Harry Kane admits the season will be a failure if Bayern Munich do not win the Champions League.
Bayern host Arsenal on Wednesday in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final, with the first match last week ending in a 2-2 draw.
Bayer Leverkusen romped to the Bundesliga title at the weekend, ending Bayern’s run of 11 straight league trophies and leaving them with only Europe’s highest honour to play for.
While Kane has excelled individually, his wait to win a team trophy after more than a decade without one at Tottenham could well continue.
The England captain told a press conference: “Of course every player, every club wants to win trophies, that’s the ultimate goal every season, but there’s a process into winning, there’s a proc…
It ended miserably, but Borussia Dortmund are out to put 2014 firmly behind them starting at Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.
Borussia Dortmund will be out to put a horror end to 2014 behind them when they resume their Bundesliga campaign at Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.
In a scenario that few could have envisaged just six months ago, Dortmund who have finished in the top two for the last four seasons, including championship-winning campaigns in 2010-11 and 2011-12 start the year trapped in the relegation zone.
Jurgen Klopp s men have won just four of 17 league fixtures and a wretched record away from home, which has seen them collect four from a possible 27 points, has left them fighting to avoid the drop.
Dortmund s miserable league form becomes an eve…
Carlo Ancelotti celebrated a year in charge of Everton with a 2-1 win against floundering Arsenal at Goodison Park on Saturday evening.
A Rob Holding own-goal mid-way through the first-half saw the Toffees claim the lead. Nicolas Pepe equalised from the spot after a Tom Davies foul in the penalty area. Everton were not to be denied though and reclaimed their advantage on the stroke of half-time as Yerry Mina netted from a corner.
Here are three things we learned from Goodison Park:
Fortress Goodison
Everton have certainly been one of the surprise packages throughout the 2020/21 campaign, with the Toffees now bouncing up to second following victory against the Gunners. It was also another very positive result on home soil.
Only near neighbours Liverpool …
Kasper Hjulmand conceded he feels part of something he does not like after Denmark were among the European nations to backtrack on wearing OneLove armbands.
Denmark, along with England, Wales, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands, had planned for their captains to wear the armband – which promotes diversity and inclusion – for the duration of their campaigns at the World Cup in Qatar.
Yet under pressure from FIFA, the teams released a statement on Monday confirming the plan, which was in order to protest against the questionable human rights record of the host nation, would not go ahead.
Denmark drew 0-0 with Tunisia in their opening game on Tuesday, but Hjulmand s post-match press conference was dominated by the furore surrounding the issue.
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Bukayo Saka saluted Arsenal s fighting spirit as they withstood a late Tottenham revival to claim all three points in the north London derby.
Mikel Arteta s side prevailed 3-2 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to extend their lead at the Premier League summit to four points over second-place Manchester City with three matches remaining, though the Citizens still have two games in hand.
The Gunners surged into a 3-0 lead before half-time with Saka and Kai Havertz on target after Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg s own-goal broke the deadlock.
The winger s 15th goal of the season his highest tally during a single term saw him become the first English player to score home and away for Arsenal against Tottenham in the same Premier League campaign since Ian Wright in 1993-94.
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Twente coach Steve McClaren believes playing regularly in Europe is crucial to the development of the Dutch club.
Twente have made a strong start to the Eredivisie campaign, winning all of their five matches to top the standings, and will look to carry their form into Thursday s Europa League opener against Hannover.
McClaren steered Twente to the club s first Eredivisie title in 2009/10 before enduring unsuccessful stints at Wolfsburg and Nottingham Forest.
While the returning Englishman has labelled the Eredivisie as the club s priority he is not undervaluing the importance of European competition.
The competition (Eredivisie) is the most important, but Europe is vital for this football club, McClaren said.
I think it s vital for the deve…
Bolton Wanderers have completed the signing of Arsenal winger Wellington Silva on a season-long loan deal.
Silva, who joined Arsenal from Fluminense in 2010, has previously spent time on loan at Levante, Alcoyano, Ponferradina, Murcia and Almería.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is expecting the Brazil Under-21 international to impress in the Sky Bet Championship this season.
He s a creative, tricky, quick player, Wenger told the club s official website. He s absolutely stunning to watch and I believe Bolton will be surprised by his quality.
I believe he will do extremely well because he has gained a lot of experience in Spain, he has come back to England and I am confident he will have a big impact in the Championship.
Friday 28th …
Manchester City s Leroy Sane has similar attributes to Manchester United great Ryan Giggs and how Liverpool cope with him could be decisive in their Champions League quarter-final, according to Frank Lampard.
The Germany international joined City for a reported £37million from Schalke in August 2016 and has been a key player in their title charge this season, with Pep Guardiola s men set to be crowned champions should they beat United this weekend.
Sane will travel to Anfield with City to face Liverpool on Wednesday in the first leg of their last-eight European tie and will look to help his side avenge their only Premier League defeat this term, a 4-3 loss in January.
And former Chelsea favourite Lampard, who had a brief spell at City in the 2014-15 campaign…
Erling Haaland is putting early-season pressure on Robert Lewandowski in the Bundesliga goal charts, with the Norwegian hailed as massively important to Borussia Dortmund after his latest heroics.
Bayern striker Lewandowski has finished as the German top flight s leading scorer in six of the last eight seasons, including each of the last four campaigns.
In 2020-21, Lewandowski hit 41 goals to break Gerd Muller s long-standing record of 40 in a Bundesliga campaign, yet it is no foregone conclusion that he will be top of the pile this term.
Haaland is the rising force, and the 21-year-old returned from a thigh injury lay-off to score twice in Saturday s 3-1 victory over Mainz.
The double – a penalty followed by a stoppage-time clincher – took Haaland to…
Kylian Mbappe backed Paris Saint-Germain team-mate Ousmane Dembele to fill his boots when he exits the club, after winning his fifth successive Ligue 1 Player of the Year award.
The France captain announced last week he will leave the Ligue 1 champions at the end of this season after seven years at the Parc des Princes, during which he became their all-time top scorer with 256 goals.
Mbappe has been heavily linked with a blockbuster move to LaLiga champions Real Madrid, but has thus far remained tight-lipped on where his future lies.
Either way, when he departs the club, the 25-year-old is confident his void can be filled by compatriot Dembele, who arrived from Barcelona last August and has recorded the joint-most assists during his maiden French top-flight camp…