Julian Nagelsmann is not at all concerned about transfer speculation surrounding Robert Lewandowski, believing it is "completely normal" that other clubs would be interested in the Bayern Munich superstar.
Reports emerged this week of Lewandowski wanting to leave Bayern, where he has been the main man since signing from Borussia Dortmund in 2014.
But a big fee is said to deter potential suitors, while Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola – Lewandowski's former Bayern coach – completely dismissed the idea of signing the forward on Friday.
In the meantime, Lewandowski continues to perform for the Bundesliga champions.
Having last term scored 41 times in the league – breaking Gerd Muller's single-season record – the 32-year-old, who turns 33 on Saturday, has maintained his lofty standards in the opening weeks of the new campaign.
With a brace against Dortmund in the DFL-Supercup in midweek, Lewandowski now has a record seven goals in that match and has netted in 14 successive games in all competitions – two shy of another Muller record.
Nagelsmann took that display as evidence of Lewandowski's continued happiness in Bavaria.
Asked about the rumours ahead of Bayern's game against Cologne, the coach said: "That doesn't bother me at all, if I'm being honest. That is part of the business.
"If I were not coach at Bayern but at another big club, I would always ask about that name and hope that something would work. It's because he scores a lot and is the most dangerous striker out there. This is completely normal.
"The only thing that matters to me is how the player reacts – and Lewy is in top shape. He talks a lot to me and the players in training. He is not a satellite that isolates himself and hopes that he will go away.
"He feels good, which was also shown by his performance against Dortmund, even in training. A player who wants to leave would not do that.
"It is part of life that there are rumours. Live and let live – both journalists and players. When the player is in a good mood, and that's the case, we're all happy."
Before equalling Muller's streak, Lewandowski can first match his own best stretch. With a goal against Cologne, he would net in 12 league games in a row – only previously doing so for Dortmund in 2012-13.
Tuchel confirms Bayern Munich exit after no deal reached to stay on
Thomas Tuchel has confirmed he will leave Bayern Munich at the end of the season after failing to reach an agreement with the club to stay on as coach after talks this week.
Tuchel took over last March and steered them to the Bundesliga title last season but Bayern will finish the current campaign without any silverware for the first time in more than a decade.
Bayern bosses had informed Tuchel in February he would not stay on for the last year of his contract and would leave at the end of the season.
But after several prospective successors, including Julian Nagelsmann, Ralf Rangnick and Xabi Alonso, decided to remain in their current jobs, Bayern turned to Tuchel to discuss the possibility of him staying on.
"This is the last press conference here. The February decision remains," Tuchel said on Friday.
"There were talks again with the club in the past week but we did not reach an agreement on a continued cooperation so we stick with the February decision.
"We did not agree but I won't go into individual points. That all happens behind closed doors."
The Bavarians, who travel to Hoffenheim on the last matchday of the season on Saturday, are battling to hold on to second place in the table and are two points ahead of Stuttgart.
They crashed out to third-tier Saarbrucken in the DFB-Pokal and were eliminated by Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals, ending the campaign without a trophy despite spending a league-record €100 million to sign striker Harry Kane.
"The decision for me to leave was taken in February so you can imagine that my head, after processing, was 1000% behind that decision," Tuchel said.
"There was the theoretical possibility of a 180 degree turn now and the initiative came from the club.
"The reasons why it did not happen, I don't know, are minimal. Maybe the reasons are not clear, also for the decision in February, but it is what it is."
Martino 'won't take risks' but expects Messi to play this weekend
Gerardo Martino is expecting Lionel Messi to play for Inter Miami at home to D.C. United this weekend, though he emphasised he would not take "any risks".
Messi was absent as Miami were held to a 0-0 draw away at Orlando City last time out with what Martino described as a "bit of a niggle".
The goalless draw, combined with FC Cincinnati's win over Atlanta United, means Miami's lead at the top of the Eastern Conference has been closed to just a point ahead of this weekend's fixtures.
As Miami look to get back to winning ways this weekend, Martino believes Messi will be able to return, though he will not rush the former Barcelona man back onto the field.
"The fact is that he felt some pain in his movements and, given that we're on a run of three games in the space of a week, we felt the most sensible thing to do was leave him out of today's game," Martino told reporters.
"The plan is that he'll play on Saturday, but it’s going to depend on how he progresses. We’re not going to take any risks, and on Thursday and Friday we'll assess his fitness."
D.C. were handed a first loss in four as they were thumped 4-1 by the New York Red Bulls in midweek, but head coach Troy Lesesne believes the defeat does not cancel out the previous solid form displayed by his side.
"For the last three weeks, we can feel good about our performance, and tonight doesn’t just erase all that," Lesesne said.
“We're building still. We can recognise tonight was a setback.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Inter Miami – Luis Suarez
With Messi absent against Orlando, Suarez couldn't make it four straight games with a goal as he drew a blank. With Messi potentially missing again on Saturday, Suarez will be keen to get back among the goals to help his team to victory.
D.C. United – Christian Benteke
Benteke was held scoreless against the Red Bulls despite taking six shots in the match. It was Benteke’s third MLS match this season with at least six shots with all other D.C. players having combined to do that once in league play in 2024 (Gabriel Pirani). The former Liverpool man certainly isn't afraid of pulling the trigger, though he will be hoping this time to find the back of the net with one or more of his efforts at goal.
MATCH PREDICTION – MIAMI WIN
D.C. are unbeaten in three all-time matches at Miami. D.C. are the only opponent that have visited Miami more than once in regular season play and never lost.
Miami’s five-game winning streak ended Wednesday with a 0-0 draw with Orlando. Miami had exactly seven shots for the second straight match, the club’s first time having consecutive MLS matches with single-digit shots since May-June 2023.
In Wednesday’s 4-1 loss to the Red Bulls, D.C. attempted 22 shots while allowing 11. The plus-11 shot differential was United’s highest in a loss by three or more goals since a 3-0 loss to the Columbus Crew in April 2013 (+14).
In 2024, Miami have one win in their five MLS matches (two draws, two defeats) without Messi and seven victories in their nine games with him. The team’s goals per game average in MLS matches this season is 3.2 with Messi, and 1.2 without him.
Messi is clearly Miami's star man, then, and with him looking likely to feature this weekend, the hosts will be the favourites to return to winning ways at the top of the Eastern Conference.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Inter Miami - 50.8%
D.C United - 22.9%
Draw - 26.3%
Almeria 0-2 Barcelona: Fermin at the double in easy Blaugrana win
Barcelona remained on track to finish second in LaLiga after Fermin Lopez's brace sealed a 2-0 win over bottom side Almeria on Thursday.
Fermin gave Barca an early lead in the 14th minute when he headed past goalkeeper Luis Maximiano from Hector Fort's accurate cross.
Despite efforts from Cesar Montes and Lucas Robertone, Almeria were unable to find an equaliser.
Fermin netted his second from Sergi Roberto's cross to wrap up the win for Barca in the 67th minute.
Xavi's side are on 79 points, four clear of Catalan rivals Girona, whose hopes of finishing second are fading fast after Tuesday's 1-0 defeat to Villarreal.
Real Madrid, who have already clinched the title, continue to pull away from Barca after a 5-0 win over Alaves on Tuesday.
Data Debrief: Holding the Fort
Fort provided the assist for Barca's opener, his second assist of the campaign in LaLiga.
Three players aged under 20 have provided an assist in LaLiga for the Blaugrana this term – Lamine Yamal (four), Fort (two) and Gavi (one). That is not a statistic matched by any other team in Europe's top five leagues.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
