Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti says Vinicius Junior is brimming with confidence following his wonderful individual goal in their thrashing of Shakhtar Donetsk.

The 13-time European champions romped to a commanding 5-0 victory in Kiev, their biggest away win in the Champions League since beating Viktoria Plzen by the same scoreline in November 2018.

Vinicius was on target twice, his second goal in the 56th minute the highlight of a dazzling performance.

Just five minutes after doubling his side’s lead, the winger beat several defenders with a jinking run from the left, before firing past Shakhtar keeper Anatolii Trubin.

Ancelotti saluted the Brazil international, who now has seven goals in all competitions this season, his highest tally duri…

Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal s future at the club could be decided in the next two games

Manchester United’s 2-1 defeat against Norwich at Old Trafford on Saturday came as a shock to most people, but it may not have been such a shock to anybody that has seen the Red Devils play this season.

United have been excruciating to watch at times this season. There is no getting away from it two shots on target at Old Trafford against a team struggling at the wrong end of the Premier League table is simply not good enough.

However it has been symptomatic of United this season under Van Gaal. To coin an old phrase if United were playing at the bottom of my garden I would shut my curtains.

United not progressed since last season

One of the key i…

West Ham manager David Moyes hopes he can emulate the success of serial winner Jose Mourinho in the Europa Conference League.

The Premier League team play the first leg of their last-16 tie with AEK Larnaca on Thursday, making the trip to Cyprus amid a tough domestic season.

Victory over the two legs would take West Ham to a second successive European quarter-final appearance, having reached the last four of the Europa League last term.

Ahead of the game, Moyes pushed back on the idea success in the continent s third-tier competition represents a step back, pointing to Mourinho s success with Roma in 2022 as something to aspire to.

If you look at the amount of people in football, there s very few that get that big opportunity to [win trophies], he said. …

Coach Sergiy Rebrov is anticipating a stern test when Dynamo Kiev make their Champions League return against Porto on Wednesday.

Kiev are back in Europe s premier competition after a two-season absence, having claimed their first Ukrainian Premier League title since 2009 last season.

Porto begin their 20th Champions League group campaign with the departure of star striker Jackson Martinez to Atletico Madrid the headline story from a familiar close-season of multiple comings and goings at the Estadio do Dragao.

Nevertheless, Julen Lopetegui s men have made an unbeaten start to their Primeira Liga campaign and Rebrov is well versed in the talents at his opposite number s disposal.

We ve watched Porto s friendly against Napoli and two domestic league fixtur…

Cristiano Ronaldo s decision to leave Old Trafford early during the friendly with Rayo Vallecano was unacceptable , Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has said.

Ronaldo was top scorer for the Red Devils last season with 24 goals and started the game against the LaLiga side on Sunday, but he made way at half-time for 20-year-old Amad Diallo.

The Portugal international was then pictured leaving the stadium midway through the second half, in a game which United ultimately ended up drawing 1-1.

The former Real Madrid star has reportedly told United he wishes to leave in order to play Champions League football, something the Red Devils cannot offer after they only finished sixth in the Premier League last season.

However, a number of big European club…

Unai Emery spoke of his admiration for former colleague Monchi amid suggestions Arsenal could look to appoint him as their sporting director.

Earlier this week it was confirmed the Gunners head of recruitment Sven Mislintat will vacate his post next month after a little over a year in the role.

According to reports, Arsenal have identified Roma s sporting director Monchi as someone they would like to add to their technical staff.

Monchi enjoyed great success working alongside Emery at Sevilla, who won the Europa League three times in succession from 2013-14, while Roma made it all the way through to last season s Champions League semi-finals a year after the former was brought on board.

Speaking about Monchi at his news conference, Emery said: I can only…

Market: Both teams to score

Odds: 19/20 @

With the Premier League getting underway this weekend, Bournemouth will welcome Aston Villa to the Vitality on Saturday afternoon.

Starting with the hosts, while Bournemouth might have managed to secure a Premier League return last season, many are expecting a tough task for Scott Parker s side this time around. Failing to make any real additions this summer, the ex-Fulham boss also saw his side sign off their pre-season preparations with a trio of downbeat displays. Last seen getting hit with a 2-1 loss at home against Spanish outfit Real Sociedad in their final friendly contest, the Cherries also suffered back-to-back defeats against Bristol City and Braga. However, picking up a 2-1 victory when they last faced off aga…

Liverpool are keeping a close eye on the situation regarding , according to The Athletic. The 19-year-old attacker obviously ticks a lot of the boxes when it comes to the type of players the Merseysiders usually look out for, quite apart from their need to refresh the forward line in the near future.

Liverpool have already hit the jackpot with signing a young, talented attacker from Fulham when they brought in Harvey Elliott in 2019. Elliott is now a regular member of the first-team squad and was even named to start three of the opening four Premier League matches of the season, before he suffered a fractured ankle. It seems Carvalho, whose contract with the Championship side expires in the summer, is set to follow in his footsteps.

Primarily a central attacking midfiel…

Prediction: Denmark win

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It s time for domestic football to take its first break of the season in favour of the return of the internationals just a few months removed from Euro 2020 and Copa America. The next stop on this journey comes next year in Qatar when the FIFA World Cup rolls into town, but before we can get to the winter WC, we first have to get through the qualifiers. One of the many games intended to take us one step closer to that will take place in Copenhagen tomorrow as Denmark go head to head with Scotland.

Denmark

From the pain of what happened to Christian Eriksen all the way through to their astonishing run in the knockouts, the Danish national team had one hell of a summer. They ve long since been known as th…

Jim Curtin hailed Cavan Sullivan after he became the youngest player in MLS history this week, with more minutes potentially on the horizon when the Philadelphia Union face Nashville SC.

Sullivan replaced Tai Baribo, who scored a hat-trick, for the final five minutes as the Union ended a near-four-month wait for a home win by thrashing the New England Revolution 5-1.

At just 14 years of age, Sullivan has surpassed Freddy Adu as the youngest ever MLS player, also becoming the youngest debutant among the top North American professional sports leagues and the big five European leagues, UEFA Champions League and Europa League, dating back to 1988.

It was a special, special night, Union head coach Curtin said afterwards. The place had a buzz. This is just the first c…