Julen Lopetegui says Manchester United are the biggest team in the world but is confident Sevilla will come out on top in Sunday s Europa League semi-final tie.

The LaLiga side set up a showdown with 2017 winners United in Cologne with a late 1-0 victory over another English opponent in Wolves on Wednesday.

Yassine Bounou saved Raul Jimenez s early penalty and that proved a key moment, with Sevilla s pressure telling two minutes from time when Lucas Ocampos headed in.

United beat Copenhagen 1-0 after extra-time on Tuesday and now await Lopetegui s men, who are seeking a record-extending fourth triumph in the competition since its rebranding in 2009.
 
We are going to play against Manchester United in the next match they re the biggest team in the world but we…

Arsenal have approached Ben White to begin talks over extending the defender’s contract at the Emirates Stadium.

White, 26, joined the Gunners from Brighton for £50million in 2021 and has since established himself as Mikel Arteta’s first-choice right-back.

The England international has made 103 appearances for Arsenal and returned from injury off the bench in Wednesday’s 6-0 Champions League win over Lens.

The PA news agency understands sporting director Edu has led the decision to drive negotiations with White as a reward for his form, despite the fact the former Leeds loanee has two and a half years remaining on his contract.

If a new deal is agreed, White would become the latest of Arteta’s major names to extend his stay in north London.

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Manchester City surrendered a two-goal lead as Dan Burn s first Premier League goal secured a thrilling 3-2 comeback win for Brighton and Hove Albion.

The Premier League champions led early through Ilkay Gundogan but had to play for over 80 minutes without Joao Cancelo, who was sent off for a foul on Danny Welbeck. Buoyed by an 8,000-strong crowd, Brighton eventually made their numerical advantage count.

Phil Foden s sensational solo goal seemed to have dampened the spirits, but Leandro Trossard s strike ignited the charge which was rounded off by two unlikely scorers.

With Gundogan trudging off with a worrying knee injury, City found their lead wiped out when Adam Webster powered home, before Burn scooped in at the second attempt four minutes later to cap a fam…

Manchester City have recently been linked with Real Sociedad s Martin Zubimendi, to fill the void in the team left by the injury expected to rule Rodri out for the rest of the season. However, now report that Atalanta s Ederson and Crystal Palace s Adam Wharton are also high on their list.

Rodri is widely regarded as the best defensive midfielder in the world, and though City already have several high-quality players in their ranks who could play the role well, none of them are specialists for it. Meanwhile, Ederson has been doing extremely well for Atalanta, starting every Serie A game this term, as well as the Champions League opener against Arsenal. The 25-year-old Brazilian is under contract with his current club until 2027.

Wharton, on the other hand, is only 20 a…

Manchester United winger Jadon Sancho is about to undergo a medical at Borussia Dortmund, according to Fabrizio Romano. The Italian journalist has reported on X that Dortmund have agreed a deal with United to sign Sancho on loan in the January transfer window.

Sancho will stay on loan at Dortmund for the rest of the season. Part of the winger’s salary will be covered by the German club, who will to make the deal permanent in the summer of 2024. The 23-year-old England international winger joined United from Dortmund in the summer of 2021.

🟡⚫️🩺 It s medical tests day for Jadon Sancho as new Borussia Dortmund player. Clubs have already started to exchange documents for the loan deal.

Manchester United will receive package around €4m for Sancho.

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Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti insisted he does not have to prove anything to anyone as his side prepare to host Inter.

Madrid hold an eight-point advantage at the top of LaLiga, while they have already qualified through Group D in the Champions League.

The two top sides meet on Tuesday, with Ancelotti s team boasting a two-point lead over Inter, who have not defeated Spanish opposition in Europe since October 2004.

Madrid have also won their last three games in the Champions League against the Serie A outfit, though the pre-match focus was on the latter stages of the continental competition as the Spanish giants look for an unprecedented 14th title.

I don t have to prove anything to anyone, Ancelotti responded to reporters at Monday s pre-match …

Best odds: 10/11

Bookmaker:

One of the more interesting matches this weekend in the Bundesliga will see Borussia Dortmund welcome Bayer Leverkusen to the Signal Iduna Park on Sunday. It will be the 21st game of the 2021-22 league campaign for either side as they strive to achieve their separate goals.

Borussia Dortmund

It must be extremely frustrating for Borussia Dortmund, the board, the staff, but particularly the players and the supporters, to be staring at the back of Bayern Munich year after year. The last time they won the Bundesliga title themselves, twice in a row actually, was in 2010-11 and 2011-12, back in the days when they were led by current Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp. Since then, the trophy has been in the exclusive ownership of the Bavarians.

Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst said his players were lucky it is only 2-0 after they were beaten by Union Saint-Gilloise in the first leg of their Champions League third qualifying round tie.

Last season s Europa League runners-up started the game in Belgium brightly, but the hosts grew into their first ever Champions League game, and a first half finish from captain Teddy Teuma was added to by a controversial Dante Vanzeir penalty in the 76th minute to give them a two goal advantage.

Van Bronckhorst was far from happy with the Scottish side s performance and result, one which has left Rangers staring down the barrel ahead of the second leg at Ibrox next week.

The former Netherlands international told Premier Sports: The performance today was belo…

With Spain’s elite now officially taking a break for the festive interval, La Liga has already produced a string of notable stories at both ends of the table.

While Real Madrid might be set to enter the New Year at the top of the pile, it has certainly been a history-making Girona that have stolen plenty of Spain’s headlines.

With some predicting what could be an almighty La Liga title scrap in 2024, we have taken a look at who the bookmakers have installed as their leading Spanish contenders this season.

Real Madrid 4/11 with @

Eventually finishing 10 points of defending their La Liga crown last season, it was no secret that Real Madrid had a huge amount of pressure on their shoulders this time around.

However, while Los Blancos might have watched…

England Deaf Women defender Claire Stancliffe says it “really hits me deep” that her “hero” Steven Gerrard has donated £5,000 to the fundraising effort aiming to get the team to September’s World Cup in Malaysia.

The campaign has been launched after the Football Association last month announced it was switching focus and funding for the national deaf women’s team from the 11-a-side format to futsal.

The overall target is £100,000, with half of that required by the end of June. A fundraising page has been set up by the Deaf Sports and Football Foundation and more than £13,000 has been raised so far, including donations of £5,000 each from ex-England and Liverpool captain Gerrard and former international team-mate and Manchester United defender Gary Neville…