Sports

Sir Alex Ferguson believes a high-profile contest with Chelsea is exactly what Manchester United need after their loss to Real Madrid.

The 71 year-old Scot was described by his assistant manager Mike Phelan as too distraught to take interviews after the midweek Champions League defeat to Jose Mourinho s team, which saw United exit the competition 3-2 on aggregate.

However, with an FA Cup tie against old foe Rafael Benitez and Chelsea up next, Ferguson said that they will recover well.

We have a job to do on Sunday and I think we ll do that OK, he said. We ve gone through this procedure many times.

When you re at a club for a long time there are always damp moments and dark days. In general we recover very well and we ll do that again.

The FA C…

Massimiliano Allegri would bring something special to the Premier League if he takes over as Arsenal manager, according to Mario Lemina.

The Juventus head coach is among the favourites to succeed Arsene Wenger at the Emirates Stadium when the Frenchman steps down at the end of the season.

Lemina, who won the domestic double for two seasons running under Allegri at Juve, says his old boss could have the same kind of impact as Pep Guardiola at Manchester City or Antonio Conte at Chelsea.

He will give something special to the Premier League, like Pep Guardiola did, and Antonio Conte did as well, Southampton midfielder Lemina told Sky Sports News.

Because he is Italian, he will give something special because he is more tactical. I think he would be very go…

Real Madrid have learned the date of their rearranged away LaLiga match against Celta Vigo, which will take place on May 17.

The original fixture between the two sides in February was postponed after high winds and storms damaged Celta s ground Balaidos.

That has left Madrid carrying a game in hand over Barcelona over their last three months and means Zinedine Zidane s men will play three games in an eight-day span to round off the season as they look to win LaLiga for the first time since 2012.

Madrid trail leaders Barcelona due to their weaker head-to-head record at the top of LaLiga, but know 10 points from their last four games will see them crowned champions.

Our postponed match against will now take place on Wednesday, May 17 at 21:00 CEST.

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Bayern Munich chief Karl-Heinz Rummenigge insisted he was yet to discuss striker Robert Lewandowski with Real Madrid.

Lewandowski – who scored at least 40 goals for Bayern for the third straight season – has been linked with a switch to Madrid.

However, Rummenigge said the Poland international, who is contracted until 2021, was committed to Bayern.

Robert is completely loyal. Who scatters the rumours, we don t know. It doesn t matter, he told the Munchner Merkur.

We sat together with Real s supervisors for lunch twice – there was not a word spoken about Lewandowski.

He added: I really see it as calm as I have been saying for weeks. We have contracts.

Lewandowski has starred since arriving at Bayern from Borussia Dortmund in 2014,…

Fulham have the signing of Jean-Michael Seri from OGC Nice.

The midfielder has signed a deal that is set to keep him at Craven Cottage until 2022, as the London club claim to have beaten off interest from top European sides. Seri was linked with Barcelona last summer, while Arsenal featured most heavily in recent reports following the announcement of Jack Wilshere s departure.

The 26-year-old spent two years in Portugal with Pacos de Ferreira before moving to Nice in 2015, where he appeared in 189 games and found the target 11 times from his deep midfield role.

The club s Vice Chairman and Director of Football Operations Tony Khan said he s delighted with the signing of Seri and revealed that the player had been at the top of their transfer priorities for a lon…

Anyone concerned that famous old fixtures like the Manchester derby are becoming devoid of emotion without supporters need only have looked at Gabriel Jesus expression as Ederson just failed to keep out Bruno Fernandes second-minute penalty.

Manchester City s Brazil forward netted a midweek brace in the 4-1 win over Wolves to persuade Pep Guardiola to keep him in the line-up on Sunday.

One of Jesus big calling cards is his work rate, never one to shirk defensive duties that plenty of attackers dread.

Even so, haring back into his own area to clumsily foul Anthony Martial after mis-controlling a throw-in was taking that trait to unhelpful extremes.

Ederson got a firm hand to Fernandes strike but could not prevent City from conceding their earliest ever P…

Chelsea head coach Frank Lampard laughed off a comparison between Mason Mount and James Maddison being called up by England and his own experiences with Steven Gerrard.

Uncapped attacking midfielder Mount has enjoyed a fine start to the campaign at Chelsea, having excelled on loan under Lampard at Derby County last term, and was rewarded with a place in the England squad to face Bulgaria and Kosovo in Euro 2020 qualifying.

Mount and Maddison, who is also yet to make his first senior international appearance, were named in the group for Nations League matches against Croatia and Spain in October 2018 but went unused.

Lampard does not believe the duo will have any problems playing in the same team, brushing aside a suggestion there could be a situation similar to w…

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has been handed an additional one-match ban and a £100,000 fine after admitting he acted in an improper manner following his red card at Newcastle.

The Netherlands international was dismissed for a foul on Alexander Isak in the first half of Liverpool’s 2-1 victory at St James’ Park on August 27, but initially refused to leave the pitch – and then remonstrated with referee John Brooks.

An automatic one-match ban saw the centre-back suspended for the 3-0 win over Aston Villa before the international break, but he will now also serve an additional suspension and so miss the trip to Wolves on September 16.

— FA Spokesperson (@FAspokesperson)

A statement from the FA read: “Virgil van Dijk has been suspend…

Pedri is living the dream at Barcelona and hopes to lead the beleaguered club back to glory after receiving his Golden Boy award on Monday.

The 19-year-old was a landslide victor in last month s voting for Europe s best player aged under 21, beating runner-up Jude Bellingham by a record-breaking 199-point margin.

He enjoyed a breakthrough season at Camp Nou after making his debut in September and went on to feature in more games (52) than any other Barca player.

Pedri then became the youngest player to represent Spain at a major tournament during Euro 2020, finishing with more passes completed in the final third (177) than any player.

The Las Palmas academy product followed that up by travelling to Tokyo for the Olympic Games and helping his country win …

Hull City manager Steve Bruce praised match-winner Matty Fryatt after he scored both goals in the 2-0 FA Cup win at Southend United.

The Premier League outfit were given a tough test against a Southend side managed by former boss Phil Brown, the man who had led them into the top-flight in 2008, but an upset rarely looked likely.

Michael Timlin did hit the crossbar for the hosts, but Fryatt eventually took centre stage with a 63rd-minute opener, before adding another solo effort in stoppage time.

Bruce told BBC Radio 5Live: Matty Fryatt got injured in his very first game for me, he was out for 13 months and then went out on loan but since then he s been excellent for me.

He showed what a good player he is. His second goal was outstanding. I always say, wh…