Akwa United sack Cooreman, Dokubo after dismal season

The management of Akwa United has disengaged the services of coaches Maurice Cooreman and Ere Dokubo after the Promise Keepers’ failure to qualify for any Caf Inter Club competition at the end of the past soccer season.
In a release by the club, the management wasn’t comfortable with the spate of disciplinary issues

Manchester City ‘weren’t so bad’ in Barcelona defeat – Nolito

Manchester City forward Nolito believes that Lionel Messi made all the difference in the 4-0 Champions League defeat to Barcelona.
Messi scored a hat trick on his return to the starting lineup after a three-week injury lay-off, making City pay for their sloppy individual errors at the Nou Camp.
Former Barca player Nolito said the scoreline flattered his old side and that they were punished for their mistakes by Messi’s brilliance.
“We think the result is a bit exaggerated, we weren’t so bad,” Nolito told reporters. “After the sending off for Bravo … but that happens in football and we have to carry on. We have to carry on and be more united than ever.
“Messi decided the game with his three goals. He’s a player that makes the difference, the best in the world.
“In the first half we tried to take the ball off them, we did that. Ter Stegen made two or three pretty

Atletico Madrid agree to January transfer ban amid ongoing CAS appeal

Atletico Madrid have accepted they will not sign players in January while they fight a FIFA transfer ban at sport’s highest court.
FIFA and Atletico jointly said in a statement they agreed a timetable for the Court of Arbitration for Sport to give a final ruling on the Spanish club’s appeal by next June.

Kerber seals year-ending world number one ranking

Germany’s Angelique Kerber, who won two of the season’s four Grand Slam titles, secured the year-ending world number one ranking on Thursday, the WTA announced.
Kerber is the 12th player to achieve the year-end top spot and only the second German woman after Steffi Graf, who achieved the feat a record of eight times.
“It is a great honour and achievement to finish the year as the No.1 player in the world,” said Kerber, who will look to finish 2016 in style next week at the WTA Finals in Singapore.

Manchester City expect Lionel Messi to finish career at Barcelona

Manchester City would “open the doors” to Lionel Messi if he ever decided to leave Barcelona, according to chief executive Ferran Soriano.
The Argentina international striker showed why City boss Pep Guardiola believes he is the best player in the world after his hat trick in the 4-0 victory over his side in the Champions League on Wednesday.
It’s an opinion shared by former Barca chief executive Soriano, who knows the 28-year-old from his time at the Nou Camp, but he expects Messi to finish his career with Barca and denied reports in Spain that City had made a move for him in the summer.

Liverpool in better place to beat West Brom than last season – Klopp

Jurgen Klopp believes his Liverpool side are better equipped to deal with the threat of West Bromwich Albion on Saturday than they were in their encounters last season.
The Reds met Tony Pulis’ side on two occasions throughout Klopp’s first campaign in charge, drawing both of them. Divock Origi scored a late equaliser in a 2-2 draw at Anfield before the two teams played out a 1-1 draw in the return fixture.
Liverpool have made a strong start to the current Premier League season and sit in fourth place, just two points adrift of leaders Manchester City, having enjoyed victories over Arsenal and Chelsea, as well as wins against Leicester, Hull and Swansea.
“We proved it a little bit [this season] if you want, but our job is that we have to prove it all the time,” Klopp told his prematch news conference. “The important thing and the biggest difference is that we know more about us and we know more about the things we want to do together [than last season].

Champions League final could be held outside Europe – UEFA president

The Champions League final could be contested outside Europe for the first time, new UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said on Thursday.
Ceferin told the Associated Press he will revive an open bidding process for the right to host the climax to the European club season and is open to the game being staged in New York.
“I think it might be an idea in future but we have to speak about it,” Ceferin said, highlighting how travel times across Europe can be as long as flights to the United States.
“To go from Portugal to Azerbaijan for example is almost the same or the same as if you go to New York. For the fans it’s no problem but we should see. It’s a European competition so let’s think about it.”
UEFA has until now been awarding the honour of staging its showpiece finals without any tendering process, with stadium hosts decided in secret by the leadership.
“The bidding process should be very clear because if you get the Champions League finals or

Claudio Bravo takes blame for Manchester City’s loss at Barcelona

Claudio Bravo said he must take a large part of the blame for Manchester City’s 4-0 thrashing by Barcelona in the Champions League.
City were already trailing 1-0 to a Lionel Messi goal when he was sent off in the 54th minute for a deliberate handball.
The red card was all of his own making as he miscued a clearance straight to Luis Suarez outside his box and then stopped his goal-bound lob with his fingers.
Messi went on to a complete his hat trick while Neymar added a fourth after also having a penalty saved by Bravo’s stand-in Willy Caballero.
The Chilean No. 1 accepted responsibility for the error and said it changed the game with City pushing for an equaliser.
“It changed the course of the game — we were playing very well, creating opportunities and it is what it is, football is like that,” Bravo told reporters.
“It is a game of mistakes and correct decisions. it’s just bad luck that I was the person that