Bayern Munich failed to recover from an early Jerome Boateng red card as they fell to a 5-1 defeat against Eintracht Frankfurt that will heap more pressure on beleaguered coach Niko Kovac.
The pressure has been building on Kovac and his side shipped five more goals on a day that saw Thomas Muller make his 500th appearance for the club.
Filip Kostic and Djibril Sow scored their first goals of the season to punish the champions after Boateng was sent off inside nine minutes.
Bayern threatened a comeback through Lewandowski s 14th league goal of the season, but David Abraham, Martin Hinteregger and Goncalo Paciencia struck in the second half to make it one league win in four matches for the visitors, who slip to fourth in the table.
16 The last time FC Bayer…
Pep Guardiola is relishing another clash with Real Madrid after Manchester City were pitted against the Spanish giants for a third successive year.
Champions League holders City will take on the competition’s record 14-time winners in the quarter-finals of this season’s competition next month.
The two clubs have met in the semi-finals for the past two years, with Real winning in 2022 but City avenging that loss – wrapped up with a 4-0 win at the Etihad Stadium – last term.
“It looks like a little bit of a tradition, three years in a row playing the kings of the competition,” said City manager Guardiola following Friday’s draw.
“Hopefully we can arrive in a good moment but there are still a few weeks before the first game in Madrid.
Sadio Mane has reached 100 Premier League goals, with the Liverpool star achieving a rare feat by hitting the milestone without any penalties in his tally.
Mane coolly finished from Mohamed Salah s pass early in Saturday s match at Watford to bring up the milestone.
The Senegal forward netted his first back in October 2014 as he scored the winner for Southampton in a 1-0 victory over Stoke City.
He went on to score another nine that season and followed up with 11 in 2015-16, his impressive and swift adaptation to the Premier League persuading Liverpool to spend a reported £34million on him.
While some may have had their doubts initially, Mane again settled quickly and went on to score 13 times from 27 league appearances in his first campaign.
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Chelsea have selected Frank Lampard as their new head coach to replace Maurizio Sarri, with the club icon returning five years after departing.
Despite guiding Chelsea to Europa League success and a commendable third-place finish in the Premier League last term, Sarri never quite had the full backing of supporters and the decision to let him leave for Juventus surprised few.
Fan popularity certainly should not be any issue for Sarri s successor, however, as Lampard is regarded one of Chelsea s greatest ever players, having spent 13 years of his on-field career at Stamford Bridge.
Lampard featured 648 times for the Blues and netted 211 times, making him their all-time leading scorer, while he also won every major honour in English football.
But a strong af…
Ciro Immobile completed a sensational individual season by scoring against Napoli in Lazio s final Serie A outing.
The 30-year-old s first-half strike in Saturday s 3-1 defeat was his 36th goal in 37 top-flight appearances during 2019-20.
That astonishing return secured Immobile the Capocannoniere as Serie A s top scorer, along with the coveted European Golden Shoe.
Here, with some help from Opta Paolo, we take a look at his special efforts.
Joining Serie A s elite
If Immobile had managed a brace at Stadio San Paolo, he would have boasted the outright best season in Serie A history.
As it is, his 36 goals equalled the best mark in a single campaign set by Gonzalo Higuain in his Napoli days in 2015-16.
Immobile is only th…
Manchester City are interested in signing Kaoru Mitoma from Premier League rivals Brighton and Hove Albion in the January transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that City, who won the Premier League, the UEFA Champions League and the FA Cup last season, are planning a bid for the Japan international winger in January.
Kaoru Mitoma has been on the books of Brighton since 2021 and has established himself as one of the best players for the Seagulls. The 26-year-old has made six starts and one substitute appearance in the Premier League for Brighton so far this season, scoring three goals and providing three assists in the process.
Manchester City are at the top of the Premier League table at the moment with 18 points from seven matches, a point ahead of Tot…
Milan coach Stefano Pioli said there was little to be happy about after watching his side draw 1-1 with 10-man Sampdoria.
Jens Hauge came off the bench to score an 87th-minute equaliser and rescue a point for the Rossoneri on Saturday.
Fabio Quagliarella had put Samp ahead with a brilliant first-time finish following a loose pass from Theo Hernandez, barely two minutes before Adrien Silva was sent off for a second bookable offence.
It was not until Hauge s composed finish Milan s first meaningful shot on target that Pioli s men seemed to find any spark in attack, but they nearly snatched a scarcely deserved victory, Hakan Calhanoglu having a shot saved by Emil Audero and Franck Kessie striking the post in injury time.
We didn t deserve to win this game, …
Cesar Azpilicueta has ended speculation that he could join Barcelona by signing a new contract with Chelsea until 2024.
The long-serving captain had less than a year left on his previous deal with the Blues and emerged as a target for Barca.
Azpilicueta will not be returning to his homeland, though, after the defender agreed to remain at Stamford Bridge for at least another two seasons.
The 32-year-old joined the London club from Marseille in August 2012 and has won every major trophy during his decade at Stamford Bridge.
He has won the Premier League twice, the FA Cup, League Cup, Champions League, lifted the Europa League on two occasions, the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.
The skipper said: I am really happy to extend my stay at Che…
Liverpool great Dietmar Hamann questioned the hype surrounding Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola as he insisted Reds boss Jurgen Klopp ranks above the Spaniard.
City welcome Liverpool to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday in a match widely billed as a title decider, with Klopp s side cutting the leaders gap to just one point following a 10-game winning run.
Whether it s Trent Alexander-Arnold against Joao Cancelo, Alisson versus Ederson or the influence of Mohamed Salah compared to Kevin De Bruyne, there are battles to be won across the pitch in Manchester.
But there will also be a focus on the touchline, with Guardiola facing old foe Klopp, who has defeated the former Bayern Munich boss more than any other manager in all competitions (eight).
The Germa…
Prediction: Match to end in 2-2 draw
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Scotland and Poland will face each other in a friendly International this week. The match will be held at Hampden Park in Glasgow and is scheduled to kick off at 7:45pm UK time on Thursday evening.
Scotland
Scotland would have played against Ukraine this week had it not been for the war with Russia. So Steve Clarke’s side are taking on Poland in a friendly international in Glasgow on Thursday evening, as the 2022 World Cup qualifying playoff the got postponed.
Team News:
Scott McTominay may start in central defence.
Poland
Poland finished second in Group I behind winners England with 20 points from 10 matches and have advanced to the 2022 World Cup qualifying playoffs. The…