Football Mag

Mauricio Pochettino has been handed a two-match touchline ban by the Football Association following his angry exchange with referee Mike Dean after Tottenham's defeat to Burnley last month. The Spurs manager approached the official at the end of his side's 2-1 defeat at Turf Moor in the Premier League on February 23 and continued his tirade despite being told to walk away. Pochettino was seemingly initially angered by a decision to award a corner from which the Clarets opened the scoring through Chris Wood, though his mood appeared to worsen by something Dean said in response. The Argentine later apologised and accepted that he had "made a mistake", but the FA decided to hit Pochettino with a misconduct charge that he has accepted, leading to a two-match touchline ban and £10,000 fine. An FA statement read: "Mauricio Pochettino has been fined £10,000 and will serve a two-match touchline ban following an Independent Regulatory Commission hearing."

Arsenal midfielder Lucas Torreira will serve a three-match suspension after the club’s appeal to the Football Association over his red card against Tottenham was rejected, as per reports. Torreira had come on at half-time during Saturday’s north London derby at Wembley, and was sent off by referee Anthony Taylor during stoppage time after catching Danny Rose with his studs in a sliding challenge. Following the decision by the FA, Torreira will be banned for Sunday’s clash against Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium, while also missing the home game with Newcastle on April 1 and the trip to Everton on April 7. Arsenal will be back in action on Thursday night in the first leg of their Europa League tie against Rennes in France. Torreira would be eligible as his ban is only for domestic games, but striker Alex Lacazette is suspended following red card against BATE Borisov.

Feyenoord have confirmed Jaap Stam will replace Giovanni van Bronckhorst as the club’s new coach in the summer. Van Bronckhorst announced in January that he would be leaving his position at the end of the season, with former Manchester United defender Stam being appointed as his successor on a two-year contract. Stam only took charge at PEC Zwolle in December on an 18-month contract, but revealed that he could not turn down the opportunity to coach Feyenoord. “I really enjoy PEC Zwolle, but, for every ambitious coach, if the opportunity arises to work at a club like Feyenoord, you will seriously think about it,” Stam told Feyenoord’s official website. “After good and open conversations with (technical director) Martin van Geel about the possibilities and impossibilities at Feyenoord, I soon found out that I would like to go for this opportunity."

Vinicius Junior will be sidelined until the tail end of the season after Real Madrid confirmed the Brazilian teenager has torn calf ligaments in his right leg. The winger sustained the injury in the first half of Madrid's Champions League defeat at the hands of Ajax on Tuesday. He was substituted in the 35th minute, with Ajax leading 2-0, and the Eredivisie side went on to win 4-1 and dump the three-time defending champions out in the round of 16. Madrid gave no timescale for his recovery in a statement released on Wednesday but reports have suggested he will miss the next two months. "After the tests made today to our player Vinicius by the medical team of Real Madrid, he has been diagnosed with a torn ligament in his right calf. Further evaluation pending," the statement said. The injury to Vinicius will also come as a blow to his international aspirations, with the 18-year-old having been called up to the Brazil squad for the first time.

Barcelona are weighing up another raid on Ajax - this time for Matthijs de Ligt. The Catalan giants have already sealed a deal to take the Dutch club's exciting 21-year-old midfielder Frenkie de Jong to Camp Nou in the summer at a cost of €75 million (£65m/$85m). And Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu has confirmed interest in De Jong's Ajax team-mate DeLigt, 19, as well. "His name is on the table," Bartomeu said in an interview with radio station SER Catalunya via Spanish publication Marca. "Where there is such talent away from Barcelona, we're always looking at them. "It's a topic that will be discussed in our sports planning which begins in March, with De Jong we felt we had to move quickly because there were many clubs that wanted him."

Bayern Munich have reacted angrily to Germany coach Joachim Low's decision to rule three of their veteran stars out of further international football. Low has indicated he will not select Thomas Muller, 30, Mats Hummels, 29, and Jerome Boateng, 30 - who have 246 caps between them - for future games, summarily retiring the trio. But the timing of it - ahead of key Bundesliga and Champions League games - and finality of the treatment of the three 2014 World Cup winners on a surprise visit to the training ground, has annoyed their club. In a statement, Bayern said: "National coach Joachim Low has decided not to consider our players Thomas Muller, Mats Hummels and Jerome Boateng in the future. "The fact that the players and the public were informed three months later, just ahead of important matches for FC Bayern next Saturday in the fight for the Bundesliga title against VfL Wolfsburg and a few days before the decisive second leg in the round of 16 of the Champions League