Sivasspor lose opener to Trabzonspor

William Gallas has hailed his former manager Claudio Ranieri and feels very proud of the Leicester City boss  stunning Premier League title success.

Ranieri and Leicester confounded all expectations by winning the English top flight for the first time in their history in 2015-16.

Leicester only narrowly avoided relegation 12 months previously, but ended this season some 10 points clear of second-placed Arsenal.

Ranieri signed Gallas for Chelsea in 2001, before getting the sack at Stamford Bridge three years later when Roman Abramovich hired Jose Mourinho.

And the ex-France defender, who went on to play for Arsenal and Tottenham, told Omnisport of his affection for the man who brought him to England.

I was very happy for him because I knew him f…

Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke has laughed off suggestions Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is set to leave the club.

Gabon coach Jorge Costa was quoted as saying on Saturday that the 26-year-old had asked not to be selected for the friendly against Mauritania because he is close to a transfer, with clubs such as Real Madrid and Manchester United believed to be keeping a close eye on the prolific attacker s situation following his sublime performances in 2015-16.

However, Dortmund have made it clear there is no truth in suggestions Aubameyang is on his way out of the Signal Iduna Park.

Is Aubameyang set to leave? That s b******t, Watzke told Sport Bild when questioned about a potential transfer.

Aubameyang netted 39 goals in 49 appearances in all com…

Timothy Fosu-Mensah has stressed that Manchester United are his main priority after pulling out of the Netherlands squad back in May due to a groin injury.

The 18-year-old received a surprise call-up for the friendlies against Republic of Ireland, Poland and Austria, but told national team coach Danny Blind he was unavailable due to physical problems.

Fosu-Mensah is confident his time will come for Netherlands in the future, but is adamant success at club level must come first.

A groin problem was causing me too much problems, the versatile defender told Voetbal International.

I told the national team coach about it and also informed the doctor. I need to rest. If I do too much now, I will be sidelined during pre-season. We also have a trip to China com…

Arsene Wenger is hopeful Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas will return to Arsenal at some point in his career.

The Spain international made 303 appearances in an eight-year spell with Arsenal before moving back to boyhood club Barca in 2011.

According to Wenger, Fabregas watches every Arsenal game and predicted he will make the switch back to the Emirates Stadium before he retires.

The Frenchman told reporters: Fabregas was an exception, a world-class player.

I m not convinced that he will not one day come back here, because he is a real Arsenal man.

He loves Arsenal, he watches every Arsenal game. But of course, Barcelona was his home town and you had to accept that that would come into it, especially with their club having the best team in t…

Netherlands midfielder Wesley Sneijder says his side have set their sights on winning Euro 2012 after losing the 2010 World Cup final.

Bert van Marwijk s men have been grouped with Denmark, Germany and Portugal, but the Inter Milan midfielder is unfazed by the competition that awaits them in Group B.

The changes Bert van Marwijk has made to our style of play since taking over have proven to be quite successful as we reached the final at the World Cup, Sneijder told De Telegraaf.

We are now aiming to reach at least the final at Euro 2012. We want to do even better, though, and win the European title.

The Inter star also took the time to respond to Marco van Basten s criticism in the wake of Netherlands 2-1 friendly loss against Bulgaria on Saturday, wh…

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The hectic nature of European football this season means that we are once again gearing up for another week of UEFA Champions League action. We re into the final matchday of the group. stage now and while many groups already seem to have a clear direction in terms of who will qualify, the same cannot be said for Group H. Today, we re going to preview the impending clash between two sides that are separated by two places and goal difference RB Leipzig and Manchester United.

RB Leipzig

RB Leipzig are slowly flying under the radar both domestically and in the UCL, but as they ve been able to prove against Bayern Munich and Istanbul Basaksehir in recent weeks, they re starting to really improve as the season goes on which…

Conte certainly does not expect Madrid to play with a plan to force the draw in their clash with Gladbach, even though that would see Zidane s men through if Inter beat Shakhtar.

We are talking about the Champions League. We are not talking about a local pub tournament, Conte said, replying to a question floating that idea. It is worrying if we hear these kinds of things such as teams only playing for a draw.

The encounter will be the third time Inter and Shakhtar have faced each other in 2020, with the first of those resulting in a 5-0 win for Conte’s side in the Europa League semi-finals.

The Nerazzurri will inevitably be looking to Romelu Lukaku to provide the big threat to Shakhtar, with the former Manchester United striker having been directly involved i…

Yakin arrives in Russia with Spartak having finished sixth in the Russian Premier League, missing out on UEFA Europa League qualification.

The former Switzerland international left Basel at the end of last season, having guided the club to the Super League title in each of the last two campaigns.

He missed out on the double on both occasions, though, losing the Swiss Cup final in both 2013 and 2014.

As a player, Yakin won five Swiss Super League titles, as well as three Swiss Cups and a runners-up medal in the now defunct UEFA Cup Winners Cup in 1998 with Stuttgart.

Yakin joined Basel in October 2012, and led the club to the Europa League semi-finals at the end of his first season, before they were beaten by eventual winners Chelsea.

After exiting the UEFA Ch…

Napoli are lining up a move for Swansea City striker Michu, .

The Serie A side’s boss Rafael Benitez is keen to bring in another forward to share the workload with Gonzalo Higuain, and he has identified the Spain international as his top transfer target.

The Spain international made just fifteen starts in the Premier League last season after struggling with injury though the previous campaign, his first in English football, was a huge success.

In total, he has made sixty-seven appearances for the South Wales side in all competitions, scoring twenty-eight goals, one of which came in the 5-0 League Cup final victory over Bradford City at Wembley in February 2013.

The 28 year old has two years remaining on his current contract, so would command a fe…

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed Cristiano Ronaldo almost joined Arsenal, before the Portugal winger decided to move to Old Trafford.

Fergie said: “Arsene Wenger must have been close, he had him over at Highbury about 25 times!”

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger admits he still rues missing out on Cristiano Ronaldo.

Wenger admitted: “If I was to have a player from Manchester United it would be Ronaldo — because we were so close to getting him.

“We were a just few hundred-thousand pounds away. I was very close.”

The Portuguese joined Manchester United for £12.24million in 2003.

Ronaldo became the first winger ever to win the Euro…