“There’s a chance he’ll play again this year,” Kompany told a press conference on the eve of Bayern’s German Cup last 16 clash against holders Bayer Leverkusen.

The 31-year-old forward pulled up with a hamstring tear during Saturday’s 1-1 Bundesliga draw at Borussia Dortmund and will miss “a few games”, Kompany said.

The Bundesliga leaders have five games before the end-of-year break including a Champions League game against Shakhtar Donetsk.

England captain Harry Kane has been a key player for Bayern Munich with 20 goals in all competitions since the start of the season.

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“You can’t replace him one-to-one. He’s a top player. But we’ll solve things differently. There will be no lack of talent tomorrow,” said Vincent Kompany.

“We have several options — Thomas Mueller, Mathys Tel, Serge Gnabry, Michael Olise, Leroy Sane. Maybe not Kingsley Coman in that position.

“Harry has scored 20 goals. You can’t replace that. But we have players who score goals, including Jamal (Musiala). We’ll have a solution. We have enough players who can fulfil the role, even if you can’t replace his goals one-to-one.”

Gnabry remains uncertain for Tuesday’s Cup match, having also missed the Dortmund game with knee problems but midfielder Joao Palhinha returned to training on Monday following a muscle tear picked up on international duty with Portugal last month.

READ: Champions Trophy 2025: PCB proposes Partnership or Fusion Formula

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“After tests taken today our player Vinicius Junior has been diagnosed by Real Madrid’s medical services with a hamstring injury in his left leg,” the club said in a statement.

Spanish media reported the Brazilian winger is expected to miss almost a month, which would also keep him out of the Champions League visit to Atalanta on December 10, as well as Wednesday’s match at Anfield.

Vinicius played the full 90 minutes of Madrid’s 3-0 win at Leganes in La Liga on Sunday, setting up Kylian Mbappe for the opening goal.

“The crazy calendar… now to recover,” wrote the 24-year-old on social media platform X.

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez railed against European and world football governing bodies UEFA and FIFA respectively on Sunday for their expanding match programmes.

The Champions League this season features eight group matches instead of six and an extra round which some teams will participate in if they finish outside the top eight.

Madrid have various players out injured for long periods, including Dani Carvajal and Eder Militao with severe knee injuries, which Perez blamed on increasing numbers of matches.

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“This season we could play 82 matches — there are 63 percent more matches organised by UEFA and FIFA, from 22 to 36,” complained Perez.

“There have already been nine cruciate ruptures this season (in La Liga), the same as in the whole of last season. Specialists point to fatigue as the cause.”

Vinicius has started the season in superb form, outshining summer arrival Mbappe thus far.

The forward, who finished second in the Ballon d’Or voting, has four Champions League goals in four appearances this season as well as eight La Liga strikes in 13 games.

Champions League holders Madrid have started their European campaign in shaky form, with two defeats in their opening four matches.

They lost 1-0 at Lille and 3-1 at home against AC Milan in their last outing in the competition, leaving them 18th in the expanded group table.

Liverpool, under new coach Arne Slot, lead both the Champions League table and the Premier League.

READ: Lahore Qalandars announce captain for Global Super League 2024

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Hansi Flick’s side have struggled when the 17-year-old is not on the pitch, as the Spain international has become a crucial part of their attacking gameplan.

With Yamal set to miss the trip to Galicia because of an ankle problem, the German coach needs a plan B.

The teenager was rested for Barcelona’s visit to face Osasuna in September, with the Catalans losing 4-2.

Appearing as a substitute with Barcelona trailing, Yamal scored a superb late goal to remind Flick of his importance to the team.

Since then, he started every match for Barcelona until injury kept him out of the team that lost 1-0 at Real Sociedad before the international break.

Flick put Raphinha on the left wing and used Fermin Lopez out of position on the right and his team failed to create many chances in San Sebastian, despite having scored 40 goals in the 12 league games preceding.

“Of course, a player with the quality Lamine has, every team (would) miss it,” admitted Flick after the defeat. “In the last third, we weren’t making the right decisions.”

With Dani Olmo seemingly fit again after injury, the playmaker can add more quality in the final third for Barcelona and supply striker Robert Lewandowski with the ammunition he needs to thrive.

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The veteran Polish forward is the league’s top goalscorer with 14 strikes but also failed to find the net in the games where Yamal did not start.

With the youngster’s skill and speed attracting opposition defenders and his creativity crucial in teeing up Lewandowski, their connection has been vital to Barcelona’s campaign.

Lamine Yamal is also a fine foil for Raphinha when Barcelona counter-attack at pace, with the Brazilian winger, in the form of his career, often racing onto clever passes played by the Spaniard to devastating effect.

With Ferran Torres also out injured, Flick could turn to winger Pau Victor to replace Yamal or use Pablo Torre in attacking midfield with Olmo shifted to the left wing and Raphinha on the right.

Claudio Giraldez’s Celta Vigo, 11th, boast former Barcelona defender Marcos Alonso in their ranks.

“It’s special because we play against the leaders,” said Alonso. “We have shown in previous games against big sides we can compete, but we haven’t managed to take a good result.”

Celta Vigo came close to upsetting Real Madrid but were beaten 2-1 by the Spanish champions in October.

Barcelona have only won twice in their last nine visits to Balaidos. A win for Barcelona could take them nine points clear of Madrid before they visit Leganes on Sunday.

Elsewhere, Atletico Madrid, third, host Alaves, while Valencia host Real Betis in their first match since devastating floods hit the region causing loss of life and severe damage on the east coast.

READ: Sarfaraz Ahmed joins ICC Champions Trophy tour in Karachi

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There had been speculation the 53-year-old’s City career could be coming to an end, with the club facing an uncertain future due to an ongoing hearing over 115 breaches of the Premier League’s financial regulations. However, the club has completely denied the charges.

City are also currently on a four-game losing streak in all competitions — the worst of Guardiola’s managerial career, excluding penalty shoot-outs — although they are second in the Premier League, five points behind leaders Liverpool.

However, reports emerged on Tuesday that Pep Guardiola, who took over at Manchester City in 2016 and has since won a total of 18 trophies across all competitions, including six Premier League titles, would stay.

This was despite City’s director of football Txiki Begiristain, a close ally of Guardiola, having already confirmed his exit at the end of the campaign. Begiristain is to be replaced by Sporting Lisbon’s Hugo Viana, a former Newcastle player.

But with City on an English record-breaking run of four successive top-flight titles, Guardiola — who led the club to a Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League treble in 2023 — said he had changed his mind about this being his last season at the Etihad.

“Now I cannot leave,” the Catalan boss said in an interview on the club’s website after agreeing to remain at the Etihad until 2027. “Maybe the four defeats were the reason why I felt I cannot leave.”

Guardiola, who has repeatedly been asked about his future in recent weeks, added: “Since the beginning of the season I was thinking a lot at the moment, I will be honest, I thought (this season) should be the last one.

“But in the same moment the situation comes, the problems we have in the last month, I felt now was not the time to leave. I don’t want to let the club down, I would say.

“I felt the confidence from the chairman (Khaldoon Al Mubarak) and Txiki and everyone, and I had the feeling I have to do it.”

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Pep Guardiola said the treble, which saw City crowned champions of Europe for the first time in their history, represented a “dream come true”, while four Premier League titles in a row were “amazing”.

He insisted, however, that he still had a job to do to help City hit those heights again.

“But you have a past, (there have) been lessons and mistakes that we have overcome to arrive in the moment where you are more stable and more consistent,” he said.

“We have to recover that because right now we don’t have it and that’s the target we have to do.”

Guardiola, who previously enjoyed a trophy-laden career as a player and coach at Barcelona before taking charge of German giants Bayern Munich, said in an initial club statement: “Manchester City means so much to me… I have a really special feeling for this football club. That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.”

Guardiola, who thanked the club’s Abu Dhabi-based owner Khaldoon Al Mubarak, chairman Ferran Soriano, Begiristain and the fans for their support, explained: “I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.

“Hopefully now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”

Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said: “Like every City fan, I am delighted that Pep’s journey with Manchester City will continue; allowing his dedication, passion and innovative thinking to continue to shape the landscape of the game.”

The influence of Guardiola, renowned for his possession-based style of football, extends well beyond the Etihad, with two of his former assistants — Mikel Arteta and Enzo Maresca — now in charge of Premier League rivals Arsenal and Chelsea, respectively.

READ: Haris Sohail refutes rumours of retirement

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Portugal joined France, Germany, Italy, and Spain in the quarter-finals of the Nations League, while the hopes of Poland to advance were ended.

Having struggled to plant a shot on target in the first half, Portugal stepped on the accelerator after the break.

Rafael Leao broke the deadlock in Porto just before the hour mark after starting and finishing the move.

The AC Milan striker raced away and passed to Nuno Mendes whose cross from the left was headed powerfully past Marcin Bulka in the Portugal goal.

Thirteen minutes later, skipper Ronaldo got his name on the scoresheet, converting a penalty after Jakub Kiwior was penalised for a handball in the area.

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Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes made it 3-0 in the 80th minute, scoring after a clever run by Vitinha.

Pedro Neto added the fourth three minutes later after Ronaldo’s fine pass which left the Polish defence stranded.

As Polish spirits sank, Ronaldo added his second and Portugal’s fifth in the 87th minute with a spectacular overhead kick before Dominik Marczuk tucked away a consolation goal for the visitors.

Poland had enjoyed the better chances before falling behind but their potency in front of goal was blunted by the absence of record goal-scorer Robert Lewandowski who was sidelined with a back injury.

Moments before Leao’s goal, Portuguese keeper Diogo Costa pulled off a fine save to deny Marczuk having also been alert to deny Nicola Zalewski in the first half.

Portugal’s best chance in the first 45 minutes had fallen to Ronaldo who fired a close-range effort over the bar from close range.

READ: Haris Rauf, Abbas Afridi star as Pakistan restrict Australia to 147-9

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City’s 2-1 defeat at Brighton on Saturday came after losses to Tottenham in the League Cup, Bournemouth in the Premier League and Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League.

Guardiola’s men, chasing an unprecedented fifth straight Premier League title, are now five points behind leaders Liverpool after 11 matches in the English top flight.

“I was a football player and many times I lost a lot of games — four in a row, five in a row, six in a row,” said Pep Guardiola.

“I never expect different, the fact we won in the past, that we are special. People can believe that but it’s not true.”

Manchester City are struggling badly with injuries, with Ruben Dias, John Stones, Jeremy Doku and Jack Grealish among those absent for the defeat at Bournemouth.

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“We are not consistent enough to maintain this level that helped us to win what we want for many years,” said Guardiola. “Hopefully in the future, we’ll come back, and if we don’t come back we’ll learn from that.”

City have been champions in six of the past seven seasons but it is not uncommon for them to stumble in the autumn.

Last season they won just one league game in six during a spell in November and December but recovered to retain the title.

“Don’t be complacent when you win a lot, know how difficult it is,” said Guardiola. “That makes us believe how difficult it was and how nice it will be when we win again.”

He added: “Right now we are not in our best, it’s obvious. But still, it’s November so hopefully we’ll come back step by step. Every game will be tough for every team. We’ll recover our best and then we’ll see.”

After the current international break, Manchester City face a testing run-up to Christmas with matches against Tottenham, Liverpool, Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace, Manchester United and Aston Villa.

READ: Mohammad Hafeez calls out India over refusal to tour Pakistan for Champions Trophy

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Miami had won the regular season campaign with a record points total but after losing twice in the best-of-three series, the MLS Cup favourites and their eight-times Ballon d’Or winner are out.

All the accolades Miami received for their regular season ‘Supporters’ Shield’ triumph count for little after an Atlanta team which finished ninth in the Eastern Conference pulled off a stunning upset.

Inter took the lead in the 17th minute when Messi was denied by a diving save from Atlanta keeper Brad Guzan but Matias Rojas followed in to slot home the loose ball.

Just two minutes later though the visitors, who only secured a wildcard spot on the final day of the season, levelled when a deflected pass from Dax McCarty fell to Jamal Thiare who confidently fired home with a sweet strike.

Miami were stunned when moments later Thiare struck again — the 37-year-old McCarty lifted the ball forward to Russian Aleksei Miranchuk who slipped the ball inside to the Senegalese striker who blasted home to make it 2-1.

Diego Gomez thought he had brought Miami level in the 23rd minute but his effort was ruled out for offside and Miami continued to look vulnerable against Atlanta’s swift breaks.

After the break, the 40-year-old former USA and Aston Villa keeper Guzan was in inspired form as he frustrated Miami’s search for an equalizer.

Inter Miami, with the injured Spanish midfielder Sergio Busquets on the bench, lacked fluency in midfield and neither Messi nor his former Barcelona strike partners Luis Suarez were at their best as they struggled to conjure up opportunities from limited service.

But it was Lionel Messi who finally broke through in the 65th minute, meeting a Marcelo Weigandt cross from the right with a thundering header.

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Miami pushed forward in search of the winner but instead, they were caught out once again with Pedro Amador’s cross from the left headed home at the back post by Polish midfielder Bartosz Slisz.

Inter Miami players were furious that the referee had allowed play to continue while their defender Tomas Aviles lay injured on the floor but their frustration was in vain.

The final whistle brought a deflated silence over Chase Stadium as Miami’s season, which so many had expected would end with their first MLS Cup title, concluded with the sight of Guzan and his Atlanta team-mates celebrating.

For Miami head coach Gerardo Martino, who won MLS Cup with Atlanta in 2018, an inquest is sure to follow but he tried to put a brave face on the loss.

“This season has had good and bad things. If you think about where we were in November last year, there has obviously been progress in terms of the club, not just the team. If you think about the expectations we had for this playoffs, obviously we came up a little short,” said the Argentine.

Martino said there was a despondent mood in the dressing room.

“The players are sad, as they should be when there are so many expectations and the team can’t fulfil them. In this final part of the year we got used to achieving the objectives but we couldn’t achieve the most important one,” he said.

Former Spain full-back Jordi Alba questioned whether the playoff format was the right approach for MLS.

“I think this format is a bit unfair. It’s been done for many years but I think it should be the champion of one conference against the champion of the other, to make it as fair as possible,” said the former Barcelona wing-back.

Atlanta will now face Orlando in the Eastern Conference semi-finals with New York Red Bulls and New York City clashing in the other conference semi.

READ: Rohit Sharma opens up on India’s visit to Pakistan for Champions Trophy

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Salah sent Liverpool to the top of the Premier League with a superb winner in Saturday’s 2-1 victory against Brighton.

The 32-year-old’s ninth goal this season underlined his huge value to the Reds as they chase their first English title since 2020.

However, Salah’s long-term future remains uncertain as his contract is due to expire at the end of this season.

Salah will be able to negotiate with non-English clubs in January and he sparked fresh talk that he could be ready to leave with his latest social media post.

“Top of the table is where this club belongs. Nothing less. All teams win matches but there’s only 1 champion in the end. That’s what we want,” he wrote on X 24 hours after his eye-catching curler saw off Brighton.

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“Thank you for your support last night. No matter what happens, I will never forget what scoring at Anfield feels like.”

Paid a reported £350,000 ($453,000) per week at present, Mohamed Salah revealed after Liverpool’s 3-0 win at Manchester United earlier this season that he had yet to be contacted by the club over a new contract.

“To be fair I was coming to the game, it could be the last time (playing at Old Trafford),” he told Sky Sports in September.

But Liverpool boss Arne Slot is not concerned about Salah’s future, or fans’ concerns about defenders Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold, who are also out of contract at the end of this term.

“The contract situation becomes a problem if players don’t perform as well as they are now,” he said.

“At the moment all three are in good places performing really well. There are ongoing discussions with the people Virgil says he has to talk to, and that’s not me as you know.”

READ: Gautam Gambhir blames T20 cricket for India’s Test struggles

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The decision to award the prize for the world’s best player to the midfielder came as a surprise, with Real Madrid’s Liga and Champions League double winner Vinicius Junior widely seen as the favourite.

Hours before the ceremony in Paris, the Spanish club announced its delegation would not attend the ceremony at Chatelet Theatre because of what it perceived as a snub of Vinicius.

Rodri, 28, played a key role as City held off Arsenal to win the Premier League title last season and was named player of the tournament at Euro 2024 as unfancied Spain emerged triumphant in Germany.

Rodri was diplomatic when addressing the question of Real’s no-show in his post-award press conference.

“They have their decision, they didn’t want to be here for their reasons,” he said. “I just focus on my club and my team-mates.”

Despite the French organisers insisting that the identity of the winner was a closely-guarded secret this year, the news appeared to have leaked ahead of the festivities.

Barcelona and Spain star Aitana Bonmati earlier won her second successive women’s Ballon d’Or, after leading her club to a historic continental quadruple of titles and claiming the Nations League with her country.

The drama started hours before the ceremony as Spanish and European champions Real said if Vinicius was not the winner, then the award should go to his teammate Dani Carvajal.

Like the Brazilian, Carvajal scored in the 2-0 victory against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final at Wembley.

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Vinicius scored 24 goals and made 11 assists in 39 matches across all competitions for Madrid as he led the club to three titles last season.

“If the award criteria doesn’t give it to Vinicius as the winner, then those same criteria should point to Carvajal as the winner,” Real Madrid told AFP.

“As this was not the case, it is clear that Ballon d’Or-UEFA does not respect Real Madrid. And Real Madrid does not go where it is not respected.”

The Madrid contingent of nominees also included Kylian Mbappe, Antonio Rudiger, Fede Valverde and Jude Bellingham.

The winner of the Ballon d’Or is chosen from the shortlist by an international jury of 100 specialist journalists.

The organisers, the Amaury group which owns the L’Equipe sports daily and France Football magazine, denied to AFP that the name of the successor to last year’s men’s winner Lionel Messi had leaked and insisted that “no player or club” knew in advance who had won.

When Real were named as the men’s team of the year, a video played on the stage in the absence of any club representatives.

City manager Pep Guardiola has described Rodri as “in his position, the best”.

“He can do everything. The quality, he reads the game, his mentality, he is always ready,” Guardiola has said.

In addition to his metronomic passing and ball-winning capabilities, the former Atletico Madrid player has a knack of popping up with crucial goals for club and country.

His goal won City their first Champions League in 2023 but he also scored vital goals for Spain, such as the equaliser in their last-16 Euro 2024 tie against Georgia.

So central is Rodri to Manchester City that their past four Premier League defeats have all come when he was absent.

City are top of the Premier League but their chances of winning a fifth straight domestic title were dented in September when Rodri suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury, ruling him out for the season.

Bonmati, 26, joins her Barcelona team-mate Alexia Putellas as the only women to win the Ballon d’Or twice since the award’s inauguration in 2018.

“This cannot be achieved alone, I am very lucky to be surrounded by players who make me better every day,” Bonmati said.

The Catalans won every trophy available to them last season — the Spanish league, Cup, Super Cup and a second-successive Women’s Champions League.

READ: Babar Azam among seven members of Pakistan squad reach Australia

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The club told AFP it questioned the methods behind the selection of the Ballon d’Or winner, saying that their defender Dani Carvajal, another of the 30 players nominated, had also been unfairly overlooked.

Carvajal scored the opening goal in the 2024 Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund and Brazilian Vinicius rounded off the 2-0 win at Wembley with the second goal.

The Ballon d’Or is awarded by a jury of journalists representing the top 100 nations in the FIFA rankings.

“If the award criteria doesn’t give it to Vinicius as the winner, then those same criteria should point to Carvajal as the winner,” Real Madrid told AFP.

“As this was not the case, it is clear that Ballon d’Or-UEFA does not respect Real Madrid. And Real Madrid does not go where it is not respected.”

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The Ballon d’Or organisers decided to innovate this year by keeping the winner’s identity a secret until the very end, to avoid any leaks to the press and all the nominees were invited to Monday’s ceremony in the French capital.

In previous years, the winner was revealed a few days before the awards ceremony.

In response to Real Madrid’s boycott — which was announced as the nominees were gathering for the glitzy ceremony at a Paris theatre — the organisers insisted that “no player or club” knew in advance who has won the award.

“All the clubs and players are in the same boat,” a Ballon d’Or source told AFP.

The absence of the Real players and the club’s declaration suggest that neither Vinicius, Carvajal nor English midfielder Jude Bellingham, the architects of the club’s Champions League triumph, will win the trophy.

That could leave the way clear for Manchester City’s Spanish midfielder Rodri, who was voted Euro 2024’s player of the tournament after inspiring his country to victory in Germany in July.

READ: Shahid Afridi backs Mohammad Rizwan as white-ball captain

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