Injury forces Silva to miss opening qualifiers

Jorge Jesus heaped praise on Benfica as they successfully qualified for the UEFA Europa League final on Thursday.

Benfica held Juventus to a scoreless draw in the second leg of their semi-final tie in Turin the first time Antonio Conte s men had played out a goalless stalemate in all competitions since November 2012.

The result was enough for the Portuguese champions to reach the final after their 2-1 win in the opening leg last week.

After falling to Chelsea in last season s decider, Benfica have another chance to claim silverware when they face Sevilla in the final at Juventus Stadium on May 14 and Jesus was in no doubt as to who deserved to advance.

Benfica earned the final because we played better in both legs, better than Juve in Lisbon and Turin, Jesus told…

Eredivisie outfit Groningen have sacked head coach Pieter Huistra with immediate effect after an unimpressive 2011-12 campaign.

Ambitious Groningen had to settle for 14th spot in the Eredivisie this season after winning only three of their last 17 league games, much to the dismay of the club s board, who have now decided to dismiss Huistra.

The 45-year-old was named Groningen coach ahead of the 2010-11 season, and guided the club to fifth spot in his first season in charge.

Nevertheless, he failed to steer the club to further success this term after the departure of stars such as Andreas Granqvist and Tim Matavz to Genoa and PSV respectively last season.

It is not yet known who will replace Huistra on the Dutch team s bench next season.

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Italy midfielder Andrea Pirlo regards qualification from their FIFA World Cup group stage as the minimum objective .

The 2006 World Cup winners made an excellent run to the UEFA Euro 2012 final under manager Cesare Prandelli.

And that has raised hopes ahead of this year s showpiece in Brazil, with Prandelli s squad possessing plenty of international experience.

They were handed a tough draw in Group D, though, with matches against Uruguay, England and Costa Rica awaiting them.

Pirlo who dismissed suggestions that the oppressive South American climate would affect his team more than any of the others – believes it would be a failure if his side did not progress through the group.

The 34-year-old Juventus playmaker told Sky Sport 24 : The minimum objective…

Fans of English, German and French clubs will be able to stand for home matches during men s UEFA club competitions in the 2022-23 season.

UEFA on Wednesday launched a programme to observe the use of standing facilities, which were previously only able to be used for domestic fixtures.

The governing body of European football will look at the use of standing in both domestic and international club games, with the aim of assessing if and under what conditions it may be reintroduced in UEFA competitions in a safe manner.

The Standing Facilities Observer Programme 2022-23 will initially be limited to clubs from the top five associations in the UEFA rankings where standing is already authorised and implemented at domestic level.

Fans supporting teams in th…

Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has urged his players not to get caught up in the chat after they went top of the Premier League table.

The Blues claimed a 3-1 win over Leeds United at Stamford Bridge on Saturday thanks to goals from Olivier Giroud, Kurt Zouma and Christian Pulisic to move, temporarily at least, to the Premier League’s summit.

Alongside second-placed Tottenham, who face Arsenal on Sunday, Chelsea are on the joint-longest unbeaten run in the division after their victory at Stamford Bridge made it nine games without defeat.

They are the league s top scorers with 25 goals and have also kept five clean sheets – than any other top-flight team.

Lampard, however, does not want his squad to get carried away despite the impressive numbers which ap…

Poland international Maciej Rybus has penned a three-year deal with Ligue 1 runners-up Lyon.

Rybus featured at left-back and on either wing for Terek Grozny last season, scoring nine Russian Premier League goals in 28 games.

The 26-year-old played in eight of Poland s 10 Euro 2016 qualifiers but missed out on a place in the final squad due to a broken shoulder.

Lyon will return to the Champions League next season after finishing second to Paris Saint-Germain in 2015-16 and Rybus is relishing the challenge ahead.

He told the club s official website: I came here because it s a great team with a great history. It is an honour to sign for OL. 

I am very happy to be here and to play with good players. I want to show my game to earn my place in the te…

Croatia international Ante Budimir is on verge of a summer move to Sampdoria, according to .

I Doriani have activated the €1.8 million release clause for Crotone striker and will be free to negotiate a deal with the 24-year-old Croatian.

Crotone have attempted to leverage a deal for their prized asset by asking Sampdoria to loan out their striker Federico Bonazzoli, the 19-year-old Italian who has spent last season on loan at Lanciano.

Sampdoria have had a difficult season behind them having finished the Serie A campaign in 15th place in the standings.

Vincenzo Montella’s team are keen to add talent to their current crop in order to bolster their chances for next season and Croatia international Ante Budimir was an affordable solution that was not to…

Slaven Bilic has raised the stakes ahead of Croatia s World Cup qualifier with England by claiming his squad are a match or better than Fabio Capello s collection of big names in every area of the pitch.

Bilic is aiming to complete a hat-trick of wins over the English after engineering home and away victories in the qualifiers for Euro 2008, defeats which cost England a place at the finals and Steve McClaren his job.

On the eve of the two countries third meeting in 23 months, former Everton and West Ham defender Bilic whose stock rose even more at Euro 2008 when his side came within a penalty shootout of reaching the semi-finals as they lost to Turkey admitted he was feeling the pressure of raised expectations.

But he also insisted his side had earned the rig…

Borussia Dortmund would benefit from the experience of Bayern Munich outcast Jerome Boateng, according to Stefan Effenberg.

Dortmund were top of the Bundesliga table for long periods of the 2018-19 season but ultimately fell short as Bayern sealed a seventh consecutive title on the final day of the campaign.

And former Bayern star Effenberg feels Dortmund s young side suffered for their lack of experience in such situations.

Boateng has featured throughout the champions run of triumphs but appears set to leave this close-season, prompting Effenberg to suggest Dortmund as an ideal landing spot.

At Borussia Dortmund, they were missing one or two experienced players for the title especially in central defence, the 2000-01 Champions League winner said in qu…

Sven Ulreich has been called up to the Germany squad for the first time after a thumb injury ruled Arsenal s Bernd Leno out of Die Mannschaft s forthcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers against Belarus and Estonia.

Bayern Munich s Ulreich made just nine Bundesliga appearances as his side won the title in 2018-19 but Germany s goalkeeping coach Andreas Kopke said he had earned his chance for the national team after deputising ably for Manuel Neuer at Allianz Arena.

Ulreich joins Neuer and Eintracht Frankfurt s Kevin Trapp in Germany s squad for the qualifiers, the first of which is the trip to Belarus on June 8th. 

Kopke told AZ: Sven deserves this call-up.

When he was needed this season, he was there and showed top performances at Bayern, 

That is a gr…