Football news

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini tipped Mario Balotelli to join Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as one of the world’s top three players after his two-goal starring role in the 6-1 demolition of Manchester United.

Balotelli had made news on the morning of the game after the fire brigade were called to his home to put out a blaze.

“The important thing is Mario and his friend were okay. If we want to talk about Mario regarding a football player, I put him in the first five players in the world,” Mancini said.

“I hope we arrive at the day when he has changed his mind completely because he could become one of the best three players in the world, like Messi, like Cristiano Ronaldo.”

DFB home raided by tax officials

The headquarters of the German Football Federation (DFB) in Frankfurt were raided yesterday by tax officials investigating a suspicion of tax evasion by referees.

The DFB confirmed tax officials had come to “inspect documents concerning refereeing” and the background to the sudden visit is a suspicion league referees had not properly declared revenue earned for officiating friendly games.

General secretary Wolfgang Niersbach said: “There are no allegations against the DFB. We will assist the tax officials in the investigation with all their inquiries.

“The correct taxation of income earned is down to each referee to declare themselves.”

Cagliari’s Astori out three months

Cagliari defender Davide Astori will be out of the game for at least three months after fracturing his leg during Sunday’s match against Napoli which finished goalless.

The Italy international was stretchered off following a collision with Napoli’s Ezequiel Lavezzi.

Cagliari said that first X-rays have shown that Astori had a fractured fibula and more tests will be carried out to ascertain the extent of the injury.

Astori is likely to return early next year, hoping to recover fully for Euro 2012.

Wenger empathy for Ferguson

Arsene Wenger knows exactly how Alex Ferguson is feeling after Manchester United were thumped 6-1 by neighbours City. Less than two months ago Arsenal suffered their own Old Trafford horror show when they crashed 8-2.

“Like when we lost 8-2, the big scores have no special meaning, it only means something special happened in the game,” Wenger said.

“When you are in a position where you have to attack with 10 men against a good side you are vulnerable. It’s not that you lost three points, but the emotional aspect of a result like that remains in your head.”

Arsenal have since regrouped and made it six wins out of seven in all competitions.

Terry hits back over race ‘slur’

Chelsea captain John Terry denied making a racist slur against Anton Ferdinand during his team’s stormy 1-0 defeat at west London rivals QPR.

Terry hit back after videos appeared on the Internet with some claiming the footage showed him insulting Rangers defender Ferdinand. But Terry denied all charges of racism.

“I’m disappointed that people have leapt to the wrong conclusions about the context of what I was seen to be saying to Anton Ferdinand,” Terry said.

“I thought Anton was accusing me of using a racist slur against him.

“I responded aggressively, saying that I never used that term. I would never say such a thing, and I’m saddened that people would think so.”

Zaragoza reveal Pamplona incident

Real Zaragoza have revealed their team bus was stoned following Sunday night’s match away to Osasuna.

The visitors suffered a 3-0 defeat to their Primera Liga rivals in Pamplona and a difficult night was compounded by the incident, which saw two bus drivers injured.

A statement said: “The vandalism took place when the bus left Pamplona. A rock hit the side door, which broke and caused glass fragments to fly.

“Both drivers suffered minor injuries and were treated by the club doctor. Following the incident, the squad continued the journey on the same bus.”

Guidolin dismisses title chances

Udinese coach Francesco Guidolin insisted his team deserve to be top of Serie A following their 3-0 defeat of Novara but dismissed talk of a title challenge this season.

In fact, so sure is Guidolin that his team cannot run the country’s traditional giants close that he still claims avoiding relegation is his primary goal.

“We deserve our lofty standing, the lads are improving and they still want to improve,” said Guidolin, whose team are also in Europe where they head their Europa League group.

“We have a chart with our objective on it which remains the 40 points for survival.

“With every match we’re getting closer but we still don’t have any reason to celebrate.”