European Briefs

France

The president of a village team has been suspended for 6 months after launching an audacious bid to buy Lionel Messi from Barcelona. [Read more...]

Contrary to rumours, the woman who has accused Marseille player Brandao of rape is continuing to press charges against him.

Lisandro, out since the beginning of the year scored a hat-trick on his return for Lyon on Sunday.

Nice midfielder Emerse Fae will sit out the rest of the season due to Phlebitis.

Both Cris and Yoann Gourcuff will sit out Lyon’s game against Sochaux on Saturday as they are focussing on being fit for the match against Real Madrid.

Germany

Reports of “Manager Chaos” in the Bundesliga, as it looks like Bayern Munich, Hamburg and Wolfsburg are already looking for new managers.

Most surprising are the reports that Schalke are also looking to replace Felix Magath even after Schalke progressed in the Champions League.

Otto Rehhagel is the favourite to take over at Schalke if Magath is sacked. This would open the door for Robin Dutt to take over in the summer.

Spain

An unfortunate nickname has been given to Real Madrid player Mesut Ozil. His kind teammates at Madrid now call him “Nemo”.

Cristiano Ronaldo is recovering from a hamstring injury and should feature against Lyon in the Champions League and possibly even against Hercules.

Barcelona are trying to secure a deal that would see Gareth Bale join the Catalan team.

Andre Palop, the Sevilla goalkeeper, is looking likely to miss the game against Barcelona due to a wrist injury.

Italy

Rumours that AC Milan have agreed a deal to bring Kaka back from Real Madrid in the summer.

The Napoli president has said that there is no way manager Walter Mazzarri will leave the club in the summer.