Sevilla have announced Julen Lopetegui has signed a new three-and-a-half-year contract as the Europa League champions' head coach.

Lopetegui was appointed by Sevilla at the start of the 2019-20 campaign and led them to a fourth-place finish in LaLiga as well as the club's sixth Europa League/UEFA Cup crown.

The Basque coach had previously seen his reputation take a hit.

He was sacked by Spain just before their 2018 World Cup campaign was due to begin as a result of accepting an offer to take charge of Real Madrid after the tournament, and he only lasted until October with Los Blancos before being dismissed again.

His first season at Sevilla saw the Andalusians finish in the top four after two campaigns out, though Lopetegui's biggest achievement was presiding over their successful Europa League run.

Sevilla had to see off Roma, Wolves and Manchester United in a tricky knockout phase, before then recovering well from a shaky start in the final to beat Inter 3-2.

The former Porto boss has also taken charge of a positive – if stylistically unspectacular – start to the 2020-21 campaign, with Sevilla sixth on 30 points after 16 matches.

However, they have at least two games in hand on all but one of the five teams ahead of them, and beat fifth-placed Real Sociedad 3-2 on Saturday.

After Saturday's victory, Lopetegui has a 58.2 per cent win rate in LaLiga with Sevilla, the best record of any coach (with more than four games in charge) in the club's history.

Lopetegui also guided Sevilla through their Champions League group, with Borussia Dortmund awaiting in next month's last-16 clash.

Sergio Busquets will play his 600th Barcelona game after he was named in Ronald Koeman's side for the LaLiga clash with Granada.

Spain international Busquets, a World Cup and Euros winner, made his LaLiga debut under Pep Guardiola in 2008.

Busquets has gone on to help Barca to eight league titles, six Copa del Rey triumphs and three Champions League trophies.

The 32-year-old started against Huesca on Sunday – Lionel Messi making his 500th LaLiga appearance for Barca in that match – and will now hit a milestone of his own on Saturday.

It will be Busquets' 396th LaLiga appearance, with the holding midfielder having scored nine league goals and provided 25 assists.

A further 177 of Busquets' appearances have come in the Champions League, while he has played 64 times in the Copa del Rey.

Busquets also counts 15 Supercopa de Espana matches, five FIFA Club World Cup games and three UEFA Super Cup appearances among his tally.

He is the fourth player to reach the landmark for Barca, after Xavi (767), Messi (752) and Andres Iniesta (674). Like Busquets, those players all graduated from the club's famed La Masia academy.

Miralem Pjanic was brought in to Barca during the close season, but the former Juventus playmaker has been unable to dislodge Busquets, who is in line for his 17th LaLiga appearance of the season.

Koeman's side are aiming for a fourth successive away win in the league against Granada. Victory would be enough to take them to within two points of Real Madrid, who play Osasuna later.

Barcelona star Ansu Fati has undergone regenerative biological treatment on a knee injury as his recovery remains on track.

The winger was ruled out for approximately four months in November after having surgery on a tear to the internal meniscus of his left knee.

Barca confirmed on Monday that Fati's recovery is "following a very satisfactory course".

Fati scored five goals and provided two assists in 10 games in all competitions this season before suffering his injury against Real Betis.

The Spain international is expected to be back in contention to play in March, meaning he will likely miss at least the first leg of Barca's Champions League last-16 encounter with Paris Saint-Germain, which takes place on February 16.

Barca lost two of their first three LaLiga games after Fati's injury but have since won four and drawn twice in six top-flight fixtures.

They sit fifth in the table, 10 points behind leaders Atletico Madrid, having played a game more.

Mauricio Pochettino accepts he is under pressure to succeed at Paris Saint-Germain and has warned the club's superstar players they must prove they deserve to wear the shirt. 

The 48-year-old, out of work since leaving Tottenham in November 2019, was finally confirmed as Thomas Tuchel's successor at the Parc des Princes on Saturday. 

Former Spurs, Southampton and Espanyol boss Pochettino has signed a contract with the Ligue 1 champions until June 2022, including an option for a further year. 

Pochettino is returning to the club where he spent two and a half seasons as a player, during which time he lifted the Intertoto Cup in 2000-01. 

PSG are accustomed to winning silverware on a far more regular basis these days and the Argentine coach is well aware of the high standards expected of him and his squad. 

"I am very happy to be here. It's a great opportunity, the project is incredible," he told his new club's official website. "Being able to be involved in Paris Saint-Germain on a daily basis is something great. 

"I can't wait to rebuild this relationship I already have with the supporters. I have always had a good relationship with them after my time here as a player. 

"Paris is one of the biggest clubs in the world, and in a club like this, victory alone doesn't count - you have to win of course, but with a certain style.  

"The players are some of the best here; they are the main players and they have to love what they do on the pitch, that's a very important aspect. 

"The demands and expectations are high. I like it when the relationship is almost a friendship between the players and the entire staff.  

"And I want all of the people who are involved with the club, stadium and training centre to feel like a part of this project. 

"There has always been a tradition of excellence in this club - the players must deserve to wear this jersey.  

"I think the current squad is amazing. I think we can accomplish what the club want, and what the players want, because they are competitors who want to lift trophies." 

Pochettino, previously linked with Real Madrid and Manchester United, was sacked by Spurs after five impressive years in charge in north London. 

He succeeds Tuchel with the aim of continuing PSG's domestic dominance and going one step further than last term's runners-up finish in the Champions League. 

In order to achieve that, though, the new boss acknowledges the importance of first uniting everyone at the club. 

"Our main goal is to get everyone to pull in the same direction," he said. "We want to put in place a mentality, a game philosophy, and that everyone adheres to it.  

"The idea is that everyone should want to win for the club above all else. We want to be a strong club, with a strong structure.  

"When everyone, from the players to the staff, to the management, experiences the same emotions, it's something magical." 

Pochettino's first game in charge will be Wednesday's league trip to Saint-Etienne, with PSG aiming to bridge the one-point gap on top two sides Lyon and Lille.

Mauricio Pochettino is back in management. Over a year after leaving Tottenham, the Argentine coach has landed one of Europe's biggest jobs.

Paris Saint-Germain appointed Pochettino as Thomas Tuchel's replacement on Saturday, and the new boss is sure to have ideas about players he would like to join him.

PSG have been hit by a run of injuries this season, with Neymar currently sidelined with an ankle problem.

Their owners are no strangers to big-money purchases, though the coronavirus pandemic has made all of Europe's big clubs take stock and rein in their spending.

But who could be the likely candidates to join PSG under Pochettino?

Christian Eriksen

Eriksen played some stellar stuff at Tottenham under Pochettino. Indeed, in 191 Premier League appearances during the Argentinian's tenure, the former Ajax prodigy scored 43 times and provided 53 assists.

A set-piece specialist, it is somewhat surprising that only six of Eriksen's goals came directly from free-kicks, from 99 attempts.

He created 493 chances, with 64 of these counting as big opportunities, while he averaged a goal every 370 minutes and hit the woodwork on 17 occasions.

However, even in the latter days of Pochettino's time at Spurs, Eriksen was making noises about wanting to leave and, with six months remaining on his deal, he was sold to Inter last January.

It is a move which has far from paid off, and Eriksen has made just 12 Serie A starts for Antonio Conte's team. In December, Inter CEO Giuseppe Marotta confirmed the Denmark international had been placed on the transfer list.

"I can confirm that Christian Eriksen is on the transfer list," Marotta told Sky Sport Italy. "He's going to leave in January. He's not functional to our plans and he had difficulty here at Inter. I think it's right that Christian goes away to find more space."

PSG had been tentatively linked with him prior to Pochettino's arrival, and a reunion with his former manager could be just the tonic for Eriksen.

Dele Alli

Another player who had been mooted as a target for PSG is Eriksen's former Spurs team-mate Alli.

Having signed from MK Dons in 2015, Alli transformed into a Premier League sensation and England regular under Pochettino's guidance.

He made 123 league starts for Pochettino, averaging a goal every 243 minutes, scoring 44 times in total and creating 203 chances, including 29 assists.

Despite a bright start under Pochettino's replacement Jose Mourinho, Alli has been out in the cold this season, starting just one league game – on the opening weekend, in a defeat to Everton – and scoring just two goals, both of them coming in the Europa League.

With a place in England's squad for next year's European Championship looking doubtful, Alli may well be on the move next month, and linking up with Pochettino would surely help revive his career.

Alli said in 2017 that he saw the coach as a father figure.

Lionel Messi

Former Espanyol defender and manager Pochettino recalled in 2018 that Messi was agonisingly close to joining Barcelona's cross-city rivals in 2005, only for a suggested loan move to break down.

Messi has gone on to win six Ballons d'Or, 34 major trophies and even surpass Pele's haul of 643 goals at a single club, as well as set countless other records.

Pochettino has made no secret of a desire to work with his compatriot. At PSG, the stars may finally align.

Messi reluctantly elected to stay at Barca for this season and see out the remainder of his contract, but he is set to become a free agent at the end of the campaign, assuming the new president cannot persuade him to sign a new deal.

Any deal would be far from cheap, but with Neymar and Kylian Mbappe on board, the lure of Paris and Pochettino could be decisive for Messi.

A Blaugrana legend, Messi could lead PSG's push for Champions League glory and prove he is far from close to the end of his career – much like the evergreen Cristiano Ronaldo has done at Juventus, albeit without a European crown so far.

A front three of Neymar, Mbappe and Messi would set Europe alight, and perhaps finally earn Pochettino the success his work has deserved.

Paris Saint-Germain have used the mid-season break to replace Thomas Tuchel with Mauricio Pochettino, and the new head coach has some big issues to contend with.

A 4-0 win over Strasbourg before the mid-season break was not enough to spare Tuchel, who was relieved of his duties after two and a half years at the helm.

Tuchel left PSG having won six trophies in the French capital, while also taking the club to the brink of a long-awaited Champions League success last term.

PSG ultimately came up short, going down 1-0 to a dominant Bayern Munich in the final.

Tuchel remained in place for the new season but was only been able to guide the club to third in Ligue 1, with the Parisians losing four of their 17 matches.

Pochettino spent over two years with PSG in his playing days and was picked to take over the reins at the Parc des Princes, signing a contract until June 2022 with an option for a further year.

Here are the major issues Pochettino must contend with.

ASSERT LIGUE 1 DOMINANCE

While the Champions League is clearly the be-all and end-all for PSG's Qatari owners, the bedrock of their success is domestic supremacy.

Over the past eight seasons, PSG have only failed to win the Ligue 1 title once – during Unai Emery's first season in charge, when a Kylian Mbappe-inspired Monaco charged to glory.

Tuchel had little trouble in claiming back-to-back championships, albeit last season's Ligue 1 campaign was curtailed in April due to the coronavirus pandemic.

However, with the congested nature of 2020-21 making life tough for all of Europe's biggest teams, PSG find themselves point behind joint-leaders Lille and Lyon, the latter of whom recently claimed their first league win at Parc des Princes since 2007.

It is hardly an unassailable gap, though the first task for PSG's new head coach will be to return to the top of the pile, while defending their Coupe de France crown will also provide another chance for a trophy.

SECURE THAT ALL-IMPORTANT CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Ultimately, any coach at PSG is judged on their success – or lack thereof – in Europe.

Tuchel pushed PSG further than any other coach has in the Champions League since Qatar Sports Investments' takeover, but it was still not enough to stop Hansi Flick's Bayern completing an incredible treble.

PSG were inconsistent in this season's condensed group stage, losing at home to Manchester United and away to RB Leipzig, before a 3-1 win at Old Trafford and a 5-1 victory over Istanbul Basaksehir secured their place in the knockout stages.

Ronald Koeman's iffy Barcelona team await in the last 16, and there has arguably never been a better time to face the Catalan giants in Europe – although Bayern's 8-2 rout back in August may suggest differently.

Crucial to any push for silverware in UEFA's elite club competition will be getting the best out of Neymar and Mbappe. The latter missed some big chances in last season's final, and only against Basaksehir did he end a year-long run without a Champions League goal (nine games).

KEEP NEYMAR AND MBAPPE, AND THROW IN MESSI FOR GOOD MEASURE

PSG's sporting director Leonardo has confirmed contract discussions are underway with Neymar and Mbappe.

France star Mbappe has already scored 104 times across all competitions for PSG, though Real Madrid and Barca have regularly been touted as suitors – then again, which of Europe's elite clubs would not want the 22-year-old in their ranks?

Neymar, meanwhile, has consistently been linked with a move back to Barca, but that transfer is looking increasingly unlikely.

Indeed, the prospect of the Brazil superstar linking up with Lionel Messi once more seems much more likely to occur in Paris than at Camp Nou.

Messi begrudgingly decided to stay and see out the remaining year of his Barca contract but has started to hit better form again – he has scored six times in his past eight league games to surpass Pele's record of 643 goals for one club.

Koeman believes Messi is happy at Barca, but as it stands the 33-year-old is set to become the most highly sought-after free agent in history at the end of 2020-21.

While it was Manchester City and Pep Guardiola who were credited as frontrunners in the close season, PSG's owners certainly have the ambition – and funds – to make a transfer come to fruition, and it may well be down to the coach to swing Messi towards Paris, rather than the Premier League or a Barca extension.

Pochettino has previously spoken of his desire to work alongside his compatriot, and it may well be a perfect match.

Son Heung-min scored his 100th goal for Tottenham in all competitions as he netted against Leeds United, with Harry Kane the provider once again.

The South Korea forward, who moved to north London in 2015, has been in sensational form in 2020-21, and moved onto 99 Spurs goals with a cool finish on the break at Liverpool in December.

Son drew a blank in his next three outings, failing to find the target as Spurs went down 2-0 to Leicester City, before he had a goal disallowed in an EFL Cup win at Stoke City and then only managed one attempt at goal in a 1-1 draw with Wolves on December 27.

However, after Wednesday's scheduled game with Fulham was postponed, his landmark effort came against Leeds on Saturday.

Kane – who has now assisted nine of Son's 12 Premier League goals this term – whipped in a brilliant cross from the right, which his strike partner swept home first time.

Son's strike put Spurs 2-0 up just before half-time, with Kane's penalty having put Jose Mourinho's men ahead.

With 169 goals to his name, Kane is the only Spurs payer to have netted more goals than Son since September 2015.

It was also the 13th time Kane and Son have combined for a goal this season, which is a joint-record in a single Premier League campaign.

Son has scored 65 of his 100 Spurs goals in the Premier League – 35 coming from his right foot, 25 from his left, and the remainder with his head.

The former Bayer Leverkusen forward has also supplemented that tally with a further 33 assists, while he has scored 15 times in the FA Cup and EFL Cup.