David Luiz’s apparently fractious relationship with Antonio Conte could trigger a winter move to Real Madrid for the Brazilian.
A slow start to the season from the back-to-back Champions League winner has increased the likelihood that Los Blancos manager Zinedine Zidane will enter the January transfer market, and The Telegraph’s Matt Law understands Chelsea’s Luiz is being sighted.
The centre-back is rumoured to have fallen out with Conte following both his reaction to being substituted in the 3-3 home draw with Roma in October, and his role in the 3-0 defeat in the reverse fixture at the end of that month. Luiz was believed to have trained alone after that embarrassing loss, and was dropped for the subsequent visit from Manchester United after allegedly questioning Conte’s tactics, reports Law. He followed that expulsion by being an unused substitute against West Bromwich Albion and Liverpool, either side of playing the full 90 minutes at Azerbaijani minnow Qarabag.
Conte revealed Luiz will miss Wednesday’s match against Swansea City, and was vague about how long the 30-year-old will be out with a knee issue.
“I must be honest, in this moment it’s very difficult for me to answer how long David Luiz will be out,” Conte said. “It will be up to the doctor to assess the situation very well and then to take the best decision for the player.”
Conte expressed concerns over the depth of his squad before the season began, but his backline seems to be one of the better stocked areas in his lineup. Gary Cahill, Cesar Azpilicueta, Andreas Christensen, Antonio Rudiger, and youth-team products Jake Clarke-Salter and Dujon Sterling are all able to slot into Conte’s back-three if Luiz leaves for the Santiago Bernabeu.
Luiz was surprisingly brought back to Chelsea by Conte in 2016 for around £34 million, and was arguably one of the most important players in the Blues’ successful bid for last season’s Premier League title.
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers won’t practice on Friday, the first day he’s eligible to take the field since he was placed on injured reserve.
No, Rodgers didn’t have a setback in the recovery from his broken collarbone. The Packers just don’t practice on Fridays.
Whether it’s for home-field advantage, to win the division or for the future, every team has something to play for over the final five weeks of the regular season. NFL Nation reporters break down each of their motivations.
1 Related
One day after Rodgers was seen chucking passes some 50 yards in the air during a pregame workout at Heinz Field before Green Bay’s 31-28 loss to the Steelers, coach Mike McCarthy raved about Rodgers’ dedication to his rehab but wouldn’t commit to a timeline for when Rodgers would return to practice.
“We’ll see,” McCarthy said Monday. “I mean, he’s still going through — there’s a protocol, there’s targets we’re trying to hit each and every week. I think they’re working [on it], and it’s segmented. The A-number one priority is to get him healthy. Practice is not something we’re really focused on right now.
“I’m more focused on game-planning for the Buccaneers. There’s a plan laid out for Aaron, just like the other guys on IR. He’s knocking it out of the park, he’s going at it 120 miles an hour. We’ll see what the end of the week brings.”
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers can’t return to game action until Dec. 17 at Carolina. Jim Matthews/Green Bay Post Gazette
Either way, Rodgers can’t return to game action until Dec. 17 at Carolina. But players who go on injured reserve are eligible to practice six weeks after the roster move was made. Rodgers was placed on IR on Oct. 20, one day after he underwent surgery to repair his broken right clavicle.
The Packers haven’t practiced on Fridays during a normal game week for several years, using the day instead for recovery, treatment and meetings, before then having a short practice on Saturday. Those Saturday practices are closed to the media, but the Packers would have to inform the league if Rodgers returned to practice because it would count as one of the two players designated to return off IR. They’ve already used one spot, on Jason Spriggs, who started at right tackle against the Steelers.
Those who arrived at Heinz Field early on Sunday saw Rodgers throw for about 10 or 15 minutes.
“I think it [was] a great opportunity,” McCarthy said. “I mean, think about it: You’re on a rehab process and the ability to throw in an opponent’s stadium. Everything that they’re doing is calculated between the training room, the strength and conditioning room and Aaron. As you would imagine, he’s going at it 120 miles an hour, and so far so good.”
Bayern Munich fans throw fake money on the pitch to protest against ridiculous away end ticket prices (€100) for their game at Anderlecht. pic.twitter.com/ADC8A3jWoj
— TheRealCasuals (@TheRealCasuals_) November 22, 2017
Disgruntled Bayern Munich supporters who travelled to Belgium for Wednesday’s Champions League clash against Anderlecht hurled fake money onto the pitch in protest of soaring ticket prices.
Bayern fans were charged €100 per stub for the away fixture, although the club reportedly eased the blow by covering 30 percent of the cost.
The match – which the Bavarian side won 2-1 thanks to goals from Robert Lewandowski and Corentin Tolisso – was suspended for a few minutes as officials picked up the fake bills.
The protest began last weekend at the Allianz Arena, where fans unfurled a banner of UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin and an Anderlecht board member squeezing cash out of a Bayern supporter.
(Courtesy: @FinancialFairpl)
A similar demonstration took place in October 2015 at Emirates Stadium:
Bayern fans banner “£64 a ticket but without fans, football is not worth a penny.” pic.twitter.com/eNL7RTNzSk
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera warned his players coming off their bye weekend about not overlooking the New York Jets on Sunday in anticipation of an NFC South showdown against New Orleans.
Rivera said he believed in “trap games.”
The Panthers had one foot in the trap early in the fourth quarter.
In stepped middle linebacker Luke Kuechly and special teams to save quarterback Cam Newton and the offense from a disastrous day.
Kuechly returned a fumble 34 yards for a touchdown and then Kaelin Clay returned a punt 60 yards for another score to turn an early fourth-quarter deficit into a 35-27 victory at MetLife Stadium.
It wasn’t pretty, but it was a much-needed win as the Panthers make their playoff push.
“It is big to win ugly, and when you can rely on a big play happening for your defense or on your special teams, that helps,” Rivera said.
Most of the ugliness on this day came on offense.
Panthers wide receiver Kaelin Clay returned a punt 60 yards for a key fourth-quarter touchdown. Abbie Parr/Getty Images
Newton had one of his worst days of the season, overthrowing wide-open receivers and completing only 11 of 28 pass attempts for 168 yards two weeks after throwing four touchdowns in a 45-21 victory against Miami. He was particularly ineffective on third down, at one point going 1-for-7 on third-down passes.
The team also lost Pro Bowl tight end Greg Olsen for the second half when his foot that was broken in Week 2 became sore in his first game back after being activated from injured reserve. The long-term impact of that remains to be seen, although the initial prognosis was good.
“I always hear often it was an ugly win, but I never heard of saying such a thing as a pretty loss,” Newton said. “So either way it goes, we would prefer to get a win at the end of the day. It wasn’t a blockbuster outing offensively for us, but at the end of the day we found ways to win the football game and that’s what you have to have.”
The defense struggled at times as well, allowing the Jets to top 22 points for only the fourth time this season.
But a week from now all that will matter is the Panthers (8-3) are facing the New Orleans Saints, who fell to 8-3 with Sunday’s loss to the Los Angeles Rams, for the outright division lead.
After losing six games by a field goal or less a year ago, the Panthers will take any kind of victory that keeps their playoff hopes alive.
“You’ve got to be able to win games like this to get to where you want to go,’’ outside linebacker Thomas Davis said. “It’s not going to always been a 20-, 30-point victory. You’ve got to squeak by and win some games like this. Last year we weren’t able to come away with those victories. That ended up being the difference in our season. We just found ways to win this week.’’
As unimpressive as it was, the win kept the Panthers from falling further behind the Saints and kept them a game ahead of the Atlanta Falcons, who improved to 7-4 with a victory against Tampa Bay.
They can’t depend on two non-offensive touchdowns to save the day.
But on a day when they needed to avoid falling into a trap, the most important thing is they found a way to win.
“A win is a win,’’ safety Mike Adams said. “You can say ugly win because of their record (now 4-7). If they were 10-0, would we say an ugly win?’’
Probably not. But because of this win the Panthers have a lot more to look forward to facing a New Orleans team that beat them 34-13 earlier this season in Charlotte.
“It’s on,’’ Adams said. “We’ve got to be ready. We’ve got to play better than we did today. Obviously, we’ve got to bring our A game.’’
