The 45-year-old’s future with the Rossoneri was finally clarified as the coach emerged unscathed from discussions with the club’s hierarchy

AC Milan boss Massimiliano Allegri will remain in charge at San Siro after holding crunch-talks with club president Silvio Berlusconi and CEO Adriano Galliani.

Allegri’s long-term future at the club had been thrown into some doubt in recent weeks after the 45-year-old narrowly secured Champions League qualification on the last day of the season, with rivals Roma reportedly ready to swoop for the coach had he parted company with the Italian giants.

However, he finally sat down with the club’s hierarchy after a number of postponed arrangements and together Galliani and Berlusconi decided to retain his services.

“With Galliani and Allegri we had a frank and cordial discussion in which we revisited and analysed the past season, so there was a clarification on certain things,” said Berlusconi.

“We reached an agreement on the rights and duties of the club towards the coach and the coach towards the club.

“We also talked about the type of football that Milan must play and the squad for next season, setting out guidelines for the transfer window.

“The rapport with the coach, which has never been interrupted, continues with faith and in absolute reciprocal respect.”

Allegri took the reins at San Siro in 2010 and guided Milan to the Scudetto in his first season.

According to Goal

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Wayne Rooney helped England claim a 2-2 draw in their glamour friendly against Brazil at the Maracana to evoke memories of the Three Lions’ 1984 success.

The Arsenal youngster, whose father Mark featured in the iconic stadium 29 years ago when John Barnes scored one of the finest goals in England’s history to secure a 2-0 victory, stepped off the bench to fire home a superb equaliser before Rooney found the top corner 11 minutes from time.

Despite being outclassed for the entire first half, England were on the brink of a memorable victory, only for Luiz Felipe Scolari’s men to have the final say through Paulinho’s volleyed leveller in the 82nd minute.

Sunday night’s meeting with the 2014 World Cup hosts demonstrated at times how much work there is to do for England before next summer’s tournament, with only Joe Hart’s first-half heroics keeping the game goalless until Fred finally struck in the 57th minute.

England were under the cosh from the off, with Hart’s first sprawling save coming in the 18th minute when Glen Johnson misjudged a deep cross-field ball, presenting Neymar with a good chance to break the deadlock.

As the half-hour approached, Barcelona’s latest signing played in Hulk with a deft pass only for Hart to deny the powerful striker before getting to the ball twice ahead of Filipe Luis as he looked to make the most of the rebounds.

Oscar then stepped away from a struggling Leighton Baines to warm Hart’s palms with a stinging drive with Ashley Cole coming on for his injured England colleague soon after, the first of his 103 caps which have not been as a starter.

Hulk was inches away from beating Hart with a sublime flick from Oscar’s teasing cross from the right, before England finally created a chance of note with Theo Walcott denied by Julio Cesar following a good ball by Johnson.

Scolari’s decision to replace Oscar with Lucas Moura early in the second half was met with a chorus of disapproval from the packed Maracana stands, but their anger was forgotten moments later as Brazil finally broke the deadlock with Fred first to react after substitute Hernanes curled his shot over the diving Hart but against the face of the cross bar.

England were finally stung into action and had two chances in quick succession as James Milner’s powerful drive was deflected narrowly wide of Cesar’s goal and Rooney headed the resulting corner off target from a promising position.

And they were back on terms moments later as Frank Lampard and Rooney combined to tee-up substitute Oxlade-Chamberlain with the Arsenal youngster shaping a sublime low volley across the Maracana turf and into the bottom corner of the net.

Rooney then embarked on a driving run towards the box with his powerful curling shot taking a slight deflection off Fernando to leave Cesar helpless, but the celebrations from Roy Hodgson and his coaching staff were cut short as Paulinho showed great athleticism to volley beyond Hart as the home side claimed a deserved draw.

According to Skysports

Mario Gomez scored twice as Bayern Munich completed a historic treble with a nervy 3-2 win over Stuttgart in the German Cup final in Berlin.

In Jupp Heynckes’ final game in charge, Bayern became the first German team to win the Bundesliga, the European Cup and the German Cup in the same season.
Thomas Mueller scored from the spot before Gomez scored twice in the second period to put Bayern three ahead.

Martin Harnick managed to pull two back for Stuttgart but Bayern held on.
The Bavarian club, who will be taken over by former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola on 26 June, finished the season with 15 wins from their final 16 matches and have only suffered one defeat since October.
And after the match Heynckes said: “I have decided to give a closing press conference on Tuesday and then I will reveal my future plans.”
Heynckes, 68, had previously said he was too old to coach overseas but he has been linked with a return to Real Madrid, who he coached to the 1998 Champions League title at the end of his single season as their coach.
“It’s unbelievable what the team and coach have achieved over the whole season,” said Bayern captain Philipp Lahm.
“They were tough months but now we’re being rewarded for them.”
Only Celtic in 1967, Ajax in 1972, PSV Eindhoven in 1988, Manchester United in 1999, Guardiola’s Barcelona in 2009, and Inter Milan in 2010 previously won the treble.
Mueller set Bayern on their way with a penalty after Lahm was tripped by Ibrahima Traore.
After the break Gomez converted crosses from Lahm and Mueller.
Austrian international Harnick scored with a fine header from Gotoku Sakai’s cross before setting up a tense finish with a firm shot after he was denied by Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer.
But the Bundesliga and European champions withstood heavy late pressure to complete the treble and send Heynckes out on a high.

According to BBC

FIVE clubs are willing to pay £80million for Gareth Bale.

The Spurs star’s agent says Bale would be “honoured” to play for Real Madrid, who are desperate to sign the Welshman.

Yet Spurs are aware that Real, PSG, Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea would all be willing to pay £80m for the player immediately — if he becomes available.

Real president Florentino Perez has Bale as his No1 target.

Perez last night told Spanish radio: “Bale was born to play in Madrid.”

But the North London club is in no rush to sell and the Player of the Season insists he is happy at the club.

This means it could take a world-record £100m offer to get Bale out of Tottenham.

Bale’s agent Jonathan Barnett said: “If Florentino is interested in Gareth Bale it would be an honour and we would listen — but his contract is with Tottenham.

“We aren’t free to speak to anyone. The player has three years left on his contract.”

SunSport understands his current package is worth £120,000 a week including bonuses.

But Bale is in no rush and he is happy to play at Spurs next season.

Barcelona have just paid £46m for Brazilian sensation Neymar.

When asked whether Bale would cost more, Barnett replied: “Much more. He’s a better player than Neymar and he has shown that.”

According to The Sun

FIFA is hopeful that England’s friendly against Brazil on Sunday will go ahead despite concerns over safety at the Maracana Stadium.

It emerged on Thursday evening that the friendly was the subject of a suspension order by a local judge due to a lack of a safety certificate.

Judge Adriana Costa dos Santos was quoted by newspaper Estado as saying: “Despite numerous requests from the public ministry (the state prosecutor), the reports were not delivered in their entirety.

“We do not have, at this moment, the proof the stadium meets the minimum requirements necessary to put on matches or events.

“Because of the inaction of those responsible, there is no way we can allow the stadium to be re-opened without the proof that it is in satisfactory conditions for hygiene and safety.”

But the Rio de Janeiro state government soon confirmed its intention to appeal against the ruling and sources close to FIFA expected the safety certificate to be granted on Friday and for the high-profile match to be played.

The Maracana has only just re-opened after a major facelift ahead of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games, and this will be the first big match hosted there since the changes were made.

Renovations ran more than four months over, with seats still being installed a matter of days before the test event that marked its re-opening, a friendly between teams captained by Brazil football legends Ronaldo and Bebeto.

Safety certificate problem

Chief news reporter Bryan Swanson told Sky Sports News: “This relates to the state government of Rio de Janeiro and simply put they are yet to issue a safety certificate for the Maracana Stadium.

“The state government are the owners of the Maracana and when you organise any events you need a safety certificate. FIFA officials have told us that this is down to a bureaucratic failure – they have been informed that this will be solved on Friday.

“This friendly has been fully organised by the Brazilian federation so FIFA is not directly involved in this match. Thursday is a public holiday in Brazil but the state government has issued a note to say that, as far as they are concerned, this will be resolved on Friday and there is no significant concern about the state of this game taking place this weekend.

“This was meant to be the showpiece event for the renovated Maracana. FIFA has long faced questions about just how ready Brazil will be for the World Cup and this event was meant to pass off without any incidents.

“While there is not any considerable concern about the future of this game in the short-term, clearly in the long-term questions will be asked.”

The local authorities have issued a statement which read: “The Government of Rio de Janeiro is appealing against the decision (to suspend the match).

“All safety requirements for the friendly between Brazil and England have been complied with and, because of a bureaucratic failure, the appraisal from the public ministry that proves the compliance with the rules on safety at the Maracana have not been sent to Suderj (the relevant state authority).”

According to Skysports

Bayern Munich midfielder Anatoliy Tymoshchuk has claimed that the outgoing Bavarian boss is almost certain to replace Jose Mourinho in charge at the Santiago Bernabeu

Anatoliy Tymoshchuk has revealed that current Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes is “99 per cent” certain to return to Real Madrid this summer.

Jose Mourinho will take charge of his last game on Saturday for the Blancos, against Osasuna, while the Bavarians boss will attempt to achieve an unprecedented German treble in the DFB-Pokal final against Stuttgart on the same day.

With Mourinho en route to Chelsea and Pep Guardiola stepping into Heynckes’ shoes at the Allianz Arena, Tymoshchuk has suggested that Heynckes will return to the Santiago Bernabeu in the coming weeks rather than consider retirement.

“There is a 99 per cent chance that Heynckes will train Real Madrid,” he said to Russia 2.

Heynckes spent a single season at Madrid and lifted the Champions League with the Spanish side, but he was fired after failing to perform domestically as the club finished fourth in the table.

Tymoshchuk confirmed that he would be leaving the Allianz Arena this summer but refused to reveal his destination, while insisting that Arjen Robben – who scored the Champions League-winning goal in the final – is set to stay at Bayern.

“Robben told me he’s certain to stay in Bayern,” the Ukrainian added. “And I’m leaving. I can’t say where until Monday. Not [Borussia] Dortmund for sure!”

According to Goal