Paulo Dybala expressed his desire to resolve his contract renewal with Juventus after helping the Serie A giants defeat Malmo in their Champions League opener.
Dybala scored Juve's second from the penalty spot in Tuesday's 3-0 victory as they coasted to a sixth consecutive group-stage away win and maintained their perfect record against Swedish opposition in Europe.
However, with less than a year left on Dybala's contract, there is the possibility that the 27-year-old could depart on a free transfer at the end of the season.
Juve vice-president Pavel Nedved sees the former Palermo star as a central piece to his project and reassured that his side are confident of reaching an agreement – a sentiment Dybala echoed on Tuesday.
"My renewal? I always try to give my best," Dybala provided a post-match update to Sport Mediaset.
"The parties are talking, there are great expectations from everyone. We hope for a good ending.
"I'm happy to score. It helps me psychologically, it makes me play calmly, with serenity, to help the team. Today we won and I'm very happy.
"We were returning from bad performances, the results did not support us, but we knew that this is another competition and what to do. We did it, playing with serenity, as a great team. Now we must continue on this."
Liverpool line up Feyenoord coach Slot as Klopp replacement
Arne Slot appears to be at the front of the queue to replace Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool manager.
Klopp confirmed in January that he would be leaving the Reds at the end of the season.
Xabi Alonso, who has led Bayer Leverkusen to their first Bundesliga title, was swiftly established as a leading candidate to take the helm at Anfield, where he starred as a player for the Reds between 2004 and 2009.
The 42-year-old, however, is staying put in Germany, and Liverpool's search for Klopp's successor has taken them to Feyenoord's door.
Slot has been previously linked to jobs in the Premier League. Leeds United wanted to appoint him last season before their relegation to the Championship, while he was targeted by Tottenham before they appointed Ange Postecoglou.
The Dutchman intimated when linked with Spurs: "A normal next step would be to go abroad and I've always said that the best league in the world is the Premier League."
Ideally, Liverpool will be aiming for a coach who can come close to replicating Klopp's style of play, and in particular has a flair for working with and developing young players.
Slot has enjoyed fantastic success in Rotterdam. He became Feyenoord head coach in December 2022, after leaving AZ, and went on to win the Eredivisie title in 2022-23, having reached the Europa League final in the previous season.
The 45-year-old has a 64.4 per cent win record from 146 games in charge, winning 94, drawing 29 and losing just 23.
His Feyenoord team have scored 329 goals, an average of 2.2 per match, conceding 147 in return. Slot's points per game is a hugely impressive 2.13.
Feyenoord are, though, set to relinquish their Eredivisie crown, as they trail leaders PSV by nine points. They have, however, won the KNVB Cup this term.
As there is no break clause in the Dutchman's contract, it has been reported that a compensation fee in the region of €10million (£8.5m) could prise him away from Feyenoord.
Sporting CP boss Ruben Amorim is another coach who has been heavily linked with the Liverpool job, albeit he is reportedly in talks with West Ham.
Allegri says Juventus are victims of own success after clinching Coppa Italia final berth
Massimiliano Allegri declared Juventus have been victims of their own success this season after watching his Bianconeri side eliminate Lazio to reach the Coppa Italia final on Tuesday.
Juventus took a 2-0 lead into Tuesday's semi-final second leg at Stadio Olimpico but saw that advantage wiped out when Valentin Castellanos scored either side of half-time.
However, a late strike from Arkadiusz Milik handed Juventus a 3-2 aggregate success and ensured they will appear in their eighth Coppa Italia final in the last 10 years.
Despite Juventus having a chance to lift their first major trophy since 2021 and being on course for a return to the Champions League, Allegri has continued to be criticised by sections of the media.
He believes Tuesday's achievement should be celebrated, however, saying: "It's never easy to reach a final, in the last three years we have played two Coppa Italia finals.
"Now we must concentrate on Serie A, as we have not yet achieved Champions League qualification and this weekend it's the head-to-head with Milan."
Juventus sit third in Serie A ahead of Saturday's home clash with the Rossoneri, and with Italy guaranteed five Champions League places for next season, they are almost certain to be back among Europe's elite in 2024-25.
However, Juventus' drop-off in the second half of the season has led to continued speculation regarding Allegri's future.
At the turn of the year, Juventus were just two points behind Inter at the top of the table, but the Nerazzurri are now 22 points clear of their rivals and have clinched the Scudetto with five games to spare.
Allegri believes a fine start to the season gave rise to unreasonable expectations in Turin, adding: "This final is also worth Supercoppa Italiana qualification, so that is important financially.
"Criticism will always be around Juventus, but it's our own fault for having a great first half to the season that nobody was expecting.
"At that point, people thought we could fight it out with Inter, but I was worried that we could have difficulties in the second half. We had a big advantage and mentally rather let go."
Juventus will face either Atalanta or Fiorentina in next month's final, with the Viola holding a 1-0 lead in the other semi-final tie ahead of Wednesday's second leg in Bergamo.
Juventus reach Coppa Italia final despite losing on the night to Lazio
Arkadiusz Milik scored with his first touch as a substitute to send Juventus through to the Coppa Italia final.
Juve had seen their 2-0 lead over Lazio from the first leg wiped out by a double from Valentin Castellanos.
But Poland striker Milik found the net seconds after climbing off the bench as Juve were beaten 2-1 on the night but progressed 3-2 on aggregate.
Juve will face either Fiorentina or Atalanta in the final next month.
The visitors were first on the attack and Filip Kostic’s blocked shot ricocheted to the feet of Andrea Cambiaso, whose low drive flew inches wide.
But it was Lazio who took the lead on the night, and halved the deficit on aggregate, after 12 minutes.
Luis Alberto swung in a corner and Castellanos got up above Alex Sandro at the far post and buried his header past Mattia Perin.
The two goalscorers from the first leg, Dusan Vlahovic and Federico Chiesa, almost combined to equalise.
Chiesa teed up Vlahovic to prod home from close range but his effort was saved by Christos Mandas.
Juve midfielder Manuel Locatelli was dealt a personal blow when he was booked for a foul on Nicolo Casale which means he will miss the final.
Castellanos should have levelled the tie two minutes before half-time when he found himself one-on-one with Perin.
But the Juve keeper came out quickly and was able to make a fine save to preserve the lead.
However, the Argentinian made no mistake three minutes into the second half after he was played in by Luis Alberto.
Castellanos used his strength to burst between two defenders before tucking his finish past Perin.
Vlahovic was denied a goal by a stunning piece of last-ditch defending by Adam Marusic, who slid in to block as the striker looked certain to tap in Weston McKennie’s pull-back.
But Massimiliano Allegri’s substitutions had an immediate effect after Timothy Weah’s cross-shot was tapped in at the far post by Milic with seven minutes to go to send the 14-time winners through.
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
