No Guardiola grudges for former Man City goalkeeper Hart

Joe Hart is cool with Pep Guardiola despite the Manchester City manager allowing him to leave after preferring other options in goal.

Hart joined Burnley in the transfer window after spending the last two seasons out on loan from City at Serie A side Torino and West Ham respectively.

The England goalkeeper won four Premier League Golden Glove awards during his time in Manchester, where he claimed a brace of Premier League titles, an FA Cup and two EFL Cups.

And Hart, who is keeping fellow international goalkeeper Tom Heaton out of the Burnley team, is happy to have left City in the past after ending a 12-year association with the reigning champions.

I m cool with Pep, I think he s a top manager, Hart told Sky Sports. He came in and was dead honest with m…

Luis Enrique believes PSG would benefit from a little more domestic pressure

Paris St Germain coach Luis Enrique has warned his side’s commanding advantage at the top of Ligue 1 could begin to work against them in the second half of the season.

PSG began the weekend 13 points clear of second-placed Brest before the latter’s trip to Strasbourg on Saturday evening, well on course to secure a third consecutive league title.

But Enrique is wary of the size of the lead his side hold going into their match at home to Rennes on Sunday, admitting a little more pressure from their domestic opponents might keep them sharper as they look to go deep in this season’s Champions League.

Luis Enrique: “This match will be a tough test for us”

— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English)

“We’re very happy with the distance between…

Ten Hag was right to criticise Man Utd players, says Dalot

Erik ten Hag was justified in criticising his Manchester United players on the back of last week s heavy Premier League loss to Manchester City, full-back Diogo Dalot has said.

United s four-match winning league run was ended in emphatic style by rivals City, who led 4-0 at half-time and 6-1 in the second half en route to an eventual 6-3 victory.

It marked the fourth time United had conceded six goals in a Premier League match and leaves them sixth in the table after seven matches of the 2022-23 campaign.

Ten Hag admitted after the match his side produced an unacceptable display, one in which they were undisciplined , lacked belief and made wrong decisions .

And Dalot, who played the full 90 minutes at the Etihad Stadium, accepts he and his team-mates can…

Blake’s cracker caps fightback by 10-man Bolton

Robbie Blake capped a superb fightback by 10-man Bolton as his late free-kick rescued a 2-2 draw against Birmingham on Sunday.

Owen Coyle s side looked in deep trouble as Roger Johnson and Craig Gardner scored for Birmingham either side of Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen s red card for violent conduct.

But Johnson then gave away a penalty which Kevin Davies converted to reduce the deficit with 20 minutes to go, setting the stage for substitute Blake to curl home his first goal for the club.

The dramatic finish at the Reebok Stadium maintained Bolton s unbeaten start to the season and left Birmingham rueing their failure to push home their numerical advantage.

It was the Bolton defence that looked their weak link early on as Birmingham took the lead …

Pitfalls abound for Champions League favourites

The opening shots of the 2010/2011 Champions League campaign are fired this week with tricky assignments lying in wait for Inter Milan and the main pretenders to the Italian holders coveted crown.

Group stage action gets under way on Tuesday with Inter away to Dutch champions FC Twente in what promises to be a rigorous examination of their capability to become the first back-to-back winners since AC Milan in 1989-90.

Inter, with Rafael Benitez succeeding Jose Mourinho in the San Siro hotseat, received an early season bodyblow last month when coming unstuck 2-0 to Atletico Madrid in the European SuperCup in Monaco.

After that former Liverpool boss Benitez will be looking for a firm statement of intent from his new team in a Group A that also comprises competition…

Andrei Arshavin finds new club

Russian forward Andrei Arshavin is set to join Kairat Almaty, French daily newspaper .

The 34-year-old has reportedly agreed a one-year deal with the Kazakh side that ended the previous campaign as runners up, finishing one point behind champions Astana.

Kairat clearly have big ambitions for the upcoming season as witnessed by their latest capture.

Andrei Arshavin has largely struggled for form ever since he left Arsenal back in July 2013, and he could only make eight league appearances for Kuban Krasnodar after joining from Zenit.

The veteran forward enjoyed the most successful periods of his career playing for Zenit and Arsenal, but the general impression is that he never quite managed to realise his full potential.

Arshavin was a fans’ favou…

Flick: Kimmich-Goretzka partnership ´one of the best in the world´

Germany s midfield partnership of Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich is  one of the best duos in the world , according to Hansi Flick.

The Bayern Munich pair have started together in each of their country s last three matches and are likely to anchor the midfield in the World Cup Qualifying Group J clash against North Macedonia on Monday.

Goretzka and Kimmich have also partnered each other in all seven of Bayern s Bundesliga outings this season, helping Julian Nagelsmann s side to the top of the table in the process.

Ahead of Germany s trip to North Macedonia, where victory could see Die Mannschaft secure their place in Qatar with two matches to spare, Flick lauded Kimmich and Goretzka, who also formed a key part of his dominant Bayern team.

Everyone kno…

Messi wants to leave Barcelona: The clubs we´d really love to see him join

It appears that, if Lionel Messi has his way, he will be playing for a new club before long.

The Barcelona captain and talisman has told his employers that he wants to leave and, although the club seem determined to keep him, they may be fighting a losing battle.

Of course, prising Messi away from Barca is by no means straightforward. His basic salary is said to be roughly €71million and, when you add in bonuses and other possible commitments, that represents a huge outlay on a 33-year-old player.

That s before you consider the prospect of a nine-figure transfer fee, assuming he cannot successfully argue that the clause allowing him to walk away from Barca for nothing is still valid. Only a tiny handful of clubs are even capable of pulling off such a deal, part…

Villas-Boas backs Ronaldo for Ballon d´Or after Juventus ´risk´

Cristiano Ronaldo s decision to leave Real Madrid for Juventus should be appreciated , Andre Villas-Boas said as the Marseille coach backed the star to win the Ballon d Or.

Barcelona star Lionel Messi is tipped to win the award for a record sixth time in Paris on Monday.

Ronaldo is also a five-time winner of the prize, but has not been as prolific since joining Juve from Madrid in 2018.

However, Villas-Boas backed his fellow Portuguese, although he labelled both Ronaldo and Messi as extraterrestrials.

It s difficult I am Portuguese so of course I support Ronaldo more, he said.

Cristiano took a risk by leaving the best team in the world, with more titles in the world. That kind of risk should be appreciated. Playing in Italy and scoring goals is …

Injured James will ´give everything´ to make England´s World Cup squad, says Chelsea boss Potter

Chelsea head coach Graham Potter says that injured Reece James will give everything in his race to make England s World Cup squad.

The defender has been sidelined for eight weeks after sustaining a knee injury during the Blues Champions League victory over Milan on Tuesday.

But the 23-year-old is clinging onto his hopes of playing at the World Cup, which begins on November 21 with England opening their campaign against Iran.

While Potter is unsure on James chances of appearing in Qatar, the Chelsea boss insists the full-back will not give up without a fight.

The race against time is on… But we won’t give up.

— Reece James (@ReeceJames)

In terms of his involvement in the World Cup, I don’t know. It will depend on how he recovers, …