Nemanja Matic has vowed Manchester United cannot present youth as an excuse if they fail to challenge for next season s Premier League title.
The Serbian midfielder twice won the English league title while at Chelsea, and he joined United in 2017 with the aim of chasing more silverware.
Yet in three years at Old Trafford, Matic, who turned 32 on Saturday, has yet to capture a trophy with United.
United remain in the hunt to win the Europa League later this month, but the Premier League is their prime target, particularly given it is neighbours Manchester City and fierce rivals Liverpool who have been setting the highest standards.
The Red Devils finished the 2019-20 domestic season strongly under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, with young players such as Mason G…
Thomas Tuchel has questioned the attitude of his Paris Saint-Germain side following the 1-1 home draw with Nice.
Neymar s 50th goal for the Ligue 1 champions ultimately proved enough to salvage a point at Parc des Princes on Saturday, with Edinson Cavani missing a late penalty.
It is now just one win in seven games across all competitions for PSG, who had the title wrapped up on April 21, and Nice were unfortunate that Allan Saint-Maximin failed to add to Ignatius Ganago s strike before Neymar restored parity from the spot.
And Tuchel did not hide his frustration at the performance, claiming that PSG treated the match like a friendly.
I have the impression that the second half in Montpellier was better [than this game], Tuchel told Canal+.
We ha…
Jude Bellingham’s electric start to life at Real Madrid continued as he scored in a 2-1 Champions League win at Braga.
The precocious England international scored his 11th goal in 12 games for his new club as Madrid took control of Group C, making it three wins out of three.
Rodrygo put Madrid ahead in the first half before Bellingham doubled the lead on the hour, with Alvaro Djalo getting the Portuguese side back in it.
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden)
Los Blancos had chances to kill the game off but were made to sweat, with victory putting them on the verge of qualification for the knockout stage.
The visitors were under the cosh in the opening exchanges as Braga started well.
But they weathered the storm and took a 16th…
Argentina are on the cusp of World Cup qualification after extending their unbeaten streak to 26 games by edging Uruguay 1-0.
Angel Di Maria was the difference away to rivals Uruguay, his sublime seventh-minute strike lifting second-placed Argentina to victory on Friday.
Argentina – who tied their CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying record after going eight matches unbeaten on the road – are one win away from basically assuring their spot at Qatar 2022 heading into Tuesday s showdown against Brazil.
Lionel Scaloni s Argentina defeated Uruguay 3-0 during last month s international window, after La Celeste failed to make the most of their chances against the Copa America champions.
It was a similar story on home soil in Montevideo, where Uruguay lacked a cutt…
Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli were on target as Arsenal edged past Newcastle United 2-0 in Saturday s Premier League clash.
Mikel Arteta s side saw their eight-game unbeaten league run end at Liverpool last weekend, while Newcastle, with Eddie Howe in the dugout for the first time, were the only winless team in England s top four tiers after 12 games.
Jonjo Shelvey and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang both struck the woodwork in the first half at Emirates Stadium before Saka eventually broke the deadlock after 56 minutes.
Substitute Martinelli added a second just 93 seconds after his introduction as Arsenal moved level on points with fourth-placed West Ham, who play Manchester City on Sunday.
Saka poked narrowly wide and Martin Dubravka excellently parrie…
Bayern Munich boss Thomas Tuchel would not rule out the possibility of playing England captain Harry Kane when the Bavarians travel to Saarbrucken for their DFB-Pokal clash on Wednesday night.
Heavy rains have threatened the second-round contest but for now it is business as usual for Tuchel’s side, coming off Saturday’s 8-0 rout of Darmstadt that saw three red cards handed out in the first half and every goal scored in the second.
Three of those came from Kane, who scored his second hat-trick of the Bundesliga season to make it 12 goals from nine league contests, with some suggesting Wednesday’s meeting with third-division Die Molschder could be a good opportunity to give the 30-year-old a rest.
Tuchel on :
We have an extremely important game com…
Chelsea are now six points behind Premier League leaders Manchester City after they could only draw 0-0 at Wolves on Sunday.
A foggy contest at Molineux was short on quality and genuine chances, and was the third time the Blues have dropped points in their last four league games.
Thomas Tuchel had expressed his exasperation at the Premier League prior to kick-off after they refused Chelsea s request to postpone the game earlier in the day despite a spate of absentees due to coronavirus and injuries.
The German made two changes to the team that drew with Everton on Thursday, with N Golo Kante returning, and named just six players on the bench, including two goalkeepers.
The points are shared at Molineux.
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC)
Wolves…
The first legs of the Champions League round-of-16 conclude on Wednesday, with Shakhtar Donetsk hosting Roma and Manchester United taking on Sevilla.
Vincenzo Montella s side do not have the best record in the knockout phase and wins were hard to come by in the group stage, although United themselves have had a pretty torrid run of results in the latter stages.
Roma came top of a tough group but have not gone beyond the last 16 for a decade, and they have made a habit of struggling against Shakhtar in this competition.
Here are some of the best Opta numbers ahead of two more crunch clashes
Shakhtar Donetsk v Roma
3 Shakhtar Donetsk have won three of their four competitive games against Roma (L1), all in the Champions Leagu…
Jurgen Klopp simply was not having it, no matter how gently the question was pushed his way, no matter how carefully phrased the follow-up.
Liverpool s manager would not be drawn to explain why Roberto Firmino is so important to his set-up, because to Klopp it felt like an insult for that to be necessary in the first place.
After five years with Liverpool, the Brazilian forward has, in Klopp s eyes, delivered so much that anybody still needing briefing about his qualities has not been paying attention.
He might still bench Firmino on Sunday, when Liverpool travel to likely title rivals Manchester City, but Klopp was scornful of the need to go over the former Hoffenheim player s history.
Friday s response from Klopp was to be expected.
Back in D…
Gustavo Bou s 95th-minute winner settled a thrilling MLS play-off clash as New England Revolution prevailed 2-1 against Thierry Henry s Montreal Impact on Friday.
Bou struck at the death in the play-in match at Gillette Stadium, where the Revolution earned a date with Philadelphia Union in the opening round of the MLS Cup play-offs.
The Argentine forward s goal came on his eighth shot of the match, the most by a Revolution player in a play-off match in club history, per Opta.
Bou s match-winning effort – officially timed at 94 minutes, 37 seconds – is New England s latest winning goal since Kelyn Rowe at 95:47 in 2017.
GUSTAVO BOU AT THE DEATH! ADVANCE in the
— Major League Soccer (@MLS)
The tie was level after Montreal s Romell…