Legendary Football

Marcelo has revealed that he suffered from an anxiety attack before playing the 2018 Champions League final against Liverpool. The Brazilian insisted that, despite winning four previous Champions League trophies, the pressure on him and Real Madrid was massive that night. "I couldn't breathe. I was trying not to panic," Marcelo told the Players' Tribune. "This was in the dressing room right before the Champions League final against Liverpool in 2018. "It felt like I had something stuck in my chest. This huge pressure. Do you know that feeling? I am not talking about nerves. Nerves are normal in football. This was something different. "I am telling you, brother, it felt like I was suffocating. "Everything had started the night before the final. I couldn't eat. I couldn't sleep. "I was thinking only of the match. It was funny, actually, because my wife, Clarice , gets so mad at me for biting my nails, and she finally go...

Lionel Messi bent in a trademark breathtaking free kick in the first half of Barcelona’s La Liga game with Real Valladolid and set a personal milestone in the process. Messi has now scored 50 goals direct from free kicks in his career. He went on to score another, from open play, in the second half before another assist, this time to Luis Suarez, saw Barca get five. The 32-year-old's goals were his 100th and 101st for head coach Ernesto Valverde. Messi’s now has four goals in his last three games, after an injury-hit start to the season saw him miss four of Barcelona’s first six matches.

Scott McTominay’s opening goal for Manchester United against Norwich City has seen the Red Devils set a Premier League record as they reached 2000 goals in the division. The Scotland international midfielder scored midway through the first half to give his team the lead halfway through the first period in United’s Sunday evening visit to Carrow Road. The goal was the club’s 2000th in the Premier League, and they are the first club to pass that figure. They opened their account in the competition through Mark Hughes in August 1992. Andy Cole scored their 500th in the Premier League, during the most famous season of their storied history (1998-99). They reached 1,000 thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo in 2005. Dimitar Berbatov scored the 1,500th goal in United’s Premier League history six years after Ronaldo’s landmark strike.

Unai Emery has admitted he wanted to bring Fabinho to Arsenal before the Brazil international joined Liverpool. The Gunners' head coach is a huge fan of the midfielder and tried to lure him from Monaco to Paris Saint-Germain while he was in charge at the Parc des Princes. The move never materialised, however, but Emery maintained his interest and has now revealed that the 25-year-old was on his list of targets when he first arrived at the Emirates and sat down with former chief executive Ivan Gazidis in the summer of 2018. A deal proved impossible, with Arsenal ultimately signing Lucas Torreira from Sampdoria, while Fabinho ended up at Anfield in a deal that cost £40 million ($51.5m). “Pepe needs time to adapt to the Premier League,” said Emery. “For example, in France, I loved Fabinho a lot. He was at Monaco and I wanted to sign him for PSG. “When I arrived here [at Arsenal], his name was on the table to try to sign him, but he signed for Liverpool. “The first six...

Liverpool have denounced a banner which had been displayed by fans depicting Reds forward Divock Origi with an abnormally large penis, a racist stereotype which the club have called “highly offensive and inappropriate”. The banner was unfurled by away fans at the Luminus Arena ahead of Liverpool’s Champions League group stage clash with Genk, and was removed by club officials following an online backlash on social media. A Liverpool statement read: "Liverpool Football Club condemns the offensive banner displayed in our section of the ground, prior to kick off. "To be clear, the image used perpetuated a racist stereotype. This is completely unacceptable." The stereotype has its historical origins in the oppression of black men in America, an animalistic portrayal which was intended to show a sexual threat posed by African American men towards white women in particular. The origin of the stereotype isn’t widely known, and some fans opted to defend the banner...

Alisson, Jan Oblak and Ederson are among the nominees for the inaugural Trophee Yachine, a new goalkeeper award introduced by France Football, organisers of the Ballon d'Or. Tottenham's Hugo Lloris, Barcelona's Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Manuel Neuer of Bayern Munich are also among the contenders. Despite the creation of this award, nominees remain eligible for the main Ballon d'Or prize, with Lloris, Alisson and Ter Stegen on that shortlist. Atletico Madrid 'keeper Oblak is one of two Slovenia internationals to be nominated along with Inter's Samir Handanovic.

Virgil van Dijk, Cristiano Ronaldo, Sadio Mane on Shortlist for Ballon d'Or. Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Georginio Wijnaldum and Alisson have also been chosen from the Reds. Five Manchester City players - Raheem Sterling, Riyad Mahrez, Kevin de Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Sergio Aguero - are on the list. Tottenham's Hugo Lloris and Son Heung-min are also included. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, who have won the award 10 times between them, again feature among the contenders. Some of the biggest omissions from the list include Paris St-Germain and Brazil forward Neymar, Manchester United and France midfielder Paul Pogba and Tottenham and England striker Harry Kane.

Willian admits it is "a bit weird” to be playing under former team-mate Frank Lampard at Chelsea but always knew he had the qualities to be a manager. The pair played together for one season at Stamford Bridge after Willian joined Chelsea in 2013, with Lampard returning to west London in the summer after a debut season as manager at Derby. While Willian admits it is strange to be coached by his former team-mate, he is not surprised Lampard has taken the step into management and insisted his recent good form can be attributed to the 41-year-old. "He was an intelligent player, one of the best in his position," Willian told the club's website. "A quality player. When you see players like him you can say maybe in the future he can become a manager, and he's here with us! "It's a bit weird he is my boss now, but I am very happy to work with him again. He has given me the confidence to play. He wants me to be happy. A part of the performances...

Liverpool will have Alisson available for the visit to Manchester United on Sunday after their first-choice goalkeeper stepped up his recovery from injury during the international break. The Premier League leaders have been without their influential keeper since the opening game of the season but, nine weeks after damaging a calf muscle against Norwich, the 27-year-old is expected to reclaim his place at Old Trafford. Alisson has undergone an intensive and individually tailored training programme over the past week without repercussions. The Brazil international, named Uefa’s goalkeeper of 2018-19 during his injury lay-off, is fit to replace Adrián, who has proven an impressive deputy for Jürgen Klopp’s side and boasts a 100% record in the Premier League as a Liverpool player. Mohamed Salah, who sustained an ankle injury against Leicester before the international break, is also expected to be fit for Sunday. 

Manchester United are closing in on the January signing of Juventus forward Mario Mandzukic, as per reports. The Red Devils are confident that a transfer fee of £9 million (€10m/$11m) will be accepted by Juventus, who are desperate to sell the Croatian veteran. Mandzukic is expected to sign an 18-month contract until the summer of 2021 and would earn a salary of £4.4m (€5m/$5.5m) a year. The Red Devils have failed to score more than one goal in a game since they beat Chelsea 4-0 on the opening weekend of the season. They currently languish in 12th place in the Premier League and are in the market for a short-term option in attack to help propel them up the table. Mandzukic has enjoyed four excellent years at Juventus since arriving from Atletico Madrid in 2015, winning four straight Italian league titles and scoring 44 goals in 162 appearances. However, the 33-year-old is now surplus to requirements in Turin, with new coach Maurizio Sarri deeming the giant striker unsui...

Alexis Sanchez could be sidelined for up to three months if his ankle injury requires surgery, Chile boss Reinaldo Rueda has said of the Inter loanee. The 30-year-old forward suffered an unfortunate knock while on international duty when he broke down during the second half of a 0-0 friendly draw with Colombia on Saturday. The Chile Football Federation revealed after that contest that Sanchez had suffered “dislocated tendons”. The South American, who is on loan at Inter from Manchester United, is now waiting to discover the full extent of his ailment. Rueda told reporters when asked for an update on Sanchez’s condition: "He could end up under the knife. "Inter, his club, will decide. We could lose him for two or three months. It's a shame because he had started playing again with Inter and scored two goals, while also playing in the Champions League. "He was happy and super motivated. Now we have to wait for these decisive hours. We will see what hap...

The absence of Luka Jovic from Serbia's matches against Paraguay and Lithuania in October was not, as had been stated, for his lack of playing time at Real Madrid. Instead it was apparently an act of punishment from the new coach, Ljubisa Tumbakovic. Jovic had been called up for national duty in September. In the first game against Portugal, the coach left him on the bench, bringing him on with only three minutes remaining. For the following game, against Luxembourg, the striker cited an injury and was let go from the squad, but then four days later he played for Real Madrid against Levante (even if it was only the final seven minutes). It is suggested Tumbakovic took note, considered it a snub, and left him out of his current group.

Edin Dzeko is set to miss Roma's trip to Sampdoria with a double fracture of the cheekbone, according to facial surgeon Professor Bruno Pesucci. Pesucci is a member of the Italian Society of Maxillofacial Surgery, the European Society of CMF, the European Academy of Facial Plastic Surgery and the American Academy of Facial Plastic Surgery. Dzeko sustained the injury in Roma's 1-1 draw at home against Cagliari on October 6, ruling him out of international duty for Bosnia-Herzegovina in their Euro 2020 qualifiers against Finland and Greece. Pesucci revealed that the 33-year-old's injury is worse than first thought and would not be able to return until October 24 when Roma face Borussia Monchengladbach in Europe.

Liverpool's Harvey Elliott has been banned from all domestic club football for 14 days after admitting using derogatory language about Tottenham's Harry Kane in a video. Earlier this season a video surfaced in which Elliott, 16, mocked Kane by impersonating the England captain and using derogatory language. The footage showed Elliott watching the Champions League final between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur. Kane is pictured along with the caption: ‘F****** m***’.                       Elliot Mocking Kane Video The teenager admitted a breach of FA Rule E3 in relation to a video posted on social media and providing a public apology.                                 

Diego Simeone has named Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp as the coach he admires most in world football. In an interview,, the Atletico Madrid manager spoke about losing Antione Griezmann to Barcelona and signing Joao Felix, while also singing Klopp's praises. "A coach I admire? Jurgen Klopp. No doubt," stated the Argentine. "He had to lose things and also win beautiful things, but always with the same style. I see him close to his players." Klopp has reinvigorated Liverpool following their slump in the years prior to his arrival and guided them to their sixth European Cup triumph - their second in the Champions League era - last season.

The Gabon international topped the public vote after a stellar September, which he started in style with the equaliser against Tottenham. Aubameyang followed that up with a well-taken brace in the draw with Watford, before netting the winner as we came back to beat Aston Villa at Emirates Stadium. The red-hot forward finished the month as he started it, scoring the equaliser as we drew 1-1 with Manchester United at Old Trafford. Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp named Premier League Manager of the Month for September.

Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga claims he would like to return to Athletic Club one day but isn't sure when or how such a move could happen. The Spain international left the Basque club in 2018 to join Chelsea, which ended a 14-year spell with the side he joined the youth ranks of at age nine. Kepa, 25, commanded a record transfer fee for a goalkeeper at the time, and has since become first choice goalkeeper for both Chelsea and Spain, but admits a return to the Rojiblancos is a possibility. "Of course I would like to return to Athletic," Kepa told Spanish football show El Chiringuito. "I don’t know when or how or what, but playing at Athletic obviously I’d like that. I have great memories".

BEL 9 -0SAN ⚽Goals :  R. Lukaku (28) N. Chadli (31) C. Brolli (35 og) R. Lukaku (41) T. Alderweireld (43) Y. Tielemans (45+1) C. Benteke (79) Y. Verschaeren (84 pen) T. Castagne (90) Belgium became the first team to secure qualification for Euro 2020 with a huge 9-0 win at home to minnows San Marino. Romelu Lukaku's 50th international goal broke the deadlock in Brussels on Thursday, and the striker set up Nacer Chadli for the second before Cristian Brolli's own goal made it 3-0. Lukaku struck again, Andrea Grandoni deflected in Toby Alderweireld's shot and Youri Tielemans scored ahead of the interval, after which Roberto Martinez's side took their foot off the gas. Christian Benteke, Yari Verschaeren and Timothy Castagne wrapped up the scoring and, with seven wins out of seven in Group I.

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has revealed that Borussia Dortmund CEO Joachim Watzke tried to lure him back to Germany in the summer of 2018. In a new biography about Watzke called ‘Real Love: A life with BVB’, Klopp says of a call he took in May 2018: “At some point my phone rang while I was on the plane and Aki was on it: 'Jurgen, you have to come back'. I laughed, I thought he was kidding. “'Are you stupid, have you been drinking? How do you get that idea, I have a few more years in Liverpool'. “I do not know how serious he was at that moment, but I realised that he wanted me to be more willing to respond.” Watzke admits that he always expected Klopp to knock back his advances, with a coach who would go on to claim Champions League glory with Liverpool in 2018-19 tied to a deal with the Reds through to 2022. “I knew that Jurgen would say no and that he would fulfil his contract in Liverpool,” Watzke said. “But if you want to go in a new direction, and we...

Jose Mourinho turned down Lyon's approach to become their new manager because he has already found another club, according to president Jean-Michel Aulas. "We had some fairly flattering exchanges over text," Aulas stated. "It was nice for everyone. He did not accept our proposal to meet because he has already chosen another club." Ligue 1 heavyweights Lyon sacked Sylvinho on Monday after just one win in his last nine matches at the helm and Aulas had identified Mourinho as a target to take the helm. Sylvinho's arrival coincided with the return of club icon Juninho Pernambucano as sporting director in pre-season.  Aulas confirmed the decision to dismiss the former Manchester City and Barcelona defender came from Juninho, with Sylvinho's perceived negative brand of football doing little to endear himself.