Leonardo could return to Inter

Gareth Southgate and Julen Lopetegui, kindred spirits that they are, spoke well of one another in the build up to England s friendly with Spain at Wembley on Tuesday.

Both graduated from coaching their country s Under-21 sides to taking on the top job, with Southgate surely only interim in name following a solid return from his four-match England audition.

Discussing his opposite number in the match programme, Southgate said: Julen Lopetegui, having been in charge of their U21s is in an ideal position to bring through those players [Spain s next generation].

Luckily for him, Southgate seems to be a good deal better at preparing football teams than dropping subtle hints. England were good value for a 2-0 lead in the capital – the home support prematurely con…

Leicester City reached the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time since 1982 after a 3-1 win over Manchester United in Sunday s quarter-final clash.

Two goals from Kelechi Iheanacho and one from Youri Tielemans were enough to give the Foxes only a second victory over the Red Devils in 26 meetings in all competitions.

United, who levelled in the first half through Mason Greenwood before Tielemans fine winner, looked well short of their best for much of a contest for which they made five changes from their Europa League win in Milan three days earlier.

Iheanacho headed in a third 13 minutes from time to make certain of victory as United lost an away match in domestic competition for the first time since January 19 last year.

1981-82 In what was Brendan Rodge…

Thomas Muller is not worried by his below-par performances this season and is confident he can still make the difference for Bayern Munich.

The Germany international has been struggling to find his best form and has netted just once in 20 Bundesliga appearances, compared to 20 in 31 in 2015-16.

The 27-year-old is not interested in personal success, though, and is adamant trophies are all that matter come the end of the season.

There is no denying that I have had better times on the pitch, Muller told Bild.

But I am not taking myself too seriously and I still believe in myself. I am convinced that I can still be decisive for Bayern and the national team this season.

What matters most to us as a team is that we keep an eye on our objectives. …

What the papers say

Kylian Mbappe‘s entourage met with figures at Manchester City last week before the news broke of his impending exit from Paris St Germain this summer, according to Sky Sports.

Former Bayer Leverkusen manager Rudi Voller has pushed for coach Xabi Alonso to stay at the club, with Sky Sports reporting the Spanish coach is scoping out options at Liverpool and Bayern Munich.

Manchester United’s shake-up continues as they try to bring in Newcastle director Dan Ashworth, but the Daily Mail has revealed the Magpies will not allow him to join before 2026 unless they get significant compensation.

Social media round-up

Napoli are seriously considering to sack manager Walter Mazzarri ahead of UCL game vs Barcelona.

Slovakia coach Francesco…

Jorge Jesus lamented the impeccable display of former Benfica goalkeeper Roberto in their 1-0 defeat to Olympiacos on Tuesday.

Benfica started the match well and created two chances within the first 10 minutes, but Oscar Cardozo and then talented 19-year-old Lazar Markovic were denied by Roberto.

The Spanish keeper joined the Greek champions on loan from Atletico Madrid during the close-season, but he played 41 times for his opponents in the 2010-11 campaign and was regarded as a flop before leaving for Real Zaragoza.

Jesus side dominated throughout and created numerous chances, but Roberto produced nine crucial saves and his old coach believes he finally proved to Benfica fans just how good he really is.

The 59-year-old said: We demonstrated, once again…

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is unsure whether captain Jordan Henderson will be able to feature again this season.

England midfielder Henderson has been sidelined by a foot injury since mid-February and will again miss out when Crystal Palace visit Anfield this Sunday.

In previous weeks Klopp had expressed hope over the 26-year-old making a return but he could offer no guarantees fans will see Henderson in action again before the end of May when addressing a pre-match news conference on Thursday.

I don t know, he said. At this moment he cannot really train. We have to wait. If there was something else to say I would.

We are in intense talks with different medical departments. He is already not patient anymore.

It s not cool. He looks really heal…

Virgil van Dijk claimed Liverpool do not feel fear and have no interest in holding Manchester City to a draw in their top-of-the-table Premier League encounter.

Liverpool hold a six-point advantage over title rivals and defending champions City going into Sunday s highly anticipated showdown at Anfield.

Preserving that buffer would ordinarily be seen as a reasonable outcome but the Premier League leaders will be wary of repeating the missed opportunities of last season.

Liverpool earned a stalemate on Merseyside in October then lost 2-1 in the reverse fixture at the Etihad Stadium as City pipped the Reds to the title.

Now, with the chance to surge further clear in first, Jurgen Klopp s Liverpool are not entertaining the prospect of settling for a point.

LaLiga leaders Real Madrid came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Valencia in an ill-tempered finish at the Mestalla that saw Jude Bellingham sent off after the final whistle.

The hosts scored two goals in four minutes midway through the first half from Hugo Duro and Roman Yaremchuk, but Vinicius Junior pulled one back on the stroke of half-time.

Vinicius then got a second in the 76th minute to level it up.

There was late drama as Valencia’s Mouctar Diakhaby suffered an apparently serious injury in the closing minutes. Moments after play restarted the referee pointed for a Valencia penalty after Nacho went flying in on Duro, but VAR came to Madrid’s rescue as the decision was overturned.

As the players went off, Bellingham was sent off, apparently for di…

Newcastle United captain Fabricio Coloccini is eager to look forward after pledging his immediate future to the club.

Newcastle United captain Fabricio Coloccini is eager to look forward after pledging his immediate future to the club.

Coloccini, who joined Newcastle in July 2007, went public with his desire to return to his native Argentina for personal reasons last year.

However, the 32-year-old is no longer seeking an escape route from St James Park and is instead focusing on the 2014-15 Premier League season.

I had personal problems, he told the Shields Gazette.

Sometimes it s tough you have to decide between the problems and the work.

Sometimes it s too difficult. Now it s finished and next season I will be here.

I m looking forward to impr…

Ivan Rakitic believes Juan Carlos Unzue would be a shrewd choice as the next head coach of Barcelona.

The 50-year-old is widely considered one of the favourites to succeed Luis Enrique when he steps down at the end of the season.

Unzue spent two years on Barca s books as a player before becoming assistant to Luis Enrique in 2014, helping the Catalans to win two domestic doubles and the Champions League in that time.

And Rakitic is confident that the former goalkeeper would be a good option given his experience of working with the players.

I m sure that the president and whoever has to choose the new coach will look for a person they believe in, who is calm, the midfielder told RAC-1.

Juan Carlos is a person who has been here with us for years, w…