Djeparov wins AFC honour

BATE Borisov and Partizan both face tough second-leg clashes to remain in this season s UEFA Champions League.

BATE lost their second-round first leg 1-0 to Shakhter Karagandy in Kazakhstan, and they know they will have to produce some of the form that saw them reach the group stages of last season s competition in order to progress to the third round of qualifying.

Midfielder Aleksandr Pavlov remains confident they could turn the game around in Belarus after the disappointing first outing.

I want to underline that it is not the end of this tie, he said. It seemed like we had total dominance and full control of the ball (in the first leg), we were finding space but rarely threatened.

Even in our domestic league we do not see that much possession.

Shakhte…

Most of the pre-season attention is focused upon potential champions yet recent history suggests the most tense and financially damaging competition will be at the other end of the Premier League table.

Around 40 million pounds is the estimated cost of relegation for the three clubs who finish at the foot of the standings and this season, as in most, the three promoted sides are also hotly-tipped to return directly to The Championship.

Wolves, as champions, Birmingham City and play-off winners Burnley are the clubs who graduated to England s top-flight and all face a monumental task in consolidating their new found status.

A key factor in being able to stave off a swift relegation is the calibre of players recruited by a newly-promoted club and, consequently, Wo…

In October, the FIFA Football Committee and France Football agreed upon the 23-man shortlist for the 2012 edition of the FIFA Ballon d Or.

Twenty-three quickly became three after the voting was passed on to the coaches and captains of the national teams of FIFA s member associations, as well as a select group of journalists from around the globe, and on Monday world football s glitterati will descend on Zurich when that three will become one.

Should the victor be the man most expect, Barcelona and Argentina forward Lionel Messi will break yet another record by claiming the award for an unprecedented fourth time, making it a hat-trick of gongs since FIFA merged their World Player of the Year award with France Football s Ballon d Or in 2010.

So too would it see hi…

ROSTER:

GOALKEEPERS: Cody Cropper (Southampton), Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton)

DEFENDERS: John Anthony Brooks (Hertha Berlin), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Edgar Castillo (Club Tijuana), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders FC), Michael Parkhurst (Augsburg), Tim Ream (Bolton Wanderers)

MIDFIELDERS: Alejandro Bedoya (Nantes), Michael Bradley (Roma), Joe Corona (Club Tijuana), Mix Diskerud (Rosenborg), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim), Jermaine Jones (Schalke), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht), Danny Williams (Reading)

FORWARDS: Jozy Altidore (Sunderland), Terrence Boyd (Rapid Vienna), Eddie Johnson (Seattle Sounders FC), Aron Johannsson (AZ Alkmaar), Bobby Wood (1860 Munich)

ROSTER:

GOALKEEPERS: Asmir Begovic (Stoke City), Asmir Avdukic (FK …

Arsenal defender Shkodran Mustafi has explained why he thinks Lionel Messi is a tougher opponent than Cristiano Ronaldo.

Barcelona superstar Messi enjoyed another scintillating season, plundering 45 goals in all competitions in 2017-18, and geared up for the World Cup with a hat-trick in Argentina s 4-0 win over Haiti on Wednesday.

Mustafi came up against the Rosario-born forward during his time at Valencia and highlighted why he perceives him as a trickier adversary than Real Madrid icon and Ballon d Or holder Ronaldo.

Lionel Messi was my hardest opponent, he told Bild.

I played him three times with Valencia. You cannot predict him, he is small and very quick, changes his direction quite often.

When he runs towards three opponents you can near…

Lionel Messi hopes to play alongside Antoine Griezmann at Barcelona after labelling the in-demand Atletico Madrid star a great player .

Griezmann has been heavily linked with a move to Barca in the off-season and the LaLiga champions have made no secret of their interest in the France international, who said he would confirm his future before the World Cup.

The 27-year-old forward – a Europa League winner with Atletico in 2017-18 after scoring 29 goals in all competitions – has a reported €100million release clause.

And five-time Ballon d Or winner Messi, who is also preparing for the World Cup in Russia, wants as much quality as possible at Camp Nou.

He s a great player and we would understand each other, Messi told Mundo Deportivo.

He s …

The last time Chelsea binned off Frank Lampard, they won the Champions League four months later.

They brought him back, have immediately lost four games on the trot and won t be kings of Europe this year. Nor will they be contesting this competition next year.

Sometimes good things come to an end, but Chelsea and Lampard have past glories they can rely on and seem happy enough together again, so don t cry for them.

All those signings in January, and then this? All the brilliant leadership from Todd Boehly, and then this?

Real Madrid have more past glories than any club in the history of this competition, landing their 14th title last May, and they cleared the Chelsea hurdle after Carlo Ancelotti somehow outwitted Lampard.

Honestly, who saw that co…

France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris says the injuries sustained by Paul Pogba and Karim Benzema are a worry for Les Bleus ahead of their World Cup campaign.

The world champions could be without key midfielder Pogba when they travel to Qatar in November after he was forced to undergo surgery on a knee injury this week.

Pogba originally opted to undergo conservative therapy to solve a lesion to the lateral meniscus in his right knee, but doctor Roberto Rossi has since declared that choice worsened his injury, leaving his World Cup place in doubt.

France were also left concerned when Benzema hobbled off during Real Madrid s 3-0 Champions League win over Celtic on Tuesday, although the striker s thigh injury is not thought to be serious.

Speaking after helping Tott…

Manchester City will look to strike an early psychological blow in the Premier League title race when they host Manchester United on Sunday.

The local rivals have battled for the crown in each of the last two seasons, with City emerging triumphant in 2011-12 before United re-established their supremacy a year later prior to Alex Ferguson s retirement as manager.

David Moyes has since taken the helm at Old Trafford and, aside from a defeat to league leaders Liverpool at the beginning of the month, the former Everton boss has made a solid start.

The teams have posted identical records going into the contest having both taken seven points from four games and there is likely to be no shortage of motivation ahead of the clash at the Etihad Stadium.

United emerged 3-2 …

Edin Dzeko has warned Bayern Munich that Manchester City are stronger than last year and prepared to face the UEFA Champions League holders.

City face the Bundesliga side for the second time in the Champions League after previously meeting them in the 2011-12 season.

They were beaten in the Allianz Arena during that campaign but secured a victory at the return match in Manchester, and Dzeko believes his side are well equipped to repeat that performance on Wednesday.

We ve played a few years together and we also have four new players and they ve improved the squad, he said. We re definitely better this year than last.

I don t know if they are stronger this year but they were strong last year. We know that and they re defending the Champions League.

Every pla…