the big stuff if they do not improve on details after losing to Manchester City in the EFL Cup semi-final thanks to two set-pieces.
City became only the second side to reach four successive finals in the competition on Wednesday, while it was a third semi-final elimination in four EFL Cup campaigns for United.
On top of that, it was a fourth consecutive semi-final defeat for United and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer across all competitions, having fallen to City in the same competition in 2019-20 as well as losing to Chelsea and Sevilla in the FA Cup and Europa League respectively.
United have made undoubted progress under Solskjaer, as evidenced by the fact a point against Burnley next Tue…
Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo has officially been named the best player in Serie A last season, a few hours after Lionel Messi beat him to a record sixth Ballon d Or crown.
Ronaldo dodged the glitzy Ballon d Or ceremony in Paris on Monday to instead attend the annual Gran Gala del Calcio in Milan, where he was honoured for his successful maiden campaign with Juve.
He scored 21 league goals in 2018-19 to help the Bianconeri to an eighth successive Scudetto and has six goals in 11 starts this term, despite injury issues curtailing his playing time over the past month.
It is a proud moment to win this award, Ronaldo said upon collecting the award, which was won by Mauro Icardi, then of Inter, 12 months ago.
The best player in Serie A!
Congratu…
Matheus Nunes will not be involved in Wolves’ Carabao Cup tie at home to Blackpool on Tuesday after he stopped training with the club in an effort to force through a move to Manchester City.
Premier League champions City stepped up their pursuit of Nunes after cooling their interest in West Ham’s Lucas Paqueta, and had a bid of 55million euros (£47m) rejected last week for the Portuguese attacker.
While Wolves have not received any fresh bids from City, Nunes has now stopped training with Gary O’Neil’s side, the PA news agency understands.
The 25-year-old, who joined from Sporting Lisbon last summer in a deal worth £42m, was absent for Saturday’s 1-0 win away to Everton and will again be missing from the squad for the upcoming second-round cup tie at …
Marcus Rashford and Jude Bellingham have been recalled to Gareth Southgate s England squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers, but Jadon Sancho and his Manchester United team-mate Jesse Lingard miss out.
England require just four points to qualify for Qatar 2022 from the visit of Albania on Friday November 12 and their final qualifier away to San Marino three days later.
It is Rashford s first call-up since his missed penalty in the Euro 2020 final shootout defeat to Italy as he has only recently recovered from shoulder surgery, while Bellingham comes back into the squad after being left out for previous games against Andorra and Hungary.
A lack of game time at club level appears to have cost Sancho and Lingard their places in the squad as the United duo m…
Atletico Madrid s Antoine Griezmann scored a hat-trick in a 3-0 LaLiga win at Getafe on Wednesday as Diego Simeone s side sealed Champions League qualification.
The France star opened the scoring in the 27th minute from Rodrigo De Paul s throughball and had his second shortly before half-time, flicking Samuel Lino s pinpoint pass past Getafe goalkeeper David Soria.
Griezmann completed his hat-trick in the 51st minute with a fine finish under Soria s legs, with Lino claiming his second assist by playing Los Colchoneros all-time leading scorer into the area.
It was Griezmann s second hat-trick of the season, after he also netted three times in a 3-0 win at Celta Vigo last October.
With two games remaining, Simeone s side are now on 73 points in fourth, 11 a…
Lazio defender Stefan Radu has been ruled out for two months with a knee ligament injury.
The Romania international picked up the injury during a training session and could miss his side s next 12 games in Serie A and the UEFA Europa League.
A statement on the club s official website confirmed that Radu sustained the problem on Wednesday, and had been diagnosed with a rupture of his medial knee ligament after medical examinations.
The 26-year-old will have his leg in a brace to stabilise his knee for three weeks, but he is not expected back in training for eight weeks.
Radu joined Lazio from Dinamo Bucharest in 2008 and has made 130 league appearances for the club including both matches in Serie A so far this season.
Striker Sergio Floccari will join Radu o…
Athletic Bilbao defender Aymeric Laporte has revealed that he was on the verge of signing for Marseille as a youngster.
Born in Agen, a city between Bordeaux and Toulouse, the centre-back was hoping to join OM as it was the most famous club in the proximity of Bandol, a coast city where his family used to live.
But, he was eventually forced to sign with Toulouse as regulations banned players under the age of 15 to travel over 50 km in one direction.
“I was hoping to play (for Marseille) because of the proximity of my family living in Bandol, but OM rather recommended us Toulouse, which was closer,” Laporte explained to La Provence.
The youngster has since come a long way as he moved to Athletic Bilbao in 2010 and quickly went on to establish himself …
Nottingham Forest have signed defender Jack Hobbs from Hull City on a season-long loan,.
The transfer will be made permanent next summer, when the 24 year old will begin a pre-agreed two year contract at the City Ground, keeping him at the club until the summer of 2016.
Hobbs began his career at Lincoln City, before moving to Liverpool having played just three minutes of league football for the Imps.
He spent most of his four years with the five times European Champions on loan, though he did make two Premier League appearances, as well as twice being named as an unused substitute in their 2007/08 Champions League campaign before moving to Leicester City a year later.
During the Foxes promotion winning 2009/10 season, Hobbs was named the clubs player…
Liverpool defender Kolo Toure pledged his support for team-mate Mamadou Sakho after it was revealed the Frenchman failed a drugs test.
Sakho tested positive for a banned substance after the 1-1 draw against Manchester United in the Europa League on March 17 and could face a lengthy ban.
While the 26-year-old is not formally suspended at this stage, he will not be considered for first-team duty until the matter is resolved a decision taken by the club in conjunction with the player with Liverpool likely to request the testing of a B sample.
Toure said he could empathise with Sakho after suffering a similar plight five years ago when he was banned for six months after failing a drugs test while at Manchester City.
The former Ivory Coast international wa…
Market: Croatia win
Odds:
In pole position to snatch top spot in Group D, Croatia will look to carry on their fine run of form when they face off against Iceland in their third and final group outing.
Starting with Iceland, despite earning that historic 1-1 draw with 2014 World Cup finalists Argentina in their opening matchup in Group D, The Blues put in a tired second-half performance against Nigeria and slumped to a 2-0 defeat. While they do currently sit third and a win on Tuesday could see them jump into second spot, we believe they won t have enough to trouble a high-flying Croatia side. Also, aside from their 1-1 draw with Argentina, Iceland have now failed to pick up a win in any competition since January and have also only recorded one clean sheet in 2…