Urawa Red Diamonds will fire their German coach Gert Engels at the end of the season following their failure to defend their AFC Asian Champions League title, it was reported on Thursday.

I was told that I will have no contract for next season. I must just accept it because of the differences in how we think, the Sports Nippon daily quoted Engels as saying after meeting club president Mitsunori Fujiguchi on Wednesday.

Urawa were knocked out of the AFC Champions League last month in the semi-finals, losing 3-1 to Gamba Osaka after a 1-1 draw, leaving the German coach s future at the club in doubt.

Urawa s 2-1 loss to Shimizu S-Pulse in the J-League on Sunday apparently sealed his fate.

The club, in fourth place on 53 points four points behind leaders …

Lingard s goal a moment to remember / Image via Skysports.com

Jose Mourinho won his first trophy as Manchester United boss as the Portuguese tactician led his team to a 2-1 victory over Premier League champions Leicester City in this year’s edition of the Community Shield.

As Red Devils’ fans take joy and pride in their team’s first piece of silverware in the new season, we take a look at the 5 key points in the game:

Manchester United still have a long way to go

After a couple of years in the gutter, a worldwide recognised sports brand Manchester United have set their sights on returning to the top.

Jose Mourinho’s arrival was the first sign of the things to come, while the arrivals of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Eric Bailly, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and tod…

Luka Jovic used to sleep in a Real Madrid shirt and says Cristiano Ronaldo was his idol.

Jovic has signed a six-year deal with Los Blancos, who paid Eintracht Frankfurt a reported €60million.

The Serbia striker becomes part of Madrid s rebuild in Zinedine Zidane s second spell at the club.

Eden Hazard, Eder Militao and Rodrygo Goes are also arriving after Madrid s disappointing 2018-19 campaign.

But Jovic revealed it was Ronaldo, who left Madrid for Juventus last year, who was his idol.

Ronaldo, definitely, as a kid, Jovic said when asked who his favourite Madrid player was.

Right now I don t pick one player out, as we re all team-mates now.

I know last season was not the best season at Real Madrid, but hopefully next year w…

Barcelona will bid an emotional farewell to defender Eric Abidal after their clash with Malaga at Camp Nou on Saturday.

The 33-year-old joined Barca from Lyon in 2007, and has endured a tumultuous couple of years as health scares threatened to end his career prematurely.

The Frenchman was diagnosed with a tumour in his liver in March 2011, and he underwent surgery to remove it before recovering to play a full game in Barca s 3-1 win over Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League final that year.

In March last year it was announced Abidal would need to undergo a liver transplant, which took place in April, and again the gritty defender fought back to play again, making his comeback in March.

Now Barca have announced they will not offer Abidal a new co…

Holger Badstuber knows that Bayern Munich are in for a tough test on Friday when they begin their Bundesliga title defence at home to Wolfsburg.

Pep Guardiola s men raced to a second successive title in record time last season and were confirmed as champions with seven matches remaining.

Bayern eventually finished 19 points clear of nearest challengers Borussia Dortmund, having scored 94 goals and conceding just 23, winning 29 of their 34 matches in total.

Before starting in Bayern s 4-1 DFB Pokal win over Preussen Munster on Sunday, Badstuber s last competitive appearance for the club came back in December 2012, when he tore his anterior cruciate ligament in a league clash with Dortmund.

Friday s opponents Wolfsburg finished fifth at the end of last seas…

Spain striker Fernando Torres has predicted a tough night ahead as the UEFA EURO 2008 winners travel to Istanbul take on Turkey in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier for the second part of their double-header.

It s necessary to approach every game with humility and especially so against Turkey as they have a great team, the Liverpool FC player said. On Saturday they made life difficult for us and on Wednesday they will make it even more so. If we do win we ll have taken a huge step towards the finals and with it the incentive to continue breaking records, Torres concluded.

…

In the hunt to replace sacked Bayern Munich coach Jurgen Klinsmann, club chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge insisted on Sunday experience and personality would be key attributes for potential candidates.

When one looks at the current trend in Europe, it s notable that many of the successful coaches are personalities with a huge amount of experience and of advancing age, Rummenigge told Sunday s edition of Die Welt.

Klinsmann was sacked last Monday as Bayern head coach after just ten months in charge following a string of poor results with Jupp Heynckes appointed as caretaker coach for the rest of the season.

Dutch coaches Louis van Gaal, Frank Rijkaard and Martin Jol have all been linked to the vacant job at the defending Bundesliga champions, as well as German Foo…

Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski has been crowned Germany’s Footballer of the Year for 2021.

The Pole lands the award for a second successive season following a record-breaking Bundesliga campaign with Bayern; becoming the first player to retain the accolade since Michael Ballack in 2003.

Lewandowski scored a staggering 41 league goals – surpassing Gerd Muller s record tally of 40 from 1971-72 – as Hansi Flick’s side secured a ninth straight title.

The 32-year-old was the runaway winner of the award, receiving 356 of the 563 votes cast in a poll conducted by journalists from sports magazine Kicker – 315 more than his nearest challenger Thomas Muller.

I know what a great honour this is, he told the club s official website.

It s …

Ajax head coach Alfred Schreuder has lamented everything is about money , as winger Antony reportedly nears a move to Manchester United.

The Brazil international looks to be on the brink of moving to United, with the clubs reportedly close to agreeing a fee rumoured to be worth £85million (€100.1m).

United manager Erik ten Hag worked with him during his time as Ajax head coach, and the wide-man has been open in his desire to reunite with his former boss.

Antony went public about wanting the move in an interview with journalist Fabrizio Romano, saying: I m not asking Ajax to release me.

I m asking Ajax to sell me with the highest bid ever for Eredivisie player. I ve been insisting on this theme since February so that the club could rebuild the team…

Tottenham say the findings of their initial investigation into alleged racial abuse aimed at Antonio Rudiger are inconclusive as the club calls in lip-readers to assess CCTV footage.

Rudiger told Chelsea club captain Cesar Azpilicueta that he was subjected to racist chants during their 2-0 win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday.

The Germany international was allegedly targeted shortly after Spurs Son Heung-min had been sent off for kicking out at his opponent.

Referee Anthony Taylor called for an announcement to be made over the stadium s public address system to warn fans against making abusive chants.

In a statement issued on Monday, Spurs said: We are able to track every fan via the cameras and have spent many hours reviewing CCTV footage. We have…