Champions League Group G preview: Battle of big two

Christian Benteke scored the fastest goal in World Cup qualifying history by netting the first strike of his hat-trick after seven seconds as Belgium won 6-0 against Gibraltar in Group H.

Belgium remain top of the section after their emphatic victory in Faro, with Crystal Palace striker Benteke scoring his first international goals since March 2015.

Despite Gibraltar kicking off, they lost possession rapidly and Benteke ran through on goal to score the record-breaking opener, adding his team s third before half-time after Axel Witsel s deflected drive made it 2-0.

Dries Mertens scored Belgium s fourth after 51 minutes, beating helpless goalkeeper Deren Ibrahim with a lofted finish, before Benteke completed his treble with a neat backheel from Eden Hazard s pas…

Spurs in talks for Lass Diarra

Tottenham Hotspur have stepped up their interest in French midfielder Lassana Diarra, .

Spurs need cover on the right flank following Kyle Walker s injury and Mauricio Pochettino appears ready to take the gamble with the former Arsenal footballer.

Diarra is considered a very good option for the centre of the park, while he was used as a right-sided defender quite a few times in the past.

According to L Equipe, Spurs are in advanced talks with the midfielder s representatives, and they are expected to reach an agreement in the coming days.

Diarra, who is a free agent, is believed to be demanding a hefty salary, but Tottenham are ready to offer him an enticing contract that would include signing on fee and performanc…

manager Jürgen Klopp is considering Newcastle United s Jamaal Lascelles and Burnley s James Tarkowski as he plans to add three or four players to the squad, according to .

The centre-back area is a priority for Klopp, but his designs for the transfer window include a goalkeeper likely to be Jack Butland, and an attacker to add to his currently impressive attacking options. The report claims both Klopp and his superiors at the club view Lascelles and Tarkowski as players of the right characteristics for their back line, and they will try to get one of them to Anfield this summer.

With Joel Matip, Joe Gomez and Ragnar Klavan all occasionally out of action during the 2017/18 season and Dejan Lovren with patches of poor form, Liverpool s defence has been stretched thin, a…

Can those planning to storm Area 51 expect to see another Zlatan Ibrahimovic? No.

Almost two million people have RSVP d to a Facebook event to Storm Area 51 – a classified US Air Force training base in Nevada which conspiracy theorists believe harbours information about extraterrestrial life.

A disclaimer in the Facebook event claims it is all a joke, but it has not stopped #StormArea51 from taking the internet by storm.

When LA Galaxy superstar Ibrahimovic fronted the media on Wednesday, he was asked what might be in Area 51.

What s in Area 51? : Not another Zlatan. That s for sure.  

— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy)

Not another Zlatan. That s for sure, Ibrahimovic joked with reporters.

Asked if they would let Ibrahimovic into Area…

Gary McAllister is set to be named as Paul Hart s assistant at Portsmouth, according to reports.

The former Leeds and Coventry boss has not worked since December last year and rejected the chance to become Scotland manager George Burley s right-hand man last week.

Portsmouth are rock bottom of the Barclays Premier League without a point so far this season.

McAllister, 44, ended his spell with Leeds in December 2008 having failed to win promotion back to the Championship.

Hart, who took over in the summer following a spell as caretaker, has two first-team coaches, Ian Woan and Paul Groves, but no assistant manager following Brian Kidd s summer exit.

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The statistics make grim reading for Arsenal: three points adrift of the English Premier League s top four, eight goals in their last six league games and just one win in their last four outings are not the kind of numbers which smack of a Champions League contender.

But Arsene Wenger has always been a member of the school of positive thinking and the Frenchman has been instructing his squad to look on the bright side ahead of their encounter with Bolton on Saturday.

Wenger insists Arsenal can play an active part in the title race, despite all the evidence pointing to the contrary, and hopes the confidence gained from a six-game unbeaten run a sequence, admittedly, that includes three draws will fuel his side s new year charge.

Arsenal do not appear a side flood…

Portuguese media outlet that La Liga giants Valencia are hot on the trail of Vitoria Guimaraes midfielder Bernard Mensah.

Los Che have been impressed with the player s performances this season and they appear eager to lure the youngster to Mestalla at the earliest opportunity.

According to A Bola, Valencia have submitted an official proposal worth €2 million, but the bid was swiftly rejected as Vitoria value the 20-year-old at €6 million.

Bernard Mensah joined Vitoria Guimaraes from Feyenoord Ghana in 2012 and he was handed his senior debut at the start of the current season.

The talented footballer immediately nailed down a regular starting berth and went on to score four goals and create three assists in 12 league outings.

His suitors Vale…

Manchester City defender Pablo Zabaleta believes the club will improve on their poor UEFA Champions League showing last season.

City failed to win a game in the competition last season, picking up just three points as they finished bottom of a tough group that featured Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Ajax.

The Argentina international says the club have learned from their experiences in the competition though, and feels they will put on a better showing under new manager Manuel Pellegrini.

I think it is another chance for this club, for this team, to do better in the Champions League, he said ahead of City s clash with Viktoria Plzen on Tuesday.

From what happened the last two years in the Champions League, I think we learned and hopefully we will do better.…

Tottenham have completed the signing of Ryan Sessegnon from Fulham in a player-plus-cash transfer that sees Josh Onomah move the opposite way.

Sessegnon, who can play anywhere down the left-hand side, has been repeatedly linked with Tottenham over the past 18 months and an agreement was finally reached between the London clubs.

Spurs will reportedly pay Fulham £25million for the 19-year-old, with academy product Onomah who has spent back-to-back campaigns on loan in the Championship with Aston Villa and Sheffield Wednesday included as part of the deal.

England Under-21 international Sessegnon boasts one season of Premier League experience after appearing 35 times for relegated Fulham in 2018-19, scoring twice and laying on six assists for his team-mates.

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Zlatan Ibrahimovic s retirement from international football prompted Sweden to build a fierce collective spirit that has them a game away from the World Cup quarter-finals, according to captain Andreas Granqvist.

Ibrahimovic retired from international football after Sweden bowed out at the group stage of Euro 2016 and speculation over a possible return for Russia 2018 was never given credence by head coach Janne Andersson.

In the former Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United star s absence, centre-back Granqvist has proved an unlikely goalscoring hero – dispatching penalties in the wins over South Korea and Mexico to set up a last-16 encounter against Switzerland in St Petersburg on Tuesday.

Nothing in particular has changed, other than we ve lost one of th…