Marin: Germany midfielder Marko Marin has joined Fiorentina on a season-long loan from Chelsea. Marin, 25, spent last season on loan in Spain with Europa League winners Sevilla and joins up with Serie A club Fiorentina ahead of their first game of the season against Roma on Aug. 30. The Serbian-born German international joined Chelsea in 2012 and made 16 appearances.

McEachran: Chelsea announced that midfielder Josh McEachran has joined Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem on a season-long loan. The 21-year-old joined the Blues outfit as an eight-year-old but failed to impress despite making his first-team debut at 17. He had loan spells at Swansea, Middlesbrough, Watford before landing at Wigan earlier this year.

No panic: Augsburg director of sport Stefan Reuter has leapt to the defence of his side’s coach and players following their shock exit from the DFB-Pokal on Sunday night. The Bavarians were beaten 1-0 by fourth-division side Magdeburg, becoming the fourth Bundesliga casualty in the first round of the cup after Mainz, Stuttgart and Paderborn. “We’re not going to start holding any discussions about our staff now,” Reuter said. “We win together and we lose together.”

Lodi: Catania playmaker Fran-cesco Lodi is close to a move to Serie A side Parma. Lodi, 30, is seen as the right replacement for Marco Parolo, who left for Lazio this summer. Lodi is deployed mainly in midfield but he has a knack of scoring goals from free-kicks and was also Catania’s penalty-taker last season.

Racing win: Diego Milito’s Racing Club made it two wins in two Argentine league matches when they beat newly crowned South American champions San Lorenzo 2-0 at the Cilindro on Sunday. Luciano Lollo headed the opener on the stroke of half-time and Facundo Castillon scored the second in added time.

German Cup: First round – Cottbus vs Hamburg 2-2 (1-4 on pens); Heidenheim vs U. Berlin 2-1; K. Offenbach vs Ingolstadt 0-0 (4-2 on pens); D. Dresden vs Schalke 2-1.