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Karim Benzema scored a sensational hat-trick as Real Madrid fought back to beat Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 on Wednesday and secure a scarcely believable 3-2 aggregate victory in their Champions League last-16 tie.

Kylian Mbappe, who is widely expected to join Madrid on a free transfer at the end of the season, gave PSG a two-goal lead in the tie with a breakaway goal late in the first half – a goal that moved him clear of Zlatan Ibrahimovic as the Ligue 1 side s second all-time top scorer with 157 goals.

Benzema led a stirring Los Blancos fightback in the second half, though, grabbing his first in the 61st minute after a big mistake from Gianluigi Donnarumma.

He then sealed their progress into the quarter-finals with two goals in the space of two minutes to leav…

Mauricio Pochettino believes Tottenham could win a trophy within the next two years under his stewardship.

The 42-year-old moved to White Hart Lane in the close-season from Southampton, where he impressed in leading the club to eighth in his only full campaign in charge.

Under Pochettino, Spurs have made an inconsistent start in the Premier League, with 11 points to their name from eight matches.

Tottenham take on Asteras Tripolis in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday and Pochettino is confident that he can soon guide the club to their first silverware since their League Cup triumph under Juande Ramos in 2008.

You need time, he said. You need to suffer and keep the bad moments. But maybe now is a different period for us.

I am sure we ll achieve …

Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel has urged his side to “stick with the positive things” ahead of their Champions League clash against Copenhagen.

His comments came following Bayern’s second-half turnaround against RB Leipzig at the weekend, where they were suddenly 2-0 down from two goals within six minutes of each other in the first half.

England captain Harry Kane then sparked the comeback before Leroy Sane snatched a point to draw 2-2 and Tuchel is determined to take the positives forward into future fixtures.

“We analyse it all and are drawing our conclusions, which we’ll discuss with the teams,” he told a pre-match press conference.

Off to Denmark

— FC Bayern Munich (@FCBayernEN)

“We’re trying to develop a bett…

Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero has become accustomed to life on the Citizens bench in recent games

According to Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, he does not know if Argentinian striker Sergio Aguero will be at the club at the end of the season.

City favourite Aguero has found himself relegated to the bench in recent games, as Brazilian starlet Gabriel Jesus has been preferred in the lone striker role.

It is the signing and early performances of the young Brazilian that has fuelled the rumours about Aguero leaving the club in the near future.

However, it is very early days in Jesus’ career in England. It is too early to say the 19-year-old is the long-term replacement for Aguero.

Guardiola casts down over Aguero’s future

When…

Pep Guardiola will assess captain Vincent Kompany and midfielder Fabian Delph after the duo came in from the cold to start Manchester City s 2-1 Premier League defeat to Chelsea.

Kompany was making his first start in the top flight since November, while Delph also completed 90 minutes having been selected in a Premier League starting XI by Guardiola for the first time.

City welcome Hull City to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, their sights firmly trained upon securing a top-four spot after Chelsea extinguished any lingering title hopes in midweek.

Kompany and Delph both acquitted themselves well in central defence and central midfield respectively at Stamford Bridge but Guardiola is understandably wary of asking too much of men who have suffered wretched luck wit…

The best football player ever / Image via BBC

There’s no other place to start this week’s review than at the Bernabeu where Lionel Messi once again proved beyond doubt he is the greatest footballer on the entire planet. He scored twice, making him El Clasico’s top all-time goalscorer, as well as netting his 500th Barca goal. His 92nd minute winner was the stuff of legend though, ensuring the title race is well and truly back on.

Messi hits 500 as Barca move top

It’s all change again at the top as Barcelona beat Real Madrid 3-2 at the Bernabeu to move level on points with los Blancos, although they have played a game more.

These two played out yet another brilliant El Clasico, despite Neymar being absent after Barca’s late appeals to overturn his ban f…

Bosnia-Herzegovina have dismissed coach Safet Susic following a disappointing start to their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.

A return of two points from their opening four fixtures has left Bosnia languishing one place off the bottom in Group B Sunday s 3-0 defeat away to Israel proving Susic s final assignment as coach.

Having taken over in 2009, Susic has overseen one of the most successful periods in the short history of the Bosnian national team.

After helping his side to the play-offs for the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012, Susic guided Bosnia to their first major finals earlier this year.

Bosnia won just one of their three group matches in Brazil a 3-1 victory over Iran and failed to make it to the knockout stages of the competition.

Despite co…

Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher is on the verge of completing a move to West Ham United, .

The Scotland international has spent the last twenty years of his life with at Old Trafford including eight years as a youth player before making his senior debut in a Champions League tie against Basel in March 2003.

He has collected a whole host of major honours in that time, including five league titles, and FA Cup, three league cups and the Champions League.

However, he has failed to hold down a first team place since Louis van Gaal became United manager last summer, starting just five games in all competitions this season.

Internationally, he has been capped sixty-six times by his country, scoring five goals, while he was handed the captain’…

United States coach Jurgen Klinsmann will be taking no chances in their World Cup 2018 qualifier against Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday in Port of Spain.

The USMNT began its campaign with a resounding 6-1 victory against St Vincent and the Grenadines on Friday in St. Louis, despite an early scare when Oalex Anderson put the visitors ahead inside five minutes.

The victory was Klinsmann s 43rd as coach of the national team, though he trails Bruce Arena s record of 71 wins accumulated between 1998 and 2006.

Trinidad and Tobago reached the quarterfinals of the 2015 Gold Cup, suffering elimination at the hands of Panama, which went on to beat the U.S. on penalties in the third-place playoff.

Klinsmann believes such form warrants due care from his side.

…

Verdict: Draw

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Two sides suffering a woeful start to the new Premier League campaign, Fulham will travel to Huddersfield hoping to put an end to their miserable run against the league s bottom side.

Huddersfield

Starting with the hosts, while Huddersfield may have famously avoided the drop last season, the Terriers are now almost universally tipped to be the leading contender in the relegation race. Coming off the back of a lacklustre showing in their 3-0 loss away to Watford, David Wagner s side have now yet to win a Premier League game in their opening 10, they re now the only team in the league still looking for their first win. Now sat two points adrift of Fulham at the bottom of the table, it will once again be their form…