B.J. Callaghan is desperate for Nashville SC to build on his first win at the helm when they host the Chicago Fire in MLS on Wednesday.
Nashville lost nine of 10 games – going down in a penalty shoot-out after drawing the other – either side of Callaghan's appointment, but they finally turned the corner on Saturday.
Goals from Alexandre Muyl and Hany Mukhtar fired them to a 2-0 win over Atlanta United, and Callaghan sees Wednesday's clash with Chicago – who are level with
Nashville in the Eastern Conference standings – as an opportunity to build some momentum.
"We were pleased with the performance we had, we've talked about having consistent performances and stacking them up," Callaghan said.
"It's a quick turnaround, so everything we've been doing leading into Chicago has been about focusing on ourselves and making sure the guys recover.
"Then we'll just focus on the things we're good at, try to get better at those things, and we'll apply some of those ideas to the challenge that Chicago will bring.
"They're probably looking at us the same way as we're looking at them, as a game where they want to earn three points."
Chicago also halted a miserable run of six games without a win (one draw, five defats) by beating the New York Red Bulls 2-1 last time out, moving within four points of the wild-card places.
"It's about time! It feels great, because I think we faced some adversity," Klopas said.
"People faced adversity and stepped up, so huge credit to the team as a whole. It's important that we're still in this thing, now we have to go on the road and keep fighting."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Nashville SC – Hany Mukhtar
Mukhtar has scored two hat-tricks against the Fire in his MLS career, one of seven players to record multiple hat-tricks against a single opponent.
No player in MLS history has recorded three hat-tricks against a single opponent.
Chicago Fire – Georgios Koutsias
Koutsias has scored on each of his last two appearances. Two Fire players (Maren Haile-Selassie and Hugo Cuypers) have already scored in at least three straight games this year.
The only previous seasons in which three different Fire players had streaks of three or more games with a goal were 2018 and 1998.
MATCH PREDICTION – NASHVILLE SC
The Fire's 1-0 home win over Nashville on July 8 was their first win in the teams' head-to-head series, after Nashville had gone unbeaten through the first four encounters (two wins, two draws).
Nashville ended an eight-match losing streak in MLS action on Saturday, beating Atlanta United 2-0 to also end a run of allowing multiple goals in eight successive games.
They might be confident of repeating the trick, with Chicago only winning three of their last 21 road games in all competitions (six draws, 12 defeats).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Nashville SC – 46.3%
Chicago Fire – 27.1%
Draw – 26.6%
Kane makes English history after passing Rooney's Champions League mark
Harry Kane stretched to further record-breaking ground by surpassing Wayne Rooney for the most goals by an English player in Champions League history.
Bayern Munich forward Kane opened the scoring against Dinamo Zagreb with a penalty at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday.
That moved the England captain level with former Manchester United star Rooney on 30 Champions League strikes, the joint-most by any player from their country.
Kane later eased past Rooney's mark in the second half, powering home his 31st strike in the competition to take the outright English record.
Kane netted eight times in UEFA's top club competition last season, his most in a single edition, and has got off to a blistering start in the revamped 2024-25 format.
His second finish of the game helped Bayern to a 4-2 lead before Michael Olise's second goal extended the hosts' advantage further shortly after.
'Amazing' Villa boss Emery makes playing 'so easy', says former Sevilla star
Unai Emery makes life "so easy" for his players, according to the Aston Villa manager's Europa League-winning goalkeeper.
Beto played for Sevilla as they won three consecutive Europa Leagues under Emery, featuring in the first two title runs, including starring in a penalty shoot-out triumph against Benfica in the 2014 final.
And despite going on to endure slightly more testing spells in charge of Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal, Emery has continued to deliver on the European stage.
He guided Villarreal to another Europa League win, before returning Villa to European football and then the Champions League. Villa beat Young Boys 3-0 in their league phase opener on Tuesday.
Emery's success comes as no surprise to former Portugal international Beto, who explained the brilliance of his old boss while speaking at the Thinking Football Summit organised by Liga Portugal.
"Unai has many things that make him different," Beto told Stats Perform. "The passion that he has for football makes him different.
"The way that he studies every detail, not only in the opponent but in his team. He knows every player. He knows how to get the best out of each player in his team.
"For us, it was amazing, he knew what was going to happen in the 45th minute of the game. This is going to happen.
"If the picture is this one, we will act this way. If the game is like in another way, we're going to act this way.
"So, he had everything planned; every scenario, every situation he had planned. And for us, the players, we had all the information, we had everything. We just had to be ourselves and put our talent at the service of the team.
"And for us, it was so easy to play being coached by Unai. He was an amazing person.
"He respects football. And I think it's one of the secrets of Unai, he respects football. He gives everything for football.
"So, not only in Sevilla, I know he had some bad moments in Arsenal, but he came back in Villarreal. He won another Europa League in Villarreal.
"He brought back Aston Villa to the top. I have too much credit for Unai because I love him, respect him and he will be forever one of my best coaches and my best friends."
Dortmund aiming for another Champions League run ahead of Brugge opener
Borussia Dortmund are determined to replicate the heroics of their remarkable Champions League campaign last season, head coach Nuri Sahin said ahead of Wednesday's opener at Club Brugge.
The 36-year-old Sahin will lead Dortmund in Europe's elite club competition for the first time when the Bundesliga side visit Bruges.
Dortmund announced Sahin, their former assistant coach, in June as their new manager to replace Edin Terzic, who led the German club to the Champions League final last term.
Terzic's men subsequently lost to LaLiga giants Real Madrid 2-0 in the Wembley showpiece, though Sahin is desperate for another deep run in Europe.
"After two or three matchdays, you will see how it's going," Sahin told reporters on Tuesday. "As a finalist last year, we're self-confident.
"Dortmund are a name in Europe. We want to live up to that and go through. We want to play a good role in all competitions."
Dortmund may be concerned given only one of the last five losing Champions League finalists have then started their next campaign with a win (D2 L2), a 6-3 win for Manchester City against RB Leipzig in 2021-22.
They are in different hands under Sahin, a German-born former Turkey international, who played 274 matches for Dortmund.
He won the Bundesliga in the 2010-11 season and was a Champions League runner-up with them in the 2012-13 campaign when they were managed by Jurgen Klopp.
Sahin now feels ready to take charge on the biggest stage, having started his debut Bundesliga season as a manager with seven points in three matches.
"I'm delighted to be a coach in the Champions League. This is special. I'm really looking forward to my first game on this stage," Sahin said.
However, he expects a tough outing against Brugge, who have won four of their seven matches in the Belgian Pro League.
"Since we've known that we're playing against them, we've watched very many matches. The team has a clear philosophy of play and principles, a good team," Sahin added.
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