Surprising candidate may take over Woj’s NBA duties at ESPN

Misfiring Inter and Shakhtar Donetsk missed out on the Champions League round of 16 following a goalless draw on a miserable Wednesday night at San Siro.

All four sides in Group B started the final round of matches with a chance of progressing and it was Real Madrid who advanced along with Borussia Monchengladbach after a 2-0 victory for the LaLiga giants.

Lautaro Martinez struck the crossbar early on and missed several other chances of a frustrating evening for Antonio Conte s side, who could not fashion a winner to put them through and ended up bottom of the group.

Injury-hit Shakhtar posed more of a threat in the second half but were similarly unable to make it count, though they do have the consolation of a place in the Europa League.

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Well, the Zlatan Ibrahimovic drama is set to commence. The legendary Swedish footballer is getting closer to finishing his time at Los Angeles Galaxy, after scoring 31 goals in regular season during 2019. His team reached the Major League Soccer play-offs, but lost to city rivals Los Angeles FC. Ever since, Ibrahimovic has been the main talk of rumour mills.

Now he is being linked with AC Milan, his former club, as Marca are suggesting Rosonerri are interested in bringing him back to San Siro in January. He would come as a free agent, as he is expected to leave the United States once his contract with LA Galaxy expires on the last day of 2019.

Ibrahimovic helped Milan win Serie A in the 2010-11 season, but last week he was linked with a move to Bologna. It was even rep…

Mohamed Salah insists he is not demanding a crazy contract as he again stressed his Liverpool future is in the hands of the club.

The Egypt star s deal expires at the end of the 2022-23 season and there has not yet been a breakthrough in negotiations over an extension.

The 29-year-old has previously made it clear he wants to stay at Anfield but that it is up to Reds owners Fenway Sports Group to come to an acceptable agreement.

Speaking to GQ, Salah called on the club to show their appreciation for what he has achieved since signing from Roma in 2017.

I want to stay, but it s not in my hands. It s in their hands, he said. They know what I want. I m not asking for crazy stuff.

The thing is when you ask for something and they show you they can giv…

John Stones deserves an England national team recall, according to Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola.

The 26-year-old defender scored City s opening goal in Saturday s 3-0 win away to Fulham in the Premier League.

Stones has been in excellent form for the league leaders in recent months, prompting talk of an England call-up for the first time since November 2019.

He had lost his place in the City line-up but fought back to become a key member this season, making 25 appearances in all competitions, including 18 starts in the league.

England manager Gareth Southgate will announce a squad next week for upcoming World Cup qualifiers against San Marino, Albania and Poland.

He deserves it, Guardiola said.

Of course Gareth Southgate knows b…

Tired of your mates recycling the same old football trivia questions from years gone by?

Bring them bang up-to-date and get them guessing with our Opta-powered Premier League quiz.

All the answers are at the bottom of the page, so you can claim the high ground when it comes to statistical knowledge!

1. Unai Emery and Jurgen Klopp will go head-to-head for the second time in their careers when Arsenal host Liverpool in a blockbuster at Emirates Stadium on Saturday. What was the year, competition and final scoreline of their only other meeting?

A table to make you excited for the months ahead  

— Premier League (@premierleague)

2. Burnley have lost their last two Premier League games 4-0 and 5-0. Only two clubs have ever l…

Sheffield United are in talks with Slavisa Jokanovic over the club s current managerial vacancy, according to the .

The Blades had a great first season back in the Premier League in 2019-20 under Chris Wilder, but this term they ve been glued to the bottom of the table practically from the start. Tensions rose inside the club, and Wilder was relieved of duty in mid-March to be replaced by Paul Heckingbottom on an interim basis. 

Meanwhile, Jokanovic, who led Watford and Fulham to Premier League promotion in 2015 and  2018, respectively, is currently at Qatar Stars League side Al-Gharafa SC. However, his contract there expires at the end of the season, and Sheffield United are determined not to stay in the Championship longer than one season. They ve already held discu…

Liverpool could not have known the incredible journey that awaited them when the club hired Jurgen Klopp on this day five years ago.

Brendan Rodgers had recently been sacked with the Reds 10th in the Premier League, a far cry from their title challenge a year and a half earlier.

That bid for Premier League success in 2013-14 was something of an outlier, though. Despite their illustrious history, prior to 2014 Liverpool had only finished in the top two three times since winning their previous league championship in 1990.

Klopp came in with the goal of waking a proverbial sleeping giant, something he had managed to do at Borussia Dortmund, whom he guided to back-to-back Bundesliga titles after seven years outside of Germany s top four.

Liverpool fans yearn…

Ollie Watkins felt he should have scored more than a hat-trick in Aston Villa s scarcely believable 7-2 victory over Liverpool on Sunday.

Villa spent a club-record fee reported to be £28million to sign Watkins from Championship side Brentford in September and he opened his Premier League account with a first-half treble in a remarkable triumph over the reigning champions.

John McGinn was also on target as Dean Smith s team took a 4-1 lead into the break and there was no let-up after half-time, with Ross Barkley and Jack Grealish scoring either side of Mohamed Salah netting his second of the game.

Watkins was denied by Adrian and rattled the crossbar after Grealish doubled his tally as Liverpool s high line and persistent attempts to play an offside trap were pu…

With another stacked schedule from across Europe’s elite on the cards for this weekend, Friday offers a string of intriguing affairs.

Watching PSG make their return to Ligue 1 action and with a heavyweight showdown at the top of the Championship table, we have found a pair of interesting markets that are worth keeping an eye out for.

20:00 PSG vs Montpellier

Although PSG might have suffered an infamous 4-1 drumming at the hands of Newcastle last month while on Champions League duties, the French icons have come roaring back in some style. In the midst of a recent purple patch and impressing on either side of October’s international break, Friday’s hosts will be confident of making another Ligue 1 statement this weekend.

Already tipped as a landsl…

Gerard Pique has put Lionel Messi s imminent departure from Barcelona down to the former board s poor running of the club.

The Catalan giants announced in a shock statement on Thursday that Messi will not be extending his 21-year stay at Camp Nou due to the club s dire financial situation.

Messi, who scored 672 times in 778 appearances for the LaLiga side, is now expected to complete a free transfer to Paris Saint-Germain.

Despite the Argentina international agreeing to take a 50 per cent pay cut, Barcelona were unable to honour the new contract agreed with him due to LaLiga s salary cap limit.

Barca are estimated to be in around €1.2billion of debt, a hangover from the previous Josep Maria Bartomeu regime which spanned from 2014 until 2020 when he was …