Augsburg coach Jos Luhukay felt that a huge weight had been lifted after his side won their first ever Bundesliga match last weekend.
A penalty from Jan-Ingwer Callsen-Bracker will go down in the history books as the goal which earned the Bavarians their first victory in the top flight, 1-0 against Mainz, and Luhukay believes his side can now be optimistic about the rest of the season.
He said: “Despite the difficult time over the last two-and-a-half months, the team has always stuck together and given everything. This is like medicine.”
Injury absence for Barcelona’s Pique
Barcelona defender Gerard Pique is expected to be sidelined for around a fortnight with a hamstring strain sustained during Saturday’s 3-0 win over Racing Santander.
The Spain international limped out of the action after just nine minutes. He is likely to be out of action for about 15 days. In the next two weeks, Barca face Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League, and Sevilla, Granada and Real Mallorca.
Pique is one of a host of Barca players to be hit by injury this term, with Alexis Sanchez, Andres Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas, Abidal and Ibrahim Afellay also being ruled out for varying periods since the start of the campaign.
Rooney must go to finals – Gerrard
Steven Gerrard believes Wayne Rooney “has to go” to next summer’s Euro 2012 finals.
The Manchester United striker is currently banned for the opening three matches after his red card against Montenegro in the final qualifier on October 7.
A FA appeal against the severity of UEFA’s punishment seems likely but Gerrard believes it is worth the risk of taking Rooney to Poland and Ukraine.
“For me he has got to go, the talent that he is,” said the Liverpool captain.
“He is that good a player I think you have to take the risk and take him. It is devastating he is out for the first three games, it is a massive blow for everyone.”
Boots blamed for Campbell’s injury
QPR manager Neil Warnock revealed his fury at “stupid” lightweight boots after confirming striker DJ Campbell will be out for up to eight weeks.
Warnock revealed the injury will keep Campbell out for at least four weeks, but could leave him on the sidelines for up to two months should the bone require pinning.
“He had an accident on Thursday in the last kick of the training game,” Warnock said.
“I think it is these stupid boots, they’re like carpet slippers. Don’t talk to me about these boots. You can’t ban people if they prefer it, but I think they are absolutely stupid boots to wear at the level we’re talking about.
“They give you no support at all, but that’s football.”
FA probe Anfield ‘incident’
Liverpool have denied their Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez abused Manchester United’s French defender Patrice Evra during Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Anfield, the BBC reported yesterday.
French and British media quoted Evra after the game as telling French broadcaster Canal+ that Suarez had racially abused him several times during the match.
“The cameras are there. You can see him say a certain word to me at least ten times. There’s no place for that in 2011,” said Evra, who demanded an investigation.
However, a Liverpool spokesman, quoted by the BBC, said Suarez “categorically denied” the allegation.
Allegri hails Milan victory
Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri hailed the 3-0 victory against Palermo that has helped his team start climbing back up the Serie A table.
Antonio Nocerino, Robinho and Antonio Cassano scored the goals, but more importantly for Milan they are now getting their season back on track following just one win in their first five matches.
“I think everyone played well. It was only at the beginning that we didn’t manage to stretch the game as we subsequently did,” said Allegri.
“For us, regardless of the results of others, it was important to get back to winning ways in a convincing way because we need to claw back the points we lost earlier this season.”
Allardyce relieved after home win
West Ham manager Sam Allardyce admitted he was a relieved man as his side boosted their bid for a quick return to the Premier League with a 4-0 win over Blackpool.
The Hammers have struggled on home turf this season but John Carew set them on their way with a 12th minute header and Blackpool collapsed after the break as a Sam Baldock double and Jack Collison’s strike completed the rout.
“It (the home form) has been our Achilles heel,” Allardyce said.
“Against Blackpool we were defensively sound, quality of finishing when the opportunities arose and it’s not often I can say I’m a little disappointed that we only scored four.”