Messi, Lloris start as Pique makes 100th Champions League appearance

Bruno Genesio has been doing some really good job at Lyon in recent years, but his time is approaching end. He was appointed back in December 2015 and has done very well to make the most out of a team that often sells its best players, to progress from group stages of the Champions League, but now new things are necessary.

A new head-coach, to be precise. And Patrick Vieira has emerged as one of the reported frontrunners to become the next coach of Lyon. Le Parisien writes that after Genesio announced his departure from the club at the end of the season there were several names thrown around, but now Vieira sticks as potential number one.

There were reports of LOSC Lille coach Christophe Galtier being among potential solutions, while Marcelo Gallardo of River P…

According to a recent report from Tuttosport, James Rodriguez will only make the move over to Italian champions Juventus if Paulo Dybala is sold. James is currently on loan with Bayern Munich from Real Madrid, and has been a target of The Old Lady for quite some time now. Dybala, on the other hand, has received a great deal of interest from both Manchester United and Real Madrid as his own future remains uncertain.

The Colombian Rodriguez hasn’t exactly had the smoothest few years in the world of football, as he’s failed to really catch fire as much as fans were expecting in the wake of his performances at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

You can’t say he’s not well travelled, though, and if he ends up moving to Serie A then he can add Italy to the list of countries he�…

Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Jan Oblak remains confident the Spanish giants can still advance to the Champions League knockout stage, despite their hopes being dealt a blow following back-to-back defeats to Liverpool.

Atletico endured a night to forget at Anfield, where the LaLiga champions had Felipe sent off in the first half of Wednesday s 2-0 loss against Liverpool, who progressed.

Beaten 3-2 in the reverse fixture in the Spanish capital, having also lost Antoine Griezmann to a red card on matchday three last month, Atletico conceded goals to Diogo Jota and Sadio Mane before Felipe was dismissed for a cynical foul on the latter and subsequent apparent dissent.

Atletico huffed and puffed but could not find their way back into the Group B contest, with the result…

Lyon defender Kenny Tete is set to join Fulham after undergoing a medical, according to It has been reported by the Dutch news outlet that the 24-year-old Netherlands international right-back has already undergone a medical at the London club and is set to make the switch this summer.

Tete has been on the books of Lyon since 2017 when he joined from Dutch giants Ajax. The 24-year-old right-back has played in the Champions League and in the Europa League with the French club and has been a success in Ligue 1.

Fulham will play in the Premier League this season after winning promotion from the Championship at the end of the 2019-20 campaign via the playoffs. The Cottagers have already signed Anthony Knockaert and Antonee Robinson on permanent contracts, while Harrison Ree…

Lionel Messi was the hero again as Argentina wrapped up their Copa America preparations with a 5-1 rout of minnows Nicaragua.

Messi scored two goals in two minutes to lead Argentina past Nicaragua on Friday before Lionel Scaloni s men fly out to Brazil for the Copa America.

Having ended his international absence in March s shock loss to Venezuela, Messi opened the scoring with a stunning solo effort in the 37th minute.

After dancing his way past three defenders for the opener, Messi rebounded a Sergio Aguero shot just seconds later to take his international tally to 67 goals.

Lautaro Martinez came off the bench and scored a second-half brace against the Central American visitors, while Roberto Pereyra added a fifth late on before Nicaragua s Juan Barrera…

Jurgen Klopp hailed his record-breaking Liverpool following their 2-1 win over Milan as the Reds made it six wins from six games in the Champions League.

Liverpool became the first English team to win all six Champions League group-stage games in a single season thanks to Tuesday s triumph at San Siro.

Despite only Alisson, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane retaining their places in the starting XI from last week s Premier League win at Wolves, Liverpool still preserved their perfect record in Group B.

Salah and Divock Origi struck to cancel out Fikayo Tomori s 28th-minute opener in Milan, where Liverpool were already assured of the knockout phase pre-match.

Honestly, I don t feel pride a lot in football because most of the time I expect good things to happe…

Sadio Mane has dismissed rumours linking him to possible departure from Anfield by revealing that his wish is to become a Liverpool legend.

The 27-year-old says he wants to be a legend of Liverpool, but not only of Liverpool but also of the entire Premier League story . He is ready to work as hard as it takes to achieve that goal.

The electric forward arrived to Merseyside from Southampton in 2016, walking in the footsteps of Dejan Lovren, Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana (all in 2014), and Nathaniel Clyne (2015). Virgil van Dijk would make the same move later, in January 2018. Since the move, he has made a total of 115 appearances in all competitions for Jurgen Klopp s side, and scored 54 goals. He was recently named Premier League Player of the Month for March 2019, and h…

Marko Arnautovic and Alessandro Schopf were on target as Austria continued their preparations for Euro 2016 with a 2-1 win over Malta.

Austria will compete in their first major tournament since Euro 2008 at this year s finals in France and a strong first half was enough to seal victory in the first of two pre-tournament friendlies.

Stoke City s Arnautovic pounced on a defensive error to open the scoring in the fourth minute, with Schopf slotting home a well-worked second 14 minutes later.

Malta s consolation came in bizarre circumstances as Bayern Munich s David Alaba saw his ill-advised backpass creep over the line in the 87th minute.

Austria will face Netherlands in a friendly on Saturday before their tournament opener with Hungary on June 14.

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Ajax have set their sights for a shocking swoop for Steven Bergwijn of PSV Eindhoven, according to . The Eredivisie leaders will be officially named the Dutch champions on Wednesday, and as if that in itself is t enough, they are determined to deal another blow to PSV.

Bergwijn started out as part of the youth project at Ajax, before falling out with one of the youth coaches at the age of 14 which prompted him to leave the club. His professional career started with PSV s second team in 2014/15, but he also played for the first team in his first season there. His progress has been swift and he s been an important part of the team for the Eindhoven outfit since 2016/17, when he made 33 appearances in all competitions. This season he has racked up 40 games in total, finding the op…

Forty-seven passes, four chances created and one shot in 56 minutes does not sound too bad for your average midfielder, but James Rodriguez should not be average.

The Colombia international played a bit part in Bayern Munich s 3-2 win at Augsburg on Friday before being replaced by Thomas Muller. Given the latter s suspension, James will likely keep his place in the starting line-up against Liverpool in Tuesday s Champions League showdown.

That game could be a pivotal one in both Bayern s season and the career of James. The World Cup Golden Boot and FIFA Puskas Award winner of 2014, as well as the fourth most expensive signing in Real Madrid s history, is in a rut.

Where has it gone wrong?

THE KOVAC CONUNDRUM

As part of the loan deal with Madrid …