Juanfran expects Diego Simeone to remain at Atletico Madrid beyond this season and has backed the team to record a first win of the LaLiga season away to Celta Vigo on Saturday.
Simeone is under contract until June 2020, but has been linked with several top club and national team jobs after guiding Atletico to LaLiga glory in 2013-14, as well as two Champions League finals, losing to Real Madrid on each occasion.
Atleti are set to leave their historic Vicente Calderon home at the conclusion of the 2016-17 campaign, with Spain international Juanfran convinced Simeone will want to lead the club through a period of off-field transition.
The Argentine, though, may seek to reassess his future after FIFA rejected Atleti s appeal against a transfer ban, meaning the …
Competition: Premier League
Market: Alan Pardew to be LMA Manager of the Year
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Crystal Palace recently won 2-1 at home to Manchester City, which saw the Eagles go three points adrift of a top-half finish. Manager Alan Pardew has been lauded for his work with the club to turn them around. Palace looked down and out of the Premier League earlier in the season, but are now on course to finish above the likes of West Ham, Stoke City and Everton if they can continue their form in the division.
Pardew finds his name being mentioned among the favourites to be named LMA Manager of the Year as result of the Eagles’ fantastic season, with Chelsea’s Jose Mourinho the favourite, as he‘s on course to win a Premier League and Capital One Cup double.
Th…
Prediction: France to win both halves
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The domestic season is coming to an end across Europe, which means that for many of us, it s time to start taking a look ahead to some of the international games that we ll get the chance to sample in the next few months. Some are much, much more important than others, with Copa America, Nations League, Africa Cup of Nations and the Women s World Cup all being on the horizon. The game we re going to take a look at today will likely serve as a showcase and nothing more, as the world champions France take to the stage.
France
When you re the world champions, there is always going to be a target on your back. So far, nearly a year on since winning the World Cup in Russia, it seems like Les Bl…
Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic paid a glowing tribute to Gianluigi Buffon ahead of Wednesday s Champions League match against Juventus, stating the veteran goalkeeper s heart-wrenching farewell from international football was tough to witness.
Buffon returns to Europe s top competition after Italy s ignominious exit from the World Cup, with Sweden s play-off triumph over the Azzurri denying the 39-year-old a fitting career farewell at Russia 2018.
Asked whether he had any consoling word for Buffon at a pre-match news conference, Rakitic suggested it would be ridiculous to assume there is any wisdom left for all-time great top receive on the beautiful game.
If I have to explain something about football to Buffon that would be a difficult challenge. I don t thi…
On a night that was billed as a crucial showdown in Group H, Chelsea managed to book their spot in the knockout stage of this year s Champions League with a thumping 4-0 win against Juventus.
Laying down what was a real marker at Stamford Bridge, the defending European champions breezed their way past Tuesday s guests as Thomas Tuchel s men enjoyed a night to remember in west London.
With their homegrown academy stars really stealing all of the headlines, we have taken a look at the main talking points as Chelsea hit the Old Lady for four and brought an end their Champions League romp.
A domestic European double for Chelsea?
While Chelsea might have entered the international break with a 1-1 draw at home against Burnley, the Blues have only marked their return …
Michael Carrick reiterated his focus is purely on Manchester United s clash with Premier League leaders Chelsea amid speculation Ralf Rangnick is set to take over as manager on a short-term contract.
Rangnick is widely anticipated to be appointed on a six-month deal following the end of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer s reign last week, with a potential longer stay at Old Trafford in role a behind the scenes.
The German, who is head of sports and development at Lokomotiv Moscow, will not be in charge in time for Sunday s visit to Stamford Bridge.
United head into that fixture 12 points behind the leaders and six points adrift of the top four, and temporary boss Carrick is solely concentrated on narrowing those gaps rather than talk of what change may come to the club afte…
Per Mertesacker and Alexis Sanchez were on target as holders Arsenal claimed a 2-0 FA Cup third-round win over Hull City.
Steve Bruce s team had surged into a 2-0 lead when the teams met at Wembley in last season s final before the north London club secured a 3-2 extra-time triumph to lift the famous trophy.
But Hull were unable to worry Arsenal in the same manner during the opening stages this time, and the hosts were good value for Mertesacker’s headed opener.
Alexis, Nacho Monreal and the returning Theo Walcott all went close to doubling the lead before the early inventiveness faded from Arsenal’s play.
Arsene Wenger s men still largely retained control of the contest and Alexis sealed a deserved return to winning ways eight minutes from time, f…
Spain goalkeeper Pepe Reina is tipping Fernando Torres to light up Euro 2012, revealing that the forward is looking sharp in training.
Torres took a long time to settle at Chelsea following his 50-million-pound switch from Liverpool in January of last year but the much-maligned forward showed signs of a return to form towards the tail end of the season.
Reina now believes that his former Reds team-mate, who scored the only goal in the Euro 2008 final win over Germany, could now prove the ace in Spain s pack in Poland and Ukraine.
It might be his tournament, the 31-year-old shot-stopper told AS. He is playing at a very high level and in training he is very switched on.
Spain begin the defence of their European title against Italy, a side whose preparati…
Neville Southall believes Kepa Arrizabalaga and David de Gea could learn valuable lessons from world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.
Chelsea made Kepa the world s most expensive goalkeeper in 2018 but he made the latest in a number of errors as the Blues went down 2-0 to Premier League champions Liverpool on Sunday.
He is now set to be replaced as Chelsea s number one, with Rennes keeper Edouard Mendy reportedly close to a £22million (€24m) move to Stamford Bridge.
Manchester United goalkeeper De Gea, meanwhile, has endured several difficult campaigns and is under additional pressure to retain his place between the posts following Dean Henderson s return from a fine loan spell with Sheffield United.
Southall, who helped Everton to two league title…
Premier League strugglers Stoke City are enduring a difficult time in English top flight of late which resulted in manager Mark Hughes getting a sack just last week.
Sitting in 18th place in the standings, Stoke City are given
The Potters have yet to announce the new boss but the club are nevertheless actively working on reinforcing the squad during the January transfer window.
According to reports coming from the Spanish media outlet Marca, Stoke City are looking to bring a familiar face back to the bet365 Stadium – Bojan Krkic.
The Spanish striker has failed to establish himself as a first-team regular at Alaves this term and has only started three La Liga matches thus far. Stoke City’s second-top scorer in the 2015/16 season will have the final s…