Massimiliano Allegri has revealed he signed an agreement to become Real Madrid head coach before opting to return to Juventus.
The Italian guided the Bianconeri to two Champions League finals, in 2015 and 2017, while winning 11 trophies during his five-season stay, including five straight Serie A titles and four consecutive Coppa Italias.
However, Allegri was dismissed by Juve president Andrea Agnelli at the end of the 2018-19 campaign, with a quarter-final Champions League exit to Ajax defining the season in which they signed Cristiano Ronaldo as a failure.
Spells with Maurizio Sarri and Andrea Pirlo yielded unsuccessful returns for Juve, who brought back Allegri at the start of this season, but the 54-year-old almost became the Madrid boss.
I had alrea…
Simone Inzaghi did not expect to be without Romelu Lukaku heading into his first season as Inter head coach.
Lukaku, who scored 24 Serie A goals last season to help Inter win their first league title since 2010, was sold to Chelsea last week for a reported £97.5million (€115m).
Inter needed to sell players as they deal with financial difficulties compounded by the coronavirus pandemic, and they had already sold full-back Achraf Hakimi to Paris Saint-Germain.
Meanwhile, Lukaku s former strike partner Lautaro Martinez has been linked with a move to London as well, with Tottenham reportedly agreeing a fee for the Argentina forward, though that move seems likely to depend on Harry Kane s future.
In the wake of Lukaku s departure, Inter have bolstered their…
Massimiliano Allegri claims Sunday s Serie A clash between Juventus and Milan is more important for the Rossoneri despite him overseeing a miserable start to 2021-22.
Allegri is three league matches into his second spell in Turin but there has been no sign of a honeymoon period, with Juve yet to win any of those matches.
They relieved a hint of pressure with a 3-0 Champions League win on Tuesday, though the good will from that victory will only last so long given it was against Malmo.
Failure to get off the mark on Sunday will leave Juve winless across their first four Serie A matches in a single season for only the fourth time, the most recent occasion being in 1961-62.
By contrast, Milan – who this season are in the Champions League for the first time…
Luis Enrique said Spain s automatic qualification for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has taken a big weight off his shoulders.
Alvaro Morata s late goal helped Spain clinch a 1-0 win over Sweden in Seville on Sunday and secured top spot in Group B of European qualifying.
Sweden will go into a play-off next March to reach the tournament while Spain can begin preparations for their 12th consecutive World Cup finals.
Only Brazil (all 21), Germany (18) and Argentina (13) have qualified for more consecutive tournaments than Spain, who have reached every finals since 1978.
Today has been a very beautiful day. We have suffered a lot, but the players have had faith and have taken their deserved prize, Spain head coach Luis Enrique told a media conference.
Austria head coach Franco Foda has seen his team match pre-tournament favourites France for shots and out-do Les Bleus for expected goals at Euro 2020 – but their last-16 hopes still hang in the balance.
Foda has confirmed striker Marko Arnautovic will start against Ukraine on Monday as both teams chase a victory to finish behind the Netherlands in Group C.
Arnautovic scored the third and final goal in his country s opening win over North Macedonia, converting a one-on-one opportunity having come off the bench in the second half in Budapest.
However, comments made towards opposing players as he celebrated in the immediate aftermath saw him handed a one-match ban for insulting another player by UEFA.
The former Stoke City and West Ham forward, who apol…
Liverpool s story over the last 50 years or so has been a most intriguing one. Bill Shankly lifted them to the top, with Bob Paisley ready to take on the burden and maintain the legend, reaching even greater heights. Joe Fagan and Kenny Dalglish managed to keep their status as one of the best clubs on the planet, but the aftermaths of the Heysel and especially Hillsborough disasters were hard to cope with, and a steady decline began from the early 1990s.
There were signs, most notably under Gerard Houlier and Rafa Benitez, that the club could once again be destined for the very top. The infamous Hicks and Gillet era did them significant damage, repaired to a slight degree when Dalglish returned for his second spell and led the team to the 2012 League Cup. Brendan Rodgers came c…
“Everyone has the typical Champ game references when you watch Championship football and it comes around a lot.
“But I think with Ipswich, after Burnley last year, we will try to be the exception where you are not saying that.
“We want to play out from the back, play good football, be entertaining, so it will be a challenge but the players we have got are all looking forward to it.”
Australia international Luongo is delighted to be established at a club for the start of this season after enduring a difficult time last summer.
“I’m delighted to stay and I think it’ll be special playing for the Club in the Championship.
Massimo spoke to iFollow Ipswich after agreeing a new one-year deal at Town.
— Ipswich Town (@IpswichTow…
Late goals from Cody Gakpo and Davy Klaassen gave the Netherlands a 2-0 win over Senegal in their World Cup return at the Al Thumama Stadium on Monday.
The Oranje had produced a lacklustre performance in their first World Cup match since the 2014 tournament in Brazil, but secured all three points.
With just six minutes of regulation time left on the clock, Gakpo raced into the box and rose in front of Edouard Mendy to meet Frenkie de Jong s cross with a header to break the deadlock.
Louis van Gaal’s side were not convincing, but they had a second goal deep into stoppage time when Klaassen slotted home right at the end of a disappointing Group A contest.
…
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hopes under-fire successor Erik ten Hag comes good and says Sir Jim Ratcliffe is unlikely to have a “magic wand” to immediately turn around Manchester United’s fortunes.
This has been a miserable second season in the hotseat for the Dutchman, whose stuttering side are 11 points off the Premier League top four and have the FA Cup as their only remaining route to silverware.
But Ratcliffe’s recent minority purchase of the club from the Glazer family offers hope of long-term improvement, with the Ineos chairman also taking control of football operations.
Rumours continue about Ten Hag’s future as the summer approaches and Solskjaer, United’s previous permanent manager, would like to see him succeed at Old Trafford.
“I don�…
Pep Guardiola praised the attitude of his Manchester City players after they became the first team in the history of the FA Cup to reach the semi-finals in six consecutive seasons.
Two deflected strikes from Bernardo Silva secured a 2-0 win over Newcastle and the first of what City hope will be three visits to Wembley before the end of the season as they remain in the hunt for a second consecutive treble.
Guardiola is keen to deflect talk of that but praised their consistency, pointing to their record both in the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup, which they won in four consecutive years between 2018 and 2021.
In a of their own… booked their spot in the semi-finals for the sixth consecutive season with their 2-0 quarter-final victory over
— Emirates FA Cu…