After parting company with Marcelino on Wednesday, Villarreal have named Fran Escribá as their new coach.The 51-year-old, who left Getafe in April, has penned a 12-month deal. His first fixture in charge of the Yellow Submarine will be the opening leg of their UEFA Champions League play-off tie against Monaco on Wednesday."It's very important for the club to qualify for the UEFA Champions League," Escribá said at his unveiling on Thursday. "The feeling in the dressing room is good and despite the absences we have I think we've got a good chance of getting through the play-off."
Football Update
Can Falcao prove his class at Monaco?
A UEFA Europa League-winning hero with Porto and Atlético Madrid, Radamel Falcao has experienced plenty of frustration as he bids to establish himself as one of the world's great strikers, with Monaco once more receiving a demonstration of what the Colombian international can do.Two goals in their UEFA Champions League third qualifying round success against Fenerbahçe returned El Tigre to the footballing map after two well-publicised wilderness years spent on loan at Manchester United and then Chelsea. The games against the Turkish side were his first in UEFA competition since he featured in the UEFA Europa League for Atlético in 2013."I took confidence from the goals I s... UEFA.com - News
Konate, Sweden’s modern full-back
In the first match in Manaus between Sweden and Colombia at the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament Rio 2016, the Eurpopean side's Pa Konate could be seen bursting forward down the wing on multiple occasions. Moments later, he was chasing down opposing forwards Miguel Borja and Teofilo Gutierrez. In many ways, his tactical positioning is a representation of the modern full-back: half-attack, half-defence. So what does it take to play in the position? FIFA.com caught up with the Malmo-born man to find out and to learn more about the recent strides he’s made in his young career. FIFA.com: How long have you been playing left-back and how long have y... FIFA.com - News
Ajax v Rostov background
Ajax will look to ensure Rostov do not make a huge breakthrough in their maiden UEFA Champions League campaign when the teams meet in the play-offs.Previous meetings• This is Rostov's first competitive encounter with Dutch opponents.• Ajax have lost all four of their previous matches against Russian clubs, all versus Spartak Moskva. They went down 3-1 at home and 1-0 away in a 1997/98 UEFA Cup quarter-final and 1-0 in Amsterdam and 3-0 in Moscow in a 2010/11 UEFA Europa League round of 16 tie.Match background• Ajax eliminated PAOK 3-2 on aggregate to reach the play-offs, Davy Klaassen's 88th-minute strike in the second... UEFA.com - News
Zidane hails Ramos for making the difference
Zinédine Zidane, Real Madrid coachYou have to congratulate Sevilla on their great performance. Sometimes to play a great game it takes two sides and today we saw just that. In the end we won, but Sevilla were very good.Sergio Ramos is our captain, an important player and he's always there to earn us the trophy. There were no special instructions for him. With a player like Sergio, he's always been the difference. We've seen it before. He's grown as a player, too. In this final he was there just where he needed to be.We have a good squad. We have players who also weren't here today; four or five players in fact. It's a good squad. We've got young and
Our memories of Paul Pogba’s early years
With Paul Pogba having finally completed his move back to Manchester United, the club he left for Juventus in July 2012, UEFA.com remembers the France midfielder's early days.2010 UEFA European Under-17 ChampionshipPogba was only included in the France squad for the first time three months before the 2010 U17 EURO finals but quickly became a key figure. He created the goal in Les Bleus' opening defeat by Spain, 2-1, and then scored the winner against Portugal on matchday two. An alert free-kick set up another goal versus Switzerland before Pogba was on target against England in the last four, France losing 2-1.Tom Kell, UEFA.com reporter at the ... UEFA.com - News
Zidane eyes player-coach Super Cup double
Carlo AncelottiPlayer: Milan (1990)Coach: Milan (2003, 2007), Real Madrid (2014)Beat Sampdoria as a player, before one victory against Porto and two against Sevilla as a coach.Diego SimeonePlayer: Lazio (1999)Coach: Atlético Madrid (2012)Both wins came against English clubs, Manchester United dispatched by Lazio and Chelsea vanquished by a Radamel Falcao-inspired Atlético.Josep GuardiolaPlayer: Barcelona (1992)Coach: Barcelona (2009, 2011), Bayern München (... UEFA.com - News