Juventus will be expecting to pile on the misery for bottom club Catania when the sides meet in Serie A on Sunday.
The Turin outfit are chasing down the division s record points total of 97 set by Inter in 2007 and should have three more to show for their efforts come the end of this weekend.
Indeed, if Juventus win their remaining 10 matches, they will surpass that marker by eight points and, with Roma well adrift in second, Antonio Conte s men may feel they have the freedom to push for the milestone.
Catania s run of one win from their last 10 league fixtures stands in stark contrast to the form of the defending champions, who are unbeaten in 20, having won 18 of those.
It has been a campaign of dramatic decline for the hosts, who finished eighth last season bu…
Mario Gotze has cautioned against any radical changes in the Germany national team set-up despite their dismal World Cup performance.
The 2014 winners crashed out of the group stage in Russia this year, losing two of their three matches to Mexico and South Korea.
Head coach Joachim Low remains in charge and kept faith with a number of his senior players for the Nations League clash with France this month, which finished 0-0, and the 2-1 friendly win over Peru.
And Gotze, who scored the winning goal in the 2014 final but did not make the squad for Russia, sees no reason for Germany to rip up their methods simply because of a single poor tournament.
Because I saw everything this time from another point of view, it was very disappointing, the Borussia Dor…
Borussia Dortmund have broken the record for goals scored in the group stage of a single campaign in the Champions League.
Thomas Tuchel s side made it 21 across their six matches during their 2-2 draw with Real Madrid on Wednesday, beating the previous best set by Real Madrid in 2013-14, Barcelona in 2011-12 and 2016/17 and Manchester United in 1998-99.
Marco Reus scored the crucial goal with only two minutes of normal time to play, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang having earlier got on the scoresheet as Dortmund came from two goals down to force a draw.
The result means that the Bundesliga side finish top of Group F on 14 points, two ahead of holders Madrid.
Most goals in a group stage campaign
21 (16/17)
20 Real Madrid (13/14), Ba…
West Ham have completed the signing of Southampton defender Jose Fonte for a fee of £8million.
Fonte had signalled his desire to leave St Mary s Stadium by handing in a transfer request earlier this month and West Ham quickly emerged as favourites for his signature.
The Hammers have now confirmed that Fonte, who won Euro 2016 with Portugal last year, has signed a two-and-a-half year deal at London Stadium, with the option of a further 12 months.
I signed for West Ham because they are a great club and a very big club. They have a lot of fans and I have known for a number of years how passionate they are, Fonte told West Ham s official website.
The manager was also a very big influence. I thought that he really wanted me and that he sold me the project a…
Kylian Mbappe should join Real Madrid at some point in his career, says Sergio Ramos, but Paris Saint-Germain s new signing wants the France star to stay put for now.
Ramos joined PSG earlier this month, signing a two-year contract with the Ligue 1 giants after leaving Madrid.
The defender, who missed out on Spain s Euro 2020 squad, failed to agree a new deal with Madrid and called time on a 16-year stint in the Spanish capital.
He joins a PSG team who will bid to reclaim the Ligue 1 title in 2021-22, after Lille s triumph last term, while the Champions League will be another one of head coach Mauricio Pochettino s goals.
However, perhaps the first priority for PSG is securing the future of Mbappe.
Neymar is already tied down to a long-term deal,…
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Desperate to make a return to winning ways in midweek, Manchester United will welcome Southampton at an empty Old Trafford on Tuesday night.
Manchester United
Starting with the hosts, while an extended purple patch heading into the New Year might have had some tipping Manchester United as a real title challenger this season, the former champions have once again shown their inconsistencies over the past week. Failing to bounce back from that stunning 2-1 defeat at home against a rock-bottom Sheffield United on January 27th, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer s men had to settle for a 0-0 stalemate against Arsenal over the weekend. While the Red Devils did manage to extend on their FA Cup adventure against bitter rivals Liverpool last month, United s …
Diego Simeone says taking risks is part of Rodrigo s game after the Atletico Madrid midfielder contributed to Girona s opening goal in Sunday s LaLiga draw.
Rodrigo s lose pass in midfield resulted in Cristhian Stuani being played through on Jan Oblak s goal by Patrick Roberts, the goalkeeper tripping the Girona striker just inside the box.
Stuani beat Oblak from 12 yards out to move clear at the top of LaLiga s scoring charts but Atleti scrambled a late equaliser thanks to a spectacular own goal by Jones Ramalho.
A victory would have moved Atletico Madrid top of the table at least temporarily with Sevilla and Barcelona also in action on Sunday but Simeone refused to blame Rodrigo.
In the normal line that we are used to, he takes risks because of his per…
Erling Haaland s departure will not mean Borussia Dortmund stop playing football , head coach Marco Rose declared while wishing the soon-to-be Manchester City forward well for the future.
City have agreed a deal to sign Haaland, who had been one of the most sought-after players in the world.
The 21-year-old will now follow in the footsteps of his father Alf-Inge Haaland, who played for City between 2000 and 2003.
Haaland has netted 85 goals since making his Dortmund debut in January 2020, with 28 of those coming from 29 games in all competitions this season.
Across the top five European leagues, only Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski has a better ratio (1.13) of goals per 90 minutes in all competitions than Haaland s 1.1.
The move to City …
Harry Kane acknowledged Tottenham s Europa League defeat to Dinamo Zagreb was embarrassing but the striker was delighted with their response at Aston Villa.
After losing a north London derby to Arsenal last weekend, Spurs crashed out of Europe in midweek, going down 3-0 in Croatia after winning the first leg 2-0.
They became the first English team since Manchester City in 2016-17, against Monaco, to be eliminated after claiming a two-goal lead from the first leg.
Jose Mourinho and his Tottenham players were critical of their own performance in the aftermath but victory at Villa got them back on track.
Kane played a part in the opener for strike partner Carlos Vinicius, netting his first Premier League goal, before a penalty – won and converted by the En…
Talksport understand that Watford have made an approach for Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse.
The Hornets are keen to further add to their squad ahead of Thursday evening’s transfer deadline and have identified the former England U21 captain as their top target.
He is currently battling for a starting berth with Oriol Romeu and Mario Lemina though it remains to be seen whether Saints boss Mark Hughes would be willing to sell.
Ward-Prowse has spent his entire career so far at St Mary’s, racking up over two hundred appearances in all competitions, scoring twelve goals.
His league debut came in the 2012/13 campaign the south coast club’s first back in the Premier League while he made his one and only senior international appearance in a 1…