BORUSSIA DORTMIND
Coach Jurgen Klopp says Borussia Dortmund are falling short of their domestic targets after slumping to 13th in the Bundesliga despite riding high in the Uefa Champions League. Dortmund lead Arsenal in Group D of the Champions League after beating the London side 2-0 in Germany before enjoying a 3-0 win at Anderlecht on Wednesday. But Klopp’s side are winless in their past four domestic league matches. Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at home to Hamburg left them 13th, their worst league position after seven matches since 2009 as they sit just two points above the relegation places going into the international break. “For all our ambitions and goals, this is currently not nearly enough,” Klopp said. “I take full responsibility for the preparations and the tactics. We’re left with seven points and we’re not even looking at the top of the table now.”
ARGENTINA v PORTUGAL
Primera Liga rivals Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo look set to meet in an Argentina-Portugal friendly at the Old Trafford next month, in a match which could also mark Carlos Tevez’s international return. The teams would meet in Manchester on the Fifa-designated international date of November 18, the Argentine FA has confirmed on its website. It would be a second return to Old Trafford for former Manchester United winger Ronaldo since he left for Real Madrid in 2009. He was back there in March last year for a Uefa Champions League second-round tie in which he scored the winner, and United fans and manager Louis van Gaal have said they would one day like to see him make a permanent return.
MORE ARGENTINA
Former Manchester United and Argentina playmaker Juan Sebastian Veron has been voted president of Argentine first-division club Estudiantes de La Plata. Veron, who also played for Boca Juniors, Sampdoria, Parma, Lazio, Chelsea and Inter Milan, won 70 per cent of the votes against outgoing president Enrique Lombardi, who had Argentina’s 1986 World Cup winning coach Carlos Bilardo on his ticket as vice president. The 39-year-old Veron, who will be in charge for a three-year term, follows in the footsteps of other former leading players such as Daniel Passarella at River Plate and Carlos Babington at Huracan, in taking charge of their clubs.
SAMPDORIA
Sampdoria extended their unbeaten start to the season yesterday with a 1-0 win over Atalanta at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris, a result which lifts them to third in Serie A. Manolo Gabbiadini was their match-winner for the second week running, scoring the only goal of the game 10 minutes before half-time to earn Sinisa Mihajlovic’s men their fourth win of the season and move them. Not even six minutes of stoppage time were enough for Atlanta to find an equaliser as they lost for the fourth time this season to remain on the brink of the bottom three.
JUVENTUS
Juventus and Italy defender Andrea Barzagli will be sidelined for another month after seeing a specialist on his injured right foot. Barzagli underwent surgery in July but has struggled since returning to training Yesterday, Juventus said Barzagli saw a specialist and a scan revealed he has a stress fracture in his heel. Barzagli has been in the first XI for Juventus in their three successive title victories. The centre-back, 33, is also a key part of the Italy team.
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