Wolfsburg turn to Labbadia in fight for Bundesliga survival

Marko Arnautovic came off the bench to score the winning goal as Inter Milan defeated Atletico Madrid 1-0 at the San Siro in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.

The substitute fired home on the rebound with 11 minutes to play after Lautaro Martinez had been denied when racing through on goal by goalkeeper Jan Oblak, squeezing it inside the near post as Samuel Lino tried gallantly to clear from the goal line.

Earlier, Arnautovic and Martinez had wasted the two best chances of the game for the hosts, failing to find the target from good positions, as Diego Simeone’s side threatened to make it a frustrating night for the Serie A leaders.

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For the visitors, Alvaro Morata headed wide fr…

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With the Champions League making its return in midweek, Chelsea will welcome AC Milan to Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night.

Chelsea

Starting with the hosts, managing to mark their return from September s international break with a last-gasp winner on the road, Chelsea will now be trying to find some stability. Eventually snatching a 2-1 win away at Crystal Palace, new boss Graham Potter will be desperate for his side to lay down a real marker on Wednesday night. Appointing the former Brighton manager last month, the Blues will know that they face a must-win showdown at Stamford Bridge here. Opening up this year s Champions League adventure with a shock 1-0 loss away at Dinamo Zagreb, the Premier League giants have collected just a sin…

Kieran Trippier says England will not be out for revenge when they take on Croatia in a repeat of the World Cup semi-final.

Friday s Nations League match sees the teams face off again after Croatia booked a place in their first World Cup final by beating England 2-1 after extra time at Russia 2018.

Trippier s brilliant early free-kick had given England the lead but goals from Ivan Perisic and Mario Mandzukic – who struck in the second period of extra time saw Zlatko Dalic s men progress.

Both teams lost their Nations League openers to Spain, England going down 2-1 at Wembley while Croatia were crushed 6-0 last month.

And Trippier feels the World Cup defeat will not be on England s minds when they travel to Rijeka ahead of facing Spain again on Monday.

Bayern Munich defender Juan Bernat said he and his team-mates have to respect Pep Guardiola s decision to leave the Bundesliga club. 

Guardiola revealed he will depart the reigning champions at the end of the season, motivated by a move to the Premier League in England. 

The Spaniard has been at Bayern since 2013 after five years as the coach of Barcelona, where he guided the club to 14 trophies.

Guardiola has won back-to-back Bundesliga titles with Bayern and is on track to make it three in a row with the club sitting atop the league with an eight-point advantage over second place Borussia Dortmund.

Bernat, who was brought in by Guardiola in 2014, said he was indebted to the 44-year-old. 

In the end it is his decision [to leave] and we all ha…

Mark Sampson has agreed a two-year contract to remain as coach of England Women until 2019.

Sampson guided the Lionesses to third place at last year s World Cup in Canada and they are fifth in the FIFA World Rankings their highest-ever placing.

The 33-year-old, who was appointed in December 2013, will now lead England through next summer s European Championship and into the 2019 World Cup.

He told the Football Association s official website: I am delighted to have agreed to continue working with the Lionesses through to the 2019 FIFA Women s World Cup.

It is an honour and a privilege to manage such a fantastic group of people who represent their country with incredible pride and passion.  We have all worked very hard over the last two years to improve b…

Favourites Netherlands seem set for a familiar task of having to pierce a massed defence when they tackle Uruguay on Tuesday in the first World Cup semi-final.

It happened against Denmark, Japan and Cameroon in the first round and Slovakia in the second before Brazil came at the Dutch and led until Wesley Sneijder struck twice to turn the tide.

Uruguay have been happy to let rivals press, confident that a well drilled defence will not wilt and they can counter-attack at pace with star Diego Forlan almost inevitably involved.

Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk is wary of the last South American contenders ahead of the Cape Town clash: They are dangerous. At the start of the tournament I used them as an example of a passionate side.

The coach says he has no pro…

Bayern Munich captain Philipp Lahm will retire from football at the end of the 2016-17 Bundesliga campaign.

Under contract until 2018, Lahm announced his plan to quit ahead of schedule in the wake of Tuesday’s 1-0 DFB-Pokal win over Wolfsburg, having celebrated his 500th club appearance against Schalke on Saturday.

I will retire at the end of the season, the 33-year-old confirmed when asked about his future.

More than a year ago I started checking and questioning myself from day to day and week to week. I m certain I ll maintain peak form through to the end of the season. I can manage that until the end of the campaign, but not beyond it.

Bayern were keen to name Lahm as the club s new sporting director ahead of next season, but the right-back has op…

Bayern Munich defender Mats Hummels says he understands Philipp Lahm s surprise decision to retire at the end of the season.

Lahm s contract was due to run until 2018, but the Bayern captain announced after Tuesday s DFB-Pokal 1-0 win over Wolfsburg that he is bringing his glittering career to a close.

Hummels would have preferred to continue to play with Lahm, but backed his decision to quit at the age of 33.

I hadn t known, I only just found out, Hummels said in a DFB interview. I would have really liked to have seen him carry on playing but on the other hand, I can also understand him.

He timed it well with his retirement from the national team after winning the World Cup in 2014 in Brazil. I m certain he s thought hard about it and considered everyt…

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport (via ), Juventus are considering the possibility of signing Marco Asensio and Antoine Griezmann next summer.

The Serie A giants apparently seek to continue the trend of bringing in experienced players to help the younger ones grow, which was represented this year by their moves for Paul Pogba and Angel Di Maria, both on free transfers. CEO Maurizio Arrivabene is thought to consider Griezmann and Asensio, as well as the likes of Alejandro Grimaldo and Christian Pulisic, as players who could contribute to the team becoming successful again in the short-to-medium term.

Marca, however, believe a deal for Asensio wouldn t be easy to do despite the fact that his current deal at Real Madrid expires at the end of the season. Unlike other sou…

Liverpool forward Darwin Nunez says he has had to learn to adapt to life in the Premier League after a difficult start, adding: I needed to calm my nerves .

The Uruguay international was the flagship signing of the Reds transfer window and netted in his first two appearances for the club in a blaze of early potential.

But a red card for an altercation with Crystal Palace s Joachim Andersen shortly afterwards handed him a three-match ban that has left him struggling to acclimatise since.

Nunez arguably delivered his best performance since the opening weeks in Tuesday s 2-0 home win over Rangers in the Champions League, and now feels he is making steps forward once more.

The truth is that it was a little difficult to adapt, but I believe that, as training …