Champions League Group A preview: Man City begin European adventure

Roberto Martinez hailed record-breaker Christian Benteke after the striker hit the first goal of a hat-trick in a 6-0 win for Belgium against Gibraltar on Monday after just seven seconds

Belgium extended their 100 per cent record in Group H by recording a third straight victory without conceding, while Benteke s treble gave the striker his first international goals since March 2015.

Benteke opened the scoring after just seven seconds, setting a new record for the fastest goal in World Cup qualifying, with Axel Witsel, Dries Mertens and Eden Hazard also on target, and Martinez was delighted with the forward s impact.

That goal really showed the concentration of the group, he told broadcaster RTBF.  It was our goal to score early and we were rewarded quickly…

James Milner insists Manchester City are fully focused on the next stage of their League Cup defence against Newcastle United on Wednesday.

City overcame Newcastle on their own patch in the fourth round of last season s competition and the sides meet with a quarter-final spot once again up for grabs at the Etihad Stadium.

Following their Wembley triumph over Newcastle s north-east rivals Sunderland to lift the trophy in March, City returned to the competition in style with a resounding 7-0 win against Sheffield Wednesday in round three but Manuel Pellegrini s team head into their latest match on the back of a deeply disappointing week.

Milner scored to give the City a 2-0 lead against CSKA Moscow in the UEFA Champions League last Wednesday, only for their Russian…

Chelsea are keen on signing Bayern Munich forward Robert Lewandowski, according to the Telegraph.

Having finished thirty points behind champions Manchester City, and five points behind fourth place Tottenham Hotspur the Blues are planning a huge spending spree as they look to reclaim the championship.

They did win the FA Cup, beating Manchester United in the final at Wembley on Saturday with Eden Hazard scoring the only goal of the game from the penalty spot.

The Belgium international was Chelsea’s top scorer in the league with twelve goals – one more than record signing Alvaro Morata while Olivier Giroud netted three since signing from Arsenal in January.

Lewandowski scored over forty goals for Bayern for a third consecutive campaign during the 20…

Juventus have won the race for Matthijs de Ligt and handed Maurizio Sarri an €85.5million asset set to immediately challenge for a starting spot.

The Netherlands international commanded the attention of Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Manchester United and more before agreeing a five-year contract in Turin.

De Ligt, 19, captained Ajax with distinction in Europe and the Eredivisie last term and compiled a set of statistics consistent with a player who could change the look of Serie A s strongest defence. 

Our dive into the Opta data illustrates why one half of Juve s established centre-back pairing might be looking over his shoulder.

 LIGTS  | Matthijs de Ligt officially signs for Juventus! 

— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen)

Bonuc…

Italy coach Marcello Lippi has praised Sampdoria s great start to the campaign but says Antonio Cassano will have to wait before finding out if he is to be included in his World Cup squad.

Samp beat Inter Milan 1-0 on Saturday to climb to the top of the Serie A standings, one point clear of Juventus.

Sampdoria has started well, said Lippi. They have important players and a good coach in Luigi Del Neri.

Samp was a team that was improving and I am happy that they are first in the standings as I played at Sampdoria for 20 years.

One of the main reasons why Samp have won all but one of their six encounters this campaign has been the impressive form of Cassano.

While Cassano hasn t been scoring goals, he has created opportunities for his team-mates…

Arsenal v Bolton

Never easy to predict Arsenal games but this one looks a little simpler than most. After flattering to deceive for a little while, Bolton have lost five of their last six and may well be sliding into another relegation battle.

Arsenal haven’t lost in six Premiership games and may be about to turn some of those draws into wins.

SoccerNews prediction: 2-0

Aston Villa v West Brom

Villa haven’t played as well of late as they were doing earlier in the season. They are still scraping victories though which they say is the sign of a good team.

West Brom have won their last couple of home matches but they are unlikely to be a match for Martin O’Neill’s men whether they play wel…

Brendan Rodgers has backed under-fire goalkeeper Simon Mignolet ahead of Liverpool s Premier League clash with Swansea City on Monday.

The Liverpool manager dropped Mignolet for an indefinite period before the 3-0 defeat at Manchester United a fortnight ago.

But the Belgian made his return as an early substitute in the hard-fought 1-0 victory at Burnley on Boxing Day after his replacement Brad Jones sustained a thigh problem.

Jones injury means Mignolet, who looked desperately short of confidence at Turf Moor, will regain his starting place for the visit of Rodgers former club to Anfield.

And the Northern Irishman, who is heavily rumoured to be in the market for a new number one in January, feels the ex-Sunderland stopper can build on his shut-out at …

Ajax forward Bojan Krkic is looking forward to taking on parent club Barcelona in Wednesday s UEFA Champions League clash.

Bojan joined the Dutch champions on a season-long loan from Barcelona in July, but Ajax have the option of extending it by another year.

The 23-year-old has played more than 100 times for the Catalan giants, and, although he was sold to Roma in 2011, the La Liga outfit signed him again earlier this year.

Bojan admits he was unaware the two sides could play each other in the Champions League and says he is excited about the Camp Nou encounter, although he is adamant Ajax should not change their style of play for it.

When I looked at the draw, I was not even aware that this outcome was a possibility, Bojan told vi.nl.

I m really looking f…

The Premier League transfer window has closed ahead of the start of the new season and managers up and down England will now take stock.

Have the rest of the top six done enough to catch Manchester City? Are the promoted sides suitably stocked to secure top-flight survival?

We will soon find out but, in the meantime, we pick out five signings that look pretty shrewd.

5. Pablo Fornals (West Ham)

At a reported fee of £24million, West Ham made what looks like being a clever addition.

Fornals form fell away a little last season but he was generally a brilliant attacking threat for Villarreal after initially impressing with Malaga in LaLiga.

The relatively modest fee means he will likely have to do little to repay West Ham s faith a…

Renato Sanches will get the chance to kickstart his career with Bayern Munich, new head coach Niko Kovac has revealed.

The midfielder has struggled to make an impact since joining Bayern in a deal worth an initial €35milllion shortly before shining at Euro 2016, where he was named Young Player of the Tournament as Portugal triumphed.

Swansea City were then seen to have pulled off an impressive coup in landing Sanches on loan last season, but he failed to impress in 12 Premier League appearances as the Welsh club ultimately suffered relegation with him on the sidelines through injury.

But Kovac is not giving up on the 20-year-old and hopes he will fight for his future at Bayern.

He is a young player and young players fluctuate now and again, that is com…