Falcao open to Atletico Madrid return

(GSM) Gabriel Milito is ready to make his comeback for Barcelona after a year and a half of injury worries. The Argentine defender already got the all-clear to return to first-team action late November and has been included in the match selection for the crucial game against Dynamo Kiev. Milito is expected to start on the bench.

The 29-year-old centre half sustained a knee ligament injury in the Champions League match against Manchester United in April 2008 and has been at the sidelines since then. A week ago, Barcelona announced that Milito had recovered from his injury. The Argentina international was overlooked for the league matches against Xerez and Deportivo La Coruna, but Barca coach Guardiola has named him in a 19-man traveling party for the trip to the Ukraine.

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Matt Taylor picked out Bristol Rovers’ first-half performance and the form of striker Chris Martin as the foundations for a first Sky Bet League One victory in five games.

Martin and Luke Thomas found the net inside the first quarter of the match to put the Pirates in control, and after Mark Harris had pulled one back, Harvey Vale sealed Rovers’ first win of 2024.

“We took responsibility and played forward more and got ourselves up the pitch,” said Taylor. “We know we’ve got enough quality if we’re there to hurt the opposition.

“So I was pleased with that start and then the goals were a bonus. Two really good goals (in the first half). Chris Martin’s in terms of a breakaway and a cross, and he’s in fantastic form at the moment.

“We s…

Mark Hughes is dreaming of the Capital One Cup final as his Stoke City side pr
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epare to take on Birmingham City in the fourth round.

Stoke s last Wembley experience came in 2011 when they finished as FA Cup runners-up, but Hughes has visions of taking them there again in his first season in charge at the Britannia Stadium.

However, the Welshman is not prepared to risk playing his first-choice XI as he attempts to juggle league and cup campaigns.

We will be strong on Tuesday, said Hughes. I always pick strong sides for cup games.

It s a competition that we want to progress in, so we will go to Birmingham and look to win the game, and secure a spot in the last eight.

I will make changes some will be enforced and others will be to give other players…

Jurgen Klopp has been named as Liverpool s new manager.

Liverpool sacked Brendan Rodgers last Sunday after an underwhelming start to the season, and the club have moved quickly to replace him with former Borussia Dortmund boss Klopp. 

Klopp, who left Dortmund at the end of last season, has jumped at the chance to manage Liverpool, who have won just two of their last nine games in all competitions.

The 48-year-old s seven-year spell at Signal Iduna Park yielded two Bundesliga titles, a DFB-Pokal and a run to the 2013 Champions League final, where Dortmund were beaten by domestic rivals Bayern Munich.

Upon leaving Dortmund in May, Klopp insisted he would take a sabbatical from the game to recharge his batteries.

However, the lure of Liverpool …

Sevilla’s quest to win the La Liga title this season suffered a blow on Saturday afternoon, as they went down 2-0 to Barcelona at home.

Ousmane Dembele put Barcelona in the lead after 29 minutes when Lionel Messi put him through on goal at Estadio Raman Sanchez Pizjuan.

Argentine forward Messi himself doubled the advantage for the Blaugrana five minutes before the full-time whistle.

There could have been more goals in the La Liga game in Andalucia.

Sergino Dest hit the post for Barcelona, and his Barcelona teammate Clement Lenglet had a headed goal disallowed for offside. Youssef En-Nesyri also had a goal for Sevilla ruled out for offside.

The result means that Barcelona are now second in the La Liga table with 53 points from 25 matches.

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Jean-Clair Todibo set an unwanted record on Sunday after being sent off just nine seconds into Nice s Ligue 1 clash with Angers.

The former Barcelona defender was given his marching orders after a clumsy tackle on Abdallah Sima when he was the last man, leading to a swift decision from the referee.

Todibo s dismissal was the fastest card – yellow or red – shown in Ligue 1 since Opta started collecting data in the league in the 2006/07 season.

Nice made a number of high-profile moves in the transfer window but are still waiting on their first Ligue 1 win of the season.

Straight from kick-off, Angers move forward, and commits a foul. The referee then wastes no time in getting the red card out! Le Gym are down to ten men just seconds into the game …

Schalke know they have to defeat Basel at the Veltins Arena in order to reach the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League.

The Gelsenkirchen outfit occupy third spot in Group E and saw their hopes of progression dented by a 0-0 draw at Steaua Bucharest in matchday five.

Basel, by contrast, climbed into second with a 1-0 victory over group leaders Chelsea and head into Wednesday’s pivotal encounter one point ahead of their hosts.

Both teams could still overhaul Chelsea, who welcome Steaua to Stamford Bridge, and win the group with victory, yet Basel need only a point to be sure of qualifying.

History is against the Swiss outfit, however, as they have won just three times in 14 attempts against Bundesliga opposition in UEFA competition.

Basel s last visit to G…

Norwegian outfit Molde have confirmed they have received several formal requests from clubs wanting to speak to coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Former Manchester United striker Solskjaer scored 126 goals in 366 appearances for the English giants before returning to his native Norway.

Since taking over at Molde in 2011, Solskjaer has led the side to two league titles and they won the Norwegian Cup against Rosenborg last month.

The 40-year-old has been strongly linked with the recently vacant positions at Premier League clubs West Brom and Tottenham, and managing director at Molde, Tarje Nordstrand Jacobsen, admitted several clubs were keen on speaking with Solskjaer.

I can confirm that we have received formal requests, but will not say when they arrived or where they …

Munir El Haddadi seems set to play for Barcelona this season.

The striker spent the last two seasons on loan at Valencia and Alaves. For Valencia he made 36 appearances and scored 7 goals in 2016/17, while at Alaves he found the net twice as often in the same number of matches in 2017/18.

At the Catalan club they now believe that the 22-year-old, who has been on their books his entire professional career even though he reportedly grew up as a Real Madrid fan, is ready to contribute enough for them to keep him in the squad for the upcoming season. The report comes from a number of Spanish media outlets, including Marca, Mundo Deportivo and Sport. They are also preparing a new deal for him to sign as his current one expires next summer.

This could be Munir s big c…

According to Sky Sports, Aston Villa are the current favourites to complete the signing of Yannick Bolasie on loan. The 29-year-old has been heavily linked with a move away from Everton over the last few weeks, in the wake of the Toffees busy summer transfer window.

Bolasie held talks with both Steve Bruce and Tony Pulis (Middlesbrough) regarding a potential move, with Everton clearly not wanting to commit to selling him on a permanent basis. Bolasie has been with Everton since 2016, and while he s certainly had some great moments, he hasn t become the superstar that many were hoping he d become. Prior to that, he made the move from Crystal Palace, where he spent four years of his career.

Aston Villa will be taking on Brentford tonight, but beyond that, they ll hope tha…