Martinez insists he was not fazed by Argentina goal drought

Leicester City have  that the in-demand Harry Maguire has put pen to paper on a new deal.

There have been many speculations surrounding the future of the coveted centre-back this summer after a good season with the Foxes followed by some excellent performances at the World Cup in Russia caused much interest in his services. Manchester United were linked most heavily with manager Jose Mourinho keen on bringing in a quality central defender. There was interest from the Red Devils in Atletico Madrid s Diego Godin, Spurs Toby Alderweireld and Bayern Munich s Jerome Boateng, but Maguire was the one that apparently came closest to Old Trafford before Leicester decided not to allow the transfer to happen.

The 25-year-old defender wore the shirts of Sheffield United, Hull City…

Jurgen Klopp admits Liverpool s Champions League draw is more good than bad but refutes the view that his side are favourites to progress from Group E.

The Reds have been drawn against LaLiga side Sevilla, Russia s Spartak Moscow and Slovenian champions Maribor for their first Champions League campaign since 2014-15.

Liverpool were knocked out at the group stage that season and Klopp, a finalist with Borussia Dortmund in 2012-13, knows his team must compete for points both home and away.

However, the German did concede it was a boost to avoid the competition s heavyweights.

There are groups with Barcelona, Bayern, Juventus and Real Madrid, and not to get them is of course more good than bad, Klopp said.

But I do not think that after this long wa…

Parma have sacked head coach Roberto D Aversa three weeks after the end of the Serie A season.

The club said the decision was made because in the last few weeks, the cohesion, unity of intent, harmony and mutual enthusiasm which have been so key to the successes achieved together over the last few years have disappeared .

D Aversa took charge of Parma when they were in Lega Pro in 2016 and earned back-to-back promotions to restore them to Serie A just three years on from going bankrupt and having to play in the fourth tier after being re-founded.

The Parma statement added: Nothing can erase the unforgettable achievements engraved into the club s history thanks to the coach and his coaching team s fundamental contribution, and the club expresses its gratitude for…

Eden Hazard and Alvaro Morata ran riot as Chelsea outclassed West Brom 4-0 at the Hawthorns to turn up the heat on Tony Pulis.

As Antonio Conte celebrated his 50th Premier League match in style, the contrast to his opposite number in the dugout could not have been greater, as Pulis side never came close to avoiding a fourth consecutive defeat.

Conte kept David Luiz to the bench on his return to the squad but the visitors hardly needed defensive reinforcement in cruising to their 10th win in 12 league away games.

On the ground where they sealed last season s title, Chelsea raced to a two-goal lead inside 23 minutes as Morata and Hazard exchanged assists for their quickfire goals.

It was all too easy for Marcos Alonso as he added a third from Cesc Fabre…

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola accused football authorities of failing in their duty of care amid a hectic fixture schedule, insisting players are not machines .

Matches are coming thick and fast following a shortened off-season after the coronavirus-hit 2019-20 campaign, with City due to host Leicester City in the Premier League on Sunday on the back of Thursday s EFL Cup victory.

City will be without Gabriel Jesus as their injury list grows – Sergio Aguero, Bernardo Silva, Joao Cancelo and Oleksandr Zinchenko are all recovering from fitness issues.

Guardiola – whose City were afforded an extra week of recovery before opening their season with victory at Wolves following a run to the Champions League quarter-finals – hit out at the football calendar…

Senol Gunes demanded more from Besiktas after his side booked a place in the knockout rounds of the Champions League for the first time.

A 1-1 home draw with Porto at Vodafone Park on Tuesday secured thanks to an equaliser from Anderson Talisca was enough to see the Super Eagles through as winners of Group G with a game to spare.

But even though Besiktas are writing new chapters in the history of the club, Gunes is keen for his team to avoid making up the numbers in the next round.

The draw can be regarded as a clear result, Gunes said. We are happy. We had an extraordinary desire to get out of the group today.

Both in the Champions League and in the Europa League, we lost in the last two seasons. Today we did not want to see such pain and it was a very…

Jurgen Klopp s inside knowledge of the Bundesliga will be an advantage when Liverpool meet Bayern Munich in the Champions League, according to former Reds striker Ian Rush.

Klopp joined Liverpool in October 2015 after a hugely impressive seven-year spell at Borussia Dortmund, during which he guided them to two league titles and a DFB-Pokal triumph.

Bayern have won six successive Bundesliga crowns but are struggling, in relative terms, this season and sit nine points behind Dortmund after 15 games.

Asked if having a German in the Liverpool dugout for the last 16 tie would be a benefit, Rush said: Yes, it ll be an advantage.

Jurgen knows all the German teams he ll have done his homework.

Bayern have got [Robert] Lewandowski, who s the top scorer i…

Ansu Fati was back in group training at Barcelona for the first time in over two months on Monday. 

Spain international Fati has been out of action since suffering a hamstring injury in the Copa del Rey defeat to Athletic Bilbao on January 20. 

The 19-year-old, who took the number 10 shirt vacated by Lionel Messi ahead of this season, has been blighted by injuries and played just 20 times in all competitions since the start of 2020-21. 

Barca posted footage on social media of Fati being applauded back onto the training pitch by his team-mates. 

Look who it is!

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona)

He will combine training with the squad with an individual workout programme as he continues his recovery. 

…

Gareth Southgate hailed the character of his England players after they came from behind to beat Denmark 2-1 in extra-time and book a place in the final of Euro 2020.

England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford was beaten for the first time in the tournament when Mikkel Damsgaard converted a stunning 30-yard free-kick.

That left Three Lions supporters fearing the worst – another major tournament semi-final disappointment to go alongside the loss Southgate s men suffered against Croatia at the 2018 World Cup.

But Denmark captain Simon Kjaer put through his own net under pressure from Raheem Sterling before half-time and, although mounting England pressure could not settle matters inside 90 minutes, the Manchester City forward won an extra-time penalty.

Kasper Sc…

Full-back Branislav Ivanovic is one of the best signings in Chelsea s history, according to manager Jose Mourinho.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho paid the ultimate compliment to full-back Branislav Ivanovic after his match-winner against Aston Villa on Saturday, claiming he is among Roman Abramovich s best buys.

Ivanovic scored the all-important goal as Premier League leaders Chelsea downed hosts Aston Villa 2-1 over the weekend to preserve their seven-point lead.

The 30-year-old Serbia international has shown a knack for scoring important goals in 2014-15 following his winner against Liverpool in the Capital One Cup semi-final last month and that continued at Villa Park as he took his season tally to four in all competitions.

While there have been countle…