Flamengo 2-0 Barcelona: Brazilian giants draw first blood in Libertadores semi as David Luiz makes d

Bruno Henrique scored twice and David Luiz made his debut as two-time champions Flamengo defeated 10-man Barcelona 2-0 in the opening leg of the Copa Libertadores semi-finals.

Flamengo emerged triumphant thanks to Bruno Henrique s first-half brace in Rio de Janeiro, where veteran defender David Luiz appeared for the first time since his Arsenal exit.

Ecuadorian visitors Barcelona had Nixon Molina sent off in first-half stoppage time, while Flamengo substitute Leo Pereira – who replaced David Luiz approaching the hour mark – was also dismissed in the 89th minute.

David Luiz completed his move to Brazilian giants Flamengo earlier this month following his Arsenal departure at the end of last season, but team-mate Bruno Henrique stole the show on Wednesday.

Adrien Silva move blocked?

According to a report from Record, Leicester City midfielder Adrien Silva’s potential move away from the Foxes has been blocked. His father and agent has stated that the club haven’t given him permission to speak to any other clubs, although he also stated that there is news coming soon regarding the 29 year old.

Silva made his move to the King Power Stadium last year, but hasn’t quite been able to make the desired impact. His transition over to English football came at the cost of leaving Sporting Lisbon, which is a club he spent 15 years at from 2002 all the way up until 2017.

Leicester have done a great job of keeping hold of their star players over the course of the last few years, and yet, Silva appears to be more hell bent than all of them put together on mo…

Southgate hopes behind-closed-doors Hungary match will serve to educate fans

Gareth Southgate hopes Hungary being forced to play their Nations League opener against England behind closed doors will serve to demonstrate the unacceptability of racism to younger fans.

Saturday s sparse crowd at the Puskas Arena will be populated by children after UEFA issued Hungary with a three-match spectator ban due to racist abuse by supporters during Euro 2020 games in Budapest.

UEFA rules state children along with one adult for every 10 young fans can attend behind-closed-doors matches, which England will also take advantage of when they also serve a one-match spectator ban during their home game against Italy at Molineux on June 11.

England s punishment was handed down after crowd trouble broke out prior to the Three Lions Euro 2020 final loss to Robe…

West Ham United linked with Barcelona goalkeeper Neto

West Ham United are interested in signing Neto from Barcelona in the January transfer window, according to . It has been reported that the Hammers want to bring the 32-year-old Brazil international goalkeeper to London Stadium on a loan deal.

Neto has been on the books of Barcelona since 2019 when he joined from La Liga rivals Valencia. The 32-year-old is the second-choice goalkeeper behind Germany international Marc-Andre ter Stegen. Barcelona want to offload Neto and save on his wages.

Łukasz Fabiański and Alphonse Areola are the two main goalkeepers at West Ham at the moment. However, Fabiański is 36 now, Areola joined the Hammers on loan from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2021.

Foden and Greenwood can be England stars for a long time, says Southgate

Phil Foden and Mason Greenwood s superb post-lockdown performances sealed their places in Gareth Southgate s England squad.

The Manchester City and Manchester United youngsters were handed their first senior call-ups, along with Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips, when Southgate confirmed a 24-man party for next month s Nations League trips to Iceland and Denmark.

Five of Foden s six career Premier League goals came in the period immediately after the coronavirus-enforced hiatus, as the 20-year-old became an increasingly influential performer for Pep Guardiola s side.

Meanwhile, no teenager has ever scored more goals in a single season for United as Greenwood did across all competitions in 2019-20 – his 17 matching the exploits of club greats George Best, …

Erik ten Hag heaps praise on United goalkeeper Andre Onana after penalty heroics

Erik ten Hag praised goalkeeper Andre Onana for putting a difficult start to life at Manchester United behind him and saving the day in a narrow Champions League escape against Copenhagen.

Having kicked off Group A with defeats to Bayern Munich and Galatasaray, the Red Devils could ill-afford any slip-up against the Danish champions in Tuesday’s Old Trafford encounter.

Onana was guilty of poor performances in both of those Champions League losses but helped make amends in a brilliant conclusion to an emotional first home game since the death of Sir Bobby Charlton.

Stepped up when it mattered.

||

— Manchester United (@ManUtd)

The United keeper saved Jordan Larsson’s stoppage-time penalty with what proved to be the last touch of t…

Stephan El Shaarawy urges Roma to maintain fine form at high-flying Inter Milan

Stephan El Shaarawy has urged his Roma team-mates to maintain their superb run of form when they face Serie A high-flyers Inter Milan on Sunday.

Roma failed to win any of their first three games of the season and were thrashed 4-1 by Genoa at the end of September.

However, Jose Mourinho’s side have since won five games in a row in all competitions, scoring 13 goals and conceding just one in the process and are top of Europa League Group G with a 100 per cent record.

Last session before departing for Milan!

— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN)

Asked if something had clicked following the defeat to Genoa, El Shaarawy told the club’s website: “No, it was something that defined us the past two years.

“We manage to work together i…

Bitesize Prediction: Southampton vs Leicester City – 01/12/21

Market: Leicester City win

Odds: 15/8 @

Hoping to make it back-to-back Premier League wins on Wednesday night, Leicester will make the trip to St. Mary s when they face off against Southampton.

Starting with the hosts, while Southampton might have entered November s international break with a much-welcomed boost, the Saints have once again come tumbling back down. Continuing to gain a reputation for their rather glaring inconsistencies, Ralph Hasenhüttl s men could still be looking over their shoulder at the drop zone. Blown away on their travels over the weekend as they were hit with a 4-0 drumming against Liverpool at Anfield, the one-time RB Leipzig boss has now seen his side suffer back-to-back Premier League losses. Marking their return from the fortnight …

Jurgen Klopp thrilled as Liverpool weather storm at Bournemouth

Jurgen Klopp hailed the desire of his players after Liverpool booked a Carabao Cup quarter-final spot by battling through Storm Ciaran to beat Bournemouth 2-1.

Substitute Darwin Nunez settled a challenging fourth-round tie staged in driving rain and swirling winds with a stunning 70th-minute winner.

Cody Gakpo gave the much-changed Reds a half-time lead at Vitality Stadium before the Cherries threatened an upset thanks to Justin Kluivert’s first goal in English football.

“It’s a top, top, top cup game,” said Reds boss Klopp, who made eight changes from Sunday’s 3-0 Premier League win over Nottingham Forest.

“It’s all about winning, it’s all about getting through.

“The good thing today is I don’t have to speak about the circumst…

Teenage prospect Pepi swaps Dallas for Augsburg in reported €18m move

Promising United States striker Ricardo Pepi has joined Augsburg from FC Dallas for a reported €18million ($20m) fee plus add ons.

Pepi, 18, impressed for Dallas in the 2021 season as he scored 13 times in MLS – the joint-most ever managed by a teenager in the competition.

The forward is also the youngest player to ever score in consecutive World Cup qualifiers for the USA and has previously been linked to some of Europe s top clubs, such as Borussia Dortmund and Ajax.

But Pepi has opted to move to Augsburg, who have signed the talented teenager on a five-and-a-half-year contract, while holding the option to extend for a further year.

The transfer represents a club-record deal for Dallas as Pepi dethrones Alphonso Davies move from Vancouver Whitec…