Josep Maria Bartomeu said Quique Setien is out as the Barcelona president confirmed the sacking of the under-fire head coach.

Barca have been tipped to sack Setien following Friday s humiliating 8-2 Champions League quarter-final defeat to Bayern Munich in Lisbon.

LaLiga giants Barca conceded eight goals in a game for the first time since 1946, with Setien – who replaced Ernesto Valverde in January – accepting his future was out of his hands at Camp Nou.

With Barca reportedly poised to officially announce the 61-year-old s departure on Monday, Bartomeu told COPE s Tiempo de Juego on Sunday: Setien is out .

It comes as former defender Ronald Koeman emerges as the frontrunner to become the next Barca coach.

Netherlands boss Koeman had been linke…

Turkey made a perfect start to life under Guus Hiddink by confidently beating Kazakhstan 3-0 in their opening 2012 European Championship qualifying match here on Friday.

Galatasaray winger Arda Turan, Bayern Munich midfielder Hamit Altintop and Besiktas striker Nihat Kahveci all scored for Turkey, who recorded their third win in as many competitive meetings with Kazakhstan.

Hiddink, the 63-year-old Dutchman who led Holland and South Korea to the World Cup semi-finals and guided Russia into the last four at Euro 2008, was taking the reins for his first competitive match at the Turkey helm.

The visitors started positively in their Group A opener, pinning Kazakhstan back inside their own half in the opening minutes and winning two corners that came to nothing.

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Ligue 2 side Dijon were dumped out of the Coupe de France in the eighth round as they lost to lower-league minnows Sarreguemines on Saturday.

Serreguemine fought back from a goal down at the Stade de la Bais to seal progression into the next stage with a 2-1 victory, setting up the possibility of a tie against a Ligue 1 outfit.

There were also surprise defeats for second-tier sides Brest, Nimes and Clermont, losing their respective away matches to Stade Briochin, Moulins AS and Trelissac who recorded a 10-0 win over Panazol in their previous Coupe de France outing.

Meanwhile, fellow second-tier side Valenciennes scraped through courtesy of a 2-1 extra-time victory over lower-league Beauvais, with youngster Gaetan Missi Mezu netting a 105th-minute winner.

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AC Milan have announced the return of goalkeeper Christian Abbiati, who has been appointed club manager at San Siro.

Abbiati spent 15 seasons as a Milan player before retiring at the end of the 2015-16 campaign, winning three Serie A titles and the Champions League in the 2002-03 campaign.

In a statement, Milan explained Abbiati will act as a link between Vincenzo Montella s team and the board, with Chinese group Sino-Europe Sports having completed a takeover in April.

He will report directly to the club s sporting and technical director Massimiliano Mirabelli and will be the liaison between the team and the club, Milan said.

Grande Abbia bentornato!!!

— Riccardo Montolivo (@OfficialMonto)

Preparations for the new season are well u…

Kepa Arrizabalaga is relishing Graham Potter s faith in him after producing another excellent performance in Chelsea s 0-0 draw with Brentford on Wednesday.

Although Chelsea dropped points in the Premier League for the first time under Potter after struggling to create chances, they had Kepa to thank for preserving their unbeaten record under the former Brighton and Hove Albion boss.

Kepa made five saves – three of them to deny Ivan Toney – as Chelsea kept their fifth successive clean sheet in all competitions.

The Spaniard – who was reportedly considered surplus to requirements under Potter s predecessor Thomas Tuchel – has been afforded a new lease on life in recent weeks, and is savouring his run in the team.

I m feeling very well, I m feelin…

Valery Karpin has resigned as coach of Spartak Moscow after the club s poorest ever start to a season, the Russian club announced on Monday.

Traditionally one of the Russian Premier League s most powerful clubs, Spartak have not won a major trophy since 2003 and bowed out of the Europa League quarter-finals 10-3 on aggregate to Porto on Thursday.

Spartak then fell 2-1 to Anzhi Makhachkala on Sunday their third defeat in five league matches this season to plummet to the bottom of the Premier League table.

In an announcement the day after the club s latest defeat, former Russia midfielder Karpin revealed he would be stepping down as Spartak manager but would remain as the club s general director.

Today the board of directors had accepted my resignation, s…

Pedro is anticipating a difficult challenge when Barcelona begin their UEFA Champions League campaign at home to APOEL on Wednesday.

On paper, the Cypriot outfit represent the weakest opponents in Group F, which also includes Ajax and Paris Saint-Germain, both reigning champions of their respective domestic leagues.

Barcelona will come into the clash as firm favourites and they boast a strong home record in this competition, with just one defeat in their past 27 matches at Camp Nou.

Despite that run, Pedro is not expecting an easy ride against Giorgos Donis men.

We ll be playing against a physical side that tracks back well, he said. I m sure it ll be a difficult game.

Every year we work hard to reach the Champions League final. It was a shame t…

Leandro Paredes has joined Zenit from Roma in a deal potentially worth up to €27million.

The 23-year-old midfielder, capped once by Argentina, has agreed a four-year contract with the Russian Premier League side.

Roma confirmed they have agreed a minimum fee for the sale of €23m, which could rise by up to €4m based on team and player performance bonuses. 

A product of the Boca Juniors academy, Paredes initially joined Chievo on a temporary basis in January 2014 and was then loaned to Roma in July of that year. 

He signed permanently for the Giallorossi from Boca Juniors in June 2015.

It s official Leandro Paredes is a Zenit player! The Argentinian international comes to St. Petersburg on a 4-year deal

— FC Zenit in English (@f…

According to a report from AS, Real Madrid are still said to be interested in signing Mario Hermoso. The 23 year old Spaniard is currently playing for Espanyol and has been since 2017 when he made the jump over from, you guessed it, Real Madrid B. Alas, as was the case during his first stint at the Bernabeu, Hermoso isn’t the first choice. Real are still prioritising the potential signing of Militao, and the renewal of their interest in Hermoso will depend entirely on whether or not they land their number one pick.

Real are said to have a buy back clause in Hermoso’s contract, which would allow them to pick him up for just £6.6 million. It sounds, and is, an extraordinarily cheap amount given the quality of the player, and it highlights the kind of dominance and influence …

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In what could prove to be an enjoyable affair from America First Field in the early hours of Sunday, Real Salt Lake will welcome Orlando to town.

Real Salt Lake

Starting with the hosts, while Real Salt Lake might have failed to find much stability when opening the 2023 campaign, Pablo Mastroeni’s men have come roaring back in some style. Only continuing to shine on either side of June’s international break, the Claret and Cobalt have skyrocketed up the Western Conference standings and now find themselves sat in pole position to clinch another top-six finish. With the mood around America First Field at a real high, RSL are unbeaten in their last seven straight domestic appearances across all competitions a run that stems back to a 3…