Bayern ´very optimistic´ over Robben stay

Ilkay Gundogan says he hopes to stay at Barcelona for many more years and wants to win titles with the Catalan giants.

The 33-year-old moved to the club in the summer after seven years at Manchester City – where he signed off by winning the Champions League.

Gundogan has played 19 times in all competitions so far this season for Xavi’s side, scoring once, and says he is starting to find his feet at the club.

“I am getting more and more used to it,” Gundogan told Barca TV.

İlkay Gündoğan: Very happy and looking forward to many more years here.

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona)

“The start of course is always a bit difficult. You come from a different country, a different league, you don’t know many people. So there are things…

Luis Enrique acknowledged Spain have many things to improve on after La Roja were fortunate to draw against the Czech Republic.

Gavi, aged 17 years and 304 days, became the youngest ever player to score for Spain as he curled in to cancel out Jakub Pesek s fourth-minute opener in Prague.

The Barcelona midfielder s strike also meant Spain have scored in 16 straight games in all competitions, only twice achieving such longer streaks in history.

Jan Kutcha then again edged Czech Republic ahead in the Nations League encounter as he chipped over the onrushing Unai Simon in the second half.

But there was to be late drama as Inigo Martinez s 90th-minute header snatched a point for Spain, who sit two points behind Group A2 joint-leaders Czech Republic and Port…

Philippe Coutinho deserved his club-record move to Barcelona, according to former Blaugrana winger Luis Figo.

Coutinho s transfer from Liverpool to Barca was completed on January 6, with LaLiga s leaders reportedly paying an initial £106million that could rise to £142m for the Brazil forward s services.

Figo was at Inter when they agreed to sign Coutinho in 2008, though he was loaned back to Vasco da Gama and never played with the Portugal legend at San Siro.

And Figo, who controversially left Barca for Real Madrid in 2000, is pleased the 25-year-old has sealed his dream move to Camp Nou.

Figo, speaking at the Abu Dhabi Invitational 2018, Yas Links Golf Club, Abu Dhabi, told Omnisport: Football has changed so much, the amounts change so much.

I…

Jose Mourinho claims he was the first choice and only option to take over as Portugal head coach but rejected the job as he is committed to Roma.

Roberto Martinez was this week appointed as successor to Fernando Santos, whose tenure as Portugal boss came to an end after a shock World Cup quarter-final defeat to Morocco last month.

Spaniard Martinez took over not long after leaving his role as head coach of Belgium following their failure to advance from the group stage in Qatar.

Mourinho, who was tipped to return to his homeland and take charge of the national team before Martinez was appointed, revealed Portuguese Football Federation president Fernando Gomes made it clear he was the man he wanted to replace Santos.

DYBALAAAAAAAAAAAA!

— AS Roma…

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag would rather develop the players he has than sign the wrong man if the club fail in their pursuit of Frenkie de Jong.

United have been strongly linked with Barcelona midfielder De Jong for months, with reports of their interest emerging even before Ten Hag was officially appointed in April.

De Jong enjoyed his Ajax breakthrough under Ten Hag, playing a key role in the team that almost reached the 2018-19 Champions League final.

He moved to Barca in 2019 but arguably has not reached the level many expected of him initially upon his transfer to Camp Nou.

Ten Hag apparently saw De Jong s acquisition as vital for the way he wants United to play, and media reports have indicated the club agreed a fee with Barca last mont…

Sergio Aguero is relieved Manchester City were spared the drama of their 2011-12 title triumph in clinching the Premier League crown.

After City moved to the brink of glory with a 3-1 defeat of Tottenham at Wembley on Saturday, a shock 1-0 win for bottom side West Brom at Old Trafford meant rivals Manchester United could no longer catch Pep Guardiola s side.

EFL Cup winners City are crowned Premier League champions for the third time, with five games remaining and various records within their grasp.

But Aguero, scorer of the famous late goal against QPR that secured the trophy six years ago, is glad City have wrapped the league up with plenty of time to spare on this occasion.

This is my third title with City and it s just a relief not to have to wai…

In North London on Sunday, Tottenham Hotspur prevented Manchester City from taking advantage of Arsenal s defeat to Everton the previous day to close the gap at the top of the Premier League table, courtesy of a record-breaking goal from Harry Kane in the 15th minute, while strengthening their own position in the race for top-four placement.

The amazing Kane

It was goal No. 267 for the England captain in a Spurs shirt, making him the club s top scorer ever in all competitions, as well as the player to have reached 200 Premier League goals in fewest matches in the history of the English top flight. Head coach Antonio Conte, who was unable to take charge of the team for this game as he recovers from gallbladder surgery, after the match to congratulate him on this historic momen…

Paris Saint-Germain have been hit with a fine from UEFA that could rise to €65million after failing to comply with break-even rules put in place by European football s governing body.

The Ligue 1 champions were one of eight clubs served with financial fair play penalties, with Roma, Milan, Monaco, Besiktas, Inter, Juventus and Marseille the others affected.

UEFA said its Club Financial Control Body analysed the financial years 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 for clubs that competed in its European competitions last season, with special measures applied for 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic s impact on football.

PSG have invested heavily in star players including the likes of Lionel Messi, Sergio Ramos and Gianluigi Donnarumma, while retaining the likes of Ney…

Cristiano Ronaldo equalled Lionel Messi s five Ballon d Or awards after retaining football s most prestigious individual prize for the second year running.

The 32-year-old was named France Football s player of the year for the fourth time in five years after a brilliant 2016-17 in which he won LaLiga and the Champions League with Real Madrid.

Ronaldo also became the all-time leading scorer in Europe s top five leagues when he reached 366 goals in May to overtake Jimmy Greaves.

His two goals in Madrid s Champions League final victory over Juventus also took the Portugal star past 600 career goals, while Messi only reached the 500 mark for Barcelona six weeks earlier.

Messi finished second to Ronaldo in the vote, with Paris Saint-Germain s Neymar completing…

A stunning strike from Daniel Sturridge snatched a 1-1 draw for Liverpool against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Jurgen Klopp s side looked to be heading for a second defeat to the Blues this week after Eden Hazard struck a brilliant opener, but Sturridge s emphatic effort from distance in the 89th minute rescued a point.

The draw, which comes just three days after Chelsea claimed a 2-1 EFL Cup win at Anfield, means Liverpool s 100 per cent winning record in the Premier League this season ends and they are level on points with leaders Manchester City, behind only on goal difference.

Chelsea sit two points further back after a thrilling encounter, but, like Liverpool, remain unbeaten.

Mohamed Salah wasted two early half-chances before Willian was …