Croatia contained the attacking duo of Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé in a 2-0 victory over France in the first leg of the Nations League quarterfinals Thursday.
Forget the days of Wenger and Houllier – there is a worrying lack of French coaches in Europe’s elite leagues these days Where have all the coaches gone? French sports media address the theme on a regular basis and with good reason: the country’s football managers are no longer wanted abroad. The days when Arsène Wenger and Gérard Houllier opened the door for Jean Tigana, Rémi Garde, Claude Puel and others to coach in England are long gone. In the 2000s and 2010s, French managers could also find work in La Liga and Serie A, as Philippe Montanier did at Real Sociedad and Rudi Garcia at Roma and Napoli – leaving aside Zinedine Zidane and Didier Deschamps, who could not be really considered expatriates at Real Madrid and Juventus. This is no longer the case and takes particular significance now that Deschamps, whose France side face Croatia in a Nations League quarter-final on Thursday and Sunday, has entered the final straight of his 14-year association with Les Bleus and confirmed he will leave his position at the conclusion of the 2026 World Cup. Who could succeed him? Continue reading...
Barcelona fought back from 2-0 down to top La LigaLewandowski and Lamine Yamal also on target in victory Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored twice to help secure a late 4-2 comeback win over La Liga title rivals Atlético Madrid in a pulsating clash on Sunday that took the Catalans back to the top of the table. The hosts took the lead on the stroke of half-time through Julián Alvarez after Antoine Griezmann broke quickly and found Giuliano Simeone, who curled a precise pass for the former Manchester City forward to score his 11th league goal of the season. Continue reading...
France swept to the Six Nations title with a record-strewn 35-16 victory over Scotland on Saturday. The win put Les Bleus one point above England, whose 68-14 rout of Wales had sent the championship battle down to the wire.
Milan enjoy thrilling 2-1 comeback against ComoBayern held to a 1-1 draw away to Union Berlin Kylian Mbappé scored twice to help Real Madrid fight back to beat Villarreal 2-1 and move top of La Liga overnight. The hosts opened the scoring in the seventh minute when Álex Baena’s corner was deflected by Aurélien Tchouaméni, allowing Juan Foyth to score from close range. Real Madrid levelled 10 minutes later when Mbappé pounced on Brahim Díaz’s blocked shot and the ball landed at his feet for a close-range finish. Continue reading...
France captain Kylian Mbappe is recalled to the squad for their Nations League matches against Croatia.
Paris Saint-Germain knocked Liverpool out of the Champions League with a penalty shootout win after Ousmane Dembele's first-half effort forced spot-kicks at Anfield
Paul Pogba initially received a four-year ban from football after testing positive for a banned substance, before having it reduced to 18 months following an appeal - and the ex-Manchester United star can now return to football
LIVERPOOL 0 (1)-(4) 1 PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN: Ousmane Dembele's goal eventually forced a penalty shootout where Gianluigi saved two spotkicjs to become PSG's hero
Liverpool had gone into the Anfield second leg ahead 1-0 on aggregate thanks to Harvey Elliott's goal in Paris, but Ousmane Dembele levelled the scores on aggregate just 12 minutes into the return tie
As Paris St-Germain prepare to try to overturn a 1-0 deficit in the Champions League at Anfield, Guillem Balague analyses danger man Ousmane Dembele.
Ousmane Dembele could be going into Wednesday evening's clash in a Liverpool shirt if Jurgen Klopp had his way - but he could also have ruined one of the German's most famous nights
This will be decided 14km east of here in eight days’ time. On a night that lacked a little thunder but had three fantastic goals, Rodrygo, Julián Alvarez and Brahim Díaz all stepping inside to bend the ball beyond outstretched fingers and into the far corner, the city’s fifth European derby delivered a victory for Real Madrid but no definitive conclusion. Atlético will host the second leg next Wednesday, and they will go into an occasion likely to be a lot more explosive than this with hope. Diego Simeone may feel frustrated that long periods of control did not result in win, his team recovering from going behind in the fourth of what will be at least 180 minutes to draw level only for Díaz’s goal to beat them, but he agreed with Carlo Ancelotti’s prediction that this tie was never going to be settled on the first night. And if it could have been better, it might also have been worse: in the last minute, Marcos Llorente had to dive in as Kylian Mbappé escaped deep into the area and almost set up Vinícius for a dramatic, and painfully familiar finale against their great rivals and there was still time for the Brazilian to escape once more. This time, José María Giménez put himself on the line. Continue reading...
Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe shared the Golden Boot in the Champions League last term and both men are again in the hunt with Borussia Dortmund's marksman currently leading the way
