The Fußball Chatter

Julen Lopetegui was sacked from the Real Madrid job last night as a result from Madrid's heavy 5-1 defeat against Barcelona on Sunday. It was expected that Florentino Pérez will remove the former Spain manager after Madrid's poor start to the La Liga season currently 9th in the table, seven points away from Barcelona with the El Clasico defeat being the last straw. Santiago Solaris, manager of Real Madrid Castilla will take temporary charge of the first team with former Chelsea manager, Antonio Conte, the favourite to take over from Lopetegui. It's fair to say Lopetegui's career is in tatters right now having been removed from both the Spanish National Team and Real Madrid within just four months with the likes of Sergio Ramos, who defended Lopetegui when he was sacked from La Roja, turned against him. However, it's not all Lopetegui's fault. Madrid don't have a goal-scorer they can rely on like Cristiano Ronaldo and have an ageing squad with the li

A new week comes the chatter's review of the major talking points from the weekend starting with: Barcelona giving Real a new one It was a nightmare for Real Madrid yesterday as they lost to their hated rivals Barcelona 5-1 at the Camp Nou. It was expected with Madrid's recent form but the manner of the defeat was so bad, there will be news regarding Julen Lopetegui's future this week. Goals from Coutinho, Vidal and a hat-trick from Luis Suárez gave Barça a commanding victory without Lionel Messi. Barcelona remain top in La Liga with 21 points while Los Blancos drop to 9th in the table closer to the relegation zone than the top of the table. Drastic measures ahead for Real. Liverpool go top Liverpool went top of the table in the Premier League this weekend after beating Cardiff City 4-1 at Anfield. Goals from Mohamed Salah, a brace from Sadio Mane and a first Liverpool goal from Xherdan Shaqiri ensured three points for the Reds as Manchester City play tonight

Barcelona against Real Madrid or popularly known as El Clasico is one of the biggest sporting rivalries in the world, as they are one of the most successful football sides in history with their rivalry linked with Spain's political history and the wealth of world-class players that have played for both sides from Ronaldo, Luis Figo, Xavi, Casillas, Ronaldinho, Xabi Alonso, etc. They will meet again at the Camp Nou on Sunday with bragging right not only up for grabs but to lay down a marker this season. The rivalry in recent years have dominated with the rivalry of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi which made the rivalry more popular given their legion of fans and contrasting personalities. With Ronaldo gone to Juventus and Messi injured, this is the first time since 2007 that Messi and Ronaldo will not feature, losing a bit of star power in the game despite the star players available on both sides with ter Stegen, Coutinho, Suarez, Dembélé, Modrić, Kroos, Varane, Isco, et

From groups E to H to groups A to D for the Champions League on Wednesday. Liverpool beat Red Star while PSG and Napoli shared the points. Spurs remain winless so far getting a draw against PSV while Barcelona beat Inter. Dortmund beat Atletico, Porto beat Lotomotiv Moscow, Monaco got a draw and Schalke against Galatasaray was goalless. Here are the talking from Wednesday. Spurs are in deep trouble Spurs managed to top their group last season having the likes of Real Madrid and Dortmund. This season, they're in danger of getting eliminated from the group stages. Losing their two games, a win against PSV was a must but could muster a 2-2 draw. Hirving Lozano was a menace causing havoc on Spurs scoring a goal and winning a penalty that got Hugo Lloris sent off when Spurs were 2-1 up. For Spurs, they have to hold on to their winning position in games which was seen against Inter and with only a point from three games, they must beat PSV and Inter in keeping their slim chance

The UEFA Champions League made its return this week as we're now halfway into the group stages as teams are either getting points to keep their chances of going through alive or consolidating their place for the knockout stages. Teams from Group E to H played on Tuesday with the biggest game being Manchester United hosting Juventus which the Serie A champions won 1-0. Real Madrid, Roma, Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Ajax all secured wins while Valencia and Lyon dropped points. Here are the major stories from Tuesday's results. Ronaldo's Return to Old Trafford The anticipation of United playing against Juventus was on the return of former United player Cristiano Ronaldo to Old Trafford as a Juventus player. The Portuguese was the provider for Paulo Dybala who scored his 4th UCL goal this season. Ronaldo was no doubt the centre of attention before and during the game with pitch invaders attempting to reach him during and after the game. For Juventus, they'r

With league football back after the international break, here are the major stories from the weekend's action Chelsea ruin Mourinho's day Chelsea faced Manchester United on Saturday with many believing that United stood little chance of beating the Blues at Stamford Bridge with United already seven points behind top spot. However, with Chelsea scoring first from Antonio Rüdiger, Anthony Martial scored a brace in the second half with United looking to seal their first win at the Bridge in 10 games but Ross Barkley scored from the last kick of the game to rescue a point. The fallout from the equaliser brought a row between Mourinho and Chelsea coach Marco Ianni as the Portuguese had to be restrained by the stewards. Chelsea remain unbeaten with 21 points while United have won just one in their last five games in all competitions with Juventus coming up. City and Liverpool Remain Top Liverpool and Manchester City remain top of the league and unbeaten with the Citizen

AFCON Qualifiers Qualifiers for next year's African Cup of Nations is heating with four teams plus hosts Cameroon already sealed qualification with four games played. Runners-up from last year's tournament Egypt, Senegal and Tunisia booked their place next year while Madagascar qualified for the first time ever after a 1-0 win at home to Equatorial Guinea. Uganda and Guinea are in pole position to qualify with a good point margin while Groups C, D and K are tight with each team still have a likely chance of qualifying. Nigeria is top in their group with 9 points after their 3-2 win away at Libya with South Africa behind with 8 points. UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is approaching the end of the league campaign in League A. Germany are on the brink of relegation after suffering a 2-1 defeat to World Champions France at the Stade de France. Germany are bottom with 1 point from three games while France are on top with 7 while Holland are second with 3 poin

In any football team, you need to have a functional midfield. The midfield protect the back four, dictate play with their passes, create chances for the attackers and at times, take it upon themselves to score. With the advancement of the game with teams preferring to be more possession based without compromising their defensive shape with the success of Pep Guardiola's Barcelona, the deep lying-playmaker is being utilities more. In particular, the regista. So what is the regista and who are the players that have played this role well both past and present. Well, the regista is a deep-lying playmaker which means 'director' in Italian. According to Football Manager, the regista is 'an aggressive version of the deep-lying playmaker suitable for possession-oriented system that press high up the pitch.' So the regista is the player who dictates play from his own half to create chances for his teammates in advanced positions. The regista can play in numerous system

With the international break still going on, here is some news from the international game. Sancho makes debut for Three Lions Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho has lit up the Bumdesliga this season scoring once and making six assists, which is the most across Europe's top 5 leagues. He was rewarded a call-up for England makong his debut in their Nations League tie against Croatia which ended scoreless. Sancho is the first player born in the 21st century to make his debut for England. With Gareth Southgate looking to the new generation of England players in Sancho, Maddison and Mount, they're certainly trying to build a team for the future.  Germany experience Oranje whitewash Germany have certainly not recovered from their failure at the World Cup as they lost 3-0 to the Netherlands. Goals from van Djik, Depay and Wijnaldum ensured a first victory for de Oranje against Die Mannscahft in 16 years marking a big improvement for the Netherlands under Ronald

AS Monaco have dismissed Leonardo Jardim from his duties as their manager today with speculation of former Monaco player Thierry Henry set to take the held at the principality. Monaco have been struggling in Ligue 1 sitting 18th in the table, getting just six points from their nine league games. Winning just once and are four points behind 17th placed Stade Reims. In the club website, Jardim stated, "I'm grateful and proud to have been Monaco manager for more than four years. I've always given my very best and worked with passion. We've achieved some great victories together and I'll always keep those memories." The Portuguese was appointed in 2014 and has managed 232 games for Les Monégasques with a win percentage of 54%. He's overseen the talents of Anthony Martial, Fabinho, Bernando silva, Benjamin Mendy, Kylian Mbappé, etc. which the club have gained from their sales but has affected their ability to compete in Ligue 1 against Paris Saint-Germai

With the international break already underway, here's a recap of football across Europe. La Liga After 8 games into the season, it's Sevilla that tops the table with 16 points. Los Hispalenses have won 5 of their eight games which a 3-0 win against Real Madrid with André Silva easily one of their best performers scoring 7 in 8 league games. Barcelona are second with 15 points with the defending champions winless in their last four league games which includes a shock 2-1 defeat against Leganes. The Blaugrana again have been reliant on Lionel Messi, who have made 10 goal contributions in eight games. Almost half of Barça's 19 goals. Real Madrid have found it difficult post-CR7 currently fourth, winless in four including defeats to Sevilla and Alavés with no goals in those four games. Atlético Madrid are third behind Barcelona by goal difference and have managed to recover from a poor start getting 10 points from their last four games, possibly rolling to a title challen

England defender John Terry called time on his playing career after 2 decades of playing at the highest level. Terry, who was a free agent after his contract with Championship side Aston Villa last season, took to his Instagram page to make the announcement saying, "After 23 incredible years as a footballer, I have decided now is the right time for me to retire from playing." The former England captain who won 78 caps for the Three Lions later added, "As a 14 year-old , I made the biggest and best decision: to sign for Chelsea. Words will never be enough to show how much everyone at the club means to me, in particular the fans." " To me, you are the best fans in the world. I hope I have done you all proud wearing the shirt and the armband.  I want to thank my amazing team-mates, coaches, managers and backroom staff, who I was honoured to work with and learn from." "They all guided me on my way to playing 717 games for the club I love, and i

Manchester City will be thinking what could have been when Riyad Mahrez missed his penalty blowing away a big opportunity of a first win in 15 years at Anfield as Manchester City and Liverpool played to a goalless draw. Billed as a game that was hyped as an attacking end-to-end encounter, there was little to separate both sides as the game was more dogged with both sides refusing to give away any chances. In all honesty, the game wasn’t great with poor displays in the final third of the pitch with only two shots on target from 10 shots in that game. Liverpool played their usually high pressing game but just created a number of half-chances while City went cautious aiming to nullify Liverpool’s front three and frustrate the Anfield crowd which worked but affected their attack in sustaining chances for themselves. There were a number of penalty for the Citizens when Sergio Agüero was brought down by Dejan Lovren and another between Fernandinho and Virgil van Dijk. City were awa

As the final week of matches before the international break, teams will be looking to assess their season thus far having played seven games with more to come. Gameweek 8 in the Premier League saw Brighton beat West Ham on Friday with six games played on Saturday. Wolves made it four wins in five games beating Crystal Palace 1-0 while Huddersfield and Cardiff City remain winless with Huddersfield earning a 1-1 draw against Burnley while Cardiff lost to Spurs 1-0. Everton got their first away win of the season at the King Power beating Leicester City 2-1 while Bournemouth hammered Watford 4-0. At the evening kick-off, Manchester United came from two goals down to beat Newcastle United 3-2 ending a four game winless run in all competitions. Here are the 3 things learned from yesterday. Mourinho’s safe. For now, at least. It feels so tiring taking about Mourinho and Manchester United’s woes this season. Rumours circulated that Jose Mourinho will be booted out of the job if he fa