Real Madrid have found their successor to Zinedine Zidane and it came as a shock to most when Spain coach Julen Lopetegui was announced as the man to take the reins at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Lopetegui only signed a new deal to stay on as La Roja coach until 2020 in May, but the lure of taking over the Champions League s dominant force has seemingly proven too good to turn down and his new role will start after he has led Spain at the World Cup.
The 51-year-old represented Los Blancos during his playing career and now has the unenviable task of succeeding club great Zidane, who won nine trophies during two-and-a-half years at the helm.
Here, we take a look at the time of Lopetegui s career.
PLAYING CAREER | 1985-2002:
Born in the Basqu…
Former Manchester United winger Nani says a clash with fierce rivals Liverpool can propel Jose Mourinho s side to greater success in the Premier League.
Jurgen Klopp s high-octane side are one of the league s form teams on the back of four consecutive top-flight wins and will welcome United to Anfield on Monday looking to open up a six-point advantage over their rivals.
Nani now at Valencia enjoyed six wins over Liverpool in 11 contests as a United player, scoring once spectacularly in a 3-0 victory at Old Trafford in March 2008.
The Euro 2016 winner revealed the famous fixture s heightened sense of importance often gave Alex Ferguson s United an extra boost in their title charges.
When you play that kind of game it gives you great motivation, the Portug…
Tottenham have reached an agreement with K League 1 side Gangwon FC over the signing of South Korea youth international Yang Min-Hyeok.
The 18-year-old winger will join Spurs in January on a deal that will run until 2030.
Yang has progressed through Gangwon s youth ranks to become a key first-team player, scoring eight goals and providing four assists in 25 appearances this season.
He has also represented South Korea at the World Cup and Asia Cup at under-17 level.
Yang is Spurs fourth signing of this transfer window, along with Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall and George Feeney.
토트넘에 오신것을 환영합니다!
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial)
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Best Odds: 8/11
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Two sides who find themselves seeking a much-needed boost on Thursday night, Fulham will welcome Aston Villa to Craven Cottage.
Fulham
Starting with the hosts, while Fulham might have shocked many across the Premier League with their eye-catching start back in August, Marco Silva s side have largely failed to keep up that momentum. Despite coming from behind twice last weekend as they played out a 2-2 draw at home against fellow top-flight returners Bournemouth, the one-time Everton boss has seen his side muster just a single victory from any of their previous five appearances on either side of September s international break. Opening October with back-to-back 4-1 and 3-1 losses at the hands of Newcastle and West Ham, the Cottagers fe…
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has told his players they need to create their own buzz at Parkhead after a flat afternoon against Motherwell.
With the Green Brigade ultras group still banned, the visiting fans were generally more audible than the home support during Saturday’s 1-1 draw.
Apart from David Turnbull’s goal, the biggest noise from Celtic fans was pre-match when the ultras group welcomed the team bus before heading away from the stadium.
Celtic struggled to break down a dogged Motherwell side, who had a similar amount of efforts at goal as their hosts in the first half.
It was one-way traffic for the vast majority of the second half but Luis Palma saw a penalty saved by Liam Kelly and Yang Hyun-jun missed a sitter before Jonathan Obika head…
Neymar is on the verge of signing a new contract with Paris Saint-Germain, according to Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano. from France suggested a deal was close a few days ago, and now it seems it s all but done.
The Brazilian left Barcelona in 2017 to join the Ligue 1 champions in a deal that still holds as the most expensive transfer in football ever, reportedly amounting to €222 million. Since then, mostly Spanish media claimed he was keen on returning to the Catalan club and he never denied it, but recently he made it known his loyalties lie with PSG and expressed a hope that Kylian Mbappe would also recommit his future to the club.
His new contract, which should keep him at the Parc des Princes for the next five years, is believed to be set to contain a huge b…
Pep Guardiola shrugged off the suggestion Phil Foden s sensational form proves he was right to slowly ease the youngster into first-team action, insisting football is only about the present.
Manchester City prodigy Foden made his Premier League debut in 2017-18, playing five times in total. While his talent was obvious, Guardiola was cautious with his development and opted to drop the attacker in and out of games, sometimes causing ire in the media.
A total of 13 league appearances followed in 2018-19 before Foden truly began to establish himself last season, making 37 appearances across all competitions.
Guardiola s cautious approach has seemingly paid off, with Foden one of City s most impressive players this campaign.
The 20-year-old has played 41 time…
Verdict: Manchester United win
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Looking to start 2019 with another impressive showing, a resurgent Manchester United side will travel to St. James Park on Wednesday night.
Newcastle
Starting with Wednesday s hosts, while Newcastle did show some signs of improvement during their three-match winning run back in November, Rafa Benitez s side entered 2019 in sluggish fashion. Coming off the back of a 1-1 draw with Watford over the weekend, the Magpies have now managed to record just one Premier League win in their last seven outings. Along with now holding the second-worst attacking record in the top-flight, the former Liverpool boss will be growing more concerned by his sides form at St. James Park. Newcastle have lost seven home l…
Cristiano Ronaldo slotted away two penalties and Matthijs de Ligt applied the finishing touch as Juventus beat Fiorentina 3-0 to confirm their status as front-runners for the Serie A title.
The vital double strike from Ronaldo took the Portuguese to 14 goals in his last nine league games and 19 in the Italian top flight overall this season, and crucially it ensured Juventus would remain clear at the summit of the table after this weekend s fixtures.
It also made Ronaldo the first Juventus player since David Trezeguet in 2005 to score in nine successive Serie A appearances.
De Ligt s late header increased the misery for Fiorentina.
Victory allowed Maurizio Sarri s Juventus to put behind them the disappointment of the 2-1 defeat to Napoli last time out…
Monaco have announced long-serving goalkeeper Danijel Subasic will leave the club at the end of the month.
The 35-year-old former Croatia international has made 292 appearances for Monaco since signing from Hajduk Split in 2012.
Subasic, whose contract expires on June 30, won Ligue 2 and Ligue 1 in the principality, while he was part of the side that reached the Champions League semi-finals in the 2016-17 season.
I congratulate Danijel for his exceptional career with AS Monaco, said president Dmitry Rybolovlev.
He came at the beginning of the project when we were still in the second division and has taken up many challenges over the years to contribute to the great achievements of the team.
L’AS Monaco annonce la fin de l’aventure avec qu…