Jose Mourinho must sit out the Rome derby after an appeal against his Serie A two-match touchline ban was rejected.
The Roma head coach will be a spectator for this Sunday s game against Sassuolo and the tussle with city rivals Lazio seven days later.
His ban was temporarily suspended last week, allowing him to take charge of a game against Juventus, but it now takes immediate effect.
The 60-year-old was sent off for the third time this season just two minutes into the second half of Roma s 2-1 loss at lowly Cremonese on Tuesday, February 28.
Mourinho clashed with fourth official Marco Serra and was sent to the stands, before continuing to argue his case when entering the officials dressing room after the match.
The Italian Football Association (F…
Best odds: 23/20
Bookmaker:
Barcelona will be looking to strengthen their position in the La Liga title race when they travel to face Athletic Bilbao at the San Mames Barria stadium on Sunday evening, while the hosts aim to regain a foothold in the battle for the table positions which lead into European competitions next term.
Athletic Bilbao
The season overall hasn’t been too bad for Bilbao, but some underwhelming performances and disappointing results in recent league matches have caused them to lose some ground as they strive to appear in Europe in 2023/24.
Their last-six run in all competitions consists of a 4-1 home win over Cadiz, a 1-2 win away to Valencia, a 1-0 defeat to Atletico in Madrid, a 2-3 defeat at home against Girona, a 1-0 loss away…
Hull City will take on Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship play-off final after surviving a 2-0 home defeat at the hands of Derby County to progress 3-2 on aggregate.
Steve Bruce s men, who finished fourth in the regular season having been relegated from the top flight at the end of the 2014-15 campaign, ran out 3-0 winners after the Rams capitulated in the semi-final first leg at ipro Stadium last Saturday.
Few gave the demoralised visitors any chance of mounting a comeback in Tuesday s return fixture at KC Stadium.
But a fast start from Darren Wassell s team resulted in the opening goal after nine minutes. Right-back Cyrus Christie drove down the flank and delivered a cross to the back post, where striker Chris Martin headed it down to the centre of the p…
Luis Suarez does not know how long he will be sidelined for after the Barcelona star forward hobbled off in tears during Sunday s Copa del Rey triumph.
Suarez looked visibly distressed as he was helped off the pitch with an apparent hamstring injury just shy of the hour-mark, before Barca went on to win 2-0 after extra time in Madrid.
The muscle injury has thrown Suarez s Copa America Centenario commitments up in the air, with Uruguay set to kick-off their campaign in the United States on June 5.
However, neither Suarez nor coach Luis Enrique could shed light on the injury post-match at Vicente Calderon.
I can t say anything about the injury because I don t know anything, Suarez was quoted as saying.
Tomorrow [Monday] we will have tests.
…
Wolfsburg coach Felix Magath has confirmed that there is currently an open race to sign Bayern Munich target Mario Mandzukic.
The Croatian has recently been linked with a move to the Allianz Arena, having put in a series of eye-catching displays at Euro 2012 before his country were eliminated.
The Bavarians have lost Ivica Olic this summer and re-signed Claudio Piazarro, but still want cover for Mario Gomez, and have been priced out of a move for Manchester City s Ediz Dzeko.
But the veteran coach insists the player s destination is far from decided, and that he would like to keep the 26-year-old at the club if possible.
At this point in time it is a fact that there are some clubs interested in signing Mario Mandzukic, he told Deutsche Presseagentur. …
Lazio are on the verge of signing forward Burak Yilmaz from Trabzonspor, according to Il Corriere dello Sport.
The Biancocelesti have been tracking the Turkish international for a while now and they recently agreed personal terms with the player.
Il Corriere dello Sport now claims Lazio boss Claudio Lotito is to fly to Turkey to put the final touches on the deal after Trabzonspor accepted Lazio’s €6.8 million bid for the highly rated attacker.
Atletico Madrid and Borussia Dortmund have also expressed interest in the 26-year-old recently, but Lazio seem to have won the race for one of the most sought-after players in Europe.
Yilmaz had a slow start to his professional career after making a debut at Besiktas in 2006, and he had spells with Manisaspor, …
Youssoufa Moukoko has been named in the Borussia Dortmund XI for the first time for Tuesday s game at Werder Bremen.
Edin Terzic is making his own bow as BVB coach against Werder after Lucien Favre was sacked in the aftermath of a humiliating 5-1 home defeat to Stuttgart on Saturday.
Terzic, put in charge until the end of the season, promised to go on the offensive at his pre-match news conference and was as good as his word with his team selection.
Sixteen-year-old striker Moukoko was brought in for Emre Can in the only change, seeing Dortmund switch to a 4-2-3-1 formation.
The teenager has previously made five appearances from the bench – four in the Bundesliga and one in the Champions League, becoming the youngest player in the history of both compe…
Barcelona suffered a potentially costly slip-up ahead of Wednesday s Clasico as they were held to a 2-2 draw at Real Sociedad.
Luis Suarez scored one goal and made another as Ernesto Valverde s men, who had won their previous six games in all competitions, came from behind to lead at Anoeta.
However, Alexander Isak s 62nd-minute strike earned fourth-placed Sociedad a deserved share of the spoils, meaning Real Madrid now have the chance to move two points clear at the top of LaLiga with victory at Valencia on Sunday.
Barca could have few complaints about their failure to win, having been outplayed for large parts of an entertaining contest, and the champions will know they must deliver an improved display against Madrid in their next match.
FULL-TIME
…
Jan Vertonghen has expressed his desire to remain at Tottenham and revealed he has been offered a new five-year deal by the club.
The Belgium international moved to White Hart Lane from Ajax in 2012, and has made 57 Premier League appearances in his two seasons in London.
Tottenham will be under new management this season after the arrival of Mauricio Pochettino from Southampton to replace Tim Sherwood, with the club aiming to improve on last season s sixth-placed finish and secure a return to the UEFA Champions League.
Three weeks before the start of the new campaign, Vertonghen has provided a boost to Spurs fans by confirming he has been offered new terms and is eager to accept.
It goes without saying that I would like to stay at Tottenham Hotspur, he …
Paris Saint-Germain coach Carlo Ancelotti will meet with the club s president as speculation mounts he could depart the club.
PSG president Nasser al-Khelaifi said the club had rejected an approach from Real Madrid for Ancelotti s services on Monday.
The Italian s contract was automatically extended to June 2014 after securing a UEFA Champions League spot, but Ancelotti will seek assurances on certain issues before committing to the club.
I have not talked with the club yet, he told L Equipe.
We have a meeting scheduled on Friday, then we ll see. I want to continue if it s possible to continue.
But I want to understand what happened during the season. Some things happened after our (league) defeat against Stade Rennes, then after the defeat at Nice.
Today it s 50-50…