Manchester United star Zlatan Ibrahimovic admits he is extra motivated and gets adrenaline when facing former coach Pep Guardiola.
The duo were together at Barcelona for a season in 2009-10, before they fell out and Ibrahimovic made the move to AC Milan.
Ibrahimovic and Guardiola find themselves in the Premier League, the striker at United and the manager at Manchester rivals City.
The 35-year-old Ibrahimovic said taking on Guardiola s teams gave him more inspiration, although he insisted it was nothing personal.
When I play against his team, it s something that motivates me, it gives me adrenaline, he told Fox Sports Italia.
It s not personal what I have. It s part of the game.
Ibrahimovic and Guardiola won the LaLiga title in their se…
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Looking to extend on their recent flurry and claim Midlands bragging rights on Wednesday night, Aston Villa will host Wolves.
Aston Villa
Starting with the hosts, while Aston Villa might have opened the 2022/23 campaign in the midst of a real struggle under Steven Gerrard, it appears they have turned a real corner on either side of the World Cup break. Continuing to shine since appointing Unai Emery back in October, the Clarets have skyrocketed their way up the Premier League table. Dragging themselves away from a potential relegation scrap, the one-time Arsenal boss should now have a top-half finish at the top of his agenda. Putting in a stellar display on New Year s Day as they claimed a 2-0 victory away at Tottenham, Villa have ta…
Harry Winks scored a 93th-minute header to earn Tottenham a dramatic 2-1 Premier League win at Fulham, but Mauricio Pochettino will be concerned about an injury suffered by Dele Alli.
England midfielder Alli had headed Spurs level, cancelling out a first-half own goal scored by Fernando Llorente the striker deputising for the injured Harry Kane, who is out until March.
Alli could well be set to join Kane on the sidelines after limping off in the closing stages, but what looked like becoming a nightmare Sunday for Spurs at Craven Cottage was saved at the death by Winks.
Georges-Kevin Nkoudou, Alli s replacement, delivered a wonderful whipped ball into the box from the left wing and Winks was there to condemn struggling Fulham to another defeat.
WINKSY…
Frank de Boer has taken over as the new manager of Crystal Palace and in the process become the eighth Dutch boss to take a job in the Premier League.
After a successful spell with Ajax and a less decorated stint with Inter, De Boer was appointed to succeed Sam Allardyce at Selhurst Park on Monday.
With players like Wilfried Zaha and Christian Benteke to build around, the 47-year-old will be hoping to bolster his reputation with Palace.
As he settles into the task, we take a look at how his compatriots fared in England s top flight.
RUUD GULLIT
Impressed as Chelsea player-manager, winning the FA Cup in 1997 – the club s first major trophy for 26 years – and finishing sixth. However, he was sacked midway through the following season despi…
Inter Milan defender Matteo Darmian insists they will need the “right attitude” to beat Real Sociedad and finish first in Group D of the Champions League.
Inter have already qualified for the last 16 of the tournament and came back from three goals down to draw 3-3 with Benfica last time out.
The comeback enabled them to keep their undefeated streak going in the competition this season but they will need victory to ensure they top the group.
Simone Inzaghi and Matteo Darmian s press conference on the eve of ( subs)
— Inter (@Inter_en)
Tuesday’s opponents have also qualified but need to avoid defeat at San Siro to ensure they go through as group winners.
Former Manchester United defender Darmian knows the hosts face a challenge.<…
Borussia Dortmund coach Lucien Favre says the outcome of Saturday s clash with Bayern Munich will not decide which club wins the Bundesliga title.
Dortmund travel to Munich with a two-point advantage over their title rivals, Bayern having dropped points against Freiburg last time out.
With only six games to play after this weekend s match at the Allianz Arena, a win would be a huge boost for either side.
However, Favre expects a few more twists and turns before the end of the campaign.
This game is very special: Bayern v Dortmund, he told a media conference. The table is close, seven games remain, and two great teams.
If we win, nothing is decided, if we draw, nothing is decided, if we lose nothing is decided it is completely open!
…
Pep Guardiola approves of Bayern Munich s imminent appointment of a new head coach, according to president Uli Hoeness.
Carlo Ancelotti, Guardiola s successor at the Allianz Arena, was sacked last week after an underwhelming start to the season, with Hoffenheim coach Julian Nagelsmann and former Borussia Dortmund boss Thomas Tuchel among the early front-runners to replace the Italian.
However, veteran Louis van Gaal has reportedly emerged as a short-term option, with the former Bayern coach – who led Die Roten to a Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal double in the 2009-10 campaign – out of work since leaving Manchester United in May 2016.
Guardiola has now seemingly been tipped off by Hoeness as to the club s plans, with the Manchester City manager apparently giving his…
Julen Lopetegui has his first win in charge of West Ham as a resounding second-half performance earned a 2-0 victory away to Crystal Palace.
Having made a slow start, West Ham were able to ride out the pressure and claim the points thanks to goals from Tomas Soucek and Jarrod Bowen.
Eberechi Eze had chances to open the scoring for Palace in the first half but struggled to hit the target before Soucek drilled his opener through a crowded box in the 67th minute.
Bowen then punished the hosts by rounding off another quick counter-attack with a fine finish five minutes later to rule out Palace s hopes of a first win this season.
West Ham are off the mark, with their three points moving them up to seventh, while Palace are down in 18th without a point so far.<…
According to a recent report from London Evening Standard, Tottenham Hotspur defender Toby Alderweireld has claimed that, hand on heart, he always wanted to stay at the club.
The Belgian defender claims that he never had thoughts about leaving the club, despite plenty of reports that indicated otherwise over the course of the last few months. Alderweireld recently signed a new deal with the North London outfit that will ensure he remains there for at least a few more years, unless a substantial offer comes in for him.
Manchester United were heavily linked with the move but given the trajectory of both teams as of late, it really doesn’t seem like Toby would be making too big of a change if he did jump over to Old Trafford.
Tottenham will consider this to…
Often important players are approached to us. Eriksen is an excellent player whose contract expires in June and we have had no contact with Tottenham. I still believe that there are many teams interested in him and we have not started any kind of negotiations.
“I simply say that he is an important and interesting player. We are looking for a midfielder and an outsider, we are having several contacts with companies and agents to try to improve this group. We have not yet reached a conclusion because we want to do everything very calmly to keep the goal bar always high.”
Those are the words of Inter Milan chief executive Giuseppe Marotta who, when speaking to Sky Italy, confirmed that they would be interested in the possibility of signing Tottenham Hotspur star C…