The Manchester City winger has been likened to an iconic figure from the past, but the German concedes he has a long way to go to be in that bracket

Manchester City winger Leroy Sane concedes he is “not nearly” at the level of Ryan Giggs despite drawing comparisons to the Manchester United legend.

The Germany international is considered to be most of the most destructive wide-men in the Premier League.

Giggs once held a similar reputation during his time in Manchester, with the Welshman enjoying a trophy-laden career at Old Trafford.

As Sane boasts many similar attributes to the Red Devils icon, it has been easy for his game to be likened to that of a figure from the past.

The 23-year-old City star is flattered to be earning such praise, but claims it is far too early for him to be placed into a talent bracket alongside an all-time great.

Sane said of the Giggs talk: “Comparing him to me – I can’t do it at all! 

“If you see the kind of player he was, he’s a legend for Manchester United and the Premier League. 

“How he played was special and how many titles he won, I’m not nearly there! 

“Obviously, I’m pleased that people do it because it means I’m doing some things well and I’m really happy about it.”

Sane contributed 10 goals and 15 assists to City’s record-breaking title triumph in 2017-18.

He has found the target a further eight times this term, while teeing up nine efforts for grateful team-mates.

That contribution has Pep Guardiola’s side in contention to defend their English top-flight crown, with the Blues enjoying the challenge of trying to chase down Liverpool after securing domestic dominance at a canter last season.

Sane said: “I think it’s kind of more enjoyable because it motivates you to say we want to be first, we can put pressure on them and it makes you want to work harder.

“Liverpool have a lot of players with a lot of experience. Even last season, they reached the Champions League final so they know how to do it. 

“We all know what we did last season, we’re still doing it this season and we all know exactly what we have to do and that’s the important thing.” 

City sit four points adrift of Liverpool at present but can close that gap on Tuesday when they travel to Newcastle, with the Reds not in action until Wednesday evening when they play host to Leicester.

Click Here: kenzo online españa

Click:HEMC

The Russian side have completed a deal for the Colombia international, who has previously been linked with a Premier League move

Zenit have signed Wilmar Barrios from Boca Juniors to replace Leandro Paredes following the midfielder’s sale to Paris Saint-Germain.

The Colombia international has signed a four-and-a-half-year deal with Zenit, who did not release details of the fee paid to Boca.

The 25-year-old had been linked with a move to the Premier League after his strong performance at last summer’s World Cup, with Chelsea and Tottenham rumoured to be keen. 

Instead, Barrios joins up with Zenit, who currently lead the Russian Premier League by one point ahead of second-place FC Krasnodar. 

Barrios was a key part of the Boca side that reached the final of last year’s Copa Libertadores, but he was sent off in extra time as River Plate triumphed in the second leg of the Superclasico at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Barrios is the latest player to be prised away from Boca after their Libertadores run.

Lisandro Magallan joined Ajax and his fellow defender Leonardo Balerdi was bought by Borussia Dortmund.

Overall, Barrios has earned 17 caps with the Colombia national team, which includes three appearances at the World Cup.

Click Here: NRL league Jerseys

The Barcelona superstar was expected to return to the Albiceleste squad in March, but Lionel Scaloni is giving nothing away at this stage

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni admits it has been “a while” since he last spoke to superstar Lionel Messi.

Messi last played for the national team at the 2018 World Cup, but is widely expected to make his return in March.

Goal revealed in January that plans are being put in place to bring the 31-year-old back into the Albiceleste squad.

Scaloni said at that time: “We will speak with Leo in the days before the March list. When the time is right we will speak.

“I hope he can be here but more than that, we want him to be happy. I have a good feeling.”

The Argentina boss has, however, conceded that efforts to welcome a mercurial talent back into the fold have gone no further since then.

“I have not talked to Messi for a while now,” he said.

“He has a match in a few days and we’ll see if he can play.”

Messi is currently nursing a thigh problem picked up during a La Liga outing for Barcelona against Valencia.

His club manager, Ernesto Valverde, has said of that knock ahead of a Clasico clash with Real Madrid on Wednesday in the Copa del Rey: “[Messi] has a small problem.

“I don’t know exactly what he has.

“We will have to wait to see what medical staff say. If he’s in good shape, he’ll play on Wednesday.”

Ahead of a Copa America campaign later this year, Argentina are scheduled to face Venezuela and Morocco in friendlies next month.

Messi is enjoying another fine season for Barcelona, scoring 29 goals in 27 games in all competitions.

Click Here: kanken kids cheap

The two sides may be separated by eight points after 22 games, but the Madrid boss is confident they can catch up before the end of the season

Real Madrid will never give up on their hopes of winning La Liga this season, coach Santiago Solari has vowed despite the eight-point gap between them and leaders Barcelona.

Click Here: kenzo online españa

Solari’s side are third in the Spanish top flight, but edged slightly closer to their main rivals on Sunday by beating Deportivo Alaves 3-0, capitalising on Barcelona’s 2-2 draw with Valencia and second-placed Atletico Madrid’s 1-0 defeat at Real Betis.

Having recovered from their early-season inconsistency, Madrid are now on a four-game winning streak in the Spanish top flight.

They still have a sizeable deficit to overcome if they are to beat Ernesto Valverde’s reigning champions to the crown, but Solari insists they will keep up the fight.

“Madrid never give up,” he said at a press conference. “Always until the very end, and when I say the end I mean until the last game of the season.

“We showed hunger to cut the gap in points and we did it. Same as last week and the week before that. We will always go out to win the game, regardless of the mathematics.”

Vinicius Junior was among the goals for Madrid on Sunday, doubling his side’s lead in his 11th La Liga appearance since the 18-year-old’s move from Flamengo last summer.

And Solari was full of praise for the Brazilian, who has now scored three goals in all competitions this season.

“He had a great match. He was applauded for it. He is responding very well,” he said.

“We are delighted with his arrival and his progress. He always has the support of the mature players in the squad. They take care of him, love him and advise him.”

Madrid face fierce rivals Barca at Camp Nou on Wednesday for the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final tie before resuming league action with a trip to city neighbours Atletico. The following Wednesday, February 13, they will return to their Champions League campaign, taking on Ajax in the first leg of their last-16 clash.

The Mexican standout has been linked to Philly, but concerns about his recent injury history have led to a mixed reaction to the possibility

Forgive Philadelphia Union fans for being predisposed to fearing the worst, even when there’s reason for optimism.

When you consider the club’s brief history, you’ll realize that, more often than not, moments that were believed to be positive and potentially fortune-changing have turned out to be thoroughly disappointing. That might explain why the reactions to the team’s reported move for Mexican star Marco Fabian have been mixed instead of overly positive.

Consider some moments in the team’s history that wound up being more disappointment than success. The Union’s first year of existence saw them hold three of the top seven picks in the MLS draft, including the top pick, a haul that promised to set them up with a nucleus to build around. By the start of 2015 none of those draft picks were still with the Union, who managed just one playoff berth in that time.

Six years later, the Union wheeled and dealed and secured three of the top six picks in the 2016 MLS draft, once again positioning themselves to build a promising core of young talent. Three years later, none of the three players the Union selected with those picks is still with the team.

A year ago the Union made a promising trade with the Chicago Fire to secure the services of speedy Ghanaian forward David Accam, a player with a track record of success in MLS. He wound up producing just one goal and zero assists in a largely disappointing 2018 season.

Even the team’s most promising signing of 2018, MLS assist leader Borek Dockal, wound up being a bittersweet addition, with his stint in Philadelphia lasting just a year after his loan from Chinese club Henan Jianye was not renewed.

Why should Marco Fabian’s potential acquisition be any different?

For starters, signing Fabian would be the biggest move in the team’s history, and would go against their reputation of being unwilling to spend money. The Union’s ownership group is notoriously cheap, but adding a player with Fabian’s profile would require the kind of investment we haven’t seen from them.

Is there some risk? Of course there is. It was just two years ago that Fabian was dealing with back issues that required surgery and cost him most of the 2016/2017 season with Eintracht Frankfurt. That being said, if there wasn’t some risk, then the 29-year-old wouldn’t be available. He recovered from the back surgery, playing well enough to earn a place on Mexico’s 2018 World Cup squad.

Now out of favor in Frankfurt, Fabian is in the final months of his current contract and desperate for a move away from the German club. After seeing a winter move to Turkish side Fenerbahce fall apart, Fabian is searching for a new home and MLS is suddenly a good option because its transfer window is still open and Fabian could join right away instead of toiling on the bench at Eintracht until the summer.

Signing Fabian would be a much-needed victory for Union sporting director Ernst Tanner, who has talked a good game since replacing Earnie Stewart last summer, but has little to really show for his time with the Union.

He has ruffled feathers with a perceived ‘this is how things are done in Europe’ arrogance, with the German’s decision to trade all of Philadelphia’s 2019 draft picks, and recent admission that he may not let Mark McKenzie play in the Under-20 World Cup.

The Union’s failure to bring back Dockal is a mark against him, as much as he may try to paint the loss as out of his control, and we’re less than a month from the start of the 2019 season and the Union have yet to make a single major addition to their squad this winter.

If Tanner can succeed in convincing Union ownership to open up its wallet to sign Fabian, and convinces Fabian to join the Union, it would be his biggest accomplishment in Philadelphia to date, and it could help give the Union the difference-making midfielder they will need to have any hope of returning to the playoffs in 2019, let alone improve on last year’s results.

Sure, the Union could pass on Fabian, and keep looking for a new playmaker, but it is highly unlikely they will find another midfielder with anywhere close to his pedigree, not without having to pay the same, if not more, than they would pay for the man in question.

Signing Fabian is very much a risk worth taking, because if the Union don’t sign the Mexican playmaker, and head into 2019 with its current squad, the only sure bet the Union will count on is missing the playoffs and securing another high draft pick in the 2020 MLS draft.

Union fans have seen that scenario enough times to know it isn’t one they want to experience again.

The Uruguayan threatens to add to PSG’s injury woes after suffering an apparent thigh problem on Saturday after scoring against Bordeaux

Thomas Tuchel acknowledged he could be without Marco Verratti and Edinson Cavani for Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League trip to Manchester United on Tuesday.

Click Here: cheap INTERNATIONAL jersey

Cavani scored the only goal of the game from the spot in PSG’s win over Bordeaux on Saturday, but he was unable to finish the match and limped off soon after finding the net, reportedly with a thigh strain.

The Uruguay international was one of few PSG stars to start the match, as Tuchel kept the likes of Leandro Paredes and Kylian Mbappe in reserve ahead of the last-16 first leg at Old Trafford.

PSG are already without Neymar for the match and Tuchel accepts Cavani may have to miss out as well, dealing the Ligue 1 champions a major blow ahead of facing a United side who have won 10 out of a possible 11 matches under interim manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

“There are lots of plan Bs now,” Tuchel told reporters. “Without Ney [Neymar], maybe without Marco, maybe without Edi [Cavani], now we need a plan D.

“I can’t think about so many different plans in advance. We have to analyse Manchester United, we have to stay calm and confident.

“Normally, my opinion is definitely clear: for a game against Manchester United, for a game against Liverpool or even against Red Star Belgrade, you need your key players with confidence, experience, quality, who are used to playing that kind of game, are used to playing big games full of pressure, who are used to managing the pressure.

“But, if two or three key players are not here, it’s our duty to find solutions. It’s very difficult if we play with our best team, it’s a big challenge. If we are missing lots of key players, it’s an even bigger challenge, but we will be ready on Tuesday, I think.”

Speaking on Sunday morning, Tuchel added to TF1: “We don’t have good news for Edi. My feeling is that it will be very difficult for him to play.

“The club will wait a little longer, but in my opinion the news will not be good. Hope is very, very small.”

Verratti played for an hour on Saturday after three weeks out with an ankle injury, and Tuchel admitted he might have to risk the Italian due to their injury problems.

“Obviously, we are very happy Marco is back with us,” Tuchel added. “He brings quality, as we could see today. After he left the pitch, it was more difficult for us to control the game.

“Normally, it’s very difficult to play so soon when you have been injured as Marco has. It was his first game since his injury.

“He played 60 minutes, I don’t know if it’s possible for him to play again at Old Trafford against Manchester United only three days later.

“But, in our situation, it’s maybe necessary to try to make him play. We have to decide tomorrow [Sunday] about that. We have to wait for Marco’s opinion.

“But, obviously I already know Marco’s opinion. If I ask him if he can play [he will want to play] … But we have to wait for the doctor’s opinion to see if it’s possible or not.”

After scoring his side’s second goal on the way to a famous victory at Old Trafford, the striker called on PSG to finish the job in March’s return leg

Kylian Mbappe said Paris Saint-Germain must not feel fear after a 2-0 win at Manchester United established a dominant position in their Champions League last-16 tie.

Click Here: Spain Football Shop

Mbappe doubled PSG’s lead after Presnel Kimpembe gave the Ligue 1 champions the advantage at Old Trafford on Tuesday, with former United winger Angel Di Maria creating both goals.

United’s first defeat under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was also their heaviest ever home loss in European competition, while Paul Pogba’s late red card added to their problems ahead of next month’s return leg in Paris.

PSG lost 5-2 on aggregate to Real Madrid in the last 16 a year ago and in 2016-17 they were on the end of one of football’s greatest ever comebacks, Barcelona overturning a 4-0 first-leg deficit to progress.

But although PSG have regularly failed in the knockout rounds of the competition, Mbappe urged Thomas Tuchel’s side – who were without Edinson Cavani and Neymar due to injury – to be brave.

“Tuchel told me that it was going to be different, that I was going to touch the ball a lot less,” Mbappe said to RMC Sport. 

“It was difficult because I am learning this role [as a central striker] but I am not frustrated.

“We must stop feeling fear. Football is played on the field. Neymar and Cavani are ultra-important but people have to support us.

“French football must go as far as possible in the Champions League. People must support us, we will support Lyon [against Barca] next week. We must stop being afraid.”

Only an improbable comeback would see United knock PSG out but Mbappe will not be counting on a place in the last eight until the job is done.

“It’s not perfect but it’s good. Perfect, it will be after the qualification,” he said. “We are happy but we are only at half-time.

“We will continue to prepare well because we had a small physical issue over the last 20 minutes.

“It was a really new system. We were not used to it. We needed a little time to adapt.

“We came back with better intentions in the second half. We knew they wanted to score and we did it.”

The Blues made “a lot of mistakes against the wrong opponents” in their 6-0 defeat at the Etihad Stadium, conceded the Italian boss

Maurizio Sarri defended his style of football after Chelsea were thrashed 6-0 by Manchester City but said his players were not fulfilling his intentions on the pitch.

Defeat at the Etihad Stadium was Chelsea’s third in succession away from home in the Premier League, and the manner of the Blues’ first-half capitulation, falling 4-0 behind inside 25 minutes, left Sarri unable to explain what went wrong.

The 60-year-old led Chelsea on a 12-game unbeaten run from the start of the season through to late November, but they have since lost six times.

Sarri’s men are sixth in the table, outside the qualifying spots for the Champions League and 15 points behind leaders City, who romped to victory courtesy of Sergio Aguero’s hat-trick, a brace for Raheem Sterling and a goal from Ilkay Gundogan.

When asked post-match if he had any doubts about whether his style of play could work at Stamford Bridge, Sarri responded: “No, because today I didn’t see my football.

“At the beginning [of the season] it worked. So now we need only to understand the reasons why at the moment it isn’t working.

“Something is changing. I am not able to see the reason but we have to work for this. My target is to play my football, not to change [to] another football because at the moment we are playing another football.”

Sarri rebuffed questions over his future at the club and also dismissed suggestions that he refused to shake City boss Pep Guardiola’s hand after the game, insisting he had not seen his counterpart.

He blamed Chelsea’s defeat on a number of mistakes made during a crucial period of the game but said there was no issue with motivation among his players.

“My feeling today was really very good,” said Sarri. “The area map was really good so I think the motivation was at the right level. We started well then we conceded the goal after four minutes in a stupid way.

“In that moment, we needed to stay in the match and we were not able to. They [City] played really fantastic football today.”

Click Here: NRL Telstra Premiership

Melbourne Rebels flyer Sefanaia Naivalu has penned a new deal with the club until the end of 2019.  

Naivalu has returned from a broken leg this season to become one of the most exciting finishers in the Rebels attack, with two tries from his six matches this year.

Head coach Tony McGahan said it was a major coup to have the speester re-commit.

“Sefa has an exciting Rugby future ahead of him and is a critical part of the Rebels plans moving forward,” McGahan said.

“His electrifying pace and physical presence, synonymous with Fijian Rugby, has quickly made him a Melbourne Rebels fan favourite.”

The Fijian speedster will likely team up with Melbourne Storm convert Marika Koroibete in season to come, in what looms as an intimidating prospect for the Rebels’ competition.

Naivalu said he was thrilled to stay with the club for another three seasons, a move that will also make him eligible to play for the Wallabies down the track.

“It’s a great honour to re-sign with the Rebels, the club has a good atmosphere, good staff and a good group of blokes so it’s exciting to play for the Rebels for the next few seasons,” Naivalu said.

“I want to keep improving in every game so working with Tony McGahan and Baden Stephenson are really helping me out with this opportunity, they know that I’m capable of playing good footy and I want to take it to another level for Australia.

“I’ve lived here for almost three years so I now call Melbourne home.”

Reds co-coaches Matt O’Connor and Nick Stiles are confident they can break through the “honeymoon’ period that comes with change.

The pair will coach for the first time at AAMI Park this weekend and O’Connor said their focus was on bringing positive change in the long-term.

O’Connor promised the Reds’ season wouldn’t simply be “Groundhog Day”, but rather they were aiming for improvement over the remaining weeks.

“There’s a freshness for freshness sake (with coaching change) because the players need to see that aesthetically more than anything,” he said.

Click Here: azzaro parfum

“So it is a little bit different it is a bit vibrant, it’s not Groundhog Day.

“How people do things comes down to the individual. It’s not systems it’s process, it’s about personality and how you get the best out of individuals.

The way Stilesy and I go about getting the best out of individuals is slightly different to Richard but we’ll see (and) performances will show whether it’s working or not.

While plenty of teams have rebounded after a coaching shuffle, O’Connor said the key was to make sure it lasted longer than just 80 minutes in Melbourne.

“We think we’re  good enough to win this weekend.

“It’s very easy to get a rebound in week one but the important thing for us is we’ve got an exciting young group.

“The challenge for us is to be better not just this week but each week for the rest of the season.”

It’s not just about wins and losses, though, with pride a major factor for Queensland.

“It’s about those blokes being able to look the mirror and be happy with their performance,” he said.

The Reds travel to Melbourne to face the rebels at AAMI Park, against a team that includes former Reds, headlined by recent additions James Hanson and Adam Thomson.