Real Madrid succumbed to a stunning 3-0 defeat at Eibar as Santiago Solari s reign as permanent head coach got off to a torrid start on Saturday.
Having taken over from the sacked Julen Lopetegui following the 5-1 Clasico drubbing at the hands of Barcelona, Solari showed early promise with four wins from four in his interim tenure.
That run was enough to earn the former Madrid midfielder a deal through to June 2021, but his fortunes will have to improve drastically if he is to have any hope of remaining in the Santiago Bernabeu hotseat until then.
Gonzalo Escalante s scrappy opener saw Madrid fall behind for the first time under Solari, and the writing was on the wall with quickfire goals early in the second period through Sergi Enrich and Kike.
The shock…
Atletico Madrid battled to a 2-0 win against Salzburg thanks to a goal in each half from Mario Hermoso and Yannick Carrasco to secure a place in the Champions League knockout stages.
Diego Simeone s side beat Salzburg 3-2 in the reverse fixture their only Group A win prior to Wednesday and needed just a point from the trip to Austria to advance.
Salzburg started strongly as they went in pursuit of the win needed to progress at Atleti s expense, but Hermoso s header against the run of play proved the game s big moment.
Mergim Berisha and Enock Mwepu hit the post either side of that effort, while Dominik Szoboszlai squandered a glorious chance, but Carrasco volleyed in a late second to ensure Atleti will join Bayern Munich in Monday s last-16 draw.
Hermos…
One of the more interesting subplots of any Premier League season is the race for the Golden Boot.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah were joint recipients of the title last season after all finishing on 22 goals.
That figure could be comfortably exceeded this time around, with a number of familiar names – such as Aubameyang, Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling – starting the campaign in prolific form.
They are joined at the top of the scoring charts by two players who excelled in the Championship last season: Tammy Abraham and Teemu Pukki.
Using Opta data, we take a closer look at the records of those five in the opening five games of the season and compare their stats from the same period in the 2018-19 campaign.
Best odds: 11/8
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AC Milan and Lazio will take each other on on Sunday evening in a game that will conclude the 11th round of this season s Serie A course. Once upon a time, and not so long ago, this encounter was considered among the great derbies of Italian football, but times have changed.
AC Milan
Though among the most successful clubs in the history of the game with 18 domestic and seven European titles, the Rossoneri have fallen on stony ground in recent years. It s been a while since they last won the league (2010/11), and lately they haven t been able even to finish among the top four and secure Champions League football. They came close last season, but still fell short.
Stefano Pioli, now in charge of the team, is their second manager…
Jose Mourinho questioned his Roma side s personality after the Giallorossi blew a two-goal lead to lose 4-3 at home to Juventus on Sunday.
Goals from Tammy Abraham, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Lorenzo Pellegrini had put Roma 3-1 up after 53 minutes, with Paulo Dybala having equalised early strike in the first half.
However, a dramatic collapse from the hosts saw Manuel Locatelli, Dejan Kulusevski and Mattia De Sciglio all find the net for Massimiliano Allegri s men between the 70th and 77th minute.
A miserable end to the game for Mourinho was complete when Pellegrini saw his 83rd minute penalty saved by Wojciech Szczesny, and despite Juve being reduced to 10 men when Matthijs de Ligt was shown a second yellow card for the handball that led to the penalty, Roma were…
Neymar and Mbappe have no excuses to leave PSG as Champions League semis beckon, insists Al-Khelaifi
Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi insists Neymar and Kylian Mbappe have no excuses to leave as the French giants mount another Champions League challenge this season.
PSG reached their second successive semi-final after eliminating holders Bayern Munich on away goals on Tuesday after the tie ended 3-3.
Bayern won the second leg 1-0 in Paris, but PSG exacted some revenge after moving through to the final four, having lost last season s final to the Bundesliga champions.
Neymar – named man of the match – has been linked with a return to Barcelona following his world-record €222million exit in 2017, while star team-mate Mbappe has long been tipped to join Real Madrid.
Al-Khelaifi was asked about the future of the duo amid ongoing cont…
Verdict: Man City to Win to Nil
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Reigning champions of the League Cup continue defence of their crown against Fulham on Thursday. The in-form Citizens play host to struggling Cottagers whose focus remains on their disappointing start to the Premier League campaign.
Manchester City
Pep Guardiola will have little time to prepare his team knowing the League Cup clash against Fulham arrives as a quick turnaround following the Premier League victory over Tottenham on Monday. Two matches in a matter of days are likely to cause plenty of selection changes as Guardiola aims to keep his team fresh before the Premier League returns at the weekend.
Manchester City only met Fulham weeks ago, midway through September, and will be hopin…
-Ante Rebic scored a quickfire second-half hat-trick as ruthless Milan took another stride towards securing a Champions League spot with a 7-0 Serie A thrashing of sorry Torino.
Stefano Pioli s side eased to an 3-0 win at fellow top-four hopefuls Juventus on Sunday and they enjoyed another hugely fruitful trip to Turin three days later.
Theo Hernandez opened the scoring with a venomous drive and Franck Kessie added a second from the penalty spot in the first half at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino.
Rampant Milan ran riot after the break, Brahim Diaz adding a third and Hernandez on target with another classy finish before Rebic rubbed salt into woeful Torino s wounds with a treble in the space of 12 minutes.
A third consecutive victory moved Mila…
Rafinha has joined reigning Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona.
The 27-year-old made 29 appearances on loan at Celta Vigo last season after winning four LaLiga titles at Camp Nou.
The midfielder s contract was due to expire next summer and he had not made an appearance under new Barca coach Ronald Koeman this season.
Brazil international Rafinha is the brother of recent Liverpool signing Thiago Alcantara and came through the Catalans youth system to make his senior debut in 2014.
He was an unused sub as Barca lifted the 2015 Champions League title and he had further loan spells at Celta in 2013-14 and Inter Milan in 2017-18.
Thomas Tuchel s PSG side have also added Moise Kean on loan from Everton and Danilo Pereira from Porto in …
Ollie Watkins struck a first-half hat-trick and Jack Grealish starred as Aston Villa claimed an incredible 7-2 victory over Premier League champions Liverpool on Sunday.
Liverpool were without first-choice goalkeeper Alisson due to a shoulder injury and paid the price for some shambolic defending at Villa Park, with John McGinn adding to Watkins treble in a rampant opening period for Dean Smith s men.
Mohamed Salah doubled his tally either side of deflected goals for debutant Ross Barkley and Grealish, who contributed three assists in a brilliant display.
Grealish added another as Villa had unending joy in springing the offside trap against Liverpool s high line, with the Reds conceding seven for the first time since a 7-2 loss to Tottenham in April 19…