Month: August 2020

Internazionale defeated Shakhtar Donetsk 5-0 on Monday in Dusseldorf, setting up a Europa League final meeting with Sevilla on Friday.

Lautaro Martinez opened the scoring after 19 minutes, with the 22-year-old forward heading a Nicolo Barella cross past a helpless Andriy Pyatov to give Inter a 1-0 advantage.

In the opening minutes after the restart, Shakhtar were perhaps unlucky not to be awarded a penalty, when Alessandro Bastoni’s booted clearance from deep in his own area struck the arm of the unaware Roberto Gagliardini. The referee, however, waved play on.

Moments later, the dramatics were at the other end, when only a spectacular save from Pyatov kept Martinez from doubling Inter’s advantage, getting his fingertips to the Argentina international’s ambitious and goal-bound chip.

Moraes nearly levelled the score on the hour mark, but his point-blank header struck Samir Handanovic directly in the hands, and the Nerazzurri goalkeeper quickly gathered up the ball before the Shakhtar No. 10 could pounce on the rebound.

Three minutes later, though, Inter made it 2-0. Danilo D’Ambrosio out-jumped his marker at the far post, directing Marcelo Brozovic’s corner kick past Pyatov to double the Italian club’s advantage.

Martinez added his second goal of the night, all but securing Inter’s place in the final, with little more than 15 minutes to play, wrong-footing Sergey Krivtsov and curling a strike into the far corner. In the next nine minutes, Romelu Lukaku would add a pair of goals to make for a lopsided scoreline in favour of Antonio Conte & Co.

A win in Friday’s final would see Inter lift their first continental trophy since their famous Champions League title under Jose Mourinho in 2010.

Barcelona manager Quique Setien is to be sacked on Monday and Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman could be the man to replace him, says Guillem Balague.

La Liga runners-up Barcelona were humiliated in an 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich as they crashed out of the Champions League at the quarter-final stage on Friday.

Setien, 61, was hired as Ernesto Valverde’s replacement in January.

However, he failed to lead his side to a trophy in 2019-20.

On Sunday night Spanish radio station Cadena COPE said they had spoken to Barcelona President Josep Bartomeu who told them Setien had been sacked. A board meeting is due to take place at 10:00 BST on Monday.

Spanish football expert Balague says former Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has “been approached”, but ex-Barca player Koeman would be a more popular choice.

“The board will meet tomorrow and [Setien] will be sacked,” Balague told the BBC 5 Live Euro Leagues podcast. “They have to choose a manager because in two weeks time pre-season starts – and the talk is Koeman could be the man.

“He said no to an offer in January, but this is different. I think his health situation may have played a part. Discussions may be taking place, we may hear tomorrow, but he will need to separate from the national side so there is still a wait for that to happen.

“He is a name who will, more or less, make everybody happy.”

Former Everton and Southampton manager Koeman, 57, who was appointed as Netherlands manager in February 2018, was rushed to hospital in May with chest complaints but said afterwards he felt “fit as a fiddle”.

Pochettino, who has been out of work since being sacked by Tottenham after five years in charge in November, is also being linked with the role.

According to Balague, the Argentine is in the running but his appointment would not be a well received by the fans, due to his history as both a player and manager for local rivals Espanyol.

Instead, Koeman may oversee a “year of transition” before ex-Barca midfielder Xavi, currently in charge of Qatari club Al Sadd, would arrive.

Bernardo Silva has branded Liverpool fans “pathetic” in a scathing rant on social media following Manchester City’s elimination from the Champions League.

The Blues were dumped out of the Champions League at the quarter-final stage after losing 3-1 to Lyon on Saturday.

And Silva took to social media to apologise to Man City fans after yet another underwhelming European campaign.

On Twitter, he wrote: “The 2019/2020 season has ended for us in a very disappointing way. To all the fans, we’re sorry for this frustrating season.

“The only thing we can promise is that in 2020/2021 we’ll fight a lot to do much better and get back to winning important things for you guys!”

The Portuguese star then turned his attention to Liverpool as he unleashed a brutal tweet.

He said: “And to all Liverpool fans that have nothing else to do than to come to a Man City player account, I’m also sorry for you but for the wrong reasons…pathetic… go celebrate your titles, or try to find a partner, drink a beer with a friend, read a book… so many options!”

Needless to say, Silva’s outrageous tweet sent social media wild with Virgil van Dijk appearing to respond to his post before deleting it.

One Twitter user wrote: “Stop crying your heart out pal.”

A second tweeted: “We, Liverpool fans, are undefeated. We actually made a man city player cry.”

A third added: “This is so weird. Take your own advice.”

Man City bagged just the League Cup last season after failing to defend their Premier League and FA Cup titles.

They finished second to Liverpool in the league and lost to eventual winners Arsenal in the semi-final of the cup.

Bournemouth have released captain and vice captain of the club, Simon Francis and Andrew Surman respectively following their relegation from the Premier League.

Club captain Francis spent eight-and-a-half years on the south coast and his deputy Surman seven, both playing key roles in the club’s rise to the Premier League and five-season stay among the big boys.

A statement released on the club’s official website said: “AFC Bournemouth can confirm that club captain Simon Francis and vice-captain Andrew Surman will not be offered new contracts and have left the club.

“The long-serving pair, whose contracts expired at the end of July, have been an integral part of the club’s rise up the football pyramid, culminating in a five-year stay in the Premier League.

“However, following the Cherries’ relegation last month, it has been agreed that both players will be free to find new clubs, and the club wholeheartedly thanks them for their incredible commitment over the past decade.”

Defender Francis, who played at both right-back and centre-half for the club, made 324 appearances and was appointed skipper during the summer of 2016.

Central midfielder Surman pulled on a Cherries shirt on 226 occasions and played every minute of every top-flight game during the 2015/16 campaign.

Bournemouth have confirmed that full-back Charlie Daniels, who is also out of contract, will train with the club in pre-season as he continues to work his way back from a dislocated knee.

Barcelona could face the embarrassing prospect of having to pay Liverpool €5m (£4.5m) if Philippe Coutinho wins the Champions League with Bayern Munich this season.

The Catalan giants splashed the cash on the Brazilian attacking midfielder in 2018 in an eye-watering deal worth around £142m, but he failed to impress at the Nou Camp and has spent this season on loan at Munich.

On Friday he came off the bench for the Bundesliga champions to haunt his parent club in the Champions League and score two goals to add insult to injury in a brutal 8-2 thumping.

And as if that was not humiliating enough for Barcelona, it could get even worse if Bayern go all the way and win the tournament.

The deal to sign Coutinho from Liverpool included a number of potential add-on clauses, but incredibly they are player-specific rather than club-specific.

One of those clauses was that Barcelona would pay Liverpool £4.5m if Coutinho won the Champions League in either the 2018-19 or 2019-20 season, but it does not specify that it had to be while playing for them.

Bayern are arguably the favourites to win the competition following their stunning showing on Friday, and face the winners of Saturday’s Manchester City v Lyon clash in the semi-final before a potential final on Sunday.