Lazio forward Immobile set for coronation as Europe’s goal king

Milan (AFP) – Lazio’s Ciro Immobile is set to join an exclusive club as the highest-scoring player in Europe this season.

In a decade dominated by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the underrated Italian is near assured of winning the European Golden Shoe for the continent’s top scorer.

From Messi, to Ronaldo, Mohamed Salah, Robert Lewandowski and Erling Braut Haaland, nobody in Europe has managed to keep pace with the Naples-born player. 

Immobile overtook Bayern Munich striker Lewandowski with his 35th goal against Brescia midweek, and will close his campaign against Napoli on Saturday.

Juventus star Ronaldo, on 31 goals, is four behind before the Serie A champions’ final game against Roma in Turin, in which he may not even play with the Champions League looming.

It would not be the first time that 30-year-old Immobile has topped the Serie A goal-scoring charts, having won the ‘Capocannoniere’ twice before in 2014 and 2018.

But he would become just the third Italian winner of the European Golden Shoe after Roma’s Francesco Totti (26) in 2007 and Luca Toni for Fiorentina in 2006 (31).

Another two goals on Saturday would also see him surpass Gonzalo Higuain’s Serie A record of 36 goals, set playing for Napoli in the 2015-16 season.

“I am only sorry that I cannot celebrate these numbers with the fans,” said Immobile, nicknamed ‘King Ciro’ in the capital, but whose career before arriving in Rome had been erratic.

Success has not followed onto the national team, where he has scored ten goals in 39 games, taking the brunt of criticism after Italy failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.

Immobile started his career at Juventus, where he made just three appearances before a breakthrough loan season in 2011-2012 at Pescara where his 28 goals lifted the Serie B side into the top flight.

He couldn’t follow up his form the following season with Genoa, but had more success with Torino where he scored 22 goals in 33 appearances to win his first Serie A top scorer award.

An 18 million euros ($22 million) move to the Bundesliga followed, but he scored just three times in 24 appearances for Borussia Dortmund, followed by an unsuccessful six-month spell at Sevilla.

– Lazio revival –

But scoring is something he has done with stunning regularity since joining Lazio in the summer of 2016, at the same time as coach Simone Inzaghi.

He has has flourished in the Inzaghi system playing alongside Luis Alberto and Joaquin Correa, and midfielders Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Marco Parolo, scoring 102 times in 141 Serie A appearances.

Lazio can thank Immobile for nearly half of their 78 league goals, as he slotted in 14 from the penalty spot.

The title challenge fell off after the lockdown with four defeats in their first five July games as Immobile conceded: “I have not been myself, I need to get back to being calm.”

He has scored six goals in his last four games as Lazio, already assured of a return to the Champions League after 13 seasons, target a second-place finish.

“It is a great achievement for him, but also for the whole team,” said Inzaghi. 

“And then there is Ronaldo, with four goals behind, let’s see what will happen. 

“Ciro’s records would be a nice prize for everyone. He leapt over Lewandowski, he broke every record, he’s just missing a goal to reach Higuain.”

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Celtic quest for historic 10-in-a-row piles pressure on Rangers

London (AFP) – Celtic launch their quest for a record 10th consecutive Scottish Premiership title this weekend, with Rangers manager Steven Gerrard under intense pressure to stop them.

Nearly five months after the coronavirus shut down Scottish football, the 2020/21 season starts on Saturday with the battle for supremacy in Glasgow as fierce as ever despite the empty stands.

Celtic and Rangers have each achieved nine titles in a row before, but neither Celtic’s European Cup-winning side that won nine titles from 1965 to 1974, nor Rangers cast of stars that reigned from 1988 to 1997, could complete a full decade of dominance.

The current Celtic squad look well set to succeed where those two great sides fell short as the economic consequences of the pandemic have left little chance for others to catch up.

“Going for the 10, it’s historic, it’s momentous and very special,” said Celtic manager Neil Lennon. “I know it’s been on the tip of a lot of our supporters’ tongues and we’ll be going all out to do it.”

Celtic have been quiet in the transfer market other than the £4.5 million ($5.9 million) signing of Greek international goalkeeper Vasilis Barkas.

However, unlike recent seasons when Moussa Dembele, Stuart Armstrong and Kieran Tierney departed, they have so far kept hold of key players, despite admiring glances from some of Europe’s heavyweight clubs for Odsonne Edouard and Kristoffer Ajer.

– Gerrard challenge –

For Rangers boss Gerrard, the time has come to prove he can achieve as a manager what he failed to do in his storied playing career at Liverpool — win a league title.

No Rangers manager has ever failed to win a trophy in his first two seasons in charge and been given the opportunity for a third.

Circumstances have given Gerrard that chance. Even the historically demanding Rangers support acknowledged the gap the former England captain had to bridge when he took the job in May 2018.

Gerrard has made the blue side of Glasgow a respected force in Europe again at Europa League level and beaten Celtic home and away in one-off matches.

But when the COVID-19 pandemic ended the 2019/20 Scottish season, Rangers were 13 points adrift of their bitter rivals at the top of the table.

The squabbling that engulfed the Scottish game as Rangers sought an independent investigation into the vote that saw league tables decided on points-per-game highlighted the landmark staging post that is nine-in-a-row in Scotland.

Rangers have turned a loan deal for Ianis Hagi, son of Romanian great Gheorghe Hagi, into a permanent transfer and fleshed out their squad with the additions of goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin and defenders Calvin Bassey and Leon Balogun on free transfers.

But the club were already relying on investors to cover a loss of £11 million in Gerrard’s first season before coronavirus closed stadiums.

“We need more,” Gerrard said after completing an impressive pre-season unbeaten with notable victories over Lyon and Nice. “I have told the club that. I’ve been honest and open with what I feel we need.

“In terms of where we are at from a financial point of view, they are questions for other people — but I have made it quite clear that we need to add to what we’ve got.

“We need to add players into the 11 to make us stronger and then, naturally, that will make the squad stronger.”

To bolster Gerrard’s squad in more than one area of the pitch, Rangers might have to cash in on Alfredo Morelos, with Lille interested in the Colombian striker.

Morelos has been Rangers’ top scorer for the past three seasons, but his time in Glasgow has also been peppered with seven red cards.

Gerrard faces a difficult balancing act but it is one he must get right or Celtic will stand alone in the history books.

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FA Cup final gives Arteta chance to prove Arsenal are going places

London (AFP) – Mikel Arteta insists even winning the FA Cup final against Chelsea on Saturday will not salvage Arsenal’s season, but a trophy just eight months into his first managerial role will strengthen the impression the Gunners now have the right man in charge to right the ship.

Arteta won the FA Cup as captain when Arsenal ended a nine-year trophy drought in 2014. 

Yet despite winning the competition twice more in the six years since, standards have continued to slip at the Emirates since Arsene Wenger’s departure two years ago.

Despite an upturn since Arteta’s appointment in December, eighth place in the Premier League was the Londoners worst league finish in 15 years.

“For me this club deserves the best and you have to be fighting for every title,” said the Spaniard on the prospect of silverware and a place in the Europa League next season redeeming a miserable campaign.

“Obviously after everything that happened, if we are able to win the final and qualify for Europe, we can say it’s okay. But it’s not the level for this football club.”

The Europa League may be the poor relation to the riches and prestige of the Champions League, but failure to qualify for European football at all for the first time since the 1995/96 season would be a further blow to Arsenal’s already fragile finances.

Due to the lack of Champions League football, the Gunners posted a loss of £27 million ($35 million) in the 2018/2019 campaign for the first time in 17 years.

That was despite generating nearly £40 million in TV and prize money from a run to the Europa League final and before the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic saw the club’s playing and coaching staff agree a 12.5 percent pay cut.

Victories over Liverpool and former employers Manchester City in the space of four days earlier this month have given Arteta plenty of credit in the bank from the Arsenal support.

But questions remain over how much he can do to restore the club’s former glories if he is not backed in the transfer market.

“The gap is enormous,” said Arteta after beating Liverpool despite having just 33 percent possession and three shots to the Premier League champions’ 24. 

“You know how you build those squads, there is no magic.

“You need to improve with quality players and you need bigger squads to compete in this competition.”

Before looking to recruit for a rebuild, Arsenal also have to convince their outstanding talent to stay put.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was just one goal behind Jamie Vardy in the battle for the Premier League Golden Boot despite playing in a struggling side and it was his two goals that saw off City in the semi-final to make it back to Wembley on Saturday.

The former Borussia Dortmund forward has just one year left on his contract and given Arsenal’s financial predicament, it would make business sense to sell in the close season if Aubameyang cannot be convinced to extend his contract.

“It is our responsiblity for make him feel this is the right next step in his career,” said Arteta.

“In order to do that he needs to feel valued, feel that he belongs to us and we want him and he needs to believe we can take this club forward the way we want to do. He is an extremely key player in that.”

For one of Europe’s top strikers, Aubameyang has precious few medals with only a French League Cup at St Etienne and one German Cup with Dortmund to his name.

In what could be his final game for the club, a trophy at Wembley could go a long way to convincing Aubameyang to buy into Arteta’s project and Arsenal’s American owners, Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, to do likewise in the transfer market in the coming months.

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Five talking points before Serie A season finale

Milan (AFP) – Juventus have already sealed their ninth Serie A title in a row, but the league’s single-season scoring record could yet be broken and the battle against the drop is going down to the wire.

Here AFP sport looks at five talking points before the final round of Italian top-flight games this weekend.

Immobile targets record

Ciro Immobile needs just one more goal to equal the scoring record for a single campaign as Lazio make the short journey to Napoli for their final game.

The 30-year-old forward already has 35 goals and can  match Gonzalo Higuain’s record of 36 goals, made playing for Napoli in the 2015-16 season.

Immobile is already basically assured of winning the European Golden Shoe for the continent’s top scorer, having overtaken Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski’s tally of 34 against Brescia midweek.

Lazio are fourth, but still in the running for second place, while seventh-placed Napoli have nothing to play for in the league except defending the record of their former teammate Higuain.

Gennaro Gattuso’s Napoli are also warming up for their meeting with Barcelona in the Champions League last 16, return leg.

Trio race for second place

Three teams — Inter Milan, Atalanta and Lazio — are in the running for second place.

Inter and Atalanta will go head-to-head in Bergamo with Lazio’s last game at Napoli.

Antonio Conte’s Inter have 79 points, one point ahead of both Atalanta and Lazio, with the northeners ahead of the Romans, who they held 3-3 in the Stadio Olimpico and beat 3-2 at home this season.

“We’re masters of our destiny, second place depends only on us,” said Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini.

Atalanta are also preparing for their Champions League quarter-final clash against Paris Saint-Germain next month in Lisbon.

They could beat last season’s best-ever finish of third, which gave them Champions League qualification for the first time. This season they are in stunning form, are unbeaten since January 20 and just two off the mark of 100 league goals.

Tired Juve eye U23 team

Maurizio Sarri said he might field his Under-23 team, now coached by former Italy great Andrea Pirlo, in their final game against Roma in Turin after falling to a miserable midweek defeat at Cagliari days after sealing their ninth consecutive Serie A title.

Juve are preparing for their Champions League last 16, return leg against Lyon, where they trail 1-0, and are missing key players such as Paulo Dybala and Douglas Costa through injury.

“We are the only ones in Europe who have played five games in 12 days, the league has created big problems for us,” said Sarri.

However, Cristiano Ronaldo’s hopes of finishing the season as top scorer look over as the 35-year-old trails Immobile by four goals.

Relegation scrap

Lecce and Genoa will face Parma and Hellas Verona respectively at the weekend hoping to avoid joining Brescia and SPAL down in Serie B.

Genoa, in 17th, are just one-point ahead of Lecce, who occupy the final relegation berth.

If both teams finish equal on points, Genoa will stay in Serie A, with Lecce heading back to the second tier after just one season in the top flight.

Ibra turning clock back at Milan

Zlatan Ibrahimovic and AC Milan take on mid-table outfit Cagliari looking to cap an impressive run since football returned to Italy from the coronavirus lockdown.

Only Manchester City with 34 goals have scored more than Milan (32) in Europe’s top leagues since the restart.

Ibrahimovic, 38, has scored six times since the lockdown, including four in the last three games, with the club unbeaten in eleven Serie A matches, their best run since April 2013 (14).

The ‘Rossoneri’ have also scored at least two goals in six consecutive Serie A away matches, their best run since 1964 (nine).

Fixtures (all times GMT)

Saturday

Brescia v Sampdoria (1600), Atalanta v Inter Milan, Juventus v Roma, AC Milan v Cagliari, Napoli v Lazio (all 1845)

Sunday

SPAL v Fiorentina (1600), Bologna v Torino, Genoa v Hellas Verona, Lecce v Parma, Sassuolo v Udinese (all 1845)

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Where to find PSG vs. Lyon Coupe de la Ligue final on US TV and streaming

If you’re trying to find out how you can watch PSG vs. Lyon on US TV in Coupe de la Ligue final, you’ve come to the right place.

In the French League cup final, PSG vs. Lyon will be shown on TV and streaming (more details below).

Match: PSG vs. Lyon

Kickoff: Friday, 3:10pm ET

Looking to watch PSG vs. Lyon online from your work, home or on the go? If you live in the USA, there are several options to catch all the action.

We Recommend:

US Only.

Here are all of the details of where you can watch it on television and via legal streaming:

Who: PSG vs. Lyon
What: Coupe de la Ligue
When: Game kicks off at 3:10pm ET / 11:45am PT; Friday, July 31, 2020
Where: Live on beIN SPORTS, fuboTV, Fanatiz, Sling Latino, and Sling World Sports (free trial)

With fuboTV, you can watch PSG vs. Lyon and tons more Coupe de la Ligue final games with a 7-day trial. With the legal streaming service, you can watch the game on your computer, smartphone, tablet, Roku, Apple TV or hook it up to your TV with Google Chromecast.

Now with fuboTV, you can stream NBCSN, FS1, FS2 as well as beIN SPORTS, beIN SPORTS en Español, beIN SPORTS Connect, NBC (in select cities), CNBC, USA, FOX (in select cities), FOX Soccer Plus, FOX Deportes, FOX Sports Net, Telemundo, Univision, Univision Deportes, UniMas, Eleven Sports, CBS, CSN, RAI Italia America and YES.

Plus fuboTV, the legal streaming service, also streams Premier League, Serie A, La Liga, Liga MX, World Cup, Women’s World Cup, MLS, UEFA Champions League, Europa League, Primeira Liga, Ligue Un, World Cup qualifiers, Bundesliga, select USMNT games, select USWNT games, select Mexico games, select England games and Euro 2020 qualifiers.

The fuboTV app is available for Windows PC, Mac, Apple iPhone, Apple iPad, Apple TV, Android smartphones, Android tablets, Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Amazon Kindle.

 

Here are the steps to take to watch the PSG vs. Lyon game with your free fuboTV trial:

1. Click on this link for the fuboTV 7-day trial.

2. Click on the red ‘Start for free’ button (see screengrab below)

3. On the login page, enter your e-mail address to sign up (or you can use your Facebook or Google logins) (see screengrab below)

4. After entering your login details and signing up for the free trial, you’ll be taken to the fuboTV main screen (see screengrab below)

5. From here, you can either scroll down the page to see the TV listings which include the PSG vs. Lyon game (see screengrab below)

6. Or you can click on the ‘Guide’ button at the top to see all of the channels available to you, which will include beIN SPORTS featuring PSG vs. Lyon (see screengrab below)

SEE MORE: Schedule of Ligue 1 games on US TV and streaming

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Coach quits Brazil club over keeper’s femicide conviction

Sao Paulo (AFP) – The coach of the women’s team of Brazilian football club Rio Branco quit Thursday in protest at the men’s team’s decision to sign star goalkeeper Bruno, who was convicted in 2013 of murdering his girlfriend.

Bruno Fernandes das Dores de Souza — the player’s full name — was one of Brazil’s most promising young stars, but his career was cut short in 2010 when he was arrested on suspicion of murdering a former lover with whom he had a child.

Bruno, now 35, was convicted three years later.

Although he is currently out of prison pending his appeal, Rio Branco women’s coach Rose Costa said his conviction should have made signing him taboo.

“My life story as a woman and a professional prevent me from remaining at Rio Branco,” she wrote on Instagram, announcing her resignation with immediate effect.

“I need to respect my own beliefs, including that we educate by example.”

Rio Branco, which is based in the northern state of Acre, plays in the Brazilian fourth division.

At the time of his arrest, Bruno was the starting goalkeeper for top-flight club Flamengo, and had racked up a series of impressive performances.

But his career was derailed by his court case.

He was sentenced to 20 years and nine months for murdering Eliza Samudio, a 25-year-old model, and kidnapping their son.

He was released in 2017 pending appeal and signed with the club Boa Esporte, but was then re-arrested when the decision to free him was overturned in court.

Released again, he briefly played last year for third-division side Pocos de Caldas.

Rio Branco announced his signing Sunday, triggering immediate controversy.

The club’s lone sponsor, a supermarket chain, announced it was suspending its relationship with the team over the decision.

With a deep-rooted culture of machismo and high levels of violence against women, Brazil leads Latin America in femicides.

One is committed in the country every seven hours, according to a study by news site G1 in March.

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Soccer Mega Pack includes EPL, Champions League, LaLiga and MLS for $25 per month

For soccer fans, competition among streaming providers has pushed down prices, helping consumers save a lot of money. As a result, watching soccer has never been cheaper than it is now,

To simplify which are the best soccer streaming options for you, World Soccer Talk has created a Soccer Mega Pack that includes trusted and reliable legal streaming options that will give you the majority of games you want to watch.

Our Soccer Mega Pack is priced at $23.97 per month (the price will rise to $24.97 on August 1, 2020). With it, you get access to live games from:

• Premier League
• LaLiga
• Bundesliga
• Serie A
• UEFA Champions League
• UEFA Europa League
• EFL Championship
• FA Cup
• MLS
• USL
• And more.

With the Soccer Mega Pack, you’ll get:

In total, you’ll get more than 10 top leagues/competitions as well as more than 40 more from around the world — all for less than Sling Blue, fuboTV, YouTube TV and other streaming packages.

To start your Soccer Mega Pack, click the four buttons above. The first 7-days of Peacock Premium and Fanatiz are free. Plus you get 30 days of CBS All Access for free when you use the promo code PLAY at checkout. And you can immediately start streaming ESPN+ with all of the content it offers.

Here’s the math for the $23.97/month Soccer Mega Pack: $4.99/month for ESPN+, $5.99/month for CBS All Access, $7.99/month for Fanatiz and $5/month for Peacock Premium.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What’s the purpose of creating the Mega Pack?

A: We often get questions from our readers and followers about what’s the most cost-effective service. The ones that are the most comprehensive (fuboTV, YouTubeTV and Hulu + Live TV) are more than $55 per month. Our Soccer Mega Pack is less than half that cost.

Q: What does the Soccer Mega Pack solve?

A: It simplifies all of the choices available and narrows them down to the four most cost effective options for the most popular leagues and competitions available.

For example, per the tweet below, the Soccer Mega Pack solves his question with all of the leagues included except for Liga MX (where many games are available via the free-to-air Univision, which can be watched for free with an indoor HD antenna). No CNN, but most soccer fans won’t miss that.

Long gone are the days when FOX Soccer Match Pass was the only paid streaming service in town and could charge $20 per month for a small selection of games each week.

Q: As a user on Reddit asked, “So I can get the entire EPL, Champions League, Europa, Bundesliga, Serie A, Eredivisie, NWSL, and a lot of MLS for $11 a month? I don’t remember this golden time where you could get anything like that not behind a paywall.” Is that correct?

A: Not quite, but it’s close. The $11 per month rate is for CBS All Access and ESPN+. But those two won’t include the Premier League. Peacock Premium, at $5 per month, will include nearly 50% of Premier League matches exclusively each season. For the games it doesn’t include, you can watch the ones on NBC for free with an indoor HD antenna.

Q: How do I get the Soccer Mega Pack?

A: Click on the links below to the streaming services and sign up for the four services (three of them include free trials).

Q: What about entertainment options?

A: You can get all four streaming services plus Disney+ and Hulu for a total of $31.97 per month. Just select the Disney+ Bundle to make sure you get Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu instead of just ESPN+.

Q: What leagues and competitions does the Soccer Mega Pack include, in full?

A: It’s a long list and it changes as rights are added and subtracted. But as of press time, it includes all of the following: Premier League, UEFA Champions League, LaLiga, MLS, Europa League, Bundesliga, Serie A, FA Cup, UEFA Nations League, EFL Championship, League One, League Two, League Cup, Leagues Cup, US Open Cup, USL, International Champions Cup, Coppa Italia, Supercoppa Italiana, Eredivisie, Danish Superliga, Chinese Super League, Indian Super League, Australian A-League, Sweden’s Allsvenskan, FA Community Shield, Copa Libertadores, Argentina Primera Division, Ligue 1, Copa Sudamericana, Copa Argentina, Copa de la Superliga, Portuguese Primeira Liga, Ecuadorian League, Copa de Ecuador, Bolivian League, Turkish Super Lig, Liga Águila, Copa Águila, CAF Champions League, CAF Confederations Cup, Ascenso MX, KNVB Dutch Cup, Coupe de la Ligue, Coupe de France, Trophee des Champions, Uruguayan league, Colombian Categoría Primera A, Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, international friendlies, UEFA Super Cup and UEFA Europa Conference League.

Q: What does CBS All Access include?

A: CBS All Access includes every single UEFA Champions League and Europa League game, no matter whether it’s on television or not. It also includes more than 10,000 episodes of CBS content, original programming and live streams of your local CBS network and more.

Q: Any more questions?

A: Let us know in the comments section below and we’ll do our best to answer all of them.

 

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