Borussia Dortmund have been fined €100,000 and will have part of their ground shut for their next home Bundesliga match following recent fan unrest.
Dortmund, currently fourth in the table following a 2-1 defeat at bottom side Darmstadt at the weekend, have been forced to close their south stand – known as the yellow wall and which normally holds 25,000 spectators – for the home match with Wolfsburg on Saturday.
The punishments were im-posed by the sports court of the German football federation following incidents in Dortmund’s matches with RB Leipzig, Mainz and Hoffenheim.
One dead after fans clash in Rio
A soccer fan was killed and several others injured after violence erupted in Rio before Sunday’s Botafogo-Flamengo match.
The reports identified the fan as 28-year-old Diego Silva dos Santos, who was killed near the Engenhao stadium, the venue for the athletic events at the 2016 Olympic Games.
The clashes took place before the Rio de Janeiro state championship game that Flamengo won 2-1. Police eventually brought the violence under control with rubber bullets and tear gas.
Striker Gabbiadini settling in nicely
Southampton striker Manolo Gabbiadini has only been at the club for two weeks but the Italian has already developed an understanding with his new team-mates and says the chemistry was clear for all to see in Saturday’s 4-0 win over Sunderland.
The 25-year-old has made an explosive start with Southampton, scoring three goals in two matches since his arrival from Napoli for a reported £14 million at the end of last month.
Gabbiadini said: “My second goal was a good one because of the team’s play. The build-up from my team-mates was very good. The team then worked very hard to keep the lead.”
Southampton play Manchester United in the League Cup final at Wembley on February 26.
Guardiola unsure of Aguero future
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has done little to quell the uncertainty surrounding Sergio Aguero’s future at the club, saying that he was unsure where the mercurial Argentine striker would be plying his trade next season.
The emergence of young trio Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and Leroy Sane in recent weeks has meant that Aguero, the club’s top scorer, has had to settle for a place on the bench.
“At the end of the season I don’t know. I know how difficult it is to find top goal scorers. I would like him to stay but I don’t know what is going to happen,” Guardiola said when asked if Aguero would still be at City next season.
McLeish ready to play waiting game
Alex McLeish will wait to see if he is to be given the opportunity to return to Rangers.
McLeish, who won the treble among other honours in a five-year spell as Gers manager from 2001 to 2006, is the front runner for the managerial post occupied by Mark Warburton until Friday.
Caretaker manager Graeme Murty was in charge for the 2-1 Scottish Cup fifth-round win over Morton at Ibrox on Sunday.
McLeish said: “I am a Rangers man and when you get asked to come to a club like this, it is a hard decision to turn that down.
“If they come and they want to speak to me, I can only take it from there. I need to wait and see if Rangers want to talk to me first.”
Ibrahimovic coy on contract extension
Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has yet to commit his future to the Premier League club despite the Swede saying he has fulfilled the requirements needed to extend his contract.
Manager Jose Mourinho said in November that United planned to exercise their option to extend Ibrahimovic’s contract for a second season.
“Something like that. I have to score 100 goals,” Ibrahimovic said when asked if he has triggered the extension clause with goals and appearances.
“The option is already fulfilled. But there’s nothing done yet.
“From my side. We’ll wait and see. Let’s see what happens.”
Pulis blasts Stoke
WBA boss Tony Pulis has lashed out at his former club Stoke City and labelled claims he called their skipper Ryan Shawcross a “loser” as “absolutely disgraceful”.
Stoke manager Mark Hughes said last week that his predecessor Pulis had called Shawcross a loser in a voicemail message.
The defender had accused WBA of leaking news that their former striker Saido Berahino had served an eight-week ban for “an FA disciplinary matter”.
Berahino moved from West Brom to Stoke last month.
“It’s absolutely disgraceful,” Pulis told reporters.
“Firstly, the phone call I made to Ryan is private, and then, yes, I did mention losers, but I said about people making allegations that weren’t true.
“I did use the word loser but I meant it in that way and I actually said, ‘Ryan, you’ve never been that’. I was there for 10 years,” Pulis added.