Former France international, Zinedine Zidane, quashed rumours of his potential takeover at Bayern Munich, affirming his allegiance to his former club, Real Madrid.
He expressed anticipation for the UEFA Champions League showdown at Santiago Bernabeu, voicing confidence in Real Madrid’s abilities while acknowledging the challenge posed by Bayern Munich in the upcoming fixture.
Speaking to SkyDE, Zidane claimed that he was not in the running to become Thomas Tuchel’s replacement.
He added that Real Madrid would find it hard against Bayern Munich in the second leg, saying:
“No, it will not happen. I’m going to watch the game, I will cheer for Real Madrid and hopefully Real Madrid will win.
Bayern Munich are interested in a deal to sign Raheem Sterling from Manchester City this summer.
The Bundesliga champions are one of a number of clubs monitoring Sterling’s situation, with the England international entering the final year of his contract at City.
The BBC are reporting that Bayern Munich and leading clubs in Spain are considering an approach for the 27-year-old, who has scored 131 goals in 339 appearances across all competitions since signing for City from Liverpool in 2015.
Robert Lewandowski has announced his desire to leave Bayern this summer, whilst there are also doubts over the futures of Serge Gnabry and Leroy Sane at the German club.
Sterling has previously spoken of a desire to play abroad and with Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez arriving at Manchester City to increase competition this summer, could decide on a new challenge after seven seasons with the club.
The Bundesliga champions will be without Serge Gnabry and Corentin Tolisso against Eintracht Frankfurt, but the summer signing is ready to return
Leroy Sane could make his return from injury when Bayern Munich face Eintracht Frankfurt this weekend, Hansi Flick has confirmed.
Germany winger Sane has made just three appearances for Bayern since arriving from Manchester City in July in a deal potentially worth €60 million (£55m/$70m).
The 24-year-old has been sidelined since being forced off in the second half of the 4-1 defeat to Hoffenheim on September 27 having suffered a right knee injury.
While Sane returned to team training on Thursday and is available for selection, Serge Gnabry will sit out Saturday’s game at the Allianz Arena following his positive coronavirus test.
“Everyone is fit. Leroy Sane is in the squad. We are on the right track,” said Flick on Friday. “We’re not planning to start him; we have to go step by step. We have to wait for the game, but he is an option. We are happy about it.
“Gnabry will be out at the weekend. We have to wait and see [when he can return]. We are focused on Frankfurt with the players who are available to us.”
Flick will be forced into a change in midfield with Corentin Tolisso suspended due to his red card in last weekend’s 4-1 victory over Arminia Bielefeld.
In four Bundesliga appearances this season, Tolisso has already had as many shots on target (three) as he managed in 13 league outings last term. The France international is also averaging four more duels (up to 13 from nine) and duels won (up to eight from four) per 90 minutes than he did in 2019-20.
“You can feel that he’s enjoying his football,” said Flick. “Last season, he had problems with injuries and then didn’t play too much.
“We sat down at the end of last season and talked. How he’s playing now is how he played for Lyon. A weight has fallen off his shoulders; he’s enjoying football.
“I’m glad he scored the goal; it gives him confidence. He has quality and good results shooting from long distance, but also in the box. He’s also very strong.”
Frankfurt are unbeaten in their past eight Bundesliga games, avoiding defeat in their opening four matches in a season for the first time since 2012-13. However, Adi Hutter’s side have lost each of their past 12 competitive away matches against Bayern, conceding 40 goals and scoring just seven.
The former Manchester City forward is making strong progress back from a knee injury, according to his manager
Leroy Sane’s return from serious injury is looking “very good”, according to Bayern Munich head coach Hansi Flick.
The former Manchester City man joined the Bavarians in the summer after a long pursuit of the winger, with their decision to sign him a terrific show of faith given that he had missed much of the previous year with a serious knee injury.
Indeed, the Germany international managed only 13 minutes of the previous season before going off injured during City’s Community Shield victory against Liverpool. He returned briefly for an 11-minute cameo against Burnley in June, but that proved his last match for the club.
The 24-year-old was fit enough to start in Bayern’s spectacular 8-0 win over Schalke on the opening day of the Bundesliga season, grabbing a goal and an assist in the process, while he also featured in the following 4-1 loss to Hoffenheim. However, he missed the thrilling 4-3 victory over Hertha Berlin because of an injury related to his previous complaint.
Flick, though, says that the problem is not a serious one and that he expects to see the winger back on the field imminently.
“I can’t say when it will be exactly,” the coach said, speaking after a DFB-Pokal victory over FC Duren on Thursday. “It looks very good. He’s doing training sessions.”
Despite the positive prognosis, Sane is expected to miss Saturday’s league clash with Arminia Bielefeld and the opening fixture of Bayern’s European Cup defence against Atletico Madrid.
“First of all, a very thorough diagnosis is required to see whether the problem in the knee joint that sustained the cruciate ligament rupture really is just the capsule,” Dr Michael Lehnert, a former doctor for the ladies’ team at VfL Wolfsburg, told Goal and Spox.
Speaking at the time when the injury was announced, it was his estimation that it would be roughly four weeks before Sane is back to training with the ball and it may be six before he is able to play.
Reports however suggest that he could be back training with the team next week, with his return forecast as early as the trip to Cologne on October 31.
“Bayern are a great club and there was interest from them, but I followed what my heart told me to and for that I signed for Barca. I think it was the right decision,” Dest told a news conference.
“They are a club with so much history and I’ve always wanted to play here.”
Dest is naturally relishing the prospect of playing alongside Messi, who opted to remain at the club for another season after a failed attempt to invoke a clause allowing him to leave for free.
“It’s amazing to play with the best player in the world, Lionel Messi, I looked up to him,” Dest added.
“I will run as much as I have to, I will run for everybody in the team. It will be so exciting to meet the best player in the world.”
Dest is the first American to play for Barca, joining youth-team player Konrad de la Fuente at Camp Nou. Born to a Dutch mother and a Surinamese-American father in Almere, he elected to represent United States over Netherlands.
But he still cited Koeman, who left his post as Netherlands boss to take over Barca following Quique Setien’s exit, as a factor in his decision.
“Koeman of course was an influence, because he’s Dutch and it will be easier to communicate with him,” Dest said.
As for his inspiration, Dest is looking to emulate Dani Alves, who was the right-back for Barca in each of their treble-winning sides under Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique.
Dest, who could make his debut against Sevilla on Sunday, explained: “If I can play this Sunday, it would be great, because I want to start as soon as possible.
“My role model was Dani Alves, a really good player at right-back, same position. Watching his clips on YouTube, I learned a lot from him and I can still learn a lot from him because his team-mates are over here like Lionel Messi and I can ask for advice. I want to be a player similar like him.”
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