England’s top clubs will pay particular attention to a certain Spaniard in Bavaria this festive season with Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola due to announce his future plans before Christmas.

Guardiola, 44, is halfway through the third and final year of his current contract and says he will announce his decision to stay or go before Dec 25.

Chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is ready to make Guardiola a generous offer to extend his stay by laying out “many positive reasons to stay at Bayern”.

Club captain Philipp Lahm has told the coach the squad want him to stay. “The team’s position is clear, we enjoy working with our coach and we really, really want to keep doing so,” said Lahm.

Spain international Xabi Alonso is reported to want to extend his contract, which also expires in June, should Guardiola stay. And even Bayern fans got in on the act.

On Guardiola’s pre-Christmas visit to a Bayern fan club earlier this month, one supporter, dressed as Father Christmas, cheekily handed him an elaborate scroll. It was a spoof contract to remain Bayern’s coach for the rest of his life.

All Guardiola had to do was sign his name and fill in “whatever amount of money he thought was appropriate”.

Although he laughed it off, Guardiola has become increasingly annoyed by the constant rounds of rumours, which has even seen him linked to the England national team.

NEXT STOP ENGLAND?

Marti Perarnau, the Spanish journalist who shadowed Guardiola through his first season in Munich, has insisted England will be Pep’s next stop.

Various sources claim Guardiola has already signed a deal to join Manchester City, at the start of 2015, to take charge of the Citizens for the 2016/17 season.

City’s rivals Manchester United have entered the fray as possible future employers to replace Louis van Gaal following poor results and their Champions League exit.

And with Chelsea close to the Premier League relegation places, Guardiola’s name has been mentioned as a possible replacement for Jose Mourinho at Stamford Bridge. Yet Guardiola has given no indication of where his future lies.

His reputation for success, having won 19 titles as either coach of Barcelona or Bayern, leaves Europe’ top clubs clamouring for his services. Regardless of whether he stays or goes at the end of the season, Guardiola wants to get his hands on the Champions League trophy again in the May 28 final.

It would be his third European crown after his 2009 and 2011 success with Barca and would only enhance his pristine reputation. He has repeatedly said that at a club like Munich, only the Champions League matters, which he insists he is okay with, even if his irritated expression suggests otherwise.

Both of his two previous attempts to win the European crown with Bayern ended at the semi-final stage when found wanting, first by Real Madrid, then Barcelona.

The lack of pace out wide, which Barcelona cruelly exposed in their 3-0 thumping of Bayern in May at the Camp Nou was quickly remedied as wingers Douglas Costa and Kingsley Coman were signed up for this season.

TREBLE AMBITIONS

As they have done in each of the last three seasons, Bayern hold a commanding lead in the Bundesliga and are bidding to become the first team to win four consecutive German league titles.

But Guardiola’s tenure in Bayern will be judged on whether or not he falls again at the semi-final hurdle. Guardiola has build on the work done by predecessor Jupp Heynckes.

Heynckes delivered the 2013 treble of Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup titles, but Guardiola has added an unprecedented level of flexibility to his team. Guardiola’s Bayern can change their formation during a game if necessary.

For example, with the scores goalless at home to Ingolstadt on Saturday, Guardiola moved Lahm into midfield, Coman switched wings and Javi Martinez dropped into defence.

The result was two goals in the final half an hour.

That’s why Bayern reportedly want to up his estimated salary of €14 million and plenty of clubs would pay for the privilege. But as Lahm told Kicker: “If Guardiola leaves one day, for sure another excellent coach will come along, but first we have to see what happens.”

Source AFP

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit his 27th goal of the season on Wednesday (Dec 16) to help Borussia Dortmund seal a 2-0 win at Augsburg to reach the quarter-finals of the German Cup.

Aubameyang, the Bundesliga’s top-scorer with 18 goals in 16 games, slotted home a Lukasz Piszczek pass on 61 minutes to give Dortmund the lead at Augsburg.

It continues the Gabon captain’s amazing scoring run as Aubameyang is currently on course to beat Gerd Mueller’s record of 40 Bundesliga goals in the 1971/72 season.

At the same stage, more than four decades ago, Mueller had 17 goals, one less than Aubameyang, who has also scored twice in the cup and hit seven in the Europa League.

“I don’t know where his limit is and I don’t think he knows himself,” Dortmund’s director of sport Michel Zorc told German daily die Welt. “The most important thing for Pierre-Emerick is to stick to what he’s doing, because now the adulation is coming his way from all corners.”

Dortmund grabbed their second when Henrik Mkhitaryan’s shot went in off the boot of Augsburg defender Ragnar Klavan on 66 minutes in the third-round clash.

Bundesliga high-fliers Hertha Berlin had no problems seeing off second-division Nuremberg with a 2-0 away success.

Bundesliga bottom side Stuttgart needed extra-time to book their place in the last eight with a 3-2 win over second division Eintracht Braunschweig.

Bochum join Heidenheim as the only other second division side in the last eight draw after their 2-0 win at 1860 Munich.

In Tuesday’s cup ties, a thunderbolt of a volley from Spain international Xabi Alonso booked Bayern Munich’s place in the quarter-finals after a 1-0 win over Darmstadt.

Having knocked out holders Wolfsburg in the previous round, Pep Guardiola’s remain the team to beat in the cup.

Werder Bremen went through at Borussia Moenchengladbach as they claimed a shock 4-3 win over the hosts to progress.

Javier Hernandez claimed his 16th goal in just 13 games for Bayer Leverkusen when he scored in their 3-1 win at fourth division Unterhaching.

The minnows had dispatched top-tier side Ingolstadt and second division RB Leipzig en route to the last 16 and had even stunned Leverkusen by taking an early lead.

Results from the German Cup third-round ties:

Nuremberg 0 Hertha Berlin 2

Stuttgart 3 Eintracht Braunschweig 2 (after extra-time)

Augsburg 0 Borussia Dortmund 2

1860 Munich 0 VfL Bochum 2

Source AFP

Jose Mourinho’s future as Chelsea manager is in suspense over his failure to lift the team out of their alarming slump, according to British press reports on Wednesday (Dec 16).

The Daily Mail said that the Chelsea board was due to meet to discuss Mourinho’s position on Wednesday, while the Daily Telegraph claimed the club’s hierarchy was drawing up a list of potential replacements.

Premier League champions last season, Chelsea are currently just a point above the relegation zone after losing nine of their 16 matches to date. They have, however, reached the Champions League last 16.

Reports suggest it would cost Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich between £10 million (US$15 million) and £40 million(US$60 million) to sack Mourinho for a second time, having previously dismissed the Portuguese in 2007.

Mourinho signed a new four-year contract in August. Chelsea gave him a public vote of confidence in October, but there has been no official communication from the club on his position since then.

Mourinho, whose side host Sunderland in the league on Saturday, was expected to take training as usual at the club’s training ground in Cobham, 27 kilometres southwest of London, on Wednesday.

Several newspapers, including The Sun, reported that Chelsea’s players were angered by Mourinho’s claim that they had “betrayed” his work following Monday’s 2-1 defeat at league leaders Leicester City.

But midfielder Cesc Fabregas says that it is the players’ responsibility to haul the club out of their current predicament.

“We all have to take responsibility,” Fabregas said in a Facebook interview. “If you are a big player and you are paid like a big player, you must play like a big player and behave like a big player.

“We can bounce back, 100 per cent. There is enough time to achieve it, but we must start now. It is up to us.”

Players were demonstrating a united front in official club publications.

“Last season was fantastic, this season has been tough, but we’re looking to turn that around. We’re working hard to make things right,” centre-back Gary Cahill said in the official Chelsea magazine. When things aren’t going well, you work even harder and look for a reaction. I’m sure we’ll turn it around.”

Midfielder Nemanja Matic told the Chelsea website: “We are sad because of the defeat (to Leicester), but we have to keep going, to try to win some games and to recover from this situation which is not easy for us. We have to try to be better than we were.”

Source AFP

Three-times European champions Manchester United face Danish champions Midtjylland in the last 32 of the Europa League after failing to qualify for the Champions League knockout phase.

United were one of three English sides in Monday’s draw in Nyon, with Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp set to return to Germany as the Reds were drawn against European newcomers Augsburg.

Tottenham Hotspur were handed a testing two-legged tie against Serie A title hopefuls Fiorentina, having crashed out at the hands of the Italians at the same stage in last season’s competition.

United slumped to a 3-2 defeat at Wolfsburg last week in the final round of Champions League group games, condemning Louis van Gaal’s side to a third-place finish in Group B and they are without a win in five matches in all competitions.

However, the Red Devils will be overwhelming favourites to advance against a Midtjylland side that reached the knockout stages despite suffering two heavy defeats against Napoli during the group phase.

“Miracles have happened before, and we will probably need one again,” said Midtjylland coach Jess Thorup, whose side have already claimed one Premier League scalp after knocking out Southampton in the final qualifying round.

Goalkeeper Mikkel Andersen was delighted after being paired with the three-time European champions, saying: “This is as big as it gets.”

Liverpool will also be expected to see off an Augsburg side that had spent much of this season’s Bundesliga campaign in the relegation zone before Sunday’s 2-1 win over Schalke.

But Augsburg coach Markus Weinzierl was thrilled with the outcome of the draw, regardless of the task that awaits his players.

“We are happy about this draw. This game is something special. Liverpool are a cult, Jurgen Klopp is a huge name in Germany too,” said Weinzierl. “Klopp knows us and will not underestimate us. We will be outsiders against Liverpool, but are gladly accepting that role.”

Defending champions Sevilla, who followed United out of the Champions League, will begin their quest for a third straight Europa League title against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Molde, while Borussia Dortmund take on Porto.

Other notable ties include Gary Neville’s Valencia facing Rapid Vienna, Sporting Lisbon against Bayer Leverkusen and Villarreal versus Napoli.

The first legs will be played on Feb 18 with the return matches scheduled to take place a week later.

Source AFP