Bayern Munich's Alphonso Davies said he was distressed by his team-mate and friend Jamal Musiala collapsing in two recent friendlies, but hopes the German champions can help rally their playmaker.
Germany's Musiala, 23, has been diagnosed with absence seizures, which are brief losses of consciousness, after slumping to the turf in friendlies against RB Leipzig on Saturday and Heidenheim on Tuesday.
Doctors say they will not prevent him playing at the top level, but whether he will feature in the Franz Beckenbauer Super Cup at Borussia Dortmund on Saturday remains to be seen.
"It was heartbreaking to see Jamal like that on the pitch. But anyone who knows Jamal knows he will come back stronger," Canada's Davies told reporters at the launch of Bayern's tie-up with the NHL on Thursday.
"Of course we want to support him, not only as a player but also as a person. The doctors are trying their best to get him through this situation. We want to give him a lot of positive energy and help him fight through it."

#musiala #friendlies #want

Bayern Munich ended its preseason slate of friendlies with a nice (but scary) 4-2 victory over Heidenheim.
While the play was choppy, but ultimately good enough, the story — again — revolved around the health of Jamal Musiala,who collapsed on the field for the second game in a row. While there will be plenty of focus on that for days to come, it was a strong ending to the preseason.
Aside of some early mistakes, Bayern Munich was the better, more dominant team. Let's dive into the details — here are some quick hitters on the match:
As always, let's begin with a look at the starting XI:
It was revealed right before the game that Joshua Kimmich was battling an adductor issue (there were rumors that he had picked up an injury during the World Cup…could this still be lingering?), while Tom Bischof and Manuel Neuer were held out due to load management. That all led to a very mixed bag of a lineup, especially in the central midfield. Kompany would sub pretty liberally, so it seemed as if almost everyone was on some kind of minutes restriction.

#game #kimmich

The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies 7-6 as the offense continues to rake and finally help the pitching staff.
The Dodgers' offense has been poor for weeks now, struggling to produce sustained hits and put together meaningful innings of quality at-bats.
However, against a poor Rockies pitching staff and in the friendliest of hitting conditions, LA is hitting the ball like they usually have this season: hard and often.
The slugging was on full display, with seven runs coming on 10 hits, including Shohei Ohtani's 30th home run of the season.
Aug 18, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) hits a two-run home run in the third inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images

#staff

The anticipation of next week's Premier League kick-off at Ipswich is more than palpable – it's downright frothing at the bit.
It's been a pretty good summer. The World Cup was a decent watch, despite the utterly predictable nature of England's exit. Sunderland had 12 players representing their respective countries in the USA, Canada & Mexico – a total bettered only by **** nal and Manchester City and Manchester United. Eight goals scored during the summer football fest were by players from our club. Only **** nal and Manchester United had more from the Premier League.
That is some feat. There has never been a better time to be a fan of our beautiful club.
With the pre-season friendlies now complete, Régis Le Bris will be quietly satisfied at the progress of his team.
The final two warm-up games were against two of France's top teams. Lens, who finished second in last season's Ligue 1, were dispatched 2-0 last week in Hauts-de-France, while on Saturday, Stade Rennais, who finished sixth in last season's league, were beaten 2-1. Sunderland were convincing in the second half of the game.

#manchester #league #premier #united

Sint Truiden have announced the signing of 22-year-old goalkeeper Ahmad Abu Rasen. The Saudi Arabian U23 goalkeeper joins the Belgian Pro League side as back up to the talented Leo Kokubo, with the 25-year-old from ******* an having been one of the top goalkeepers in the league last season. Abu Rasen provides Sint Truiden with a talented young goalkeeper who should provide able back-up to Kokubo.
Abu Rasen began his career with the Al-Fayha youth set up before joining Al-Hilal. He has been with Al-Hilal for a number of years but leaves on a free transfer having not made an appearance for the senior team. The young goalkeeper did drop down in the Saudi Arabian second tier with NEOM SC on loan but did not make a first team appearance.
Rather than remain in the Saudi Arabia league system, Abu Ransen has decided to try his luck in Europe. It is a move that could pay off if Kokubo leaves, with sides certainly interested in the talented ******* anese goalkeeper. Abu Ransen has been capped at youth level by Saudi Arabia, playing in friendlies for the U23 and U21 teams.
GBeNeFN | Ben Jackson

#kokubo

The Danish midfielder was pursued by Celtic across three consecutive transfer windows before eventually leaving Go Ahead Eagles for the Ligue 2 side earlier this summer.
Celtic's attempts to land Breum became particularly notable last summer when Go Ahead Eagles' sporting director publicly mocked the Hoops' approach, comparing their negotiations unfavourably with Rangers' move for Oliver Antman.
Breum has wasted little time making an impression at his new club.
The 22-year-old scored against Rangers at Ibrox during pre-season, before also finding the net in friendlies against Lausanne and Venezia.
He carried that form into the competitive campaign.

#Eagles #celtic #hoops #oliver

Multiple sources in Italy claim that Inter have scheduled a new round of talks for Curtis Jones this week after the Liverpool midfielder was dropped for a friendly against Como on Sunday.
Inter are ready to continue talks with Liverpool over English midfielder Jones.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – AUGUST 2: Curtis Jones #17 of Liverpool dribble the ball during a friendly match against Leeds United at Soldier Field on August 2, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Geoff Stellfox/Getty Images)
Corriere dello Sport, Tuttosport and Sport Mediaset are all confident that Jones wants to play for Inter, but the Nerazzurri are unwilling to match the Reds' €40m asking price, mostly because Jones has less than a year left in his contract at Anfield.
Jones was not involved in the two friendlies that Liverpool played against Como on Sunday, officially due to a hip problem.

#jones #Liverpool #Chicago #sport

Manchester City are blessed to have two elite options to play in the number ten role in their squad. Phil Foden and Rayan Cherki are excellent in the role and both figure to play prominent roles for Enzo Maresca throughout the 2026-27 season. Phil Foden started in the role across Manchester City's three preseason friendlies. He started again yesterday as City suffered a 3-0 defeat to ***** nal in the FA Community Shield. Cherki replaced him on the hour-mark. Phil Foden has a full preseason behind him, while Rayan Cherki only returned to City last Wednesday after his World Cup duties with France. Looking at who should start in the number ten role for Enzo Maresca's side, Rayan Cherki should be the favourite.
Earlier this summer, Phil Foden signed a contract extension with Manchester City. It is clear that City have full faith in the England international. Foden remains an important player for his team. He has gotten to work after a difficult 2024-25 season and seen a drop off last season after he began the 2025-26 season brightly. After missing out on selection in England's World Cup squad, Phil Foden should benefit from a full preseason working with Enzo Maresca and his teammates.
However, Foden's form over the three friendlies Manchester City have played and in yesterday's FA Community Shield fixture against ***** nal has been patchy. There have been flashes of quality shown by Foden. On other occasions he looks like a player still battling to return to his best. That is to be expected given how far back Phil Foden is coming back from in terms of his form.
If you were looking at who is more likely to start in the number ten role next weekend against Bournemouth in Manchester City's opening Premier League fixture and to begin the 2026-27 season, perhaps Phil Foden is the favourite. However, he does face stiff competition for that role from Rayan Cherki.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup was a frustrating experience for Rayan Cherki. He spent the majority of the tournament on the periphery of the French squad due to the vast array of attacking talent at Didier Deschamps' disposal. That disappointment could fuel Cherki to take his game to another level to avoid such disappointment in the future.

#foden #manchester #World

Club Friendlies
Liverpool 2 - 0 Como FT
Jeremy Jacquet started alongside Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk for the first time [Getty Images]
Jeremy Jacquet scored on his Liverpool debut as Andoni Iraola's Reds capped off pre-season with a 2-0 win over Serie A side Como.
After agreeing the £60m transfer for Jacquet in January, the 21-year-old Frenchman's move was confirmed on 1 July but a niggling knee injury had kept him on the sidelines until the visit of Cesc Fabregas' Como.

#como

Newcastle United's preseason defeat to Everton provided Matthias Jaissle with another useful look at the squad he inherited, but it also exposed several areas that still appear short of Premier League-level depth ahead of the Aug. 23 opener against Liverpool.
Jaissle acknowledged afterward that Newcastle needs further reinforcements and suggested transfers could come soon, perhaps even before the week is over, although he refused to reveal names or even publicly confirm the positions being targeted.
"You all see the matches," Jaissle said. "You are also smart enough to see the needs in the squad. We handle these things internally. We are aware of what we need. Let's see now. There is still some time."
The Athletic's Chris Waugh reported that a right-back and a veteran, ball-controlling midfielder are Newcastle's immediate priorities, while another attacker could also be considered.
Jaissle would not rule out the possibility of additions arriving before or during this weekend's last preseason friendlies against Bayer Leverkusen and Strasbourg at St. James' Park, although he stressed that completing deals is outside his direct control.

#jaissle #preseason #needs

Coach Niko Kovac put his arm around Konstantinos Karetsas, then gave him a light pat and a friendly look as he made his way to the bench. The new signing had received spontaneous applause from the fans on several occasions. Only the crossbar prevented him from scoring a goal, and a strong save by the opposing goalkeeper (against Samuele Inacio) thwarted a direct ******* ist. Nevertheless, he was involved in both of BVB's goals in the match against Roma: Before Julian Ryerson's goal to make it 1–2, he played the penultimate pass; on Serhou Guirassy's goal to tie the game at 2–2, he was involved in a free-kick feint.
"You could see how confident he is on the ball," Kovac praised the 18-year-old, delighting in the fact that "it means a lot to have someone who can draw one or two defenders toward him, thereby freeing up others. And he has a really good eye." Sporting director Ole Book also noted: "He showed a lot of promise, brought a lot of enthusiasm to the game, and was a threat in front of the goal. It was a good game for him."
Karetsas is a solid short-term solution, no question. But he won't be able to play 60 games for both the club and the national team. "We'll all still be happy with him, but we also have to be very clear about this: He still needs time. He certainly won't be able to play 90 minutes every third day – he doesn't have the stamina for that," said Kovac, adding: "And we also have to be careful not to push him into an injury. But if he plays the way he did today, then we'll all be very happy."
Kovac was also "very happy" in the end with the two most recent friendlies against ******* nal (a 3-2 win) and AS Roma (a 2-2 draw). "Well, I'm very satisfied," he stated for the record, and his facial expression said it all: "We created a lot of chances today, too. That increases our chances of winning games." We need to work intensively on defensive stability– and that doesn't just apply to the back line, where three potential starters – Emre Can, Waldemar Anton, and Nico Schlotterbeck – were unavailable. But everyone knows: that's Kovacs's core strength. Turning to a reporter with a smile, he said: "If we'd kept a clean sheet and won only 1–0, you would have said: 'Yeah, Niko, that was another bust .' But now it's the other way around…"Boris Rupert

#roma #around

Friendlies are meant to test the conditions of players and give chances to those who couldn't get a lot of playing time. Misfortune seems to have beset Bayern Munich because it lost three players to injury in the Telekom Cup against RB Leipzig just before the start of the new season.
Konrad Laimer was first off when he went into a challenge with David Raum just 10 minutes into the match. Min-jae Kim was next when he exited the match during the second hydration break at 66 minutes. Jamal Musiala appeared to have collapsed from heat exhaustion just four minutes after he scored Bayern's third goal. He almost needed a stretcher for that. To add insult to injury (literally), Sacha Boey cramped up after the final whistle.
The Franz Beckenbauer Supercup is next week, and Bayern still has a friendly match against Heidenheim a few days before that. The players who got injured are all first team players, which is not something the Bavarians need before the start of the 2026/27 season. This gives Vincent Kompany a big headache, but hopefully the injuries aren't serious.

#players #bayern #season

Man United preseason schedule, results 2026: Dates, times, more to know about Red Devils friendlies originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Manchester United's preseason preparations for the 2026/27 season have concluded.
The Red Devils enjoyed a strong second half of last term after Michael Carrick replaced Ruben Amorim as head coach. The former United midfielder led his side to 12 wins, three draws and just two defeats, securing third place in the Premier League and qualification for the UEFA Champions League.
Now, the onus is on Carrick — who was given the full-time manager's job at the end of last season — to hit the ground running in 2026/27 and give supporters hope of real success.
Here is how United's preseason schedule played out.

#preseason #sporting #league #last

On Saturday, Rocco Reitz was rewarded for his hard work in pre-season. In the 58th minute of the Telekom-Cup, our summer signing was brought on for Nicolas Seiwald and played his first half an hour in an RBL jersey.
Rocco's debut was a highlight of the match which ultimately ended in a 3-1 defeat for the Red Bulls. "I was really happy to be back on the pitch and doing what I love," said the 24-year-old after the final whistle in an interview with MagentaTV.
The midfielder who joined Leipzig from Borussia Mönchengladbach had a delayed start to his first pre-season at RBL due to an illness. In the past few weeks, he's been gradually making up ground. His cameo against Bayern was his first real test. "The half an hour was quite a challenge, it went back and forth a lot," explained Rocco, before adding, "It's always good to go toe-to-toe with the best in the business."
Our number 20 has seen a lot of progress with a week to go before the start of the season, but also recognised that there is room for improvement. "We did a lot of things better compared to the previous friendlies. We were calm in possession and our gegenpressing was a bit better. There are still a couple of areas where we can improve, like our decision making among other things. But we're on the right track."
This Saturday, the first competitive fixture of the new season is on the agenda for Leipzig. At 18:00 CEST, RBL will travel to take on Regionalliga outfit Eintracht Trier in the first round of the DFB-Pokal. Unlike the match on Saturday, the Red Bulls are heading into the cup clash as clear favourites. Rocco called for "grit" in the match and stressed that, "We're the better side and have to make that clear in the game."

#match #we 're

The Open Thread/Daily Merengue is a place where you can discuss anything and everything related to football. Feel free to discuss the topics presented here, or start your very own discussions! The Open thread will be posted every day by one of the mods you'd totally go swimming with: Valyrian Steel, Felipejack, Kung_Fu_Zizou (AKA KFZ), Juninho, Ezek and, of course… yours truly.
Los Blancos play Schalke as part of their.. well, good string of friendlies. Let's see what we see from the boyz today. Hopefully, something to have us head into the season with some optimism.
What's your phyche heading into the season? Optimistic? Not?
Well… If we can be patient and nurture the kid, he can go a long way. Should be a worthwhile investment which also covers a specific gap in our roster.

#merengue #valyrian #steel

Club Friendlies
Brentford 7 - 0 Eintracht Frankfurt FT
Thiago has scored in both of Brentford's pre-season friendlies [Getty Images]
Igor Thiago scored twice and set up another as Brentford thrashed Eintracht Frankfurt at the Gtech Community Stadium in their final pre-season friendly.
The Brazil forward tapped home from Kevin Schade's square ball just before the break then scored the Bees' sixth, finishing coolly from a tight angle after a charging run.

#thiago #club

Friendlies are meant to test the conditions of players and give chances to those who couldn't get a lot of playing time. Misfortune seems to have beset Bayern Munich because it lost three players to injury in the Telekom Cup against RB Leipzig just before the start of the new season.
Konrad Laimer was first off when he went into a challenge with David Raum just 10 minutes into the match. Min-jae Kim was next when he exited the match during the second hydration break at 66 minutes. Jamal Musiala appeared to have collapsed from heat exhaustion just four minutes after he scored Bayern's third goal. He almost needed a stretcher for that. To add insult to injury (literally), Sacha Boey cramped up after the final whistle.
The Franz Beckenbauer Supercup is next week, and Bayern still has a friendly match against Heidenheim a few days before that. The players who got injured are all first team players, which is not something the Bavarians need before the start of the 2026/27 season. This gives Vincent Kompany a big headache, but hopefully the injuries aren't serious.

#next

Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Declan Rice, Martin Zubimendi and Bukayo Saka will all be fit to feature against Manchester City in the Community Shield. The ***** nal manager also gave updates on William Saliba and Jurrien Timber, both of whom are working their way back from long-term injuries sustained during the FIFA World Cup.
None of the five players featured in any of the Gunners' preseason friendlies. Rice, Zubimendi, and Saka all progressed to the final weekend of the tournament with England and Spain, respectively, earning them extra rest time to prepare for what promises to be another demanding campaign at club level.
Saliba, however, went down with a back problem in the early stages of France's semi-final loss to Spain. Timber, meanwhile, suffered a serious groin injury just days before the Netherlands kicked off their tournament, as per The Mirror.
Kylian Mbappe drops World Cup truth bomb after absurd third-place loss to England
Donald Trump sparks outrage with Harry Kane World Cup comments

#World #saliba #back #final

RC Strasbourg Alsace have officially announced the signing of Filip Jörgensen (24) on a season-long loan from Chelsea FC.
Jörgensen's arrival marks the end of Strasbourg's pursuit of a new goalkeeper for the upcoming season. The role had been left vacant at the end of last season when Mike Penders' (21) loan from Chelsea came to an end.
L'Équipe reports that since Thursday, Jörgensen has been in France waiting for the move to be completed. However, it was held up due to administrative issues. Now that those issues have been cleared and Jörgensen has officially signed, he'll be able to compete in Strasbourg's final friendly, which will take place against Newcastle United on Saturday.
The very next game will be the season opener away to Olympique de Marseille on Friday the 21st of August. Strasbourg have struggled in preseason having conceded 20 goals in five friendlies, something that new coach Hugo Oliviera will hope Jörgensen will help fix.
GFFN | Nick Hartland

#strasbourg

Chelsea are exploring potential loan moves for Mykhailo Mudryk as he looks to build up his fitness after 20 months out of football.
The Ukraine international, 25, has not played a competitive match since November 2024.
He was suspended for four years after returning an adverse finding for the banned substance meldonium.
However, an agreement was reached to resolve the doping case, and the winger has returned with substitute appearances in pre-season friendlies against Juventus, AC Milan and Johor Darul Ta'zim during Chelsea's tour of Asia.
In meetings at the end of the tour, Mudryk agreed to leave on loan before the transfer deadline on 1 September.

#tour #however #juventus

RB Leipzig fought off competition to sign Burnley's Maxime Estéve for €25m in July, and now the French defender is already impressing at his new employers.
Playing in an unfamiliar position, the left-footed centre-back has played on the right side of a back three in his three pre-season friendlies, but it's not a cause for concern. "This is completely new to me, but I have no problem with it," the Frenchman told Bild.
As such, head coach Martín Demichelis is reportedly thinking about including the 24-year-old on his team council for 2026/27. Upon his unveiling, sporting director Marcel Schäfer described his new defensive stalwart as a "natural leader."
Seemingly settling in with ease, Estéve added: "I feel like I've been here longer. I already know some of the players, but I'm trying to integrate even more. I want to be close to all the players because at centre-back, I have to talk a lot and be loud on the pitch."
Leipzig begin their campaign at Eintracht Trier in the DFB Pokal first round before hosting Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga a week later.

#back #centre #july #french

Aston Villa are reportedly working on a deal to sign Joao Palhinha from Bayern Munich in the summer transfer window.
Palhinha joined Tottenham Hotspur on loan last summer, with Spurs having an option to sign him permanently.
Despite impressing heavily for the North London club, Tottenham opted against triggering their £26m option to buy.
Palhinha has featured in pre-season friendlies for Bayern, but the Portuguese midfielder is not part of Vincent Kompany's first-team plans.
We previously reported that Bayern were hoping Aston Villa would make an offer for the 31-year-old midfielder as they look to offload him.

#joao

Manchester United teenager Harry Amass is tipped to leave the club before the end of the summer, as he's unlikely to be included in the first team's plans.
The young left-back made his senior debut under Ruben Amorim during the 2024/25 campaign, before spending the previous season away on loan.
In September, he joined the struggling Sheffield Wednesday. Although the Owls were on a free fall, the MUFC youth product managed to impress on an individual level, with the club's supporters voting him Player of the Month twice in a row.
Following a bittersweet experience in Sheffield, Amass was recalled to the base in January, before joining Norwich City for the second half of the campaign. But unfortunately for the youngster, his stint was swiftly wrecked by a serious injury.
This summer, Amass rejoined Michael Carrick's squad and has been collecting cameos during the pre-season friendlies.

#amass #ruben

There was a fresh new face in Barcelona training on Sunday as new signing Anthony Gordon took part in his first session since joining the club after ending his post-World Cup vacation.
Hansi Flick gave the squad that traveled to Italy for the triangular tournament against Udinese and Nottingham Forest a day off, but Gordon was on the training pitch for an individual session along with Gavi, Joan Garcia and Eric Garcia, who also came back from vacation on Sunday.
The rest of Barça's World Cup participants will join training on Wednesday, and the full first team squad will have 10 days to prepare for the La Liga opener away to Elche on August 23.
Barça have two more preseason friendlies on their schedule against FC Basel in Switzerland next Sunday and on August 19 against Al-Ahly in the annual Joan Gamper Trophy at Camp Nou.

#session

For a few hours on Sunday, social media lit up with rumours and speculation that Seamus Coleman had found himself a new club.
Not on the football pitch but with his local Gaelic football side, Killybegs.
The 37-year-old left Everton at the end of the last season, bringing a 17-year tenure with the Premier League club to a close.
Republic of Ireland captain Coleman has been without a club since, despite featuring in June's international friendlies, but it was rumoured he would make a sensational return to Gaelic football.
The Donegal Senior Football Championship started on Saturday, and Killybegs travelled to Four Masters in their opener on Sunday afternoon.

#gaelic

Club Friendlies
Johor Darul Ta'zim 3 - 3 Chelsea FT
Delap joined Chelsea from Ipswich in 2025 for £30m [Getty Images]
Liam Delap scored his first Chelsea goals since January as Xabi Alonso's side drew with Johor Darul Ta'zim in the final match of their pre-season tour.
With two games in successive days, Alonso named an entirely different XI to the one that beat AC Milan 3-0 in Jakarta on Saturday.

#Chelsea #delap #club

New Manchester City boss Enzo Maresca says he is "very happy" with his opening three pre-season friendlies in charge as his players are "open-minded" to his style of play.
City rounded off their Asian tour with a 3-1 victory over Atletico Madrid in South Korea on Sunday.
Maresca's side trailed 1-0 at half-time but a double from Omar Marmoush, both ****** isted by the impressive Antoine ****** yo, and a late Rayan Ait-Nouri strike secured the comeback win.
"Overall, a very good test against one of the best teams in Europe," Maresca said post-match.
"Credit to the players for the effort they have done. From tomorrow pre-season is finished and the real business starts.

#city #enzo #south

Aaron Anselmino has been taken off injured, another damaging mark for his reputation which is growing.
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You don't want to see tears in friendlies under any circumstances, but sadly that's what we're getting in Malaysia this evening.
A fully rotated team has been put out by Xabi Alonso after the Blues played another game 24 hours ago. Given our next friendly will probably see the strongest team played before the season starts, that means today is the final chance for many fringe players to impress.
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – AUGUST 01: Aaron Anselmino of Chelsea heads the ball during the Sydney Super Cup match between Chelsea FC and Tottenham at Accor Stadium on August 01, 2026 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

#sydney #aaron #australia

The Daily Merengue is a place where you can feel free to discuss all things football. Do not be alarmed by the overt RMCF bias. It's in the name! Shoutout to the mods who do a fantastic job, Ezek, Valyrian Steel, Felipejack, Juninho, NeRObutBlanco and yours truly, Kung_Fu_Zizou
Pre-Season was swallowed up by the Club World Cup last summer. This summer it has been disrupted by the World Cup. The desire to continuously invent football matches for eyeballs and revenue will always risk the quality of the game. The players who did not go to the World Cup or those who exited early will all have a decent pre-season. The players who went deep into the tournament not only have a shortened pre-season but will be back on international duty before long. The argument that the players are rich is one I will always find utterly unconvincing. What is noticeable is the decline in the quality of football and footballers in general. Managers desperately trying to reduce the game to automatisms in order to cover-up the dearth of unique individual quality in the game. Stats creating an Americanisation of the beautiful game. I do not know Maradona, Zidane and R9's stats. They're practically irrelevant to the beauty of the game. That aspect of the game is increasingly greyed out and becoming near impossible to access. I digress.. This is a mixed pre-season for Mourinho. He has had a chance to take a look at some of the youngsters and also the likes of Camavinga, Trent, Fede and Arda Guler. What he has not had the chance to do it have a look at a potential starting XI for the season with all his best players available. There are two friendlies remaining before La Liga kicks off for the 2026/27 season and Mourinho will still be intuiting his best XI for the season by then. The names are easy but the balance.. well, that's an entirely different matter altogether.
A true baller..Turkish Delight? The kid is awesome and has surpassed the expectations of many by merely still being at the club given every challenge he has faced every single season since his arrival. Arda Güler is a unique profile in the Real Madrid squad. He is a purely technical player while also having tactical awareness to make up for his physical short-comings.
Arda's story is one of perseverance. It is difficult enough to make it at Real Madrid without major obstacles but Arda has had to overcome injuries and lack of trust as well as rife competition in the squad. He has seemingly come out the other side, looking increasingly like the fabulous footballer we imagined upon his arrival in 2024. Mourinho will have to find a way to use Arda without upsetting the proverbial apple cart.
Thiago was seemingly in the window shop until apparently Jose Mourinho insisted that he remain at the club.

#club #Football

SC Freiburg and Mainz 05 recorded wins over French teams in friendlies played on Saturday. The Europa League finalists extended Strasbourg's poor pre-season with two 2-0 victories, while Mainz stunningly beat Paris FC 4-0.
The first game between Freiburg and Strasbourg was played with two 35-minute halves. Youngster Rouven Tarnutzer and evergreen winger Vincenzo Grifo scored the goals inside the first 20 minutes.
Lucas Höler scored both goals for Freiburg with headers as they later repeated that scoreline when the two clubs played 90 minutes with different lineups. Including another heavy defeat to Bundesliga debutants Elversberg, Strasbourg are yet to score a goal in preseason.
Meanwhile, Mainz thrashed Paris FC 4-0 at Bruchwegstadion on Saturday. Peruvian center-back Fabio Gruber opened the scoring for his new club in the 20th minute. Phillip Tietz doubled their lead before the break.
Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer and Kacper Potulski added more goals in the last ten minutes. The former HSV striker is in very good form during Mainz's pre-season.

#goals