Bayern Munich have confirmed 32-year-old centre-back Jerome Boateng will leave when his contract expires at the end of the season, but the decision has sparked obvious tensions behind the scenes.

Bayern have already signed France centre-back Dayot Upamecano, 22, from Bundesliga rivals RB Leipzig for the 2021/22 season, effectively hastening Boateng’s departure.

“That was a joint decision of the club management and the coach was also involved,” sports director Hasan Salihamidzic told Sky.

“I explained that to Jerome, he understood.”

Boateng was at fault for Paris Saint-Germain’s winning goal as Bayern’s 19-match unbeaten run in the Champions League ended as they lost 3-2 in Wednesday’s quarter-final, first leg.

He struggled to mark Kylian Mbappe when the fleet-footed 22-year-old scored the visitors’ crucial third goal at the Allianz Arena with the return to come in Paris on Tuesday.

Behind the scenes, confirmation of Boateng’s exit is causing tension.

On Tuesday, head coach Hansi Flick spoke out in favour of keeping the 2014 World Cup winner, saying “everyone knows how I feel about Jerome and what quality he has”.

Although Salihamidzic later said Flick agreed with the decision, Bayern’s head coach suggested otherwise in the press conference after Wednesday’s defeat.

Flick refused to answer when asked if it was the right decision to let Boateng leave, saying: “I have to answer the questions here professionally, but I don’t have to answer everything because I don’t want to.”

The Bayern boss added tersely that he “has to act a little — that is also part of the coaching job”.

Boateng joins David Alaba, another key member of the side which won the Champions League title in 2020, who will also leave at the end of the season.

While Alaba, 28, repeatedly turned down a contract extension, Boateng was not offered a new deal.

Since joining Bayern in 2011 from Manchester City, Boateng has won the Champions League title twice, anchoring the defence in the treble-winning seasons of 2013 and 2020 and won the Bundesliga title eight times.

Source: AFP

France on Tuesday converted its biggest stadium, the Stade de France, into a giant vaccination centre as the government scrambles to keep its promise of a giant leap forward in administering Covid-19 jabs.

Built for the 1998 football World Cup, the stadium on the northern outskirts of Paris has a seating capacity of over 80,000 and is usually reserved for topline sports events such as international football and rugby matches or major pop concerts.

But from early Tuesday people were queueing to get an injection in the latest, and biggest, of France’s stadiums to be converted for coronavirus inoculations, which have been dubbed “vaccinodromes”.

In March, the southern city of Marseille opened its velodrome for vaccinations, and Lyon followed suit last week, making available its Groupama Stadium which reported 10,000 vaccinations over the Easter weekend alone.

The Stade de France, in stark contrast to the showy events that usually take place there, is located in the nation’s poorest area. The department of Saine-Saint-Denis has been exceptionally hard hit by Covid, recording 800 cases for every 100,000 inhabitants — more than three times the emergency threshold.

In the short term, health authorities are aiming for 10,000 jabs per week in the stadium.

France is experiencing a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, with intensive care admissions rising past the worst levels seen in the second wave in November 2020.

In response, the government has extended regional measures, including a nightly curfew and travel restrictions, to the entire country, and shut schools.

President Emmanuel Macron has promised a sharp acceleration of the vaccination drive, aiming for a total of 20 million inoculations by mid-May for the nation of 67 million, and 30 million by mid-June.

After much criticism for France’s slow vaccine rollout, there were signs over the three-day Easter weekend that things were picking up.

More than a million new vaccinations were reported over the weekend, taking the total to have received at least one dose of the two-course treatment to 9.3 million.

The government hopes to take delivery of 12 million new vaccine doses in April.

The over 5,400 Covid patients in intensive care is still well short of the 7,000 recorded in April 2020 just after the start of the pandemic, but Health Minister Olivier Veran said Monday that “it’s possible that we’re getting closer” to the first-wave peak.

After cancelling or delaying non-Covid surgery appointments, France now has a total capacity of 8,000 intensive care beds available for coronavirus cases, he said.

The health ministry said it expected infection numbers to peak over the coming week, but that another increase was likely when primary school pupils return after a spring break at the end of the month.

Source:  AFP

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel have played down reports their clubs will go head to head in the race to sign Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Braut Haaland.

Haaland has emerged as one of the world’s top forwards after scoring 21 goals in 21 appearances in the Bundesliga this season.

The 20-year-old Norwegian snubbed United to join Dortmund from RB Salzburg in 2019, but there is growing speculation Solskjaer will make another attempt to sign him in the close season.

Solskjaer coached Haaland at Molde and talk of a summer move from Dortmund has intensified after the player’s agent Mino Raiola and father Alf-Inge Haaland were pictured in Spain.

He has also been linked with Manchester City, Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Asked if he can afford to miss out on Haaland again, Solskjaer said: “Well, I’m focusing on the next two months and whatever happens in the world of football. There’s only so many places anyone can go to.

“I just focus on the ones who are here and even though I’ve worked with Erling it’s not right for me as a Man United manager (to be) talking about Erling.

“I can talk about him as an ex coach of his but he will make his own mind up.”

Solskjaer refused to confirm if Haaland was on his wanted list, adding: “I think the way the world works at the moment, you’d like to do, of course, all your business on the quiet and all your talks on the quiet.

“Hopefully we can suddenly sit here with players that no-one’s written about and thought we’re going to go to.”

– Tight-lipped Tuchel –

With Germany forward Timo Werner struggling to adapt to the Premier League, Chelsea could do with a quality addition to their attack.

But Tuchel wouldn’t be drawn on Chelsea’s potential interest in Haaland, instead claiming his agent was trying to stoke up a bidding war.

“I will not answer that, out of respect for the player and for Borussia Dortmund,” Tuchel said when asked if Chelsea would speak to Raiola.

“He’s a Borussia Dortmund player, and of course there’s big news around him and his agent.

“And it seems like they are creating a race for the player.

“But still everybody needs to accept, and I will fully accept, that he is a Borussia Dortmund player. A very promising player of course, but with respect to the situation he’s not in our squad, he’s not in our club so there’s no comment on anything else regarding him.”

Chelsea have also been linked with a move for Sergio Aguero after Manchester City’s record goalscorer confirmed he will leave at the end of the season.

Keeping tight-lipped on the mooted Aguero interest, Tuchel said: “I don’t need to talk, it’s the same, the same answer as for Haaland.

“It’s absolutely clear that we have full respect for Man City and Sergio Aguero who is a big player for them.

“There is no word needed from me about that. His career is outstanding, it speaks for itself, and it’s not finished yet.

“He will still help Man City to achieve their goals this season.

“But I will never speak more than that about a player of a rival.”

Source: AFP

World football’s governing body FIFA on Friday said it will not sanction the German national team for its T-shirt protest in support of human rights before a World Cup qualifier.

Germany head coach Joachim Loew said he supported the players after they wore black T-shirts with white lettering to spell out “Human Rights”, aimed at 2022 World Cup host nation Qatar, before Thursday’s 3-0 win over Iceland.

“It was a sign that we stand up for all human rights in the world, no matter where,” said Loew after the qualifier in Duisburg.

FIFA prohibits political statements during its matches, but the governing body told AFP subsidiary SID they will not sanction the Germans.

“FIFA believes in freedom of expression and in the power of football to drive positive change,” it said in a statement on Friday.

FIFA had already also said it will not penalise the Norway team for a similar protest connected to human rights issues in Qatar.

Human rights groups have been heavily critical of Qatar for its treatment of migrant workers. Qatar disputes the claims.

Source: AFP

Holders Bayern Munich will take on last year’s beaten finalists Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League quarter-finals while record 13-time winners Real Madrid meet Liverpool in a repeat of the 2018 final.

The draw also pitted Premier League leaders Manchester City against Borussia Dortmund, with Chelsea set to play Porto in the other tie.

Bayern defeated PSG 1-0 behind closed doors in Lisbon last August to win their sixth European Cup and remain the team to beat in Europe, having won 18 and drawn one of their 19 games in the Champions League since the beginning of last season.

The first leg is set to be played in Germany on April 6 or 7, with the return in Paris a week later.

Meanwhile, the meeting of Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool and Real is another re-run of a recent final, with the Spaniards beating the Reds 3-1 in Kiev in 2018 to win the last of their record 13 titles to date.

Liverpool bounced back from that to lift the trophy for the sixth time in Madrid in 2019.

Klopp’s side are due to be away from home in the first leg, but it remains to be seen where that match will be played.

Atletico Madrid’s home leg against Chelsea in the last 16 ended up being moved to the Romanian capital Bucharest due to restrictions imposed on travel to Spain by British authorities.

The winner between Liverpool and Real will go onto a semi-final against either Chelsea or Porto, throwing up the possibility of an all-English last-four tie.

Liverpool beat Chelsea in the semi-finals in 2005 and again in 2007.

Unbeaten in 13 games since the appointment of Thomas Tuchel as coach in late January, Chelsea will be expected to get the better of Portuguese champions Porto, who ousted Juventus in the last 16.

However, that tie could also be relocated given travel restrictions between the United Kingdom and Portgual which prompted both legs of last month’s Europa League clash between Arsenal and Benfica to be played at neutral venues, in Italy and Greece.

Meanwhile City will be strong favourites against Dortmund, with the winner of that tie going through to a semi-final showdown with either Bayern or PSG.

Travel restrictions between the UK and Germany could also have an impact on City’s tie against Erling Braut Haaland’s Dortmund.

Both legs of City’s last-16 tie against Borussia Moenchengladbach were played in Budapest, as were both legs of Liverpool’s tie against RB Leipzig in the last round.

This season’s semi-finals are due to be played in late April and early May, with the final scheduled for May 29 in Istanbul.

(AFP)

Mikel Arteta has held “positive” talks with Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after dropping him for a breach of club discipline, but refused to guarantee the Gabon forward will get his place back against Olympiakos on Thursday.

Aubameyang was left on the bench after reportedly arriving late for a team meeting before Arsenal beat north London rivals Tottenham 2-1 on Sunday.

The 31-year-old left the Emirates Stadium instead of joining his fellow substitutes for a warm-down session on the pitch after the match.

Gunners boss Arteta said he had to take a strong approach with Aubameyang to sustain the club’s long-term foundation.

The Spaniard has cleared the air with Aubameyang but stopped short of saying the striker would be recalled for the Europa League last 16 second leg against Olympiakos.

“We talked. Everything has been resolved in a really positive way. So we move forward,” Arteta told reporters on Wednesday.

“Everybody has to obviously perform at the highest level to earn his place in the team and there is no exceptions there.

“We will try and put a really competitive team out to try and win the game.”

Arsenal midfielder Mohamed Elneny praised Aubameyang for the qualities he brings to the club both on and off the pitch.

“Auba is just one of the best players we have,” Elneny said.

“To me outside of the pitch he is an amazing person. Mikel has spoken about it and it has finished everything but as a team-mate he is one of the best.

“Auba is our captain and he always supports us on and off the pitch and he is an amazing person as well.”

Arsenal lead 3-1 from the first leg against Olympiakos as they bid to move a step closer to winning the Europa League, which would secure qualification for next season’s Champions League.

“It is a really important game for us, nothing has been decided. We know it is going to be tough and everyone has to be ready,” Arteta said.

Source: AFP