Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola defended his under-fire forward Thierry Henry on Saturday after fans booed the former Arsenal man for his poor showing in France s 2-0 loss to Spain in midweek.
French supporters and media have rounded on the 32-year-old French captain in recent months over his perceived lack of form and have called for him to be dropped.
We need him, the Barcelona coach said.
Without him we would never have got six titles (in 2009) and without him it will be harder this year.
Henry played a key role in the Spanish giants La Liga and Champions League victories last year, bagging a total of 25 goals in all competitions.
But the Frenchman has scored just three goals so far this season as Barca s young guns such as 22-year-old Pedro s…
Police will question French footballer Karim Benzema over prostitution involving a minor, an official said Wednesday, making him the third star of France s national team named in the scandal.
The judicial source, speaking on condition of anonymity according to regular French practice, said a prostitute had told investigators she had sex with Real Madrid striker Benzema in 2008 when she was 16.
In France a person under 18 is considered a minor. Sex with a prostitute under 18 carries a jail term of up to three years.
The woman said she also had relations with Benzema s France team mate Franck Ribery in 2009, when she was 17 but told him she was over 18, the source said.
A judicial official on Monday named Ribery in the case but said the Bayern Munich winge…
Sergi Samper said he did not want to listen to Arsene Wenger as the Arsenal boss tried to sign the Barcelona midfielder.
Samper is on a season-long loan at Granada from LaLiga champions Barca, despite interest from Arsenal in the Premier League.
Wenger wanted Samper at the Emirates Stadium but the 21-year-old ignored the Frenchman s advances.
I did not want to listen to Wenger, Samper told Granada s official website.
I told him clearly that I wanted to stay, I wanted to succeed at Barcelona, and what would make me happy was succeeding at Barcelona in the future.
Samper has only made one senior league appearance for Barca since emerging from the youth ranks in 2014, but the Spaniard has featured in 13 LaLiga matches for Granada this term.
…
Flamengo have announced the departure of left-back Jorge to Ligue 1 leaders Monaco.
Jorge quickly established himself as a key member of the Flamengo squad after making his senior debut in 2014, and the next step in his career sees him move to Ligue 1.
No details of the transfer or the length of contract the 20-year-old has signed at Stade Louis II have been confirmed.
Jorge, who was selected by Tite for Brazil s friendly against Colombia to benefit Chapecoense on Wednesday, made 87 appearances and scored five goals for the Rio de Janeiro club.
…
An irate Thomas Tuchel insisted he is not concerned by Paris Saint-Germain s lack of goals after they completed a domestic clean sweep of trophies on Friday.
PSG added the Coupe de la Ligue trophy to their triumphs in the Trophee des Champions, Ligue 1 and Coupe de France this season when they beat Lyon 6-5 in a penalty shoot-out.
The showpiece at the Stade de France was not befitting the last ever Coupe de la Ligue final as neither team could find a goal across 120 minutes, with PSG clearly missing the brilliance of injured forward Kylian Mbappe.
Since their season resumed, PSG who found the net 75 times in 27 Ligue 1 games in 2019-20 have only scored twice across 210 minutes when Neymar netted the winner in the Coupe de France final last week.
Yet whe…
Memphis Depay believes in Lyon s chances of completing an upset over Juventus in the Champions League.
Lyon will face Juve in Turin on Friday in the second leg of their last-16 tie, more than five months after winning 1-0 at home.
Depay, who has scored five goals in as many Champions League games in 2019-20, is back from a knee injury and the star attacker believes Lyon can upset the Serie A champions.
I must say the record says I ve been quite successful in the Champions League this season, he told a news conference.
I ve played five games and [on Friday] I ll look ahead and try to do my best to do the same thing. I think the whole team deserves credit for the first game that they played against Juve. It was a pity I couldn t play but the team spirit a…
(GSM) After an injury-plagued spell at Arsenal, Croatia international striker Eduardo da Silva is poised for a move to Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk according to reports out of England.
Those reports indicate that Arsenal and Shakhtar have agreed a transfer fee for the forward, and that personal terms and a medicial in Donetsk are still pending.
Eduardo, 27, became a hot commodity during qualifying for Euro 2008, and that precipitated a £7.5 million move from Dinamo Zagreb to north London.
He broke into the starting XI for Arsene Wenger s side by the beginning of 2008, but a shocking tackle against Manchester City forced him out of action for a full year with a horrific broken leg.
Upon his return from the injury, the Brazilian-born striker never foun…
Bayern Munich winger Kingsley Coman has returned to light training for the first time since suffering a knee ligament injury.
The 27-year-old France international tore the medial collateral ligament in his left knee during a 3-2 Bundesliga victory at Augsburg on January 27, but started running again on Monday morning.
A statement on the club’s official website said: “Kingsley Coman completed a running session on Monday morning for the first time since tearing the medial collateral ligament in his left knee.
Good news from Säbener
Coman, Mazraoui Boey were all able to complete their first running session today
— FC Bayern Munich (@FCBayernEN)
“While his team-mates started the week with a day off after the 2-1 home win against RB…
America will hope to make up for their Liga MX Apertura disappointment when the Clausura tournament kicks off this week.
An incredible start to the Apertura campaign, including a run of 10 wins from 12 games, was enough for Miguel Herrera s side to top the table and saw the 45-year-old step up to the Mexican national job, while also continuing to lead America.
That distraction, with Mexico s qualification for Brazil 2014 going to a play-off, may have proved costly as they stumbled into the Liguilla final, ultimately losing to Leon.
Antonio Mohamed is Hererra s replacement, and will be hopeful another strong campaign will be kicked off against Liguilla quarter-final opponents, Tigres UANL.
Leon finished third in the Apertura on their way to the title and begin the…
Marseille can do arch-rivals Paris Saint-Germain a favour with a win against Ligue 1 title challengers Monaco on Sunday.
Monaco are five points adrift of leaders and defending champions PSG heading into this weekend s round of fixtures, despite a routine 2-0 win at Toulouse last weekend.
The principality club will be favourites to take all three points against Marseille, who succumbed to a 2-1 home defeat in the reverse fixture at the Stade Velodrome in September, but the hosts will need to wary of a team that is unbeaten in their last three league games.
Any positive result for Marseille may benefit PSG, who will go eight points clear at the summit with a victory at an out-of-form Guingamp side on Saturday.
Guingamp are without a win in six league games, and the…