Adebayor
Reports have emerged that Milan are currently monitoring the situation of Togolese striker Emanuel Adebayor. The 30-year-old has impressed since returning to the Tottenham first team following the appointment of new Coach Tim Sherwood. Rossoneri Coach Clarence Seedorf is reported to be an admirer of the player but it is said that any potential move for the former Arsenal man could depend on who leaves San Siro this summer. High profile names who could be on their way out of the club, according to the report, include Mario Balotelli, Mattia De Sciglio and Ignazio Abate.
A S Roma are aiming to rumble Roman Abramovich’s hopes of bringing Didier Drogba back to Chelsea next season. Blues owner Abramovich wants Drogba to hang up his boots at Galatasaray and join manager Jose Mourinho’s coaching staff. However, Il Messagero says Roma are willing to offer the Ivory Coast striker a one-year deal worth £3.5m for their return to the Champions League next term. If a move comes to fruition, it would see Drogba link up with international colleague Gervinho at the Stadio Olimpico.
Neymar
S
Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has praised his assistant Zinedine Zidane for the part he has played in helping Karim Benzema improve as a player. The French striker has scored 12 goals in 14 games since the start of 2014, and is enjoying his most productive season in a Los Blancos shirt since his arrival from Lyon in 2009. And Ancelotti told RMC Sport that the upturn in form has been a result of working closely with Zidane, a World Cup winner with France in 1998, and one of Benzema’s idols. The Italian said: “I think Zidane’s done fantastic work, especially with Karim. He’s communicated a lot with the players and implemented a specific job with all attackers. His work is very important.
matches, including a spirited 3-2 victory at Real Sociedad on Monday, which followed a 1-0 success over Valencia. After two hard-fought victories, Paco is now hoping to pick up points against sides closer to Vallecano in the table. Valladolid will be well aware that a loss will see them slump into the bottom three, but they travel to Sevilla on the back of a shock 1-0 victory over Barca last weekend. However, Valladolid meet a Sevilla side that has recorded three Liga victories on the spin and another three points would boost hopes of European qualification. Real Betis’ chances of staying up are increasingly slim, although they visit fellow strugglers Elche on the back of a morale-boosting 2-0 win over Getafe.
Former Spurs striker Clive Allen believes the club can still make it into the top four of the Premier League, but they must beat Arsenal on Sunday to do so. The north London side are fifth in the table, six points behind neighbours Arsenal in third and four behind fourth placed Manchester City – who have three games in hand. Two defeats in their last three games have seen Tim Sherwood’s side fall off the pace in the race for the Champions League, and Allen knows it will be tough for them. He told talkSPORT: “I don’t think it’s over yet – they still have some big games coming up. “They’ve got to play at Liverpool and they’ve got Arsenal on Sunday which you feel they must win. “It will be a difficult task and their recent defeats have made it harder.”
Allen
uper Eagles player, Ramon Azeez, is expected to be in action when his Spanish side, Almeria, face Rayo Vallecano in a crucial match at the bottom of La Liga. The battle to avoid relegation takes centre stage this weekend as the duo occupy two of the three relegation spots with Almeria currently only above Vallecano due to a superior goal difference, while Real Valladolid - fresh from stunning champions Barcelona - also have 26 points and remain mired in relegation trouble in 17th. Vallecano may be fighting to stave off the threat of the drop, but they head into Saturday’s encounter at the Estadio del Rayo Vallecano in promising form. Paco Jemez’s men have won three of their last five league
Benzema
BRIEFLY
slight favourites against their arch-rivals.
Saturday
Saturday
Frankfurt v Freiburgs
Hamburger v Nürnberg
Vallecano Real Betis
19 20
17
Wolfsburg Augsburg Mainz 05 Hertha Hoffenheim Bremen Hannover Frankfurt Nürnberg
VfB Stuttgart 24 Hamburger Freiburg
Braunschweig 24
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Parma Verona Lazio Torino
6 7 8 9
Elche v Betis Barcelona v Osasuna
Cagliari Chievo Bologna
15 16 17 18 19 20
Cagliari v Lazio Livorno v Bologna Milan v Parma Sassuolo v Catania Fiorentina v Chievo Genoa v Juventus
Sassuolo
Catania
Livorno
Udinese
14
Sunday Atalanta v Sampdoria
Sampdoria Atalanta
12 13
Verona v Inter
Saturday
SERIE A
Sociedad v Valencia
Sevilla v Valladolid
Genoa
Inter
5 Sunday
11
Fiorentina
4 Atlético v Espanyol
Málaga v Real
Milan
Napoli
10
Roma 3
27
27
27
27
27
27
27
27
27
27
27
27
27
27
26
27
27
27
26
27
1
Juventus
P
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
`24
24
S/NO Team
SERIE A
19
Schalke
Mö’gladbach 24
24
Leverkusen
3
24
Dortmund
2
18
20
21
23
24
29
31
34
34
35
35
36
38
40
43
44
45
55
58
72
Pts
20
20
23
26
26
28
29
36
36
38
38
39
44
44
48
68
24
Bayern
1
Pts
P
18
26
26
S/NO Team
2 Vallecano v Almería
27
27
27
26
SPORT
Sunday
Bayern v Leverkusen
Bremen v Stuttgart
Hertha v Hannover
Almería
18
27
BUNDESLIGA
Valladolid
17
Braunschweig v Wolfsburg
Dortmund v M’ögladbach
Hoffenheim v Mainz
Saturday
BUNDESLIGA
Tottenham v Arsenal
Man Utd v Liverpool
Sunday
Aston Villa v Chelsea
Swansea v West Brom
Sunderland v C/ Palace s
Stoke v West Ham
Southampton v Norwich
Fulham v Newcastle
Everton v Cardiff
Levante v Celta
LA LIGA
FIXTURES
been somewhat more painful to endure of late as Milan’s performances have been played with more purpose and passion. To make matters worse for the slumbering giants, a 4-1 humbling in the midweek to Atletico Madrid saw the Diavoli fail to progress into the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League for two successive seasons. It was the first time in 17 years the Madrid outfit had managed to make it into the final eight of the competition and Milan boss, Seedorf, has urged his team to remain united in the face of a crisis.
PREMIER LEAGUE Hull v Man City
I
n a bizarre and previously unthought-of situation, Milan will host Parma as the underdogs at the San Siro on Sunday afternoon It has been two weeks that Clarence Seedorf and his men will willingly want to scrap off the Rossoneri books of the club’s history. Not only did they fall to a 1-0 defeat to Udinese in Week 27, but another Bianconeri team whipped them Black and White when they played host to Juventus the week prior. Chance after squandered chance has been the telling story all season long for the Milanello outfit, but it has
Bruised Milan Azeez meets Vallecano host Parma in relegation battle
with three matches in hand. Chelsea since mid-November but they will have eight games left after this have kept clean sheets with two
Drogba
“The fans we have are too accustomed to winning,” he said. “We’d like them to always with the team and not just with the titles. “Sometimes we don’t play well and that’s when we need them the most. Our needs are just as important as theirs. “On Sunday, the perfect scenario would be to win and in the quickest way possible, so that there’s no pressure and the fans don’t get nervous.” Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has referred to Saturday’s La Liga clash against Malaga as a cup final. The Whites are currently at the top of the La Liga standings with 67 points from 27 matches following last weekend’s 3-0 win over Levante. With the ‘Clasico’ against rivals Barcelona set to take place next weekend, Ancelotti says his side cannot afford to drop points at the Rosaleda Stadium on Saturday. “We have to keep going, we cannot relax, we have a cup final on Saturday,” he said. Osasuna will go into this game looking to end their two-match losing streak having lost 2-0 against Levante and then Malaga.
PH ON SATURDAY CH 2014
29