It has been about 6years since Barcelona and Real Madrid crossed paths en route to Copa del Rey final, which Barca got eliminated in after a 3-0 victory by Real.

According to Marca, Dr. Pedro Luis Ripoll analysed Messi condition as they prepare for the Copa del Rey semi-final first leg.

“The Argentine has been out with a muscular injury that seems to have healed. He suffered an impact on the inside of his right thigh, where the adductor muscles are located; in the language of football, he suffered a ‘sandwich’.

“As a result, the muscular fibres were bruised and, in all probability, there could have been a bleed. Messi dribbles very often and in order to do this effectively, you need your adductor muscles to be in a good condition. His condition requires a careful nature, especially if the bleeding has been abundant, to avoid further complications.

Although Messi is expected on field, it is advised that he should not play from the start.

Barcelona are the King of the Copa del Rey, there is no doubt but what could be their fate as duo Lionel Messi and Ousmane Dembele has both recently been knocked out of play due to injury?


source: https://www.soccerrundown.com/copa-del-rey-barcelona-vs-real-madrid-why-barcelona-lies-at-great-risk/

22years in Arsenal . He's even older than me in Arsenal...

Article source - http://www.247soccernews.com/2018/03/arsene-wenger-could-be-making-shocking.html

I was going through the internet this morning and I came across this article. Its kinda shocking indeed to hear that Arsene Wenger would be moving to PSG �


Article :
Arsenal are passing through a bad situation this season having lost four in a row. They currently are sixth in the league table and 13 points behind Tottenham Hotspur.

Arsenal currently would have to win the Europa League if they must participate in playing the Champions League game next year.

So far, the stay of Arsene Wenger in the club is been threatened by the directors of Arsenal and the Frenchman might be leaving in the summer despite signing a two-year extension last summer with the club.

The 68-year-old has no intention of leaving Arsenal and is ready to fight to remain in Arsenal.

But according to Football London, PSG are willing to offer the Frenchman an escape route.

Rumours have it that PSG's current coach Unai Emery could be fired at the end of the season after they got kicked out by Real Madrid in the Champions League, delivering a 5-2 aggregate score over the two legs.

Buy better players he wont, leave he won't, and he has been in Arsenal for 22years...

Abeg is Arsenal owned by his father?

Arsenal FC are faced with their greatest nightmare. Since the arrival of Arsene Wenger, Arsenal have never had such worst point at this stage of the season.

Arsene Wenger watched his team evicted from the FA Cup by Nottingham Forest and the League Cup by Manchester City.

The Gunner's boss has lost the support of the Club's directors but he's still been kept due to his good relationship with Stan Kroenke, who happens to be the majority stakeholder in the club.

The 68-year-old arrived Arsenal in 1996, 22 years ago and he is not planning on going anywhere.

"It's the first time it happens in my whole career, I must say," Wenger told Sky Sports

"It's not easy, but I have enough experience and enough desire to turn things around and I must say that, at the moment, when you need to stay in the game we are making few mistakes at the wrong moments.

"We have to stick together and focus. We have no other solution."

Source - http://www.247soccernews.com/2018/03/arsene-wenger-says-he-is-not-leaving.html

I don't think that Nigeria have what it takes to survive the tournament. Yes they tried in qualifying for the World Cup but looking at the country today, they might still be faced with the same issues of the past, money.

Source - http://www.247soccernews.com/2018/03/george-weah-urges-nigeria-to-prepare.html

Liberia President George Weah has encouraged Nigeria to avoid every unnecessary money issues and make proper preparations for the upcoming World Cup tournament in Russia.

The President earlier made an official visit to his Nigerian counterpart, President Muhammadu Buhari where he appraised the Super Eagles for qualifying for the Russia 2018 WC.

He called the Eagles "a model" for other African teams to follow and has urged Nigeria to avoid any cash issues like such that plagued their appearances in previous editions of the tournament.

"I have played with great Nigerian players, I played against them. Now you have a new generation, the fact that they qualified is a good thing for Nigeria," Weah said.

"But I hope they'll prepare very early because they're going to represent Africa and we'll be there to watch them, for them to bring the trophy for the first time if it's possible".

According to AS, the Nigeria Football Federation(NFF) promised in November that it would pay players and officials a total of $2.4 million as a bonus for securing qualification. Players deliberately missed a training session at the Brazil World Cup in 2014 as a protest when the qualification bonus was not paid.

Weah has pointed out that unpaid fees and bonuses disrupt players. He stated that it also gave them an excuse when they perform bellow expectation.

"Let the players not have an excuse, support them and bring back the cup," he added.

President Weah happens to be a former Monaco, Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan forward and is a global sporting superstar in the 1990s. He remains Africa's Only Balloon D'Or Winner.

According to AS, the tournament in Russia will be Nigeria's sixth appearance at the finals and they have reached the knockout rounds three times, in 1994, 1998 and 2014.

Article source - http://www.247soccernews.com/2018/03/nigeria-super-eagles-uzoho-is-not-our.html?m=1

Nigerian Super Eagles coach, Gornot Rohr has dismissed rumors which claims Deportivo de La Coruna goalkeeper Francis Uzoho to be the Eagles first choice for the 2018 World Cup tournament.

"Uzoho is working hard, but he is only third choice goalkeeper at La Coruna." Rohr said to Mega Sports.

According to Vanguard News, he also disclosed sending goalkeeper trainer to observe Uzoho in Spain, Daniel Akpeyi in Chippa United and finally Dele Alampasu who is in Portugal.

"Let us work on all our goalkeepers. We will give equal attention to everyone and we will work equally with all the goalkeepers we have available." he concluded.

Question from author:
Is Rohr's reason good enough to disqualify Uzoho from being the No 1 goalkeeper?

Poland vs Nigeria (March 23rd)
Serbia vs Nigeria (March 27th)
Nigeria vs DR Congo (May 28th)
England vs Nigeria (June 2nd)
Czech Republic vs Nigeria (June 6th)


The Super Eagles will be slugging it out with Poland on March 23 before taking on Serbia four days later and then face DR Congo in Abuja on May 28.

They will also clash with England on June 2 at Wembley before their final warm-up match against Czech Republic on June 6.

[center]NFF arranges 5 friendly matches for the Super Eagles in preparation for the World Cup tournament. [/center]
[center]
Siasia believes this idea to be a great one.[/center]


The idea of the NFF arranging for friendlies for the Super Eagles ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, interests Samson Siasia.


The Super Eagles will be taking on Poland and Serbia on March 23rd and March 27th respectively. They will also be meeting with Congo, England and Czech Republic before the World Cup commences.


“It is a joyful thing for every Nigerian that we have qualified and going to fly our flag in Russia but as we all know, World Cup is all about preparations,” Siasia said.


“The Super Eagles Coach (Gernot Rohr) and the FA need to do everything possible to carry out the World Cup plans. Fine, we have seen partnerships here and there but we need to do so much more.


“Personally, I will commend Nigerian Breweries for coming up to partner with the NFF, because they need something like that to make things easy for them ahead of the World Cup,” he added.


"And for Nigeria Breweries to partner the NFF, it means they believe in the Super Eagles and what Nigeria can do at the World Cup.


"Like I said that World Cup is all about preparations, I am happy to hear that we are playing friendly matches with England, Poland and a few others. These games will definitely help the coaches and the players to prepare well for the World Cup,” Siasia concluded.

Source: http://www.247soccernews.com/2018/02/siasia-happy-over-nffs-world-cup-plans.html

Star player nahhh

Eden speaks about the upcoming Chelsea vs Barcelona Champion League clash.
Eden Hazard has been an outstanding striker for the blues but might be on a move to Real Madrid.

Although the rumors about his move has been getting stronger, he still stands to be the hope of Chelsea for a good performance during their meeting with Barcelona.

He has also praised the Real Madrid boss Zidane saying "He was my idol when I was a boy. I remember when he spoke about me for the first time, 10 years ago and now he is the manager of one of the best clubs in the world.

"In football you never know," he said. "For now, I am happy at Chelsea and focused on them."

He also talked about the upcoming Champions League match against Barça and he said "It's a great Champions League game. This season we haven't been the same as last season, of course, and they are clearly very good. That's why we love football. I'm sure that we can beat them if we play together, we will see."

He never failed to recognize Barça star player Messi and he said: "Barça have a player who is not from this planet. He's different, a class above, but that's not just one player, it's the whole team."

Does Chelsea have what it takes to beat Barça?

Source http://www.247soccernews.com/2018/02/eden-hazard-messi-is-not-from-this.html

Alexis Sánchez’s agent has confirmed that the punishment given to his client is "entirely unjust" and has also started that Alexis has accepted the prison sentence.


Reports disclosed that Sanchez admitted defrauding the Spanish treasury of about £1m for image rights during his days at Barcelona in 2012-2013.


According to Daily Post, he has been fined £525,000 and he will also have to repay the money to the authorities.


However, he has accepted the charges against him and is ready to face the tune of the music but his Agent Fernando Felicevich seems not to be happy with the decision.


“Prosecutors and the tax office have put more than 30 players in the same situation, accusing them of the same crimes and threatening them with effective prison sentences,” Felicevich said.


“Almost the entire squad at Real Madrid and FC Barcelona have been put in this situation, as the clubs have used a means of paying tax that was accepted by the tax office in the past.


“The supposed crimes are the use of contracts that have been used for a long time by infinite numbers of players, in agreement and coordination with the most prestigious clubs in Spain and using a legitimate method of taxation that was tacitly and expressly accepted by inland revenue in the past.”


He added: “During all these processes, violating the rights of those investigated, continued, repeated and obscene leaks served as a means of exerting pressure to force players to accept agreements like the one that has been leaked today. In some cases, there is no choice but to bow to that pressure and, to avoid greater injustice, accept injustice like this. Many players and coaches have had to do this and many more will have to.


“Given the dreadful experiences suffered by Messi, Ronaldo, etc have had to suffer, we concluded that it was better to accept an unjust agreement but be able to turn the page and not to be subjected to political and media pressure.”

Article source - http://www.247soccernews.com/2018/02/alexis-sanchez-punished-for-defrauding.html

Real Madrid are planning a move for PSG star Neymar Jr. to be the face of a new era at the Bernabeu, although the sums are huge, it’s not being written off altogether.

According to claims from Marca, a spanish newspaper, Neymar had already started giving Real Madrid chiefs a warm signal since 'The Best' award held on October last year.


Meanwhile, Los Blancos will look to ditch Cristiano Ronaldo which leaves Neymar as a good replacement for the Ballon D'or winner.


According to Corriere dello Sport, President Florentino Perez has reportedly turned down pressure from Ronaldo for a new deal, with the star player unhappy at arning less than Lionel Messi after his bumper extension at the Camp Nou.


Los Blancos may not just ditch Cristiano Ronaldo alone, speculations are rising about Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema too.

Article source - http://www.pluraltrends.com/2018/01/transfer-news-neymar-could-be-replacing.html

Read more - http://www.pluraltrends.com/2018/01/harry-kane-reportedly-in-advanced-talks.html

According to reports from Spain, Real Madrid has interest in the English player-Harry Kane and this has spiced up some talks.

DiaroGol reports that the talks have lengthened in that the striker has chosen the number he wants.

Current president of Real Madrid, Florentino Perez has identified the Tottenham forward as the ideal target to rejuvenate the Spanish Primera League holder. The club is 16points behind Barca and hence need to find their goalscoring feet back on ground if they must overcome PSG in the Champion's League.

Although the fee has not been fixed but the price won't come cheap especially since the 24-year old was named third most valuable player in Europe by CIES.

According to CIES, Neymar, Messi and Kane are Europe's top three most valuable players.

Meanwhile, Kane has admitted that he has not begun contract negotiations with Tottenham but he has 4 more years remaining on his deal.

Nonetheless, he admitted that Tottenham needs to compete for silverware if they wish to see him stay in north London.

Real Madrid who takes on Numancia in the copa del Reyon Wednesday can offer him a shot at winning the Champions League. The Merengues will have to test Tottenham with a huge offer if they wish to unite Kane with former Spurs aces Gareth Bale and Luke Modric.

Read more at http://www.pluraltrends.com/2018/01/jose-mourinho-happy-to-sell-daley-blind.html

Jose Mourinho is willing to sell the Man United star, Daley Blind if he so requests while Barcelona is keen to sign him.

The Portuguese coach has used the Dutch international this season and Blind has made only 3 starts in the Premier League.

Blind has not started in the league since August, with Ashley Young preferred in the left-back role and while he started in the 2-1 win over Derby County on Friday, he remains behind Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo, Victor Lindelof and Eric Bailly in the peaking order.

Blind's lack of action has left him questioning his future at Old Trafford moreso the reason behind Mourinho's happiness to sell the former Ajax man.

Meanwhile, the Netherlands International is keen to consider his options over until the end of the season as he waits to see how much first team football he earns under Mourinho in the later half of the 2017/18 campaign.

judedwriter:
I wonder when man city will drop points?

Up Man City!!!!!!!!!

Masama:
Gattuso will be sacked at the end of the season

Na swear you de swear for am? lolls

source - http://www.pluraltrends.com/2017/12/peherps-i-am-worst-coach-in-serie-but-i.html

AC Milan manager, Gennaro Gattuso, has admitted he may be the “worst coach in Serie A, after their 1-0 victory over Inter Milan on Wednesday at the quarter-final of the Coppa Italia.

Patrick Cutrone was the hero again for struggling Milan, the 19-year-old scoring in the 105th minute to settle the quarter-final fixture at San Siro.

Gattuso has now called on his side to take that form into their upcoming league matches.

“Perhaps I am the worst coach in Serie A, but I always want to win, even playing in the garden with my son,” Gattuso told Rai Sport.

“I want my lads to prove that what our victory tonight was not bit of a fluke, then we’ll take it one game at a time.

“Now there are two difficult games coming up in Serie A and we need points to climb the table.

AC Milan currently sit 11th in the Serie A table, 21 points behind leaders Napoli, with games against Fiorentina and Crotone set to come in the next seven days.

“I didn’t see much difference between this performance and the defeat to Atalanta. Some might call me crazy for saying that. We had the game with Verona in hand too until we conceded the first goal like dummies.

“This is a team that does well until it runs into the first hurdle and today we overcame the hurdles.”

AC Milan is currently 11th in Serie A following just one win in six matches. Congrats to them.

Unbeaten City have also won a record-equalling 11 successive away matches in the English top-flight, a total matched only by Chelsea in 2008.

Raheem Sterling goal on Wednesday at Newcastle United earned them a 1-0 win as well as their !8th Successive Win

The victory extended their lead at the top of the table to 15 points and their record-breaking winning streak to 18 matches.

The only club in Europe's five biggest leagues to have had a longer winning run is Bayern Munich, who earned 19 consecutive victories under Guardiola in 2013-14.

“It’s okay. When you’re winning 18 games in a row, you have 10-15 minutes in that way but we are so happy.

“It’s not easy when Newcastle don’t want to play. They defend well and want to counter-attack and defend deep. It’s not easy." said Guardiola in a conference.

City hit the woodwork three times in total — twice from Sergio Aguero and once from Kevin De Bruyne. In rare Newcastle attacks, Rolando Aarons had a first-half chip cleared off the line and Dwight Gayle headed wide late on.

Now, Guardiola is just one win away from equaling the record of 19 league victories in a row that he set with Bayern Munich in 2013-14.

Does Guardiola repeating history make him the best coach in English league?

Article source - http://www.pluraltrends.com/2017/12/raheem-sterling-goal-earns-manchester.html

article source - http://www.pluraltrends.com/2017/12/united-boss-despirate-to-bid-for.html

Manchester United have opened talks with Bordeaux to sign 20-year-old prodigy Malcom.

The United boss is eager to bring the Brazilian to the Premier League has ordered his club to open talks with Bordeaux because he views Malcom as one of the best young prospects in Europe.

The French club want around £50m ($67m) for the youngster but United are prepared to offer a fee in the range of £33m ($44m).

Mourinho wants Malcom to arrive in the summer, but is fearful Ed Woodward will take a similar stance in the transfer pursuit as the United vice-chairman did with Ivan Perisic.

Malcom joined Bordeaux from Corinthians last year and has scored seven goals in 18 Ligue 1 games this season. According to Daily Mail talks are already in place to sign the youngster and loan him back to Bordeaux for the rest of the season.

Jose Mourinho lining-up about £30million swoop for Brazilian star Malcom and is desperate to complete deal in January window.

Meanwhile, Bordeaux have already insisted Malcom is going nowhere in January, but United are ready to make an opening bid of £40m believing a deal can be agreed in the coming month.

United are happy to allow Malcom to remain at Bordeaux for the remainder of the season, but Mourinho would like an agreement sooner rather than later.

Arsenal are another side sniffing around the Brazilian and United will need to act quickly to avoid a bidding war erupting.

article source - http://www.pluraltrends.com/2017/12/how-neymars-departure-from-barcelona.html