Former France captain and coach Michel Platini defended Olivier Giroud ahead of Wednesday’s friendly with Ukraine, saying the out of favour Chelsea forward “has the quality” to lead the French line.

Giroud, 34, has played just 17 minutes out of Chelsea’s three Premier League games this season with Frank Lampard preferring Tammy Abraham or Timo Werner but is tipped to feature in France coach Didier Deschamps’ starting line-up in spite of criticism for his overly physical style.

“Giroud, if he plays up front it’s because more than anything else he has the quality to play centre-forward,” former UEFA president Platini told AFP.

“And if Deschamps plays him, it’s because he thinks Giroud deserves to play. It doesn’t interest me that he is criticised.

“Deschamps knows how to do his job, he knows what he should do and if he thinks Giroud is the best fit, then he plays him. After all, if Giroud’s criticised, we have all been criticised, even Pele!” Platini added.

Giroud is in line to make his 100th appearance for les Bleus this week and is likely to line up alongside Barcelona’s Antoine Griezmann in a game where the visitors will be without six players who are in self-isolation due to coronavirus cases at their club Shakhtar Donetsk.

Griezmann has scored just 15 times in 51 games since joining the Catalans from Atletico Madrid in July 2019.

Platini said the Barca attacker would benefit from featuring in an attack with a physical presence as was the case at Atletico with Diego Costa.

“I think Griezmann needs a Giroud, a Costa, a guy in front of him,” said Platini.

“Griezmann’s intelligence means that he’s always where the ball lands. You can say the opposite, the ball always lands where he is. It’s the mark of anyone with an instinct for the game.

“However, Giroud is someone who is stronger, bigger, up on the coalface. But Griezmann needs a Giroud,” he added.

Giroud, meanwhile, is closing in slowly on Thierry Henry’s record for France of 51 international goals.

Going into the Ukraine game, he has 40 to his name which is just one shy of Platini who ranks second behind Henry for the national team with 41.

Platini, however, shrugs his shoulders at the likelihood of slipping down that particular ranking.

“It has no form of importance. I’m not an accountant. I’m happy for Giroud, I’m happy for Thierry. I hope there will always be players who score a lot of goals for France,” he said.

“Records are there to be beaten. If Giroud beats my record, I’m happy for France and for him.”

Source: AFP

Papu Gomez extended his scoring streak to give high-flying Atalanta a third consecutive win 5-2 against Cagliari on Sunday as title rivals Inter Milan were stalled 1-1 in a bad-tempered game against Lazio in Rome where both teams finished a man down.

Champions Juventus’s clash against Napoli later on Sunday remained in doubt with the southerners having not travelled to Turin because of two coronavirus cases.

“No, everything is like Saturday,” a Napoli spokesman told AFP asked about a possible departure for Turin, hours before kickoff.

The Lega Serie A insisted all the health protocols were in place for the match to safely go ahead as scheduled for Turin at 1845 GMT.

In Bergamo, Atalanta struck hard in their first home game this season, bringing their tally to 13 goals in three games played, to sit top of the Serie A table.

But Inter dropped points for the first time this campaign despite playing 20 minutes with a player more after Lazio’s Ciro Immobile was sent off.

“The score could have been much bigger,” said Atalanta Gian Piero Gasperini.

“Now the (international) break interrupts this momentum. Hopefully we’ll pick up where we left off.”

Gasperini’s side were four goals up at the break with Luis Muriel opening after seven minute.

Gomez blasted in the second from a distance just before the half hour mark, five minutes after Uruguayan defender Diego Godin had pulled Cagliari level on his debut since moving from Inter Milan.

Mario Pasalic and Duvan Zapata also scored in a five-minute spell before the break.

Joao Pedro reduced the deficit for the Sardinians after the break but Sam Lammers marked his first home game with an impressive solo effort with nine minutes to go.

Atalanta have the maximum nine points, two ahead of Sassuolo and Inter.

In Rome, Lautaro Martinez gave Antonio Conte’s side the advantage after half an hour off a deflected Ivan Perisic effort but Sergej Milinkovic-Savic headed in the equaliser ten minutes into the second half.

Immobile was sent off after 69 minutes for hitting out at Arturo Vidal with Inter’s Stefano Sensi also seeing red with minutes to go.

Hellas Verona fell to their first defeat of the season with Jasmin Kurtic scoring after just one minute to give Parma a first win this campaign.

– Napoli risk forfeit –

In Turin, confusion reigned over whether Napoli would line out, after midfielder Eljif Elmas and Poland international Piotr Zielinski contracted the virus.

The team have not left Naples because of measures of regional health authorities, despite the Lega Serie A insisting conditions were safe.

“The protocol provides… rules, which allow the playing of league matches even in the event of a positive tests, fielding the players who tested negative,” Serie A said.

These measures are “applicable to the situation of Napoli, which has two positive players for Covid-19,” the Liga Serie A added.

The league said it had “a precise rule to be adopted in the event of multiple positives that can lead to the postponement of matches only upon the occurrence of certain conditions which, at the moment, do not apply to the case of Naples.”

Juventus confirmed they would “take to the field” as scheduled despite two positive tests among their staff with coach Andrea Pirlo naming his match-day squad.

If Napoli do not play Gennaro Gattuso’s side, who had won both their Serie A matches so far this season, would forfeit the game 3-0.

The league are applying UEFA rules that say a match can take place as long as a side have 13 healthy players, including a goalkeeper.

The only possible exemption would be a club which has an active outbreak of Covid-19 with more than ten new positive cases in a week.

In that case the club can request a postponement, but only once in the season.

Genoa’s game against Torino on Saturday was postponed with the Ligurian club, who lost 6-0 to Napoli last weekend, counting 22 cases, including 17 players.

Source: AFP

Lionel Messi bid an emotional farewell on Friday to Luis Suarez, the day after the Uruguayan striker had said tearful goodbyes to Barcelona after the club sent him to Atletico Madrid.

“Today I went into the dressing room and the awful truth hit me,” Messi posted on Instagram, before renewing his criticism of club management.

“You deserved to be sent off as what you are: one of the most important players in the history of the club,” Messi wrote. “And not to be fired in the way they did it.”

“The truth is that at this point nothing surprises me anymore.”

Messi has a long-running feud with club president Josep Maria Bartomeu which intensified after Barcelona were humiliated 8-2 by Bayern in a Champions League quarter-final in August.

Messi tried to force his exit from Barcelona but finally accepted that he would have to see out the final year of his contract. Meanwhile, two of his closest friends on the team, Suarez and the Chilean Arturo Vidal have left.

The 33-year-old Suarez moves to Atletico on a two-year contract on a free transfer, although, if he does well, Barcelona could receive some money.

Suarez, who hit 198 goals for Barca, becoming the third highest goalscorer in the history of the club, cried as he bid an impromptu farewell to the club on Thursday.

“I’m going to keep playing, with fresh motivation, with the objective to show I can continue competing,” Suarez said.

“Everyone knows the relationship we have, Leo and me. I’ve already played against him in the Uruguay-Argentina matches, playing against each other is not going to change the feelings we have for each other,” Suarez said.

Messi and Suarez were neighbours in the beachside suburb of Castelldefels and would arrive at training together.

“How difficult it is going to be not to continue to share the days with you, both on the pitch and off it” wrote Messi in a post accompanied by seven pictures of the two men together, sometimes with their families. “We are going to miss you very much. It’s been many years, many cups of mate, lunches, dinners…Many things that I will never forget.”

“It’s going to be weird to see you with another shirt and much more to face you,” wrote Messi. “But I wish you all the best in this new challenge. I love you very much, I love you very much. See you soon, my friend.”

Source:  AFP

Bayern Munich have totally shocked Schalke by thrashing them 8-nil in their league opener.

Bayern started their fireworks as early as the 4th minute, as Serge Gnabry found the net with a fine shot. Leon Goretzka made it 2-nil with a low shot in the 19th minute.

The Bavarians added a 3rd through Robert Lewandowski, who scored a 31st-minute penalty. Gnabry then scored twice to get his hat-trick, before Thomas Muller bagged the 6th.

Leroy Sane capped his superb Bayern debut with a wonderful finish, as Jamal Musiala drilled-in the 8th to complete the rout.

Source: Presstv

The former Stoke City player will not be staying in Paris for the new season following the expiry of his contract at the end of August

Eric Choupo-Moting will not return to Paris Saint-Germain for the 2020-21 season after both parties failed to reach an agreement for a new deal, Goal can confirm.

Choupo-Moting’s two-year deal with the French champions had expired at the end of June, but he was handed a short-term extension until the conclusion of PSG’s Champions League campaign.

The Ligue 1 champions were defeated 1-0 by Bayern Munich in Lisbon on August 23, with Choupo-Moting featuring for the final 10 minutes of the contest.

Following Sunday’s 1-0  defeat by Marseille at the Parc de Princes, Thomas Tuchel admitted the French giants have lost the Cameroon captain alongside four other players this summer.

When asked about the Parisians’ transfer plans, the German tactician said; “Are there going to be new players? I really hope.

“It’s no secret, we lost five players including Choupo-Moting. It’s going to be complicated, we play a lot of matches. I don’t know if other teams that have played in the Champions League should play so much games.”

Since he moved to Paris from Stoke City in 2018, Choupo-Moting has been restricted to a substitute role in Tuchel’s team.

Out of the 31 Ligue 1 matches he played, the Indomitable Lions forward made 13 starts with 18 appearances as a substitute and he scored six goals in total.

Last month, the 31-year-old made a statement as a super-sub with the match-winning goal that sent PSG into the Champions League semi-final after their 2-1 victory against Atalanta.

Before Sunday’s league game, Tuchel revealed the ex-Schalke 04 star was offered a new deal which suggested he would play a similar role as last season.

“It’s one of the possibilities [a new contract for Choupo-Moting]. Everything depends on whether you want to stay and accept the club’s proposal,” Tuchel said.

Source: Goal.com

European champions Bayern Munich begin the hunt for a ninth-straight Bundesliga title on Friday, but while their rivals ponder how to break their iron grip on the German league, the Bavarian giants have pressing issues to resolve on the eve of the new season.

Bayern host Schalke at the Allianz Arena to kick-off the Bundesliga season just 26 days after lifting the Champions League trophy in Lisbon to complete the treble.

They stand to play 57 games in a condensed 2020/21 fixture list, due to the knock-on effects of the coronavirus pandemic, but on Friday, Bayern will be able to play in front of a small number of fans for the first time since March.

However, they have already lost three of the Champions League-winning squad.

Ivan Perisic, Philippe Coutinho and Alvaro Odriozola have returned to Inter Milan, Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively after their loan deals expired.

“We have to make up for it,” head coach Hansi Flick admitted with Bayern facing Sevilla in the UEFA Super Cup and Borussia Dortmund for the German Super Cup in the coming fortnight.

Bayern want to sign a winger, to back up Sane, Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry with Chelsea’s Callum Hudson-Odoi again on their radar. They also want a defender.

– ‘They destroy them’ –

Flick’s star-studded squad finished last season on an all-conquering 21-game winning run, including the 8-2 thrashing of Spanish giants Barcelona in the Champions League’s semi-finals.

“The current team of Hansi Flick is perhaps the best Bayern team ever,” Hans-Joachim Watzke, chief executive of arch rivals Borussia Dortmund, declared last month.

“They no longer beat their opponents – they destroy them.”

Bayern’s last loss was at the hands of Moenchengldbach in December.

Watzke refuses to make any statements about Dortmund denying the Bavarians a ninth-straight Bundesliga title in 2020/21.

The messages are similar from the camp of Champions League semi-finalists RB Leipzig, who finished third in the Bundesliga behind Bayern and runners-up Dortmund.

“What Bayern did in Lisbon was impressive,” admitted Leipzig’s Germany defender Marcel Halstenberg.

“We are working to become even better and to reach their level.”

Bayern’s impressive run is down to the irresistible form of stars like Thomas Mueller and Robert Lewandowski.

Mueller managed a league-record 21 assists, making a mockery of Joachim Loew’s decision to end his Germany career in March 2019.

Lewandowski netted 55 goals in 47 games last season, leaving him as the top-scorer in both the Bundesliga, where he hit 34 goals, and the Champions League, where he scored 15 times in 10 games.

However, to preserve the harmony in the dressing room, Flick and the club’s bosses must quickly resolve the future of defender David Alaba and midfielder Thiago Alcantara. Both are stalling over signing contract extensions.

– ‘Money-hungry piranha’ –

“I don’t know who is going to leave us and who is going to arrive again. It’s not the best way to prepare,” Flick has admitted.

Alcantara has been heavily linked to a move to Premier League clubs Liverpool and Manchester United.

Alaba is said to want a big pay rise.

A war of words broke out over the Austrian defender at the weekend after former club chairman Uli Hoeness branded Alaba’s agent Pini Zahavi a “money-hungry piranha”.

More diplomatically, Alaba hopes a solution can be found soon “so that the club, my teammates, but also the fans know where they stand”.

On Tuesday, midfielder Leon Goretzka said the squad can “block out” off-field mud-slinging.

“We are all professionals enough and strong as a community”.

However, the central midfielder called for fresh signings alongside winger Leroy Sane, goalkeeper Alexander Nuebel and defender Tanguy Nianzou from Paris Saint-Germain.

“We have a top squad, but I do believe that at least every position should be filled twice,” said the 25-year-old with one eye on this season’s dense fixture list.

Source: AFP

Just five months after Premier League clubs consulted their players about taking a 30 percent wage cut, the English top-flight is again blowing Europe’s other top leagues out the water when it comes to splashing the cash.

A return to the routine spending of tens of millions of pounds on players jars with the bleak forecasts often presented by the clubs themselves as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

At the height of the pandemic, Liverpool and Tottenham planned to use government money to pay non-playing staff, only to back down in the face of public anger, while Arsenal announced proposals to cut 55 jobs just last month.

If Premier League clubs require a reminder that Covid-19 remains a threat, they need only look to the empty stands that will accompany the start of the new season from Saturday.

Gate receipts may only account for 13 percent of the Premier League’s revenue, according to figures from UEFA’s latest benchmarking report, but the other major streams of income such as television rights and commercial sponsorships are also not immune to the crisis.

A rebate worth a reported £330 million ($429 million, 363 million euros) was due to domestic and international broadcasters because the 2019/20 season was not completed on time after a three-month stoppage to the campaign.

Last week the Premier League announced its deal with Chinese streaming platform PPTV, understood to be worth about $700 million, had been cancelled, with political tensions between Britain and China potentially making a new contract difficult to negotiate.

European Club Association chairman Andrea Agnelli said on Tuesday that rebates owed to Champions League and Europa League broadcasters totalled 575 million euros, warning football was in “crisis-management” mode.

Agnelli, who is also the chairman of Italian champions Juventus, said the overall value of the transfer market could plummet by up to one third.

– Big-spending Chelsea –

Yet no such downturn has been noticeable among Premier League clubs.

Chelsea have led the way with a £200 million rebuild, signing Kai Havertz, Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech and Ben Chilwell.

Manchester City have spent more than £60 million on two players in Nathan Ake and Ferran Torres who will struggle to start in Pep Guardiola’s strongest XI, while Donny van de Beek could end up costing Manchester United around £40 million.

Even more striking are the sums spent by non-Champions League clubs.

Wolves broke their transfer record on a 40-million-euro capture, Portuguese teenager Fabio Silva, who had scored three goals and started one league match for Porto.

After spells together at Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, James Rodriguez and Carlo Ancelotti have been reunited at Everton, who have also signed midfielders Allan and Abdoulaye Doucoure. The outlay for the three players is around £64 million.

Leeds announced their return to the Premier League by signing Spanish international Rodrigo and Germany’s Robin Koch.

Newcastle, Crystal Palace and Leicester are also among those to have spent around £20 million on a single signing.

By contrast, even giants across Europe such as Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus are selling and seeking to cut wage costs.

The Premier League’s lavish spending is due to a number of factors. Chelsea are making up for lost time after a transfer ban last summer, while they are also among the clubs seeking to make the most of a buyer’s market.

For others such as Everton, the relaxation of financial fair play rules gives wealthy owners more opportunity to back their clubs.

The Premier League’s TV deals worth around £3 billion a season are an even bigger economic advantage at a time when matchday and commercial revenue are shrinking.

But the rebates show how hundreds of millions can be wiped out, with the coronavirus threatening more disruption in the coming season.

Should a lack of caution in the transfer window come back to hurt Premier League clubs, there will be little sympathy shown from across the continent.

Source: AFP

Former Cameroon striker, Samuel Eto’o, has advised Barcelona to bring in more players who can blend with the club’s playing style, so that they can be less dependent on Lionel Messi.

Messi tried to force a move away from Spain this summer, but has since made a u-turn and will be staying for the 2020/2021 season.

Eto’o, who played for Barca between 2004 and 2009, admits he is happy with the 33-year-old’s decision.

But he feels the LaLiga giants should do better with their recruitment.

“I am happy because my son Messi has stayed at his house, but at Barca, we need other players with Blaugrana DNA. Messi alone is not enough,” Eto’o said according to TuttoMercato.

“You need to look for players on the market with tiki-taka style and not box to box.”

The new LaLiga season kicks off on Friday but Barcelona, under the watch of new boss, Ronald Koeman, will tackle Villarreal on September 27.

Source: Daily Post

Kylian Mbappé has been ruled out of France’s Nations League game against World Cup runners-up Croatia on Tuesday after testing positive for Covid-19, national team management said Monday.  

Mbappé, who took part in Monday evening’s training session before learning the result of his test, is the seventh Paris Saint-Germain player to contract the virus. Neymar was among the first to test positive last week.

“He was set aside from the group after receiving the results at the end of training before returning to his home in the evening,” French team management said.

“Like the rest of the squad, Mbappé had undergone a test prior to meeting up. The result was negative like the one on Wednesday” requested by UEFA ahead of the Sweden fixture on Saturday in Solna, management said.

Mbappé will also miss PSG’s opening game of the Ligue 1 season against Lens on Thursday, along with six other team-mates including Neymar and Argentine pair Angel Di Maria and Leandro Paredes.

He could also sit out Sunday’s clash with bitter rivals Marseille. According to the league’s health protocol, a player who tests positive must self-isolate for eight days.

Fourth player with Covid-19

Mbappé is the fourth player to be withdrawn from the France squad following a positive Covid-19 test.

Paul Pogba was omitted just before coach Didier Deschamps revealed his 23-man squad last month, with Houssem Aouar forced out a few days later.

Goalkeeper Steve Mandanda, who originally tested positive on August 16 with Marseille, also left camp following two further positive tests likely due to “residual” traces of the virus.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)