Republic of Ireland’s Euro 2016 qualifier against Germany in October will be played at Schalke’s Veltins-Arena.
Martin O’Neill’s men will face the Germans, who beat them 6-1 in Dublin and 3-0 in Cologne during the last World Cup qualifying campaign, in Gelsenkirchen on October 14, the German Football Federation announced.
The match will kick off at 20.45 local time.
Ireland launch their campaign in Georgia in September and will also face Scotland, Poland and Gibraltar in Group D.
UEFA investigation
UEFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against Basle after crowd trouble in their Europa League last 16 clash against Salzburg in Austria on Thursday.
Basle won the match 2-1 to progress after a goalless first leg in Switzerland, but their victory only came after they had Marek Suchy sent off just nine minutes in before Jonathan Soriano put Salzburg ahead.
Those incidents were followed by ugly scenes as Basle fans threw missiles on to the pitch, forcing play to be suspended for around 15 minutes as referee Manuel Grafe took the players back down the tunnel.
Basle have been drawn against Valencia in the quarter-finals of the competition.
Moyes keen to keep goalkeeper De Gea
Manager David Moyes appears open to the idea of David de Gea being awarded a new contract at Manchester United.
De Gea was heavily criticised when he moved to United three years ago, but the Spaniard underlined his importance to the club when he pulled off a magnificent double-save to keep the score at 1-0 during Wednesday’s 3-0 win over Olympiakos.
Moyes thinks the 23-year-old goalkeeper will get even better.
“David de Gea has been terrific,” Moyes said.
“He has been great. He came in as a good young lad and he is turning into a great keeper with a lot more to come. The club are always going to keep their best players.”
Bologna’s Perez stays confident
Captain Diego Perez is confident Bologna can steer themselves away from the drop zone.
Bologna currently occupy the final relegation spot in Serie A, although they are just a point behind 17th-placed Livorno with 10 games remaining.
The Rossoblu can end their winless streak today against a Cagliari side who have not won away from home all season.
“The race to salvation is hard but I am very confident we can do it,” Perez said.
“It is a race between six teams, I do not want to do the calculations, the first thing to do is beat Cagliari.
“We cannot make mistakes, so we cannot afford any decline, neither mental nor physical.”
Lambert targets three in a row
Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert will attempt to scratch a seven-year itch today and eradicate a statistic he claims is “incredible”.
After back-to-back home victories over Norwich and Chelsea, Villa are aiming for three in a row in front of their own fans in the Premier League when Stoke are the visitors.
Not since 2007 have Villa accomplished such a feat, much to Lambert’s astonishment, but now his players have the chance to end such an abysmal run.
“It’s taken seven years of trying (to win three home league games in a row),” said Lambert.
“Seven years – the fact they’ve still not done it is incredible. It is a long time for this club not to have done that.”
Corinthians stadium impasse resolved
A financial impasse that has threatened to cause more delays at Sao Paulo’s World Cup stadium has been resolved, FIFA said.
The Itaquerao stadium, being built by the Corinthians club, is due to open on April 15, nearly four months after the Dec. 31 deadline set. FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said most of the delays have now been sorted out.
“The Corinthians arena is the purpose of a meeting on Monday, the financial issue has been solved and now we have to make sure (everything is ready) because we only have 80 days to implement everything we need,” he told reporters.
Benzema fit for tonight’s Clasico
Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema has recovered from a bruised thigh and is available for today’s La Liga ‘Clasico’ at home to Barcelona, coach Carlo Ancelotti said yesterday.
Benzema took a knock in a collision with team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo in last weekend’s 1-0 win at Malaga and the France international missed Tuesday’s Champions League game against Schalke 04.
“Benzema has recovered well and he trained with the rest of the team today without any problems,” Ancelotti said.
“We had a small problem with Isco who arrived with a mild cold and had some treatment before training and then trained normally. So all the squad is in good condition.”