Andres Iniesta has accused Jose Mourinho of cultivating hatred between Real Madrid and Barcelona players during his time in LaLiga and says it led to unbearable tension within the Spain national team.
Mourinho spent three years in charge of Madrid after leaving Inter in 2010 and, during his reign, the Clasico rivalry became hugely bitter.
The most notable incident around a match occurred during a Supercopa de Espana clash in August 2011, when Mourinho appeared to poke Pep Guardiola s assistant Tito Vilanova in the eye amid a touchline fracas.
Mourinho then referred to Vilanova as Pito – Spanish slang for male genitalia – after the match, claiming he had no idea who Guardiola s assistant was, while Gerard Pique accused the Portuguese coach of ruining Spanish f…
Chelsea smashed the British transfer record when they signed the World Cup winner from Benfica in the January transfer window for an outright £106m, surpassing Jack Grealish’s fee for his move from Aston Villa to Manchester City.
Mykhailo Mudryk (£88.5m)
The Ukraine star cost £62million up front when he joined from Shakhtar Donetsk in January, but that fee could rise to £88.5m with possible add-ons.
Wesley Fofana (£75m)
A dream realised.
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC)
Chelsea were after defensive reinforcements when they signed Wesley Fofana from Leicester. The France international cost £70million, with a possible further £5m to be paid to the Foxes in add-ons.
Marc Cucurella (£63m)
Chelsea have looked to Brighton on a number of occasi…
South Korea head coach Paulo Bento wants his side to be more ruthless in front of goal when they face Qatar in the Asian Cup quarter-finals.
Bento s men advanced to the last eight courtesy of a hard-fought 2-1 extra-time win over Bahrain on Tuesday, a victory sealed by Kim Jin-su s goal in stoppage time at the end of the first additional period.
Qatar, meanwhile, overcame Iraq thanks to Bassam Al Rawi s solitary goal and both teams boast a 100 per cent record at this year s tournament, meaning something has to give at Zayed Sports City Stadium on Friday.
Tottenham forward Son Heung-min has not found the net in his two matches since joining up with the team, but Bento insists the onus is on the collective to shoulder the responsibility of taking their opportunitie…
Manchester City 6 Chelsea 0: Aguero hits historic hat-trick as champions run riot and reclaim top sp
Sergio Aguero equalled the record for Premier League hat-tricks as a rampant Manchester City thrashed Chelsea 6-0 at home to leapfrog Liverpool and return to the table s summit.
Chelsea were hammered 4-0 at Bournemouth in their last away league match and Maurizio Sarri s side were taken apart by the defending champions at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, the Blues suffering their heaviest ever Premier League loss.
Raheem Sterling struck in the fourth minute and Ilkay Gundogan rapidly made it four after Aguero s first-half double, with Chelsea unable to muster any response in the face of City s incredible intensity.
Aguero, who also hit a treble in City s last home league game against Arsenal, stroked home a penalty after the break to join Alan Shearer on 11 Premier…
Jonathan David and Edon Zhegrova again came up with potentially pivotal goals to put Lille in control of their Champions League play-off tie against Slavia Praha on Tuesday.
Both David and Zhegrova had netted against Fenerbahce in the previous round, with the Canada forward s extra-time penalty eliminating Jose Mourinho s men, and the pair were on target once more in a 2-0 win at Valenciennes Stade du Hainaut.
It initially looked as though this might not be David s night, with last season s 19-goal Ligue 1 star passing up two very presentable openings in the first half.
David would have been particularly disappointed with the second of those, firing over after Zhegrova s effort was blocked by Antonin Kinsky, but he made amends in the 52nd minute when a first-time…
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Opening the new campaign in North London this weekend, Tottenham will host a new-look Everton side from behind closed doors on Sunday afternoon.
Tottenham
Starting with the hosts, while Tottenham might have managed to open their pre-season preparations with three wins on the bounce, Jose Mourinho s men will be looking to bounce back from their shock defeat across the capital last week. Hit with a 2-1 defeat against recently relegated Watford at Vicarage Road, there is no doubt that the former Manchester United boss will be glad to make a return to home soil on Sunday afternoon. Really enjoying an end of season purple patch and managing to secure a top-six finish at the final hour, Spurs enjoyed a six-match Premier League unbeaten run e…
Cristiano Ronaldo made his 150th appearance in European club competition in Real Madrid s clash with Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday.
The 32-year-old, who also reached 400 games for the club, has now played 146 times in the Champions League – including four qualifiers – and twice in both the Europa League and UEFA Super Cup.
The Portugal star s record in those 150 matches is, unsurprisingly, spectacular. He has won 95, drawn 33 and lost just 23, giving him a winning percentage of 63 per cent.
Ronaldo has scored 112 times in those fixtures for Madrid, Manchester United and Sporting CP, more than any other player in European competition, including Barcelona star and long-term rival Lionel Messi.
Tuesday s 3-1 victory at Signal Iduna Park was his 293r…
Cristiano Ronaldo s decision to leave Real Madrid for Juventus brings to a close one of the most fruitful relationships in the history of football.
The iconic attacker s nine-year stint at the Santiago Bernabeu has coincided with a period of sustained success for the club, the forward winning a remarkable four Champions League titles during his time in Spain.
Ronaldo has also been recognised individually, sharing the last 10 Ballons d Or with Barcelona rival Lionel Messi, including one victory with Manchester United prior to his Madrid move.
A number of players have come close to breaking their stranglehold on the award over the past decade, but sustained quality and spectacular feats of goalscoring ensured their iron grip is as tight as ever.
As Ronald…
Flamengo appointed former Brazil goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni as their new head coach, the Brazilian champions announced on Tuesday.
Ceni – who holds the record for most goals scored by a goalkeeper with 131 – replaces Domenec Torrent at the Campeonato Brasileiro and Copa Libertadores champions, after leaving Fortaleza.
Flamengo turned to Ceni after Torrent was sacked following just three months in charge following a 4-0 rout at the hands of title rivals Atletico Mineiro, having also lost 4-1 to Sao Paulo a week earlier.
The 47-year-old joins a Flamengo side third in the table and only a point adrift of leaders Internacional.
Veja algumas imagens de como foi o primeiro treino do técnico Rogério Ceni no Mengão!
— Flamengo (@Flamengo)
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So, 19 games in and the big three are exactly where you would expect them to be in the LaLiga table.
Saturday saw all three teams in action following the resumption of top-flight action in Spain, with leaders Barcelona conceding late to lowly Espanyol as they were held to a 2-2 draw in an entertaining derby.
While Barca remain on top, Real Madrid are now level on points with their rivals after a 3-0 triumph away at Getafe. As for Atletico Madrid, they overcame Levante 2-1 at home to make it four wins on the spin in all competitions, keeping them in touch with the top two ahead of what could be an intriguing battle (after all, Sevilla are level on points with Atleti, too).
There has not been a genuine title race in the competition since Real Madrid were crow…