Sane to Bayern ´would increase Bundesliga´s appeal´

Zinedine Zidane s imposing Champions League record will be on the line when Real Madrid host Bayern Munich in the second leg of the semi-finals on Tuesday.

The Frenchman won the competition in each of his first two seasons in charge and will be protecting a valuable 2-1 advantage following a clinical display in Munich a week ago.

His opposite number Jupp Heynckes, however, has seen vulnerabilities in the club he led to European glory in 1998, taking belief from the almighty fright caused by Juventus in the quarter-finals.

The Bundesliga champions are in top form domestically and have the desire to send their retiring coach out a winner, but they will need to overcome the weight of history if a final berth is to be theirs.

Here, we examine the best of the …

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is already thinking about life after football and has made it clear he aims to retire before the age of 60.

The 49-year-old started his coaching career at Mainz in 2001 and also enjoyed a successful spell with Borussia Dortmund before taking charge of Liverpool in 2015.

Klopp is loving life at Anfield, but cannot see himself staying in the game for much more than another decade.

There will come a day where I decide it has been enough. I would say it is very, very unlikely that I will still be coaching at the age of 60, Klopp told RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland.

I will definitely return to Germany to live there, but I do not know whether I will return to Germany as a coach. I have no plans to annoy someone who does not want…

Burnley have joined the race to sign Manchester United defender Paddy McNair, .

The twenty-one year old has been told he can leave Old Trafford on loan for next summer and the Clarets have thrown their hat into the ring along with Scottish champions Celtic and North East duo Sunderland and Newcastle United.

McNair broke into the Red Devils’ first team in the 2014/15 season and has so far racked up twenty-seven appearances for the club in all competitons.

However, he played just nine times last season and looks set to fall further down the pecking order under new manager Jose Mourinho who has already signed fellow defender Eric Bailly as well as being linked with a move for Southampton captain Jose Fonte.

Internationally, McNair has been capped ele…

Southampton have been linked with a surprise move for former Liverpool forward Dirk Kuyt, .

The Netherlands international, who left Merseyside for Fenerbache in the summer of 2012, was a target for Ronald Koeman when he was in charge of Feyenord and the Saints boss is ready to rekindle his interest.

During his time in the Premier League, Kuyt racked up two hundred and eighty-six appearances in all competitions, scoring seventy-one goals, and was part of the squads that reached the Champions League final in 2007, and that won the League Cup in 2012.

Southampton, who put eight past a sorry Sunderland side at St Mary’s last time out, are the second top scorers in the English top flight with nineteen in eight games thus far, though they are keen to bring in ext…

Haiti joined Trinidad and Tobago and United States in the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarter-finals after the latter drew 1-1 with Panama in Kansas City.

Michael Bradley saved USA from an embarrassing loss with his goal nine minutes after the break, although the tournament co-hosts hardly covered themselves in glory on Monday.

After copping quite a bit of criticism following their lacklustre win over Haiti on Friday, many expected USA to come out firing at Sporting Park, but it was Panama who started stronger.

Panama needing a win to be assured of a quarter-finals berth dominated the first half and deservedly took the lead through Blas Perez after the half-hour mark.

Perez combined with Luis Tejada on the edge of the box and then got clear of his marker to tap in …

Barcelona won their first trophy of the season / Image via fcbarcelona.com

They may still be missing one piece of the puzzle ahead of the new season, but Spanish champions Barcelona have rewarded their manager Luis Enrique with an important win and even more important trophy.

First Trophy of the Season

For those of you who resisted falling into your warm beds after a hard day’s work, the Spanish Super Cup second leg between Barcelona and Sevilla at Camp Nou surely was a joy to watch.

More than 70,000 people gathered around 11.00pm local time to see their beloved team collect their first trophy of the season and record twelfth Super Cup in total.

Turkish maestro Arda Turan hit the limelight with a sublime performance that was capped with a brace in a 3…

Rafael Leao was Milan s hero in the derby against Inter and head coach Stefano Pioli says the Rossoneri are determined to tie the in-demand forward to a new deal.

Leao scored twice and provided an assist for Olivier Giroud as the Serie A champions defeated their city rivals 3-2 in an entertaining clash at San Siro on Saturday.

It was a welcome performance for Milan supporters, who had seen their star linked with a move to Premier League big-spenders Chelsea on transfer deadline day.

However, the Blues were rebuffed in their attempts to strike a deal for a player who reportedly has a €150million release clause in his contract, which runs until June 2024.

Pioli said he was never fearful Leao would depart and has now confirmed the plan is to tie the 23-y…

Best Odds: 4/11

Bookmaker:

In a heavyweight showdown on Tuesday night, PSG and Juventus will open their Champions League adventure when they meet on Tuesday night.

Starting with the hosts, after parting ways with Mauricio Pochettino over the summer, PSG have got a new era underway this season. While many might have been shocked to see Christophe Galtier arrive in the French capital back in July, the ex-Nice boss has seen his star-studded squad gain plenty of plaudits. Looking to lay down an early marker on Tuesday night when they open their Champions League adventure, Les Parisiens were last seen over the weekend picking up some perfect momentum. Last seen a few days ago storming their way to a thumping 3-0 victory away at Nantes, PSG have really come flying out…

FC Groningen and NAC Breda shared the spoils after playing out a 1-1 draw in their mid-table Eredivisie clash on Friday.

Groningen had not beaten NAC on home soil since March 2010 but they moved towards ending that run when Maikel Kieftenbeld broke the deadlock three minutes into the second half.

The defensive midfielder pounced on a poorly cleared corner to fire home the opening goal from 25 yards.

Groningen s lead was short-lived as NAC levelled the game just two minutes later through a Jordy Buijs penalty, the defender s fourth goal of the season.

The result leaves Groningen in ninth position and NAC in 12th with eight games remaining in the Eredivisie.

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Arsenal v Fulham

This is fifth against eighth but there are twelve points between them. Arsenal are fresh from the 1-0 Champions League win over Roma, which whilst they should have scored more (you know who you are Bendtner and Eboue!) was a pretty good result. Fulham are also fresh from a 2-1 win over Swansea in the FA Cup which was a good performance as well.

The big problem for Fulham here is that their away form is nothing like as good as their home form. They are yet to win a game away from Craven Cottage. Arsenal, meanwhile, are unbeaten in twelve in the league.

Fulham defend well, but they won’t defend well enough in this one.

SoccerNews prediction: 2-0

Chelsea v Wigan

Chelsea have done OK so far under Guus Hiddink. A decent win …