Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil does not want contract talks to distract the club in the crucial run-in to the end of the season and will wait until the Premier League campaign is over before discussing his future, the German midfielder has said.
Ozil’s place at the club has been the subject of much speculation in British media, with reports suggesting the 28-year-old, whose contract runs out in less than 15 months, is refusing to sign a new deal of around 250,000 pounds per week.
“At this stage I’m not important, what’s important is the club,” Ozil said.
“We’ve still got a lot to aim for this season, to try and finish in the top four.
“It would be wrong to think about anything other than the football and then we can talk again at the end of the season.”
Ronaldo to peak at crucial point
Real Madrid’s opponents should brace for a re-energized Cristiano Ronaldo after the Portuguese said he had been following a special training regime to hit peak shape in the final stretch of the campaign.
Ronaldo made an emphatic return to form on Wednesday by scoring both goals as Real earned a crucial 2-1 win over Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
“I made radical changes to my training to get to this stage of the season in the best state possible,” Ronaldo, who became the first player to score 100 goals in UEFA competition, said.
“In the last few years I got to the end of the season at the limit and with small injuries, but I have worked hard with our fitness coach to be in the right shape for the final two months.”
Bartra opens up on bomb attack
Borussia Dortmund defender Marc Bartra described the bomb attack on the team coach in which he was injured as the “hardest 15 minutes” of his life.
The 26-year-old is still in hospital recovering from an operation on a broken wrist sustained in the explosion, which is set to sideline him for four weeks.
“They are my everything, the reason I struggle to overcome obstacles and this has been the worst of my life, an experience I would not want anyone in this world (to have),” he wrote on Instagram.
“The pain, the panic and the uncertainty of not knowing what was going on, or how long it would last ... were the longest and hardest 15 minutes of my life.”
Lyon boss condemns crowd trouble
Lyon boss Bruno Genesio admitted it was worrying to see crowd trouble mar their 2-1 Europa League quarter-final first-leg win over Beskitas.
Crowd disturbances at Parc OL saw projectiles thrown, fans spill onto the pitch and kick-off delayed by 45 minutes.
“It is distressing to see such incidents,” Genesio said of the off-field drama. “This is the reverse of what should happen.
“We are here to give pleasure to people and not to see that. You had to stay focused.”
Dybala extends Juventus contract
Juventus forward Paulo Dybala has extended his contract by two years until June 2022, the Turin club said.
The 23-year-old is seen as one of the most talented players in Serie A and one of the most exciting to have come out of Argentina since Lionel Messi.
Nicknamed The Jewel, Dybala showed his devastating potential when he scored two goals in Tuesday’s 3-0 win over Messi’s Barcelona in their Champions League quarter-final first leg.
Antonio to miss rest of season
West Ham United midfielder Michail Antonio will miss the rest of the season with a hamstring injury, manager Slaven Bilic said.
Antonio limped off in the first half of West Ham’s 1-0 victory over Swansea last weekend. Hamstring problems had also forced him to withdraw from the England squad last month.
“He’s one of our best players and of course it is a big blow that we are going to be without him until the end of the season,” Bilic said.