European Football News
Chelsea midfielder Jorginho would be interested in a return to Italian football with former club Napoli if he leaves the Blues. This is according to his agent Jorge Santos. Jorge Santos talked about Jorginho in a chat with Radio Marte. According to him, his client won’t have any issues returning to Napoli as suggested by several transfer rumours. Jorginho has been strongly linked with a return to StadioMaradona to play for Europa League campaigners Napoli.
Italian football started this season’s UEFA Champions League (UCL) with four representatives but it is unlikely that there would be at least one representative left in the competition when hostilities resume in the quarterfinals next month. Inter Milan, Juventus, Lazio and Atalanta were the Italian football representatives in the UCL this season. Three of the four teams made it out of the group stage and into the round of 16. Italian champions Juventus, Lazio and Atalanta made it out of the group stage at the end of last year, while Italian Serie A leaders Inter Milan didn’t make it out of their group. As a matter of fact, Inter Milan finished bottom of the group that had Real Madrid, Borussia Moenchengladbach and Shakthar Donetsk.
The round of 16 ties in the Champions League started last month with the aformentioned trio of Juventus, Atalanta and Lazio as Italian football representatives but they are likely to progress beyond this stage as things stand. Juventus arethe holders of the Italian football top flight league and they have already been eliminated by FC Porto. The Italian champions were eliminated by Portuguese champions FC Porto by the away goals rule. The Old Lady lost the first leg 2-1 away from home before a 3-2 win over Porto ensured that the Portuguese giants will advance into the quarterfinals at their expense.
Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane is said to be considering the idea of playing Spanish international IscoAlarcon when they play hosts Atalanta in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie on Wednesday night. Italian football club Atalantawould be hoping to capitalise on the numerous injury problems at Real Madrid when the two teams meet for the first time in the competition. Real Madrid are without several first team players for the game including Frenchman Karim Benzema, who would have led the line if he was available. In his absence, Zidane could start Isco as a false nine according to journalist JosepPedrerol, who works for El Chiringuito TV in Spain. It was revealed that striker Mariano could come in as a substitute later in the game if he is snubbed in favour of Isco, who would be able to control the ball better while leading the line.
PSG manager Mauricio Pochettino has confirmed that the club will try to look into the availability of Christian Eriksen. The Inter Milan midfielder has struggled for form and he is available in the market after Inter CEO Giuseppe Marotta confirmed that a few weeks ago about the same. Pochettino is no stranger to Eriksen after having managed the Danish midfielder during his time at Tottenham. After leaving Spurs in 2019, Pochettino had been out of work until now. However, he has been able to find a top job in the form of PSG. The serial French league champions will be aware about the quality possessed by Christian Eriksen.
Football is one of the more popular sports in the world. Millions of people all over the globe love watching or playing the beautiful game, and there are loads of different reasons to do so. The sport is fast-paced, exciting, and a lot of fun to play and to watch. Football is also a great form of exercise, as it gives you a great cardiovascular workout and involves the entire body, whichever position you are playing in. Finally, the social aspect of the sport is a big draw for many fans, whether it is playing alongside teammates or bonding with fellow fans while watching football games live or at the pub.
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Fans have surprisingly voted for Aston Villa skipper Jack Grealish over Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo as far as Whoscored Followers Ultimate XI for 2020 is concerned. The followers of football stats platform Whoscored picked Jack Grealish ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo for the Ultimate XI for last year. Almost 34,000 votes were cast as a lot of notable names including Cristiano Ronaldo missed out on the final team after fans had voted. New Aston Villa shot stopper Emiliano Martinez made the list after he received 53% of the total votes. He played for both Arsenal and Aston Villa in 2020.
Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has extended his lead at the top of the Golden Boot race as far as the Italian football top flight is concerned this season. The Portuguese international hit two goals in the win over Udinese at the weekend to extend his lead over nearest challenger RomeluLukaku as the race to win the Golden Boot starts to gather pace in the Italian football top flight this term. Cristiano Ronaldo has made a big impact on Italian football since his move from Real Madrid to Juventus in the summer of 2018 and he further highlighted his influence in Italian football with a brace during the 4-1 victory at home to Udinese as his Juventus side bounced back from the disappointing maiden league defeat of the season suffered at the hands of Fiorentina last year.
Juventus manager Andrea Pirlo is faced with a mini-defensive crisis after Dutch international centre back Matthijs De Ligt was ruled out of the league clash with highflyers Sassuolo at home on Sunday evening.
Matthijs De Ligt joined the growing list of absentees for the Old Lady in the defensive area after the club confirmed on Friday that the Dutchman has tested positive for Covid-19. Matthijs De Ligt was highly sought after while he was at boyhood club Ajax Amsterdam and it was Juventus that won the race to sign him at the start of last season.
Juventus boss Andrea Pirlo has confirmed that star man Cristiano Ronaldo won’t be featuring in their first Serie A clash of the New Year against Benevento after they both agreed that the club’s top-scorer would be rested following a hectic run of fixtures up until Christmas.
Ronaldo was given a rest break after he featured in a congested run of fixtures for Juventus and Portugal in November, as Pirlo has made it clear that he wants his superstar rested so he would not accumulate fatigue or sustain any injury as a result of fixture congestion.
AC Milan are the kings of Italian football at the moment as the seven-time European champions continue to set the pace in the Serie A this season. The Rossoneri are yet to taste defeat in Italian football this season and they are one of the two teams without a single defeat in the league this season. Italian Serie A champions Juventus are the other team with a zero defeat in the Italian top flight this term.