Serginho scored a dramatic late goal to send Kashima Antlers into the AFC Champions League final for the first time following a 3-3 semi-final second-leg draw and 6-5 aggregate victory over Suwon Bluewings.
Kashima went into the game hoping for a repeat of their group-stage win in Suwon after coming from two goals down to win the first leg 3-2.
The 2017 J1 League runners-up looked to have one foot in the final when Shuto Yamamoto put them ahead on the night after 25 minutes, but Suwon staged a dramatic second-half fightback.
Three goals in eight minutes from Im Sang-hyeob, Jo Sung-jin and Dejan Damjanovic gave Suwon the advantage before Serginho teed up Daigo Nishi to level the tie after 64 minutes.
With extra-time beckoning, the Antlers poured forwards a…
According to Corriere dello Sport, Napoli aren’t just going to be focused on keeping hold of their star players in the January transfer window – because they’re also going to be aiming to bring in some new faces.
The Italian side are preparing to make bids for several high profile stars, with Federico Chiesa being one of them, and Benjamin Pavard being another.
Pavard, 22, played an integral role in helping Les Bleus to win the World Cup this summer and is considered to be an extremely hot commodity in the realms of European football. The defender is currently with Bundesliga side Stuttgart, after moving there from Lille back in 2016.
Napoli are desperately attempting to keep the pace with Juventus at the top of the Serie A table, and it appears as if they…
Lautaro Martinez believes Sunday s 2-0 win over Salernitana proved Inter have matured as a result of honest conversations that occurred in the changing room during their difficult run.
Their win at San Siro made it four games unbeaten across all competitions for the Nerazzurri, though that run followed a sequence of five defeats in 10 at the start of the season.
Before Sunday s game, Inter defender Alessandro Bastoni told Sky Italia their recent improvement came after purposeful talks among the players behind the scenes.
Bastoni indicated Inter came to understand there were too many players complaining about others, with this realisation helping force a change in attitude.
While Martinez – scorer of the first goal on Sunday – did not want to elaborate…
Antonio Conte allayed fears of Richarlison missing the World Cup, but confirmed he will not be available for Tottenham s game with Manchester United on Wednesday.
Richarlison suffered a calf injury in Spurs 2-0 victory over his former team Everton and was taken off in the 52nd minute before later being seen on crutches, causing concern he could face a race against time to be fit for Brazil s World Cup opener against Serbia on November 24.
In a tearful interview after the game, Richarlison told ESPN Brazil: It s kind of hard to say because it s close to the realisation of my dream.
But when questioned over Richarlison potentially missing the World Cup, Conte had an optimistic message.
The injury of Richarlison, he s [having] a scan and then we will see h…
Benfica vice-president Silvio Cervan has suggested UEFA would rather Juventus made the Europa League final rather than his side.
The final of this season s competition is in Turin and Cervan believes European football s governing body would rather have Juve in next month s showpiece in their own stadium over Benfica.
No Italian side has won a European title since 2010 when Inter won the Champions League, while you have to go back to Parma s 1999 victory for success in the UEFA Cup or Europa League.
Cervan believes this lack of success is something UEFA would like to see change, but he hopes his side can progress.
It s a long time since an Italian team last won in Europe, Cervan is quoted by Italian media. I have no doubts that, particularly for commercial interes…
Spain midfielder Thiago Alcantara will miss the FIFA World Cup with a recurrence of a knee injury, his club Bayern Munich have announced.
Reports emerged on Wednesday that Thiago had suffered another knee problem and Bayern have now confirmed the 23-year-old will miss the upcoming tournament in Brazil.
A Bayern statement revealed Thiago – training ahead of Saturday s DFB-Pokal final against Borussia Dortmund – tore inner ligaments in his right knee on Monday.
The former Barcelona man sustained a knee injury against Hoffenheim at the end of March and had not played since, but was an unused substitute in Bayern s 1-0 win against Stuttgart last weekend.
Thiago had been selected in Spain s provisional World Cup squad earlier this week and having missed out on the…
Mexico and Benfica forward Raul Jimenez is open to a move to the Premier League amid links to Liverpool and West Ham.
Jimenez, 26, is reportedly a target for the two English clubs after helping Benfica to two Primeira Liga titles in as many seasons.
The Mexico international, who spent a season at Atletico Madrid before heading to Portugal, would seemingly consider a move to the Premier League.
The Premier League is a great championship, but you have to wait, Jimenez told ESPN after being sent off in his nation s third-place play-off loss to Portugal at the Confederations Cup on Sunday.
I don t close any doors and we ll see what happens. I m still at Benfica.
Now, I m going to have a good vacation then go back to work with everything.
J…
Highly-rated youngster Sergi Canos could make his Liverpool debut in the final round of the Premier League season, according to manager Jurgen Klopp.
Canos who was signed from the Barcelona youth academy in 2013 spent the majority of the 2015-16 on loan at Championship outfit Brentford.
The 19-year-old Spaniard made 38 appearances for the second-tier outfit, scoring seven goals as the side finished ninth in the standings.
However, with Klopp expected to rest a number of first-teamers with one eye on the Europa League final against Sevilla, Canos could be handed his Liverpool debut when the Merseyside club travel to West Brom on Sunday.
The earliest plan is that he will be in training tomorrow because he is back, Klopp said after Liverpool drew 1-1 wi…
Market: Both teams to score
Odds: 4/6 @
Two sides making their Bundesliga returns on Saturday afternoon, Werder Bremen will be hoping to continue on their summer purple patch when they host Hertha Berlin.
Starting with the hosts, while Werder Bremen might have just about managed to keep hold of their Bundesliga status thanks to a dramatic 2-2 draw away at Heidenheim and scraping through on away goals, the Greens appear to have made some real improvements this summer. Coming past lower league Carl Zeiss Jena in the DFP Pokal when making a return to competitive action, Florian Kohfeldt s men remarkably won each of their six pre-season appearances on the bounce. Collecting a thumping 4-1 win against Greek outfit LASK in what would have been a huge morale-boost for…
Kingsley Coman s ankle injury sustained against Augsburg does not look so good , according to Bayern Munich head coach Niko Kovac.
Coman was Bayern s star man in Friday s 3-2 win, twice equalising before setting up David Alaba for what proved to be the winner.
They were his first Bundesliga goals of the season after the France international missed three months of the season with ankle ligament damage.
Coman could not return to the field after being caught on his left ankle by Kevin Danso in the last minute of the 90 at WWK Arena.
And ahead of a Champions League last-16 first-leg trip to Liverpool on Tuesday, Kovac is concerned about Coman s ankle.
According to the doctors, it does not look so good, the Bayern boss told Eurosport in a post-match i…