Football Mag

Mauricio Pochettino says Tottenham's hopes of winning the Premier League title this season are over after they lost 2-1 to Burnley on Saturday. After Burnley took the lead in the second half, Harry Kane struck on his return from injury to equalise for Spurs only for Ashley Barnes to fire in a winner for the Clarets with seven minutes left on the clock. Spurs' slip means they could end up eight points behind the Premier League leaders by the end of the weekend, with Liverpool taking on Manchester United on Sunday. Although they have 11 games left to play, Pochettino believes his side's chances of being crowned champions this year have been well and truly dashed by Burnley. When asked if their fight for the title is over, Pochettino told Sky Sports: "Yes. We are very disappointed because there are 11 games, the gap can be bigger. Of course, there are a lot of games to play but today, in my mind, we had to win the three points to put pressure on them. We didn’t ...

Bayern Munich moved level on points with Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund as they defeated Hertha Berlin 1-0 at the Allianz Arena. With Dortmund not in action against Bayer Leverkusen until Sunday, the champions seized the opportunity to pile pressure onto their rivals despite a largely poor performance against Hertha. The visitors carried the greater threat before Javi Martinez nodded Bayern in front just after the hour, settling nerves among the home supporters. The final 30 minutes were still not wholly convincing, however, and long-suffering Bayern winger Kingsley Coman was dealt another injury blow, disappearing down the tunnel nine minutes after arriving from the bench. A frustrating afternoon for a Hertha side who would have been good value for at least a point ended with Karim Rekik sent off as he lashed out at Robert Lewandowski off the ball.

Kylian Mbappe moved onto 51 Ligue 1 goals as Paris Saint-Germain extended their lead at the top of the table to 17 points with a 3-0 victory over Nimes on Saturday. Thomas Tuchel's men saw second-placed Lille held by Strasbourg on Friday and took full advantage to widen the gap at the summit. PSG were far from their fluent best as Nimes threatened early on, but once Christopher Nkunku had calmly slotted home from Marco Verratti's pass there was little doubt who would claim victory. Mbappe could have easily had a hat-trick but had to settle for two in the closing stages to seal the points and reach his personal landmark.

Harry Kane scored on his return from injury but Tottenham's Premier League title charge was halted with a 2-1 defeat at Burnley after Ashley Barnes' late strike. Spurs were looking to add to a run of four consecutive wins and would have moved within two points of leaders Manchester City and Liverpool with a victory at Turf Moor on Saturday. But in-form Burnley posed a strong challenge and the Clarets took the lead through Chris Wood's header from a Dwight McNeil corner the visitors felt was incorrectly awarded. Kane, who was sidelined for six weeks by an ankle problem, appeared to have claimed a point for Spurs but Barnes - who has now scored in four consecutive top-flight outings - turned in decisively from close range with seven minutes to go.

Lionel Messi once again haunted Sevilla as his hat-trick secured a 4-2 win at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on Saturday. LaLiga's leaders twice went behind only for their captain to drag them ahead as he took his personal tally to 36 goals against Sevilla in all competitions, before Luis Suarez netted a late fourth. Jesus Navas and Gabriel Mercado had put Pablo Machin's side in the ascendancy, but a fourth game without a win has dealt serious damage to their Champions League ambitions.

Mauro Icardi will miss a fourth consecutive game for Inter when they face Fiorentina on Sunday. Icardi has not featured in any of Inter's last three matches with an apparent knee injury amid continued speculation over his future at the club after he was stripped of the captaincy. Inter have reportedly offered Icardi a new four-year contract worth €6.5 million per season, but he will not be re-joining his team-mates for the trip to the Artemio Franchi, with Keita Balde Diao also still unavailable. Speaking at a pre-match media conference, coach Luciano Spalletti said: "I hope to have Icardi and Keita back as soon as possible. "It's unlikely for a team like Inter to depend on just one player as, if we did, then we wouldn't be a top-level side. There are others who can make the difference and allow us to stay in the top spots of the table."

The England captain has missed seven matches since suffering an ankle injury in Tottenham's 1 - 0 loss agains Manchester United at Wembley in January. He was expected to resume training in early March but was surprisingly named as a starter for Spurs trip to Burnley on Saturday afternoon. Kane looked like he had never been injured. The 25-year-old forced Burnley keeper, Tom Heaton into making a string of sensational saves. Although... it was a shcok as he failed to find the net again as Tottenham's title hopes took a hit to Ashley Barnes' late winner for the hosts.

Chelsea play Manchester City in Carabao Cup final on Sunday. Kick-off 4:30pm.     Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri says his Manchester City counterpart Pep Guardiola was "lucky" to be given the time he needed to overhaul his squad. The two managers go head to head in Sunday's Carabao Cup Final but while Guardiola's City are chasing a possible quadruple, Sarri is clinging to the job he was only given last summer.  But Sarri's Chelsea have more wins (28) after 43 games than City did in Guardiola's first season at the Etihad Stadium in 2015-16. Guardiola had pedigree from his stints at Barcelona and Bayern Munich and was given time, and funds, to revitalise City, while it remains to be seen whether Chelsea will show the same patience with Sarri, especially with the club facing a transfer ban. "He (Guardiola) was lucky," said Sarri. "I think that, if you choose Guardiola, you have to wait because the club knows very well that ...

Pep Guardiola says he does not understand the sacking culture at Chelsea and has called for Maurizio Sarri to be given more time. Sarri faces an uncertain future at Chelsea, with the club understood to be considering potential replacements for their head coach and fans growing frustrated with his tactical approach. Manchester City manager Guardiola, who was an admirer of Sarri's Napoli team, offered his support for the Italian earlier this month, saying his tactics had been misunderstood at Chelsea. He said: "The situation is a little bit different. In my first year, the club never doubted me. It was never in the media that I'd be sacked if they lose this game or the other game. It never happened. "Sometimes the situation is difficult and it needs time. The first season with Maurizio is the same. You need time but the people supported me here. "The players knew who the manager was and everybody is in the right situation. After that you can win or lose but it is s...

Arsene Wenger will not become Paris Saint-Germain's new sporting director, according to the club's president Nasser Al-Khelaifi. Wenger has been without a job since stepping down as Arsenal boss at the end of last season after 22 years in charge of the Premier League side. The 68-year-old has stated that he has no plans to retire and his been linked with a number of roles. Henrique has often had a difficult relationship with head coach Thomas Tuchel, with the German openly critical of the club's transfer activity during the January window. However, Al-Khelaifi insists reports of an imminent move for the Frenchman are wide of the mark. "I have very good relations with Arsene," he told Le Parisien. "I'm close to him and I've known him for a long time. He is a wonderful manager and coach. He has a very sharp and very complete knowledge of football. "But we have a sports director, Antero Henrique, in whom I have great confidence. "I hear the m...

Manchester City reiterated their belief that there is an "organised and clear" attempt to "damage the club's reputation" after allegations were made claiming they gave Jadon Sancho's agent a contract to work as a scout to cover up a payment for his move from Watford. German publication Der Spiegel claims to have seen documents from whistleblowers Football Leaks that show City paid Emeka Obasi £200,000 as part of the scouting contract to find players in south and central America. Der Spiegel alleged this payment was actually in relation to Sancho's move from Watford as a 14-year-old to circumvent FIFA rules that prevent agent fees being made in transfers involving minors. City said they would not reply to any reports stemming from purported hacked documents, while contending claims they failed to offer comment to Der Spiegel. A statement from a City spokesperson read: "In relation to the story published this evening by Der Spiegel, and contrary to th...

Manchester City centre-back Aymeric Laporte has signed a two-year contract extension with the club, despite having only joined them last January. Laporte has become a central part of Pep Guardiola's plans at the Etihad Stadium and is the outfield player to have played the most minutes for the Blues this season. The 24-year-old joined City from Athletic for a fee of £57 million ($74m) just over a year ago, signing a deal until 2023. His new deal, which also includes a wage rise, now keeps him at the club until 2025.

FIFA have stripped Peru of U17 World Cup hosting rights due to concerns over infrastructure. The decision was taken by the bureau of the FIFA Council which features the six regional confederation presidents and FIFA President Gianni Infantino. The tournament was due to be staged in October after Peru was awarded the competition last June, but FIFA said following various inspection visits it found a "number of organisational and infrastructure challenges linked to the event delivery". In a statement released on Friday evening, FIFA said that it's "currently evaluating different alternatives concerning the appointment of a new host country". England won the 2017 edition of the competition in India.

Thomas Tuchel is hopeful Dani Alves will agree on a new contract with Paris Saint-Germain as he confirmed the player is in negotiations with the club. Alves has become a key man since joining PSG from Juventus in 2017, but the two-year deal he signed at Parc des Princes expires at the end of this season. Reports in recent days suggested the Ligue 1 champions had taken steps to extend the right-back's stay in the capital for another year, though. And while head coach Tuchel is not involved in the talks, he is keen to see a positive outcome. "[Negotiating contracts] is not my job," he told a news conference ahead of the clash with Nimes. "Dani is Dani. He is very important, and his attitude is great. "But I am not involved in these negotiations. I hope the club and his agents will come to an agreement." Meanwhile, Tuchel confirmed that only Neymar and Edinson Cavani are certain to miss Saturday’s Ligue 1 clash. "Only Neymar and Cavani will be absent....