James Rodriguez agrees Manchester United switch

Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti hailed the atmosphere at the sold-out Stadio Maradona as his side fought past Ajax 4-2 to secure their place in the Champions League knockout stages.

Goals from Hirving Lozano, Giacomo Raspadori, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, and Victor Osimhen saw Napoli continue their unbeaten campaign in Group A in front of a raucous home crowd.

It was a result that secured a place in the last 16 with two matches to spare.

Speaking to Sky Sport Italia, Spalletti said about the home support: On evenings like this, you are swept along by the atmosphere. At one point, I felt dizzy and thought I could see stars going around my head.

This qualification is down to the lads and I am fortunate to be working with a group like this. The entire city is pr…

Pedri says it is not possible to emulate Barcelona legend s Lionel Messi s achievements as he prepares to face fierce rivals Real Madrid in El Clasico.

Barca teenager Pedri has emerged as one of world football s most talented prospects, showing maturity way beyond his years with majestic performances in the middle of the park.

The 19-year-old Spain midfielder looks set for a long, successful career and Xavi will be expecting him to step up on the big stage again when the Blaugrana face LaLiga champions Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday.

Pedri has high hopes for what he can achieve, but believes it is too much to ask that he will emulate the feats of the mercurial seven-time Ballon d Or winner Messi.

I hope so, Pedri replied when asked if he would…

TP Mazembe beat Pachuca 1-0 in the FIFA Club World Cup on Friday to set up a semi-final with Internacional.

African champions Mazembe crashed out of their inaugural appearance at the tournament back in 2009, losing to Pohang Stealers of South Korea and New Zealand side Auckland City.

But there was no repeat of that disappointment, with a 1-0 win over Mexican side Pachuca handing the DR Congo s Mazembe their first Club World Cup victory.

Mbenza Bedi grabbed the only goal after 20 minutes at the Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

Pachuca, making their third appearance at the tournament, are old hands at the Club World Cup.

With more than a hint of complacency, Argentine coach Pablo Marini left first-choice striker Edgar Benitez on the bench,…

What is Comolli’s role?

The role of Director of football is well established across continental Europe but hasn’t yet really identified a strong-hold in the English game.

Threatened

The old image of the team manager being in charge of everything at the club is still alive and well in England and many managers feel threatened by the implementation of the director role.

Liverpool’s Roy Hodgson has worked all over Europe and may well be one of the few English managers that are comfortable with the role. Whether or not he is comfortable with Damien Comolli being given the role at his club or the fact that the appointment was apparently made without his input or knowledge, is a more difficult question to answer.

Acrimonious

Comolli joined Li…

Leicester City s remarkable Premier League title challenge has Eusebio Di Francesco s Sassuolo dreaming big in Serie A.

Having defied the odds throughout the season, Leicester are now just three matches away from hoisting the trophy aloft after routing Swansea City 4-0 on Sunday.

The rest of the world have stood up and taken notice of Champions League-bound Leicester, none more than Sassuolo, who are seventh in Serie A this term, having finished 12th in 2014-15.

It s a utopia [doing the same as Leicester], it s difficult, but we re getting closer, Di Francesco told Sky Sport Italia.

However, why can t we dream an Italian team repeating such a fairytale? That is something we can look to do.

Di Francesco who signed a contract extension last week …

Kylian Mbappe needed clear-the-air talks with Olivier Giroud, but their argument is now in the past, according to France captain Hugo Lloris.

Les Bleus preparations for Euro 2020 have been overshadowed by an apparent spat between two of their forwards, which stems from the friendly win over Bulgaria last week.

Giroud indicated he was unhappy with some of the service he received in the 3-0 victory, comments that were perceived to be aimed specifically at Mbappe, who exchanged passes with the Chelsea forward just three times in 43 minutes.

The Paris Saint-Germain star admitted last weekend that he had been a little affected by Giroud s remarks, while coach Didier Deschamps held a discussion with both players.

Lloris said Mbappe felt the need to speak his mi…

Jurgen Klopp warned his Liverpool players that keeping exceptional Wolves winger Adama Traore quiet will be even more difficult than shutting out Jamie Vardy.

Premier League top scorer Vardy was largely anonymous as Liverpool won 4-0 at second-place Leicester City on Thursday to move 13 points clear at the summit with a game in hand on the Foxes.

However, the runaway leaders face a quick turnaround in fixtures as they are back in action on Sunday with a home match against Nuno Espirito Santo s Wolves.

Klopp is expecting a tough test at Anfield and is particularly wary of the threat posed by versatile attacker Traore, who has starred on the right of a front three this term and scored twice in a win at Manchester City in October.

Finally, Traore has a ma…

Robert Lewandowski played a starring role as Barcelona moved up to second place in LaLiga with a 3-0 win at Atletico Madrid.

Lewandowski set up on-loan forward Joao Felix to open the scoring against his parent club and doubled his side’s lead just 80 seconds into the second half.

The prolific Poland international then provided the cross for Fermin Lopez to head in the third in the 65th minute as Barca took full advantage of Girona’s defeat at Getafe on Saturday to move above them in the table.

FULL TIME!!!

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona)

Barcelona coach Xavi was sent off shortly before half-time for repeated dissent towards the referee, but he will have been delighted with his side’s performance after a slow start.

The home side e…

A-League star Josh Cavallo has come out as gay, making the announcement in a video and open letter on social media.

The 21-year-old is the only openly gay top-flight male footballer in the world.

In his video, he said:  There s something personal that I need to share with everyone. I am a footballer and I am gay.

His open letter stated: It s been a journey to get to this point in my life, but I couldn t be happier with my decision to come out. I have been fighting my sexuality for six years now and I m glad I can put that to rest.

Growing up, I always felt the need to hide myself because I was ashamed. Ashamed I would never be able to do what I loved and be gay. Hiding who I truly am, to pursue a dream I always wished for as a kid, to play football a…

Ligue 1 giants Lyon have announced the sacking of head coach Claude Puel, effective immediately.

Despite the fact that Lyon finished third in France last season, they finished 12 points behind title-winners Lille and failed to pick up a trophy for the third year in succession.

For a club like Lyon who won seven successive Ligue 1 titles from 2001 to 2008 the results were simply not good enough, leading to Puel s departure.

Lyon wishes to announce the departure of Claude Puel, who is no longer the head coach of the club as of today (Monday), Lyon s blunt statement said.

The sacking is expected to cost Lyon approximately 3.5 million pounds, with Remi Garde, Lyon s current director of youth training, one of the favourites to take the job.

…