Eintracht Frankfurt sign Rode from Borussia Dortmund

Jurgen Klopp was pleased to see Liverpool recover from their knock against Real Madrid as they beat Wolves 2-0 at Anfield.

The Reds blew a two-goal lead at home to lose 5-2 against the Spanish giants in their Champions League last-16 first leg last week, but kept their fourth clean sheet in four Premier League games on Wednesday.

Second-half goals from Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah secured three points that send Liverpool up to sixth in the table, and six points off the top four.

Liverpool have kept a clean sheet in four or more consecutive games in the Premier League for the first time since February-April last year (five).

We knew it would be a difficult game, we controlled the game in a lot of periods, Klopp told BBC Sport after the victory. There…

Darwin Nunez opened his Liverpool account in some style after scoring four times in the second half in a 5-0 thrashing of RB Leipzig on Thursday.

Nunez left Benfica for Liverpool in a deal potentially worth up to £85million (€100.5m) last month, but struggled to leave his mark in the opening 4-0 pre-season defeat to Manchester United in Bangkok.

The Uruguay international again failed to find the net in the 2-0 win over Crystal Palace, leading Jurgen Klopp to downplay murmurs of impatience and scrutiny by backing Nunez just two games after his arrival.

And the striker soon showed his qualities at the Red Bull Arena, converting from the penalty spot three minutes after being introduced at half-time, before latching onto a Trent Alexander-Arnold pass to finish c…

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has proved once again this season that he is the undisputed best player in the world, according to Brazilian great Rivaldo. 

Messi was voted fifth in the running for last season s Ballon d Or, finishing behind Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann, Cristiano Ronaldo and winner Luka Modric. 

The Argentina international has been at his free-scoring best in 2018-19, however, netting 45 times in all competitions and setting up a further 12 goals for his team-mates in LaLiga alone. 

Rivaldo feels Messi is out in front in terms of being the world s best player at this moment in time and has backed the 31-year-old to win a sixth Ballon d Or later this year. 

Majestic Messi scoops the prize

— UEFA Champions Lea…

Erling Haaland is the name on everyone s lips this off-season.

Haaland enjoyed a stunning campaign for Borussia Dortmund, earning admirers from Europe s elite.

As speculation mounts over his future, Dortmund are determined to keep the Norwegian.

TOP STORY – DORTMUND NAME HAALAND PRICE

Borussia Dortmund are demanding €200million (£172m) for star striker Erling Haaland, according to AS.

Haaland has been linked with Real Madrid, Manchester City, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United, Juventus, Liverpool, Chelsea and Bayern Munich.

Dortmund previously quoted €180m (£154m) but BVB have reportedly increased their demands as they try to retain the Norway forward for at least another season.

Bayern Munich winger Douglas Costa has claimed Pep Guardiola cannot sign any players from his former club for Manchester City, ruling out a move to the Etihad side in the process.

Guardiola lured the Brazil international from Shakhtar Donetsk to Bayern ahead of the 2015-16 campaign, but he will not follow the successful coach to the Premier League.

Would I be open to City if Pep called? It s something he has in his contract, a clause that says he cannot sign any players from Bayern, Costa told Globo Esporte.

I am in a situation where I could stay at Bayern for a long time. The club s philosophy is to keep players at Bayern for a long time. I am happy at the prospect of enjoying a long career here.

I have made a big step forward since leaving Shakhtar f…

Daniele De Rossi is sad to see Miralem Pjanic leave Roma but has wished his exemplary former team-mate well at Juventus.

Pjanic completed a €32million move from the Giallorossi to Juve on Monday, the Bosnia-Herzegovina playmaker signing a five-year deal with the Serie A champions.

The 26-year-old enjoyed an outstanding 2015-16 campaign, scoring 10 goals in 33 league appearances to help Roma to the third place in the table, behind Juve and Napoli.

And while De Rossi will miss partnering Pjanic in the centre of Roma s midfield after nearly five years together, he bears no ill-feeling about his decision to swap the capital for Turin.

Speaking after Italy s Euro 2016 victory over Belgium on Monday, De Rossi said: From the very first day that he arrived at R…

Japan international Shinji Kagawa s transfer to Manchester United has caused quite a stir among his national team-mates.

While the player himself spurned reporters as he insisted on focusing on his national team duties, his Samurai Blue team-mates were more than willing to discuss their compatriot s bombshell move to the Premier League.

For our generation, a Japanese player going overseas and joining a big club was something you d only see in a comic book, Japan captain Makoto Hasebe said.

Shinji s giving kids something to dream about. It s incredibly big, what he s doing.

As Alberto Zaccheroni s side prepared for their 2014 World Cup qualifier with Jordan on Friday, one of Kagawa s team-mates threw his hat in the ring as the next Japanese player to …

Sweden midfielder Kim Kallstrom believes internal conflicts are bound to arise within any team during major competitions.

The Lyon star thinks minor complaints can turn into major conflicts due to the pressure at tournaments and gave the example of France s 2010 World Cup meltdown as an example of the unrest that can occur during international competition.

The tension is incredible, he told reporters at a press conference. It is a very special scenario for two weeks.

You have to deal with a congested match schedule and at the same time everything is brought to a head.

You completely live in a bubble, you have no contact with the outside world and the same time the pressure just gets bigger and bigger. You just want to win all the time.

I thi…

Gerard Deulofeu will join Premier League side Watford on loan from Barcelona for the rest of the season, the La
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Liga leaders have confirmed.

Spain winger Deulofeu re-joined Barca from Everton during the close-season when his boyhood club exercised a buyback option after the 23-year-old s impressive loan stint at AC Milan.

However, he has been restricted to five LaLiga starts, scoring in October s win over Malaga, and Philippe Coutinho s arrival from Liverpool this month was set to leave Deulofeu further down the pecking order in Ernesto Valverde s squad.

Watford will pay Deulofeu s salary in full during his time at Vicarage Road, with a potential additional payment of €1million to be made to Barcelona if certain stipulations are met.

Catalan…

Crotone extended Inter s winless run in Serie A to eight matches as Andrea Barberis second-half equaliser secured Walter Zenga s side a well-deserved 1-1 draw at San Siro.

Playing in place of the injured Mauro Icardi, Eder marked his first league start of the season by heading the Nerazzurri ahead in the 23rd minute, albeit visiting defender Davide Faraoni got the final touch on the ball.

Yet the out-of-sorts hosts laboured throughout and Crotone deservedly picked up a valuable point in their battle to beat the drop, Barberis reacting quickly to poke a loose ball beyond Samir Handanovic.

The result will be particularly pleasing for Zenga, a legendary name at Inter who is back coaching in his homeland after an unsuccessful spell at English Championship side Wolves…