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Monaco’s Metz demolition shows just how serious they are

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Monaco’s Metz demolition shows just how serious they are Remarkably, they didn’t even end the weekend on the top of the table. That honour fell to Nice, thanks to Mario Balotelli’s late winner against Lorient on Sunday. Yet even if Monaco are playing second fiddle to their near-neighbours from along the Côte d’Azur for now, there i...

Formidable Benfica brush aside forward crisis

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Formidable Benfica brush aside forward crisis “There will be games in which we play better than here and, maybe, don’t take the three points.” Rui Vitória is a very distinct personality from his Benfica predecessor, Jorge Jesus, but sometimes shares his penchant for directness. Vitória didn’t mince his word...

On-fire Cavani silences his critics, but for how long?

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On-fire Cavani silences his critics, but for how long? “He does an incredible defensive job.” It’s not perhaps the first compliment you would expect to be paid to a man that’s just scored four times, but that Caen coach Patrice Garande chose to underline that particular aspect of Edinson Cavani’s game shortly after the Urug...

New-look Sporting Underline Depth Ahead of Mountainous Madrid Task

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New-look Sporting Underline Depth Ahead of Mountainous Madrid Task In the period since, just over a year ago, Jorge Jesus took the monumental decision to pack his bags and took the short hop along the Segunda Circular from Benfica’s Estádio da Luz to Sporting Clube de Portugal’s José Alvalade, life has been full of surprises - and not alwa...

France Regroup Quickly After Euro 2016 Final Disappointment

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France Regroup Quickly After Euro 2016 Final Disappointment Given his extensive links with Italian football, the auspiciousness of the venue for France’s first match since falling at the last hurdle in Euro 2016 - Bari - is unlikely to have been lost on Didier Deschamps. As his side try to get themselves back on the road towards eventual greatness a st...

Guingamp Flying as Kombouaré Returns in Triumph

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Guingamp Flying as Kombouaré Returns in Triumph It’s been a long four-and-a-half years for Antoine Kombouaré. It was a few days before the end of 2011 that he was fired by Paris Saint-Germain, with the club he had served so memorably as a player sitting pretty atop Ligue 1. The club’s board got the more cosmopolitan replacement...

Perseverance Pays Off for Nuno’s New-look Porto

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Perseverance Pays Off for Nuno’s New-look Porto The others may struggle and fight, but the big boys always get it done in the end. That’s always been the way globally in Portuguese club football and a look at the classifieds from Saturday night point to that being the case at Estádio do Dragão this weekend. It rarely felt inev...

Lethal Lacazette Gets Lyon Off to a Flyer

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Lethal Lacazette Gets Lyon Off to a Flyer “If (the president) says I’m staying, then I’m staying.” Alexandre Lacazette smiled that famous smile with the assurance of a seasoned pro as Canal+ grilled him on his Olympique Lyonnais future, following Sunday’s Ligue 1 opener at Nancy. He’s been here before, an...

Liga NOS 2016/17 Preview

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Liga NOS 2016/17 Preview It is inevitable in any Liga NOS campaign that os três grandes of Benfica, Sporting Clube de Portugal and Porto will lead the way. Only twice in the competition’s history has a club outside this trio won the title. Benfica have become used to defying the odds in recent seasons - they wer...

Wales Look to Fill Ramsey Gap Against Portugal

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Wales Look to Fill Ramsey Gap Against Portugal Every decision feels like a big one in a major championship finals, and more so as one starts to reach the business end. Chris Coleman, universally lauded for his work with Wales at Euro 2016 - and deservedly so - has a biggie on his plate ahead of Wednesday’s semi-final. If the shape of and p...