Juventus head coach Massimiliano Allegri believes his team will need a 96-point haul to retain their Serie A title this season.
Juve are chasing a seventh consecutive Scudetto but find themselves second in the standings, a point behind Napoli at the halfway stage this time around.
The excellent form displayed by Maurizio Sarri s side has convinced Allegri that Juve will need their best points total since a Serie A record of 102 in 2013-14 to prevail come May.
What is certain is that to go through, we cannot repeat the performance we put in at Verona, said Allegri at a news conference ahead of Wednesday s Coppa Italia derby against Torino.
We have to get through the quarter-final and then win at Cagliari [on Saturday]. Coming up are two games that we can…
Having trained for a while with West Ham, Jesse Lingard has now joined Al-Ettifaq in training for a month, according to multiple sources. The former Manchester United forward appears to be on some sort of a trial with the Saudi club, and at the end of the period set for him to show what he can do, his fate will be decided. It will be a decision brought together between himself, Al-Ettifaq and of course, manager Steven Gerrard.
Only a couple of days ago, the 30-year-old appeared likely to sign for West Ham as a free agent. The Hammers have even left one squad spot open for their Premier League campaign, apparently for him if everything goes right. However, it seems there has been a change of plan, despite West Ham boss David Moyes praising Lingard s efforts in training.
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Xavi insisted he cannot give details on a potential transfer for Erling Haaland, but assured Barcelona are working for the present and the future in their dealings.
Haaland has thrived in the Bundesliga since he arrived at Borussia Dortmund from Salzburg in January 2020, scoring 80 goals in 79 appearances across all competitions.
That has made him one of the most sought-after talents, with a host of European s elite circling for when his reported €75million release clause kicks in at the end of this season.
Barca, Real Madrid and Manchester City are said to be the main suitors for the Norway international, who is yet to make his Dortmund future clear.
The Blaugrana club have confirmed 18-year-old winger Pablo Torre will sign from Racing Santander at t…
Harry Kane will start England s final Group D match against the Czech Republic despite two scoreless outings at Euro 2020, with Gareth Southgate describing the Tottenham striker as our most important player .
Kane topped the goalscoring and assist charts in the Premier League this season but has been unable to replicate that level of influence in the tournament so far.
England followed up a 1-0 win over 2018 World Cup finalists Croatia in their opening match with a dour 0-0 draw against neighbours Scotland.
Kane is yet to have a shot on target and his 19 touches versus Scotland were his fewest in any England game in which he has played 45 minutes or more.
Southgate substituted Kane in both matches but the Three Lions boss will keep faith with the Russia…
Portsmouth will hope to celebrate clearing their debts by extending their unbeaten League Two run to four when they visit York City.
The Fratton Park club have twice entered administration in the past five years and tumbled down the football pyramid since winning the FA Cup in 2008 and reaching the final in 2010.
But since avoiding liquidation in 2013 and the Pompey Supporters Trust seizing financial control of the club, their off-field fortunes have turned around and they can redirect their attention to matters on the pitch.
Five points from the past three games have seen Portsmouth climb to eighth in League Two and standing between them and a potential place in the top six on are York, who go into Saturday s without a win in four.
Before that, on Friday…
Emiliano Martinez returned to Aston Villa on Friday after his World Cup heroics with Argentina, which were followed by controversial and crude post-match celebrations.
Martinez was a penalty shoot-out star for La Albiceleste, helping them to victory over France in the final by saving Kingsley Coman s spot-kick and winning the tournament s Golden Glove award.
However, to many critics the goalkeeper s subsequent celebrations crossed the line of acceptability.
Martinez, whose gamesmanship in the shoot-out had already drawn criticism, appeared to repeatedly taunt beaten France hat-trick hero Kylian Mbappe, while he made a seemingly deliberate lewd gesture with the Golden Glove trophy.
The former Arsenal player called for a moment of silence for Mbappe in the …
David de Gea bemoaned an abject Manchester United season as he insisted his Red Devils team-mates who are not committed do not have to stay .
Ralf Rangnick has failed to transform United s fortunes following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer s departure in November, ending his tenure with the lowest win rate of any manager in the club s Premier League history (41.7 per cent – 10 wins from 24 games).
Erik ten Hag watched on as United fell to a 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace, albeit they will be playing in the Europa League next season after West Ham failed to leapfrog them on the final day.
The incoming Ten Hag will have a sizeable rebuilding task at hand after United failed to end a league campaign with a positive goal difference (zero in 2021-22) for the first time since t…
Former Netherlands international Edson Braafheid, who spent last season out of action, has been snapped up by Serie A outfit Lazio.
The 31-year-old has 10 caps for his country, the last having been earned in a friendly against Germany in November 2011, but endured a torrid 2013-14 campaign.
Braafheid did not make a single appearance for Hoffenheim and was made to train with the club s under-23 squad.
The defender enjoyed previous spells at Bayern Munich and Celtic, before joining Hoffenheim in 2011.
Braafheid then made 31 Bundesliga appearances at Hoffenheim, before being loaned to Dutch side Twente for the 2012-13 campaign.
That transfer marked a return to the club he left for Bayern in 2009, and Braafheid made 25 league starts before returning t…
Jurgen Klopp is to leave Bungesliga giants Borussia Dortmund at the end of the season after seven years in charge.
The 47-year-old had a contract at Signal Iduna Park that ran until 2018, but has been permitted to terminate his deal early.
Klopp stated that the decision was taken because he no longer felt he was the best coach for Dortmund.
We ve both invested a lot and got a lot back. No-one needs to be thankful, he said.
I ve said over the last few years that when I m no longer in the best place to coach, I will say so.
I chose this time to announce it because in the last years some player decisions were made late and you couldn t react.
I definitely believe this to be completely the right decision. This club deserves a manager who i…
Bayern Munich and Poland’s star striker Robert Lewandowski is arguably the best out-and-out number nine in the world. Season upon season the 29-year-old has been deadly in front of goal.
Lewandowski has also proven deadly for Poland, as he is his country’s all-time record goalscorer with 52 goals in 93 appearances. He became Poland’s record goalscorer in qualifying for this summer’s World Cup, scoring 16 goals in qualifying. Not only did it propel the Red and Whites to the finals, it was also a record tally in European qualifying.
No doubt Lewandowski will be one to watch when the World Cup starts in just under a week’s time, as Poland are in a group alongside Senegal, Colombia and Japan in Group H, on paper the most open group in Russia.
Not lived-up to …