Jose Gaya has called on Valencia to make further strides as they seek to seal qualification for the Champions League knock-out stages with victory at Gent.
The Liga side will ensure progression to the last 16 if they beat Gent on Wednesday and Lyon fail to claim all three points in their Group H clash with leaders Zenit.
Valencia are second in the group on six points in their first appearance in the Champions League since 2013, with Gent and Lyon both struggling having taken only one point from three games.
Nuno s side have found life more difficult in La Liga after finishing fourth last season, and are five points adrift of the Champions League places 10 games into the campaign.
However, Valencia visit the Ghelamco Arena on the back of a morale-boosti…
Borussia Dortmund star Erling Haaland will define an era according to Atletico Madrid forward Luis Suarez, who placed him ahead of Paris Saint-Germain sensation Kylian Mbappe.
Haaland continues to take Europe by storm as the Dortmund forward reportedly attracts interest from Real Madrid, Manchester City, Barcelona, Manchester United, Chelsea, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool.
The 20-year-old, who joined Dortmund from Salzburg in January last year, scored twice in Saturday s 2-2 draw away to Cologne – the Norway international taking his tally to 14 away goals in the Bundesliga this season, more than Werder Bremen (13), Hertha Berlin (13), Mainz (11), Arminia Bielefeld (10) and Schalke (eight) have scored at home in 2020-21.
Suarez heaped praise on Haa…
Stuttgart have parted company with manager Bruno Labbadia after just three games of the new Bundesliga season.
Labbadia, 47, took charge at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in December 2010 and had signed a contract extension in January, but he has paid the price for a winless start to the campaign.
Stuttgart scraped past Bulgarian side Botev Plovdiv on away goals in the third qualifying round for the UEFA Europa League and have lost each of their domestic fixtures so far, including Sunday s 2-1 reverse away to Augsburg.
After an indifferent start to the 2012-13 season, Stuttgart recovered to secure a safe mid-table position, while also reaching the final of the DFB-Pokal where they were defeated by Bayern Munich.
Stuttgart opened their Bundesliga season with a 3-2 defeat…
Tyrone Mings has been banned for five matches following his clash with Zlatan Ibrahimovic during Bournemouth s match against Manchester United last Saturday.
The Football Association (FA) confirmed the defender s punishment after an Independent Regulatory Commission hearing on Wednesday, infuriating Bournemouth who are extremely disappointed .
Mings appeared to stamp on Ibrahimovic s head towards the end of the first half and was charged with violent conduct by the FA, who recommended a stronger punishment for Mings when he and the United striker were charged on Monday.
The FA submitted a claim that a standard punishment would be clearly insufficient given the offence.
Bournemouth reacted angrily to the suspension in a statement which read: Bournemouth…
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has stressed he is “more than satisfied” with what he is seeing from his team.
Saturday’s 1-1 Premier League draw with Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium, secured by Rodri’s late equaliser, brought an 11-match winning run in all competitions to an end for City.
The defending champions are third in the table, two points behind second-placed Arsenal and four behind leaders Liverpool ahead of playing their game in hand when hosting Brentford on Tuesday.
The final stats from the Etihad!
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— Manchester City (@ManCity)
Guardiola – whose treble-winners are aiming for a fourth successive league title – told a press conference: “The last five, 10 minutes first half, (and) in the second half, we we…
Stephen Dobbie is keen to extend his loan stay at Blackpool through to the end of the season, .
The 30 year old is in his third spell with the Tangerines having been part of the squads that won promotion to the Premier League in 2010, and reached the play-off final again two years later.
He signed permanently for Crystal Palace by former Blackpool boss Ian Holloway during the summer after enjoying a successful loan period towards the end of last season, but made just one Premier League appearance before again being allowed to go out on loan.
He scored his first goal of the season last weekend, as Paul Ince’s men edge past Nottingham Forest at the City Ground to maintain their position in the top six of the Championship.
back to the top flight af…
With Bastian Schweinsteiger in town, Sebastian Giovinco was determined to remind everyone who is boss.
Former Germany international and World Cup winner Schweinsteiger arrived in Toronto on Friday with two goals in three matches since joining from Manchester United, and with Chicago Fire unbeaten in three matches.
But 2015 MLS MVP Giovinco stole the show with a brace, which included a stunning free-kick late at BMO Field.
After opening the scoring in the 28th minute, the Italy international curled a sublime set-piece past Chicago goalkeeper Jorge Bava eight minutes from the end to seal a 3-1 win for the hosts.
Sealed with a Giovinco free kick.
— Major League Soccer (@MLS)
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Edin Dzeko took his goal tally against Viktoria Plzen to eight in five games with a second consecutive hat-trick against the Czech champions as Roma got their Champions League campaign back on track with a 5-0 win.
After slipping to a 3-0 reverse against Real Madrid in their Group G opener, Eusebio Di Francesco s side took charge against Plzen who gave Dzeko the kind of space he has been craving all season as he netted two first-half goals.
The Bosnian striker scored a hat-trick against Plzen in the Europa League in 2016-17 and history repeated itself, but not before he provided a key contribution towards Roma s third, which was scored by Cengiz Under.
Justin Kluivert scored his first goal for the club, stroking the ball home after Under s effort was saved, …
Liverpool boosted their hopes of a top-four finish in the WSL with a 4-1 win at Aston Villa.
Goals from Grace Fisk and Sophie Roman Haug put the Reds in control before Sarah Mayling pulled one back from the penalty spot.
But defender Emma Koivisto struck twice in the second half to secure three points for Matt Beard’s side.
What a Finnish
— Liverpool FC Women (@LiverpoolFCW)
Liverpool took the lead after Noelle Maritz gave away a free-kick near the penalty box.
Fuka Nagano played the ball across the face of goal and Fisk’s deflected strike fooled Villa keeper Daphne van Domselaar and found the back of the net.
Villa almost hit straight back but Kenza Dali’s shot was held by Rachael Laws.
Liverpool doubled their le…
Goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa is staying relaxed over the issue of his future following his superb display in Mexico s 0-0 draw with Brazil.
Ochoa pulled off a string of excellent saves as Mexico earned a battling stalemate against the FIFA World Cup hosts in their second game of the tournament.
The 28-year-old is set to be a free agent when his contract with Ajaccio, who were relegated from Ligue 1 last season, expires at the end of the month.
Liverpool and Arsenal have been credited with an interest in Ochoa in the wake of Tuesday s showing, although the shot-stopper has already expressed a desire to remain in the French top flight.
While Ochoa accepts that his performance will have put him firmly in the shop window, he is in no rush to find a new club.
I m…