Udinese v Monza
Goal!
Goal! Udinese 1, Monza 2. Keita Baldé (Monza) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Kevin Zeroli.
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BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
'He will go stratospheric' - Where will Wirtz play for Liverpool?
"His name is going to go stratospheric in the next season or two."Going by the words of German football expert Raphael Honigstein, Liverpool's club-record £116m capture of Florian Wirtz could prove one of the deals of the 22-year-old German attacking midfielder has agreed a deal to sign for the Premier League champions in a package that could eventually be worth a British record £116m."He will bring a lot of class and poise," Honigstein added on BBC Radio 5 Live. "He is more or less the fully-formed article."He has played for Leverkusen and Germany so knows the demands that are on him, but still, he will have to adjust to the pace of the Premier League and the more physical way. "Opponents will try to negate his influence and that might prove a challenge, but he is young enough and good enough. He is not easily intimidated and stands up strong to the challenge. You are buying a super star."Wirtz made his top-flight debut aged 17 for Bayer Leverkusen in May 2020 and just 19 days later he became the then-youngest goalscorer in Bundesliga history against the might of Bayern Munich - a club who were also in contention for his signature this making his debut for Leverkusen, Wirtz has provided 44 assists in the Bundesliga, ranking him third of all players - but everyone else in the top five is at least 29 years old, indicating his high ceiling for will become the second player Liverpool have bought from Bayer Leverkusen this summer, with right full-back Jeremie Frimpong having arrived in a £34m Reds will now turn their attentions to securing a deal for Bournemouth left-back Milos Kerkez, with talks taking place about a deal of between £45m-£50m."They key factor was, unlike other clubs, Liverpool presented a really thought-out vision," said Honigstein. "A very clear vision of how and where he will play. "At Bayern, it was very difficult to fit him in alongside Jamal Musiala, at Man City they haven't had that central player. I don't think any club came near when representing the ultimate package and vision."But with a multitude of attacking options already at their disposal, where exactly will Wirtz play for Arne Slot's Reds? 'A reshuffled Liverpool' - Where will he play? Wirtz is already one of the Bundesliga's top performers at the age of 22, largely operating as a number 10, a dynamic playmaker blessed with pace, awareness and the ability to make clever decisions at high was the most effective dribbler of all Bundesliga players last season, both in terms of volume and accuracy while carrying the of his 31 Bundesliga appearances in 2024-25 came in an attacking midfield/number 10 berth, although he does tend to drift towards the left wing."His best position, and the position that has been earmarked him for him in talks with Arne Slot, is that number 10 central role," said Honigstein. "In a slightly reshuffled Liverpool, more Dutch and more Arne Slot team."He will be the fulcrum in attack. A player who can pick up spaces between the line, has an eye for the killer ball but never loses sight of the goal, he can score goals himself and is very tenacious. A very modern number 10 and a player a lot of clubs wanted."If Wirtz takes up a place in Arne Slot's midfield, playing as a traditional 10, someone has to miss out, especially in the 4-2-3-1 formation used so effectively last unlikely to be Ryan Gravenberch given his rise into the anchoring role, which means Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister become two share similar stats, with Szobozslai creating more 'big' chances across the season, serving up more goals and assists, and Mac Allister being the more combative of the could provide an option on the flank, but Liverpool's wide areas appear to be under lock and key. Mohamed Salah holds the right side, while Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo offer variety on the left."Salah will play where he plays and Szobozslai is the most interesting one, as that would be the obvious place for him to play from what we have seen in Germany," said Liverpool fan and Anfield Rap podcaster John Gibb0ns on BBC Radio 5 Live."But Slot loves Szobozslai, he does so much and helps Salah. You would imagine he will try and find a way to get both of them if he can."That alternative could see Wirtz, or Szobozslai, playing in the centre-forward role in a 4-3-3, more as a false nine - a system and formation often used by Slot's former side Ajax, which sees the central striker dropping to receive passes and creating room for runs from was a style that Roberto Firmino built his legacy with, by dropping from forward positions into areas where he could link play, thus allowing the relentless Salah and Sadio Mane to prosper from wide output of Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez perhaps points to the central-attacking area being the one where Liverpool lack a man in form."Liverpool with number nines hasn't worked," added Gibbons. "This is an alternative, to instead play someone occupying that role but playing a bit deeper and allowing Salah and Diaz to fill that void. "Paris-St-Germain impressed everyone playing that way. They did it with Ousmane Dembele up top, who is not really a striker, and they had flying full-backs. "We have brought Frimpong in and it looks like Kerkez will be next, so maybe he's looking at PSG and modelling on that."Pick your Liverpool XI for next season below. We have included both Wirtz and Kerkez in the available squad, with both set to be at Anfield next season. Rise to top has been a family affair The 31-cap Germany international was influential in Leverkusen's undefeated run to a historic first Bundesliga title in 2023-24, creating an unrivalled 70 chances from open was particularly sweet for a player whose previous campaign - and dreams of playing at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar - were wrecked by recovery from an ACL injury that ruled him out for 10 excellent form continued into the 2024-25 season, ranking second of all Bundesliga players for assists (12), while he is highly dangerous when operating between defensive lines - across the past two campaigns he has played more through balls than any other player in the German top rise to the top of European football has firmly been a family affair. He is the youngest of 10 siblings; his sister Juliane plays for Werder Bremen and his mum Karin is a handball then there is Florian's father Hans-Joachim, who continues to act as his son's agent while in his early 70s, negotiating an £116m transfer deal at the same time as running an amateur football club in the family's hometown of Pulheim, just outside Cologne."It's a bit different when you are running a Sunday league team basically as opposed to leading negotiations with Liverpool," German football writer Constantin Eckner told 5 Live Sport."It is, of course, not typical in today's world, but it might give you a different sense of how things should work for you in your career, as opposed to when you have like a really cut-throat agent who is looking for the highest profit."
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Alisha Lehmann leaves little to imagination in tiny bikini on boat leaving Maya Jama lost for words
ALISHA LEHMANN left her fans lost for words as she soaked up some sun in a bikini. The footballer has been enjoying the offseason after a title-winning campaign with Juventus and completing international duty with Switzerland. 22 22 22 And she has wasted no time in finding some time to relax and enjoy the summer heat. Taking to Instagram, Lehmann shared pictures of her wearing a tiny black bikini while on an inflatable river boat. The 26-year-old was seen with her hair down and added some sunglasses to her look. She was all smiles as she also enjoyed playing with a waterproof ball. Taking to the comments, Lehmann's fans were enamoured by the post. The pair struck up a friendship after teaming up as co-managers in the Baller League. Swiss international team-mate Riola Xhemaili commented: "Much love," followed by a heart emoji. Another fan said: "Your smile brightens the day." A second said: "Beautiful." A third added: "Drop dead gorgeous." Lehmann had been in a relationship with Juventus men's star Douglas Luiz and had completed a double transfer switch over to Italy from Aston Villa to join him there. However, in May it was reported she had broken up with him, although the pair do still follow each other on Instagram. Lehmann has 16.7 million followers on the platform. Scroll down to see more of Alisha's glam life 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Why are Inter Miami playing in the Club World Cup 2025?
There are 32 of the best football teams from across the globe playing in the Club World Cup over the coming weeks. The contest will see various clubs from all six confederations combining to produce Fifa 's ultimate goal of crowning the champions of the world at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium. Much of the tournament is made up from teams in Europe and South America, where the power of the club game has traditionally been. But clubs from Concacaf (North and Central America), AFC (Asia) and CAF (Africa) and OFC (Oceania) will hope to spring a surprise. Why are Inter Miami in the Club World Cup? The short answer is almost certainly 'Lionel Messi'. For more than a year, Fifa held open an unspecificied 'host country' slot in the competition, with no explanation for how it would be filled. Then Gianni Infantino turned up out of the blue at an MLS game in Miami to announce that Messi's Inter Miami had qualified for the Club World Cup via this mysterious additional slot due to their success in winning the regular-season league – something that wouldn't normally result in an additional prize, given the subsequent play-offs are where MLS champions are actually decided. 'As one of the best clubs in the world, you are deserved participants in the new FIFA Club World Cup 2025,' Infantino announced. Fifa later explained in a statement that Inter Miami won the place 'on the basis of the club's outstanding and consistent 34-match campaign.' MLS chief Don Garber had initially approached Fifa with ideas for how to decide the spot, but has since hinted that Fifa took a unilateral decision over who earned the prize. It was an odd move to choose the regular-season winners, considering other continents had very different entry requirements for qualification, such as past continental champions from four years ago – hello, Chelsea. How have teams qualified? Confederations were allocated a certain number of spots based on the strength of their teams. Uefa (Europe) was given 12 spaces, Conmebol (South America) have six, Concacaf (North and Central America), AFC (Asia) and Caf (Africa) each have four spots, and OFC (Oceania) has one spot available. Concacaf were also given a fifth spot due to being the host nation of the tournament. These spots were decided through two methods: either winning a continental title in one of the four most recent seasons, or by being highly ranked in a system calculated by performances over the four qualifying years. In the majority of cases, teams have earned qualification through winning their confederation's equivalent of the Uefa Champions League. For the OCF with only one team able to qualify, their spot went to the best performing team over the four years, which happened to be Auckland City. All countries were only allowed two teams to compete, except if all continental title winners came from the same nation. This is why there are four Brazilian teams who have won qualifying spots for CONMEBOL. Once the two-per-country cap had been reached, another team from that nation were not eligible to qualify, regardless of their ranking position. This rule has excluded teams such as Liverpool despite, being the eighth-ranked team, as Manchester City and Chelsea both received automatic qualification thanks to their Champions League victories in 2023 and 2021. Other teams ineligible for qualification include Barcelona, RB Leipzig and Napoli, which gave lower ranked teams such as Benfica and FC Salzburg the opportunity to play. As Real Madrid won the Champions League twice within the four year timeframe (2022 and 2024), nine European teams gained qualification spots through ranking rather than the intended eight. The same goes for CAF. As their Champions League has been won by only two teams in the past four years, two teams ended up receiving qualification through ranking. Qualification from the North and Central American confederation Concacaf is where things become complicated and controversial. Mexican side, Club Leon were disqualified from the CWC due to multi-ownership regulations, despite gaining automatic qualification by winning the Champions Cup in 2023. Their shared ownership with Pachuca (who also qualified and are still permitted to compete) goes against Article 10 of Fifa, which forbids one individual or legal entity from controlling more than one club in the same tournament. As a result, after rejected appeals, Leon were disqualified. Fifa announced a play-off between Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) and Mexican team Club America which was won by LAFC, granting them access to the tournament. Who has qualified and how did they get there? Uefa Manchester City - Auto - Champions League winners 2023 Real Madrid - Auto - Champions League winners 2022, 2024 Chelsea - Auto - Champions League winners 2021 Bayern Munich - 3rd ranked PSG - 4th ranked Borussia Dortmund - 5th ranked Inter Milan - 7th ranked Porto - 9th ranked Athletico Madrid - 10th ranked Benfica - 13th ranked Juventus - 14th ranked FC Salzburg - 18th ranked Conmebol CR Flamengo - Auto - Copa Libertadores winners 2022 Palmeiras - Auto - Copa Libertadores winners 2021 Fluminense FC - Auto - Copa Libertadores winners 2023 Botafogo - Auto - Copa Libertadores winners 2024 CA River Plate - 4th ranked CA Broca Juniors - 6th ranked Concacaf CF Monterrey - Auto - Champions Cup winners 2021 Pachuca - Auto - Champions Cup winners 2024 Seattle Sounders - Auto - Champions Cup winners 2022 Los Angeles - Play-off winners following Leon DQ Inter Miami - Supporters Shield winner 2024 AFC Al Hilal - Auto - AFC Champions League winners 2021 Unaware Red Diamonds - Auto AFC Champions League winners 2022 Al Ain - Auto - AFC Champions League winners 2024 Ulsan HD - 2nd ranked CAF Al Ahly - Auto - CAF Champions League winners 2021, 2023, 2024 Wydad AC - Auto - CAF Champions League winners 2022 Esperance de Tunisie - 3rd ranked Mamelodi Sundowns - 4th ranked
