Amman, Jordan — 

Turkish artillery and warplanes on Friday battered Kurdish-held territories across northeast Syria, while ground troops and allies overran 14 villages on the periphery of two strategic towns along the border, Turkey’s military said.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, referring to Kurdish fighters, said 342 “terrorists have been neutralized” since the start of cross-border military operations on Wednesday, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.

The incursion called Operation Peace Spring involves a heavy barrage in a region controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces, Kurdish-led militias that for years have received U.S. backing in the fight against Islamic State militants.

The assault announced by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan began after President Trump announced early this week that U.S. troops would be withdrawn from the area, in effect allowing Turkey, an ally, to attack the Kurds, also allies — a move viewed by many U.S. observers, both Democrats and Republicans, as a betrayal.

Turkey has said it wants to push Kurdish fighters from a 20-mile band of territory it calls a safe zone extending along the Syrian-Turkish border. It also has said it aims to resettle millions of refugees who went to Turkey since the start of war in Syria in 2011.

In his speech, Akar said that “only terrorists and their shelters, positions, weapons, ammunition depots and equipment are targeted,” and that the attack would avoid targeting “innocent people.”

Yet there were civilians among the dead on both sides of the border. The Kurdish Red Crescent reported 11 civilians killed, while Kurdish shelling on Turkish border towns including Akcakale killed six people, including an 11-month-old baby, according to Turkish media.

The funeral for the child, Mohammad Omar Saar, was broadcast from Akcakale, with footage depicting Turkish soldiers in ceremonial attire carrying and then saluting a small coffin draped in the red of the Turkish flag.

Later Friday, several artillery shells landed near a U.S. observation post in the Kurdish-controlled city of Kobani, some 35 miles northwest of Tal Abyad, Syria. A U.S. official, speaking on background, said no troops were harmed. Turkey’s Defense Ministry denied it had targeted the observation post.

The Turkish military has the coordinates for U.S. positions; the attack was not considered a direct one, said the U.S. official, even if it was “reckless.” The U.S. personnel departed the post.

More than 100,000 people have fled the violence, the United Nations said Friday, while the International Rescue Committee aid group estimated that a total of 300,000 could be forced to abandon their homes.

It has disrupted life throughout the Kurds’ enclave, which they established as a semiautonomous area in northeast Syria with U.S. support.

On Friday, a spokesman for the Syrian National Army, a Turkish-backed grouping of Syrian rebel factions, said they had controlled villages surrounding Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ayn, two strategic areas Turkey needs to bolster its drive into Kurdish-held territory, but had yet to enter the towns.

The aid group Doctors Without Borders said the main hospital in Tal Abyad had been closed after medical staff left with their families.

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Some hospitals elsewhere in Kurdish-controlled areas had also shuttered their doors, activists said, while those still receiving the wounded were “stretched beyond their capacity.”

The shelling also struck critical infrastructure, including water stations, causing shortages in many areas.

In the turmoil, Islamic State planted a car bomb near a restaurant in the city of Qamishli, the group said, leaving behind “dozens” of casualties among the Kurdish fighters. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a pro-opposition watchdog group, said six people were killed.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, at a news conference Friday with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, acknowledged what he called “Turkey’s legitimate security concerns,” but said he expected Turkey “to act with restraint.” He said he was concerned about further destabilizing the region, and “even more human suffering.”

“We have a common enemy — Daesh,” Stoltenberg said, referring to Islamic State by its Arabic acronym. “A few years ago, they controlled significant territory in Iraq and in Syria. Working together in the global coalition, we have liberated all this territory and millions of people. These gains must not be jeopardized.”

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper, meanwhile, spoke to his Turkish counterpart by phone, according to a Pentagon statement released Friday, in which he said that the incursion could risk “serious consequences for Turkey” and that its action could harm remaining U.S. personnel in Syria.

Esper, the statement said, “strongly encouraged Turkey to discontinue actions in northeast Syria” before the situation became “irreparable.”

Erdogan, speaking later in Istanbul, said Turkey was receiving pressure to stop but “will not turn back,” according to Anadolu.

The Pentagon said it’s ramping up the deployment of U.S. forces to the Middle East to “assure and enhance the defense of Saudi Arabia” against Iran at the same time President Trump has vowed to start bringing troops home from the region.

The Pentagon plans to dispatch about 1,800 additional troops to Saudi Arabia, officials said. Combined with other recent deployments, about 3,000 personnel are being sent or are having their missions extended in the Mideast, they said. Since May, an additional 14,000 U.S. personnel are in the region, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said Friday.

The deployment to Saudi Arabia comes as Trump and his top aides defended his decision to pull back some U.S. forces in northern Syria, a move that cleared the way for Turkey to send its forces into the country and attack American-allied Kurdish militias. Esper, speaking to reporters at the Pentagon, said most U.S. troops remain “co-located” with Kurdish-led forces in northern Syria.

“We are not abandoning our Kurdish partner forces,” Esper said at a briefing alongside Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley.

The latest deployment appeared at odds with statements Trump has made repeatedly in recent days about pulling U.S. forces out of “endless wars” in the Mideast.

“It’s time to bring them home,” Trump said at a rally in Minneapolis on Thursday night. “We’ve done our job, we’ve defeated everyone that we’re supposed to defeat.”

Esper and Milley said they’ve told their Turkish counterparts that they oppose Ankara’s attacks in northern Syria and said the U.S. never “greenlighted” the operation despite the White House announcement Sunday that American troops “would no longer be in the immediate area” if Turkey moved into Syria. Amid denunciations, including from many Republican lawmakers, Trump later said he had warned Turkey that the incursion was “a bad idea.”

Esper and Milley are likely to face tough questioning on whether Trump served as an enabler for Turkey’s incursion when they testify in a closed session of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday on “The Situation in Syria and the Wider Region.”

So far, Milley estimated, Turkey has sent hundreds of ground troops into the region to work with as many as 1,000 members of the Syrian Free Army but has primarily attacked with fighter jets, armed drones, artillery and tank fire. He called the Turkish operation on the ground “relatively limited.”

Crude oil prices were already climbing after a pair of explosions on an Iranian oil tanker in the Red Sea on Friday. The Islamic Republic’s tanker company initially said the attacks probably came from Saudi Arabia, but later withdrew the claim.

The deployment to Saudi Arabia announced Friday will include a previously previewed delivery of additional Patriot and THAAD missile defense systems that were initially held in reserve. The two systems will provide Saudi Arabia a layered air defense to intercept ballistic missiles at different altitudes and distances, extending coverage.

Esper said that move was in response to last month’s missile and drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities, a strike the U.S., Saudi Arabia and some European nations have blamed on Iran.

MEXICO CITY — 

At least one man died when a small boat filled with migrants from the Central African nation of Cameroon capsized Friday off the Pacific coast of southern Mexico, authorities said.

Two passengers were still missing late in the day, said prosecutors in Chiapas state.

The single-engine boat most likely originated in Mexico or nearby Guatemala with the aim of smuggling the migrants up the coast of Mexico so they could avoid traveling by land through Chiapas.

Thousands of African migrants trying to get to the United States have been stranded in southern Mexico as authorities there — under pressure from the Trump administration — have refused to issue them transit visas to continue north. Many plan to seek political asylum or other forms of humanitarian protection in the United States.

Mexican and U.S. authorities have reported detaining record numbers of undocumented African nationals this year.

Activists were quick to assign blame for the tragedy.

“What happened today with the African migrants is completely the fault of the Mexican government that has accepted the caprices and orders of President Trump,” said Irineo Mujica, a member of the Pueblos Sin Fronteras group that has assisted migrants traveling through Mexico.

Mexican officials did not respond to a request for comment.

Eight other Cameroonian nationals — seven men and one woman — survived and were treated in an area hospital and released.

Mexican authorities were questioning them to determine where the boat had originated, how long it had been at sea and other details.

The attorney general’s office in Chiapas state vowed to “clarify the matter” and identify those responsible.

The boat capsized about 7 a.m. near the fishing town of Puerto Arista, part of the municipality of Tonala, police said.

The dead man was identified as Emanuel Cheo Ngu, 39. Photos circulated on the internet of his fully clothed body in the brush along a beach.

Immigration authorities in Costa Rica had issued him a transit visa on Sept. 6 that gave him 25 days to pass through that Central American nation, according to a document made public in Mexico.

For years, smugglers have transported migrants in boats along the Pacific coast to points north of Chiapas, which has a heavy presence of police, soldiers and immigration agents tasked with deterring illicit migration.

Immigration checkpoints — bolstered by recently deployed Mexican National Guard forces — line the major northbound routes in Chiapas state.

Stranded African migrants have staged angry demonstrations in the southern Mexican city of Tapachula and have camped in protest outside Mexico’s federal immigration lockup there. Most had flown to Ecuador or other places in South America and made their way overland to Mexico.

Cameroonians represent the largest group among the African migrants arriving in Mexico. Many are part of that country’s English-speaking minority and say they face repression from a government dominated by the French-speaking majority.

Special correspondents Maria de Jesus Peters Pino in Tonala and Cecilia Sanchez in Mexico City contributed to this report.

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On Thursday October 11, the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra invited a number of esteemed guests to join Vogue Australia in celebrating its rich 60-year history with the opening of its highly-anticipated new exhibition, Women in Vogue: Celebrating Sixty Years in Australia.

The VIP celebration, which was hosted by Australia editor-in-chief Edwina McCann (above) and National Portrait Gallery director Karen Quinlan, with thanks to Paspaley, Moët Chandon and hotel partner Ovolo Nishi, saw former Foreign Minister of Australia, The Hon. Julie Bishop, take to the stage to unveil the celebrated exhibition. 

With the likes of former Vogue Australia editors Nancy Pilcher and and Juliet Ashworth in attendance, together with Vogue Australia cover stars Samantha Harris, Anneliese Seubert and Ursula Hufnagl, the event proved to be one that was not to be missed. 

“The elegant and contemporary exhibition will draw on our archive and highlight Vogue Australia’s role in documenting the changing roles and diversity of Australian womanhood over two generations,” shared McCann, prior to the opening of the showcase. “I couldn’t think of a better way to start our 60th anniversary celebrations.”

The exhibition, which is split up into three different segments–Looking Back, featuring images from the 1960s and 1970s; Looking Out, a visual representation of the second wave of feminism; and Looking Forward, depicting the faces currently shaping the country–will be open to the public from October 11, 2019 to November 24, 2019.

To view iconic portraits of everyone from Kylie Minogue, Elle Macpherson, HRH Crown Princess Mary and Nicole Kidman, to Cate Blanchett, Margot Robbie, Miranda Tapsell and Adut Akech, be sure to plan a visit to the National Portrait Gallery.

Julie Bishop, Samantha Harris and Edwina McCann.

Pia Miller.

Jake Terrey and Matilda Dods.

Camilla Freeman-Topper and Marc Freeman.

Carla Zampatti.

Graace.

Alison Veness.

Julie Bishop.

Nicky Oatley and Melissa Doyle.

Tessa and Beth MacGraw.

Nancy Pilcher.

Nicholas Gray and Anneliese Seubert.

Pia Miller.

Karen Quinlan.

Karen Quinlan , Ursula Hufnagl, Edwina McCann, and Samantha Harris.

Juliet Ashworth and Marc Freeman.

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The Dutch defender was frustrated with Neymar and Co’s theatrics during Champions League defeat at Parc des Princes

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Virgil van Dijk joined Jurgen Klopp in condemning Paris Saint-Germain’s theatrics during the sides’ Champions League clash – but then suggested the Reds should have taken a leaf out of Neymar and Co’s book.

It was a disappointing night for Liverpool in the French capital, their 2-1 loss leaving their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stage hanging by a thread.

Last season’s finalists must beat Napoli either 1-0 or by two clear goals at Anfield in a fortnight’s time to guarantee progression, having slid to a fifth successive European defeat away from home.

The game was settled by first-half goals from Juan Bernat and Neymar, but afterwards much of the talk centred on the performance of referee Szymon Marciniak and the behaviour of Thomas Tuchel’s side.

Van Dijk was one of six Liverpool players booked on the night, with many of the Reds’ party angered by what they believed to be constant play-acting from the PSG players.

Klopp, speaking post-match, said that his team had been “made to look like butchers” by the referee, while Andy Robertson was another who spoke out. Jamie Carragher, the former Reds defender, described PSG’s antics as “embarrassing”.

As for Van Dijk, he was equally irked, though the Dutch defender hinted that Liverpool may have been wise to play the Ligue 1 champions at their own game.

He told reporters: “Obviously they’re world-class players but I don’t think it’s needed in the game at times.

“Sometimes they get hit and they will go down and sometimes I think it’s too easy and I’m getting so frustrated. It’s important to keep your head cool but every time we made a foul they all came to the ref trying to get us a yellow card.

“We should do the same at times today and I think in the second half we did it better. It’s not my type of game that I like. We still respect them how they are as players because they’re world-class players but it’s not really necessary at times.

“But other than that, they scored two goals, we lost and that’s it.”

Victory for PSG, of course, kept alive their own hopes of reaching the last 16. Tuchel’s team now need only a win against Red Star Belgrade on Matchday Six to secure their place, and the celebrations which greeted the final whistle on Wednesday told their own story. They did not go unnoticed by those from Liverpool, either.

“I think everyone in Europe respects us and I think we deserve that,” Van Dijk said. “But I think they are playing for the Champions League, that’s what their season is all about. They’re going to win the league, that’s something pretty obvious, so the only big thing for them is the Champions League.

“You see how much it meant after the game, how they celebrated.”

For Liverpool, the concern is that their struggles on the road in Europe go on. Once more, they were unable to impose their game and were punished for a slow start. A revival, prompted by James Milner’s penalty, failed to materialise in the second half.

“I hate losing, like everyone else,” added Van Dijk. “When you’re 2-0 down after 30 minutes, then you know it’s going to be tough. I think after the penalty that we scored we had more belief than ever and I think second half we did much better and unfortunately we didn’t get the equaliser.

“We don’t need to forget that we played Napoli, one of the best teams in Europe; PSG, one of the favourites to win the Champions League; and obviously the game in Belgrade was not good enough. We don’t need to [think] we are a s*** team, basically. It can happen.

“But the frustrating thing is how we conceded the goals and then it’s always difficult to come back. I don’t know if there’s any explanation for that right now because I can’t think of one – otherwise we should have used it already. But now we need to look forward and the only option for us to qualify is to win against Napoli, no matter what.”

Van Dijk added: “I’m very disappointed from tonight but we know that there’s only one chance left and we all want to take. We’re going to do everything that’s possible. We need everyone’s help, we need all the fans, we need everyone that comes to support us that night to make it a special evening for all of us.

“We know it’s going to be tough – Napoli is a fantastic team with great players, they have a great manager – but we need to keep believing in ourselves. We already do, I think, but at times today it wasn’t good enough and we need to be ready for that test.”

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The Serie A champions need only a point to secure a place in the next round, having slipped up against Manchester United last time out

Juventus were cruising towards the last 16 of the Champions League before they were stunned by a late Manchester United double salvo three weeks ago, but can secure their berth in the knockout stages by earning a point against Valencia at home on Tuesday.

Massimiliano Allegri’s side had been perfect in the competition until Juan Mata and an own goal from Leonardo Bonucci consigned them to an unexpected defeat in Turin earlier this month.

That result was also a blow for the Spaniards, who could find themselves out of the competition if they fail to win at the home of the Serie A champions, having earned five points from four games to date.

In the United States (US), the game can be watched live and on-demand with fuboTV (7-day free trial) .

New users can sign up for a free seven-day trial of the live sports streaming service, which can be accessed via iOS, Android, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV as well as on a web browser.

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In the United Kingdom (UK), the game can be watched live on TV on BT Sport Extra and it can be streamed live online using the BT Sport app.

Juventus starting XI: Szczesny; Cancelo, Chiellini, Bonucci, Alex Sandro; Bentancur, Pjanic, Matuidi; Dybala, Mandzukic, Ronaldo

Valencia starting XI: Neto; Gabriel, Kondogbia, Guedes, Parejo, Diakhaby, Gaya, Coquelin, Wass, Rodrigo, Santi Mina

Juventus are hot 2/5 favourites to win, according to bet365, while Valencia are priced at 8/1. The draw is 4/1.

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Aside from six minutes of madness against Manchester United three weeks ago, it has been very much business as usual for Juventus this season.

They have established their dominant position atop Serie A, having opened an eight-point gap to Napoli after only 13 matches, winning 12 of 13 fixtures, while they had boasted a perfect Champions League record until their uncharacteristic late collapse against the Red Devils.

Regardless of the outcome of Tuesday’s match, victory over Young Boys in Switzerland next month would be enough for a place in the last 16, but such have been the standards in Turin, they expect to win the group. 

“Tomorrow we want to get through and secure first place, but Valencia are in good form,” Allegri said.

Indeed, the coach believes that the defeat against Jose Mourinho’s club was actually a welcome jolt that reminded his team that they are vulnerable before a big Serie A clash with AC Milan that was won 2-0.

“We can’t fall asleep like we did with Manchester United,” he said.

“It’s just a matter of focus, and losing against United did us good because if not we’d have stumbled against Milan.

“We must have respect for Valencia, they’ve only lost one of their last 10 matches. Tomorrow at 11pm we’ll know everything.”

While Allegri is right to point out that the Spaniards have been tough to beat, they have made little headway in La Liga this term due to the fact they have drawn eight of their 13 matches.

Marcelino’s men have won four of their last five games in all competitions, but in each of those victories their opponents have finished with 10 men.

The Mestalla club, who face Real Madrid on Saturday, must find a path to victory at Juventus Stadium if they are to keep their Champions League hopes burning, and with a fully focused home team standing in their way, they are unlikely to be granted any presents in the way that Man Utd were.

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The two World Cup winners have contributed massively to Munich’s dire defensive record this season and there are mounting calls for them to be dropped

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The regime change at Bayern Munich is not going smoothly. Niko Kovac’s job is in peril just a few months after taking over from adored treble-winner Jupp Heynckes.

President Uli Hoeness wanted Heynckes to remain as Bayern boss this season but the coach opted for retirement instead. The veteran has already managed Bayern four times – most recently as a rescue act after Carlo Ancelotti’s tenure drew to a premature close – and he could well be answering the phone for a fifth time in the coming weeks.

Bayern are again in a tailspin; the stability that Heynckes provided as the club roared to a sixth consecutive Bundesliga title is gone. They are languishing in fifth place in the Bundesliga and already nine points behind leaders Borussia Dortmund.

They lost the Klassiker before the international break and their poor form continued over the weekend with a 3-3 draw at home against Fortuna Dusseldorf, which must have felt like a loss with the equaliser coming in the 93rd minute.

Kovac may well be the first victim of Bayern’s crisis but, in truth, this is a team which is falling apart from the inside out. The core of the squad remains the same as 2013, when they won the Champions League under Heynckes. If a week is a long time in football then what is five years?

The continued presence of Manuel Neuer, Jerome Boateng, David Alaba, Javi Martinez, Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery and Thomas Muller in the line-up is testament to the club’s consistency but the time has come to question whether a few of those are past their sell-by date.

In particular, German World Cup winners Neuer and Boateng have been in pitiful form for Bayern over the past few weeks. Legitimate questions now exist as to whether they will ever get back to their dominant best.

Neuer has long been regarded as the best goalkeeper in the world but the forcefield that once seemed to cover him has disappeared. Neuer has conceded a remarkable 14 goals from the last 17 shots he’s faced. That’s not just bad; that’s Claudio Bravo bad.

In terms of goals conceded, this is Neuer’s worst run since becoming a Bayern player. He has failed to keep a clean sheet in each of his last eight games, an unwelcome record last hit in 2010-11, when Neuer was still at Schalke.

Bayern haven’t had a run of games like this, in terms of goals conceded, since 2000. Moreover, this is the first time since 1994 that they’ve gone four Bundesliga matches without a win. Neuer is a problem but he’s not the only problem.

“Manuel is not so stable this season because the defence is not so stable,” Fortuna coach Friedhelm Funkel told Sky on Saturday. “He is still our best goalkeeper in Germany. He can’t do anything about the goals.

“But, in a good phase, he might have saved one or two, because he’d play a bit more successfully. People know that now too. Bayern have conceded 17 goals, and that is in just 12 games. They’ve sometimes done that after 34 games!”

Dusseldorf should be the type of game Bayern win easily, particularly from 3-1 up. But there is a great vulnerability about them at the moment and it all stems from their defensive woes.

Neuer cannot be relied upon as he once was but Bayern are so soft through the centre of their defence. There is little any goalkeeper could do, given the quality of the chances being surrendered by Boateng, fellow world champion Mats Hummels and Niklas Sule at centre-back.

Boateng might well have provided a good assist for Muller on Saturday but his defensive work was dire. He turned his back on the cross which first permitted Dodi Lukebakio to score from close range. His contribution for Fortuna’s second, meanwhile, was woeful.

“When I see how Boateng tried to play the offside trap on the second goal – my dear fellow, that was alarming,” Funkel said.

“No coach in the world can do anything about Boateng playing the offside trap only because he’s too lazy to run after his man. He takes two steps forward and wants to get out of a race with Lukebakio. That shouldn’t happen with such a world-class player.”

Both Neuer and Boateng have suffered significant injuries during the past couple of seasons and are performing a long way beneath their once world-class standards. Neuer’s metatarsal injury towards the end of 2017 kept him out for the best part of a year, while numerous thigh and hamstring injuries appear to have caught up with Boateng.

Indeed, there were discussions over the summer about Boateng leaving the club for Manchester United or Paris Saint-Germain but he remains on the books. But for how much longer?

Neuer has a capable deputy in Sven Ulreich – even if he messed up in the Champions League semi-finals last season – and some Bayern fans are asking for his inclusion.

And if Bayern had a bigger pool of talent in the centre of defence, then Boateng would probably be taken out of the firing line too. But Sule and Hummels have been having their struggles too and it’s an area in need of drastic reconstruction in one transfer window or another.

In that regard, Kovac is paying the price for Bayern’s negligence in the summer transfer window. This is a team which clearly had holes in it given their Champions League failure against Real last season but where major changes were needed, only tweaks came.

Loyalty is an admirable quality, but someone has got to get hold of the situation and recognise that this club and these players are not what they once were.

The manager is looking forward to the federation finishing a look into alleged FFP breaches, insisting he has trust in the club.

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Pep Guardiola says he has full trust in Manchester City’s operations as he waits for UEFA to conclude an investigation into the club’s alleged Financial Fair Play breaches.

There have been suggestions that City could be banned from next season’s Champions League if they are found guilty of circumventing FFP regulations.

German magazine Der Spiegel made a number of claims against City last month, based on documents purportedly obtained from whistleblowing platform Football Leaks, which allegedly show the Premier League champions contravened rules on how much money owners are allowed to put into a club.

City dismissed the claims, insisting “the attempt to damage the club’s reputation is organised and clear”.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said this week that Europe’s governing body was “assessing the situation” around City, adding: “We have an independent body working on it. Very soon you will have an answer on what will happen in this concrete case.”

Speaking after his side’s 2-1 win at Watford on Tuesday, Guardiola underlined his hopes for a swift resolution.

“UEFA is doing what it is doing. If it found something, the club will make a statement and I like that because we’ll know exactly how we’re going to finish,” he said.

“If there’s something regular, we’ll know it. If we did something not regular, the people can finish to talk about [it].

“I trust a lot in my club, in our organisation. If something is wrong, they are going to tell us.”

City’s win at Vicarage Road came thanks to goals from Leroy Sane and Riyad Mahrez, although the result was placed under threat when Abdoulaye Doucoure scrambled home in the 85th minute.

Guardiola urged his players to learn from the scare after they had controlled the majority of the match.

“In the last minutes, anything could have happened, but we played 65, 70 minutes at a top, top level, so aggressive. We had many, many chances,” he said.

“Last season, we won against Southampton [in the] 95th minute and West Ham [in] the last minute. That’s football: you can’t expect when you’re away and you don’t score the third goal and concede one that you don’t suffer.

“Anything can happen in this kind of game but, okay, in general, three quarters of the game was good.

“You can never forget to play. Until the last second, [when] the referee decides to go home, you have to play and play and play.”

Sergio Aguero again missed the game due to injury, and Guardiola conceded he is not yet sure if the striker will be fit for Saturday’s trip to Chelsea.

“I don’t know right now. Tomorrow [Wednesday], they’re going to tell me,” he said.

However, the 47-year-old calmed any fears that captain Vincent Kompany was injured in the second half, saying: “It was cramp. He’s okay.”

Pep Guardiola’s side sent records tumbling in 2017-18 and have every intention of raising the Premier League bar even further in the current campaign

Bernardo Silva has warned Manchester City’s rivals that the Premier League champions are even better than they were last season and are eyeing more records.

Pep Guardiola’s side re-wrote the history books in 2017-18 as they swept to the top-flight crown in style.

Their haul of 100 points, 32 wins and 106 goals were all new highs for a fiercely competitive division that they made it look very easy to conquer.

City are back on the march this term, with no defeats suffered across 14 outings to date, and Silva believes a settled squad can continue to raise the bar.

The Portuguese playmaker said after a 3-1 victory over Bournemouth: “It’s almost the same squad with some improvements, like Riyad [Mahrez], and more time together.

“So, yes, we might be a bit better. We want to break the records of last season, but it’s not easy.”

City’s cause continues to be aided by the high standards set by key men.

They have been able to maintain a remarkable level of consistency, with Guardiola able to bring the best out of those at his disposal.

Among those he has firing on all cylinders at present is Raheem Sterling, with the England international enjoying another productive campaign in which he has committed to a new contract.

The 23-year-old was back among the goals against Bournemouth, taking him to nine for the season, and there is a feeling that there is even more to come from an in-form forward.

Silva said of his club colleague: “I hope he can get more than he got last season. He has been in fantastic form.

“He is so aggressive with the ball and so focused on the goal. If he continues like this he will help us win some titles.”

Sterling netted 23 times across all competitions in 2017-18, with that return seeing him more than double his previous personal best from spells at Liverpool and City.

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Lionel Messi is reportedly not in the top three for the Ballon d’Or, something Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde does not understand.

Ernesto Valverde admits it would be a surprise if Lionel Messi misses out on a place among the final three nominees for the 2018 Ballon d’Or.

Reports emerged in Spain this week to suggest France Football’s prize will go to Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric, with Cristiano Ronaldo second and Antoine Griezmann third.

If true, it would mark the end of Messi and Ronaldo’s 10-year dominance of the award and the first time the Argentina star has not been in the final three since 2006.

Barcelona head coach Valverde agrees it would be strange to see the 31-year-old failed to be recognised for his form.

“Messi was the best player in the first week, second week and fifth week of the Champions League [this season],” he told a news conference. “He must have played really badly in the third and fourth week, then… Ah, no, he was injured!

“What can we say? We can congratulate the players who are. It is a little bit strange, but there you are.”

Barca resume their La Liga title defence on Sunday against Villarreal looking to end a two-game winless run, but recent injuries to Samuel Umtiti, Luis Suarez, Sergi Roberto, Rafinha and Arthur have left the squad looking stretched.

Valverde hopes to have Thomas Vermaelen and Arthur back to full fitness soon but would not rule out possible January signings to cover for the absence of Umtiti.

“Until the window comes along, we have to go along with what we have,” he said. “We’ll see how Samuel Umtiti’s injury develops and we hope he’ll come back sooner rather than later. We don’t really know if we’ll have to go to the market or not. There are many things we need to assess between now and then. We’ll see. We’ve got time. 

“We have to define these things this month. We’re coming into January. Umtiti is being very closely monitored but we know there’s a winter transfer window coming up. We can’t wait five months for a decision like that; we need a strong team. But we’re pretty sure we’ll get Umtiti back before the end of the season. 

“It’s the worst thing to happen to a coach because it’s something you can’t control. It seems a lot of injuries have come at the same time. Sometimes, they’re more spread out; sometimes they seem to happen at once. It means you’re keener than ever for the players to get over them. We just regained some players, like [Ivan] Rakitic, [Philippe] Coutinho, we should have others back very shortly.” 

The game at Camp Nou will be Valverde’s 400th in La Liga as a head coach, with the 54-year-old going in search of his 183rd win. 

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“It’s a lot!” he said. “When you’re coaching, you don’t count the games. It’s a round figure and a big one. It means I’m probably nearer the end than the start.”