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Bayern Munich left bitter after Dortmund fans’ beer shower

Associated PressNov 12, 2018, 6:08 PM EST

The beer showers usually mark the end of the season for Bayern Munich as players and coaching staff celebrate their latest Bundesliga title by dousing each other in beer.

Club president Uli Hoeness and chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge can’t have expected a beer shower after just 11 rounds of the league, but both were drenched by celebrating Borussia Dortmund fans after Paco Alcacer scored the winner in a 3-2 win over Bayern on Saturday.

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Bayern fell seven points behind Dortmund, which remains the only unbeaten team in the Bundesliga.

It had been an engrossing game, with Robert Lewandowski twice giving Bayern the lead against his former team only for Marco Reus to twice drag Dortmund level. After Alcacer put Dortmund ahead, Lewandowski thought he snatched a draw in injury time with his third, but home fans’ dismay turned to joy again when the linesman raised his flag for offside.

On Sunday, Hoeness promised changes to the squad to revitalize the side for next season, through he ruled out any January transfers to bolster the team during the season.

The Bayern president defended the current squad and said suggestions that it was too old were nonsense. He pointed to the injured Corentin Tolisso, 24, and Kingsley Coman, 22, as “the two most important young players that we signed in the past years.”

Hoeness highlighted what was arguably Bayern’s best performance of the season in Dortmund.

[ USMNT: Nagbe, Steffen out ]

“Anyone who saw our team in the first hour could see that we can play outstanding football,” Hoeness told Sky TV.

“The Bundesliga is fun again. One thing we can promise you – we will keep the title fight exciting to the last weekend.”

FRANKFURT’S NEW STAR

Luka Jovic continues to shine for Eintracht Frankfurt. The Serbian striker, 20, scored twice and set up the other goal as Frankfurt went fourth with a 3-0 win over Schalke on Sunday.

With nine goals so far, Jovic is the league’s top scorer, although five of those goals came in one game against Fortuna Duesseldorf. He scored eight goals last season after he joined on loan from Benfica.

“His development is absolutely sensational,” Frankfurt chairman Fredi Bobic said. “He had fallen off at Benfica, was in the second team and it felt like the third. But we remembered his youth in Belgrade, where he was outstanding.”

Frankfurt has the option of making Jovic’s loan deal from Benfica permanent for a fee of 10 million to 12 million euros ($11.5 million to $13.8 million) and Bobic expects the forward to get even better.

“If he understands that he sometimes needs to go another couple of meters, then he’s going toward world-class,” Bobic said.

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Madrid registers Solari as coach to beat deadline

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Associated PressNov 12, 2018, 11:38 AM EST

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MADRID (AP) Real Madrid registered Santiago Solari as its coach on Monday because Spanish league regulations prohibit a club from having an interim coach for more than two weeks.

[READ: Pogba, Martial out of France squad with injuries]

Madrid has not said whether it stopped looking for a full-time replacement for Julen Lopetegui, who was fired on Oct. 29. Solari, a former Madrid player, was appointed as the interim coach but had not been ruled out as a candidate. His chances of staying increased after he led Madrid to four straight victories since replacing Lopetegui.

“What I can say is that we are very happy (with Solari),” said Emilio Butragueno, Madrid’s director of institutional relations. “He arrived at a very particular moment and has been able to achieve some very good results.”

Even prior to the sacking of Lopetegui, Real Madrid appeared ready to bring in former Chelsea and Juventus boss Antonio Conte, but the Italian’s move to Madrid never materialized. In the time span, with it being the middle of the season, Real Madrid had almost no choice but to go forward with Solari at least until the end of this season.

Serie A: Napoli fight back to win, stay close to Juventus

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Associated PressNov 10, 2018, 6:00 PM EST

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MILAN (AP) In a match which had to be suspended for nearly 15 minutes because of rain, Napoli almost saw its Serie A title hopes washed away.

Napoli fought back from a goal down and needed a late own goal to win at Genoa 2-1 on Saturday and keep within sight of leader Juventus.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side cut the gap to three points to Juventus, which visits AC Milan on Sunday.

Inter Milan can move back level on points with a win at Atalanta, also on Sunday.

Genoa was the only team to have taken points off Juventus in Serie A but came into the match having lost at Inter 5-0 last weekend.

Lorenzo Insigne hit the post for Napoli early on but it was Genoa which took a surprise lead in the 20th minute when Christian Kouame headed in Romulo’s cross.

It was raining heavily in Genoa and the match was halted in the 59th minute for about 13 minutes until the rain stopped and the pitch could be partly drained.

Napoli leveled shortly after play resumed, thanks to its two halftime substitutes. Mertens flicked on Allan‘s pass for Fabian Ruiz to slot past Ionut Radu.

And Napoli completed its comeback four minutes from time when Genoa defender Davide Biraschi deflected Mario Rui’s free kick into his own net.

La Liga: With late help from VAR, Atleti rallies to beat Bilbao

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Associated PressNov 10, 2018, 4:05 PM EST

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MADRID (AP) Atletico Madrid rallied to defeat Athletic Bilbao 3-2 in the Spanish league on Saturday, with Diego Godin’s winner coming after a video review in second-half stoppage time.

Godin’s last-gasp goal was initially disallowed because of offside, but the call was reversed after the VAR confirmed the defender was in legal position when he headed the ball into the net.

The Atletico captain was playing with a muscle injury and stayed in the match only because Atletico had already made all three substitutions at Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.

The hosts twice came from behind after a pair of goals by Athletic forward Inaki Williams. Midfielders Thomas Partey and Rodrigo scored for Atletico in the second half.

The dramatic victory moved Atletico one point behind league leader Barcelona, which hosts Real Betis on Sunday. Espanyol can move past Atletico when it visits fourth-place Sevilla on Sunday.

Sixth-place Real Madrid, coming off three straight victories since interim coach Santiago Solari replaced the fired Julen Lopetegui, visits Celta Vigo on Sunday.

Atletico was coming off a convincing 2-0 win against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.

The last-minute loss added to a disappointing season for Athletic, which hasn’t won in 11 straight matches and can drop into the relegation zone by the end of the weekend. Its last victory was in August. Since then, the Basque Country club has drawn seven matches and lost four.

Willians’ first goal was an easy tap in after a shot by Mikel San Jose struck the post and bounced in front of the goal line in the 36th. His second came after a fast breakaway in the 64th, entering the area and sending a low shot into the net three minutes after Partey equalized for Atletico with a powerful long-range shot, hitting the upper right corner from more than 25 meters away.

Rodrigo evened the match for the hosts again with a header off a corner in the 80th, scoring his first goal since joining Atletico from Villarreal in the summer.

Godin’s winner came after Partey sent a free kick into the area and Griezmann redirected the ball toward the goal mouth as the Uruguay defender appeared behind the defenders.

Guardiola admits sanctions possible over Man City finances

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Associated PressNov 9, 2018, 5:07 PM EST

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LONDON (AP) Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola raised the prospect Friday of soccer authorities punishing the Premier League champions over attempts to circumvent financial fair play rules.

City is leaving Guardiola to field questions about the leaked internal correspondence published by European media outlets, while executives decline comment. The club has not disputed the authenticity of internal messages showing how it used companies linked to the Abu Dhabi ownership to boost revenue in an attempt to curb losses and comply with UEFA regulations.

“If there’s something wrong we’ll be punished,” Guardiola said at a news conference ahead of Sunday’s derby against Manchester United.

City, which has been owned by Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Mansour for a decade, was punished by UEFA in 2014 for breaching the “Financial Fair Play” program. The settlement agreement eventually saw the club only forfeit $23 million in Champions League prize money. UEFA this week has not said how aware it was of City’s schemes, reported by German magazine Der Spiegel, to hide expenses and evade monitoring of spending on players.

“At the end, UEFA, FIFA, English federation has to say if we were wrong,” Guardiola said. “If we were wrong (we) will accept it but I hear what my club said to me and I trust a lot of them.”

There was no response to an email sent to three City media officers seeking comment on Guardiola discussing the possibility of the club facing further punishment. City did, however, send an emailed statement announcing a new contract through 2023 for winger Raheem Sterling on Friday.

City has also not responded to questions from The Associated Press about Guardiola’s contract, specifically whether he receives income from entities in Abu Dhabi or other teams owned by Sheikh Mansour. The Football Leaks group published details showing how Roberto Mancini, who managed City from 2009 to 2013 and won the Premier League title in 2012, received more pay from a team Sheikh Mansour owns in Abu Dhabi to work as a consultant than from the Manchester club.

City has faced a week of damaging headlines about its conduct and financial arrangements since the first leaks were published a week ago.

Der Spiegel showed how the team’s holding company – state-backed Abu Dhabi United Group – sent cash to a shell vehicle which was created to supposedly buy the right to use players’ images in marketing campaigns. This helped turn almost $34 million into revenue instead of a cost, for the purpose of UEFA’s investigation of club accounts as the club tried to avoid being banned from European competitions for overspending.

While City said it “will not be providing any comment on out of context materials,” Guardiola was more open to discussing information related to the Football Leaks investigation. Real Madrid was revealed to be working with consultants on a 16-team Super League to kick off in 2021, effectively replacing the Champions League and outside the control of UEFA.

“I would like to know the ideas,” said Guardiola, who is in his third season coaching City. “But, for me, the Premier League, local leagues, are so important, with all the history.”

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