Mancini insists dropping Icardi a tactical decision

After scoring the winner against Bologna, Mauro Icardi
was left out of Inter's clash with Roma due to Roberto
Mancini's gameplan.

Roberto Mancini has stated dropping Mauro Icardi for Inter's
clash with Roma was a purely tactical decision.

After ending the 2014-15 Serie A season as joint-top scorer, the
striker has only found the net three times in nine league outings
this term.

Although Icardi's most recent strike came in the 1-0 win over
Bologna on Wednesday, Mancini left him out of his starting line-
up for the victory over Roma on Saturday.

It was a decision solely based on a gameplan to cause Roma
problems with more technical players, with Stevan Jovetic
taking his place.

"It was our decision because we did not want to give Roma
reference points, we needed technical players who could attack
them down the flanks. That is all," Mancini told Sky Sport Italia.
"I needed a fresh player to attack the space, as [Stevan] Jovetic
had worked hard and I wanted someone who could attack the
space.

"Jovetic did very well, he really sacrificed himself for the team."
Gary Medel scored the only goal of the game at San Siro and
believes Inter can compete for the Serie A title after knocking
Roma off top spot.

"I think we've got a great team that can challenge for the title
and we can be in the top spots, but we have to take it one step
at a time," the Chilean told Sky Sport Italia.

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La Liga Re-Cap:-: Celta leave it late as Barca and Madrid pull clear

Barcelona avoided another away day defeat at the
weekend while Real Madrid remain unbeaten in La
Liga.

Real Madrid and Barcelona sit three points clear at the top of La
Liga following routine victories against Las Palmas and Getafe
respectively on Saturday.

Following Atletico Madrid's draw with Deportivo La Coruna on
Friday, Madrid and Barca took their chance to apply pressure at
the top with the latter easing to a 3-1 success at the Santiago
Bernabeu.

Isco and Cristiano Ronaldo gave the hosts a two-goal cushion
15 minutes in before Hernan reduced the arrears. Jese
Rodriguez completed the scoring before half-time with Barca
joining them on 24 points later in the day.

Following defeats on the road to Sevilla and Celta Vigo, Barca
were seeking to avoid losing a third away game on the spin in
the league for the first time since 2002.

And Sergi Roberto proved crucial as the midfielder supplied the
assists for Luis Suarez and Neymar in Madrid - ensuring Luis
Enrique's men continue to pick up points in Lionel Messi's
injury-enforced absence.

Fellow high-flyers Villarreal briefly went fourth after they beat
Sevilla prior to Celta Vigo's dramatic 3-2 victory over Real
Sociedad.

Sevilla were in fine form ahead of their trip to El Madrigal but
goals from Mario and Cedric Bakambu put the hosts in control
prior to Fernando Llorente's consolation 14 minutes from time.

That put Villarreal in the top four ahead of Celta's trip to the
Anoeta, which saw the visitors twice fall behind before fighting
back to earn a victory.

Iago Aspas twice cancelled out Imanol Agirretxe before Pablo
Hernandez scored a minute from time to send Celta back third.

In the local derby at the Mestalla, Valencia ran out comfortable
3-0 winners against rock-bottom Levante courtesy of goals
from Paco Alcacer, Sofiane Feghouli and Zakaria Bakkali.

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'Unique' Neymar so important for Barcelona - Luis Enrique

Neymar was the subject of glowing praise from Luis
Enrique after his part in Barcelona's victory over
Getafe.

Barcelona coach Luis Enrique hailed forward Neymar as
"unique" following Saturday's 2-0 victory over Getafe at the
Coliseum Alfonso Perez.

The victory kept Barca level on points with Real Madrid at the
top of La Liga, with Luis Suarez opening the scoring prior to
Neymar's well-taken volley after the break.

Neymar was key in the build-up to the opener as well, the
Brazilian continuing to help Barca cope with the absence of
injured star Lionel Messi during recent weeks.

The forward was a constant menace to the Getafe back line on
Saturday and Luis Enrique was impressed by Neymar's all-
round display.

"He brings us a lot, he is a unique player in all aspects, capable
of taking on two or three opponents on his own," said the Barca
coach.

"He brings us goals, assists, defensive work, keeps improving
and will keep improving. He is so important for us.

"[But] we have not asked more from the players, we always ask
for them to give everything. We all had to step up with players
out."

Suarez too was full of praise for Neymar, with Barca hopeful
Messi can be reunited with his fellow forwards ahead of El
Clasico on November 21.

"We all have clear functions, I can't dribble four rivals, that's a
job for Neymar," he told Movistar.

"All the people remember Messi because he's the best player in
the world and we know that the fans miss him."

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Koeman: English managers will remain a minority

Southampton manager Ronald Koeman believes the
lure of the Premier League means English managers
will remain a minority.

Southampton's Dutch manager Ronald Koeman believes English
managers will remain in the minority in the Premier League.

Koeman will go head-to-head with rising star Eddie Howe - one
of just five English coaches in the top flight - when Southampton
meet AFC Bournemouth at St Mary's Stadium on Sunday.

Sam Allardyce (Sunderland), Alan Pardew (Crystal Palace),
Steve McClaren (Newcastle United) and Garry Monk (Swansea
City) are the other Englishman working in the Premier League.

Former Feyenoord boss Koeman revealed the lure of the
Premier League was too much for him to turn down and has
defended his appointment on the south-coast.

"I think it's always important to have some foreign managers
here because maybe they will bring some new ideas into the
game," he said.

"It's also important to protect the English managers, but in the
end it's up to the club to make that decision.

He continued: "Maybe it's because there's a European influence
in the Premier League, for players and for managers. In my
situation it was because of a lot of attention to the Premier
League and the FA Cup final when I was a young kid.

"There is always spirit and intensity in the games, and that
makes it nice to watch English football. There are also big clubs
and that was the reason I was interested to be a manager for an
English club team.

"Maybe he [Howe] is one of the future managers because I
understand he is still young, and he is doing a great job,
managing a club and bringing them to the Premier League was
an amazing result for them
"But like everywhere it's up to the chairmen of the clubs, to the
owners of the club, what they think."

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Allardyce urges Defoe to replicate Aguero

Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce has encouraged
Jermain Defoe to style himself on Manchester City's
Sergio Aguero.

Sam Allardyce has urged Jermain Defoe to replicate Manchester
City striker Sergio Aguero's playing style, if he is to solely lead
the Sunderland attack

Allardyce is eager for Sunderland to play with one forward but
has reservations over whether former England international
Defoe has the attributes to effectively execute the role.

Defoe, 33, set up Steven Fletcher for the opener against
Newcastle United last time out but is determined to line-up in a
central position, having to settle for either wide-left duties or a
place on the bench so far this season.

"There's no doubt about Jermain playing like that but, if that's
4-4-2, can the rest of the team cope?" Allardyce said ahead of
Sunderland's clash with Everton.

"Jermain might score, but the opposition might score two.
Jermain might score two and the opposition might score three!

"That's based on the fact that you can't control midfield if you
have one player fewer there. It wasn't a problem against
Newcastle because, once Ola Toivonen came off, we ended up
playing the same system as them.



"We won, but Newcastle were better than us.

"That's the problem. I'm happy we won, but I'm not daft, I know
we can't allow that to keep happening because we'll end up
losing more than we win.

"Jermain could play up on his own maybe. Can he do it, can he
deal with it? Nobody thought, for a long time, at Manchester City
that Aguero could play up on his own. He always wanted to
play up with a big man.

"Now you see him playing up on his own brilliantly. You can get
your defensive side right, but you're going to need someone to
score and Jermain Defoe's track record says he needs fewer
chances to score than anyone else, normally.

"At the moment, I'm two games into the job and I thought he
made a good contribution last weekend, so we'll see."

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Schneiderlin: Goals will come for United

Manchester United have failed to score in three
consecutive games but Morgan Schneiderlin is keeping
the faith.

Morgan Schneiderlin is not worried about Manchester United's
barren run in front of goal, the French midfielder confident the
Premier League title hopefuls will start scoring.

United played out their third consecutive goalless draw in all
competitions after firing another blank at Crystal Palace on
Saturday.

It is the first time United have drawn 0-0 in three successive
matches since 2005 but Schneiderlin is keeping the faith.

"It's frustrating when you don't win games," Schneiderlin told
MUTV after United slipped four points behind Premier League
leaders Manchester City.

"We have the players to score goals and we will score goals.

It's not a worry for me. We've had the chances and sometimes
it's just a matter of taking the time to make a good choice.

"It will come if we keep believing. We will keep clean sheets,
that's not a problem, and we will win games but we need to
make sure it comes quickly."

United have kept three successive clean sheets in the Premier
League, collecting five points in the process.

But manager Louis van Gaal warned United can forget about
winning the title if they keep dropping points against teams
outside the top four.

"I am not happy because if you want to be the champions, you
have to win these kinds of matches," Van Gaal added.

"Arsenal beat Swansea [City], for example. We lost against
Swansea, even though we were the better team, but they have
beaten them 3-0."

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'I am not PSG's saviour', stresses Di Maria

Amid criticism for a number of inconsistent displays,
Angel di Maria insists he cannot single-handedly lead
Paris Saint-Germain to glory.

Angel di Maria has hit back at his critics, stressing he is not
Paris Saint-Germain's "saviour" in their bid to win the
Champions League.

Seen as the final piece of the puzzle in PSG's quest for
European glory, Di Maria has been criticised for his lack of
consistency after swapping Manchester United for the French
champions in a deal worth £44million.

French media have been quick to heap pressure on Di Maria,
especially after he was substituted during his reunion with
former club Real Madrid over a week ago, but the Argentina
international silenced his critics, albeit momentarily, by scoring
the winner in PSG's 1-0 Ligue 1 win at Rennes on Friday.

And the 27-year-old has attempted to curb expectations
following his high-profile arrival in Paris, telling BeIN Sports: "I'm
not a classic centre-forward; I'm not a goal scorer. I'm not used
to scoring in every game.

"Obviously I love scoring and I get great satisfaction when I set
up one of my team-mates to score. For me, assisting a goal and
scoring one is the same thing.

"People have to understand that I am not PSG's saviour and nor
can I make the team win the Champions League on my own.

I'm here to help – to add my own grain of sand."

Di Maria added: "There's always going to be criticism but
sometimes people criticize just for the sake of it because they
get a kick out of it. Criticism can be damaging – especially
when you have only just arrived at a club and have just put in
three or four good games.

"I scored against Malmo in my first Champions League game
with PSG and everyone was raving about it. Against Madrid,
things didn't turn out so well and there were a million criticisms.

"Sometimes there is more criticism than is necessary but you
have to adapt to it. A lot of things happened to me while I was
at Madrid and I had to overcome them. I ended up winning
major trophies and I hope the same thing happens here with
PSG."

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Atsu back at Chelsea following stress fracture

Christian Atsu - on a season-long loan at AFC
Bournemouth - is undergoing treatment on a shin injury
at parent club Chelsea.

AFC Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe confirmed loanee
Christian Atsu has returned to Chelsea for treatment on a stress
fracture.

Atsu - on a season-long loan at the Premier League newcomers
- suffered a shin injury while on international duty for Ghana in
September and Howe revealed the 23-year-old returned to
Stamford Bridge over a month ago.

The Ghanaian winger, who has managed just two League Cup
appearances since joining Bournemouth on a temporary basis
for the 2015-16 campaign following a pre-season hampered by
a back problem, is no closer to returning according to Howe.

Speaking ahead of Bournemouth's trip to Southampton on
Sunday, Howe said: "This has been dragging on for about six
weeks. He got a knock on his shin in the first international break
that put him out for a couple of weeks and then he got kicked
again a couple of weeks after and that has resulted in him
having to go back to Chelsea for treatment.

"Unfortunately we haven't seen Christian here for about a
month. It's going to take time for him to get fit again. It has
been a real shame.

"The timeframe is unknown at the moment but it is a stress
fracture on his shin. We don't think it is anything serious, there
will be no long-term problems but he may be back at Chelsea for
another three to four weeks."

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Giroud: Swansea win could play role in Bayern clash

Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud claims the win over
Swansea City was a positive experience ahead of their
meeting with Bayern Munich.

Olivier Giroud believes Arsenal's 3-0 Premier League win over
Swansea City will play a key role in their vital Champions
League trip to Bayern Munich on Wednesday.

Arsenal scored all three goals following the interval as Giroud,
Laurent Koscielny and Joel Campbell all found the back of the
net at Liberty Stadium on Saturday.

Giroud, who has been drafted back into Arsene Wenger's
starting line-up following Theo Walcott's injury, netted his
seventh goal of the campaign in the away win and was
impressed by the team's patient display.

"It was definitely a good win," he told Arsenal's official website.

"We needed this win before the big game on Wednesday. We
started slowly but we were creating chances to score. We
needed to wait until the second half to put it in and to score
three goals and even more, get another clean sheet.

Swansea had won the last two meetings between the sides and
France international striker Giroud believes the initial struggle to
break down their opponents could prove a key experience ahead
of their European challenge.

"We needed to change that [record]," he said.

"We had two difficult games against Swansea and to play here
and, as I said, it was not easy in the first half but we succeeded
to play our game; more in between the lines with more technique
and we were efficient up front and at the back as well.

"We are really pleased with this game so hopefully we can win
the second leg [against Bayern Munich] as well."

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Tuchel and Dortmund not looking at league table

Borussia Dortmund are second behind holders Bayern
Munich in the Bundesliga after three consecutive wins.

Borussia Dortmund closed the gap on Bundesliga leaders
Bayern Munich after seeing off Werder Bremen but coach
Thomas Tuchel insisted the title hopefuls are only "focusing on
ourselves".

Dortmund moved to within five points of the Bundesliga holders
thanks to a 3-1 victory over Bremen on Saturday.

Tuchel and Co. have won three league matches in succession to
keep pace with Bayern, who dropped points for the first time this
season when they drew 0-0 at Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday, but
the Dortmund boss is remaining grounded.

"When we look at the table, we only look at ourselves," Tuchel
said via Dortmund's official website.

"The signals that I am getting from the team are that we are
capable of focusing on ourselves and ourselves alone.

"We need to keep going - we haven't won anything yet."

Marcos Reus was the star of the show at the Westfalenstadion,
with his brace inspiring Dortmund.

The Germany international opened the scoring in the ninth
minute and sealed the points 18 minutes from time, after
Henrikh Mkhitaryan restored Dortmund's first-half lead
following Anthony Uhaj's equaliser.

"In the first half we had a few difficulties and were not able to
stop all of Bremen's counter-attacks early on. Taking a 2-1 lead
in at the break was definitely a bit lucky," Tuchel added.

"However, I'm extremely happy with the second 45 minutes. We
never lost our concentration and created gilt-edged chances to
score time and time again. I am very, very satisfied. I'd like to
pay a huge compliment to my team."

On Reus' performance in particular, Tuchel said: "He has always
shown how hard-working he is - even in phases where things
have not gone so well.

"Marco has always radiated self-confidence because he knows
what he can do. The fact things are going so well now is a great
feeling for all of us."

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Isco: I'll force Benitez into difficult decisions

Real Madrid attacker Isco says he is willing to play in
any position under coach Rafael Benitez.

Isco is eager to put pressure on coach Rafael Benitez for a
consistent starting spot, after scoring the opening goal in Real
Madrid's 3-1 win over Las Palmas on Saturday.

The 23-year-old playmaker has failed to secure his position in
the side since joining from Malaga in July 2013 but has enjoyed
a recent run of form to start the last five games for the Madrid
giants.

After starting on the right of the front three in attack against the
Canary Island outfit, Isco admitted he is happy to play in any
position and wants to give Benitez a selection dilemma.

"I'm comfortable anywhere, as long as it's on the pitch," he said.

"I will continue working and fighting to make it difficult for the
manager".

Madrid temporarily extended their lead at the top of La Liga
before title-rivals and holders Barcelona drew level at the
summit following their victory over Getafe.

Isco was pleased with the manner of Madrid's away victory but
said the team will not be resting on their laurels, with Barca in
touching distance.

"We began the game with a lot of conviction and scored two
goals early on," he said.

"The game went our way and it was a shame we conceded a
goal. We played pretty well overall."

He added: "We have to continue this good run. We're happy to
get the three points and stay at the top, which is important."

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SerieA:-: Inter 1 vs 0 Roma| Highlights Download

Gary Medel's powerful strike helped Inter defeat Roma 1-0
and leapfrog their opponents at the top of Serie A.

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LaLiga:-: Getafe 0 vs 2 Barcrlona| Highlights Download

Luis Suarez and Neymar fired Barcelona to a 2-0 victory
over Getafe on Saturday to leave the Catalans level on
points with Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.

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