Internacional ponder Datolo swoop

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Desperate to make an immediate return to winning ways when they return from the festive break this weekend, Juventus will welcome Udinese to the Allianz on Sunday night.

Juventus

Starting with the hosts, while Juventus might have thought they had managed to find a real bounce when heading into the festive break, Andrea Pirlo s side came crashing back down to earth. Putting in what was a worrying display back on December 22nd when they welcomed a struggling Fiorentina to Turin, the Old Lady were hit with a woeful 3-0 drumming on home soil. While the former World Cup-winner might have seen his side enjoy a real Champions League romp and signing off their campaign with a 3-0 win at the Nou Camp, Juventus have struggled with their Serie …

Zinedine Zidane has explained his shock decision to resign as Real Madrid coach comes down to his doubts over whether the club could continue to win titles consistently under his stewardship.

The Frenchman took the football world by surprise on Thursday when, at a hastily arranged news conference, he announced he is leaving the club.

Zidane s decision comes just five days after guiding Madrid to a third successive Champions League title in Kiev by beating Liverpool 3-1 his ninth trophy since taking charge in January 2016.

The 45-year-old took charge of the club in January 2016 and has enjoyed an incredible tenure, but he was simply unsure they could continue to keep winning with him at the helm.

There are lows and sometimes you might ask yourself if you …

Julian Nagelsmann insisted Bayern Munich sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic did not mean to offend when he said the club s training matches could be better spectacles than Bundesliga games.

The comments from Salihamidzic came in a wide-ranging interview with German broadcaster Sky Sport, as he answered a question about Tottenham s Harry Kane by pointing out the wealth of attacking talent already in Bayern s ranks.

Salihamidzic said in the interview, released on Thursday: If you look at the training sessions, it s great fun to watch. Some training games are better than Bundesliga games.

It was the sort of throwaway comment that could be interpreted as a provocative remark towards Bayern s Bundesliga rivals.

Bayern have won 10 consecutive German league …

Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City have enjoyed incredible success in keeping Erling Haaland fit, claiming his occasional early withdrawals of the striker have been justified.

Haaland sustained several injuries during his prolific two-year spell at Borussia Dortmund, netting 22 goals despite only starting 21 Bundesliga games in his final season with BVB.

However, only Ederson (2,610) and Rodri (2,407) have played more Premier League minutes for City than Haaland this term (2,187) as Guardiola s men bid for a fifth title in six seasons.

Haaland has averaged a goal every 72.9 minutes in his first Premier League campaign, and Guardiola says City have a host of medical professionals to thank for his continued availability.

I don t know what he did in D…

Manuel Pellegrini s tenure at Manchester City got off to a dream start with a resounding 4-0 triumph over 10-man Newcastle United on Monday.

Victory means City top the table after the first weekend of the Premier League as the 2011-12 champions produced a masterclass at the Etihad Stadium.

David Silva opened the scoring with a header inside 10 minutes before Sergio Aguero extended the advantage with a neat finish from a wide angle. It got worse for Newcastle when Steven Taylor received his marching orders in first-half injury-time for striking the back of Aguero s head during an aerial challenge.

City s dominance continued after half-time as Yaya Toure marked his 100th Premier League appearance with a sublime curling free-kick and Samir Nasri completed the rout with 15…

Raheem Sterling rediscovered his scoring touch as under-fire Liverpool beat Bournemouth 3-1 in the League Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday.

The 20-year-old had not scored for club or country since September, but his brace at Dean Court ended a run of 21 matches without a goal.

His double came either side of Lazar Markovic s first goal for Liverpool, which was aided by Bournemouth defender Tommy Elphick s confusion.

With Philippe Coutinho jinking into the area, Elphick thought he had heard a whistle and appealed for offside, and the Brazilian s shot was saved by Artur Boruc before Markovic converted the rebound.

Former Everton man Dan Gosling did pull one back for the Championship leaders  his fifth goal in as many appearances in this year s competition �…

Barcelona centre-back Gerard Pique insisted there was no excuse for the LaLiga champions stalemate against Malaga, despite the absence of star duo Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.

Barca failed to score at home for the first time since February 2015 as they played out a goalless draw with Malaga on Saturday.

Messi missed the clash due to illness, while Suarez was sidelined due to suspension.

Pique, however, refused to use the missing pair as an excuse after Barca fell four points behind leaders and arch-rivals Real Madrid.

We re Barca and we can t blame absences, he said.

We have players that cost a lot of money and a huge budget if we compare it with Malaga s. There are no excuses for not winning.

It s worrying that we ve dropped so many p…

Nemanja Matic says he considered his Chelsea future following the arrival of N Golo Kante from champions Leicester City.

The Serbia international played a key role in the club s Premier League title success of 2014-15, but struggled last season and then saw his place come under threat from the arrival of Kante.

Matic has now revealed he thought about leaving Chelsea amid rumours of moves to Juventus and Manchester United, before deciding to stay put under new manager Antonio Conte, starting every league game so far this term.

To be honest I spoke with [Conte], he told Sky Sports. I spoke with the club and we both decided that it was best for the club and for me to stay.

I m very happy because I m now here with this team and this club. I will give my bes…

Arsenal recovered from two goals down late on to draw 3-3 with bottom side Southampton, though the Premier League leaders ultimately dropped points for a third game running.

After squandering 2-0 leads to draw 2-2 in their past two games, Arsenal found themselves behind by that same scoreline inside 14 minutes in a thrilling contest at Emirates Stadium on Friday.

Carlos Alcaraz took advantage of an Aaron Ramsdale error inside 27 seconds and former Gunner Theo Walcott added a second, before Gabriel Martinelli pulled one back before half-time.

Duje Caleta-Car added a third for Southampton, but Martin Odegaard s strike was followed up by Bukayo Saka s 90th-minute leveller, leaving Arsenal five points ahead of Manchester City – who they face on Wednesday – having…

The Australian government has been praised by FIFPro after evacuating women footballers and other athletes from Afghanistan. 

Many sportswomen in Afghanistan have gone into hiding after the Taliban seized control of the country s capital Kabul. 

Football s governing body FIFA contacted a number of governments last week to request help getting footballers out of the country and it has been reported at least 50 have made it to Australia.

We are grateful to the Australian government for evacuating a large number of women footballers and athletes from Afghanistan, FIFPro, the international organisation for professional players, said in a statement.

These young women, both as athletes and activists, have been in a position of danger and on behalf of th…