Arguably the most surprising factor around Ernesto Valverde s exit at Barcelona is the distinct lack of surprise.
Since replacing Luis Enrique at Camp Nou in May 2017, the former Athletic Bilbao boss has won four major honours and claimed victory in 66 of his 95 LaLiga games.
And yet there has been an ever-present grumble in the background. Whether it be grievances over his style of play or somewhat more legitimate concerns over big collapses to Roma and Liverpool in the Champions League in the previous two campaigns, the rumblings of discontent have never been too far away.
Still, his departure – which came after a 3-2 defeat in the Supercopa de Espana semi-finals to Atletico Madrid – seems a little harsh, and we look at five reasons Valverde, who has bee…
Pep Guardiola s disquiet over Manchester City supporters standoffish attitude towards the Champions League has been well documented, meaning he must have taken up his position in the dugout for Tuesday s 6-0 rout of Shakhtar Donetsk with some trepidation.
It was set up to be one of the stranger evenings in City s strange relationship with Europe s top competition, coming as it did in the wake of allegations of financial impropriety that the Premier League champions have firmly denounced by insisting the attempt to damage the club s reputation is organised and clear .
Among the series of claims made by German magazine Der Spiegel in an on-going series of articles drawn from documents purportedly acquired by whistleblowers Football Leaks is the accusation that UEFA c…
Atletico Madrid all but secured second place in LaLiga with a 1-0 win over Getafe in a combative clash at Coliseum Alfonso Perez.
Koke s early strike settled the contest and effectively made certain that Atletico cannot be caught by third-place Real Madrid in the table, with Jan Oblak making a crucial second-half penalty save to preserve the win.
Getafe s defeat, combined with Sevilla s draw with Real Betis in the derby, means Jose Bordalas side now cannot finish in the top seven and earn a Europa League place.
Diego Simeone surprisingly named a full-strength starting line-up for the game, despite having the Europa League final just four days away, but Atleti made the most of some early dominance through a fine Koke finish.
Chances were otherwise limited …
Former Arsenal captain Tony Adams has been appointed as the head coach of LaLiga strugglers Granada until the end of the season.
Granada have replaced Lucas Alcaraz with Adams after Sunday s 3-1 home defeat against Valencia left them 19th in the table, seven points from safety with seven games to play.
Adams, 50, who spent his whole playing career with Arsenal, winning four league titles, has previously managed Wycombe Wanderers, Portsmouth and Gabala.
This is his first managerial post since ending his role at Azerbaijan Premier League side Gabala in November 2011.
Adams is the vice-president of DDMC, the company of Granada s president John Jiang.
He has been working at Granada since last November, overseeing football operations, a role he also to…
Ballon d Or winner Ada Hegerberg has the backing of former United States star Hope Solo as she continues her absence from international football through the Women s World Cup.
Lyon forward Hegerberg stepped away from representing Norway in 2017 due to frustrations with the state of the women s game in her home country.
Norway coach Martin Sjogren confirmed last month that the 23-year-old would not be available for selection during this year s World Cup, which gets under way on June 7 in Paris.
Ex-USA goalkeeper Solo, who collected 202 caps for her country and won the World Cup in 2015, supports Hegerberg s decision, believing high-profile players need to influence change in the sport.
We re not going to create the change that we want to see in women s fo…
Maurizio Sarri s long-anticipated appointment as Chelsea head coach was confirmed on Saturday, a day on from Antonio Conte s Stamford Bridge exit being rubber-stamped.
Chelsea s sixth Italian boss has promised attractive football and trophies, having supplied plenty of the former while falling just short in pursuit of the latter during three acclaimed seasons at Napoli.
However, he finds a Chelsea squad bloated by the uninspiring signings of last season – the state of flux heightened by speculation linking star names to moves away from Stamford Bridge.
A Wembley date against Manchester City in the Community Shield is just three weeks away and Sarri has these issues and more to be getting on with.
12 Maurizio Sarri will be the 12th Italian to manage in t…
Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has hinted he may make changes to his team as they travel to Skopje to face Macedonia.
Spain arrive in Macedonia as joint leaders of Group C after their 2-0 win over Slovakia edged them to the top of the table.
Del Bosque will expect his side to win comfortably against Macedonia, who they beat 5-1 in Valencia on the same date a year ago, after a performance against Slovakia that showed signs of Spain being back to their best.
Against Macedonia I do not know if I will make changes, but I will not be afraid to make them, said Del Bosque.
We have played well and we had a few chances. We have taken the initiative. We have managed to solve the problems posed to us.
Spain midfielder David Silva indicated that he felt th…
On Deadline Day, Hull City have managed to secure the services of Derby County s Chris Martin for the season, it has been .
The striker thus joined defender Tommy Elphick at the KCOM Stadium, whose loan move from Aston Villa was also on Friday, August 31, and the Tigers have in this way added to their ranks at both ends of the pitch.
Martin has been a Derby player since 2013 and he scored 64 times in 186 appearances for the Rams, but he s yet to make a single appearance for manager Frank Lampard. This is the 29-year-old s third loan spell, having already had stints with Fulham and Reading.
He declared himself fit, fresh, and ready to play as many games as possible .
Elphick will also wear the black-and-orange shirt for one season. He scored against Hull…
According to the Daily Mail Everton have agreed a fee for Swansea attacking midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson
According to reports from , Everton have agreed a fee of around £32million with Swansea for Icelandic attacking midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson.
The Toffees are currently attempting to seal the return of Wayne Rooney to Goodison Park. It seems Sigurdsson may be the next through the Finch Farm entry door this summer.
For me, this will be an excellent signing for Everton. However, for Swansea, the Icelandic star could be a terrible loss.
Had a major say in keeping Swansea up last season
The noises coming out of Swansea suggested they did not want to sell Sigurdsson. The biggest reason for their reluctance being that the attacking midfielder played a…
Borussia Dortmund manager Peter Bosz put club rivalries to one side on Friday to declare his sympathy for the out-of-work Carlo Ancelotti.
Bayern Munich sacked Italian Ancelotti on Thursday, less than 24 hours after a 3-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
The result in Europe proved to be the last straw for the Bavarian club s board, particularly after they d suffered their worst start to a domestic campaign since 2010-11.
First of all it is always disappointing when a colleague gets sacked, Bosz told the media.
I feel for my colleague. I don t know exactly what happened there and I also don t know the reasons why he was fired.
For me, as a coach and a human being, it is just disappointing when a colleague gets f…