Pep Guardiola says Real Madrid don t need a manager like me following reports the Catalan was sought to coach the European champions nearly a year ago.

Guardiola s biographer and close friend Marti Perarnau made the claims on Spanish radio this week saying Madrid tried to lure Guardiola, who was at Bayern Munich at the time, to the Santiago Bernabeu in November 2015, two months before they sacked then coach Rafael Benitez.

Guardiola subsequently took over at Manchester City ahead of the 2016-17 season, signing a three-year deal.

Asked on Friday about Madrid s apparent interest, the former Barcelona boss told reporters: I am a follower of FC Barcelona.

I don t think Real Madrid need a manager like me and I wouldn t fit there either.

Guardiola won…

Two goals in the space of four minutes from Nacho and Marco Asensio secured a 2-0 LaLiga win for Real Madrid at Cadiz on Saturday.

Los Blancos dominated the game at Estadio Nuevo Mirandilla but were wasteful until Nacho opened the scoring with his first goal of the season after 72 minutes.

Asensio added a second soon after as Carlo Ancelotti s side moved 10 points behind leaders Barcelona at the expense of relegation-threatened Cadiz.

Ancelotti omitted Vinicius Junior and Toni Kroos ahead of the Champions League clash at Chelsea on Tuesday, while Luka Modric came off the bench late in an ultimately comfortable win.

Madrid started strongly but they were almost behind against the run of play when Cadiz captain Alfonso Espino let fly with a left-foot strike …

Christian Eriksen expects Manchester United can battle all the way through the rest of a busy season following his full return from injury.

The Denmark international made his first start since January during Sunday s 2-0 win in the Premier League over Nottingham Forest.

After minutes off the bench against Everton and Sevilla, Eriksen is back to help United contend for further silverware in the FA Cup and Europa League.

But he says it is imperative Erik ten Hag s side do not neglect the league, as they aim to secure Champions League football for next season.

Every game now until the end is going to be very important, he told MUTV. Someone is going to drop down, [and] someone s going to go in front.

So if we stay on the front foot like we are now,…

Parma midfielder Cristobal Jorquera is set to join Turkish Eskisehirspor on a season-long loan, .

The Chilean is currently undergoing a medical in Turkey, with the deal likely to be wrapped up well ahead of tonight s transfer deadline.

The interesting thing is that the 25-year-old arrived at Ennio Tardini on transfer deadline day in Italy, as he joined virtually for free from Genoa.

However, having already recruited quite a few players this summer, Parma officials decided to allow the Chilean to spend the next season in Turkey.

Cristobal Jorquera joined Genoa from Colo Colo in the summer of 2011, and went on to make 35 Serie A appearances for the Rossoblu, scoring 2 goals.

However, having started just 8 league games in two years, the talented foo…

US sports apparel giant Nike is in talks with China s beleaguered Super League over a potential 200 million dollar sponsorship deal that could cover the coming decade, state press said Sunday.

Nike has basically agreed to a 15 million dollar deal that will provide 12 league teams 732,000 dollars each in equipment and apparel and 220,000 dollars in cash for the 2009 season, the Beijing Times said.

Remaining funds would go to the league.

An extended agreement calls for a 15 percent annual increase, with the apparel contract to eventually cover all 16 league teams, it said.

If a final deal is reached, Nike could be providing 30 million dollars a year by 2018, with the cumulative sponsorship fee reaching 200 million dollars over 10 years, it said.

No…

Chelsea boss Antonio Conte has hailed Arsene Wenger s career as Arsenal manager as fantastic .

The 66-year-old, who has won three Premier League titles and six FA Cups with the Gunners, will celebrate his 20th anniversary in the role on October 1.

Wenger has held onto his position despite a relative lack of success in the last decade, with Arsenal having failed to win the title since 2004 and having only ended a nine-year trophy drought with an FA Cup triumph in 2014.

Jose Mourinho infamously branded Wenger a specialist in failure during his second stint as Chelsea boss, but Conte who will face Arsenal for the first time on Saturday believes the club s faith in the Frenchman is to be commended.

Arsenal have a good story, they re an important team. I thin…

Paris Saint-Germain head coach Thomas Tuchel defended Neymar after the wantaway star was targeted by the club s own supporters during Sunday s Ligue 1 win over Nimes.

Neymar – tipped to leave the French champions amid links to Barcelona and Real Madrid – sat out the 3-0 victory against Nimes as PSG opened their title defence with three points.

Amid growing speculation over an imminent departure, sections of the Parc des Princes aimed derogatory chants towards Neymar before and during the match.

It s a little difficult, I don t know what to say. I saw [the public s reaction on Neymar] on my colleagues phones because I hadn t heard that during the game, Tuchel said about the chants directed at Neymar.

Can I understand that? Yes and no, that s the way …

Cristiano Ronaldo will always be remembered by Real Madrid, says club captain Sergio Ramos.

Madrid confirmed on Tuesday that Ronaldo, their all-time leading goalscorer, has stunningly agreed a move to Juventus.

Ronaldo departs having scored 450 goals for the club, helping them to win four Champions League titles in the last five years.

And Ramos was quick to pay tribute to the five-time Ballon d Or winner, who said in an open letter it was time for a new cycle in his career.

Cristiano, your goals, your numbers and everything we ve won together speak for themselves, Ramos wrote on Twitter. 

You have earned a special place in the history of Real Madrid. As Madridistas we ll remember you always.

It s been a pleasure to play alongside you…

Portu’s smart finish saw Girona return to the top of LaLiga with victory at Celta Vigo.

The season’s surprise package continue to keep Real Madrid at bay and Portu’s goal was enough to see them win 1-0 on Sunday afternoon.

Sevilla, meanwhile, remain just a point clear of the relegation zone after being held to a 1-1 draw at home to Osasuna.

Isaac Romero had put the hosts ahead only for Ante Budimir to level 10 minutes after the restart, with Suso sent off for Sevilla in the latter stages.

MEMPHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS

— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish)

Cadiz are a point behind Sevilla having played out a goalless draw with Athletic Bilbao while Samuel Lino and Memphis Depay goals saw Atletico Madrid beat Valencia 2-0.

Marie-L…

Costa Rica collected their first points at the 2009 World Youth Championship, beating Australia 3-0 in Wednesday s Group E clash.

The Central Americans were never truly threatened by their Australian opponents, and took the lead through Diego Madrigal in the 35th minute.

An own goal from Luke Devere doubled the gap with eight minutes left in regular time, and David Guzman added a third in the 93rd minute.

Costa Rica move to third place with three points from two games, but do still have a negative goal record as the victory over Australia wasn t as big as the 5-0 defeat by Brazil in their opening game.

Australia s chances of making it to the next round are close to zero, after having lost both of their first two games.

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