Soccer (FIFA)

Soccer (FIFA)

"I'm alive again. I see the injury as a big learning curve. You learn more about yourself and are tested the most. Rehab isn't fun. It's always something worse than the previous one. What you do is come back in the best shape and hopefully better than before," Musiala told FCBayern.com (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). "The way everything went, I couldn't have felt any better. I love being on the pitch so much."

2 mins: No Granit Xhaka in Sunderland's midfield could make this interesting. It does look like a straight 4-4-2, with Sadiki testing Areola early on with a sweet left-footed volley after a long throw was headed into no man's land. Share Peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeppp!! Share Broadcasters TNT Sports have Sunderland's formation down as a 4-2-3-1 with Hume in midfield and Mayenda out wide on the right. Guess we'll find out soon Share

Could Germany boycott the 2026 World Cup? Oke Gottlich, president of Bundesliga side St. Pauli and one of ten vice presidents of the German federation, told the Hamburger Morgenpost newspaper that the time has come to seriously consider and discuss this in terms of possibly boycotting the World Cup. What were the justifications for the boycotts of the Olympic Games in the 1980s? he said. By my reckoning the potential threat is greater now than it was then. We need to have this discussion.

During my time at Juventus, the number of foreign players allowed went up from two to three, Laudrup tells FourFourTwo when asked how his move to Barcelona came about. Platini retired, Ian Rush came in, and then one season later they also signed Rui Barros and Oleksandr Zavarov. That made four, and since I'd been there the longest, I thought that I'd be the one they'd let go. I was a little disappointed, but PSV were interested and had just won the European Cup.

Offers came in some were rejected by the club, some by me, others jointly, Mendieta recalls to FourFourTwo. The most famous was from Real Madrid. When they became interested in 2001, I knew Valencia wouldn't let me go for less than my release clause, which was 60 million, and Real weren't going to pay that for me. If they had triggered it, the debate would have shifted: would I have gone? But it never got to that point.

"After review, the ball hits the arm of the Wolves player, which is in a natural position so the on-field decision will remain," he announced over the tannoy. Former Premier League assistant referee Darren Cann said it was "without doubt the correct decision". "Hallam, officiating in his first Premier League match, made an excellent and courageous call to stick with his on-field decision of no handball," Cann told BBC Sport.

In an interview with the Hamburger Post (via welt.de), Göttlich was asked if he was calling for a boycott, after having previously questioned in a social media post whether European national teams should participate in a tournament hosted by a country "that is indirectly and possibly soon directly attacking Europe." To this, Göttlich aswered that it was time to "think about it and talk about it concretely."

SNS Livingston will contact the Scottish FA to report Aberdeen over an alleged racial comment made to striker Jeremy Bokila. Following Livingston's 6-2 defeat by Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Saturday, manager David Martindale said 37-year-old Bokila was in tears in the changing room after a comment made to him on the pitch. It is understood the alleged comment was of a racial nature and came amid a second-half melee that resulted in Bokila being sent off.

Real Madrid will aim to leapfrog Barcelona and at least temporarily go top of LaLiga with victory at Villarreal. Los Blancos turned on the style in midweek as they thrashed Monaco 6-1 in the Champions League. They will aim to maintain that momentum in LaLiga and pile the pressure on Barcelona, who surprisingly lost to Real Sociedad in their last league encounter.

Tottenham defender Ben Davies has undergone a second operation on a broken ankle and is a doubt for the World Cup should Wales qualify. The 32-year-old was given oxygen before being carried off on a stretcher after 19 minutes of last weekend's 2-1 Premier League defeat by West Ham United. Davies has undergone further surgery that is liable to rule him out of Wales' March World Cup play-off games and casts doubt on his Tottenham future.

"Every goal you score is great, but from that far out to get all three points is extra special," Wilson said. "I've had a really good run of form from the end of November until now and, as an attacker, you are judged on these numbers. "When you are helping the team with goals and assists, it is an amazing feeling."

If you want to put your feet up and relax with a cuppa and a crossword, we've got your covered. This Weekend Crossword from FourFourTwo is just the ticket. PLAY NEXT Welcome back to FourFourTwo's Weekend Crossword, the only crossword you'll need as a football fan today. We've compiled a suite of clues of various degrees of difficulty but only the top-notch trivia minds will get the lot.

Bayern have pushed themselves to their financial limits in their contract offer to Dayot Upamecano. The offer has been on the table for weeks, but the Frenchman is still hesitating to sign it. Impatience is growing behind the scenes at the club. The supervisory board, in particular, is irritated by the stalling tactics of Upamecano and his agent. The question being asked at Säbener Straße is: What more does Upamecano want?

Sources in the industry have told me that Chelsea and Manchester United have shown a clear interest, while Tottenham have been tracking him for months and were impressed by his recent Champions League display against them. As first reported in my exclusive here for the Daily Briefing, another source added: Scouts from a number of English clubs have also watched him closely in recent weeks. However, Nmecha's fine form means this deal will be far from straightforward.

Yeah, look, he would be an interesting option for both Manchester United and Tottenham, obviously he has got a glittering CV from his time at Barcelona. Xavi during his time as Barcelona manager (Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images) He obviously had a spell in charge at Barcelona where he did win the league, but he's been out of work since the summer of 2024.