Zinedine Zidane has sympathy with sacked Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde but does not expect Real Madrid s Clasico rivals to be any less of a threat under Quique Setien.
Barca opted to part ways with Valverde after their Supercopa de Espana semi-final exit at the hands of Atletico Madrid, despite winning LaLiga in each of the former Athletic Bilbao coach s two full seasons at the helm.
This time around the Blaugrana are level on points at the summit with Madrid, who claimed Supercopa glory with a penalty shoot-out triumph against Atleti.
I m sorry for him, first of all. That s all I can really say, Madrid manager Zidane told a news conference.
It s not a great situation but he s a coach who s always shown that he s very good. I ve got a great deal of …
Watford came from behind to claim a dramatic 2-1 Premier League win over Crystal Palace, with substitute Tom Cleverley scoring a sublime winner.
Craig Cathcart s own goal after 38 minutes had Palace on course for victory, but the Watford defender scored at the right end 23 minutes from time.
And Cleverley, yet to start in the league this season as he returns from injury, netted his first goal since October 2017 with a superb volley to give his side, who only managed two shots on target, an impressive victory.
Watford s triumph halts a troubling run that had seen them win only twice in their last 11 top-flight games, while Palace have only won two of their 11 home matches this season.
PICK THAT OUT 1-2
— Watford Football Club (@WatfordFC)
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Tottenham will simply have to deal with the fact Antonio Conte will not be with them when they face Marseille in Tuesday s crunch Champions League group-stage game.
That is according to Spurs midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, who took over press conference duties along with assistant head coach Cristian Stellini after Conte decided not to attend following his red card at the end of the draw with Sporting CP last week.
The Spurs head coach was furious after Harry Kane s stoppage-time goal at 1-1 was ruled out by the video assistant referee for offside, and his reaction saw him sent off.
As a result, Conte will be banned from being on the touchline or in the dressing room for the crucial Group D clash with Marseille at Stade Velodrome.
Of course, your head…
Arsenal agree Rice and Timber transfers
After putting in some hard work to get the final barriers preventing Declan Rice from becoming an Arsenal player, the North-London club have finally reached a full agreement with West Ham over the proposed transfer of the 24-year-old England international.
Rice is believed to have been keen on joining Arsenal from the start, despite reports of other top clubs being interested in his services.
The amount of the fee wasn t really an issue it was agreed at £105 million (add-ons included), though the structure and timing of the payments needed some thrashing out. Now that s done, and Rice s transfer to Arsenal is imminent.
It s been a busy day in North London. Arsenal have just reached an agreement…
Croatian forward Ivica Olic has expressed his dissatisfaction with his current situation at Bayern Munich, revealing his desire to seek a transfer if things do not change.
The injury-plagued 32-year-old featured in his team s 6-0 rout of Ingolstadt in Wednesday s DFB Pokal match, but was disappointed with his selection as a 62nd-minute substitute nonetheless.
With each workout I feel a little bit better, he told Goal.com after the game.
But I was disappointed that I could not play from the beginning today. In the end I was happy to come on for a half hour.
Although he managed his longest appearance of the season in Wednesday s match, Olic is still far from content, and will seek employment elsewhere if he is not given more playing time.
I al…
Sheffield United have accepted a bid from Hull City for centre-back Harry Maguire.
Steve Bruce s men have been chasing the 21-year-old throughout the close-season, with several offers for his services having already been rejected.
However, the South Yorkshire outfit have confirmed that the Premier League club have now met Maguire s asking price and their latest bid has been reluctantly accepted.
United s managing director, Mal Brannigan, told the club s official website: We made it clear that we wanted Harry to stay by offering him a new contract at the end of last season unfortunately he and his representatives chose a different path.
However, as he is under contract at Bramall Lane, we exercised our right to set our own valuation of him and after numer…
Graziano Pelle struck in the second half to halt Italy s four-match winless run with a 1-0 victory over Scotland on Sunday, giving the Azzurri s Euro 2016 preparations a lift.
Antonio Conte s men had not won since their qualifying campaign drew to a close, with defeats to Belgium and Germany, either side of draws with Romania and Spain, depriving them of the chance to build any momentum.
The Euro 2012 runners-up never looked like losing in Malta, but their inability to convert promising opportunities during the first half was a concern.
However, Southampton striker Pelle produced an accomplished finish 12 minutes into the second half to clinch a welcome victory for Italy, who face Finland in their last pre-tournament friendly and will name their final 23-man Euro…
French giants Monaco are ready to bid for Sporting Braga defender Wallace Fortuna dos Santos, .
The talented footballer has yet to make his first appearance for the new club having only joined this summer from Cruzeiro, but he is already being linked with a move away from Estadio AXA.
A Bola has learned that Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim is a big admirer of the 19-year-old and he will attempt to lure him to Stade Louis II by the end of the summer transfer window.
The Principality club aim to add some fresh blood to their back line and they believe the Brazil Under-21 international would be a great signing for the future.
Wallace, who has so far made 6 appearances for the Brazil Under-21 team, joined Cruzeiro in 2010 from Tigres do Brasil and went on to fe…
Burnley have completed the signing of Nakhi Wells from Huddersfield Town, according to the Mirror.
The Bermuda international has been allowed to leave the Terriers with their manager David Wagner majorly overhauling his squad as they look to continue their fine start to life in the Premier League.
However, Clarets boss Sean Dyche has moved to sign the twenty-seven year old as he looks to add even more fire-power to his front line following Chris Wood’s arrival from Leeds United for a record fee last week.
Wells made one hundred and fifty-two appearances for Huddersfield since signing from Bradford City in January 2014, scoring forty-eight goals.
Ten of those strikes came in the Championship last term as he helped the Yorkshire outfit achieve promot…
A Lionel Messi hat-trick inspired a comprehensive 5-0 Catalan derby win over Espanyol for Barcelona, who continued their 100 per cent start to life under Ernesto Valverde in LaLiga.
Messi opened the scoring in the 25th minute, although replays showed the five-time Ballon d Or winner was in an offside position when he received Ivan Rakitic s pass.
There was little else to question in a majestic display from Barca s talisman, who twice made the most of expert service from Jordi Alba to claim the matchball in the 67th minute goals 17 and 18 against Espanyol in the top flight.
There were some dicey moments for Valverde s men at the back but the Camp Nou faithful were able to lap up Ousmane Dembele s second half debut with the points safe, even if chants calling for…