Willy Caballero acknowledged he had suffered a hard week in the build-up to Manchester City s League Cup final success on Sunday, but thanked Manuel Pellegrini for sticking with him.
Caballero saved penalties from Lucas Leiva, Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana as City claimed their first trophy of the season in a dramatic shoot-out at Wembley. Coutinho had earlier cancelled out Fernandinho s opener in normal time.
Pellegrini had come under pressure to play usual first-choice stopper Joe Hart during the build-up, but the Chilean s decision to stick with his number two after questionable recent form from Caballero came up trumps.
My intuition helped me, Caballero told Sky Sports. It s amazing, to win this cup is amazing. It was a hard week for me but w…
Cristiano Ronaldo believes he will go down in history at Real Madrid but says he does not consider himself to be a galactico .
The Portugal ace has scored 40 goals in all competitions to help Madrid to a second Champions League final in a row and claim their first LaLiga title since 2012.
Ronaldo netted the winning penalty in the shoot-out when Madrid won the Champions League against Atletico Madrid last season and scored from the spot when they beat their city rivals in the 2014 showpiece.
However, he says he has not considered any specific preparation for Saturday s match in Cardiff, when he will attempt to find a way past the imperious Juventus defence and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.
I m not a typical player who likes to look at videos because I thi…
Nice have made Danilo Barbosa their first signing of the transfer window after finalising his transfer from Braga.
No details of defensive midfielder Danilo s contract were announced by Nice, who reportedly paid €8million for his signature.
The 22-year-old scored four goals in 31 league appearances for Braga in 2017-18, helping them to fourth place in the Primeira Liga. He also captained Brazil at the 2015 Under-20 World Cup.
After joining Braga from Vasco da Gama in 2014, Danilo spent time on loan at Valencia, Benfica and Standard Liege before returning to his parent club, where he broke into Abel Ferreira s first team.
Danilo Barbosa becomes the Aiglons’ first signing of the summer as the young defensive midfielder joins the club from Sporting Braga…
Argentina boss Jorge Sampaoli says he called up Mauro Icardi over Gonzalo Higuain as he wants a more rounded attacking player against Uruguay and Venezuela.
Inter star Icardi has only one senior cap for his country, which came in 2013, despite registering 82 goals and 22 assists in 148 games for the San Siro club.
Juventus striker Higuain was the surprise omission from Sampaoli s squad for the crucial World Cup qualifiers over the next 10 days, which Argentina are desperate to win to boost their chances of an automatic spot at the Russia 2018 finals.
Sampaoli says Icardi is better suited to his designs for the two matches than Higuain, but stressed that his international career is far from over.
It s to do with the analysis of what happened with the nati…
Julian Nagelsmann can keep the trophies coming for Bayern Munich, with Oliver Kahn forecasting a very successful future under the leadership of the incoming coach.
The 33-year-old Nagelsmann will leave RB Leipzig at the end of the season after agreeing a five-year contract with Bayern.
A world-record fee for a coach was reportedly agreed to secure the man who will take over from Hansi Flick, with Bayern expected to hand over at least €20million.
They may recoup some of that if Flick, who asked to be released from his contract, is appointed head coach of Germany.
By hiring such a young coach, Bayern are making a major statement about their intentions, seeing Nagelsmann as a long-term prospect.
Kahn, who will step up from his role on the board …
According to Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona are gearing up to make another move for Frenkie de Jong next summer after failing to secure his services prior to this year s window closing. The 21-year-old Dutchman has been on the radar of the Spanish giants for a while, and they re wary of the fact that his transfer value is set to rise as he prepares for another season with Ajax as well as his senior international debut.
Barca have made several additions to their squad over the course of the summer, but de Jong seemed to pretty high up on their priority list. According to the club they believe that a series of major European clubs are also going to be interested in Frenkie, including Paris Saint-Germain, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City.
Frenkie, who burst onto the scene…
Barcelona on Tuesday confirmed they have reached an agreement to sign Ferran Torres from Manchester City for a reported fee of €65million.
The Spain international returns to LaLiga following an 18-month spell in the Premier League and has signed a deal until June 2027.
Barca are said to be paying an initial €55m (£46.7m) and as much as €10m (£8.5m) in add-ons.
The Catalan giants revealed a €1billion release clause has been inserted in Torres contract and he will be officially unveiled at Camp Nou on January 3.
City initially spent roughly €23m (£20m) to sign Torres from Valencia in 2020, meaning they have more than doubled their money on a player who has never truly been considered a first-choice starter.
Barca had been linked wi…
Pep Guardiola has hailed Gabriel Jesus as an animal after the Brazil striker expressed frustration at his number of first-team starts for Manchester City.
Jesus made it three goals in as many starts this season when City began their EFL Cup defence with a 3-0 win at Preston North End in midweek, but he is likely to find himself back on the bench against Everton on Saturday.
Sergio Aguero has netted in every Premier League game this season and, although Jesus proclaimed his admiration and respect for City s all-time leading goalscorer in an interview with Esporte Interativo, the 2017 arrival from Palmeiras stated he was over the I have to wait phase at the Etihad Stadium.
He s passionate. I read that interview and it was perfect, Guardiola told a pre-match ne…
James Tavernier scored twice as Rangers booked their place in the Europa League last 16 with a 2-2 draw against Borussia Dortmund, which sealed a 6-4 aggregate win.
A week on from their brilliant 4-2 triumph at Signal Iduna Park, Rangers had their captain to thank as they secured progression on a frantic night in Glasgow.
Tavernier opened the scoring from the spot in the 22nd minute, but the excellent Jude Bellingham equalised for Dortmund before Donyell Malen put the visitors ahead.
Rangers resolve returned in the second half, though, with Tavernier drilling in his second just before the hour to end BVB s Europa League hopes.
Bellingham had hit the post as Dortmund looked to deflate the raucous atmosphere at Ibrox, but having withstood the early press…
Jude Bellingham said it was fantastic for Borussia Dortmund to seal their place in next season s Champions League as team-mate Jadon Sancho achieved a feat last accomplished by David Beckham.
At the age of 17, Bellingham has found himself thrust into Bundesliga action at the heart of Dortmund s midfield, and the former Birmingham City youngster could be heading for Euro 2020 duty with England at season s end.
A challenging campaign for a talented Dortmund squad is ending on a high, with their 4-1 DFB-Pokal final win over RB Leipzig on Thursday followed by Sunday s 3-1 Bundesliga victory at Mainz.
That result means Dortmund, who sit third with one round of games remaining, are certain to finish in the top four. Bellingham piled praise on interim head coach Edin …