Leicester moved back into the top two of the Championship with a hard-fought 2-0 win at Norwich.

The Canaries had won all three of their previous games at Carrow Road this season and proved to be spirited opponents on a miserable evening in Norfolk.

But the visitors turned in a disciplined display to take all three points, with a Kelechi Iheanacho penalty on the stroke of half-time and a late tap-in from Kasey McAteer securing a sixth win in seven games for Enzo Maresca’s men.

A dull first half sprung to life in the dying minutes, with Leicester edging in front from the penalty spot.

Dangerman Stephy Mavididi set up the opener by bursting clear down the left flank and racing into the area, where his progress was halted by a shove in the back from Christian Fassnacht.

Referee Graham Scott pointed straight to the spot and Iheanacho did the rest, with Angus Gunn unable to keep out his well struck penalty despite getting a hand to it.

Moments later Mavididi was through again and this time he managed to get in a shot himself, with a curling effort drifting just wide of the far post.

Earlier both sides had struggled to create openings as they sought to build patiently from the back.

Fassnacht had a couple of shots for the Canaries, the latter drawing a comfortable save from Mads Hermansen, while defender Wout Faes went close with a pair of headers for the Foxes.

Despite losing striker Ashley Barnes to injury Norwich looked the side more likely to score early in the second period, although they again struggled to create decent openings.

The visitors seemed content to sit back and rely on the occasional counter-attack, with Gunn seeing precious little action.

Norwich continued to press and almost drew level in the 71st minute when it needed a superb reaction save from Hermansen to keep out a close-range header from Shane Duffy, who was picked out by a pinpoint cross from substitute Onel Hernandez.

They came even closer a few minutes later when Kenny McLean shipped an effort against the underside of the bar following a poor clearance from the otherwise excellent keeper.

It was all Norwich now, with Gabriel Sara brushing the side-netting with a 25-yard free-kick, although McAteer should have sealed it for the Foxes with a free header at the back post.

McAteer made up for that glaring miss by wrapping up the points for Leicester in the 87th minute.

A slick move ended with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall one on one with Gunn and instead of shooting the substitute squared for his unmarked colleague to side-foot home into an empty net.

Lautaro Martinez’s late equaliser rescued disappointing Inter Milan a 1-1 Champions League draw against Real Sociedad at the Estadio de Anoeta.

Last year’s beaten finalists Inter had failed to have a single shot on target in their opening Group D tie when captain Martinez fired home in the 87th minute.

Brais Mendez had given Sociedad an early lead but the Spaniards, back in the Champions League for the first time since 2013-14, were cruelly punished after twice hitting the woodwork.

Inter thrashed city rivals AC Milan 5-1 on Saturday, but were a shadow of the side which have won their first four Serie A matches.

Sociedad lost 2-1 at Real Madrid on Sunday and have won only one of their first five LaLiga games, but went straight on the offensive.

Ander Barrenetxea had already hit the crossbar before Inter defender Alessandro Bastoni slipped in possession, allowing Mendez a free shot on goal, which he buried.

Marko Arnautovic headed Inter’s best chance before the break wide, but Sociedad went close to extending their lead.

Robin Le Normand’s diving header from Takefusa Kubo’s excellent cross flew inches over the bar and the impressive Kubo forced Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer into a low save just before half-time.

Sommer made an even better save early in the second period to keep out Mikel Oyarzabal’s header as Sociedad chased another goal.

Le Normand’s header was blocked before Inter were given a reprieve in the 65th minute after referee Michael Oliver had shown Inter’s Nicolo Barella a straight red card.

The Italy midfielder appeared to stamp on goalscorer Mendez, but Oliver rescinded his decision after being asked to check the pitchside monitor by VAR.

Mikel Merino then headed another cross from Kubo against the bar for Sociedad as Inter failed to pose an attacking threat.

Simone Inzaghi’s side had mustered one attempt on goal throughout the game when they thought they had equalised.

Carlos Augusto side-footed home Alexis Sanchez’s low cross into the area in the 79th minute, but his effort was ruled out for offside.

But in the 87th minute the Italians levelled it up with their first shot on target.

Martinez raced on to Davide Frattesi’s low diagonal ball into the box and lifted a superb first-time shot over Sociedad goalkeeper Alex Remiro.

Huddersfield drew 2-2 with Stoke in Neil Warnock’s final game in charge.

Town had announced Tuesday’s Championship fixture would be Warnock’s last with the club and the 74-year-old saw his side open the scoring through Matty Pearson’s first-half header.

But they were ahead for less than two minutes as Daniel Johnson netted Stoke’s first first away goal of the season.

The Potters went ahead in the 62nd minute courtesy of Ben Wilmot, but their lead was also short-lived as Jack Rudoni quickly pulled the hosts level.

But Huddersfield could not find another goal to give Warnock a winning send off.

The visitors thought they broke the deadlock 11 minutes in when Tyrese Campbell was fed through before lashing home but the linesman’s flag came to Huddersfield’s rescue.

Huddersfield grew into the contest and could have had the opener themselves but Rudoni’s powerful low effort was well met by on-loan Bournemouth goalkeeper Mark Travers.

The hosts hit the front in the 33rd minute after they were awarded a free-kick just inside City’s half and Pearson rose highest from Josh Koroma’s cross to nod home the opener.

Stoke quickly hit back. Campbell’s initial effort was parried by Lee Nicholls and the ball was diverted by by Wouter Burger into the path of Johnson, who rifled home to make it 1-1.

The Potters thought they had hit the front after Burger’s pass towards goal ended up in the back of the net but Campbell proved to be in an offside position as he tried to tuck the ball home.

Stoke ended the half on top. Johnson’s in-swinging corner was glanced marginally wide by the head of Wilmot before Campbell shanked wide from six yards out a couple of minutes before the interval.

The first chance of the second period fell the way of the visitors as Sead Haksabanovic opened up the space with a clever fake shot but his resulting effort flew wastefully over the bar.

Stoke had not scored in their previous three league matches but were in the mood to make amends and they took the lead just after the hour mark when Haksabanovic’s corner was headed in by Wilmot.

Huddersfield were level within six minutes. Moments after Koroma’s tame close-range shot was saved by Travers, a recycled corner ended up at the feet of Rudoni who turned home from inside the area.

Huddersfield had the final opportunity to snatch all three points with a dangerous free-kick deep into stoppage time but Rudoni’s teasing ball into the area could not find a way past Travers as the sides took a point each.

Jack Clarke scored twice as Sunderland moved up to fourth in the Sky Bet Championship with an impressive 3-1 win at Blackburn.

The Black Cats had to weather a ferocious early Blackburn storm, but took the lead with their first shot as Clarke won and converted a 28th-minute penalty. Harry Leonard’s header drew Rovers level, but Dan Neil struck his second goal of the season in added time to give the visitors a half-time lead.

Dilan Markanday struck the post for Blackburn, but Sunderland were much more composed than the first half and in Clarke, boasted the game’s supreme performer. He duly made the game safe 12 minutes from time, superbly creating the chance to score his fifth of the season from close range.

It capped a happy return to Ewood Park for former manager Tony Mowbray, whose side made it three successive victories.

Blackburn raced out of the traps and were close to a spectacular opener when Leonard’s volley from a narrow angle sailed just over.

They should have been ahead in the ninth minute when Anthony Patterson saved from Sammie Szmodics and the rebound fell to Andrew Moran six yards out, but Dan Ballard produced a sensational block to deny Rovers a certain goal.

The defender repeated the trick three minutes later when he headed over a Szmodics goalbound effort as Blackburn’s onslaught continued.

Somehow, it was the Black Cats who took the lead in the 28th minute after Clarke nipped in ahead of Ryan Hedges as he tried to clear the ball and he kicked the Sunderland man instead.

Clarke picked himself up and calmly slotted his penalty straight down the middle of goal.

Rovers deservedly drew level seven minutes later when Callum Brittain’s sumptuous cross was headed beyond Patterson by Leonard at the back post. Ballard was off the pitch for the goal that looked offside, leading to Tony Mowbray being booked for his protests.

But the visitors regrouped and went ahead in the first minute of first-half stoppage time when a corner fell to Neil, who took a touch before firing a low left-foot drive beyond Pears into the bottom corner.

Patterson tipped a Lewis Travis effort behind after the restart before the imperious Clarke set up a chance for Mason Burstow to shoot straight at Aynsley Pears.

Substitute Markanday was inches away from an equaliser in the 70th minute when he did well to engineer space in the box before curling for the far corner, but his effort hit the post and fell safe.

It was fitting that Clarke sealed the three points for Sunderland in the 78th minute, effortlessly cutting in from the left past three defenders and Pears before casually rolling into the bottom corner.

Manchester United’s Champions League return ended in disappointment as Harry Kane struck from the spot for Bayern Munich in an entertaining 4-3 win kicked off by Andre Onana’s clanger.

The European heavyweights are at very different stages right now, with the perennial Bundesliga champions second favourites to win a competition that the Red Devils did not even feature in last season.

Absentee-hit United began brightly enough at the Allianz Arena, only for Serge Gnabry to score shortly after ex-Manchester City forward Leroy Sane’s effort squirmed past summer signing Onana.

Rasmus Hojlund scored his first goal for the club but Kane quickly slammed home a penalty, with Casemiro scoring either side of Mathys Tel’s stoppage-time strike as the Red Devils suffered a fourth defeat in five matches.

Few could argue with the eventual outcome, but United had started brightly in Bavaria and should have gone ahead through Facundo Pellistri or Christian Eriksen inside four minutes.

Bayern, who were without suspended boss Thomas Tuchel on the touchline, shook off initial sluggishness, with Sane’s strike beating distraught Onana before Gnabry fired home four minutes later.

Hojlund’s effort off the heel of Kim Min-jae shortly after half-time brought hope to Erik ten Hag’s men, only for Eriksen to soon be adjudged to have handled.

Ex-Tottenham team-mate Kane scored the resulting spot-kick, with Casemiro’s brace sandwiching Tel’s strike during a dramatic conclusion to the Group A opener.

Watford and West Brom played out a 2-2 draw with all four goals at a wet Vicarage Road coming in the first 23 minutes.

Tom Ince gave the hosts a third-minute lead but John Swift and Jed Wallace replied in the next 14 minutes for the Baggies.

Matheus Martins responded for the Hornets but neither side was able to find a winner in the Championship fixture.

Fresh from their win over Birmingham last Saturday, Watford made a sole change with Ismael Kone replacing Tom Dele-Bashiru while West Brom were unchanged from their goalless draw at Bristol City.

The hosts soon took the lead as a move involving five players eventually saw Imran Louza give the ball to Ince, who curled a fine effort into the top right hand corner – his first goal since arriving from Reading this summer.

Stunned by conceding so early, West Brom pressed forward and delivered a stinging reply of their own with two goals in three minutes.

Swift’s 14th-minute free-kick on the edge of the area left Daniel Bachmann stranded before captain Wallace turned home past the Watford goalkeeper after a low cross from Darnell Furlong.

Watford replied when Matheus Martins picked the ball up, made his way to the edge of the area, and struck sweetly past Alex Palmer.

Kone could have put the hosts ahead in the 35th minute after collecting a Martins pass, but his lofted effort went just over the bar.

With the Hertfordshire rain getting even harder after the interval, the defences were notably tighter – limiting the chances both teams were able to carve out.

Bachmann had to turn over a fierce drive from Brandon Thomas-Asante 10 minutes after the restart.

At the other end, Palmer was made to turn a header from Kone on to the crossbar and away to safety.

Both teams looked for the winning effort in a contest that remained finely poised after the first half flurry of goals.

Thomas-Asante was foiled by the onrushing Bachmann with 10 minutes to go after he was fed through by Jeremy Sarmiento.

With six minutes of added time announced, the hosts looked to repeat their previous game against Birmingham by netting the decisive strike late on.

However, the visitors held firm and left Hertfordshire with a hard-fought point.

Zian Flemming put on a stellar performance as Millwall cruised to a 3-0 victory over Rotherham at The Den.

Ryan Longman opened Millwall’s account in the 27th minute when he cut inside and fired a wonder strike from 25 yards.

Flemming, who was left out of The Lions’ starting line-up in their 3-0 defeat to Leeds on Sunday, returned and doubled his side’s tally in the 58th minute.

Millwall finished off a convincing display with a Tom Bradshaw goal as he pounced on a deflected long-range strike to make it 3-0 in second-half stoppage time.

The home side started as they meant to go on thanks to an encouraging opening from Flemming.

Brooke Norton-Cuffy whipped in a dangerous ball into the box in the 15th minute, but it could only find former Millwall man Fred Onyedinma as Viktor Johansson remained untested.

Bradshaw had a promising chance in the 26th minute when the ball fell to him outside the box, but the forward struck high and wide.

Millwall found the breakthrough just a minute later as Allan Campbell found fellow loanee Longman in space on the edge of the box, who cut inside and fired a stunning strike past Johansson into the top right corner.

Rotherham struggled to string any real passes together, but managed half a chance when Sam Clucas found Onyedinma in the box, only to head wide.

Casper De Norre fired a bullet effort from 30 yards past a number of Rotherham bodies in the 40th minute, but Johannson was on hand to prevent the advantage from doubling.

Rotherham looked to grab an early equaliser after the break, with Onyedinma proving a threat once again when he curled the ball past Bartosz Białkowski in the 49th minute, but the flag immediately went up for offside.

Millwall’s hopes of adding a second looked to have been hit by the loss of Kevin Nisbet to injury, but that did not stop Flemming from doubling their lead in the 58th minute with a punishing left-footed strike from inside the box.

The hosts continued to push for another goal to ensure a third win of the season as Norton-Cuffy had a strong right-footed effort saved from a tight angle with 10 minutes to go.

Bradshaw, who scored twice in this fixture last season, made it 3-0 in the third minute of stoppage time when the ball fell to him in the penalty area following a deflected long-range effort.

Arsenal enjoyed a fine return to the Champions League as they cruised past PSV Eindhoven at the Emirates Stadium.

Six years of absence were soon brushed to one side – as were PSV – as a scintillating attacking display saw Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard score in a dominant 4-0 win.

The club’s hiatus from the top table of European football was so long someone felt it necessary to print the words to the Champions League anthem in the matchday programme and Arsenal’s players were certainly singing from the same hymn sheet.

Mohamed Elneny, back on the bench for the first time since a serious knee injury in January, was the only member of the current crop to have experienced Champions League football in an Arsenal shirt.

It did not take any of the tournament debutants long to make their mark on a new stage, however, as Saka struck inside eight minutes before Trossard doubled the lead, Jesus added a third before the break and Odegaard capped off a fine evening.

David Raya retained his place in the Arsenal goal having replaced Aaron Ramsdale for Sunday’s Premier League win at Everton.

Kai Havertz and Jesus came in for Fabio Vieira and Eddie Nketiah while Trossard deputised for the injured Gabriel Martinelli.

Saka set the tone for the evening, the England winger finishing after PSV goalkeeper Walter Benitez pushed an Odegaard shot into his path.

Jesus should have doubled the lead moments later but could not make contact on Ben White’s low cross but the second came soon after as the Brazil forward led a counter-attack and played in Saka, who crossed for Trossard to strike.

It was one-way traffic at the Emirates as Havertz fired over before Jesus forced Benitez into a good stop and then got on the scoresheet himself with a fine effort from a deep Trossard cross.

With Arsenal hosting north London neighbours Tottenham on Sunday, boss Mikel Arteta took advantage of the big lead to take off his key men as the second half progressed.

All three goalscorers, as well as Oleksandr Zinchenko, were replaced before the 70-minute mark with the Gunners in complete control of proceedings at a rain-soaked Emirates.

There was still time for more goals, Odegaard not to be outdone as he angled home a fine finish to further widen the gap.

Under Arsene Wenger, Arsenal progressed from the group stages of the Champions League for 17 successive seasons, but the last seven of those ended in defeat in the last 16.

Arteta’s team have started Group B in fine style but the Spaniard will be under no illusions that his side will face more challenging tests if they are to go deep into the competition and successfully juggle European football with a Premier League title bid.

Leeds overcame Joe Rodon’s second-half sending-off to secure a goalless draw at Hull.

Daniel Farke’s men had the best chances of the first half – most significantly through the wasteful Georginio Rutter after 26 minutes – but they found debutant goalkeeper Ryan Allsop in inspired form.

Leeds supporters will have expected their team to kick on after the restart, but they were always up against it once Rodon was dismissed for a second bookable offence on the hour.

Hull head coach Liam Rosenior will be satisfied that their promising start to the season continued, now unbeaten since the opening day at Norwich.

But Rosenior will have expected much better of his offensive players inside the final third – not least when substitute Adama Traore somehow missed an open goal with two minutes remaining in normal time.

Given both sides’ fondness for playing football firmly on the front foot, it was perhaps a surprise that the game began so sluggishly.

Dan James swiped one high and wide early on, but neither Leeds nor Hull fans had much to shout about within the first 20 minutes.

The visitors’ gameplan was also disrupted when Willy Gnonto suffered an ankle injury and was replaced by Crysencio Summerville.

Ironically, Gnonto’s substitution seemed to awake Leeds from their slumber.

And they should have opened the scoring when Summerville threaded a lovely ball through the middle to Rutter.

Allsop expertly saved the one-on-one with his legs, but Rutter should have scored.

Summerville might then have got in on the act moments later, but Allsop reacted well with a sharp tip-over from a stinging hit on the left.

Allsop also thwarted Summerville from 20 yards with a lovely save at full stretch from the Dutch playmaker’s goalbound half-volley after 42 minutes.

Leeds’ relative dominance – not from a possession perspective but in terms of chances created – continued soon after the restart.

James and Summerville had opportunities off Luke Ayling’s smart cut-back, but Alfie Jones and Jacob Greaves refused to yield with brave defending inside the six-yard box.

Hull, however, slowly grew into a game that changed once Rodon was sent off.

The Leeds centre-back was lured into a rash challenge on Aaron Connolly on the halfway line.

Having already been booked for a first-half foul on Jaden Philogene, referee Stephen Martin had little option but to show a red card.

Predictably, given their one-man handicap, Leeds were forced to retreat for long periods of the second half.

But other than Liam Delap’s powerful run and cross on the right, from which Connolly came within a stud’s length of connecting, the hosts were never especially threatening.

That was until the 88th minute when Connolly teed up Traore, but the Mali international extraordinarily struck the far post with the goal at his mercy.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp insists they are in the Europa League to win it and they arrive in Linz “to compete, not to give opportunities”.

On Thursday the Reds take on LASK as they return to a competition in which their last appearance was the 2016 final defeat to Sevilla in the German’s first season at the club.

Since then Liverpool have won the Champions League and reached two other finals and lifted the Premier League, the Club World Cup, the FA Cup and Carabao Cup.

As it stands the Europa League is the only major trophy Klopp has not won in his near-eight years at Anfield and he wants to add that missing silverware to his honour role.

That means fans who were hoping to see exciting fringe talents like youngster Ben Doak, Harvey Elliott and new signing Ryan Gravenberch may have to wait for now.

“We are here to compete, not to give opportunities,” he said.

“My first year I thought the Europa League was a bit too much for us until we got to the final. We had to fly to Russia, played on a frozen pitch in Sion.

“That was a different squad. We were not ready and we came through somehow. I don’t think we were exceptional until the quarter-final, semi-final.

“It is a different time, a different team. We are better prepared. We enjoy it more to be here because we had no clue at that time what to expect.

“We have to be motivated and we are excited to play in the Europa League. I didn’t watch the Champions League (this week), I didn’t miss the anthem.”

None of the 2016 final squad remain at Anfield with Joe Gomez – who was 18 at the time but out injured – the only current player to have played in the Europa League for Liverpool.

But while there have been significant alterations to the playing staff this summer the core of that trophy-winning band are still together and Klopp’s side are favourites to win the competition.

However, captain Virgil van Dijk brushed off the expectations.

“It’s a reflection of the world we live in at the moment, it’s from one extreme to the other,” he said.

“We have to just stay calm and level-headed, there are so many games to play and twists and turns to happen.

“We know we had a good start but there are so many things still we need to improve. We need to stay calm.

“Everyone else from the outside world will say things but we should not worry and think about it.”

Van Dijk has had to watch from the sidelines for the last two matches due to suspension but he has been impressed with the way his team-mates have gone about their business.

And he is not the only one who has been heartened.

Klopp added: “Virgil is right. He did not play now twice and you can see something is growing.

“We were late (arriving in Linz) today and it wasn’t our fault and we were waiting around and you see they enjoy spending time with each other.”

Jude Bellingham’s fairytale start to his Real Madrid career continued after he fired home a stoppage-time winner against Champions League debutants Union Berlin at the Bernabeu.

The hosts, winners of the biggest prize in European football on 14 occasions, looked destined to be heading for a frustrating draw after failing to find a way past the resilient Bundesliga side.

But Bellingham converted from close range with virtually the last kick of the Group C clash to claim his sixth goal in as many matches following his summer transfer from Borussia Dortmund, and land all three points for Carlo Ancelotti’s side.

Los Blancos arrived for their opening Champions League fixture with a 100 per cent record in LaLiga to see them sit two points clear of rivals Barcelona after five matches.

Bellingham has been key to their strong start and the 20-year-old – the sixth English player after Laurie Cunningham, Steve McManaman, David Beckham, Michael Owen and Jonathan Woodgate to feature for Real in the European Cup – was again central to his side’s pursuit of a win under the lights.

After just three minutes it was Bellingham’s cross which Joselu nodded straight into the arms of Frederik Ronnow – the first of a hat-trick of headers he was unable to score during a tepid opening period.

Following the interval, Joselu then saw a header tipped on to the post by Ronnow.

Ancelotti’s men were starting to up the ante, and Rodrygo had two good opportunities to hand his side the lead – first drawing a good save from Ronnow, and then blasting an effort off the woodwork.

But as the clock ticked down, Real were staring down the barrel of a disappointing point with Ancelotti’s annoyance etched all over his face. That was until Bellingham saved the night.

Following Real’s 16th corner of a one-sided contest, Federico Valverde’s shot from the edge of the area was blocked, before falling perfectly into the path of Bellingham.

The unmarked England international could not miss as he prodded home from a little more than a yard out before wheeling away in celebration and lapping up the adulation of the adoring home crowd.

Former Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has conceded the club’s re-signing of Cristiano Ronaldo “turned out wrong”.

Solskjaer was in charge when United brought the five-time Ballon d’Or winner back to Old Trafford amid much optimism and fanfare in August 2021.

At the time the transfer was viewed as a coup that could potentially fuel a Premier League title challenge.

Yet things soon unravelled as the team struggled and Solskjaer was sacked in November that year.

Ronaldo left the club in acrimonious fashion 12 months later.

Solskjaer told The Athletic: “It was about taking the next step to challenge for the title. And, unfortunately, it just didn’t work out.

“It was a decision that was very difficult to turn down and I felt we had to take it, but it turned out wrong.

“It felt so right when he signed and the fans felt that at that Newcastle game (when he scored twice), when Old Trafford was rocking. He was still one of the best goalscorers in the world, he was looking strong.”

But he added: “When you have a group you need everyone to pull in the same direction. When things didn’t go right, you could see certain players and egos came out.”

Solskjaer was also the manager when the club signed England defender Harry Maguire in the summer of 2019.

The Norwegian feels the recent criticism, and even ridiculing of Maguire, has been very unfair.

He said: “Harry Maguire – it’s a disgrace that he’s getting so much abuse. I feel sorry for him, but he’s a strong lad and I hope it turns for him.

“He raised our defence big time when he arrived and lifted the mood around the place.”

Michael Beale believes it is time for Jose Cifuentes to step up after revealing Nicolas Raskin would miss the Europa League opener against Real Betis at Ibrox on Thursday night.

The Gers midfielder picked up a calf injury in the 2-0 cinch Premiership win over St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park on Saturday.

Raskin joins fellow midfielder Todd Cantwell and Brazilian striker Danilo on the sidelines, the latter having an operation on a fractured cheekbone sustained in scoring the first goal in Perth.

Ecuador international Cifuentes has had an unconvincing beginning to his Gers career after signing from Los Angeles FC in the summer and will vie with Ryan Jack for a midfield berth in the coming weeks.

Gers boss Beale said: “Nico is out until after the international break with a calf problem.

“He took a kick in the game and it has given him a problem. So him, Todd and Danilo are missing.

“I saw Danilo yesterday, he still looks sore if I’m honest. He had successful surgery on the areas, it is not just one area.

“He will be back in non-contact training at the back end of the international break, so ideally he will be back the first week after the October international break, but it might be a couple of weeks after that.

“The reason Cifuentes didn’t play at the weekend is that he didn’t arrive back from South America until the Friday morning where he played at altitude, so he is ready to go and Ryan Jack is there as well so it doesn’t change in us having options.

“He (Jose) came in very late and did some good things in his first couple of games. And then he was away on international duty.

“This is his moment, he has been here for a while now.

“I said recently that the new players have been here long enough now. He was the last one to come in, but I still think he is ready.”

Barcelona left-back Alejandro Balde is to sign a new five-year contract at the Nou Camp, the club have announced.

The new deal with the 19-year-old will contain a buy-out clause set at one billion euros (£865million).

The Spain international will formally sign the contract at a ceremony with president Joan Laporta on Thursday.

A club statement read: “FC Barcelona and the player Alejandro Balde have reached an agreement for a new contract which will take the player through to 30 June 2028.

“The buy out clause is set at 1bn euros.”

Balde, a product of the club’s youth set-up, has established himself as first-choice left-back with the LaLiga champions over the past year.

Tottenham attacker Ivan Perisic is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines after suffering a serious knee injury in training.

Spurs confirmed on Tuesday that Perisic had sustained a “complex anterior cruciate ligament injury” to his right knee in non-contact training.

Perisic played a key role off the bench in Tottenham’s dramatic 2-1 win over Sheffield United last weekend with an assist on his 50th appearance, but the severity of his injury could mean it is his final appearance for the club.

Croatian attacker Perisic is out of contract next summer and could be looking at a nine-month timeline before he can return to action.

“The experienced Croatia international sustained the injury in non-contact training and will undergo surgery. Wishing you well in your recovery, Ivan,” a club statement read.

Rodrigo Bentancur is currently out with an ACL injury sustained in February and he is not expected to be available for Ange Postecoglou until November.

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