Antonio Conte talks up Tottenham ambitions after checking in as manager
Antonio Conte said he was determined to turn Tottenham back into contenders for trophies after being confirmed as the club’s new manager on a £15m-a-year contract to June 2023, with an option to extend. The Italian, who won the Premier League with Chelsea in 2017, replaces Nuno Espírito Santo, who was sacked on Monday. The […]
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Marcus Smith a doubt for England while Randall injury raises questions for Jones
Eddie Jones has mounting injury headaches before England’s opening autumn international against Tonga on Saturday with Marcus Smith a doubt to face the Pacific Islanders, potentially disrupting the head coach’s plans to unleash a new-look 10-12 axis. Compounding matters for Jones is a report that the scrum-half Harry Randall, who has been ruled out of […]
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Alun Wyn Jones to miss rest of Wales’ autumn Tests with shoulder injury
Alun Wyn Jones has been ruled out for the rest of Wales’ autumn Tests after it was confirmed he requires surgery on the shoulder injury sustained in the defeat against the All Blacks on Saturday. Jones, who was winning his 149th cap for Wales, a world record for a national team, went down clutching his […]
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Cristiano Ronaldo saves Manchester United from dismal defeat at Atalanta
This was the same tired story of Manchester United’s season. A powder-puff rearguard, an errant midfield, an overreliance on Cristiano Ronaldo to somehow pull the result their way. And he did it: yet again. For the third time in Group F the Portuguese levelled at the last, his fifth strike of the group stage a […]
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Champions League: Bayern and Juve book last-16 places, Lille stun Sevilla
Robert Lewandowski scored a hat-trick and missed a penalty as Bayern Munich eased into the Champions League last 16 with a 5-2 home win against Benfica. Benfica saw an early goal disallowed before two goals in six minutes from Lewandowski and Serge Gnabry put the hosts in charge. Morato pulled a goal back for the […]
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Ansu Fati boosts Barcelona’s last-16 hopes with winner against Dynamo Kyiv
Barcelona’s fate remains in their own hands, which may not have proved the safest place lately but it is better than the alternative. Three days after Ansu Fati turned 19, the kid who already carries so much of the Catalans’ hopes, smashed in the shot which leaves them well-placed to progress to the knockout stages […]
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Chaotic Manchester United remain in thrall to strolling Cristiano Ronaldo
The genius of the modern Manchester United is that for all the attention lavished upon them, for all the granular analysis they attract, they remain a largely unknown quantity. When they take the field, you genuinely have no idea what to expect from them. And not just in terms of results, either: tactics, personnel, effort […]
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