There may be a new look to Lyon when the French first division campaign kicks off on Saturday, but it will be business as usual as the champions chase down an unprecedented eighth consecutive league title.
Manager Alain Perrin, who led Lyon to the league and cup double, long-time keeper Gregory Coupet and international starlet Hatem Ben Arfa all moved on in a spring clean that raised a few eyebrows, not to mention hackles.
In their place came former Lille coach Claude Puel, French reserve keeper Hugo Lloris and striker Frederic Piquionne as Lyon looked to mount a serious challenge, not only at home but abroad.
On signing, Puel spoke of the club s lofty ambition to compete well in Europe s richest tournament, the Champions League, a tournament in which they ha…
Luciano Spalletti confirmed Victor Osimhen will start Tuesday s Champions League clash with Milan after the fit-again Napoli star was denied by the woodwork on his return against Hellas Verona.
Osimhen was sidelined for around three weeks after sustaining a groin injury while on international duty with Nigeria last month, returning to Napoli s bench for Saturday s frustrating goalless draw.
Striker Osimhen was introduced for the final 20 minutes and went closest to breaking the deadlock, crashing a fierce volley against the crossbar as the Serie A leaders were held.
Despite failing to add to his league-high tally of 21 goals this season, no Napoli player bettered his five touches in the Verona area throughout the course of the game.
Spalletti hopes Osimh…
Fabio Capello believes Wayne Rooney is ready to take the World Cup by storm.
The Italian, who revealed on Thursday that he has already selected his starting XI for England s World Cup opener with the United States in Rustenburg on Saturday evening, said the Manchester United striker had been banging in the goals and looking extremely sharp in training.
He is in a good moment, he trains very well and he scores goals during training, which is important for him, Capello said. I think he will play a fantastic World Cup.
Capello denied that the pressure of managing England and the huge expectations surrounding the squad were beginning to get to him, 24 hours after an angry outburst at photographers at England s training camp.
I m relaxed, he insisted. I ca…
Paris Saint-Germain veteran Gianluigi Buffon has been shortlisted for the FIFPro World XI while France s World Cup winning captain Hugo Lloris missed out.
Keylor Navas, Thibaut Courtois, David de Gea and Marc-Andre ter Stegen were the other goalkeepers to make the cut for the world team, as voted for by 25,000 footballers in 65 countries around the world.
The inclusion of Buffon, 40, comes after he retired from international football and left Juventus to join the French champions, but he is currently behind Alphonse Areola in the pecking order at Parc des Princes.
In contrast, Lloris lifted the World Cup with France and helped Tottenham to third place in the Premier League last season, while there is also no place for Jordan Pickford, one of England s outstan…
Lukasz Piszczek scored once and had a hand in two more to help Borussia Dortmund to a 3-0 Bundesliga victory over Wolfsburg at Signal Iduna Park as they returned to winning ways after a disappointing week.
Jeffrey Bruma inexplicably headed the ball into his own net in the 20th minute, with Polish wing-back Piszczek adding his name to the scoresheet early in the second half, before Ousmane Dembele put the match to bed on the hour mark.
Dortmund have endured a difficult few days ahead of Saturday s encounter as they followed up a shock domestic loss to bottom club Darmstadt last week with a Champions League defeat to Benfica.
To make matters even worse, Dortmund were handed a partial stadium closure following the incidents during the match against RB Leipzi…
Bayern Munich chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge expects winger Arjen Robben to re-sign with the Bundesliga champions.
Robben, 32, is yet to extend his deal with the club despite his contract expiring at the end of the season.
But Rummenigge said: I think everything will be clear in January.
We are very optimistic. Both sides want it. These are good pre-conditions.
The Netherlands international has scored five goals in 10 league games this season and started Wednesday s 3-0 win over RB Leipzig.
Robben has been at Bayern since 2009 after joining from Real Madrid.
…
Wales will play South Korea at home in a September friendly.
It will be the first time the two nations have met at senior men’s level and will take place at Cardiff City Stadium on September 7, four days before Wales’ Euro 2024 qualifier in Latvia.
South Korea, who are captained by Tottenham forward Son Heung-min, reached the last 16 of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Former Germany and United States boss Jurgen Klinsmann was appointed South Korea head coach in February.
“Many teams are tied up in Europe with qualifiers and it’s not always easy to get strong opposition during the few occasions we get the chance to play friendlies,” said Noel Mooney, chief executive of the Football Association of Wales.
“So to have the likes of Son Heung-m…
Troy Lesesne is confident that D.C. United have the right players to get a result against a difficult Charlotte FC on Saturday.
D.C. have failed to win any of their last five matches, though did come from 2-0 down against Toronto FC to draw before the mid-season break.
They sit 10th in the Eastern Conference with 19 points, and despite missing a lot of players, Lesesne believes he has a squad capable of snapping their winless streak.
We re not going to put energy into what we don t have, he said. We re going to put all our focus onto a difficult opponent in Charlotte. It s a great atmosphere there, but it s a team we feel we can match up against and hopefully get some points.
We have a task at hand and a capable group to get the job done this weekend. W…
With the Boston Celtics holding a 3-0 lead over the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals, it won’t be long before all eyes zone in on the draft, which is set for June 26–27.For the first time ever, the draft will span two days. While no player in this year’s pool is as captivating as 2023 No. 1 overall selection Victor Wembanyama, there’s plenty of talent to go around, especially from Wembanyama’s native country of France.Here is our latest lottery mock draft, with just over two weeks left until 58 players hear their names called in New York:1. Atlanta Hawks: Alexandre Sarr, F/C, FranceSarr has started to slip to No. 2 in a handful of mock drafts in favor of fellow Frenchman Zaccharie Risacher, but his defense could do wonders for an Atlanta team that has yet to find its identity …