Antoine Kombouare Wants Lionel Messito Leave France This Summer

Antoine Kombouare, Nantes manager has hit out PSG for the unfair treatment that they meted out to Lionel Messi. Recently, Kombouare had led Nantes to the finals in the Coupe de France where they ended up as runners-up. He slammed the leaders of Ligue 1 for having Lionel Messi punished as he embarked on an unauthorized Saudi Arabian trip.

Reports suggest that Messi has submitted an unqualified apology to the club. He has been subjected to severe scrutiny, while a set of PSG fan base labeled him as a ‘mercenary.’Nevertheless, Komnouare, the Nantes coach- the self-advocated Messi fan, strongly believes that the Argentina player is beyond reproach. He expressed that he doesn’t give much importance to what happens on the pitch or the issues at Paris Saint Germain, he simply loves Messi. According to him, no one should touch Messi, regardless of what he does.  more

Mbappe‘s Role in Upcoming PSG Matches

 

Kylian Mbappe, the French striker has come under the spotlight with his upcoming role in a PSG match. On the other hand, he is down with an injury. It was reported that Christopher Galtier, head coach of PSG, was hoping to have the striker in a valuable role in an upcoming match. Indeed, the last 16 rounds of the Champions League are coming up. The striker is part of the team, in the match between Bayern Munich and Les Parisiens. 

Mbappe has suffered an injury in the thigh; he sustained this injury when he was up against Montpellier in last week’s match. With this injury, Mbappe will be sitting on the side for 3 weeks. However, Galtier stated that the French striker would want to be part of the season-defining game. Many reports had come out that Mbappe will be fit for the match on February 14th.  more

Morocco Lodges Complain to FIFA Asking for Rematch against France

 

Morocco has lodged a complaint to FIFA about officiating during the semi-final World Cup match against France. France sealed their place in the final against Argentina on Sunday after goals from Randal Kolo Muani and Theo Hernandez. It earned them a victory of 2-0.

But Morocco has expressed their disappointment over some of the decisions made by Cesar Ramos, the referee during the match. Particular one incident has grabbed my attention. In the first half of the match, Sofiane Boufal, the Moroccan winger, and Hernandez collided within the France penalty area, where Boufal had been booked by Ramos. more

                     UNITED SHOULD SIGN JONATHAN DAVID INSTEAD OF JOAO FELIX

Manchester United should focus on pursuing the services of Lille striker Jonathan David when the transfer window reopens in the New Year. The Red Devils currently have three senior strikers in the first-team squad in Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Cristiano Ronaldo. Among them, only Rashford has been a regular starter in the top-flight. Martial has spent most of the time on the sidelines with injuries. Ronaldo has seen consistent playing time in the Europa League, but there remains the speculation that he could leave at the turn of the year.

If that is the case, manager Erik ten Hag will no doubt want a replacement. In our opinion, Lille’s David would be fantastic addition to the ranks. United have regularly been linked with Atletico’s Joao Felix, but we believe David would be a more ideal candidate to operate as a specialist striker. The Canadian bagged 19 goals from 48 outings for Lille last season. He has started impressively this term with nine goals and three assists from just 12 games. more

A  PEEP INTO ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MACCABI HAIFA VS PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN

The history, stakes and keys to the game – everything you need to know about Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League Matchday 3 game in Israel is right here.

A LITTLE HISTORY…

This will be the teams’ third competitive meeting. The Rouge et Bleu met Maccabi Haifa in the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup Round of 32 in 1998, drawing 1-1 at home on 17 September and losing 3-2 in Israel on 1 October to be eliminated from the competition. Paris Saint-Germain have played five competitive games vs. Israeli opposition: Hapoel Tel Aviv (1 match), Maccabi Haifa (2 matches), Maccabi Tel Aviv (2 matches) with just one win and three defeats from those encounters.

No player has featured for both teams, but former Paris Saint-Germain forward Mordechaï Spiegler coached Maccabi Haifa in 1979. more

       PSG’S LIKELY STARTING 11 FOR THE 2022 TROPHEE DES CHAMPIONS VS NANTES

After a lengthy wait, Paris Saint-Germain is now set for its first official match of the upcoming new season. The Ligue 1 powerhouse will clash with the reigning Coupe de France champions in Nantes in the 2022 Trophee des Champions Final. In his first official match as PSG manager, Christophe Galtier will at the least not have Kylian Mbappe available, as the French international will serve a one-match yellow card suspension that carried over from last season. At the least, as noted by SofaScore, Galtier is set to feature a star-studded starting 11 for the fixture.

Donnarumma; Marquinhos, Ramos, Kimpembe; Hakimi, Verratti, Vitinha, Mendes; Messi, Icardi, Neymar

During preseason, Galtier named Gianluigi Donnarumma as his starting goalkeeper for the season. If the Italian international earns the start in this match, it sure will be his first real test to impress the newly appointed PSG manager. As was seen over PSG’s preseason friendly schedule, Marco Verratti and Vitinha may very well go on to form the side’s double-pivot setup in the midfield. more

DEMBELE CLOSING IN ON BARCELONA EXTENSION

France international Ousmane Dembele is close to renewing his contract with Spanish La Liga heavyweights Barcelona. This is according to the latest reports emanating from the Spanish media. France star Dembele is a free agent at the moment after his Barcelona contract ended last month.

Barcelona signed Dembele for a lot of money five years ago, but his time at the club has been affected negatively by various injuries. The Catalan giants paid an initial fee of £97m plus add-ons for his transfer from Borussia Dortmund in the German league. more

FRANCE: WINNING RUN ENDED BY DENMARK

World champions France are no longer on a winning run after their run of five straight wins was stopped by visiting Denmark in their opening match in Group A1 of the ongoing UEFA Nations League. The Danes came from behind to stun France 2-1 at Stade de France in Saint-Denis.

France had beaten Finland 2-0 at home in a World Cup 2022 qualifier to start the five-match winning run on the back of a 1-1 draw with hosts Ukraine. France then thumped Kazakhstan 8-0 at home in a World Cup 2022 qualifier to make it two straight wins before a 2-0 away win over Finland made it three successive wins. The successive international friendly wins over Ivory Coast (2-1) and South Africa (5-0) in March took the winning run to five games and they were on the way to make it six consecutive wins when in-form Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema gave France the lead against the Danes in the second half after a goalless first half. Benzema scored six minutes after the interval off the assist from RB Leipzig attacker Christopher Nkunku who had come on for KylianMbappe at the start of the second half. more

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: BENZEMA TIES WITH LEWANDOWSKI

Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema has drawn level with Bayern Munich star Robert Lewandowski on the list of the all-time highest goalscorers in the Champions League after he found the back of the net against English champions Manchester City on Wednesday. The France international scored from the spot in extra time of the second leg in the Champions League semifinal tie between Real Madrid and Manchester City. His goal was decisive as it took Real Madrid to the Champions League final.

France national team attacker Benzema has been a thorn in the flesh of the defenders in the Champions League knockout stage this season. He has now scored 15 goals in the Champions League this season including ten goals in the knockout stage only. more

LACAZETTE RETURNS TO ARSENAL SQUAD

France international Alexandre Lacazette made his return to the Chelsea game in the Premier League on Wednesday after recovering from Covid-19. The virus forced the France strik.er to miss the 1-0 loss at Southampton on Saturday as Arsenal made it three straight losses in the league with Polish defender Jan Bednarek getting the all-important goal just before the end of the first half.


Lacazette returned to training on Tuesday after recovering from Covid-19 and he was only good enough for the bench as Arteta gave England junior international Eddie Nketiah only his second start against hosts and London rivals Chelsea in the league. more