Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta hopes former captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang receives a "good reception" from Gunners fans if he returns to the Premier League from Barcelona.
Aubameyang was stripped of his captaincy last season before sealing a move to Barca, with further details of how the situation developed coming to light in Amazon's All Or Nothing documentary series.
In the latest episodes, released on Thursday, Arteta took strong action against Aubameyang after he returned late to training following a trip to Paris, setting in motion events that would lead to his departure.
The Amazon cameras also showed Arteta claimed to have record of numerous prior incidents of Aubameyang's indiscipline.
However, the Arsenal manager insisted on Friday he still has positive memories of the forward, who was the subject of much discussion as he emerges as a reported transfer target for rivals Chelsea.
"It's a long time since that happened. I cannot go back each time there is a series. I have made my comments on that," Arteta said of Aubameyang's exit.
"What has been done has to defend the club and put it in the best possible position.
"Auba is an exceptional player. He did so much for us. I hope he gets a good reception [if he comes back], because I think he deserves that."
Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel worked with Aubameyang previously at Borussia Dortmund and said of claims of his "toxic influence" at Arsenal: "I experienced none of this.
"This has nothing to do with the situation at Arsenal, which I also will not comment about out of respect, because it's not on me to comment. I don't know what happened.
"In Dortmund, there was never an issue."
Sheffield United go second after late turnaround, Plymouth continue good home form
Sheffield United staged a late turnaround to win 2-1 away to Bristol City and go second in the Championship, one point behind leaders Sunderland who play on Wednesday.
The game started slowly, with the hosts not opening the scoring until a 75th-minute Anis Mehmeti penalty after a foul on Sinclair Armstrong by goalkeeper Michael Cooper.
The Blades showed great character to haul themselves back into the game, with 18-year-old Ryan One scoring the equaliser in the 86th minute.
But things went up a notch in stoppage time when Robert Dickie was given a straight red card for a cynical foul on Callum O'Hare 35 yards out.
The drama wasn't finished yet and with seconds to go, Harrison Burrows smashed home a left-foot rocket to win the game for the Blades.
At the bottom of the table, Plymouth opened a four-point gap between themselves and the relegation zone with a 1-0 victory over bottom-of-the-table Portsmouth.
The victory means that Wayne Rooney's side have dropped just two points in their last five games at Home Park, having lost six on the bounce in all competitions away.
It is now four without a victory for Portsmouth, who have earned just nine points in their opening 14 matches back in the Championship.
Elsewhere, Middlesbrough responded to their 3-0 defeat at home to Coventry City last weekend by beating second-bottom Queens Park Rangers 4-1 on the road.
That was a first victory in three for Michael Carrick's side, who are one place below the play-off positions and trail only by goal difference.
QPR are four points behind fourth-bottom Preston North End, having failed to win any of their last 10 league games.
Al-Nassr 5-1 Al-Ain: Ronaldo on target in AFC Champions League win
Cristiano Ronaldo powered Al-Nassr to a convincing 5-1 triumph over Asian Champions League Elite holders Al-Ain on Tuesday.
The victory carried a sense of redemption for Al-Nassr as they avenged last season's semi-final defeat to the same opposition on their way to lifting a second title in the competition.
Talisca fired the hosts into a fifth minute lead with a well-taken effort from the edge of the box before Ronaldo poked home his 908th career goal just after the half-hour mark.
Visiting defender Fabio Cardoso then deflected Angelo's effort beyond Khalid Eisa to hand Al-Nassr a comfortable advantage at the interval.
Al-Ain did, however, pull one back early in the second half when Park Yong-woo's strike struck the post and went in off the back of Al-Nassr goalkeeper Bento.
But the result was put beyond doubt late on when Wesley curled home Al-Nassr's fourth, before Talisca notched his brace in second half stoppage time.
Data Debrief: Return of Ronaldo
After winning five Champions League across his glittering career, Ronaldo is now eyeing a first AFC Champions League crown with Al-Nassr.
The 39-year-old has six goals in eight appearances in the competition, with his goal against Al-Ain ending a three-game goal drought for Al-Nassr.
Ronaldo also registered a team-high expected goals (xG) tally of 1.25 towards Al-Nassr's 2.67 total, while also producing more shots (eight) and touches in the opposition box (nine) than any other player on the pitch.
Barcelona must 'work hard' to achieve Champions League glory, says Flick
Hansi Flick tempered expectations of Barcelona's chances of silverware in his first season in charge ahead of facing Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League.
Flick has led Barca to 13 wins from 15 games in all competitions, scoring 50 goals in those games while conceding just 14 times.
Some standout matches have seen Barca thrash Clasico rivals Real Madrid 4-0 while also brushing aside Bayern Munich 4-1 in the Champions League in their last match in the competition.
While Flick understood the fans' excitement after those results, he urged his side to keep their feet on the ground with a long season still in front of them.
"We have to work hard. There are many teams who dream of the same thing, of winning (the Champions League)," Flick said.
"For the moment, we're going to focus on working hard and grinding out, so then we'll see what happens. We have to focus on our goal which is to keep improving.
"A team's form fluctuates a lot over a long season. The important thing is to focus on winning the next match. Sure, after the match against Bayern everything changed.
"But we are just starting. The important thing is how we finish the season. We could say that our goal is to be in the top eight."
Flick, however, insisted he was not surprised by his side's impressive start to the campaign despite enduring a trophyless season last term.
Barca are nine points clear at the top of LaLiga and 11th in the Champions League table ahead of facing Red Star, who are without a win from their three games so far.
"Before we came here we analysed the whole team, every player. We realised that there was very good quality overall," Flick said.
"Another thing to point out is that we wanted to improve how we defend and did small changes in the way we play. The players liked it and they are happy working on it.
"The players play a big role, they are helping us a lot.
"The start was already good on the pre-season in North American and the players are very happy, although there are still many things to improve."
And Barca will be confident of keeping their fine form going against a side that has lost 81% of their matches in the Champions League (P21 W2 D2 L17).
This is the first European meeting between the two sides since October 1996 in the Cup Winners’ Cup, a 1-1 draw with Giovanni cancelling out a Zoran Jovicic's opener for the Serbians.
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
