Fans are being given the chance to elect their English Premier League Player of the Year after Facebook announced the launch of its own football awards.
Supporters all over the world can vote for various awards including Player and Young Player of the Year, Club of the Year and Manager of the Year, as well as pick an 11-man line-up for the BT Sport Best XI.
Clubs will also provide nominees for the Football Fan of the Year category which recognises the efforts of the most dedicated fans. Voting close on May 11.
Bayern doc quits
Bayern Munich yesterday “regretfully” accepted the surprise departure of long-time team doctor Hans Wilhelm Mueller-Wohlfahrt, who said the medical department was blamed for the 3-1 Champions League loss to Porto this week.
Mueller-Wohlfahrt, a respected doctor, had been in charge since 1977 and has also treated many other top global athletes, including sprinter Usain Bolt while also being the German national soccer team doctor.
“After the Champions League game at Porto for unexplained reasons it was the medical department that was chiefly blamed for the defeat,” Mueller-Wohlfahrt said.
“The relationship of trust has been permanently damaged.”
Benzema out
Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema limped out of training with a knee problem yesterday and coach Carlo Ancelotti said he will miss today’s La Liga game at home to Malaga.
Benzema, who picked up the injury in Tuesday’s 0-0 Champions League quarter-final first leg draw at Atletico Madrid, should be fit for the return game at the Bernabeu on Wednesday.
“Benzema is not available but we will have him back for the next game,” added the Italian.
Losing their first-choice striker, even if just for one match, is a blow to the Euro champions at a crucial stage of the season.
Benzema has scored 15 goals in La Liga this season.
Reading face long wait to play ‘final’
Steve Clarke will have time to unwind and book himself a holiday if Reading spring a surprise and knock holders Arsenal out of the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley today.
The Championship finishes on May 2 and the FA Cup final is on May 30 so with Reading unable to make the promotion play-offs, they would have nearly a month to prepare.
“Four weeks? I’ll probably need to go on holiday for two of those and then bring the team back in.
“It’s a long break,” Clarke said.
“If we get to the final, what are we going to do from May 2 to May 30? What do we do? It would be a great puzzle to have though.”
4-1 win surprises captain Hamsik
Napoli are all but sure of a place in the Europa League semi-finals following a clear 4-1 win away at Wolfsburg on Thursday.
Captain Marek Hamsik, scorer of a double at the Volkswagen Arena, said he did not expect the result.
“It was a great match, we didn’t expect this result,” he said.
“It’s a shame we conceded that goal late on, but the important thing is that we got four away from home.”
Napoli had never previously won on German soil, managing only five draws and five defeats.
Glory players free to leave – coach
Perth Glory coach Kenny Lowe has told his players they are free to depart if they wish following the salary-cap scandal that has ended the club’s bid for a first A-League title.
Perth are third in the standings with only two matches left in the regular season but they will be relegated to seventh after Football Federation Australia (FFA) this week banned them from the play-offs for the top six for the offence.
“I’ve just said to the guys that if you’re not happy, you’ve got to look after yourself,” Lowe was quoted as saying yesterday.
“It’s a funny game. The only person who looks after you in this game is you.”
Balotelli – the most abused player
Almost 40,000 abusive messages aimed at Premier League players – many of them racist – have been posted online this season, according to the anti-discrimination body “Kick It Out”.
Liverpool’s Italian forward Mario Balotelli was the most abused player with some 8,000 posts, of which more than half were racist in nature.
His team-mate Daniel Sturridge and Arsenal’s Danny Welbeck were also regular victims.
More than 95,000 other messages were directed at clubs, with Chelsea and Liverpool featuring most frequently.
“Kick It Out” director Roisin Wood told the BBC the level of abuse was “truly staggering”.
“We must do all we can as a collective to protect those who are on the receiving end of discriminatory abuse,” she said.