Hummels could make Champions League final

Al-Hilal appointed experienced Portuguese head coach Jorge Jesus on a one-year deal, the Saudi Arabian giants announced.

Jesus had one year remaining on his contract with Portugal s Sporting CP but the 63-year-old opted to join Al-Hilal amid financial and political problems in Lisbon.

The former Benfica boss has the option of an additional year at Al-Hilal, who won the Saudi Pro League in 2017-18 but failed to advance past the AFC Champions League group stage, after replacing former Paraguay head coach Ramon Diaz.

Jesus had spent the previous 28 years of his career in Portugal with clubs including Braga and most recently Sporting CP, but his most successful period came at Benfica where he reached two Europa League finals and won 10 domestic trophies.

 BE…

Starting with the hosts, after securing their 13th Bundesliga title with a 12-point buffer last season, RB Salzburg are an overwhelming favorite to reclaim their Austrian crown this season. With many tipping them to be the greatest side in Austrian history, Jesse Marsch s men once again impressed in their 2-0 win over Rapid Wein in their Bundesliga opener last weekend and have now won their last five matches across all competitions. Also tasing defeat just in once since the end of April and continuing to shine in the final third during pre-season, a huge part of Salzburg s continued success has been their form at the Red Bull Arena. The defending Bundesliga champions have lost just once on home soil since January 2018.

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Marlon King was sacked by Wigan Athletic after being jailed Thursday for 18 months for punching a woman in the face and breaking her nose after she spurned his sexual advances.

King, 29, was convicted of sexual assault and causing actual bodily harm over the incident in a London nightclub in December last year, while he was on loan to Wigan s English Premier League rivals Hull.

A court heard how King violently attacked the 20-year-old university student after groping her, during a night out to celebrate his wife s pregnancy and scoring a winning goal hours earlier in Hull s 2-1 victory over Middlesbrough.

Wigan chairman Dave Whelan told Sky Sports television King would be sacked after a mandatory notice period had expired.

He is absolutely sacked we wil…

​Ayanda Gcaba has been called up to South Africa s squad for the Africa Cup of Nations following Patrick Phungwayo s injury.

Gcaba, who plays his club football for Orlando Pirates, was added to Shakes Mashaba s squad on Monday two days after they were forced to send Phungwayo home.

The 27-year-old failed to recover in time from the medial collateral ligament damage he suffered to his left knee earlier this month, and he was removed from the squad on Saturday.

Mashaba is unlikely to start Gcaba during the competition in Equatorial Guinea, but he will be needed should centre backs Eric Mathoho, Rivaldo Coetzee and Thulani Hlatshwayo suffer any injuries.

Having made his international debut in 2012 the 28-year-old has not featured since for South Africa, an…

Manuel Neuer expects Bayern Munich s unbeaten start to the Bundesliga season to come under threat at Schalke on Saturday.

The reigning champions travel to Gelsenkirchen to take on Jens Keller s side after recording four wins and a draw in their opening five top-flight matches under new manager Pep Guardiola.

Bayern also got their UEFA Champions League defence off to an impressive start by beating CSKA Moscow 3-0 on Tuesday.

Neuer has started every game this season and is anticipating a tough challenge when he returns to the Veltins-Arena to take on his former club.

We can t expect it to be a walkover, the Germany international told Bayern s official website.

I think it will be a challenge to beat Schalke, especially considering they’re on a roll.

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Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew is hopeful that Papiss Cisse can find the back of the net for Senegal this week.

The 28-year-old was a revelation after joining Newcastle from Freiburg in January 2012, scoring 13 goals in his first 14 Premier League appearances before the end of the 2011-12 campaign.

However, Cisse followed that up with a more modest return of eight in 36 games last term, and has failed to score in seven top-flight games this season.

HIs last Premier League goal came against Fulham on April 7 but, even though he was dropped for Newcastle s defeat at Everton last week, Pardew still has faith in his ability, and wants him to get on the scoresheet for his country in their FIFA World Cup qualifier against Ivory Coast on Saturday.

I felt sorry fo…

Fenerbache are keen on signing Arsenal star Mesut Ozil, .

The Turkish side, who last month plucked Robin Van Perise from the Premier League, want the World Cup winner who has so far failed to recreate his best form since moving to North London in the summer of 2013.

In seventy-eight appearances for the Gunners, the twenty-six year old has scored twelve goals and was part of the squads that won back to back FA Cup’s over the last two seasons.

Prior to his move to England, he spent three years with Real Madrid while he has also played for Werder Bremen and Schalke 04.

Internationally he has been capped sixty-eight times, scoring eighteen goals – one of which came at last summer’s World Cup finals in Brazil on route to Joachim Low’s side being c…

Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew still expects West Brom to be difficult to break down in Saturday s Premier League clash despite Tony Pulis men shipping three goals last time out.

West Brom looked to be on their way to a third win in four matches against Everton on Monday as goals from Saido Berahino and Craig Dawson put them 2-0 up.

However, Pulis side collapsed in the second half and were undone by former loanee Romelu Lukaku, who scored two goals and set up another to give Everton a 3-2 win.

The nature of that defeat was surprising with West Brom having kept clean sheets in each of their last three league outings.

Pardew, though, is not reading too much into that result and is wary of a team that claimed a 2-0 victory at Selhurst Park in April in la…

Liverpool and Newcastle United have seen members of their backroom teams issued with touchline bans following an altercation at the end of last month s Premier League meeting at Anfield.

Newcastle came close to taking a point from their trip to Liverpool on August 31, only for Fabio Carvalho to score a 98th-minute winner, sparking a touchline fracas.

At the end of a highly charged affair, Newcastle sports scientist Daniel Hodges appeared to throw a bottle into the Liverpool technical area, prompting the Football Association (FA) to investigate.

The FA subsequently brought charges against both Hodges and Liverpool goalkeeping coach John Achterberg, and it has now been confirmed the men will serve one-match touchline bans.

A statement released on Thursday s…

Juventus have signed Southampton midfielder Carlos Alcaraz on loan for the rest of the season with an option to buy.

The 21-year-old Argentinian has scored four goals in 26 appearances for Saints this season, with Russell Martin’s side third in the Championship as they seek an immediate return to the Premier League.

Southampton director of football Jason Wilcox told the club website: “Allowing Charly to leave on loan was a decision that we have been deliberating on for some time.

Carlos Alcaraz joins Juventus on loan from Southampton

Welcome, Carlos!

— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen)

“Considering the midfield options we have available to us right now, and Charly’s lack of game time, we wanted to allow him this chance to gain some v…