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.”

The Germany international has hailed his PSG team-mate, whom he tipped to win the Ballon d’Or in the future

Julian Draxler said he’s never seen a player as good at such a young age as his PSG team-mate Kylian Mbappe. 

Mbappe is about to complete a remarkable 2018 that has seen him lift a World Cup and finish fourth in the Ballon d’Or voting, all before he even turns 20 later this month. 

The teenage sensation helped PSG to a domestic treble in 2017-18 and has started the new season in strong form again, having netted 14 goals in 16 appearances in all competitions. 

When asked what Mbappe could improve upon to win the Ballon d’Or in 2019, Draxler struggled to name a weakness in his team-mate’s game.

“It’s hard to say, he’s already a world-class player,” Draxler told Goal.

“But he’s now 19 or 20 years old so to win the Ballon d’Or he needs some more experience, but he’s still so young.

“If he continues like this he will win it one day. I’m sure. Because I’ve never seen a player of his age who played as good as he is currently playing.”

The presence of Mbappe, along with high-profile stars like Angel Di Maria, Edinson Cavani and Neymar has meant Draxler is not an automatic starter at PSG the way he would be at so many other sides. 

Draxler admits that he’s had to take a backseat at times to his illustrious team-mates, especially the talismanic Neymar. 

“We know that Neymar has great skills, he’s a great player so we try to find him everywhere on the pitch,” Draxler said. 

“If he plays on the left side we try to find him on the left side, if he plays as number 10 we try to find him at the centre. He doesn’t really care in which position he plays, he tries to be everywhere on the pitch.

“For us it’s not a big difference but of course if you have a player like him you have to give him the ball. That’s also kind of my role at the moment.

“I try to defend well with (Adrien) Rabiot, Marquinhos or (Marco) Verratti. It doesn’t matter, if we have the ball we try to find Neymar and Mbappe because they are very dangerous and they can score out of nothing.”

Neymar was once considered the heir apparent to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the race to be considered the world’s top player but Mbappe has stolen his thunder somewhat, with the Brazilian finishing a distant 11th in the 2018 Ballon d’Or voting.

Draxler wouldn’t be drawn on which of the pair will win the Ballon d’Or first, but did tip both to lift the prize in the future. 

“I don’t know, I don’t know. You know, it depends on the form, what kind of season you played, which team you play [for],” the 25-year-old said.

“Sometimes it’s also a bit of luck that you need but what I can say is the two are amazing players and they both deserve the Ballon d’Or one day.”

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The player’s agent claimed on Saturday that he had looked for a move to Serie A, and that version of events has now been reinforced

Cristiano Ronaldo sought out a move to Juventus while the Serie A club was in talks with fellow Jorge Mendes client, Joao Cancelo, according to The Old Lady’s sporting director Fabio Paratici.

Ronaldo moved to Juve in the close season for a fee of €112 million (£100.7m/$127.5m), ending a nine-year stint at Real Madrid, and his agent Mendes said on Saturday that the move was the forward’s idea.

And Paratici has now backed up that version of events, despite previous claims that Ronaldo had been forced out of Madrid after failing to agree a new contract at the end of the 2017-18 campaign.

“When we met with Mendes to discuss Cancelo, that is where the whole thing began,” Paratici told Sky Sport Italia.

“Mendes said to me: ‘You won’t believe this, but Cristiano wants to come to Juve.’

“I replied that I believed it, but it seemed difficult to make everything come together and work.”

Ronaldo has hit his stride in Turin, and has scored 12 times in all competitions to help Juve move clear at the top of Serie A and progress in the Champions League.

But Paratici added that bringing in the Portugal star never seemed a likely option.

“The greatest players help kids to dream. My son wanted Cristiano Ronaldo’s jersey, so when I went to see a Portugal game, I bought it and he wore it all the time.

“Every year he’d ask me: ‘Daddy, why don’t we buy Cristiano Ronaldo?’ Because it’s impossible.

“Then when it happened, he said: ‘Daddy, you told me it was impossible!’ I had no answer.”

Juve secured a 1-0 victory over Roma on Saturday, ensuring Massimiliano Allegri’s side have an eight-point lead over second-placed Napoli and have now won 16 of their 17 league fixtures this term, only dropping points in a 1-1 draw with Genoa.

They face Atalanta next on Boxing Day as they look to continue their dominance in Serie A and prepare for a tie with Atletico Madrid in the Champions League last 16.

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The Liverpool striker will reportedly stay at Anfield due to concerns over his fitness despite appearing to be Eagles-bound

Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson has confirmed a move for Liverpool striker Dominic Solanke is off following reports suggesting the deal has collapsed.

Chairman Steve Parish said the Eagles were keen on the 21-year-old over the weekend, with Huddersfield Town, Brighton and Hove Albion, Fulham and Rangers also interested.

But with the England international destined for Selhurst Park, Palace have pulled out of the deal due to Solanke suffering from a muscle problem.

The former Chelsea youngster has not played a single minute for Liverpool this season and Hodgson says the club have opted against taking a risk on the forward.

“Unfortunately it is a club decision,” he told the media after the 2-0 win over Wolves.

“It turns out there were complications and the club decided it wasn’t the right moment to do it.

“He had made his mind up in our favour, but it didn’t work out. But you accept these things as a manager.”

The ex-England boss added to BBC Sport: “The club has taken the decision to move on and we will work with what we have.”

Hodgson was speaking after Palace pulled six points clear of the relegation zone with late win at Molineux over Wolves.

Jordan Ayew, who was said to be under pressure in anticipation of Solanke’s arrival, scored his first of the season before Luka Milivojevic completed the win via a stoppage time penalty.

On Ghana international Ayew’s first top flight goal since last April, Hodgson added: “When you are a forward you do need goals, and he has had to wait for that.

“If anyone deserved that goal tonight, it was him. He worked hard and defended well.

“We have modified our line up at times, but we have that flexibility to play with one, two or three up front.

“Occasionally, he gets sacrificed in those moments, but it was good to bring him back in tonight.”

Palace return to the pitch on Saturday for an FA Cup clash against Grimsby Town and will be back in Premier League action against Watford on January 12. 

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The Reds’ previous campaigns to win the title have ultimately ended in tears, but could this year be different?

Liverpool have emerged as an early-season favourite to lift the Premier League title following an extended winning run that lasted into the New Year as rivals Manchester City succumbed to three defeats in five fixtures in December.

Jurgen Klopp’s side have been title favourites before on a number of occasions, though they have never had their season end in the fairy-tale glory of ultimately being crowned Premier League champions.

Goal takes a look at Liverpool’s history in the Premier League, when they last lifted the league and what happened during their last title-challenging campaigns.

Liverpool’s most successful finish in the Premier League has been in second, with the Reds last coming as runners-up in the 2013-14 season under Brendan Rodgers as they finished just two points behind eventual champions Manchester City.

The Anfield side launched an unprecedented title challenge that season in a campaign that saw them score a blistering 101 goals and only lose six times – the same numebr as Man City – but were ultimately undone by their leaky defence (having conceded 50 goals in total compared to Man City’s 37, Chelsea’s 27 and Arsenal’s 41) as well as losing to a Jose Mourinho-led Chelsea both home and away.

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It was a season that saw Luis Suarez emerge as one of the world’s – if not the world’s – greatest strikers as he finished the year as the Premier League top-scorer with 31 goals, though left for Barcelona later that summer.

It was also, however, the last opportunity for Steven Gerrard to lift a Premier League title as a Liverpool player after the ex-Reds captain moved to MLS side LA Galaxy the following season.

Prior to the 2013-14 season, Liverpool also came deliriously close to lifting the Premier League title under Rafael Benitez in 2008-09.

Also featuring a standout performance by Gerrard alongside key players in Xabi Alonso and Fernando Torres, Liverpool finished four points behind rivals Manchester United despite beating them (who were managed by Sir Alex Ferguson at the time) both on home turf and at Old Trafford.

The Achilles’ heel for the Reds that season came in one too many draws and stalemates (11) despite losing just twice – and scoring more goals than any other team (77).

Liverpool have pointedly tended to self-combust having mounted a title challenge, finishing in seventh place the season after they finished as runners-up in 2008-09 (which led to Benitez being sacked) and then a sixth-placed finish in 2015, with Rodgers moved on a few months later.

The last time Liverpool won the league was at the end of the 1989-90 season, when they clinched their 18th title under Kenny Dalglish when the English top-flight was known as Division One.

The Reds have notably never won the Premier League title, with the Premiership that we know now formed in 1992 after the top 22 clubs split away from the Football League.

They have won the top-flight title 18 times, a record that was surpassed by rivals Manchester United in the 2010-11 season when the Red Devils clinched their 19th Premier League title.

Eleven of their top-flight wins came during their illustrious period of the 1970s and 1980s led by legendary managers Bob Paisley and Bill Shankly, who also guided the Merseysiders to seven trophies in Europe.

Whether or not Liverpool are the most successful side in English history is still something of a topic of a debate, particularly when concerning Manchester United supporters.

The Red Devils have claimed more league wins (20) to Liverpool (18), though the Reds are the only English team to have won the Champions League on five occasions, with their last victory arriving in 2005 against AC Milan in Istanbul. Man Utd, comparatively, have won the Champions League three times.

The Mancunians have lifted the FA Cup 12 times to Liverpool’s seven, though the Anfield side have won the League Cup a record eight times.

The Brazilian forward has struggled this term to replicate the fine form he showed for Manchester City in his first two seasons at the club

Jesus may have walked on water, but around the Etihad Stadium during this current season you are more likely to find him sitting on the bench. After such a scintillating introduction to English football Gabriel Jesus has come down with a chronic case of the goalscoring blues, which has seen him lose ground in Manchester City’s pecking order.

It is hard to decide which of the two defining scenes of City’s painful 2-0 reverse at the hands of Chelsea the past weekend was more excruciating to witness.

There was Gabriel sitting forlornly on the bench, snubbed by Pep Guardiola even in the absence of Sergio Aguero, as the manager opted to go strikerless at Stamford Bridge rather than put his faith in the Brazilian.

Then, there was the lost boy thrown into a losing cause 47 minutes into the game. Starved of quality possession and unable to make his mark, Jesus mustered just two shots, neither of which posed much danger for Chelsea shot-stopper Kepa.

This latest blank marked the Brazil forward’s 11th consecutive Premier League outing without troubling the scorers, with Huddersfield the only side to let him in so far. Indeed, aside from that wonderful hat-trick in the Champions League to destroy Shakhtar Donetsk, Jesus has been a pale shadow of the player that burst onto the scene with such confidence and verve as a teenager less than two years ago.

Jesus’ biggest obstacle to regular first-team football – just four of his 13 league appearances this term have come from the start, while that Huddersfield outing was the sole occasion on which he has completed the full 90 minutes – remains Sergio Aguero.

With 12 goals in 17 games in 2018-19 the Argentine is once more leading the way as Pep’s favoured sole striker, ably assisted by the likes of Raheem Sterling (nine in 18), David Silva (eight in 19) and Riyad Mahrez (seven in 22), the man preferred to Jesus in Aguero’s absence.

What is certain is that Jesus’ commitment has not dipped. The 21-year-old continues to run his heart out in every opportunity he receives for City, and his contribution to the team effort should not be overlooked.

But without goals it is hard to see him making a claim for more regular action: his one Premier League goal this season has come from a mammoth 23 shots, while in 2017-18 the youngster averaged just shy of a goal every four attempts. It is clear that he is snatching at chances that he previously converted with ease, with City and also in Brazil colours.

Roberto Firmino and Richarlison are both breathing down his neck for that single centre-forward spot in Tite’s system, while a newly rejuvenated Gabriel Barbosa and, further down the line, teenage sensations Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo could well make their own run for the No. 9 shirt.

In truth one could even chart Jesus’ woes all the way back to the World Cup: handed a starting spot by Tite, he failed to hit the net in Russia as the Selecao bombed out in the last-eight and has subsequently lost ground to Firmino in the team’s plans.

There is one man, however, convinced that the former Palmeiras wonderkid can turn it around. “He just needs to relax,” Guardiola told reporters at the start of December after Jesus drew a blank against Bournemouth. “I love his work ethic. I said to him: the work out on the pitch will sustain him. He helps us a lot. I am delighted.

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“Football is not for one player the reason why he plays bad. Gabriel is a delight. He’s young, the same as the other ones, he will improve because has the desire to improve and that is important. He helped us a lot. A lot.”

Rotten form in front of goal is part and parcel of the life of an elite striker. All forwards go through difficult patches, including Aguero, whose game was revitalised by the arrival of Pep at the Etihad Stadium.

City fans will be hoping that in the long run the ex-Barca boss will have the same effect on their young Brazilian, who has the perfect chance to return to his best in Wednesday’s Champions League dead rubber against Hoffenheim. For now he is making all the right noises in his fleeting first-team chances, but the goals continue to elude him.

The Gunners received a huge boost with the news that six first-teamers have returned to training

Mesut Ozil is one of six first-team players to return to full training ahead of Arsenal’s trip to West Ham in the Premier League on Saturday.

Ozil has not featured for the Gunners since their 1-1 draw with Brighton and Hove Albion on Boxing Day, the Germany international subbed at half-time with a knee injury.

After missing Arsenal’s last three matches, Ozil is back in contention to face the Hammers after taking part in Unai Emery’s preparations on Wednesday.

His return is a welcome boost for Emery, who has seen his squad – particularly the defence – plagued by injuries in recent weeks, problems that appear to be easing.

Full-backs Hector Bellerin (calf) and Nacho Monreal (hamstring) are back in contention, while central defenders Dinos Mavropanos (groin) and Shkodran Mustafi (hamstring) have also returned.

Laurent Koscielny – who suffered a back spasm during the warm-up ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup third-round victory over Blackpool – also took part in training to give Emery a plethora of options to choose from.

Meanwhile, Armenia international Henrikh Mkhitaryan is expected to be back in February after a foot injury.

The Gunners are facing back-to-back London derbies, as they will take on Chelsea the weekend after their match against West Ham. 

Arsenal sit in fifth position in the Premier League, three points behind fourth-place Chelsea. 

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