Asian star Abdulrahman swaps sides for Barcelona friendly

Carlos Vela and Raul Ruidiaz scored as the MLS All-Stars claimed victory over the Liga MX All Stars for the second straight year, winning 2-1 in Minnesota on Wednesday.

The MLS All-Stars appeared to be cruising to victory before Kevin Alvarez s spectacular late strike was followed up a decent penalty shout for a Deandre Yedlin handball which was declined.

The hosts had won last year s edition 3-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw and they seemed destined for another triumph when former Mexico international Vela headed home early.

Diego Palacios jinked his way to the left side of the edge of the box before delivering an inch-perfect second-minute cross for LAFC teammate Vela to nod in.

Minnesota goalkeeper Dayne St Clair, one of numerous first-half substitutes…

Sevilla have confirmed Ciro Immobile has left the club for Lazio.

The Serie A side were keen to sign a new striker following the departure of Miroslav Klose at the end of last season and they have found their man in Immobile.

The Italy international already underwent his medical with Lazio on Tuesday and Sevilla have now announced the 26-year-old has completed his move.

Immobile had joined Sevilla from Borussia Dortmund ahead of the 2015-16 campaign after an underwhelming spell with the Bundesliga giants, but left the club again for a loan spell with Torino halfway through the season.

He returned to the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan side at the end of last season, but has now permanently waved farewell to Sevilla as he returns to his native country.

Quest…

Bastia have hit back at former boss Claude Makelele after he likened his spell in charge of the club to an internship.

Ex-Real Madrid and Chelsea midfielder Makelele was appointed as head coach by the Corsican club ahead of the 2014-15 Ligue 1 season.

However, after just 13 matches at the helm, he was sacked, before a short spell as technical director of Monaco came to an end on Monday.

On Tuesday, Makelele claimed his time in charge of Bastia was like being in training, telling L Equipe:  Frankly, in Bastia, I was almost in an internship. It allowed me to get my coaching badges.

The club have responded with a stinging criticism of the 43-year-old, accusing him of a deep lack of professionalism .

A Bastia statement read: The statement made t…

How did I do last week? I got five right. That’s 50%. My best for ages. OK, it’s not much to gloat about, I know! Let’s see if we can do even better this week 🙂

Saturday 13th December 2008

Aston Villa v Bolton

Villa are on the crest of a wave. They sit in fifth place just one point behind Arsenal and are coming off the back of that incredible win at Everton last week. That win opened up a six point gap on the team most likely to challenge them for fifth place.

Bolton lost to Chelsea at home last week but they have won their last three away games. To the surprise of many, they are sitting in mid-table.

Villa will continue to pile the pressure on Arsenal with a win in this one.

…

Italian giants Juventus are about to sign Brazilian wing-back Felipe Mattioni of Gremio, according to Itasportspress.

The agency reports that the player and his agent had a meeting with Juventus sporting director Alessio Secco on Wednesday, and add that the Old Lady should be only days away from officially announcing the transfer.

The 20-year-old Felipe made his Brazilian Serie A debut in 2008 and soon attracted interest of many European top sides such as Manchester United, Ajax and Juventus. This week, Gremio said that a transfer is unlikely but this now seems to have changed.

Negotiations with Juventus began in November, and the Italian side are reportedly set to pay 7 million Euros for the player.

…

Aleksandar Kolarov has done well at AS Roma, but he could be nearing exit from Stadio Olimpico. At least that is what Turkish media are saying these days. According to their journalists, Serbia captain and veteran could be going to Fenerbahce.

Reportedly, Kolarov already made a deal for a six million euro yearly salary. These claims should not be taken as seriously as from some other media, because Turkish media have been known for sensationalism. However, Fenerbahce coach Ersun Yanal apparently thinks signing Kolarov is almost a done deal.

We are bringing in a player that will give us great quality at left-back. I am sure that Kolarov will play well here , Yanal was quoted. After a long-spell at Manchester City, Kolarov made a move to Roma, where he has been for the pa…

Jurgen Klopp lauded the very decisive Naby Keita and believes there is even more to come from the Liverpool midfielder after reaching the Club World Cup final.

Keita opened the scoring in Liverpool s 2-1 semi-final win over Monterrey on Wednesday to continue his fine run of form.

The Guinea international has netted in three straight games, while he has already matched his goal tally of last season with the three strikes.

Klopp praised Keita and said the 24-year-old could get even better for the Premier League leaders.

Naby, what a player, very decisive, super goal, another super chance, the Liverpool manager told a news conference.

That s his strength, in small spaces he feels quite comfortable, so that helps us a lot. The runs in behind when we…

Borussia Dortmund boss Thomas Tuchel admitted that his side were not at their free-flowing best in Saturday s 2-1 victory over Mainz.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored both of his side s goals at Signal Iduna Park, with substitute Yoshinori Muto pulling one back for the visitors in stoppage-time.

The victory extended Dortmund s incredible unbeaten home run that dates back to April 2015, but Tuchel felt that his charges looked laboured at times on what was an extremely hot afternoon. 

Today we might have been an attacking and passing machine, but we were not a proper machine, he said.  That s not meant as an accusation, but more of a description. 

We looked nervous to some extent, did not find the right structure and did not find the spaces behind M…

Hugo Lloris believes France have evolved as a result of their defeat to Germany at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Mats Hummels early header settled a low-key quarter-final contest in Rio de Janeiro two years ago and, after dismissing the notion they are seeking revenge, Lloris claimed the loss was a valuable part of the team s learning curve.

Ahead of their Euro 2016 semi-final clash in Marseille on Thursday, the France captain said: There are always lessons to be learned from defeats, as there are [from] victories. 

It s not just the quarter-final defeat that allowed us to grow, it was the World Cup in general but we came up against a better side on the day, a more experienced team at the time and they succeeded.

But I think our team has grown, we ve a…

Juventus quest to transfer exceptional Serie A form to the UEFA Champions League will restart when they take on Malmo in Group A.

Despite winning the Italian title in each of the last three seasons, the Turin giants have failed to make an impact in Europe s premier competition recently.

Although they made it to the quarter-finals in 2012-2013, Juventus were frustratingly eliminated in the group phase last time out meaning it is now 11 years since they reached the last four.

They will be hoping to flip the script this year under new head coach Massimiliano Allegri, who has enjoyed a perfect start having taken the reins following the much-loved Antonio Conte s shock resignation.

A 1-0 season-opening away win at Chievo was followed up by a 2-0 triumph over U…