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Haaland not guaranteed to leave Dortmund in 2022

Mino Raiola has moved to clarify comments he made this week regarding Erling Haaland’s future, insisting it is not a foregone conclusion that the striker will leave Borussia Dortmund next year. 

Haaland, who has scored 51 Bundesliga goals in 52 appearances since making his Dortmund bow last year, is already one of the world’s leading goalscorers.

Among players in Europe’s top five leagues, only Bayern Munich star Robert Lewandowski (100) has scored more goals than Haaland (74) across all competitions since January 18, 2020, when he first played for BVB.

The 21-year-old is rumoured to be a target for Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona and the two Manchester clubs, with reports suggesting he has a €75million buy-out clause that will kick in at the end of the season.

Dortmund’s chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke has described those claims as “rumour” and would not confirm the clause.

In an interview with Sport1 published on Thursday, Raiola claimed: “We have been thinking about his future for two years. We have clear ideas about where he should go and, of course, we look at what the market will offer. 

“With a player like him, we can influence the market, we will not be influenced.

“I changed the transfer market and today we agents have created a new game alongside football: the transfer market. Today two days a week we talk about football, in the other five about the transfer market.”

A second part of the interview, published on Friday, had Raiola naming four clubs – Bayern, Madrid, Barca and Manchester City – as the only teams that could afford to buy the Norway international.

However, Raiola on Saturday issued a statement aiming to clear up his quotes.

“I want to clarify the following about the Sport1 interview,” a post on his official Twitter account read.

“The four clubs I mentioned about Haaland’s future were just an example to say that, when he leaves, he will go to one of the top 15 European clubs.”

Raiola also stressed Haaland may well stay at Dortmund for another season.

“Now Erling’s focus is solely on football, there are no negotiations with any club,” Raiola’s statement continued.

“And I reaffirm what I said – it’s not a sure thing he will leave this summer [2022 off-season], maybe it will be the one after that.”

Haaland, who has only recently returned from injury, could not help Dortmund to victory against Bochum on Saturday, with Julian Brandt rescuing a 1-1 draw for Marco Rose’s team, who are six points behind Bundesliga leaders Bayern.

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VILLAREAL BEAT ATALANTA TO SECURE UCL LAST 16

Villarreal clinched the final place in the last 16 of the Champions League on Thursday, while Leicester failed to advance in the Europa League.

Villarreal beat Atalanta 3-2 away in a game postponed from Wednesday because of heavy snow in northern Italy.

The Spanish side only needed a draw to advance as runner-up from Group F but jumped out to a 3-0 lead by the 51st minute, with Arnaut Danjuma scoring twice. Atalanta answered with goals from Duvan Zapata and substitute Ruslan Malinovskyi but it was too late to turn things around.

Atalanta finished third in the group and will enter a playoff to get into the last 16 of the second-tier Europa League, the competition Villarreal won last season.

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TOTTENHAM CLASH WITH BRIGHTON POSTPONED DUE TO CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK

Tottenham’s Premier League game at Brighton on Sunday has been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak at the north London club.

Thirteen first-team players and staff have tested positive for the virus, leading to Thursday night’s Europa Conference League clash with Rennes being called off.

And now Sunday’s trip to the Amex Stadium will not go ahead after the club’s request for a postponement was accepted by the Premier League club.

A statement read: “We can confirm that our Premier League fixture at Brighton & Hove Albion, on Sunday 12 December at 2pm, has been postponed following a Premier League Board meeting this afternoon (Thursday).

“The Premier League Board took the decision to postpone the game following guidance from medical advisers, with the health of players and staff the priority. The fixture will be rescheduled in due course.

“The Club requested the match to be rearranged following a significant number of positive COVID-19 cases among players and relevant staff.

“As with our other affected fixture, against Stade Rennais in the Europa Conference League, we shall update supporters with more information as soon as it is available.

“We should like to apologise to everyone at Stade Rennais and Brighton & Hove Albion and to both their supporters and ours for any inconvenience caused.”

Next Thursday’s Premier League match at Leicester also appears to be in doubt not only because of Spurs’ situation, but because the Foxes are gripped by Covid-19 as well.

As of Wednesday lunchtime Spurs had not contained the outbreak as players who had tested negative the day before were then testing positive having mixed with the squad.

Boss Antonio Conte was visibly emotional in his press conference to preview the Rennes game on Wednesday, saying the situation was serious and that he was scared.

“The problem is that every day we are having people with Covid,” Conte said.

“People that yesterday weren’t positive, today were positive and we continue to have contact with people we think are negative but the day after become positive. I think this is a serious problem.

“The situation is serious and it is contagious and there is a big infection and now for sure we are a bit scared because tomorrow we don’t know what happens.”

The postponement of further games is going to cause significant scheduling problems for Tottenham, having already had a Premier League game with Burnley called off because of snow.

Discussions regarding the rescheduling of the game with Rennes are ongoing with UEFA, with rules stating there is a December 31 deadline for group games to be completed, but it is understood there could be some room for manoeuvre on that as Spurs have a packed domestic schedule before then, while Rennes go on a winter break on December 22.

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LEICESTER CRASH OUT OF EUROPA LEAGUE AFTER NAPOLI DEFEAT

Leicester are out of the Europa League after losing 3-2 at Napoli.

An end-to-end encounter saw four goals shared in the first half in Naples, where the hosts led 2-0 courtesy of strikes from Adam Ounas and Eljif Elmas.

However, the Foxes responded through Jonny Evans and academy graduate Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s first goal for the club.

Elmas struck again early in the second half and, despite Brendan Rodgers’ side having chances to get themselves level once more, it proved decisive.

Leicester began the night top of Group C, but they ended it in third place and headed into the Europa Conference League after their defeat was compounded by Spartak Moscow’s 1-0 win at Legia Warsaw, with the Russian club topping the table.

Much of the pre-match talk was of Leicester having to leave behind seven players through illness. Rodgers confirmed some of the unnamed players had tested positive for coronavirus, while others had been left at home as a precaution.

But it was a strong Foxes team that took to the field, which included Belgium midfielder Youri Tielemans returning from a five-match absence with a calf problem.

Napoli were also ravaged by injury, with boss Luciano Spalletti without star players Kalidou Koulibaly, Victor Osimhen, Lorenzo Insigne and Fabian Ruiz. Frank Anguissa and Stanislav Lobotka were also absent.

Leicester made a bright start and should have taken an early lead. Dewsbury-Hall charged down the left flank all the way to the by-line and his far-post cross was met by Timothy Castagne inside the six-yard box, but goalkeeper Alex Meret somehow made a smothering save on his goal line.

Napoli went straight up the other end and scored. A mistake by Tielemans, although the midfielder was not helped by the pass from Caglar Soyuncu, resulted in Ounas finding the corner of the net with a low shot across Kasper Schmeichel after four minutes.

It saw the midfielder mark his first start for the club since April 2019 with a goal.

Elmas doubled Napoli’s lead 20 minutes later. Andrea Petagna strolled through the middle of the Leicester defence before unselfishly teeing up Elmas for a tap -in.

With Spartak Moscow also leading at Legia Warsaw, it looked like the Foxes were exiting the Europa League with a whimper.

However, Evans immediately pulled a goal back, smashing home the loose ball from eight yards out after James Maddison’s free-kick had struck a defender and landed in his path.

With 33 minutes on the clock, Leicester were level. Another free-kick was only half-cleared by the hosts and Dewsbury-Hall volleyed the ball into the bottom corner of the net from the edge of the penalty area.

Leicester’s hard work in getting back into the match was almost undone at the beginning of the second half, with only a fine save by Schmeichel by his near post preventing Ounas from getting his second goal of the night.

However, the Foxes did find themselves behind again after 53 minutes when Elmas grabbed his second goal of the night, controlling Giovanni Di Lorenzo’s low cross before giving Schmeichel no chance with his close-range finish.

Immediately at the other end, Di Lorenzo inexplicably passed the ball across his own penalty area where Maddison intercepted before, with the goal at his mercy, letting Napoli off the hook as his shot clipped the outside of a post and went wide.

The frenetic pace slowed a little after that, with Napoli becoming increasingly more comfortable to sit back and allow Leicester more possession. The Foxes were not creating chances with their previous frequency and it was not until the 75th minute that Jamie Vardy riffled a shot into the side-netting.

Five minutes later Dewsbury-Hall slipped at the vital moment as he attempted to round off a lovely Leicester attack.

The Foxes looked like they might be handed a dramatic reprieve in Warsaw when Legia were awarded a penalty deep into injury time. An equaliser would have see Leicester go through despite their defeat, but the spot-kick was saved.

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Pele back in hospital but ‘stable’

Brazil legend Pele has been admitted to hospital to undergo treatment for a colon tumour, but is in a stable condition.

The three-time World Cup winner required an operation to remove a colon tumour in September and has since continued undergoing chemotherapy as part of the rehabilitation process.

Sao Paulo’s Hospital Albert Einstein confirmed on Wednesday that Pele had been hospitalised again, adding he is in stable condition and should be discharged in the next few days.

“The patient is stable, and the forecast is that he will be released in the coming days,” the statement said.

The legendary striker has suffered from ill health in recent years, having prostate surgery in 2015 after being admitted to hospital twice in six months, and he was hospitalised again for a urinary infection in 2019.

Pele is the only player to hold three World Cup winner’s medals, lifting the trophy in 1958, 1962 and 1970.

The 81-year-old is also one of just four players to score in four different World Cups, while he remains Brazil’s all-time leading goalscorer – having found the back of the net 77 times in 92 appearances for the Selecao.

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Mason Greenwood scores stunner in draw

Mason Greenwood scored a spectacular goal as Manchester United drew 1-1 with Young Boys at Old Trafford in their Group F finale.

Despite Ralf Rangnick making 11 changes to the team that beat Crystal Palace last weekend, the Red Devils got off to a flying start as Greenwood volleyed stylishly inside the near post after Shaw had sent the ball into the middle.

However, the visitors equalised three minutes before half-time as Fabian Rieder pounced on a loose pass before bending a sweet strike into the top corner, leaving Dean Henderson with no chance.

The second half lacked the energy of the first, although Young Boys looked the more dangerous of the two sides, but they were ultimately unable to find a winner.

Greenwood gave United the lead in the ninth minute with a fabulous, acrobatic finish into the bottom-left corner from Shaw’s left-wing cross.

The hosts were lively throughout the first half and Greenwood burst down the left before pulling back for Juan Mata, but the Spaniard’s well-struck, deflected effort was kept out superbly by Guillaume Faivre.

But Young Boys drew level with a fantastic goal of their own through Rieder, who picked off a pass in the United third and curled a stunning strike from the edge of the box into the top-right corner.

The visitors then went close to taking the lead on the stroke of half-time as Michel Aebischer lashed a low shot across goal that Eric Bailly did well not to turn into his own net.

Young Boys pushed for a winner in the second half and had a glorious opportunity to put themselves ahead when Quentin Maceiras somehow fired wide after being found in space in the box by Silvan Hefti.

United came into the game guaranteed to finish first in the group, so Rangnick’s decision to change his entire starting XI for his second game in charge was not that much of a surprise. Whether this early experiment helps him find his best formula a successful second half of the season remains to be seen.

Young Boys required a victory to stand a chance of continuing their European campaign but could not find that crucial second goal.

Greenwood’s superb opening strike was his eighth goal in major European competition (excluding qualifiers) for United, the most of any player for the club before their 21st birthday, overtaking Marcus Rashford.

United have now failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last five Champions League group stage matches at Old Trafford, their longest run without a home shutout at this stage of the competition.

United face Norwich City at Carrow Road in Premier League action next on Saturday, while Young Boys host Sion in the Swiss Super League.

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Coronavirus outbreak forces Spurs out of Rennes clash

Tottenham boss Antonio Conte has confirmed that eight of the club’s first-team players and five members of staff have tested positive for coronavirus.

Spurs were due to face Rennes in the Europa Conference League on Thursday but the game has been postponed. 

Their Premier League fixture against Brighton on Sunday is also under review, with Conte fearing more positive tests,

A statement on  Tottenham’s official website read: “We can confirm that our UEFA Europa Conference League Group G home fixture against Rennes will not take place tomorrow after a number of positive coronavirus cases at the club. 

“Discussions are ongoing with UEFA and we shall provide a further update on this fixture in due course. 

“Additionally, following discussions with the Health Security Agency and DCMS advisers, the club has been advised to close the first team area of its training centre at this time, in the interests of the health and safety of players and staff. 

“All other areas of the training centre remain operational.”

Before news broke of the postponement, Conte said: “The situation makes me very upset because it is serious. 

“It’s contagious and there is a big infection. Now we are a bit scared because tomorrow we don’t know what will happen.

“Every day, we are having more positives. Everyone is a bit scared. People have families. Why [do] we have to take the risk? This is my question.

“Today, two positives. And tomorrow, who? Me? I don’t know. Better me than a player for sure but I think it’s not right for everyone. We have contact with our families.

“We had 11 players available for the match and by the end of the training session today one of the players who would start tomorrow is now positive. It’s scary. We’re all having contact.”

With regards to the Seagulls clash, Premier League rules state permission will not be granted to postpone a match if a club has 14 or more players available.

But the postponement of games is taken on a case-by-case basis and a decision is made by the Premier League board if a request is received from a club.

Spurs have already seen a top-flight game postponed this season after their clash with Burnley last month was called off due to heavy snow.

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Kean heads Bianconeri top of Group H

Moise Kean’s early header proved enough to earn Juventus a 1-0 Champions League win over Malmo and top spot in Group H on Wednesday.

The Bianconeri controlled the game well but could only muster one goal despite playing a team with just one point to their name.

Federico Bernardeschi’s classy cross from the right was one of the few moments of true quality in the final third, which Kean met with a darting run to the near post in the 18th minute.

Malmo rarely threatened in the time that remained, but Juventus never looked like claiming an emphatic win either and their solitary goal proved enough to see them finish above Chelsea, who conceded a 94th-minute equaliser in their 3-3 draw with Zenit. 

Kean came close to opening the scoring in the sixth minute after being slipped into the area by Paulo Dybala, but the striker lashed his low effort just wide of the bottom-right corner.

The Italian made amends 12 minutes later, however, nipping in front of Ismael Diarra Diawara to nod Bernardeschi’s outstanding outside-of-the-boot cross in and put Juventus ahead.

Kean then laid the ball off to Arthur just inside the box on the stroke of half-time, but the midfielder lost his balance as he took the shot on and fired narrowly past the top-right corner.

Juventus, despite dominating the game and holding the lead, lacked conviction in the final third as Adrien Rabiot burst forward down the left and smashed a shot into the side-netting after the break.

Kean forced a low save in the 66th minute and should have doubled Juventus’ advantage with under 10 minutes remaining after Diarra Diawara spilled Rabiot’s initial effort, but the goalkeeper recovered to make a stunning save at point-blank range and deny the 21-year-old, whose contribution proved decisive in settling the group thanks to events in St. Petersburg.

Juventus’ triumph was a game of little drama, but the back-and-forth between Chelsea and Zenit in Russia saw the Bianconeri’s final position in the Group H table change several times.

The Serie A side needed to better the Blues’ result to win the group and Thomas Tuchel’s men and the cards fell in their favour as stoppage-time draw meant last season’s winners were held.

Kean is the second-youngest Italian goalscorer for Juventus in the Champions League at 21 years, 283 days old, behind only Alessandro Del Piero.

He would do well to match Del Piero’s exploits, but is showing promise this season with three goals in seven league games and his winner here.

Koni de Winter became the youngest player to start a match in Juventus history in the Champions League at 19 years and 179 days old – 14 days younger than Ruben Olivera – and did not look out of place.

De Winter completed 57 of his 64 passes, his accuracy of 89.1 per cent fifth-best among Juventus players to start the match.

– Juventus have won five of their six group games in the Champions League for the sixth time – never before winning all six – but with three of those six instances coming in three consecutive campaigns (2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22).

–  Malmo have lost each of their nine away games in the Champions League, suffering three defeats during each group stage in 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2021-22. They hold the worst 100 per cent losing ratio away from home in the competition.

– Kean has scored four goals in just five Champions League starts across spells with PSG (three) and Juventus (one), while he is only the second Italian aged 21 or younger to score for Juventus in the competition after Alessandro Del Piero (eight such goals).

– Juve have won each of their last six home games in the Champions League, only the second time during the 21st century they have recorded such a winning run on home soil, also managing this feat between December 2016 and October 2017.

– Aged 19 years and 179 days, Koni de Winter became the youngest player to start a match for Juventus in their Champions League history.

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Chelsea forced to settle for second place

Chelsea were forced to settle for second place in Group H after an injury-time equaliser from Magomed Ozdoev clinched a 3-3 draw for Zenit in the Champions League.

Two goals from Timo Werner and another from Romelu Lukaku were not enough to secure the victory for the Blues, with Claudinho, Sardar Azmoun and Ozdoev all scoring for Zenit in Russia, and the Blues will now not be seeded in Monday’s draw for the last 16 after finishing below Juventus, who beat Malmo in Turin.

The momentum of the game swung back and forth several times, with Chelsea’s Kepa Arrizabalaga kept particularly busy.

Blues boss Thomas Tuchel was missing a number of midfielders, including Jorginho, N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic, and started Ross Barkley and Reece James in the middle, with Atletico Madrid loanee Saul Niguez being utilised at left wing back.

Chelsea took the lead in just the second minute when a Barkley corner was flicked on at the near post by Andreas Christensen, allowing Werner a simple tap-in.

Zenit should have been level on 26 minutes when Malcom was played in on goal, but the former Barcelona winger was denied by Kepa.

The equaliser did arrive 12 minutes later when Douglas Santos played a ball into the box that was glanced in by the head of Claudinho.

The hosts then took the lead before half-time when Barkley was dispossessed in midfield, with Malcom sliding Azmoun in behind a chaotic Chelsea defence. The Iran international took the ball round Kepa before slotting home, with the Blues goalkeeper forced to make another save from Azmoun just moments later.

Chelsea improved in the second half and were level just after the hour as Werner and Barkley played a one-two on the edge of the box, with the German giving Lukaku an easy tap in to make it 2-2.

Azmoun was denied another as Kepa made a fine save down to his left following a header from the striker, before Werner finished off a nice move five minutes from time, narrowly remaining onside.

However, the visitors failed to hold on as a tremendous strike from substitute Ozdoev deep into stoppage time levelled it up to ensure the spoils were shared.

This was a second chaotic game in the space of a week for Tuchel’s men, which will have the German scratching his head considering how organised they have looked for much of his reign.

After surrendering top spot in the Premier League following their 3-2 defeat at West Ham on Saturday – where they also conceded a late goal – Chelsea lost first place in their Champions League group as well, and could potentially now face Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in the last 16.

Tuchel was forced into several changes, but will still have been irked by the lack of shape in this game, with Zenit looking the more dangerous across the 90 minutes, having 18 shots to Chelsea’s 13, with seven on target.

James has been one of Chelsea’s standout players this season playing at right wing back, but the England international was moved to midfield in Russia due to a growing injury list at Stamford Bridge.

Despite the disappointing result, James looked the part for most of the game, topping the list of Chelsea players for total passes (81), successful passes (76) and total passes in the opposition half (49), while also gaining possession eight times.

James’ versatility could come in very handy for Tuchel in the next few weeks while he waits for his first-choice midfielders to return.

Normally, you cannot question Chelsea’s defence. Since Tuchel’s first Champions League game in charge of the club in February, the Blues had only conceded three goals in 12 games in the competition before this one.

Their nine clean sheets in this period was the highest total of any team, and had they kept one here, they would have been the fastest team and manager combination to reach 10 clean sheets in the competition (13 games), ahead of Ajax under Louis van Gaal, Milan under Fabio Capello and Real Madrid under Jose Mourinho (all 14 games).

However, without Thiago Silva and Antonio Rudiger, Chelsea’s backline looked all over the place for large parts of this game, with Cesar Azpilicueta, Christensen and Malang Sarr being regularly pulled this way and that by the Zenit attack.

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Xavi’s men crash out of Champions League

Barcelona have been eliminated from the Champions League following a 3-0 defeat to Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.

Xavi’s side drop into the Europa League and will not appear in the knockout stages of Europe’s premier club competition for the first time since the 2003-04 season.

Already assured of top spot in Group E, first-half goals from Thomas Muller and Leroy Sane put Bayern well on the way to progressing with a 100 per cent record.

Jamal Musiala ensured that Julian Nagelsmann’s side did just that when he sealed the victory just after the hour mark in another routine victory for the hosts in this fixture.

To avoid elimination, Barca needed to win or hope that Benfica failed to beat Dynamo Kiev elsewhere in the final round of group fixtures.

Jordi Alba tested Manuel Neuer from distance, while Ousmane Dembele swept a shot over from Memphis Depay’s square ball.

But Barca fell behind in the 34th minute; Robert Lewandowski cleverly twisting and turning before crossing for Muller, whose looping header crossed the line before Ronald Araujo could volley clear.

Bayern doubled their lead just before the break with Sane’s powerful 30-yard strike completely perplexing Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

Sane squandered a golden opportunity for his second goal shortly after the restart when somehow failing to turn the ball home from inside the six-yard box after Kingsley Coman cushioned Alphonso Davies’ cross into his path.

Bayern’s third goal did arrive in the 62nd minute as Musiala sealed the deal by slotting home following a strong run and cross by Davies.

Bayern will buoyantly march towards the knockout stages when the competition resumes in February, with the draw for the last 16 to take place on Monday.

With six wins from six, Nagelsmann’s side are one of only three teams to record maximum points during this season’s group phase – along with Liverpool and Ajax.

They have now scored two or more goals in each of their last 12 home matches in this competition, while it was also their fourth straight win over Barca, who must reset their focus to the Europa League after this humbling early exit.

It was a landmark day for Muller, who reached 50 Champions League goals with his clever first-half header.

That was Muller’s eighth strike in seven appearances against Barca – his highest tally against any opponent in the competition, and the most that any player has managed against the Catalan giants in the European Cup or Champions League.

Although he did brilliantly to provide the assist for Muller’s header, Lewandowski was not at his best on Wednesday. Not only did the talisman fail to register a single shot on goal before being replaced 13 minutes from time, but his tallies of 20 touches and 12 passes were the lowest recorded by any Bayern starter.

He subsequently missed the opportunity to become the first player to score 10 or more goals during the Champions League group stage on multiple occasions, as well as the second to find the net in 10 successive matches in the competition.