The striker’s return to the town where he grew up has become a battle between him and the local club’s owner, Massimo CellinoMario Balotelli’s stomach ache returned over the weekend. The Brescia striker had only been allowed back into his club’s training base last Wednesday after six days off with gastroenteritis. He was scheduled for a pair of individual workouts on Saturday but left the facility after completing the first, having suffered an apparent relapse. A post on his Instagram Stories simply said: “Sick.”Hours earlier, he had shared a video of himself on the same platform, still sweating from the morning practice session. “Stop asking if I’m going to training or not,” he said. “I’m going to training guys. I...
Hansi Flick’s arrival sparked a spectacular and decisive upturn as Bayern Munich made it eight Bundesliga titles in a rowIt ended not with arrogance or effortlessness, but with spirit and defiance. After Manuel Neuer pulled off the last-gasp save from Yuya Osako to prevent Werder Bremen making Bayern Munich wait to be confirmed as champions, the goalkeeper chest-bumped with David Alaba. There was little hint of assumption, give or take the prepared T-shirts with the figure 8 on the chest.In the all-but-empty stands, Bayern’s CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and president Herbert Hainer briefly ditched the three-seat social distancing protocol to hug in celebration. “Celebrating without fans is difficult,” Robert Lewandowski told Sky after striking the winning goal that sealed an eighth...
Uwe Rösler’s side are well organised but fragile and defeat to Dortmund means Wednesday’s trip to RB Leipzig could be crucial to their Bundesliga survivalIn another context and another time, this would have been a day of celebration at the Merkur-Spiel Arena, with hosts Fortuna Düsseldorf wearing all-white shirts in commemoration of the club’s 125th birthday. With the now-familiar sounds of cries and exhortations from the bench echoing around the empty stadium, growing increasingly anxious as the afternoon ticked by and the stakes rose, it certainly wasn’t the occasion they once dreamed of.And in another context this would have been a creditable fighting display – a typical, brave-but-doomed Fortuna hard luck story, as they flirted with victory against vaunted Borussia...
Since the Bundesliga began again behind closed doors, the home side is half as likely to win as it was beforeAnd so, we’re back. The Prince (an awkward embodiment of financial necessity and the perceived need for a circus to entertain the frustrated masses) has woken Sleeping Beauty (the Premier League) from her slumbers with a kiss and their fairytale romance will be consecrated at a lavish ceremony on Wednesday (Aston Villa v Sheffield United).Cynicism is easy and to an extent justified, but this is probably a good thing. People like football and jobs depend on it, and national re-engagement in the grand distraction feels a significant moment in the return to something a little nearer normality. It is not,...
French clubs are still unsure when they will play again, though next season may see 22 in the top flightAs the football lamps flicker back on across Europe, France remains in the dark. A glimmer of clarity came on Tuesday as the country’s highest administrative court upheld the decision made in April to terminate the Ligue 1 and 2 seasons but, with Germany, Italy and Spain having already returned to action and the Premier League due to restart on Wednesday, French football clubs are still not sure when and how they will play again.Three clubs – Lyon, Amiens and Toulouse – had been so angered by the cancellation of the season and the “arbitrary and unfair” decision to determine the...