Real Madrid legend Raul to take charge of Castilla

Real Madrid great Raul will take over Los Blancos Castilla side next season, the LaLiga giants have confirmed.

Raul had been in charge of youth sides Cadete B and Juvenil B, and will now take on the top job in Madrid s famed academy.

Castilla Los Blancos B team currently play in Segunda Division B Group 1, having lost out to Cartagena in the promotion play-offs last season.

Current Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane also started his senior coaching career with Madrid s Castilla side, with Santiago Solari having followed a similar path.

An academy product himself, Raul spent 16 years as a key figure in Madrid s first team between 1994 and 2010, winning six LaLiga titles and three Champions League trophies during that time.

Former Chelsea captain John Terry retires

Terry, who won five Premier League titles during his time at Chelsea, rejected a move to Spartak Moscow for family reasons earlier this season and he has also been linked with a return to Stamford Bridge on Maurizio Sarri s coaching staff.

The 37-year-old notably thanked Villa in his retirement announcement, although he indicated his heart will always belong to Chelsea .

Terry came through Chelsea s youth system and made his debut for the first team in 1998, quickly establishing himself as an important player in the Blues back line.

The defender was made Chelsea captain by Jose Mourinho following the retirement of Marcel Desailly and led the club through one of the most important periods in their history.

An influx of cash provided by Russian billionaire …

Prediction: Newcastle vs Tottenham

Best Odds: 1/2

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In what could prove to be an enjoyable showdown from St. James’ Park on Sunday afternoon, Newcastle will welcome Tottenham to town.

Newcastle

Starting with the hosts, suffering real heartbreak last season as they eventually missed out on the chance to book another European finish, Newcastle are looking to mount a top-six charge this time around. While the Magpies might not have been at their best last weekend as they had to settle for a controversial 1-1 stalemate away at Bournemouth, Eddie Howe’s men are unbeaten in all of their opening three domestic appearances across all competitions. Opening proceedings with a 1-0 victory against Premier League returners Southampton on August 17th, Newcastle will be looking to collect a heavyw…

Prediction: Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund

Best odds: 1

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It s Der Klassiker in the German Bundesliga this week, with Bayern Munich hosting Borussia Dortmund at the Allianz Arena on Saturday in what will a be a part of the 24th round of the 2020-21 season. Though the rivalry between these two clubs has been disputed as among the greatest in the country, there can be no real disagreement on the fact that they have indeed been the two most successful German clubs in recent times.

Bayern Munich

It s hard to find something new to say about Bayern Munich at the moment. Champions of everything , as Liverpool fans referred to their team after adding the Premier League title to the Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup last year, Bayern have repeated the feat and even added the DFB-Pokal into th…

Olympic gold, hot with Chile and El Loco in Lazio: The highs and lows of Marcelo Bielsa

Marcelo Bielsa is a man with a lengthy career resume and a serious case of wanderlust, with Leeds United the latest destination on his tour of the footballing world.

The Argentinian nicknamed El Loco and renowned for his attention to detail was officially confirmed as the new head coach at the Championship club on Friday, turning what seemed at first to be a pipe dream for their fans into reality.

Bielsa working in England’s second tier is enough to make the mind boggle. Here is a 62-year-old with huge experience as a coach, both at club and international level, someone who has been appointed by teams in Ligue 1, LaLiga and Serie A (albeit not for too long in the case of the latter) and worked at the 1998 and 2010 World Cups.

Now, though, he has accepted th…

Luis Enrique not looking to experiment in Spain´s new era

Luis Enrique has vowed to stick with his preferred 4-3-3 system in Spain s upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers as he looks to replicate the success of the last great La Roja side.

Spain, winners of the European Championship in 2008 and 2012 and the World Cup in-between, face Norway and Malta in their first two fixtures in a group that also includes Sweden, Romania and Faroe Islands.

There are only a handful of players left in this squad that were part of their previous triumphs and current coach Luis Enrique acknowledged it will take time to build a team capable of emulating the side of a decade ago.

Yet he wants to discover that winning formula quickly and is not prepared to try many different things in the early stages of the qualification process.

Spe…

Cagliari 1-3 Juventus: Ronaldo hat-trick sees Bianconeri bounce back from Champions League exit

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a first-half hat-trick as Juventus took out their Champions League frustration on Serie A strugglers Cagliari in a 3-1 away win.

The subject of transfer speculation after disappointing in the Bianconeri s European exit to Porto in midweek, Ronaldo came to the fore on Sunday with the second-fastest treble of his outstanding career.

The 32-minute blitz was enough to cast aside 17th-placed Cagliari, who had conceded all of their previous six Serie A goals after the break.

Giovanni Simeone struck back to cap an improved second-half display from Cagliari, but Juve comfortably eased to a third straight league win.

87 Cristiano has scored 87 goals in March among clubs and Portugal, a record for him in career in a single month. MONSTER…

Denmark 0-1 Finland: Five things with tragedy narrowly avoided

The Group B opener at the Euro 2020 was certainly an eventful one. There won t be anyone who witnessed it, whether on the stands of the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen or in front of a TV screen at home, at a pub or a friend s house, who was left unmoved and didn t feel scared for a human life for a number of minutes that seemed like days.

Christian Eriksen

Anyone who follows the game at all will have heard and been aware of the quality of Christian Eriksen. The man whose football journey began with Odense Boldklub Youth in his Denmark, who joined the Ajax Under-19 side and signed his first professional contract there, who spent six and a half years with Tottenham Hotspur, helping them reach the 2019 Champions League final, before moving on to Inter Milan and winning the Serie A …

Deschamps ready for criticism after ´light went out´ in Italy defeat

Didier Deschamps is prepared to face the critics after France kickstarted their Nations League campaign with a 3-1 defeat to Italy on Friday.

Bradley Barcola handed the hosts a lead with just 12 seconds on the clock, only for the Azzurri to respond to secure their first victory over France at the Parc des Princes.

After scoring just once from open play at Euro 2024, Les Bleus failed to trouble Gianluigi Donnarumma, with only three of their 12 shots in the encounter on target, all of which came in the first 45 minutes.

France registered an expected goals (xG) total of 0.86 compared to Italy s 1.71, with Kylian Mbappe enduring another difficult night in front of goal.

Despite winning both the World Cup and the Nations League during his time in charge, Des…

Diego Godin to join Cagliari?

Diego Godin could be leaving Inter Milan after only a year at the club to join Cagliari, several reports in Italy claim (via ).

The Uruguay international spent nine years with Atletico Madrid before moving to Italy last summer, helping the Rojiblancos reach two Champions League finals, win two Europa League titles, three UEFA Super Cups, Copa del Rey in 2013 and the La Liga title in the following season.

In 2019/20, he played a total of 36 games for Inter in all competitions and helped them reach the Europa League final.

However, it is believed the 34-year-old has no place in the plans of head coach Antonio Conte anymore, even though neither Inter nor Cagliari have revealed anything officially. The relationship between the two club is good after Inter midfielder…