Christophe Galtier says Paris Saint-Germain will not break their front three of Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Lionel Messi if they do not have to.
The trio have helped fire the Ligue 1 champions to a superb start to the season despite continued noise around Mbappe s future.
Former Barcelona duo Neymar and Messi have both returned to top form, with 22 and 23 goal involvements respectively.
Ahead of this weekend s encounter with Troyes, Galtier acknowledged a hectic schedule could force a reshuffle in attack, but he hopes all three superstars will be fit to feature again.
It s their state of fatigue that will judge whether they play, the coach said. They have scored 40 goals out of 50 for us this season, so it won t be based on their state of form.
Wh…
Cristiano Ronaldo was given a start for Manchester United s meeting with West Ham, his first in the Premier League since being temporarily exiled from first-team activities.
Ronaldo was dropped for last week s dramatic 1-1 draw with Chelsea after refusing to come on as a substitute in a 2-0 win over Tottenham, and he was subsequently left out of first-team training.
However, Erik ten Hag recalled Ronaldo for Thursday s 3-0 Europa League win over Sheriff – a decision the 37-year-old validated by scoring his third goal of the season in all competitions – and the Dutchman kept faith with the striker.
Club captain Harry Maguire also earned a rare league start – his first since August – after Raphael Varane suffered a leg injury at Chelsea.
Fellow defe…
Bayern Munich defender Breno was hospitalised on Monday following a fire which badly damaged the Brazilian s home.
Breno, 21, is believed to have suffered smoke inhalation, but otherwise escaped from the blaze in the Grunewald area of Munich.
He was reportedly alone in the house when the fire broke out, with his wife and children arriving on the scene later.
We were alerted by a small alarm at 12.30am, and we were told there was refuse on fire, the Munich-Grunewald Voluntary Fire Brigade s Thomas Lix said.
When we arrived here it was clear that it was more than just refuse, the whole building was on fire.
We sent out another alarm to call on more of our force and people from the neighbouring force.
We were then only able to fight th…
Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina has admitted in his new book that he thought the club were going to be relegated under former manager Rafael Benitez.
Benitez departed Anfield after a torrid season in which the team finished seventh, just 12 months after pushing Manchester United all the way in a title challenge.
Reina believes the club were falling off dramatically and had to make a big change to avert a crisis because the manager had lost the support of half of the players in the dressing room, but admits that he was a fan of the Champions League-winning coach.
When Rafa left Liverpool at the end of the 2009/10 season, I knew that it was the right time for him to go, Reina wrote in his autobiography Pepe, which is being serialised in the Daily Mirror.
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Rene Girard has been named as the new head coach of Nantes.
The 62-year-old has agreed a deal to take charge for the next two seasons and will assume the role once Michel Der Zakarian steps down at the end of the current campaign.
[OFFICIEL] René sera le nouvel entraîneur du à partir de 2016/2017
— FC Nantes (@FCNantes)
Rene Girard is officially the new coach of Nantes for next season, the club confirmed in a statement on Wednesday.
Now free after two years at the highest level on the Lille bench, he is ready to face a new challenge with Nantes.
The coach will be accompanied in Nantes colours by his assistants, Gerard Bernardet and Nicolas Girard.
His official presentation will take place on May 17 at the Stade de l…
Manchester United midfielder Andreas Pereira says Louis van Gaal broke promises over his first-team involvement this season.
The 20-year-old Brazilian opened his United account in their 3-0 League Cup victory against Ipswich Town in September but failed to build on his early-season breakthrough, featuring in just 80 minutes of Premier League football throughout another season of underachievement at Old Trafford.
And the Belgian-born playmaker, who made his professional debut in United s humiliating 4-0 defeat to MK Dons in Van Gaal s third game in charge, claims his under-fire manager refused his demands of a temporary exit in the mid-season transfer window.
I wanted to be loaned out in January in order to play more and to keep developing myself, but Van Gaal …
Nicolo Zaniolo scored both goals as Roma recorded a 2-1 home victory over Porto in the first leg of their last-16 Champions League tie.
A largely forgettable game finally came to life in the 70th minute, Zaniolo angling a right-footed shot beyond Iker Casillas to put the Serie A side on their way to a first win over Porto in European competition.
Edin Dzeko created the opener and was also involved in the second too, his low drive striking the post before his team-mate tucked home the rebound.
Teenager Zaniolo s brace gives Roma a lead to take into the return fixture next month, though Adrian Lopez s half-volleyed finish from Tiquinho Soares accidental assist means Porto picked up what could be a crucial away goal.
Remember the name!
Nicolò Za…
Disgraced former football official Jack Warner has paid a heartfelt tribute to former FIFA president Joao Havelange, who died aged 100 in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday.
Havelange served as FIFA president between 1974 and 1998, during which time he transformed world football s governing body into a financial powerhouse through a succession of lucrative television rights and sponsorship deals.
He oversaw the expansion of the World Cup finals from 16 to 32 nations and secured a powerbase in football s developing nations that was also enjoyed by his successor Sepp Blatter.
Like Blatter and Warner, Havelange s career was also dogged by controversy and allegations of impropriety.
In 2013, he stepped down from his position as FIFA s honorary president following an i…
Borussia Dortmund returned to winning ways in the Bundesliga with a 3-2 triumph over Bayer Leverkusen, making it an unhappy return to Signal Iduna Park for Peter Bosz.
Dutchman Bosz was Dortmund coach for the first half of the 2017-18 campaign before being sacked, and although his new team looked promising at times on Sunday, the hosts were slightly more ruthless in attack.
Jadon Sancho was the key man in the first half for Dortmund, setting up Dan-Axel Zagadou and scoring his eighth goal of the season either side of Kevin Volland s strike.
Mario Gotze scored what proved to be the vital goal in the second half, with Jonathan Tah s late header ultimately not enough to inspire a comeback as Dortmund ended a run of three successive draws to restore their three-point…
Joe Gelhardt has signed for Leeds United from Wigan Athletic, the Premier League club have confirmed.
Striker Gelhardt has signed a four-year deal with Leeds, after joining for an undisclosed fee.
Having made his Wigan debut in 2018, Gelhardt made 19 appearances in all competitions for the Latics last season, scoring one goal.
Gelhardt becomes Leeds fourth signing of the transfer window, after Jack Harrison rejoined on loan from Manchester City and Helder Costa and Illan Meslier made their stays permanent.
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