If you didn t see this coming, you can t have been paying attention.

Bayern Munich were bulldozed by a spectacular Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium, a 3-0 dismissal of the 10-in-a-row Bundesliga winners a sign of the times.

It was a bad night for the men in red, a desperate one for Dayot Upamecano; a match to remember for City, and perhaps the moment the doom-mongers had seen coming.

How can this City team be stopped? They were terrific and dominant, save from a 20-minute spell at the start of the second half when Bayern gamely gave just about as good as they got.

A team into which mind-blowing sums have been invested were destined to scale heady heights such as these, though. The wealth of talent at Pep Guardiola s disposal is unsurpassed, the Abu D…

Mesut Ozil is a wasted talent who has lost his psychological edge, according to former Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Petit.

Ex-Germany international Ozil has not played a minute of football for the Gunners in 2019, making his last appearance in the 1-1 draw at Brighton and Hove Albion on Boxing Day.

Unai Emery has repeatedly insisted he has confidence in the playmaker, despite leaving him out of some games for tactical reasons , and last week the Spaniard shrugged off speculation linking the 30-year-old who is contracted until 2021 with a move away from Emirates Stadium.

But Petit, who won the double of Premier League and FA Cup with Arsenal in 1997-98, was less forgiving in his assessment of a player who arrived from Real Madrid for a fee believed to be in excess …

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers believes his team have earned respect in the Champions League – now they want something more tangible to show for their efforts ahead of Tuesday’s clash with Atletico Madrid.

The Hoops have collected one point from their opening three Group E games and face away matches in the Spanish and Italian capitals before closing their campaign at home to Feyenoord.

Celtic had two men sent off in their opening game in the Netherlands before losing leads against both Lazio and Atletico, but the quality of their three goals and the first-half performance in particular against Diego Simeone’s team showed they can cause major problems to their rivals.

Simeone has been effusive in his praise of the Scottish champions and the Argentinian also…

Cardiff have confirmed manager Sabri Lamouchi will leave the club when his contract expires.

Former Nottingham Forest boss Lamouchi agreed a deal until the end of the season when he replaced Mark Hudson in January to become the Sky Bet Championship club’s third manager of the 2022-23 campaign.

A club statement read: “Cardiff City Football Club can confirm that Sabri Lamouchi will depart at the conclusion of his current deal.

“Sabri joined the Bluebirds at the end of January 2023, overseeing 18 fixtures, and winning six matches.”

Cardiff added: “The Board of Directors at Cardiff City FC have already begun the process of appointing a new management team.”

The Bluebirds sat one place above the relegation zone after a nine-game winless lea…

Captain Harry Maguire will be made to work for his place in the Manchester United XI as just one of the team s leaders, according to manager Erik ten Hag.

Maguire has been the United captain since January 2020, having been one of the first names on the teamsheet for much of his time at Old Trafford.

But that is no longer the case after a tough start to the season, failing to impress in defeats to Brighton and Hove Albion and Brentford.

Maguire played alongside new signing Lisandro Martinez in those defeats, with his team-mate also coming in for criticism.

However, Martinez stood out against Liverpool on Monday as he kept his place at Maguire s expense, with Raphael Varane brought in.

Ten Hag appears to determined to keep faith with Martinez, and f…

Pep Guardiola is keenly anticipating his Premier League bow when Manchester City face Sunderland at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday but does not feel this assignment is the toughest of his career.

Having inherited a team featuring the prodigious talents of Lionel Messi among others at Barcelona in 2008 and a treble-winning Bayern Munich in 2013, the common consensus has been that taking up the reins of a City side that limped to fourth place in England s top flight last term would be the sternest challenge of Guardiola s coaching mettle to date.

But the 45-year-old maintains that, following a decorated playing career at the Camp Nou, stepping up from a solitary season in charge of Barcelona B to take on a team in transition represented a unique set of pressures he will n…

Lionel Messi will miss the annual MLS All-Star game in Columbus on Wednesday due to his ongoing ankle injury, MLS has confirmed.

The Argentina captain sustained the injury during his nation s Copa America final victory over Colombia on July 14.

Messi subsequently left the pitch in tears, and watched from the dugout as substitute Lautaro Martinez struck an extra-time winner in Miami.

The eight-time Ballon d Or winner was expected to be part of the annual clash between an MLS XI and Liga MX XI.

However, he was listed as unavailable on the MLS website along with fellow Inter Miami forward Luis Suarez, though their team-mates Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets are both included.

The likes of Hugo Lloris, Christian Benteke and Federico Bernadeschi also fea…

Former Borussia Dortmund defender Dan-Axel Zagadou has signed for Stuttgart on a free transfer.

Zagadou, an ex-youth international for France, left Dortmund at the end of last season.

The 23-year-old s time at Signal Iduna Park was plagued by injuries, with a serious knee problem seeing him miss the end of the 2020-21 campaign and the start of the following term.

Having made his Bundesliga debut at 18, Zagadou went on to play 67 times in Germany s top tier for Dortmund.

Sporting director Sven : Daxo has all the qualities a top-level centre-back needs. He s athletically strong, is a good passer and has gained valuable experience domestically and at European level over the past few years. |

— VfB Stuttgart_int (@VfB_int)

Zagadou was u…

Luciano Spalletti is confident reigning continental champions Italy will seize the “right moment” to get the point they need to qualify for Euro 2024 from their showdown with rivals Ukraine in Leverkusen.

The second-placed Azzurri will join Group C winners England in reaching the finals on Monday if they can avoid defeat by Ukraine, who are playing this match in west Germany due to the conflict with Russia in their homeland, as they lead Serhiy Rebrov’s men on goal difference having won the first meeting 2-1 in Milan back in September.

Only a draw in North Macedonia and a 3-1 loss to England left Italy in this vulnerable position as their other results – 4-0 against Malta and 5-2 in Friday’s reverse against the Macedonians – have been more than convincing, an…

Lionel Messi showed exactly why he was given a lucrative contract as his 650th Barcelona goal helped Ronald Koeman s side to a slender 2-1 win over Athletic Bilbao.

A report by El Mundo claimed the deal Messi signed at Camp Nou in 2017, which expires at the end of this season, is worth more than €555million.

He demonstrated his value to this Barca team midway through the first half on Sunday with his 49th successful free-kick strike for the Catalan giants.

Jordi Alba put through his own net early in the second half to draw Athletic level, but Antoine Greizmann ensured Barca leapfrogged Sevilla and Real Madrid into second 10 points behind leaders Atletico Madrid with a close-range finish 16 minutes from time.

FULL TIME!

— FC Barcelona (@F…