Sevilla have sacked manager Jose Luis Mendilibar.
The Europa League holders drew 2-2 with Rayo Vallecano in LaLiga on Saturday, leaving them 14th with two wins, two draws and four defeats.
Mendilibar was hired in March but has become the club’s third manager to be dismissed inside 12 months.
José Luis Mendilibar has been relieved of his duties as coach.
Thank you for everything, José Luis.
— Sevilla FC (@SevillaFC_ENG)
The 62-year-old guided Sevilla away from relegation danger with a 12th-placed finish last season and beat Jose Mourinho’s Roma on penalties in May to clinch their seventh Europa League title.
Sevilla’s next match after the international break is a trip to Real Madrid before they host Arsenal in the Champ…
Marcus Rashford was Manchester United s hero with a dramatic extra-time winner that sealed a 3-2 aggregate victory over Anderlecht in the Europa League quarter-finals.
The 19-year-old followed up his starring role in the Premier League win over Chelsea with a well-taken strike early in the second period of extra time to give United a 2-1 win on the night at Old Trafford and a place in the last four.
An entertaining match had seen Henrikh Mkhitaryan follow up his goal in the first leg by netting his fifth goal of the competition after 10 minutes, only for Anderlecht captain Sofiane Hanni to hit back before the break.
United dominated in the second half, but Jesse Lingard, Rashford, Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic all squandered chances to score as the tie moved…
Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel has committed his immediate future to the club by signing a new deal.
The Slovakia international looked set to go into his final season with the club he joined in 2008, having described a contract offer from Liverpool as unacceptable last month.
However, the 30-year-old has now committed to a squad already bolstered by the arrivals of James Milner, Danny Ings, Nathaniel Clyne and Roberto Firmino during the close-season.
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Rob Gronkowski will not travel with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for Sunday s game against his former team the New England Patriots, according to reports.
Gronkowski was listed as doubtful on Friday s injury report due to a rib complaint, but ESPN and NFL Network said on Saturday he had been ruled out.
The tight end will miss the chance to take on the Patriots for the first time in a game that will also see quarterback Tom Brady return to Foxborough.
Gronkowski spent the first nine years of his career with New England, in which time he scored 92 overall touchdowns across the regular season and postseason – leading the league at his position – and won three Super Bowls.
The 32-year-old then retired in 2019, only to reverse his decision a year later and joi…
Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola admits he was saddened to see Barcelona star Lionel Messi sustain a serious knee injury.
Messi suffered a knee ligament tear in the 2-1 win over Las Palmas and is set to be out for up to two months as a result.
The Argentina captain flourished into one of the greatest footballers in the modern game during Guardiola s time as head coach at Camp Nou between 2008 and 2012, and the latter is keen to see him get back into action quickly.
I hope he will return as soon as possible, said Guardiola. I did not like [hearing] the news about his injury at all. I know he is one of those players who always wants to play. It is a pity that he cannot play for the next seven to eight weeks.
Guardiola has been a supporter of the Catalon…
Gareth Southgate believes nobody will care about the group stage if England enjoy a good run in the Euro 2024 knockout stages, starting with Slovakia on Sunday.
Despite topping Group C, England came under fire for their below-par performances in the group stage after edging past Serbia in the opener before playing out draws with Denmark and Slovenia.
First place in the group means the Three Lions avoided the side of the draw including a lot of the favourites, but even that has not raised morale among the fans.
While Southgate accepted the criticism the team received, he was adamant that the real jeopardy of the tournament starts in the round of 16.
Reality is that nobody will care about the group stage if you get it right? That is the reality, and of cou…
Angel Di Maria s time in Europe may be winding down, with his Juventus contract expiring at the end of this season.
The winger, who turned 35 last week, is yet to agree an extension with the Bianconeri, sparking talk he may opt to return to his homeland.
However, the 2022 World Cup winner recently said he was happy in Turin, and in Europe, without committing to any direction beyond this season.
TOP STORY – BARCELONA PLOT BID FOR FREE AGENT DI MARIA
Barcelona are weighing up a shock bid to land Angel Di Maria as a free agent at the end of this season, claims Tuttomercatoweb.
Di Maria has previously expressed his desire to one day join hometown club Rosario Central but, at 35, may be tempted by another stint at the top level.
Atletico Madr…
Nemanja Matic and goalscoring hero Aleksandar Prijovic revelled in Serbia s successful World Cup qualifying campaign after the Balkan nation booked their spot at Russia 2018 with a 1-0 win over Georgia.
Belgrade was in party mode on Monday as substitute Prijovic s 74th-minute goal sealed victory for the hosts, ensuring they made it back to the biggest stage in international football after missing out in 2010.
Manchester United star Matic had earlier seen his volley cleared off the line before Prijovic calmed any remaining nerves, with Ireland s win in Wales meaning a draw would ultimately have been enough for Slavoljub Muslin s men.
We had a lot of pressure before this game, said Matic. We wanted to play patiently, we knew that we would have a chance.
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The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) has issued a strong rebuttal to claims in an Argentinian newspaper that Republic of Ireland players were paid $10,000 each to not injure Lionel Messi during a 2010 friendly against Argentina.
A story in La Nacion claimed that former head of the Argentina Football Association Julio Grondona who died in July 2014 suggested making payments to the Irish players as they could not afford to stump up the Barcelona superstar s insurance should he have picked up an injury.
It is also alleged that Argentina suggested playing the match to FIFA as a way of alleviating Ireland s grievances over losing a World Cup play-off to France, in which Thierry Henry famously handballed in the build-up to William Gallas winner.
Messi played 58 …
Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro insists they will not surrender La Liga just yet as they prepare to host Sevilla on Sunday.
Zinedine Zidane s side battled to a 2-1 victory away to Las Palmas last week – with Casemiro heading in a late winner – but they remain 12 points behind leaders Barcelona with nine games to play.
Madrid were criticised for a lacklustre display in Gran Canaria, but the Brazilian insists maximum points are all that matter as they aim to keep their slim title hopes alive.
We know we didn t do well, but I ll take the points, Casemiro said. There are days when we re not able to do that.
We re criticised when we play badly because we re the best team in the world.
Of course La Liga isn t over. We ll fight to the end, eve…