Borussia Moenchengladbach will remain in the Bundesliga after a come-from-behind 1-1 draw at Bochum in the relegation playoff on Wednesday.
Lucien Favre s side earned a 1-0 win at home on May 19 in the first leg, which proved to be the difference after forward Marco Reus struck a 73rd-minute goal to force a draw in Bochum, and a 2-1 win on aggregate for the Bundesliga side.
It came after Moenchengladbach defender Havard Nordtveit put the ball into his own net midway through the first half to level the tie.
Reus goal was worthy of a tie-clincher as he was put through after a fine build-up, smartly placing his left-foot finish into the bottom corner of goalkeeper Andreas Luthe s net.
Both teams struck the crossbar in a first half that saw Bochum have more …
Malky Mackay has left Watford to become the new manager of Championship rivals Cardiff City, succeeding Dave Jones.
Scot Mackay, 39, has agreed a three-year contract with the Welsh club, who have been without a head coach since the dismissal of Jones on May 30.
Cardiff must pay Watford an undisclosed sum in compensation for Mackay, who had agreed a new three-year contract at Vicarage Road in March this year.
I see a club with massive ambition, an infrastructure that is exciting, a beautiful stadium, great training facilities and a club that wants to go places, Mackay said at his unveiling as Cardiff manager on Friday.
It s well documented the finances we ve been working under at Watford.
Watford over the last couple of years have fought hard …
Both Mexico and Cameroon have high hopes ahead of their opening fixture at the 2014 World Cup and with the 2010 finalists Spain and Netherlands the remaining two sides in their group, the two teams will be all too aware that a failure to win at Arena das Dunas would almost certainly mean a farewell to the tournament.
And even if El Tri have some decent attackers in their ranks as well, chances are that Chelsea star Samuel Eto o, taking part at his fourth World Cup finals, looks the best bet for the first goalscorer market at the moment.
With that in mind, on Eto o to score the first goal in the Mexico v Cameroon match from 6/1 to 8/1, making sure their new and existing customers are offered excellent value for money. The 33-year-old has so far scored three goals in sev…
Greece goalkeeper Stefanos Kapino has warned of the all-round threat Japan will pose in their FIFA World Cup meeting in Natal on Thursday.
Both nations lost their Group C openers on Saturday as Greece were beaten 3-0 by Colombia and Japan fell 2-1 to Ivory Coast.
Japan had been tipped to do well in the group due to talents such as Shinji Kagawa, Keisuke Honda and Yasuhito Endo, but they surrendered a one-goal lead to slump to defeat in Recife.
Rather than focusing on individuals, Kapino expects Japan s overall quality to ask questions of Greece on Thursday.
Football is collective, he said.
It s not just one player or another who can be a dangerous opponent. Actually all their team is strong and has great quality.
Let s worry about the whole team. <…
Neymar will sign a new five-year Barcelona contract in the coming days, according to the club s president.
Josep Maria Bartomeu has told a news conference the Brazil international is on the verge of committing his long-term future to Camp Nou.
The 24-year-old forward s deal had been set to expire in June 2018 but he will now be tied to the Catalan giants until 2021.
The announcement will serve to suppress the persistent rumours linking the former Santos prodigy with a switch to Manchester United or arch rivals Real Madrid.
Neymar doesn t want to leave Barcelona, Bartomeu said.
He wants to stay and the club wants him to stay. Neymar [has] never said to us that he wants to leave.
According to Bartomeu, the club are taking extra care to en…
Chelsea have completed the signing of Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata on a five-year deal .
The Spain international arrives for a reported club-record fee of £70million after the Stamford Bridge side missed out on re-signing Romelu Lukaku, who joined Manchester United from Everton for £75m.
Torino forward Andrea Belotti, Borussia Dortmund striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Manchester City s Sergio Aguero were all purported targets for the Premier League champions after boss Antonio Conte told Diego Costa he was not part of his future plans.
Conte and Morata missed out on working with each other at Juventus when the former took on the Italy job in July 2014, but the 24-year-old striker is now set to spearhead his title defence.
I am so happy to b…
Perjury charges against Liverpool and Croatia defender Dejan Lovren have been dropped, a Croatian court has confirmed.
The centre-back was alleged to have provided a false testimony in the trial of former Dinamo Zagreb director Zdravko Mamic in September 2017 but a Zagreb court dropped the charges on Monday.
Mamic was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison for corruption last June, with a court ruling he had made illegal profits on player transfers.
Lovren maintained his innocence throughout the case, releasing a statement via social media when he was charged.
…
Manchester United continue to be linked with a number of players, even during the football shutdown due to coronavirus.
Borussia Dortmund s Jadon Sancho, Tottenham star Harry Kane and Aston Villa midfielder Jack Grealish.
Atletico Madrid sensation Joao Felix is the latest name on the list.
TOP STORY – UNITED EYE JOAO FELIX
Manchester United are interested in signing Atletico Madrid star Joao Felix, according to Le10 Sport.
Joao Felix swapped Benfica for Atletico in a big-money deal at the start of the 2019-20 season, having been linked to United.
United reportedly remain interested in Joao Felix and want the 20-year-old Portuguese attacker to follow in the footsteps of Red Devils great Cristiano Ronaldo at Old Trafford.
…
Pep Guardiola impishly suggested his “ego” was responsible for a confrontation with Jack Grealish following Manchester City’s goalless draw against Arsenal at the weekend.
City drawing a blank at home against one of their Premier League title rivals on Sunday left them a point behind Arsenal and three adrift of leaders Liverpool with nine games of the season left.
At the full-time whistle, Guardiola was filmed in an animated discussion in the middle of the pitch with Grealish, who was brought on just after the hour mark in a fruitless bid to break the deadlock.
While Guardiola patted Grealish on the head before walking away, the episode has drawn plenty of scrutiny, which the Spaniard playfully took aim at ahead of City’s clash with Aston Villa on Wednesd…
England will hope to end a 55-year major-tournament trophy drought on Sunday when they meet Italy in the Euro 2020 final, while Roberto Mancini is eyeing the crowning achievement of his transformational reign.
The Three Lions have not even qualified for a final since winning the 1966 World Cup and will be competing in their first European Championship decider. It will be Italy s third this century, though it is a competition they have not won in 53 years.
Although Italy s performances up to the final have generally attracted widespread acclaim, with the Azzurri stretching their unbeaten record to 33 matches, England will once again have the advantage as hosts.
England have won 15 of their previous 17 matches at Wembley, while seven of the previous 10 instances o…