Kylian Mbappe is expected to sit out Paris Saint-Germain’s Ligue 1 meeting with Lille on Saturday as the club does not want to risk his injured ankle with a Champions League last 16 tie looming.

The PSG star suffered the injury in his side’s French Cup last 16 win over Brest on Thursday in which Mbappe scored the opening goal.

Initial medical tests were reportedly “reassuring” but PSG coach Luis Enrique will not want to risk his prize asset ahead of the Champions League visit of Real Sociedad five days later.

Further tests on the player who is being linked to a move to Real Madrid when his contract expires at the end of the season are scheduled for Friday.

While Mbappe’s future is uncertain, so too is PSG’s continued presence at their Parc des Princes home.

The club’s bid to buy the stadium from owners the Paris City Council appears to have been quashed after a meeting on Thursday.

“It’s finished now, we want to leave the Parc des Princes,” said the club’s Qatari president Nasser Al-Khelaifi.

Lille, sitting fourth, will give Enrique’s men a decent test ahead of next Thursday’s important European date.

The culprit for Mbappe’s injury was Brest defender Lilian Brassier, who was sent off after a second yellow card and was then subjected to racist attacks on social media.

Brest, who are flying high in third and host Clermont on Sunday, issued a statement roundly condemning the online abuse received by their player.

PSG, vying for their third straight domestic league title and 12th in all, are coasting at the top, eight points clear of Nice, who host south coast rivals Monaco.

Nice, owned by Manchester United’s new stakeholder Jim Ratcliffe of Ineos, thrashed Montpellier 4-1 in the French Cup in midweek.

Friday’s sole fixture gives Marseille the perfect opportunity to secure their first win of 2024 when relegation-threatened Metz turn up at their Velodrome headquarters.

Marseille are looking to bounce back after last weekend’s defeat to fallen giants Lyon who are away to Montpellier.

A win would ease nerves at Marseille where various crisis meetings have been held as they have slipped down to eighth.

Source: AFP

Barcelona manager Xavi says he will step down at the end of the season.

The former Barcelona and Spain midfielder took charge in November 2021 after leaving Qatari side Al Sadd.

He guided them to the Spanish title in his first full season in charge in 2022-23, but Saturday’s 5-3 home defeat by Villarreal leaves them 10 points behind La Liga leaders Real Madrid.

“I think the situation needs to change course,” said the 44-year-old. “I cannot allow the current situation.”

Xavi, who won 25 honours during an illustrious playing career at Barcelona, will officially step down on 30 June despite still having a year left on his contract.

The 2010 World Cup winner said this month he would “pack his bags” if his players lost faith in him following a 4-1 defeat by rivals Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup.

Barca responded with back-to-back wins, but then went out of the Copa del Rey with defeat at Athletic Bilbao on Thursday before slipping further behind in the title race at Villarreal.

They have progressed to the last 16 of the Champions League, where they will play Italian club Napoli in February.

Source: BBC

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is to step down from the role at the end of the season.

Klopp took over as Reds boss in October 2015 and his contract was due to run until 2026.

He led Liverpool to their first league title in 30 years in 2019-20, having won the Champions League the previous season.

“I told the club already in November,” the German told the Liverpool website.

Source: BBC

Arsenal and France legend Thierry Henry has revealed he suffered with depression during his stellar playing career.

The 46-year-old, who won the World Cup with France and is Arsenal’s all-time top goalscorer, told the Diary of a CEO podcast that the coronavirus pandemic made him appreciate his mental health struggles as he cried “almost every day.”

Henry has linked that to his past and a search for approval from his father, who was often critical of his performances as a young player.

“Throughout my career, and since I was born, I must have been in depression,” said Henry.

“Did I know it? No. Did I do something about it? No. But I adapted to a certain way. That doesn’t mean I’m walking straight, but I’m walking. You’ve got to put one foot (forward) and another one, and walk. That’s what I’ve been told since I’m young.

“I never stopped walking, then maybe I would have realised. (But during) Covid – I stopped walking. I couldn’t. Then you start to realise.”

Henry was in charge of Canadian side Montral Impact when the pandemic hit, leaving him isolated and on the other side of the world from his family.

“I was in isolation in Montreal, and not being able to see my kids for a year was tough,” he added.

“Tears were coming alone. Why I don’t know, but maybe they were there for a very long time.

“Technically, it wasn’t me, it was the young me. (Crying for) everything he didn’t get, approval.”

Henry, who is now coach of France’s under-21 team, said his father’s desire was for him to be “an amazing football player” from the moment he first held his son.

“As a little boy it was always ‘you didn’t do that well’. So obviously when you hear that more often than not, that’s what’s going to stay,” said Henry.

“(It) did to a degree help the athlete….(it) didn’t help so much the human being”.

Source: AFP

Franz Beckenbauer, one of German soccer’s greatest players, who captained the team to World Cup victory in 1974 then won the tournament again as manager in 1990, has died at the age of 78, German news agency DPA reported on Monday.

Beckenbauer was a classy, dominant presence on the pitch for West Germany and Bayern Munich, with whom he won three successive European Cups, and had the nickname Der Kaiser, or “The Emperor”.

Source: Reuters

Carlo Ancelotti extended his contract with Real Madrid to June 2026 on Friday which would rule him out of becoming Brazil national coach.

“Real Madrid and Carlo Ancelotti have reached agreement on the extension of his contract till June 30, 2026,” Real said in a statement.

It had been reported in July this year that 64-year-old Ancelotti would become the first foreigner to coach Brazil in almost 60 years once he saw out his present Real contract next year.

The Brazil Football Confederation had named Fernando Diniz as the temporary manager before they anticipated Ancelotti taking control for the 2024 Copa America.

Ednaldo Rodriguez, the then president of the CBF, held months of negotiations with Ancelotti, who had previously stated the Real job would be his last in football.

However, it appeared one of the most glamorous and challenging jobs in football had brought a change of mind.

“We went after him not only due to his record, but also because he is a decent person,” Rodrigues told beIN Sports earlier this year.

“Those who have worked with him say that he is open, cultured, and he appreciates Brazilian football.”

However, under Diniz Brazil’s woes on the pitch have continued and the presently occupy the sixth and final regional qualifying spot for the 2026 World Cup.

Ancelotti is regarded as one of the greatest coaches of all time.

He has won the Champions League four times — twice with AC Milan and also on two occasions with Real Madrid.

He has won domestic league titles with Real and Milan, in England with Chelsea, in Germany with Bayern Munich and in France with Paris Saint-Germain.

Source: AFP

Holders Manchester City were handed a tie against FC Copenhagen in Monday’s draw for the Champions League last 16, while French champions Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) were paired with Spain’s Real Sociedad.

Pep Guardiola’s City, who are looking to retain the title they won in Istanbul last June, will be expected to comfortably get the better of the Danish side, who qualified from their group at the expense of Manchester United after beating the Red Devils 4-3 at home.

PSG, who have gone out in the last 16 in each of the last two seasons and in five of the last seven campaigns, were braced for a tough draw having come second in their group behind Borussia Dortmund.

They will therefore be relieved at being handed a tie against Real Sociedad, who topped their section above Inter Milan but are appearing in the Champions League last 16 for the first time since 2003/04, when they were knocked out by Lyon.

Inter, the Serie A leaders, were one of the teams to avoid after finishing second in their group and their meeting with Atletico will see Diego Simeone, the coach of the Spanish club, come up against a team with whom he spent two years as a player in the late 1990s.

Barcelona’s meeting with Italian champions Napoli is another standout tie, while Arsenal will be expected to get the better of Porto. Bayern Munich will be strong favourites against Lazio and record 14-time European champions Real Madrid will also be heavily fancied against RB Leipzig.

The remaining tie sees Dortmund come up against PSV Eindhoven, who are coached by former Borussia manager Peter Bosz and are through to the last 16 for the first time in eight years.

The first legs will take place in mid-February with the return matches in March. This season’s Champions League final will be staged at Wembley in London on June 1.

Source: AFP

Leaders Real Madrid stumbled to a 1-1 draw at Real Betis on Saturday as Aitor Ruibal’s brilliant strike cancelled out Jude Bellingham’s league-best 12th goal of the season.

Bellingham slotted Madrid ahead at the Benito Villamarin early in the second half after combining magnificently with Brahim Diaz.

But Ruibal drilled an angled shot into the top corner from outside the area to earn Betis a point and extend their unbeaten run in La Liga to 11 matches.

Madrid pulled one point clear of Girona but could lose top spot on Sunday if the surprise challengers beat neighbours Barcelona in a Catalan derby.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side thought they had taken the lead when Diaz turned in from close range on 16 minutes after a superb exchange between Bellingham and Rodrygo.

Bellingham backheeled the ball towards Rodrygo who slid the ball between the legs of a defender. An attempted clearance ricocheted off Rodrygo and left Diaz with a tap-in, but the Brazilian was offside in the build-up.

Chasing a fifth successive home league win, Betis twice went close as Ayoze Perez saw an attempt well saved by Andriy Lunin before Willian Jose bent an effort narrowly wide of the far post.

Betis goalkeeper Rui Silva clawed behind a long-range drive from Luka Modric, but he was powerless to stop Bellingham breaking the deadlock eight minutes after half-time.

The England midfielder retrieved the ball deep in Betis territory near the touchline, finding Diaz and chesting down the scooped return pass as he strode into the box and stroked past Silva.

Madrid’s lead lasted only 13 minutes as Ruibal was afforded far too much time and space before he rifled home from 20 metres, grabbing his first league goal in a two-and-a-half years.

Both teams pushed for a winner and former Madrid attacker Isco nearly undid his old club when he headed against the post.

Joselu dribbled an effort agonisingly wide in stoppage time at the other end before Lunin tipped over centre-back Chadi Riad’s header with the last touch of the game.

Source: AFP

A Ghanaian MP has apologised to Manchester United footballer Harry Maguire after mocking him last year.

MP Isaac Adongo was debating the budget when he compared Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia’s economic management to Maguire’s performances on the pitch.

Maguire has come in for heavy criticism from some fans but fellow footballers have come to his defence.

On Tuesday, Mr Adongo said he wanted to correct the record and hailed Maguire as a “transformational footballer”.

He was a “key player” for Manchester United, Mr Adongo said during a budget debate.

But he did not let up in his criticism of Vice-President Bawumia.

“As for our Maguire, he is now at the IMF, with a cup in hand,” he added.

Mr Bawumia is the head of the government’s economic management team as Ghana faces its most severe economic crisis in years.

As government debt has soared, the country had to take a $3bn (£2.4bn) loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

In December 2022 inflation in Ghana reached a record 54% but has since fallen to around 35%.

A year ago Mr Adongo compared Mr Bawumia to Harry Maguire, who Mr Adongo said “became the biggest threat at the centre of the Manchester United defence”.

The video of the speech was widely shared on social media.

It came amid a torrent of criticism of the footballer.

England manager Gareth Southgate has condemned the mockery as “ridiculous treatment” and said he’s been “an absolute stalwart” for the team.

Mr Maguire’s mother also defended her son and said the abuse he has faced has been “disgraceful” and “unacceptable”.

Some Ghanaians have been reacting to Mr Adongo’s apology, saying that the Manchester United player has really improved, but the same cannot be said of the managers of the Ghanaian economy.

Others feel such a comparison should not have been made.

According to Mr Adongo, the Ghanaian government has had to increase taxes and tariffs on services as part of the agreement with the IMF.

This caused widespread anger among voters and triggered protests over the rising cost of living and unemployment in the country.

Despite this, Ghana’s governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has selected Mr Bawumia as its candidate for the 2024 elections.

He will be the first Muslim to contest the presidency under the NPP’s banner since multi-party democracy was restored in 1992.

Mr Bawumia has promised to lead a “united and energised” NPP into the election and that it is “the only party that can transform Ghana”.

Source: BBC