Luis de la Fuente has no doubt over Kylian Mbappe's threat in Spain's Euro 2024 semi-final on Tuesday, suggesting the France forward at "50% is 100% for anyone else".
Mbappe has scored just one goal from 20 shots at the tournament in Germany, a penalty against Poland in Les Bleus' final group game.
The Real Madrid-bound has been hampered by a mask, required after his broken nose against Austria in the opening game, but continues to struggle at the European Championship.
Mbappe has scored just once from 34 attempts in the Euros overall, a contrast to his record at the World Cup, where the former Paris Saint-Germain star has 12 goals from 39 shots.
Yet the Spain boss insists La Roja will not write off the Les Bleus captain, despite his recent underwhelming form.
"He is unpredictable, he never disappears," De la Fuente said at Monday's pre-match press conference. "His level at 50% is 100% for anyone else.
"He can beat someone in two moves. He is a genius and a superstar.
"We are going to try to minimise his influence, we have the tools to do it regardless of who is on the pitch. I have blind faith in my team to get to the final."
Mbappe may be a marked man for the Spanish, yet De la Fuente's team are in scintillating form as the only team to triumph in all five matches at Euro 2024 so far.
No team has ever won six matches at a single Euros tournament, however, nor managed six straight wins in the competition.
Yet De la Fuente has absolute confidence in Spain reaching their fifth European Championship final, with only Germany – who La Roja downed 2-1 in extra time in the quarter-finals – managing more with six.
"For me, my team is the best, but we have a great rival in front of us who is just as good," he added.
"I will think that my team is the best team even if they knock us out. I analyse the team's potential and they have exceptional potential.
"Everyone gets bored or has fun with what they want, football never bores me. We are recovering well, but it is only a few days, it is the same problem for everyone.
"We will see how we are tomorrow, motivation makes you overcome any adversity."
A France player is yet to score from open play at the tournament, with Les Bleus' game seeing two penalties scored and two own goals.
De la Fuente still refused to ignore the quality of Didier Deschamps' men, adding: "Physically, France are one of the strongest, we know the players and we know how to fight them."
Inzaghi demands more from Inter after narrow win over Torino
Inter must improve defensively if they are to go on and retain their Serie A crown this season, so says Simone Inzaghi.
Marcus Thuram's hat-trick propelled Inter to a 3-2 victory over 10-man Torino on Saturday.
It was Inter's second 3-2 win on the spin in Serie A, moving them up to second.
Inter only conceded seven shots, but five of those were on target, with Torino's 1.61 expected goals (xG) showing the visitors created decent openings at San Siro, where Nikola Vlasic converted a late penalty to set up a grandstand finale.
"Clearly, we need to improve in some aspects, we pay a heavy price for every tiny distraction," said Inzaghi, who has seen Inter concede two goals in successive league matches for the first time since May 2023.
"We worked really hard on details that need to be whittled down, the lads have great spirit, but considering everything we did today, today's game shouldn't have ended 3-2.
"Seeing a team perform like this in three matches makes me want to congratulate these guys. We need to keep working the way we are, and in our penalty area, we all need to be more attentive.
"We're working on it, and we need to do more. Over the past two days, the team has trained extremely well, and we're trying to pay even more attention to the finer details."
Hat-trick hero Thuram, meanwhile, says the entire team must step up when it comes to defending.
"It's also the fault of the attackers, not just the defenders or the goalkeeper," he said.
"We are eleven players on the pitch and not conceding goals is part of everyone's job. We will try to improve in the upcoming games.
"There’s a lot of work, especially in the penalty area. For me, scoring is always a great feeling, but I always want to remain a player who helps the team above all."
Thuram's haul was the third time he has scored at least twice in a match this season, matching Erling Haaland.
Indeed, in 2024, only Juventus' Dusan Vlahovic has scored more Serie A goals than Thuram (13).
Real Madrid's Carvajal confirms serious knee injury
Real Madrid's Dani Carvajal could be set to miss the rest of the season after suffering a cruciate ligament injury.
Carvajal had to be taken off late on in Saturday's LaLiga meeting with Villarreal, which Madrid won 2-0 thanks to goals from Federico Valverde and Vinicius Junior.
The 32-year-old and the club subsequently confirmed he will have to go under the knife.
"Serious cruciate ligament injury confirmed, I'll have to undergo surgery and be off the field for a few months," Carvajal said on Instagram.
"Looking forward to starting the recovery process and coming back like an animal. Thank you all for your messages, I feel very loved."
After the match, Carlo Ancelotti said: "It looks like a pretty serious knee injury, the dressing room is sad and worried.
"It's something that happens a lot of times because of the calendar and it's happened to a very important player for us.
"He is a fundamental player for us because of his experience.
"I've been talking to him and he's sad, but there's not much we can do. We are going to see the medical evaluation and think about him recovering. The doctor has told us that he has to do tests, but that it's a knee injury."
Asked how he may replace Carvajal in Madrid's starting XI, Ancelotti said: "We have Lucas Vazquez, but it's not the time to talk about this.
"We are going to wait and if the injury is serious we are going to manage the squad well and see who we put in this position. It will not be me."
Vinicius also suffered an injury against Villarreal, with Madrid confirming the Brazil star had a cervical issue.
The victory took Los Blancos level on points with Barcelona at the summit of LaLiga, ahead of the Blaugrana facing Deportivo Alaves on Sunday.
Portland Timbers v FC Dallas: Neville hopes to bounce back and clinch play-off spot
Portland Timbers coach Phil Neville is “looking forward to bouncing back” after a defeat to Austin FC, as a win or a draw against FC Dallas will be enough to secure a place in the MLS playoffs.
Portland fell to a 1-0 defeat at home to Austin, who they are vying with for the final play-off spot in the Western Conference.
While The Timbers will have a second chance to secure their spot against the Seattle Sounders should they fail to gain points against Dallas, Neville will hope to enter the final day with it already wrapped up.
Portland currently sit six points ahead of Austin, meaning a draw against Dallas will be enough.
“We’re looking forward to bouncing back,” Neville told the press. “We’ve qualified for the playoffs barring a miracle.
“We’ve got to return to what we do best and that’s put on a convincing show at home on Sunday.”
The man in the opposition dugout, Peter Luccin, is far more disappointed with his side's recent defeat, which saw them mathematically ruled out of playoff contention.
Dallas lost 3-2 to the San Jose Earthquakes midweek, which puts them eleventh in the table and out of reach of their opponents.
Luccin’s side had kept the scores level at 1-1 until the 79th minute when San Jose scored two in quick succession before Dallas pulled one back. It left the interim head coach frustrated with the display.
"[I’m] very disappointed, very sad, mad at the same time. With Austin beating Portland, our scenario was perfect, winning this game and going to Portland just five points away and trying to beat Portland. It’s so disappointing,” he said, via Big D Soccer.
“The goal that we conceded, the chances that we missed. Very, very disappointed. I haven’t had time to talk with the players, it is a night to suffer a little bit. We didn’t take care of business and it’s all on us.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Portland Timbers – Evander
Attacking midfielder Evander has the second-most assists in the league with 14 in 26 appearances, only behind FC Cincinnati’s Luciano Acosta, who has 16 in 30 appearances.
The Brazilian ranks joint-sixth in the league for chances created having produced 81 across the season, while he has also scored 15 goals.
Dallas - Peter Musa
Musa is the top goalscorer for Dallas this season (15), with three times the number of goals than his highest-scoring team-mate, Paul Arriola.
He was on the scoresheet last time the two sides met in a high-scoring encounter that saw Dallas win 3-2.
MATCH PREDICTION: PORTLAND TIMBERS WIN
Portland have lost just one of their 15 all-time home matches against Dallas (W9 D5), going unbeaten in the last seven (W4 D3).
Dallas have scored just two total goals in those seven visits, following a 3-1 victory in their only win at Portland in April 2016.
Despite failing to score at home on Wednesday, Portland’s 39 goals at Providence Park this season in the MLS is their most in a single regular season since the club joined the league in 2011.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Portland Timbers – 54.2%
Draw – 23.5%
Dallas – 22.3%
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
