Having left Bayern Munich for Barcelona this summer, and not on the friendliest of terms, Robert Lewandowski returns this evening (Tuesday) to the Allianz Arena with his new club as part for the Champions League group stages.
Bayern head coach Julian Nagelsmann is happy with the chance to see his former striker again.
I m glad to see him again, and wish him of course all the best and also a good game tomorrow.
Julian Nagelsmann is looking forward to welcoming back Robert Lewandowski
— Football Daily (@footballdaily)
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Market: Clermont double chance
Odds: 4/6 @
Looking to extend on their stellar Ligue 1 purple patch, Clermont will welcome Reims to the Stade Gabriel Montpied on Sunday afternoon.
Starting with the hosts, while Clermont might have only just clung to their Ligue 1 status last season, Pascal Gastien’s men are enjoying what has been a stellar top-flight run. Last seen putting in another rampant display as they claimed a 2-1 victory away at Nice, the Lancers should find the mood in their camp at a red-hot high. Enjoying what has been a remarkable purple patch since returning from March’s international break, the former Niort boss has seen his side win each of their last four Ligue 1 appearances on the bounce. Marking their return from the fortnight interval with …
West Ham s home troubles and Aston Villa s scoring woes continued in a drab goalless Premier League draw on Saturday.
Sam Allardyce s team have now taken just one point from a possible 12 at Upton Park, while Paul Lambert s men saw their run without finding the target extended to 375 minutes.
Villa striker Christian Benteke came closest to preventing a stalemate when he cannoned an effort off the crossbar after the break, but ultimately neither side could find the breakthrough.
Lambert sent his Villa side out in a changed 3-5-2 formation, while Sam Allardyce persisted with his controversial 4-6-0.
The game started at a swift pace and Andreas Weimann got in behind James Tomkins and raced through on goal after six minutes, but the 38-year-old Jussi Jaaskelainen mad…
Gareth Bale s agent says his client has no problem with team-mate and Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo despite differing personalities and reports last season of a row between the pair.
Ronaldo Ballon d Or winner in each of the last two years saw his world-record transfer fee eclipsed by the Wales international when Bale arrived at the Santiago Bernabeu in 2013.
Bale has since been a target for sections of the Spanish press for seemingly not passing to Ronaldo enough during his two seasons with the 32-time Spanish champions.
But agent Jonathan Barnett maintains the pair get along well.
They don t go out eating every night together, but it s fine. There s no hatred there, he told The Guardian.
Gareth is a quiet guy. They re complete opposi…
UEFA has confirmed the seedings for Thursday s Champions League draw with Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Borussia Dortmund all in pot two.
Champions League holders Liverpool are in the top pot along with fellow Premier League sides Manchester City and Chelsea, as well as league winners Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus and Bayern Munich.
Zenit complete the pot one line-up as the Russian Premier League champions are designated by UEFA to be given a place among the other top seeds.
That means last season s beaten finalists Tottenham go into pot two with the two Madrid clubs, as well as Napoli, Shakhtar Donetsk, Benfica and Ajax – the 2018-19 semi-finalists who beat APOEL in the play-off round to secure qualification.
Club Brugge and Slavia Prague also cam…
Hansi Flick knows Germany must play with more confidence in front of goal after a wasteful performance in what was still a comfortable victory over Liechtenstein.
Germany won 2-0 in Flick s first game as coach on Thursday but would have expected a greater cushion given their dominance.
Flick s team had 30 attempts in total and controlled 85.3 per cent of the possession, though only Timo Werner and Leroy Sane found a way through.
On Sunday, Group J leaders Armenia visit Stuttgart for Flick s first home game since he took over as Germany coach.
We created three or four good chances at the start; however, we were lacking confidence in front of goal. We need to get that back, Flick said in a pre-match news conference on Saturday, reflecting on the trip…
World Cup hosts South Africa and fellow 2010 qualifiers Japan drew 0-0 in Port Elizabeth on Saturday after a friendly of few scoring chances.
New Brazil-born coach Carlos Alberto Parreira expressed satisfaction that a run of eight South African losses in nine games had ended, but admitted there was considerable room for improvement when it comes to penetration.
This was a difficult match because Japan came here having scored a lot of goals recently and I m satisfied with our performance while accepting that we will have to do much better.
Japan marked very well and that is why Benni McCarthy never got a clearcut chance, but for my first match back in charge it was okay, said the coach who quit last year to be with his ill wife in Rio de Janeiro.
It was…
David Sullivan has become West Ham s majority shareholder after purchasing 25 per cent of the club.
Sullivan, along with David Gold, bought an equal share of the club in 2010. However, the 64-year-old has since purchased a further stake in the club s holding company WH Holding Limited.
That gives Sullivan 55.6 per cent of the shares in West Ham and a controlling stake in the club, with former equal partner Gold remaining on 30.6 per cent.
Sullivan purchased the further shares in West Ham from former owners CB Holding. They retain a small portion of shares, but this is now reduced to just 10 per cent.
His move was part of a deal to restructure £25.5million of the club’s bank debts. According to the last published accounts, West Ham have total debts of £30.5m.<…
Lyon attacker Nabil Fekir has suggested he would find it hard to turn down a move to LaLiga if an interesting club from Spain made a move for him.
The France international has previously been linked with a move to Barcelona, but a serious knee injury at the start of the 2015-16 campaign has interrupted his progress.
Fekir has been a key figure for Lyon again this term, though, and has hinted he would be open to a move abroad at the end of the season.
I am not really thinking about my future yet, Fekir told RTL.
The end of the season is still far away, there are three more months to go.
But I cannot deny I like the Spanish league. It is a league where they play some nice football. LaLiga is the league I prefer most.
Behind LaLiga, Engla…
Loris Karius has ended his Liverpool nightmare by joining Besiktas on loan.
The goalkeeper made two dreadful errors in Liverpool s Champions League final loss to Real Madrid in May.
The Reds subsequently splashed out €75million on Brazil international Alisson from Roma a world-record transfer fee for a goalkeeper at the time.
And Karius has now been allowed to leave and rebuild his career in the Turkish Super Lig side after agreeing a two-year loan to Besiktas.
Karius was named on the bench for Liverpool s Premier League opener, a 4-0 defeat of West Ham, but was omitted from the squad for Monday s trip to Crystal Palace and Saturday s win against Brighton and Hove Albion.
The German made 49 appearances for Liverpool after arriving from Mainz…