Javier Pastore says he is excited about playing against Argentina team-mate Lionel Messi when Paris Saint-Germain host Barcelona on Tuesday.
PSG will be hoping to emulate AC Milan s home win against Barca but avoid their subsequent collapse at Camp Nou when the two European giants clash in their Champions League quarter-final.
He s the best player in the world, Pastore responded when asked about Messi by PSG s official website. He shows it match after match.
For us Argentines, he is a reference and an example. I am delighted to be playing against him, it will be a very special moment for me. There will be a little emotion there for me.
We will have to remain focused for 90 minutes. You have to stay calm when they have the ball. Barcelona are a team tha…
Market: Switzerland win
Odds:
Swiss grabbed a late goal against Serbia to give them an advantage to progress while the Central Americans have yet to record any goals or points so far.
For Switzerland, although Vladimir Petković s side were trailing Serbia 1-0 at half-time, The Swiss valiantly battled back and thanks to a late goal from Xherdan Shaqiri goal, The Reds secured a 2-1 win and now remain in pole position to secure a spot in the last 16. Carrying on their remarkable record in all competitions, Switzerland have remarkably only lost one match since June 2016 and on paper, it appears they should come through a Costa Rica side well and truly out of form with relative ease.
As for Óscar Ramírez s Costa Rica side, coming off the back of concedin…
Head coach Luis Enrique believes Barcelona will have to start quickly in order to quell free-scoring Borussia Monchengladbach in Wednesday s Champions League clash.
Borussia were thumped 4-0 by Manchester City in the Group C opener but responded by firing four first-half goals past Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga the following weekend.
Saturday s 2-0 win over Ingolstadt marked a rare clean sheet for Andre Schubert s men, who beat Young Boys 9-2 on aggregate in the play-off round, and the match with Barca at Borussia Park would appear to promise fireworks.
The first few moments will be key, we ll have to be concentrated, Luis Enrique, who will once again be without injured talisman Lionel Messi, told a pre-match news conference.
Our approach doesn t chan…
Real Betis are having a crazy summer! After they signed Giovani Lo Celso from Paris Saint-Germain and then selling him for profit to Tottenham Hotspur, the club from Seville has signed Nabil Fekir, Juanmi, Emerson and Dani Martin, whilst also loaning Alfonso Pedraza from Villarreal. Now, they have also signed Borja Iglesias from Espanyol.
The transfer is worth €28m and this is one of the bigger transfers between two Spanish clubs, excluding for Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. It is no surprise that Betis have had this much funds to sign him, as their Lo Celso business was quite profitable. Iglesias had an amazing season in Barcelona last year, scoring 20 goals in 43 matches for Espanyol in 2018-19.
Of those 20, he scored 17 in La Liga. Such great performa…
Steven Bergwijn says Jose Mourinho was his childhood inspiration as he targets winning the Champions League after completing his move to Tottenham from PSV.
The 22-year-old sealed his switch Spurs on Wednesday on a five-and-a-half-year contract in a deal reportedly worth around £27million.
Netherlands international Bergwijn has set himself ambitious goals as well as discussing the significance Mourinho had to him as he watched the game growing up.
It s an amazing move for me, an amazing club, the winger, who will wear the number 23 shirt, said told Spurs TV.
Just look around the training ground, it s amazing. It s an honour to be here.
I just spoke to the manager as well. When I was a young boy I looked up to a coach like Jose Mourinho, now …
I recently wrote an article about Leeds United heading in the right direction. They are just one of a number of ex-Premier League clubs in leagues One and Two who never ever imagined that they d find themselves two leagues below the promised land of the Premier League. Also in League One are the likes of Charlton and worst of all Southampton.
Southampton in disarray
I say worst of all because the Saints find themselves rock bottom of English football third tier and in real trouble after being deducted 10 points for their parent company going in to administration.
When I think about the Saints I always think of the Dell. The little fortress of a ground that proved so hard to win at even for the mighty Manchester United as the champions succumb to a famou…
Andrea Pirlo has revealed he is keeping an open mind when it comes to his future at Juventus.
The 34-year-old Italy midfielder’s current contract runs out at the end of the 2013-14 season, yet he appears in no rush to commit to a new deal.
Speaking after his country s 1-1 draw with Germany on Friday evening, Pirlo, who moved to Juventus from Milan in 2011, said: My future? There is throughout the season to talk about it; we ll see.
He continued: I am optimistic. I want to keep playing, because I m good and enjoy it.
I don’t know if it will be at Juventus or another team.
Asked about his exit from Milan and their struggles this season, Pirlo added: I have no regrets. It is a choice made three years ago and I m now a Juventus player.
I am sorry to…
Liverpool have confirmed centre-back Joel Matip has been withdrawn from selection as the club seeks clarification over his availability for Premier League action.
Matip was not selected for Cameroon s squad for the Africa Cup of Nations which got under way in Gabon on Saturday and his last appearance for his country was in September 2015.
The centre-back previously indicated he did not want to be considered for international matches, but Liverpool said in a statement they are waiting for FIFA to confirm his club eligibility.
The Cameroon Football Federation have failed to confirm that Matip can therefore play club football during the period of the Africa Cup of Nations, Liverpool s statement read.
Liverpool have subsequently repeatedly sought, as a ma…
Wayne Rooney said he feared becoming a dead weight if he had remained at Everton instead of joining DC United, and claimed his boyhood club were happy for him to leave.
Rooney spent just one season at Everton after rejoining the club on a two-year contract in 2017, scoring 10 goals in 31 Premier League appearances in a campaign that saw Sam Allardyce take over from Ronald Koeman as the club s manager.
Allardyce left the club in May to be replaced by Marco Silva, and Rooney said the winds of change at Goodison Park left him feeling clear about the decision to move away.
Everton made it clear if there was an offer there, they would be happy for me to go, he told BBC Sport.
I understand they have brought a new manager in, got new staff, they obviously wa…
Tottenham goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes produced a fine display to earn his team a 0-0 draw against Fulham in Saturday s FA Cup quarter-final at Craven Cottage.
Gomes produced three excellent second half saves to keep Tottenham in the competition and ensure the two sides will meet again in a replay at White Hart Lane on March 24.
The Brazilian was the outstanding player in a disappointing game as he showed how far he has progressed since his nightmare performance on this ground in November 2008.
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp admitted that display almost prompted him to sell the former PSV Eindhoven keeper.
Fulham s steady progress this season has taken them to a point where boss Roy Hodgson and his players approached this game knowing they were entering o…