Monchi has returned to Sevilla as sporting director, the LaLiga club have confirmed.
The 50-year-old initially joined Sevilla as a goalkeeper in 1988 before becoming the behind-the-scenes mastermind of a glorious modern era.
The club won five Europa Leagues in the space of a decade, beginning with back-to-back titles in 2005-06 and 2006-07 before a run of three in a row concluded with a 3-1 comeback win over Liverpool in the 2016 final. Sevilla also claimed the Copa del Rey in 2006-07 and 2009-10.
Monchi departed in 2017 to take on the same role at Roma and, although the capital club secured a third-place finish in 2017-18, their form has deteriorated this season.
Head coach Eusebio Di Francesco paid with his job as a Champions League exit at the hands o…
Best Odds: 3/5
Bookmaker:
Looking to extend their buffer at the top of the La Liga table this weekend, Real Madrid will travel across the capital to local rivals Rayo Vallecano on Sunday lunchtime.
Rayo Vallecano
Starting with the hosts, while some in Rayo Vallecano’s camp might have opened up the 2023/24 campaign with their sights set on mounting another top-half charge, the little Thunderbolts are enduring an extended struggle. Last seen eventually falling to a 2-1 defeat away at Mallorca, Inigo Perez’s squad almost find themselves sat in La Liga limbo. Continuing to show a string of issues on either side of opening the New Year, Vallecano have collected just a single point from any of their previous five top-flight appearances a run that stems back to Ja…
Inter striker Romelu Lukaku has called for action from Serie A officials after allegedly being targeted by racist chants from Juventus fans following his equaliser at the Allianz Stadium.
The Belgium international netted a penalty in the fifth minute of stoppage time to earn Inter a 1-1 draw in Tuesday s Coppa Italia semi-final first leg, before using his finger to shush the home fans.
Referee Davide Massa booked Lukaku for the celebration and showed the goalscorer a second yellow card following a heated aftermath that spilled over past full-time, leading to Juventus winger Juan Cuadrado and Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic also seeing red.
Lukaku pointed to his previous experiences of racism in Italy as he responded to the events with an Instagram post.
Pep Guardiola believes he has already completed the main challenge of his tenure at Manchester City.
City are 17 points behind runaway Premier League leaders Liverpool heading into Sunday s trip to Arsenal, with any realistic hopes of a third straight title already extinguished.
As a result, an increasing focus has been placed upon their manager s future over recent weeks.
Guardiola is in his fourth season at the Etihad Stadium, meaning he is set to equal his joint-longest tenure at a club, having led Barcelona from 2008-09 until the end of 2011-12.
The former Bayern Munich boss denied reports this week that his contract at City, which expires in 2021, has a break clause at the end of this term and has spoken of potentially staying beyond his current dea…
Cristiano Ronaldo stands alone as the most prolific Champions League goalscorer of all time.
For Manchester United, Real Madrid and now Juventus, the Portugal superstar has brought his gifts to bear against the continent s finest.
A five-time winner in Europe s top competition, Ronaldo scored his 100th Champions League goal against Bayern Munich on April 18 three years ago part of a thrilling hat-trick that wrapped up an extra-time triumph in the quarter-finals.
Here, with some help from Opta, we trawl through his incredible record in numbers.
18/04 On this day in 2017, Cristiano Ronaldo scored a perfect hat-trick against FC Bayern München becoming the first player to reach 100 European Cup/Champions League goals in the competition’s history. Clinica…
Best odds: 10/11
Bookmaker:
In light of Xabi Alonso confirming his decision not to leave Bayer Leverkusen at the end of the season, Liverpool are reportedly considering Roberto De Zerbi as a candidate to replace Jurgen Klopp in the Anfield dugout, and the prospect of the Italian moving there from Brighton and Hove Albion adds intrigue to the Premier League clash between the two teams on Sunday.
A win would take Liverpool back to the top of the table, if only for a few hours as title rivals Manchester City and Arsenal face each other shortly afterwards. Every point out for grabs is crucial for Brighton too as they fight to make back-to-back appearances in Europe.
Liverpool
Since Klopp s surprising resignation announcement in January, Liverpool fans have …
Premier League data dive: Gundogan seals Man City glory as Liverpool fall just short while Burnley d
Manchester City sealed the Premier League title in dramatic fashion as they came from behind to beat Aston Villa 3-2.
It meant Liverpool s own comeback win over Wolves was rendered meaningless, as Jurgen Klopp s team finished second, one point off the pace.
Chelsea capped an ultimately underwhelming campaign by beating Watford, who will be joined in the Championship next season by Burnley – the Clarets relegated by a defeat to Newcastle United, while Leeds United beat Brentford to stay up.
Already safe Everton were hammered 5-1 at Arsenal, but the Gunners big win was not enough to get them into the Champions League as Tottenham thrashed Norwich City.
Elsewhere, Manchester United lost 1-0 to Crystal Palace to end a dismal season for them, but they did a…
Antonio Conte said Inter are ready to claim silverware this season after moving further clear atop the Serie A summit.
Romelu Lukaku scored the only goal of the game as high-flying Inter edged Bologna 1-0 on Saturday to open up an eight-point lead.
Inter, who last won the Scudetto in 2010, have claimed nine consecutive league victories for the first time since 2007 to be clear of city rivals Milan with a match in hand.
Conte s Inter came close to hoisting a trophy aloft last season, beaten by Sevilla in the Europa League final, but the former Italy boss feels the Nerazzurri are better equipped for glory in 2020-21.
Inevitably, as we get closer to the finish line, every victory weighs more and more, Conte told Sky Sport Italia.
Winning in Bologna…
Sevilla head coach Julen Lopetegui was thrilled to see goalkeeper Yassine Bounou make history with his last-gasp goal against Real Valladolid in LaLiga.
Bounou scored an incredible 94th-minute equaliser to rescue a 1-1 draw for visiting Sevilla at Valladolid on Saturday.
Seeking a late leveller, Sevilla sent goalkeeper Bounou forward and the Morocco international smashed home the equaliser at the death following a corner.
Bounou became the first goalkeeper in Sevilla s history to score in LaLiga – Andres Palop netted for the club in the UEFA Cup in 2007 – while the previous shot-stopper in the Spanish top flight to score from a non-penalty situation in the 21st century was Deportivo La Coruna s Dani Aranzubia in 2011.
1 Yassine Bounou has become the …
A frustrated Inter missed the chance to go top of Serie A after late goals for Jaka Bijol and Tolgay Arslan handed Udinese a 3-1 victory at Stadio Friuli.
The visitors had struck first inside five minutes to lead through Nicolo Barella, before a Milan Skriniar own goal had brought their hosts back into the game.
Both teams looked set to settle for a share of the spoils, but Bijol s powerful glance off Gerard Deulofeu s corner followed by Arslan s sharp header in injury time sealed the points for Udinese.
Defeat means Simone Inzaghi s side will return in October facing a fight to get back into the top four, with the result moving Udinese top ahead of Milan s clash with Napoli and Atalanta s trip to Roma.
A brisk end-to-end opening saw Inter seize th…