Skip to main content

Busy Inter Milan have another chance to overtake Juventus Milan (AFP) – It is early days in Inter Milan’s pursuit of perennial Serie A pacesetters Juventus, but already the chasers are worrying about flagging. Inter host Bologna on Saturday in the 11th round and can briefly overhaul Juventus ahead of the Turin derby later in the day.  Third-place Atalanta face in-form Cagliari on Sunday. Roma, in fourth, open the weekend against Napoli. The top two flip-flopped in midweek. Inter won 2-1 at Brescia on Tuesday. Juventus, playing with 10 men, regained a one-point lead when Cristiano Ronaldo converted a 90th-minute penalty at home to Genoa on Wednesday. After the victory at Brescia, Inter manager Antonio Conte, always a glass-half-empty type, complained that his squad is being asked to do too much. “It becomes difficult to talk about the game because we’ve now played our fourth match in nine days with the same players,” he said.  “We now have to recover because we’re only halfway there, I haven’t seen any other side having to play seven matches in 20 days. Next up it’s Bologna on Saturday and then we’ve got a Tuesday fixture away to Dortmund.” Conte reportedly had meetings with Inter management this week to discuss adding one or two midfielders in the winter transfer period. “We are pushing the engine to the max,” he said. Most of his players had got the message.  “We’re playing every three days and it isn’t easy. There is slight fatigue,” said Argentine striker Lautaro Martinez, who scored Inter’s opening goal in Tuesday, his fifth of the season.   There was one dissenting voice.  “It’s nice to play every few days,” said Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt.  “We footballers live to play games. It’s tiring but we’re happy.” Bologna are anchored in mid-table after losing 3-2 away to Cagliari on Wednesday but defender Stefano Denswil promised Inter a tough match. “We want to play a great game against Inter in front of our fans,” the Dutchman said.  One to watch Meanwhile Juventus’s weekend opponents are in some disarray. Walter Mazzarri, the Torino manager, received the dreaded vote of confidence ahead of the Turin derby. Torino lost 4-0 at Lazio on Wednesday, although all the goals came after  defender Nicolas Nkoulou received a second yellow card after 21 minutes.   Torino president Urbano Cairo was not happy. “We have a derby ahead of us but above all a long championship ahead of us: I think it’s right today to examine everyone’s conscience.”


Milan (AFP) – It is early days in Inter Milan’s pursuit of perennial Serie A pacesetters Juventus, but already the chasers are worrying about flagging.

Inter host Bologna on Saturday in the 11th round and can briefly overhaul Juventus ahead of the Turin derby later in the day. 

Third-place Atalanta face in-form Cagliari on Sunday. Roma, in fourth, open the weekend against Napoli.

The top two flip-flopped in midweek. Inter won 2-1 at Brescia on Tuesday. Juventus, playing with 10 men, regained a one-point lead when Cristiano Ronaldo converted a 90th-minute penalty at home to Genoa on Wednesday.

After the victory at Brescia, Inter manager Antonio Conte, always a glass-half-empty type, complained that his squad is being asked to do too much.

“It becomes difficult to talk about the game because we’ve now played our fourth match in nine days with the same players,” he said. 

“We now have to recover because we’re only halfway there, I haven’t seen any other side having to play seven matches in 20 days. Next up it’s Bologna on Saturday and then we’ve got a Tuesday fixture away to Dortmund.”

Conte reportedly had meetings with Inter management this week to discuss adding one or two midfielders in the winter transfer period.

“We are pushing the engine to the max,” he said.

Most of his players had got the message. 

“We’re playing every three days and it isn’t easy. There is slight fatigue,” said Argentine striker Lautaro Martinez, who scored Inter’s opening goal in Tuesday, his fifth of the season.  

There was one dissenting voice. 

“It’s nice to play every few days,” said Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt.  “We footballers live to play games. It’s tiring but we’re happy.”

Bologna are anchored in mid-table after losing 3-2 away to Cagliari on Wednesday but defender Stefano Denswil promised Inter a tough match.

“We want to play a great game against Inter in front of our fans,” the Dutchman said. 

One to watch

Meanwhile Juventus’s weekend opponents are in some disarray. Walter Mazzarri, the Torino manager, received the dreaded vote of confidence ahead of the Turin derby.

Torino lost 4-0 at Lazio on Wednesday, although all the goals came after  defender Nicolas Nkoulou received a second yellow card after 21 minutes.  

Torino president Urbano Cairo was not happy.

“We have a derby ahead of us but above all a long championship ahead of us: I think it’s right today to examine everyone’s conscience.”



from World Soccer Talk https://ift.tt/2ozGVuR
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Xavi under no illusions ahead of fairytale on Barcelona return Barcelona (AFP) – Xavi Hernandez said he is prepared for the “biggest challenge of his career” before leaving Qatar for Spain on Saturday, as Barcelona’s legendary former midfielder returns home to take over as coach. Xavi’s appointment was confirmed by Barca in the early hours of Saturday morning and the 41-year-old will be presented to fans at Camp Nou on Monday. “I’m very happy as you can imagine, it’s the biggest challenge of my career,” Xavi told Spanish journalists at Doha airport. “I’m going home and I am very happy.” Xavi faces a huge challenge, with Barcelona adrift of La Liga’s top four, struggling to make the knock-out stages of the Champions League and grappling with debts of more than a billion euros. “I have also experienced bad situations,” Xavi said. “It’s not the best moment in the history of the club but I want to explain what my idea is and to work hard, to make a team. Obviously the first thing is to talk to the players to see how they are.” Xavi left Camp Nou to play for Qatari club Al Sadd in 2015, after making 767 appearances for Barcelona, with eight La Liga titles and four Champions Leagues among his 25 trophies. “It’s time to come home. Welcome, Xavi,” Barca tweeted in the early hours of Saturday morning, as Spain slept.  “It wasn’t goodbye, it was see you later,” it wrote, along with a video montage of the player’s departure in 2015. Barcelona said in a statement they had reached an agreement with Xavi to become first-team coach for the rest of the season and two more seasons, replacing the sacked Ronald Koeman. “It is expected that Xavi Hernandez will arrive in Barcelona this weekend and that on Monday 8, November his presentation as new FC Barcelona first team coach will take place in an event open to the public at Camp Nou,” it said. Nicknamed the “Maquina” (the Machine), Xavi is widely considered one of the club’s greatest players and there is huge excitement about his potential as a coach after his influence on the iconic Barca team managed by Pep Guardiola. His passing style was seen as the embodiment of Guardiola’s “tiki-taka” team that won the treble in 2009. “One of the greatest midfield maestros of all time, he helped redefine the art with his creative mind, pinpoint passing and sublime ability to read the game,” Barca said in their statement, heralding the return of “an absolute legend”. Al Sadd, which Xavi had coached since 2019, hours earlier said they had reached an agreement with Barca and posted photos on social media of the Spaniard saying goodbye to the players and staff. – ‘The dream’ – Barcelona’s attempt to appoint Xavi as Koeman’s successor had been held up on Friday over his Al Sadd release clause, with Xavi and Barca considering splitting the payment to complete the deal. Al Sadd said Barca had agreed to pay the clause in Xavi’s contract, which is reportedly set at around five million euros ($5.8 million), but Barcelona did not give any details of the deal in their statement. Spanish sports daily Marca headlined the club hero’s return and estimated the cost to Barca of sacking recent managers Ernesto Valverde, Quique Setien and Koeman at 32 million euros. Xavi had made no secret of his desire to return to Barcelona, which he joined through the club’s La Masia academy at the age of 11. “My main objective, when I can do it, is Barca,” Xavi told Marca last year. “It’s my home, that’s the dream.” Barcelona sat ninth in La Liga on Saturday morning, with concerns growing they might not qualify for next season’s Champions League. The club are also in dire financial straits, having posted debts of 1.35 billion euros. They could not afford to renew Lionel Messi’s contract in the summer, and the Argentine left for Paris Saint-Germain. Xavi will also be charged with improving the team’s style of play, which was a key criticism during the tenure of Koeman, another former Barca player. Xavi’s flight is due to touch down as Barca take on Celta Vigo in La Liga in Juan Barjuan’s last game as caretaker coach before he hands over to the man the fans are pinning their hopes on to turn the club around.

Barcelona (AFP) – Xavi Hernandez said he is prepared for the “biggest challenge of his career” before leaving Qatar for Spain on Saturday, as Barcelona’s legendary former midfielder returns home to take over as coach. Xavi’s appointment was confirmed by Barca in the early hours of Saturday morning and the 41-year-old will be presented to fans at Camp Nou on Monday. “I’m very happy as you can imagine, it’s the biggest challenge of my career,” Xavi told Spanish journalists at Doha airport. “I’m going home and I am very happy.” Xavi faces a huge challenge, with Barcelona adrift of La Liga’s top four, struggling to make the knock-out stages of the Champions League and grappling with debts of more than a billion euros. “I have also experienced bad situations,” Xavi said. “It’s not the best moment in the history of the club but I want to explain what my idea is and to work hard, to make a team. Obviously the first thing is to talk to the players to see how they are.” Xavi left...
Post a Comment
Read more

Bayern down Mainz to go six points clear in the Bundesliga Berlin (AFP) – Defending champions Bayern Munich extended their lead at the top of the Bundesliga to six points on Saturday after coming from behind to seal a 2-1 home win against Mainz. Second-half goals by Kingsley Coman and 18-year-old Jamal Musiala sealed the victory behind closed doors at Munich’s Allianz Arena after Mainz had taken a shock lead. Bayern remain firmly on course to win the German league for the tenth straight season after stretching their lead at the top of the table as second-placed Dortmund were held 1-1 at Bochum. 

Berlin (AFP) – Defending champions Bayern Munich extended their lead at the top of the Bundesliga to six points on Saturday after coming from behind to seal a 2-1 home win against Mainz. Second-half goals by Kingsley Coman and 18-year-old Jamal Musiala sealed the victory behind closed doors at Munich’s Allianz Arena after Mainz had taken a shock lead. Bayern remain firmly on course to win the German league for the tenth straight season after stretching their lead at the top of the table as second-placed Dortmund were held 1-1 at Bochum.  from World Soccer Talk https://ift.tt/3lVLPNa
Post a Comment
Read more

Rangers brush aside title rivals Hearts Glasgow (AFP) – Alfredo Morelos and Joe Aribo fired Rangers to a 2-0 win at Hearts on Sunday as the Scottish Premiership leaders extended their strong start under new boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst. Van Bronckhorst has won four successive league games since replacing Steven Gerrard after his predecessor’s move to Aston Villa. Morelos and Aribo scored in the early stages at Tynecastle, giving Rangers six consecutive league victories encompassing the end of Gerrard’s reign. Hearts had Josh Ginnelly sent off late on as they squandered a chance to close the gap on the champions. Rangers are 12 points clear of third placed Hearts and seven ahead of second placed Celtic, who host Motherwell later on Sunday. Van Bronckhorst made six changes to the Rangers side that began Thursday’s 1-1 draw at Lyon in the Europa League. Liam Boyce had a great chance to open the scoring for Hearts in the third minute when he ran on to John Souttar’s clipped ball over the top, but the Northern Ireland striker saw his lob tipped over by Allan McGregor. It was Rangers who scored with their first chance of the match after nine minutes when Ryan Kent’s cross reached Fashion Sakala and the Zambian cut the ball back to Morelos, who fired home from six yards out. Sakala shot just wide from close range moments later before Morelos headed wide from James Tavernier’s corner. Rangers’ second goal came in the 13th minute when Aribo ran on to a brilliant long diagonal from Connor Goldson and fired an angled low shot beyond the exposed Craig Gordon. Gary Mackay-Steven saw his angled shot pushed behind by McGregor early in the second half. Rangers had a let-off in the 53rd minute when Calvin Bassey knocked a Ginnelly cross off the underside of his own crossbar. Rangers remained a threat, however, and Scott Arfield and Sakala were both denied by saves from Gordon. Boyce fired over from close range after being set up by Mackay-Steven before Stephen Kingsley cracked a free kick off the bar from 30 yards out. In the 80th minute, Ginnelly was sent off after being shown a second yellow card for squaring up to Borna Barisic.

Glasgow (AFP) – Alfredo Morelos and Joe Aribo fired Rangers to a 2-0 win at Hearts on Sunday as the Scottish Premiership leaders extended their strong start under new boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst. Van Bronckhorst has won four successive league games since replacing Steven Gerrard after his predecessor’s move to Aston Villa. Morelos and Aribo scored in the early stages at Tynecastle, giving Rangers six consecutive league victories encompassing the end of Gerrard’s reign. Hearts had Josh Ginnelly sent off late on as they squandered a chance to close the gap on the champions. Rangers are 12 points clear of third placed Hearts and seven ahead of second placed Celtic, who host Motherwell later on Sunday. Van Bronckhorst made six changes to the Rangers side that began Thursday’s 1-1 draw at Lyon in the Europa League. Liam Boyce had a great chance to open the scoring for Hearts in the third minute when he ran on to John Souttar’s clipped ball over the top, but the Northern Ireland stri...
Post a Comment
Read more