Elena Sadiku has challenged Celtic to play with “swagger” as they attempt to upset the odds to open their Champions League Group B account against Real Madrid.The Scottish champions face the Liga F runners-up at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano on Thursday evening with both sides having lost their opening fixture.Sadiku admits the hosts will be firm favourites but has agreed with keeper ...

Manchester City manager Gareth Taylor has warned against getting carried away as his side look to maintain their impressive start to the season at St Polten in the Champions League.City head to Austria top of the Women’s Super League after a stoppage-time goal from Khadija Shaw earned a 2-1 win at Liverpool on Sunday.That came after Taylor’s side marked their return to the Champions Le...

Vincent Kompany insists recent results are of no concern as Bayern Munich prepare for another top-of-the-table clash at Bundesliga rivals Eintracht Frankfurt.Bayern’s 100 per cent start to the season in all competitions was halted in last week’s home draw against Bayer Leverkusen, who had started the day in second place.And on Wednesday night Kompany’s side slipped to their first...

Arsenal have been dealt a major boost on the eve of their Champions League clash against Paris St Germain after Luis Enrique confirmed Ousmane Dembele has been axed from his squad.Dembele has scored four times in six Ligue 1 matches for PSG this season and played in the French club’s Champions League opening-match win against Girona earlier this month.But boss Enrique revealed the 27-year-ol...

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery is “happy” to see healthy competition between strikers Ollie Watkins and Jhon Duran.Duran has come off the bench twice this season to score goals in games against West Ham and Leicester and help Villa register wins on both occasions.Watkins has not scored in the opening three games of the campaign but had magnificent opportunities denied by David Raya and Ma...

Scotland manager Steve Clarke will look for answers over their disrupted preparations for Sunday’s Nations League clash in Portugal after arriving in Lisbon almost two hours late following a 110-mile road trip.Scotland trained at Lesser Hampden on Saturday morning before flying from Glasgow to Beja Airport, a former military airbase which hosts no commercial flights in between the Portuguese...

Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has absolved star signing Kylian Mbappe of responsibility for the defensive lapses which have contributed to an indifferent start to the season.Having won only one of their three league fixtures to date, the LaLiga champions head into Sunday’s home clash with Real Betis sitting fifth in the table, seven points behind leaders Barcelona who have played a game m...

Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti insists that Kylian Mbappe is “settling in very well” at the club.The France captain completed a free transfer to the Spanish capital in June following the expiration of his contract at Paris St Germain.He got off the mark with his first Real goal on his competitive debut earlier in August after they beat Atalanta 2-0 in Warsaw to win the UEFA Super Cup...

Leicester boss Steve Cooper is “excited” at the prospect of getting his players back out for their second Premier League clash of the season.The Foxes were very much second best in the first half of their return to the top flight against Tottenham but Jamie Vardy’s 57th minute equaliser helped them earn a draw following a more encouraging second period.Cooper is now preparing to ...

Turkey Football Federation president Mehmet Buyukeksi has called Merih Demiral’s two-match ban “unlawful” and a “political decision”.Demiral is suspended for Turkey’s Euro 2024 quarter-final against Netherlands after being sanctioned over a wolf salute he made towards the crowd during the last-16 match with Austria in Leipzig on Tuesday.The salute is recognised ...