Anderlecht player Axel Witsel became public enemy number one here Monday a day after putting Standard Liege s Marcin Wasilewski in hospital with a broken ankle and facing a year out of football.
Wasilewski, 29, underwent an operation after the 1-1 league draw on Sunday to reduce the fracture but, with an injury similar to the horrific one suffered by Arsenal s Eduardo in February 2008, he is expected to go under the knife again next week.
His club Standard, the defending league champions from the French-speaking city of Liege, said the defender could be out for a year meaning he will miss the World Cup finals if Poland manage to qualify.
Witsel meanwhile was put through the wringer by the country s press, which is believed to be partly because he is considered a…
Jose Mourinho makes an emotional return to Porto on Tuesday and, not for the first time this season, he will seek some Champions League solace to make up for Chelsea s patchy Premier League form.
Mourinho famously led Porto to Champions League glory in 2004 before moving to Stamford Bridge for his first stint in west London.
After reaffirming his standing as one the world s best coaches during spells at Inter and Real Madrid, Mourinho returned to Chelsea in 2013, and won the Premier League title comfortably last season.
But Mourinho has endured a miserable start to 2014-15 domestically, with Saturday s 2-2 draw at Newcastle United leaving Chelsea with just eight points from seven league games.
Mourinho described Chelsea s first-half showing at St James …
Jurgen Klopp insists there is no rush to tie Adam Lallana down to a new contract as reports gather pace that the England international is close to agreeing a fresh deal.
Lallana has emerged as a key component of Klopp s XI at Anfield having initially struggled under previous manager Brendan Rodgers.
Reports this week suggested that Lallana, whose deal expires in 2019, is set to pen terms until 2021 that will make him the club s second highest earner.
Klopp was non-committal when asked how close Liverpool were to agreeing terms, but did recognise Lallana s importance to the Reds.
Adam is a very important player for us, said Klopp.
He already has a pretty long contract.
How close is a new one? We don t talk about this. It says nothing ab…
RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol is set for a medical at Manchester City in the next few days after the two clubs agreed a 90 million euros (£77.5million) deal.
The Bundesliga side were said to be holding out for a fee of 100m euros (£86m) for the Croatia international, but City have been able to push the transfer through at a price that suits them.
The 21-year-old is due in Manchester before the end of the week for a medical, the PA news agency understands.
Gvardiol would add competition on the left side of City’s defence, having helped Croatia reach the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup and then the final of the Nations League, where they were beaten by Spain.
Midfielder Mateo Kovacic is so far City’s only summer signing, with the Croatian havin…
Favourites Brazil and Argentina were both on the receiving end of shock eliminations in the quarter final stage of this year’s Copa America tournament overnight, leaving the race for the 2011 title well and truly open.
Brazil failed in their quest to break down a resolute Paraguayan outfit that were inspired by their goalkeeper Justo Villar, with the match ending 0-0 after the allotted 120 minutes. Incredibly, the five time World Cup winners missed all four of their spot kicks in the shoot out, sealing their fate on the night.
Meanwhile, the Argentine hosts were the better side in their respective quarter final against Uruguay, but failed to capitalise on their opportunities, going down 5-4 on penalties, with Carlos Tevez missing the decisive shot.
Chile and C…