Neil Warnock insisted the 2019-20 season is absolutely his last as a football manager as he prepared for a return to the Championship, where his Cardiff City side will battle for promotion in a division of contrasting football philosophies.

Former Leeds United boss Warnock will relish the Bluebirds games against his old club more than ever as he pits his wits against Marcelo Bielsa following a turbulent first season in England for the former Argentina coach.

Slaven Bilic will embark upon his first adventure as a Championship boss as he aims to steer West Brom back into the Premier League, while Fulham s Scott Parker, Derby County s Phillip Cocu and Charlton Athletic s Lee Bowyer all make their managerial debuts in the division.

West Brom, Derby and Leeds come int…

Pep Guardiola did not deny an interest in Riyad Mahrez amid widespread reports Manchester City are keen to tie up a blockbuster deal for the Leicester City winger ahead of Wednesday s transfer deadline.

City completing a £57million swoop for Athletic Bilbao defender Aymeric Laporte but the 23-year-old French centre-back might swiftly lose his status as the club s record signing, with the Premier League leaders understood to be testing Leicester s resolve over Mahrez.

The Algeria winger was one of the stars of the Foxes improbable title triumph in 2015-16 but his future has regularly been the source of speculation since and City s interest reportedly prompted the 26-year-old s latest transfer request at the King Power Stadium.

Speaking ahead of Wednesday s match …

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been ruled out of the Serie A clash between Milan and Juventus on Wednesday.

The 39-year-old striker has been sidelined since being substituted in the 3-1 win at Napoli on November 22.

The former Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain star has missed seven league games for the Serie A leaders, although the Rossoneri have fared well in his absence, winning five and drawing two of those matches.

Stefano Pioli s side are alone in Europe s top five leagues in that they have not lost a top-flight match since the 2019-20 season was initially shut down from last March.

They head into the match with champions Juve at San Siro knowing a win would move them 13 points clear of the Bianconeri, who are fifth with a game in hand.

Ibrah…

Andrea Pirlo is waiting to see if Cristiano Ronaldo has returned a negative test for coronavirus, as he confirmed Paulo Dybala will start in Juventus clash with Hellas Verona. 

Ronaldo has been self-isolating since testing positive for COVID-19 while on international duty with Portugal and missed Juve s 1-1 draw with Crotone in Serie A last weekend and their 2-0 Champions League win over Dynamo Kiev on Tuesday. 

Pirlo revealed on Saturday that Ronaldo remains unavailable, though Juve were waiting on the result of the 35-year-old s most-recent test to see if he could return to training.

The Bianconeri have only played 13 Serie A matches without the Portugal captain since his arrival prior to the 2018-19 season and their win percentage in those games stands …

Qatar World Cup stadiums were 94 per cent full for the first round of matches, according to FIFA, despite empty seats being clearly visible in almost every fixture.

There has been some confusion around the venues used for the finals, with initial reports of capacities later discovered to be inaccurate.

Lusail Stadium, which will host the final, was previously listed as an 80,000-seater arena, while Al Bayt Stadium was said to hold 60,000 people. Each of the other six stadiums were down as holding no more than 40,000.

FIFA has now clarified official capacities for the stadia, with each ground significantly bigger than previously reported.

The showpiece stadium in Lusail can allow 88,966 spectators in, with 68,895 seats at Al Khor s Al Bayt Stadium. The six…

Kylian Mbappe became the youngest player in Ligue 1 history to score 100 goals for a single team with his second of the game for Paris Saint-Germain against Monaco on Sunday.

The France international opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 12 minutes against his former club at the Parc des Princes following Djibril Sidibe s foul on Angel Di Maria.

Youssouf Fofana s wayward pass then allowed Lionel Messi the chance to attack on the stroke of half-time, the Argentina international offloading to Mbappe, who curled into the bottom-right corner to reach the 100-goal milestone.

Aged just 22 years and 357 days, Mbappe is the youngest player to achieve the feat for one club in French top-flight history since Opta began recording data back in 1950-51.

100 …

Market: Sevilla win

Odds: 7/10 @

Hoping to potentially find a route into the top-half of the La Liga table, Sevilla will welcome Granada to the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on Sunday night.

Starting with the hosts, while Sevilla might have opened the New Year at the heart of an infamous La Liga relegation scrap, Los Nervionenses have come roaring back in an eye-catching fashion. Last seen mounting a second-leg comeback as they snatched a gritty 1-1 stalemate away at Real Betis, Quique Sanchez Flores men now have their sights firmly set on securing a top-half finish in 2024. Marking their return from March’s international break with a 1-0 win away at Getafe, the former Watford boss has seen his squad muster 10 points from their previous four La Liga appearances. With …

Jude Bellingham was on target twice as Real Madrid came from behind to beat Almeria 3-1 and maintain their winning start to the new season of LaLiga.

Sergio Arribas had the hosts in front in the third minute of Saturday evening’s contest but England midfielder Bellingham – who netted in the opening day win at Athletic Bilbao – levelled the scores 16 minutes later.

After Tony Kroos had seen an effort ruled out for VAR at the end of the first half, former Birmingham midfielder Bellingham put Real ahead on the hour and Vinicius Junior made it 3-1 with 17 minutes remaining.

More things you love to see:

— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden)

Athletic Bilbao were 2-0 winners at Osasuna, with goals inside the first 20 minutes from Inaki Williams a…

FIFA has placed secretary general Jerome Valcke on leave and released him from his duties with immediate effect.

Reports emerged on Thursday linking Valcke to a scheme that intended to sell tickets for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil at above their face value, but the contract was cancelled before any were sold. 

Valcke – the right-hand man to FIFA president Sepp Blatter since 2007 – denies the allegations, which were made by former Israeli footballer and tickets and hospitality consultant Benny Alon.

The claims are said to relate to a contract between JB Sports Marketing, a company for which Alon worked, and FIFA for Brazil 2014 ticket and hospitality packages.

A statement released by FIFA confirmed that it had requested a formal investigation into th…

Louis van Gaal believes Bayern Munich have made the right choice to appoint Pep Guardiola as their new head coach.

The Bundesliga leaders announced last week Guardiola has signed a three-year deal with Bayern and will take over from Jupp Heynckes at the end of this season.

Netherlands coach and former Bayern trainer Van Gaal has endorsed the appointment of the Spaniard, who guided Barcelona to unprecedented success between 2008 and 2012.

Guardiola s appointment was not a surprise for me as Bayern always go for the best coaches out there. And Pep follows the Van Gaal-philosophy. I think it s a fantastic choice, he told NOS.

I m the one who first employed the formation Bayern Munich are using these days during my time at the club. (Jupp) Heynckes then c…