Celtic could face Malmo or Vidi in playoff round
Red Bulls top LAFC
NYON, Aug 6, (Agencies): Celtic could face Sweden’s Malmo or Hungary’s Vidi FC for a place in the group stage of this season’s Champions League following the playoff draw on Monday.
The Scottish champions must first beat Greek side AEK Athens over two legs of the third qualifying round starting on Wednesday.
The first leg of the playoffs will be held on Aug 21-22 with the return legs on Aug 28-29. Six places are up for grabs in the group stage of Europe’s premier club competition.
Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven meet Qarabag or BATE Borisov while former European champions Benfica of Portugal or Turkey’s Fenerbahce play PAOK or Spartak Moscow.
The six teams beaten in the playoffs will drop into the group stages of the second-tier Europa League. Draw: Crvena Zvezda/Spartak Trnava v Red Bull Salzburg/Shkendija
Qarabag/BATE Borisov v PSV Eindhoven
Young Boys v FC Astana/Dinamo As goalkeeper Tyler Miller sprawled to the ground, Royer lifted a right-footed shot into the net for his eighth goal of the season.
Royer celebrated his third career multi-goal game with two backflips and a fist pump. He then received a loud ovation after being replaced a minute later.
Royer scored for the second straight game and also tallied in the 39th minute as the Red Bulls (14-6-2, 44 points) moved into a tie for second place in the Eastern Conference with rival NYCFC, whom they play Aug 22 at Yankee Stadium.
Diego Rossi scored in the 53rd for LAFC (10-6-6, 36), which is tied for third in the Western Conference with Sporting Kansas City. The expansion club is six points behind conferenceleading FC Dallas after falling to 0-2-2 in the last four games since a 4-1 win over Orlando City on July 7.
Former Japan midfielder Keisuke Honda has signed with Melbourne Victory for the 2018/19 season, the ALeague champions said on Monday.
The former AC Milan player bowed out of international soccer after Japan’s exit from the last 16 at the World Cup in Russia, having represented the nation 98 times and scored 37 goals.
Honda’s signing is a coup for Victory after the departure of stalwart striker Besart Berisha and a bonus for the Australian league which has struggled to lure world class talent.
“I’m so happy to join the club,” Honda, wearing a Melbourne Victory shirt, said from Los Angeles in an interview with local broadcaster Fox Sports.
“I think Melbourne Victory is the best club in Australia. I am honoured. I will make the club win. I have confidence, I will help the team as much as I can.
“I’m an ambitious person and I always work my best, so let’s make it happen.”
National governing body Football Federation Australia confirmed it would make a significant contribution to Honda’s multi-million dollar salary out of its marquee fund.
“The marquee fund ... was set up for just this purpose,” A-League boss Greg O’Rourke told a media conference in Melbourne.
“We set out about three months ago with only two or three names (in consideration), one of those was Keisuke Honda. “It’s fantastic that we take this next step to bring Asia to the A-League.”
Real Salt Lake forward Corey Baird (27) works for the ball next to Chicago Fire’s Tony Tchani (12) during an MLS soccer match in Sandy, Utah on
Aug 4. (AP)
Osaka-born 32-year-old Honda, a set piece maestro capable of playing across the forward line, underlined his class with a goal against Senegal at the World Cup, which made him his nation’s only player to score at three of the global showpieces.
He said his agent brother had told him of Victory’s interest a week after the World Cup but he had never thought of continuing his career Down Under.
“I couldn’t believe that because I am a Japanese and I never thought I would play in Australia in my career,” said the bleach blond playmaker, whose last club stint was with Mexican side Pachuca.
Leicester City have agreed terms with AS Monaco to sign Algeria winger Rachid Ghezzal on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee, the Premier League club announced on Sunday.
The 26-year-old’s style of play has been compared to fellow Algeria international winger Riyad Mahrez, who left Leicester to join Manchester City in July.
Ghezzal will be reunited with the Foxes’ French manager Claude Puel, who was in charge of Olympique Lyonnais as the player moved through the Ligue 1 club’s academy.
He will become Leicester’s fifth close-season signing after Jonny Evans, James Maddison, Ricardo Pereira and Danny Ward, subject to Premier League approval.
Borussia Dortmund have agreed to sign Belgium international Axel Witsel from Chinese side Tianjin Quanjian, the German club said on Monday.
Witsel, 29, a central defensive midfielder who impressed for Belgium during the World Cup in Russia, will be given a four-year contract by Dortmund.
“We’re very happy that he has chosen Borussia Dortmund,” the club’s sporting director Michael Zorc said in a statement, adding that Dortmund would pay the release clause in Witsel’s Tianjin contract without revealing any financial details.