Joshua Zirkzee made another crucial impact off the bench as Bayern Munich left it late to beat Wolfsburg 2-0 with two goals in the last five minutes of normal time.
The reigning Bundesliga champions, whose injury troubles were deepened by the first-half exit of Javi Martinez on Saturday, looked set to lose further ground at the top of the table as visiting goalkeeper Koen Casteels produced a fine performance at the Allianz Arena.
Bayern appeared to be running out of ideas in the closing stages after creating plenty of chances prior to the interval, but substitute Zirkzee who scored a key goal on his league debut against Freiburg in midweek again provided a dramatic late intervention.
The 18-year-old converted Thomas Muller s cut-back in the 85th minute to br…
Celtic suffered another Champions League nightmare as Midtjylland came from behind to reach the third qualifying round with a 2-1 victory after extra time.
A magnificent Callum McGregor goal put the Hoops in front on aggregate early in the second half of a second leg that started with the two sides level at 1-1 at the MCH Arena.
Awer Mabil equalised with a header and Raphael Onyedika settled the tie early in extra time as the Danish Superliga side set up a two-legged meeting with PSV.
Celtic crashed out at the same stage as they did last season at the hands of Ferencvaros and will now face a Europa League qualifier against Czech side Jablonec in a miserable start to Ange Postecoglou s reign.
The Hoops are knocked out of the .
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Tottenham have ended their long transfer impasse with the capture of Leeds United s teenage winger Jack Clarke, who will return to Elland Road on loan next season.
Clarke has penned a four-year deal to become Mauricio Pochettino s first addition since the arrival of Lucas Moura in January 2018.
Leeds accepted an offer reportedly in the region of £10million plus add-ons for the 18-year-old and negotiated his return for another 12 months under the tutelage of Pochettino s former mentor Marcelo Bielsa.
Quick, direct and comfortable on either flank, Clarke made 25 competitive appearances during his breakthrough campaign in Yorkshire.
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial)
He scored twice in that time and looked set to break into Leeds st…
Manchester City have signed Rodri from Atletico Madrid for a club-record fee after activating his reported €70million (£63million) release clause.
Atletico announced on Wednesday the midfielder s exit clause had been deposited at LaLiga headquarters by Rodri s lawyer and City representatives, freeing him from his contract.
The Premier League champions then confirmed on Thursday the Spain international has signed a five-year deal, becoming their second arrival of the week after full-back Angelino was brought back from PSV.
Rodri s move eclipses the £60m City paid to sign Riyad Mahrez from Leicester City in July 2018.
He only joined Atletico from Villarreal a year ago, signing a five-year deal at the Wanda Metropolitano.
The 23-year-old made…
West Ham have signed left-back Arthur Masuaku from Olympiacos for an undisclosed fee on a four-year deal.
The Hammers have been in the market for a left-sided defender with Aaron Cresswell ruled out for four months with a knee injury.
They are reported to have held an interest in Inter s Davide Santon, but concerns over his fitness saw them switch their interest to Frenchman Masuaku.
It s a big honour for me to be part of this club, said Masuaku. I was speaking with my agent about some opportunities, but when he told me about West Ham and also the coach, I didn t think twice, so in my mind, it was West Ham.
For me, the Premier League is the biggest league in the world. When I was 18, my target was to come here, so now I am here, I have to prove myse…
Diego Maradona feels Lionel Messi does not have to prove anything to Argentina as the Barcelona superstar prepares for what could be his last World Cup.
Argentina reached the final in Brazil four years ago but were narrowly defeated by Germany, with Mario Gotze scoring the only goal in extra time.
Maradona inspired Argentina to glory the last time they won the World Cup, in Mexico in 1986, while he captained the side as they lost in the final four years later.
But Messi has been unable to spark a comparable triumph, seeing his side beaten three times in major finals, the forward temporarily retiring from international duty after the Copa America Centenario defeat to Chile in 2016.
Messi s assessment is that Argentina are not one of the leading contenders …
Danny Rose, Vincent Janssen and Georges-Kevin Nkoudou look set to leave Tottenham after being allowed to skip the pre-season tour of Asia to pursue transfers.
Spurs confirmed their 26-man travelling squad for their International Champions Cup fixtures in Singapore and Shanghai on Wednesday.
Rose, Janssen and Nkoudou have been granted extra time off granted in order to explore prospective opportunities with other clubs .
Left-back Rose has battled Ben Davies for a place in Mauricio Pochettino s first team in recent seasons, although he still made 37 appearances last term and started the Champions League final defeat to Liverpool.
Spurs will reportedly seek a fee in the region of £25million for the 29-year-old.
Janssen had been frozen out of Pochet…
The Swiss football association on Monday banned Switzerland s highest-profile referee for three games after he gestured at the crowd with his middle finger.
Massimo Busacca, known as the country s best referee and a regular on the international circuit, was buttonholed by the SonntagsBlick newspaper which printed a photograph of the gesture.
Busacca apologised on Sunday saying he regretted his anti-sporting gesture at Saturday s first round Swiss cup tie between FC Baden and Young Boys.
But the association s referees committee on Monday announced an immediate three-game ban despite noting that the best Swiss referee had been provoked by the fans.
Busacca was on duty at last season s Champions League final between Manchester United and Barcelona, and also…
Substitute Gerald Asamoah scored his first goal in over 10 months on Friday to help Schalke beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0.
The victory moved Schalke into third place in the German first division, one point behind leaders Hamburg ahead of the rest of the weekend programme.
After losing their last two home games, Schalke were tense at the start but Asamoah eased his team s nerves in the 66th minute by opening the scoring eight minutes after coming off the bench.
The former German international found the target with a pinpoint header from a free-kick to register his first goal since December 2008.
Schalke made sure of the three points in injury-time when Jefferson Farfan scored from the penalty spot.
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Milan coach Filippo Inzaghi said he is all too aware of what it takes to play at Roma s Stadio Olimpico.
Inzaghi plied his trade in Serie A from 1995-2012, including 11 straight seasons at the San Siro to complete a decorated career which featured three Serie A titles and two UEFA Champions League crowns.
The former striker, 41, said Roma second in the league, four points behind Juventus are a tough prospect, especially in the Italian capital.
I know what it means to play at the Olimpico, I know how the atmosphere will feel like, Inzaghi said.
We are ready, I can see that my players are very motivated to do well in this game and they are looking forward to it.
We are all aware of Roma s strength but I am very calm because I am confident tha…