Craig Johnston believes the sky is the limit for Liverpool as he said the Reds should be trying to sign Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi, such is the club s quality and potential following their Champions League heroics.
Liverpool reached back-to-back finals thanks to Tuesday s 4-0 rout of LaLiga winners Barca – the Reds sensationally overturning a 3-0 first-leg deficit.
Despite the absence of star forwards Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino, Liverpool completed the great escape through braces from Divock Origi and Georginio Wijnaldum at a raucous Anfield.
Liverpool have reluctantly sold Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho to Barca in recent years but former midfielder Johnston feels the club should now be trying to lure the likes of Messi to Merseyside.
I…
Dario Srna marked an emotional night with a goal as he broke the Shakhtar Donestk appearance record in their 4-0 Europa League quarter final victory over Braga.
The Croatian full-back, making his 486th appearance for the Ukrainian giants, scored after 25 minutes at L viv Arena to increase Shakhtar s lead in a tie that had swung heavily in their favour with a 2-1 victory in the first leg in Portugal.
The home side added a second shortly before half-time when Ricardo Ferreira put through his own goal, but Braga coach Paulo Fonseca was left fuming at the break after his side were denied a penalty when Ahmed Hassan was brought down with the tie still poised at 2-1.
Viktor Kovalenko added a third goal early in the second half to make certain of Shakhtar s place in the…
Lionel Messi will testify in court on June 2 as he attempts to prove his innocence against tax fraud charges.
The Barcelona star and his father have been charged with three counts of tax fraud worth €4.1million dating back to a period between 2007 and 2009 and has had his trial date scheduled between May 31 and June 3.
Spanish agency EFE has now confirmed the Argentina international will take to the stand on June 2.
Messi had been set to avoid a trial on the grounds that father Jorge Messi was apparently responsible for his son s tax obligations.
However, the state attorney later opted to overrule the advice of prosecutors and ordered both to appear in the Eighth Court of Barcelona.
The Copa America in the United States starts three day…
Manchester United s new signing Leny Yoro has been ruled out for three months, while Rasmus Hojlund will be out for six weeks, according to widespread reports.
Yoro joined the Red Devils earlier this month in a £52.2million deal from Lille and impressed in his first pre-season appearance against Rangers.
However, he was forced off with a foot injury in the first half of United s 2-1 defeat to Arsenal in Los Angeles on Saturday and was seen days later wearing a protective boot and using crutches.
The defender will have more tests when he returns to the UK with the rest of the squad but is currently set to be out until October, missing the opening three months of the Premier League season.
Hojlund scored in the loss to Arsenal, but suffered a hamstring sho…
Strasbourg and Amiens won promotion to Ligue 1 after an extraordinary final day of action in France s second tier on Friday.
At the start of play, six different teams were in with a chance of claiming the title, with Strasbourg and Amiens in pole position as both clubs sought back-to-back promotions.
And they each booked a place in Ligue 1, Strasbourg returning to the top division for the first time since 2008 thanks to a 2-1 home win over Bourg-en-Bresse Peronnas 01.
Kader Mangane opened the scoring and a Kevin Hoggas own goal put Thierry Laurey s side in control inside 19 minutes, although Loic Damour made it a nervy finale.
Amiens started the day in second place but needed an Emmanuel Bourgaud goal in the sixth minute of stoppage time to clinch a…
Best Odds: 19/20
Bookmaker:
In need of a second-leg comeback at Richmond Park on Thursday night, St. Patrick’s will welcome Dudelange to Ireland for what could be another lively affair.
St. Patrick’s Athletic
Starting with the hosts, missing out on what they had billed as a golden first-leg opportunity last week, St. Patrick’s will know that they face a real uphill battle here. Eventually slumping to a lively 2-1 defeat away in Luxembourg, Jon Daly’s men are still trying to find some stability since returning from June’s international break. Despite entering July with a stunning 7-0 romp against UC Dublin, that is one of just two victories that the Irish outfit have recorded from their previous five appearances across all competitions. Nevertheless, c…
Maurizio Sarri has agreed a two-year extension with Lazio to keep him at the club until June 2025.
Lazio became the 21st club to be managed by Sarri when the Italian was appointed last June on a deal that was set to expire in 2023.
The 63-year-old subsequently guided the Biancocelesti to fifth in Serie A this season, six points behind fourth-placed Juventus, to secure Europa League football next term.
Sarri, the oldest manager to win Serie A after triumphing with Juventus in the 2019-20 season, has notable experience in the Europa League, having lifted the trophy with Chelsea in 2019.
Lazio have committed to invest in the Sarri project after announcing the coach has signed a new contract with the Serie A club, keeping him in charge for the next three se…
Chelsea are preparing to renew deals with several of their players. After Frank Lampard started the season with a lot of youngsters who performed well, the Blues were getting closer to offering new deals to some of those academy graduates. Fikayo Tomori and Tammy Abraham are amongst those who are set for contract extensions, but now the reports are that Chelsea will also offer new deal to Willian.
They are expected to start talks with Brazil international for his new deal, according to the Express. Willian is 31 years old and has been at Chelsea since the summer of 2013, but the problem could be the club policy. Chelsea are known for not wanting to extend contracts for more than a year of those players that are 30 and older.
Willian s contract is set to expire in the su…
Mikel Arteta hailed Gabriel Jesus s chaotic nature after the forward continued his impressive start for new side Arsenal in Saturday s pre-season win over Everton.
The Brazil international, recently signed from Manchester City in a reported £45million deal, made it three goals in two outings as Arsenal ran out 2-0 winners in Baltimore.
Jesus, who scored his first two goals for Arsenal in last week s 5-3 win over Nurnberg, also assisted Bukayo Saka for the Gunners second goal against Everton.
Arteta has been impressed by the 25-year-old s instant impact and in particular his ability to disrupt opposition defences.
He creates chaos, he creates uncertainty and he s always on your shoulder, Arteta said.
He s always there to nick the ball off yo…
Leicester City appear to be truly interested in signing Adam Lallana from Liverpool when his contract expires this summer. That is, at least, what Leicester Mercury are indicating at the moment.
Lallana came to Liverpool from Southampton in the summer of 2014, when Brendan Rodgers, the Reds boss at the time, sought to bolster their squad with a number of signings to increase depth and try to compensate for the loss of Luis Suarez, who had just made his way to Barcelona. Since then, the versatile midfielder has made a total of 178 appearances for the team now led by Jurgen Klopp, with 44 goal involvements (22 goals and assists each). Rodgers, who made way in the Anfield dugout for Klopp in October 2015, is now in charge of the Foxes, and when asked about Lallana back in February…