Mauricio Pochettino has defended Chelsea’s medical department amid the spate of injuries that left him with only 15 available first-team players for last weekend’s draw with Bournemouth.
The manager was without 12 of his senior squad for the drab goalless encounter at the Vitality Stadium with Moises Caicedo, Marc Cucurella and Noni Madueke late additions to an already lengthy list of absentees.
It is the second time in 2023 that the club has been hit by an injury crisis after former manager Graham Potter was left without 10 first-team players in January.
The following injury update has been provided ahead of .
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC)
Pochettino included three players aged 19 or under who had no first-team experience on his bench last we…
Alexandre Pato is desperate for the opportunity to impress Brazil coach Tite as he seeks to feature at the World Cup finals.
The 28-year-old striker has not appeared for his country since October 2013 and appears hard pressed to force his way into selection contention ahead of the tournament in Russia, which starts in June.
Pato, though, netted 15 goals in 24 appearances to help Tianjin Quanjian finish third in the Chinese Super League, a return he hopes will bring him to the attention of the Selecao boss.
Well, I ve worked all this year thinking [about the] Brazilian [national] team… which means extra physical work out of my house, and [the] gym at home too, he told Omnisport.
I always worked to go back to the Brazilian team and I think I [played] …
Hannover director Martin Bader has revealed the 2. Bundesliga side are keen to re-sign Per Mertesacker, but realises they face an uphill task to lure the centre-back away from Arsenal at this stage.
The 32-year-old came through the ranks of the Hannover youth academy, before leaving for Werder Bremen after three years in the first team.
He then earned himself a move to Arsenal in August 2011, but his boyhood club are hopeful of luring him back to the HDI-Arena sooner rather than later.
Everybody knows what Hannover mean to Per. Maybe we can make him enthusiastic about a return, Bader told Bild.
But re-signing Mertesacker is not our main priority at the moment. We are playing in the 2. Bundesliga right now and he is Arsenal s captain. A lot of things wi…
Barcelona breathed life into their title defence as Lionel Messi s hat-trick gave them a thrilling 4-3 El Clasico win at 10-man Real Madrid.
Barcelona s all-time leading scorer struck two second-half penalties as the Catalan giants came from behind twice to win a pulsating encounter at Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday.
The second of those spot-kicks, scored with six minutes left after Xabi Alonso clumsily fouled Andres Iniesta, was hammered into the top-right corner as the defending champions closed to within one point of Real and Madrid s city rivals Atletico in the La Liga table.
Iniesta s early goal was cancelled out by a pair of Karim Benzema strikes, and although Messi levelled before half-time, a controversial Cristiano Ronaldo penalty put Real back in front.
Se…
Mauricio Pochettino felt his Tottenham players deserved more from what he described as their best performance of the season in a dramatic 2-1 defeat at Inter.
With five minutes remaining at San Siro in their Champions League Group B opener, Spurs led thanks to Christian Eriksen s heavily deflected strike.
Pochettino s side looked in little danger of dropping two points, let alone all three, until Inter captain Mauro Icardi lashed in a superb 85th-minute volley and, in a stunning finale, Matias Vecino headed in from a corner in stoppage time.
The defeat was Spurs third in succession the first time they have endured such a run since Pochettino took over in 2014 but the Argentine was not too disheartened by the overall display.
Nerves frayed
Voice hoarse…
While flattered by links with Arsenal, Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers dismissed rumours of a return to the Premier League as the former Liverpool boss insisted he is living his dream in Glasgow.
With uncertainty over Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, Rodgers has emerged as a possible replacement should the long-serving Frenchman leave the Emirates Stadium.
Rodgers – who also managed Swansea City – is no stranger to English football, having fallen agonisingly short of the 2013-14 Premier League title during his time at Anfield.
But the 45-year-old is in no rush to move back to the Premier League as he seeks to claim back-to-back Scottish Premiership crowns and a fifth trophy as Celtic boss.
It s nice people think you can manage clubs of that esteem, Rodgers t…
Paulo Dybala on a hot streak / Image via espnfc.com
Following back-to-back defeats at the hands of AC Milan, got their revenge in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia in a match January signing Gerard Deulofeu made his debut for Rossonerri.
Goals from and were enough to dispatch ten-men AC Milan despite the fact Rossonerri attempted to get back in the game after a spectacular goal from .
Following a highly eventful match in Turin, here are the 5 things we learned tonight:
Deserved Win for Juve
The game got off to a great start for home team who managed to put their boot against AC Milan’s face after only 10 minutes when Dybala’s powerful finish shook Donnarumma’s net and gave Bianconeri a huge morale boost.
Things went…
Liverpool are close to agreeing a new five-year contract with Alisson Becker, according to Fabrizio Romano.
The Brazilian goalkeeper arrived to Anfield from AS Roma in the summer of 2018, following the much debated Champions League final performance by Loris Karius in Kiev, for a reported fee of €62.5 million. Since then, he s been a big part of the team s rise under Jurgen Klopp, helping them win the 2019 Champions League and the Premier League the following season. Overall, he s made 130 appearances for the Reds (100 in the Premier League) so far, and kept a clean sheet on 59 occasions. Further more, he scored a crucial winner against West Bromwich Albion which helped the team nail a top-four finish in 2020-21.
Liverpool are set to complete the agreement with Alisso…
Barcelona will bank €8.2million after allowing young striker Alejandro Marques to join Juventus.
The 19-year-old spent three years in Barcelona, scoring twice in the UEFA Youth League final victory against Chelsea in the 2017-18 season.
Marques progressed to the Barcelona B side, appearing in 11 games during this campaign, but did not make the step up from the ranks of La Masia into the first team at Camp Nou.
Barcelona decided to part ways with the Venezuelan teenager after receiving the Italian champions offer, and have taken Matheus Pereira on loan from Juventus with an option to buy as part of the deal.
A statement from Barcelona said: FC Barcelona have been active in the transfer market, with Barca B s Alejandro Marques joining Juventus for 8.2 m…
Former Melbourne City captain Bruno Fornaroli has belatedly left the club after a season on the sidelines.
Fornaroli joined City from Danubio in 2015 and won the Golden Boot in his first A-League campaign, before captaining the club to FFA Cup glory.
But the 31-year-old has fallen out of favour under Warren Joyce this season, featuring in just four league matches.
The forward has reportedly agreed a deal to join Perth Glory next season and his departure from City has now been sealed.
Good luck and farewell, . Thanks for all the good times.
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— Melbourne City FC (@MelbourneCity)
The club thanks Bruno for his contribution over the last three and a half years with Melbourne City and wishes him the best for the future, a st…