Leverkusen dealt blow as Wirtz suffers ankle injury

Juanma Lillo has offered insight into Pep Guardiola’s insatiable appetite to keep improving himself and those around him.

Lillo rejoined his fellow Spaniard’s backroom staff at treble winners Manchester City this summer after a year away.

This weekend he will be filling in for the inspirational City manager as the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss takes time out to recuperate from back surgery.

Guardiola is due to return to Manchester after the September international break and Lillo expects him to be as hungry as ever.

“Pep is always very open, moment to moment, and he decides he always wants to improve and implement new things,” said Lillo, who will oversee the team at Sheffield United on Sunday and at home to Fulham next week.

“…

Best Odds: 17/20

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In what is a heavyweight Europa League affair on Thursday evening, Barcelona will welcome Premier League giants Manchester United to the Nou Camp.

Barcelona

Starting with the hosts, while Barcelona might have come under real scrutiny for losing their Champions League status last year, the Spanish icons are in the midst of an extended purple patch. Picking up some perfect momentum over the weekend as they claimed a 1-0 victory away at Villarreal, the mood in Xavi s camp is at a red-hot high. Now sat in pole position to reclaim their La Liga crown in 2023, the Catalonia-based outfit have continued to gain a string of plaudits on either side of the World Cup break. Claiming this season s Spanish Super Cup thanks to a 3-1 romp against Re…

With all eyes focused on Munich and what was a star-studded showdown on Tuesday night, France managed to get their European adventure off to a flying start with a deserved victory at the Allianz Arena.

While the fans in attendance didn t quite get the action-packed display that they would have been hoping for, Les Bleus landed themselves a 1-0 win after Mats Hummels turned into his own net after 20 minutes.

Keeping up the pace with Portugal after the defending European champions picked up a 3-0 win away in Hungary earlier in the day, France also extended on what has been a real purple patch against the Germans.

Now unbeaten in each of their last six straight meetings against their fellow European heavyweights, we have taken a look at the major talking points aft…

Best Odds: 9/5

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Looking to officially punch their Champions League quarter-final ticket on Wednesday night, Manchester City will welcome Copenhagen to the Etihad.

Manchester City

Starting with the hosts, claiming local bragging rights over the weekend as they mounted a stellar comeback at the Etihad, Manchester City certainly find the mood in their camp at a real high. Eventually storming their way to a 3-1 victory against Manchester United, Pep Guardiola’s men have their sights firmly set on completing more history this season. Becoming the first English club since 1999 to be crowned treble champions last year, the Sky Blues have continued to gain a fearsome reputation for their free-scoring performances in the final third. Picking up a deserved fi…

Julian Nagelsmann was sensationally sacked as Bayern Munich boss on Friday and replaced almost immediately by Thomas Tuchel.

The 35-year-old German had guided the Bavarians to last season s Bundesliga title.

And Bayern have looked good in reaching the Champions League quarter-finals this term.

Nagelsmann previously led RB Leipzig, guiding the side to the Champions League and the 2021 DFB-Pokal final, before moving to Bayern in 2021.

TOP STORY – SPURS MAKE MOVE FOR NAGELSMANN

Sky Sports claims Julian Nagelsmann is open to Tottenham s advances as they seek talks following his dismissal as Bayern Munich boss.

Spurs may be in the market for a new manager with uncertainty over Antonio Conte s future. Football Insider claims Nagelsmann is Spurs …

Miralem Pjanic revealed his desire to re-join Juventus last transfer window and encouraged Paulo Dybala to renew his contract in Turin.

Pjanic, 31, made 108 Serie A starts for Juve before departing to Barcelona in 2020, where he clashed with head coach Ronald Koeman and subsequently joined Besiktas on loan in September.

However, with former boss Massimiliano Allegri back in charge in Turin, the midfielder expressed his love for the Bianconeri and admitted he wanted to re-join.

With Juve there have been contacts and appointments with my agent, but the transfer market is never easy,  Pjanic told Tuttosport.

I would have liked to come back and I would have done everything to find [Massimiliano] Allegri, a guarantee.

No one is better than him i…

Forest Green boss David Horseman admitted the club’s first League Two away win for more than a year represented a “massive day” for the club.

A second-half Matt Stevens goal – his first since February – sealed a 1-0 triumph at Harrogate for the club that last won on the road on the opening day of last season at Bristol Rovers.

Forest Green ended that campaign comprehensively relegated from League One so new chief Horseman believes victory in North Yorkshire could prove a pivotal moment for the Gloucestershire outfit, who had lost their opening two fixtures to Salford and Portsmouth – the latter in the Carabao Cup.

The former Southampton B coach said: “It was a massive day for the club as a whole.

“When you’ve gone so long without an away…

Newport striker Will Evans has gone from milking cows on the family farm to scoring FA Cup goals – and now has boyhood heroes Manchester United in his sights.

United fan Evans meets the Red Devils on Sunday as Newport – 74 places below their visitors in the football pyramid and financial worlds apart – seek to produce one of the biggest upsets in the competition’s 152-year history.

It will cap an extraordinary journey that has taken Evans from the Powys family farm, rejection at Shrewsbury, and European football at two Welsh Premiership clubs before he finally landed his EFL break at Newport.

“Most kids come home from school and play football in the garden,” Evans said of his formative years at the Llangedwyn farm on the English-Welsh border near Oswe…

Marcelo said Real Madrid s shock loss to Real Mallorca hurts as the LaLiga giants lost top spot to defending champions Barcelona.

Madrid crashed to their first LaLiga defeat of the season, with Zinedine Zidane s 10-man visitors succumbing to Lago Junior s early strike at Son Moix on Saturday.

Bitter rivals Barca leapfrogged Madrid into top spot thanks to their win over Eibar earlier in the day, and left-back Marcelo lamented the result away from home.

We lost but we must keep going, Marcelo said.  It hurts to lose because we played well, but we conceded early on and then looked to make our comeback but it was not possible.

We did not have time to think, they scored a goal and they defended and waited for the counter, that s no excuse though.

W…

If Ukraine goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov needs any consolation, it had happened 699 times before.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 700th goal of a phenomenal career as Portugal suffered a setback in Euro 2020 qualifying on Tuesday.

Ronaldo reached his latest milestone when he converted a second-half penalty in Kiev, awarded after Taras Stepanenko handled the ball inside the box.

A hero at Manchester United, Real Madrid and now Juventus, a fair few of Ronaldo s incredible haul have been stone-cold classics. Here, we look back at 10 of his best goals.

Manchester United v Portsmouth: January 30, 2008

Perhaps the finest free-kick Ronaldo struck in his career.

The Portuguese developed his reputation as a set-piece master at United and he …