Ronaldo called up to lead Portugal in Nations League Barca win only a step on Bayern’s way to bright future, says Kahn Barcelona starlet Gavi p ens new deal until 2026
LISBON: Cristiano Ronaldo was included in the Portugal squad on Thursday for upcoming Nations League matches against the Czech Republic and Spain.
Portugal coach Fernando Santos said he is not worried with Ronaldo not playing much at Manchester United this season.
“Nobody here has any doubts about how important he continues to be for the national team,” Santos said.
Joao Felix, Diogo Jota, Bernardo Silva and Bruno Fernandes also were included in the 26-player list, along with defenders Joao Cançelo, Pepe and newcomer Tiago Djalo.
Out because of injuries were Otávio and Renato Sanches. Santos also let out André Silva, Goncalo Guedes and Joao Moutinho, Portugal’s player with the second-most appearances with the national team behind Ronaldo.
Portugal will play at the Czech Republic on Sept.24 and then will host Spain three days later.
Portugal, winner of the inaugural edition of the Nation League in 2019, trails Spain by one point in Group 2 of League A. The team is three points ahead of the Czech Republic.
The Portuguese soccer federation earlier Thursday released its uniform for the World Cup in Qatar, with a jersey inspired by the nation’s green and red flag. Moving away from the traditional plain red, the new shirt has both the red and green colors on each side of a diagonal line across the chest.
Giroud, Dembele in France squad Olivier Giroud and Ousmane Dembele were both included in the final France squad before the World Cup on Thursday, as coach Didier Deschamps deals with the absence of a host of big names for a UEFA Nations League double header.
Karim Benzema is sidelined with a thigh injury suffered playing for Real Madrid, while Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba faces a race against time to be fit for the World Cup ater undergoing knee surgery.
With Chelsea’s N’golo Kante recovering from injury, Paris Saint-germain defender Presnel Kimpembe sidelined, and Bayern Munich duo Kingsley Coman and Lucas Hernandez also ruled out, Deschamps has brought back some familiar faces and handed a first chance to others for France’s games against Austria and Denmark later this month.
BERLIN: Ater a 2-0 victory over Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League, Bayern Munich chairman Oliver Kahn might have recognized the importance of the Bavarians’ second group win to help vanish the crisis talking.
Two second-half goals in three minutes, including a superb chip from Leroy Sane, helped Bayern Munich defeat Barcelona 2-0 on Robert Lewandowski’s return to Bavaria in the Champions League.
Bayern’s France defender Lucas Hernandez headed in a corner to open the scoring, but it was Sane who put the game beyond doubt for the home side.
“It’s great we won the game and we enjoy it. But Barca is only a step in between on a long journey,” the former German international said. “We didn’tdo perfectlyon all sectors in the game.”
Like many, Kahn is talking about one of the best squads in the club’s history, while president
Herbert Hainer mentioned Bayern’s economic advantage compared to several European competitors, reports Xinhua.
“We are well equipped due to sense-making financial procedures we strictly follow. As you can see, Bayern is highly atractive to international stars,” Hainer added.
For Kahn, it seems a logical demand triggered by the investments to expect a satisfying performance on the international stage. The club is keeping interested in signing a box-striker such as Totenham’s Harry Kane.
Media reports speak of Kane being open regardinga move to Munichpossiblynextsummer.
The Bavarian club’s leaders expressed clear orders to head coach Julian Nagelsmann to address Bayern’s demands.
When it comes to the duel against Barca, the 35-year-old coach took the right choice counting on fast Dayot Upamecano instead of new arrival Mathijs de Ligt to stop former Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski.
But for Kahn, talking about success means including the national league. To make up for three disappointing draws ater six rounds of matches, “it takes to beat the FC Augsburg in our next league game.”
Kahn demanded from players and coaches to accept the competition in the squad and focus on the season goals.
“It’s no secret that we, as any other club on that level, need all of our players to get to the top,” Kahn emphasized.
MADRID: Barcelona midfielder Gavi signed a contract extension until June 2026 with a release clause of one billion euros on Wednesday.
The 18-year-old’s existing deal was set to expire at the end of the 2022-23 season.
Gavi has become a key player for the club ater breaking through in August 2021, shortly before being given his Spain debut by Luis Enrique in October 2021, becoming his country’s youngest ever player at senior level.
Gavi scored against the Czech Republic in June 2022 to become Spain’s youngest ever goalscorer, taking the record from his club team-mate Ansu Fati.
Both players, along with Pedri, Ronald Araujo and Ferran Torres have the same one billion euro release clause writen into their Barcelona deals, the joint most expensive in world football.
Talks over Gavi’s renewal had dragged on but Barcelona wanted to wait until he turned 18 to finalise the deal, so it could be longer than a three-year duration, while the club also had to work to clear space on their books due to La Liga’s stringent internal financial fair play rules.
Gavi has 54 appearances for Barcelona and 10 caps for Spain so far.
Gavi’s contract ends months of speculation over his future, with talks bogged down partly due to limitations of the wage ceiling imposed on Barcelona by La Liga, but the departure of Pjanic to the UAE a week ago freed up salary to allow the deal to be completed, reports Xinhua.
Barcelona hosts Elche on Saturday seeking a win that would move it a point ahead of Real Madrid. Bayern Munich handed Barcelona their first loss of the season in any competition on Tuesday, 2-0 in Germany. Robert Lewandowski missed clear scoring chances against his former team and will be seeking to rekindle his excellent form ater having found the net nine times since arriving in Spain.
Sevilla coach Julen Lopetegui is under pressure to get a win at Villarreal on Sunday. Sevilla has only one victory in seven games overall and was held 0-0 at Copenhagen in the Champions League this week, while Villarreal’s only loss came last week.
Meanwhile, barring a quick recovery for Real forward Karim Benzema or a change of strategy by Atletico Madrid, Sunday’s Spanish capital derby will be played mostly without the rivals’ leading stars.