Bruno Fernandes has refuted suggestions he and Cristiano Ronaldo cannot play together effectively, as the Manchester United duo prepare to link up for Portugal in the international break.
Both Fernandes and Ronaldo have been named in Fernando Santos squad for Nations League fixtures against the Czech Republic and Spain this month.
While Fernandes has been an ever-present for United at the start of their Premier League campaign, Ronaldo has not started a league game since a 4-0 defeat at Brentford last month, and is yet to find the net on the domestic front this season.
United have won four consecutive league games with Ronaldo on the bench, and the legendary forward s 2021 transfer from Juventus led to a significant drop-off in Fernandes attacking output.
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According to a recent report from Gazzetta dello Sport, Kalidou Koulibaly’s agent is working on a deal that’ll take his client to Manchester City.
The defender’s future has been a big source of discussion for well over a year now, with many believing that it would be one of the two Manchester clubs that land his signature.
Napoli have been lucky enough to keep hold of the 29-year-old since back in 2014 when they bought him from Genk, but they always would’ve known that this was coming.
City were always going to spend big money once it had been confirmed that their European ban was going to be overturned. Their biggest issue last season was clearly the lack of defensive structure they have in their squad, and with Pep Guardiola being determined to win a C…
FIFA has sent its “support and prayers” to Liverpool forward Luis Diaz following the kidnapping of his parents in Colombia.
It has been confirmed that Diaz’s mother has been rescued and after the player returned home to be with family members, the Colombian authorities have stepped up their search for his father.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino said on Instagram: “On behalf of FIFA and the global football community, I would like to extend our support and prayers to Luis Diaz, his family and his friends in these difficult times.”
Pedimos a los captores de Luis Manuel Díaz, padre de , que lo liberen ya, sin condiciones. El fútbol es paz. Lucho, estamos contigo. Colombia está contigo.
— Selección Colombia (@FCFSeleccionCol)
The Colo…
Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand declared we haven t seen a player like Jude Bellingham at his age after the Borussia Dortmund teenager helped guide his team to a 4-1 Champions League win at Sevilla.
Bellingham scored one and assisted one as Dortmund eased to victory in Spain on Wednesday, with other goals coming from Raphael Guerreiro, Karim Adeyemi and Julian Brandt, while Youssef En-Nesyri pulled one back for the hosts.
Bellingham, 19, who captained the Bundesliga side, became just the second teenager to score in the first three games of a Champions League campaign.
The only other player to achieve that feat is his former BVB team-mate Erling Haaland, who did so with Salzburg in the 2019-20 season.
Bellingham s tally of three Champions League goa…
Real Madrid recorded their fifth victory from five matches played in Group C of the Champions League when they hosted Napoli at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday.
The match ended 4-2, with Napoli taking the lead through Giovanni Simeone in the ninth minute, and Real responding within two minutes through Rodrygo Goes. Jude Bellingham put the Spanish giants ahead in 22nd, and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa leveled again less than two minutes after the break. Nico Paz made it 3-2 with six minutes of the 90 left on the clock, and Joselu set the final score deep in stoppage time.
The game
It was a contest with plenty of twists and turns in terms of threatening the opposition goal, as well as the kind of football one would expect from the reigning Italian champions visiting the…
Dusan Vlahovic s fine volley saw Juventus end a five-game winless run with a 2-1 victory over Lecce in Serie A, boosting the Bianconeri s hopes of Champions League qualification.
Vlahovic fired home on the turn to hand Massimiliano Allegri s men their first league win since April 1, deciding an entertaining contest at the Allianz Stadium.
Leandro Paredes had earlier seen his terrific free-kick cancelled out by Assan Ceesay s penalty, while both teams had goals disallowed for offside in an open first half.
While Lecce continued to test the Bianconeri backline after the break, Vlahovic s first league goal since February 7 ultimately proved decisive, piling the pressure on Juve s rivals in a fascinating battle for a top-four finish.
773 Dusan Vlahovic has f…
Paolo Maldini insists AC Milan remain a long way off challenging Juventus for the Serie A title.
The 50-year-old was speaking after Gennaro Gattuso s side were held to a 1-1 draw at Cagliari, leaving them with a record of one win, one draw and one defeat from their opening three Serie A games in 2018-19.
In contrast, Juventus have won all four of their league matches and Maldini – who is in his first season as the club s sporting strategy and development director – accepted that the Rossoneri are unlikely to push for the title.
The anti-Juventus? Let s be serious, we re still a long way off being that, club legend Maldini told Sky.
Sporting director and Sporting Strategy Development Director Paolo Maldini at Sardegna Arena for the game
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Market: Porto win
Odds: 4/9 @
Hoping to open the New Year with a statement, Porto will travel to the Estadio do Bessa when they meet local rivals Boavista on Friday night.
Starting with the hosts, while Boavista might have eventually snatched a top-half finish among Portugal’s elite last season, the Panteras have struggled to replicate a similar level this time around. Last seen signing off 2023 with a toothless 1-0 loss away at Gil Vicente, Ricardo Paiva’s side are looking over their shoulder at a looming relegation scrap. In the midst of a major struggle, they have now collected just a single point from any of their previous seven straight Primeira Liga appearances a run that stems all the way back to a 1-1 stalemate against Moreirense back on October 6th.…
Meanwhile, Bologna captain Dzemaili said Mihajlovic is like a father following the news.
The coach will win this battle for us too, as we feel like we are his family, Dzemaili told Sky Sport Italia.
What he has given us over the last six months has rarely been given by any coach, especially in such a short space of time. We know what kind of person he is, how strong he is and we ll try to transmit our strength to him too. We can t wait until he returns.
I will win this battle.
Forza Sinisa
— Bologna FC 1909 (@BolognaFC1909en)
Mihajlovic will begin treatment on Tuesday and Bologna doctor Gianni Nanni added: The coach talked about leukaemia, which 20 years ago we might not even have talked about challenging.
Now that we hav…
Brendan Rodgers is adamant Celtic are getting a better manager this time round than the one that won all seven domestic trophies available to him during his previous spell in Scotland.
The Northern Irishman returned to Parkhead on Monday, almost four and a half years after he left to take charge of Leicester.
In his time at the Foxes, he oversaw FA Cup glory in 2021 and back-to-back fifth-place finishes in the Premier League before things unravelled in his closing season, culminating in his sacking in April as they spiralled towards relegation.
Rodgers explained that his football philosophy remains largely unchanged since he was previously at Celtic but he feels he is returning as a more astute operator overall.
“In terms of how we play my teams always …