Barzagli returns to Juventus in new first-team technical role

Frank Lampard has described Jose Mourinho s criticism of Antonio Rudiger as disappointing and insisted the defender s integrity should not be questioned.

Mourinho accused Rudiger of playacting to get Son Heung-min sent-off during Chelsea s 2-0 win at Tottenham on Sunday, but Lampard felt the Spurs boss s barbs were ill-timed.

Germany international Rudiger was the victim of racist abuse from home supporters at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with an investigation ongoing.

Lampard said: With Toni, in this incident when he’s having to post after the game about something we know is a huge deal [racism], I think to question his integrity in that time is disappointing for sure.

Pretty universally, certainly what I heard in the commentary and the post-match ref…

Fran Villalba has opted to snub a move to Manchester United in favour of a new and improved deal with Valencia that will keep him at the club for four more seasons.

The promising midfielder s agent revealed earlier this month that United had made initial contact to discuss a potential transfer, but a move to Old Trafford is no longer on the cards following Villalba s decision to sign a renewal.

Very satisfied to have renewed for four years with the club of my life, the 18-year-old Villalba wrote on Twitter.

I will keep working to play my part for this great club.

Muy contento por renovar 4 años más con el equipo de mi vida.
Toca trabajar para aportar mi granito de arena a este gran club.

— Fran Villalba (@franvillalba10)

Villa…

The 2017/18 DFB-Pokal final was played on May 19th at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, and the teams that took to the pitch to face each other and do battle for the trophy were Bayern Munich and Eintracht Frankfurt.

The way the Bavarians have been dominating German football for many years now is very impressive. They’ve recently been confirmed as the Bundesliga champions again, and after the disappointment of going out of the Champions League in the semi-final at the hands of Real Madrid, the 73-year-old manager Jupp Heynckess was determined to retire with another trophy on his shelf.

Eintracht manager Niko Kovač has been confirmed as Heynckess successor in the Allianz Arena dugout, and that confirmation seems to have caused an upset in the ranks at Frankfurt. At one p…

Watford eased to a 3-0 win over relegation rivals Aston Villa despite having Adrian Mariappa sent off, while Carlo Ancelotti got a second win in succession as Everton boss on Saturday.

Nigel Pearson s impact is becoming impressively clear at Watford, with the new manager guiding them to two wins in a week, having also presided over the 2-0 defeat of Manchester United before Christmas.

Watford are now within two points of 18th-placed Villa and having previously looked doomed for relegation, they have been revived under Pearson.

Everton are also enjoying something of an improvement, as they left St James Park with a 2-1 win over Newcastle United – Ancelotti s early work seemingly getting a reaction out of the Toffees.

When you save the best Christmas pre…

Carlo Ancelotti has told his Chelsea stars that reaching the Champions League final is the least they should achieve in Europe s elite club competition this season.

Ancelotti was hired by Blues owner Roman Abramovich partly because of his Champions League pedigree and the Italian, who won the competition twice during his reign at AC Milan, has set his new team a lofty goal before a ball has even been kicked.

The Chelsea boss gets a first chance to underline his European nous when Chelsea begin their campaign at home to Porto on Tuesday, but he has already seen enough of the west London side to know they can go all the way to next year s final in Real Madrid s Bernabeu Stadium.

The first objective is to reach the final, Ancelotti said on Monday. We want to arriv…

World football s ruling body FIFA on Friday revealed the remaining contenders for the 2008 World Player and FIFA Women s World Player awards, to be handed out here on January 12, 2009.

The male nominees are Kaka (Brazil), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Fernando Torres (Spain), and Xavi (Spain).

Nadine Angerer (Germany), Cristiane (Brazil), Marta (Brazil), Birgit Prinz (Germany) and Kelly Smith (England) will contest the women s award.

This year heralds an increased field of contenders, moving up to five from the three of previous years.

All the nominees were confirmed after a poll in which the coaches and captains of men s and women s national teams from around the world cast their votes on the basis of a list of men s and wo…

Islam Slimani has signed a contract extension through to the end of the 2019-20 Primeira Liga season, Sporting Lisbon announced on Thursday.

After highly rated team-mate Joao Mario committed his future to the club earlier in the day, Slimani followed suit, penning a new deal with a €30million minimum release clause included at the Estadio Jose Alvalade.

The 27-year-old Algeria international forward a reported target for Premier League duo West Ham and Tottenham towards the latter stages of 2014-15 was a key contributor as Sporting upstaged Benfica in last week s Supertaca Candido de Oliveira.

I am very happy with this renewal with Sporting. It is recognition for the work I have been doing at the club, Slimani said via Sporting s official website.

I am…

Newcastle United have confirmed they are on the search for a head coach rather than a manager following Alan Pardew s departure.

Pardew was confirmed as the new manager of Crystal Palace on Saturday, signing a three-and-a-half-year deal after Newcastle agreed to release him from his contract having agreed compensation with the Selhurst Park club.

John Carver and Steve Stone will remain in caretaker charge of Newcastle for Saturday s FA Cup tie with Leicester City, but a statement announcing Pardew s exit confirmed the search for a head coach has begun .

Managing director Lee Charnley paid tribute to Pardew s efforts during his four-year stint at St James Park.

Despite public perceptions, fuelled by the media, Mike Ashley had never met nor spoken to Alan …

Gerard Pique would not begrudge Philippe Coutinho a move away from Barcelona if it makes the Brazilian happy.

LaLiga champions Barca are reportedly prepared to loan out the former Liverpool star, with four Premier League clubs having been linked with a move.

Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United and Tottenham are rumoured to be interested, though with the English transfer window shutting on Thursday any deal would have to move swiftly.

Barca signed Coutinho in a deal reportedly worth €160million (£142m) in January 2018, but it has not worked out for the midfielder, who managed five LaLiga goals last term.

S̶t̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶g̶o̶t̶ ̶i̶t̶. Never lost it.

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona)

The signings of Antoine Griezmann and Frenk…

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been harshly criticised since being appointed by Manchester United, according to Chelsea head coach Frank Lampard.

The Norwegian was propelled into the job on a caretaker basis last December following Jose Mourinho s sacking and won 14 of his first 17 matches in charge.

But United s form turned after he was handed the top job on a permanent basis as they ended the 2018-19 campaign with one win in nine matches, leading to some questioning the decision to hand him the role full-time.

Ahead of Chelsea s opening-weekend trip to Old Trafford, however, Lampard insisted the criticism Solskjaer has faced is not justified.

Friday morning training session before is about to begin! 

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC)

I am aware …