New Chelsea boss Guus Hiddink has warned fans that appointing him as manager does not mean the squad have a quick fix to their recent problems.

The 69-year-old faces Watford in his first game back in charge on Saturday, after watching from the stands as Chelsea beat Sunderland 3-1 last week in the wake of Jose Mourinho s departure.

Hiddink, who led the club to the FA Cup in his opening spell at the helm back in 2009, reflected on the club s poor form prior to his arrival and stressed it would not be easy to turn the situation around.

He said: If you look back a bit to last season where there was this huge success in winning the title then of course you go into the next season and you have your targets, your aims and your aims are the same.

Getting …

Everton manager Roberto Martinez believes Francesco Guidolin has the pedigree to turn Swansea City s fortunes around as he prepares to host his former club at Goodison Park.

Swansea climbed out of the Premier League relegation zone thanks to a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Watford on Monday, with new head coach Guidolin assigned a watching brief at the Liberty Stadium.

The former Udinese boss will take charge of first-team affairs on Sunday and Martinez, who was manager at Swansea from 2007 to 2009 following a successful stint as a player at the club, believes the appointment could prove to be Huw Jenkins latest successful punt as chairman.

Francesco has got a long, long career in Italian football and previously in French football, Martinez told a news conf…

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says the release of Luis Diaz’s kidnapped father just a couple of hours before their Europa League tie in Toulouse was perfect timing.

Luis Manuel Diaz was taken along with his wife Cilenis Marulanda 12 days ago, although Diaz’s mother was freed swiftly.

After a long wait and days of negotiation with guerilla group the National Liberation Army, Diaz’s father has been released.

We are delighted by the news of s father s safe return and we thank all those involved in securing his release

— Liverpool FC (@LFC)

“It looks like Lucho (Diaz) is really happy, (giving) thumbs up all the time,” Klopp told TNT Sports.

“It looks very, very good. Timing-wise it couldn’t have been better. If it is now th…

The quarter-final line-up for the Champions League will be completed this week, with Tuesday s ties both finely balanced.

Manchester United had David de Gea to thank for a battling 0-0 draw in Sevilla, but will be hoping to spend more time on the front foot at Old Trafford.

Roma have the benefit of an away goal from the first leg against Shakhtar Donetsk, but will need to score at least once to progress after losing 2-1.

Here we look at some of the best Opta numbers ahead of the two matches.

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague)

Roma v Shakhtar Donetsk

4 Shakhtar Donetsk have won four of their five competitive games against Roma (L1), all in the Champions League.

52 More than half of the teams who lose …

Pele is suing Samsung for $30million for using a lookalike of him in an advert after failing to reach an agreement for the Brazilian football great s image to be used.

According to a court filing obtained by Omnisport, the ad includes a facial photo of a black man who very closely resembles Pele. 

That photo serves as a backdrop for a superimposed photograph of a Samsung television, which depicts a soccer match in which one of the players is seen making a modified bicycle or scissors-kick, perfected and famously used by Pele.

Pele, whose real name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento, has been retired since 1971. The lawsuit, filed March 16 in Chicago, states the majority of Pele s income is now derived from (his) ability to license his name and persona to commercial…

Barcelona midfielder Ilkay Gundogan wants to join Galatasaray, according to . The reporter has claimed that Gundogan has told his agent to try to get him a move to Turkish powerhouse Galatasaray.

Terzi claimed that this is what the German star told his agent: “I am approaching the end of my football career. I don’t want to leave football without wearing the Galatasaray shirt.”

Gundogan joined Barcelona only in the summer of 2023 on a free transfer after leaving Manchester City with whom he won the Premier League, the UEFA Champions League and the FA Cup last season. The 33-year-old German midfielder has made 12 starts and one substitute appearance in La Liga for Barcelona so far this season. Gundogan has scored one goal and given three assists in those games. The …

Inter coach Roberto Mancini has no idea where Zlatan Ibrahimovic will end up after the star striker announced his departure from Paris Saint-Germain.

Ibrahimovic, 34, said on Friday he would leave the Ligue 1 champions at the end of the season.

That is likely to put a host of Europe s top clubs on high alert, with Inter – the team with whom he spent three campaigns, including two under Mancini – among them.

But Mancini, whose future is uncertain, said he had no idea about Ibrahimovic s plans.

Ibrahimovic has put together an extraordinary season, he told a news conference on Friday.

It is strange that PSG let him get away. He s a player who can change games and is very strong.

I don t know where he will go.

Ibrahimovic won t…

Barcelona will wear a limited-edition jersey donning the logo of rapper and singer Drake during Sunday s El Clasico against Real Madrid.

The idea stems from Barca s relationship with audio streaming subscription service Spotify, whose branding usually appears on the front of the Blaugrana s shirts and who own the naming rights to Camp Nou.

But rather than Spotify branding on jerseys this weekend, Barca will instead sport Drake s OVO Sound logo – essentially the silhouette of an owl.

It is a move designed to celebrate Drake becoming the first artist to break the 50 billion streams barrier on Spotify.

First artist to hit 50 billion streams. First artist to share the shirt.

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona)

The four-time Grammy winner…

Manchester City have full focus on winning a maiden Champions League title, Raheem Sterling explained ahead of Tuesday s meeting with Real Madrid.

City were beaten by Chelsea in last season s final, but remain in contention to end their European drought after overcoming Atletico Madrid in a tense quarter-final tie earlier this month.

Next up for the Premier League leaders is a semi-final clash with Los Blancos, against whom Pep Guardiola s side are unbeaten in their last three home Champions League meetings (one win, two draws).

Among City players, only Riyad Mahrez (six goals, one assist) has bettered Sterling s five Champions League goal contributions this season (three goals, two assists), and the England winger is highly motivated to make up for past fail…

Barcelona captain Andres Iniesta should keep playing football until he has only one leg , former Spain international Marcos Senna has said.

The 32-year-old returned to training this week after sitting out the 3-0 derby win over Espanyol and is expected to be available for Saturday s LaLiga clash with Villarreal.

Senna won Euro 2008 as part of the Spain side that counted Iniesta, Xavi, Xabi Alonso, Cesc Fabregas, David Silva and Santi Cazorla among their imperious midfield options.

And the former Villarreal man says Barca s number eight remains his favourite team-mate, telling Mundo Deportivo: I have a long list but Iniesta is my favourite player.

For me, he has to play until he has only one leg, until he has to be dragged away. He s a phenomenon. I coul…