Kylian Mbappe scored with France’s only shot on goal on Saturday in Solna to give the world champions a 1-0 victory over Sweden in the opening round of matches in the Nations League.

Mbappe picked up the ball wide of the goal in the 41st minute, squeezed past two defenders, waited for goalkeeper Robin Olsen to go down and then clipped the ball just inside the post from the narrowest of angles.

The strike was enough to give France victory in a cagey opener in Group 3 of the elite League A in the competition.

Sweden managed just three strikes on target in the 90 minutes, though one of those was a deflection off French defender Dayot Upemecano that Hugo Lloris had to save.

Antoine Griezmann had a chance to double the French lead with the last kick of the game after Anthony Martial was fouled in the box, but the Barcelona attacker blasted the penalty high.

For France’s first match since they beat Albania last November, manager Didier Deschamps recalled Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot for his first appearance since he refused to serve as a standby for the 2018 World Cup.

France face Croatia in a rematch of the 2018 World Cup final at the Stade de France in Paris on Tuesday while Sweden take on the fourth team in the group, Portugal, winners of the inaugural Nations League, in Solna.

 AFP

Three Paris Saint-Germain players have tested positive for coronavirus, the French club announced on Wednesday, in a setback to their preparations for the scheduled start of their Ligue 1 campaign next week. According to multiple AFP sources and French daily l’Équipe, football star Neymar is among them.

French sports daily L’Équipe reported the players in question were Neymar, Angel Di Maria and Leandro Paredes, but PSG did not reveal any names.

“Three Paris Saint-Germain players have confirmed positive Sars CoV2 tests and are subject to the appropriate health protocol,” PSG said in a statement. “All of the players and coaching staff will continue to undergo tests in the coming days.”

The French champions, who last month lost the Champions League final to Bayern Munich, had already said on Monday that two unnamed players had reported back with coronavirus symptoms following a holiday.

L’Équipe reported the players in question were Argentinian duo Di Maria and Paredes. Now it claims Neymar is the other squad member to test positive.

The three were among several PSG stars who travelled to the Spanish Mediterranean island of Ibiza last week for a holiday in the aftermath of their Champions League campaign, mixing with friends and family after spending the previous weeks isolated in a secure bubble with teammates in Portugal.

Postponed match

That trip was after the controversial decision was taken to postpone a league game away at Lens, initially scheduled for last Saturday, in order to give the PSG squad a break after their Champions League ‘Final Eight’ exertions.

The match at Lens has been rescheduled for next Thursday, September 10, with PSG due to entertain Marseille three days later.

Strict French league rules stipulate that collective team training sessions must be cancelled if a club has at least four positive tests over an eight-day period, with match postponements possible.

The cases raise questions about why the French league decided to postpone PSG’s match in Lens, only for so many of their players to travel abroad on holiday during a pandemic.

The postponement was granted in order to give PSG players a rest after their European run, despite France’s richest club having only played five competitive games in six months.

The last French season was ended early, with 10 rounds of matches unplayed, because of the health crisis, and the start of the new French season has already been impacted.

In recent weeks, several Ligue 1 clubs have reported positive tests, including Strasbourg, Lyon, Marseille, Rennes, Nantes and Montpellier.

Marseille’s game against Saint-Etienne on August 21, which was set to be the season opener, was postponed.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Arsenal have overcome Premier League champions Liverpool on penalties to secure the Community Shield after a 1-all draw at an empty Wembley Stadium.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang put the Gunners in front after just 12 minutes of play with a brilliant finish, following a sweeping move.

But, the Merseyside Reds got the equalizer after the break when Japanese striker Takumi Minamino slotted home in the 73rd minute to send the match into a penalty shootout.

Rhian Brewster missed his spot kick, allowing Aubameyang to step up and seal the victory for the Gunners as they clinched their 16th Community Shield trophy.

This is also the second time Arsenal have defeated Liverpool this year.

Bayern Munich won the European Cup for the sixth time on Sunday as Kingsley Coman’s goal gave them a 1-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain in an engrossing Champions League final in Lisbon, completing a fantastic season for the German giants and leaving their opponents still searching for the trophy they covet more than anything.

It was often a cagey final, with a bit of needle between the teams, but chances too, especially before Coman appeared at the back post to head in Joshua Kimmich’s inviting 59th-minute cross and wrap up a treble for a team who had already won the Bundesliga and German Cup.

Hansi Flick’s team will feel they deserved their victory, yet PSG will regret not taking any of the chances that were offered up to them on a surreal occasion at an empty Estadio da Luz.

Kylian Mbappe in particular should have done better than shoot straight at Manuel Neuer right on the stroke of half-time.

The France World Cup-winning forward had spoken of his determination to go down in his country’s history by helping PSG become just the second French winners of European football’s greatest prize.

But they will have to wait for the chance to match Marseille, who won the inaugural Champions League in 1993.

PSG’s Qatari owners spent a combined 402 million euros ($474m) on Neymar and Mbappe in 2017 to win this competition, not just reach the final. However, in the end it was one who got away from Paris who denied them.

The 24-year-old Coman was born in Paris and started his career at PSG, only to leave in 2014 for Juventus, sensing he wouldn’t get the regular football he desired if he stayed put.

He had been on the bench in the semi-final against Lyon but was promoted to the starting line-up for the final, replacing Ivan Perisic on the left wing.

Now he may not be welcome back in his home city again.

But at Bayern he will always be remembered as the man who won them this trophy in 2020, in the club’s 11th final and seven years after they were last European champions.

– Mbappe’s big miss –

Flick’s team have ended this season with 21 straight victories and unbeaten in 30 matches. They deserved to be crowned in a full stadium.

However, only a few hundred lucky invitees were inside the cavernous home of Benfica to see the denouement of the ‘Final Eight’, at the end of a competition so long delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.

The strangest of finals pitted together two clubs who have taken very different routes to becoming part of Europe’s elite, with Bayern’s status as Germany’s most successful and powerful side long established and PSG having left the rest of the French game behind following the Qatari takeover of 2011.

But if this was a mismatch in terms of history, on and off the pitch right now they are almost perfectly balanced.

That translated into the kind of proper match-up on the field that neither side often experiences these days.

Bayern came desperately close to opening the scoring midway through the first half when Lewandowski — looking for his 56th goal of the season — took down an Alphonso Davies cross, turned and struck a shot against the post.

The Pole also came close with a header that was saved by Keylor Navas, PSG’s goalkeeper who won the Champions League three times with Real Madrid and who was returning after injury ruled him out of the semi-final against RB Leipzig.

But Bayern take risks by playing with such a high line, and PSG should have punished them in the first half.

Neymar was denied by an excellent Neuer save after being set up by Mbappe, while Mbappe himself contrived to fire straight at the goalkeeper after David Alaba gited him the ball in the Bayern box.

Alaba had earlier seen his central defensive colleague, Jerome Boateng, limp out seemingly with a recurrence of the hamstring problem that forced him off against Lyon.

Niklas Suele replaced him and helped contain the Paris attack as Bayern held onto their lead.

Bayern had broken the deadlock just before the hour mark in a move that began with a sprayed Thiago Alcantara pass forward, and ended with Coman arriving to head in Kimmich’s perfect delivery.

Neymar ended the game with a yellow card for chopping down Lewandowski, and a runners-up medal, while Bayern celebrated.

Source:  AFP

Kick-off starts at 9pm today Sunday in a historic Champions League final, played behind closed doors in Lisbon due to Covid-19.

 French champions PSG are hoping to win club football’s most prestigious tournament for the first time – but Kylian Mbappé, Neymar and teammates face formidable opponents in Bayern Munich, led by striking juggernaut Robert Lewandowski.

France 24 is providing live coverage

Sevilla boss Julen Lopetegui said he does not look back at what might have been with Spain and Real Madrid after leading the Spanish side to a sixth Europa League title thanks to a 3-2 win over Inter Milan in a thrilling final in Cologne.

Lopetegui was sacked as Spain boss days before the start of the 2018 World Cup for accepting the role as Madrid coach and then also fired by Real just four months later.

But in his first season in Seville, the former Madrid and Barcelona goalkeeper has restored his reputation with a fourth-placed finish in La Liga and seeing off European giants Inter, Manchester United and Roma in the latter stages of the Europa League.

“Fortunately I don’t look back,” said Lopetegui. “I have the luck to be in a club that has given me this chance to be with a real team with everything that word means.”

By contrast, Inter coach Antonio Conte suggested his time in Milan might be over after just one season despite finishing second in Serie A and leading the Italians to a first European final in 10 years.

“It is only right that we analyse the entire season, look at everything in a very calm way and try to plan the future of Inter, whether it’s with or without me,” said Conte.

“This year will always have a place in my heart, it’s been such a strange year and exhausting year. It’s been a worthwhile and incredible experience.”

The outcome could have been very different had match winner Diego Carlos been sent off inside three minutes for hauling down Romelu Lukaku in the area.

Carlos was only shown a yellow card before Lukaku confidently slotted home his 34th goal of the season to equal his idol Ronaldo’s record in his first season at Inter, which ended in the club’s last UEFA Cup win 1997/98.

Luuk De Jong has been far from that prolific in his first season in Spain, but the Dutch international suddenly hit form at the right time as after scoring the winner in the semi-final against United, he powered home from Jesus Navas’s cross and then looped another header into the far corner from Ever Banega’s free-kick to turn the game around.

‘Made fun of Conte’s hair’

“I dedicate this to the Sevilla fans,” said De Jong. “I got the feeling, even in the group stages, how important this cup is for them and we knew if we win this trophy if it also for them.”

Sevilla’s lead only lasted three minutes as Diego Godin’s bullet header saw the Uruguayan become the first defender to score in a Champions League and Europa League final.

But the Uruguayan has now lost both after scoring in Atletico Madrid’s defeat to Real Madrid in the 2014 Champions League final.

Tempers flared towards the end of a pulsating first-half with Conte booked for an altercation with Banega after the Argentine reportedly made fun of his hair.

Inter were made to rue wasting the better opportunities in the second half as their nine-year trophy drought continues.

Lukaku had the best chance as he raced through on goal 25 minutes from time, but just as in the semi-final victory over United, Sevilla goalkeeper Bono produced a vital save when needed.

And like so many of their previous five Europa League final victories, Sevilla conjured up a moment of magic allied with a slice of fortune they needed to again take the trophy they call their own back to southern Spain.

Inter failed to clear another Banega free-kick into the box and Carlos more than made amends for some of his heavy-handed defending with an overhead kick that deflected in off the unfortunate Lukaku.

“We are very disappointed but we have to move on,” said Inter captain Samir Handanovic. “We just hope to play many other important games like this in the future. The foundations are there.”

(AFP)

Substitute Moussa Dembele struck twice as Olympique Lyonnais stunned Manchester City with a 3-1 victory on Saturday to move into the semi-finals of the Champions League where they will face Bayern Munich.

Lyon took the lead in the 24th minute with a fine finish from Maxwel Cornet, who spotted Ederson off his line and beat him with a low drive from the edge of the box.

City drew level through a Kevin De Bruyne side-foot finish in the 69th minute and pushed forward in search of winner but were caught out on the break.

Dembele broke free and Ederson’s outstretched leg couldn’t keep his shot out of the net.

City had a golden chance to draw level moments later but Raheem Sterling somehow blasted over from close range with the goal at his mercy.

Lyon responded by taking advantage of chaos in the City defence with Ederson pushing out a low shot from Houssem Aouar and Dembele pouncing for his second.

(REUTERS)

Youssoufa Moukoko could make his Bundesliga debut as soon as November when he turns 16, and has already earned glowing praise from Erling Haaland in pre-season, but what else is there to know about the free-scoring young striker?

Youssoufa Moukoko

Age: 15
Club: Borussia Dortmund
Position: Striker
Country: Germany (U16 cap)/Cameroon

Moukoko’s low centre of gravity, fleet of foot and speed of mind has helped him to a record goal haul for Dortmund youth teams. – imago images / Thomas Zimmermann

Key stats

Born in Yaoundé in November 2004, Moukoko spent the first 10 years of his life living with his grandparents in Cameroon’s capital city before joining his father, a German citizen since the 1990s, in Hamburg in the summer of 2014.

The young Youssoufa soon started playing in the youth academy of local Kult club St Pauli and wasted little time in displaying his incredible goalscoring prowess. Over the course of two seasons, Moukoko plundered 23 goals in just 13 games for Die Kiezkicker’s underage teams and it wasn’t long until Dortmund came calling.

His progress with Die Schwarzgelben in the nearly four years since has been astronomical. Moukoko first played with BVB’s U17s aged 13, their U19s aged 14, and after a total of 127 goals and 26 assists in just 84 appearances in all competitions for BVB at youth level, was promoted to first-team training in January, some 11 months before his 16th birthday.

Watch: A typically cool Mouko goal, scored against Bayer Leverkusen aged 13

Moukoko has represented Germany internationally, so far scoring three goals in four appearances for Michael Feichtenbeiner’s U16s. In continental competition, meanwhile, he became the youngest player ever to feature in the UEFA Youth League when he took to the field for Dortmund’s 2-1 win over Barcelona last September at the tender age of 14 years, nine months and 29 days old.

Another record is surely around the corner for Moukoko. The DFL reduced the age that a player could legally make his Bundesliga debut without special dispensation to 16 in April, meaning he could potentially turn out for Lucien Favre’s side as soon as the Matchday 8 trip to Hertha Berlin, the weekend of his next birthday.

Plays a bit like: Lionel Messi

Whilst bundesliga.com would like to urge caution in comparing any player to Messi – a six-time Ballon d’Or winner who has revolutionised the sport – there are some parallels which are difficult to ignore.

Often players playing up an age group or four are physical specimens, fortunate to have evolved into manhood ahead of most of their peers. But whilst Moukoko is by no means lacking in strength or speed, reducing his incredible goal-haul simply to those factors would be lazy journalism at best.

Having only recently hit 5’10” in height, the majority of defenders Moukoko has lined up against have towered over him throughout his career to date. Instead, Moukoko uses his low centre of gravity, sharp control and incredible game awareness to make and take chances. He also has a wand of a left foot and is ice cold in front of goal.

It is maybe once or twice in a generation that a player posts numbers like 127 goals in 84 youth games, and perhaps nobody not called Cristiano Ronaldo will ever get close to Messi, but the signs are extremely promising for Moukoko.

Did you know?

Youssoufa is not the only footballer in the family. Elder brother Borel, 20, is a left-back who is looking to win a permanent contract at fifth-tier Schwarz-Weiß Essen having turned out for them twice before a groin injury earlier this year.

Moukoko’s brother Borel is an aspiring left-back who thinks the hype around Youssoufa is justified. – RevierSport

“If the talent runs in the family he should become an interesting footballer,” coach Ralf vom Dorp told Essen sports magazine RevierSport. It’s a challenge Borel should be up to – facing a young Youssoufa in the Moukoko family back garden in Hamburg can’t have been too much fun growing up!

“He’s the wonder everyone thinks he is,” the elder sibling explained with a smile.

What they’re saying

“I want to become a professional with Dortmund, win the UEFA Champions League with the club, and win the Ballon d’Or.” – Moukoko on his aims in the game

“He’s so young and already so good. The boy will one day become a professional, that’s as sure as a prayer in the church. Only injuries can stop him. He’s got very good technique, speed, and finishes well. These are three strong qualities that come together.” – BVB U19 coach Michael Skibbe.

Moukoko (l.) is hoping to come into focus alongside Erling Haaland (r.) for Dortmund this season. – imago images / Kirchner-Media

“We’re very happy. It immediately helps the clubs, and also the young players in their development. Most clubs now want to give young, exceptionally talented players the chance to take the next step in absolutely exceptional cases.” – Dortmund youth coordinator Lars Ricken following the DFL’s ruling in April.

“Moukoko’s much better than I was at his age. I’ve never seen such a good 15-year-old in my life. The advantage for him is that he’s already playing for Dortmund at the age of 15. At his age, I was still playing for my home town of Bryne.” – Haaland, at Dortmund’s pre-season camp in Switzerland

Culled from Bundesliga