Football news

Thomas Mueller has said Bayern Munich must break their losing streak at the hands of Borussia Dortmund when the teams meet in Saturday’s German Cup final.

The Bavarians have a score to settle with Dortmund having lost to them in their last four league meetings both home and away.

They lifted the Bundesliga for the second consecutive season on Saturday with second-placed Bayern trailing by eight points in the final standings.

“When you lose four times against Dortmund, there is a certain anger,” Mueller said.

“We want to show them that this isn’t how it’s going to be for the next five years.”

Cuellar to go

Carlos Cuellar is on his way out of Aston Villa after tweeting his farewells to the fans.

The Spanish defender has been a consistent performer for Villa since his arrival from Rangers in 2008 but he will be out of contract at the end of the season.

Villa sealed their Premier future with a 1-1 draw against Spurs on Sunday, after which Cuellar took to Twitter to wish them all the best for the future.

He wrote: “Very happy because, after my last match at Villa Park, the team will stay one more year where it has to be.

“Thank you all for your support, it has been an honour to be part of one of the biggest clubs.”

Ibrahimovic to honour contract

Despite missing out on his first league title in eight years, Zlatan Ibrahimovic told reporters that he won’t leave Milan in summer, rubbishing reports linking him with a move to Real Madrid.

Ibrahimovic had won successive championships during spells at Ajax, Juventus, Inter, Barcelona and Milan last season. However, his dreams of nine in a row were dashed on Sunday when the Rossoneri lost 4-2 to Inter and Juve clinched the title.

“It’s disappointing that we didn’t win the scudetto, but this has been my best scoring season on a personal level with 28 goals so far,” the Swede said.

“My future? I have a contract at Milan and I intend to respect it.”

Mulgrew piles up the honours

Celtic defender Charlie Mulgrew has been named PFA Scotland Player of the Year, with team-mate James Forrest scooping the Young Player prize.

Mulgrew has played an integral part in Celtic’s campaign and beat Dundee United’s Jon Daly and Dean Shiels, of Kilmarnock.

It has been a remarkable season for Mulgrew, who started his career at Celtic but has matured into a more accomplished player in his second spell with the club.

Mulgrew also recently picked up the Scottish Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year award, as well as Celtic’s own prize for Player of the Year.

Ajax defender mulling options

Ajax defender Jan Vertonghen admits he is far from certain to be joining Tottenham this summer.

Spurs revealed they had spoken to the Belgian’s agent last week over a £7m move to White Hart Lane and Rafael van der Vaart talked up his chances of joining the club.

But Vertonghen said: “I have a choice. There’s something happening with Tottenham, but there are other clubs interested.

“For me, it is important to get regular playing time. I also need a stable club.”

Lately, the media in Holland had also linked Vertonghen with a move to Barcelona.

Bremen urge Pizarro to decide

Werder Bremen’s director of sport Klaus Allofs has told striker Claudio Pizarro to make up his mind over his future at the club.

The Peruvian’s contract expires at the end of June.

Bayern Munich were thought to be interested in their former player, whose delaying tactics must end, according to Allofs.

“I believe him when he says he has not yet made up his mind, but he has got to reach a decision now,” Allofs said.

“We are not playing in the Europa League so he must be able to make up his mind in the very near future.

“It should not drag on for three or four weeks.”

Sagna blames Norwich’s Johnson

Bacary Sagna believes Norwich midfielder Bradley Johnson intended to cause him harm when putting in the challenge which left him nursing a broken leg.

The Arsenal full-back saw his Euro 2012 dream die on Saturday as he suffered the second leg fracture of his career.

He claims Johnson trod on him ‘on purpose’, but is doing his best to stay positive.

“I think he did it on purpose,” said Sagna.

“The play carried on and I got up. When I went to control the ball, I felt a crack just like the first time against Tottenham. He trod on me in the same place as the previous fracture.

“I’ve come back before and I’ll come back even stronger a second time.”