The Real Madrid star came out of Alaves last weekend and has a ’50 percent’ chance of featuring against the Republic of Ireland next Tuesday in the Nations League match.

Gareth Bale limped off injured during Real Madrid’s 1-0 loss to Alaves

“It’s not serious and he might have a chance for Tuesday, but we’ll have to take it one day at a time,” Giggs told reporters.

“We don’t want to take any risks with him, we are preparing for both scenarios for the Ireland game.”

Regarding Thursday’s opponents and their coach Luis Enrique, Giggs said he was ‘really impressed’ with their results against England and Croatia last month and sees the friendly as perfect preparation for Tuesday’s official encounter.

“We want to win tomorrow, but on Tuesday there will be three points in play,” he continued.

“It’s difficult but exciting to play against the best teams in the world and Luis Enrique is one of the best coaches.”

READ ALSO:

Dean Smith appointed as new Aston Villa manager, Terry his assistant

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Luis Rubiales, the federation’s president, sacked Julen Lopetegui on the eve of the World Cup after the Basque had agreed to join Real Madrid and he appointed Fernando Hierro for the ill-fated campaign in Russia. Now, Rubiales has hired a permanent replacement and the former Barcelona coach is his choice.

Luis Enrique named new Spain head coach

Quique Sanchez Flores and Michel were also candidates to take the job, but Rubiales believed Luis Enrique – who played for La Roja on 62 occasions during his own career – would be the best choice and, as such, the Asturian becomes the 54th national team boss.

Fernando Hierro left job as Spain coach after FIFA World Cup 2018 disappointment

Hierro, meanwhile, walked away from the federation on Sunday in order to take on new challenges, leaving his role as temporary coach and as sporting director.

Spanish football federation sacked coach Julen Lopetegui on eve of World Cup opening match

For Luis Enrique, this is his first position since he left Barcelona in the summer of 2017, after spending three years in the Camp Nou dugout, where he won three Copa del Reys, two LaLiga titles, one Champions League, one Supercopa de Espana, one UEFA Super Cup and one FIFA Club World Cup. Before Barcelona, he had coached Barcelona B, Celta Vigo and Roma.

The challenge for the new boss is to take Spain back to the top of the international game, as they have fallen in the group stages of the 2014 World Cup and at the last 16 stage at Euro 2016 and at this year’s tournament.

READ ALSO:

A decisive week for the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus

Colombia 1-1 England AET (England win 4-3 on penalties): Eric Dier’s winning penalty in shootout sends Three Lions through to quarter-finals

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Real Madrid and Barcelona continue their dominance of La liga  with 5 and 6 players from both teams respectively.

The list includes; 2014 winner Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale  the only British player on the list for the third successive year, Karim Benzema, Toni Kroos,James Rodriguez for Madrid while Barcelona has  Lionel Messi,Neymar, Luis Suarez, Andres Iniesta,Javier Mascherano and Ivan Rakitic.

The premier League is dominated by Manchester City players with a trio of Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne and Yaya Toure.

Chelsea is represented by winger Eden Hazard and Arsenal by Alexis Sanchez who helped his country Chile to Copa America success in 2015.

The Bundesliga has players  all from Bayern Munich which shows how they are a force in Germany Football. The list has Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Muller, Manuel Neuer, Arjen Robben and Arturo Vidal, while Paul Pogba of Juventus from Seria A and Paris St Germain’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic from the French Ligue 1 complete the list.

Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho are both on a 10-man shortlist for the coach of the year award, alongside Barcelona’s Champions League-winning coach Luis Enrique and Bayern Munich’s Pep Guardiola.

Chile coach Jorge Sampaoli is the only national team coach on the list, which also includes Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri, Sevilla’s Unai Emery, Laurent Blanc of PSG, Atletico Madridchief Diego Simeone and Carlo Ancelotti, who left Real Madrid in the summer.

England women’s coach Mark Sampson is on the coach of the year for women’s football shortlist, alongside Englishmen Colin Bell (Frankfurt) and John Herdman (Canada), but there are no British footballers on the women’s player of the year list.

FIFA #BALLONDOR 23 candidates, one trophy. Who do you think will be crowned on 11 January? https://t.co/VNSyEfqCqo pic.twitter.com/W0qlYk2FIk

— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) October 20, 2015

BALLON D’OR SHORTLIST: Sergio Aguero (Argentina/Manchester City), Gareth Bale (Wales/Real Madrid), Karim Benzema (France/Real Madrid), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Real Madrid), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium/Manchester City), Eden Hazard (Belgium/Chelsea), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden/Paris St Germain), Andres Iniesta (Spain/Barcelona), Toni Kroos (Germany/Real Madrid), Robert Lewandowski (Poland/Bayern Munich), Javier Mascherano (Argentina/Barcelona), Lionel Messi (Argentina/Barcelona), Thomas Muller (Germany/Bayern Munich), Manuel Neuer (Germany/Bayern Munich), Neymar (Brazil/Barcelona), Paul Pogba (France/Juventus), Ivan Rakitic (Croatia/Barcelona), Arjen Robben (Holland/Bayern Munich), James Rodriguez (Colombia/Real Madrid), Alexis Sanchez (Chile/Arsenal), Luis Suarez (Uruguay/Barcelona), Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast/Manchester City), Arturo Vidal (Chile/Bayern Munich).

FIFA #BALLONDOR 10 coaches, but only one FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men’s Football https://t.co/VNSyEfqCqo pic.twitter.com/blidRGrqtz — FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) October 20, 2015

COACH OF THE YEAR SHORTLIST: Massimiliano Allegri (Juventus), Carlo Ancelotti (Formerly of Real Madrid), Laurent Blanc (Paris St Germain), Unai Emery (Sevilla), Pep Guardiola (Bayern Munich), Luis Enrique (Barcelona), Jose Mourinho (Chelsea), Jorge Sampaoli (Chile), Diego Simeone (Atletico Madrid), Arsene Wenger (Arsenal).

The world player and coach of the year will be voted on a ceremony in Zurich on January 11, 2016.

Read more on fifa.com

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Barca took a quick lead after four minutes of play when Ivan Rakitic swept home from eight yards before Alvaro Morata scored in the second half to draw juve level.

Luis Suarez celebrates his critical goal for Barcelona

With the game 1-1, Luis Suarez put Barca ahead after Gianluigi Buffon’s spillage of Lionel Messi’s shot.

Neymar ensured the game was put to bed after he slotted the ball past Buffon at the end of stoppage time.
The win means Barcelona is the first European team to have won two trebles with the first coming in the 2008-09 season under pep Guardiola.

Luis Enrique become the second Barcelona manager to have won the treble in his first season.

The former player and B team boss Enrique took over as head coach last summer after the departure of Gerardo Martino.

Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu was pleased with the way the season ended for his team.

“It has been a tough season with ups and downs,” he added. “We took a lot of decisions and I am happy because they were the correct decisions.

“When they are correct at the end of the season it ends with La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League.

“I’m very happy for everybody and for all the people that have been supporting us.”

Juventus captain Gianluigi Buffon praised his team after they were beaten by ‘the best team in the world’ in the Champions League final.

Gianluigi Buffon was on the losing side as Juventus were beaten 3-1 by Barcelona in Champions League final

“We didn’t manage to win, but not because we didn’t try. We gave everything we had,” said Buffon

“Barcelona are the best team in the world in my opinion, but we have proved that we could compete.
“We conceded early on, but we were always in the game.”

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Juve and Barca have already won domestic doubles in Italy and Spain respectively, so the jury is on who wins the biggest trophy to make a treble.

The Berlin Olympic Stadium where the 2015 Champions League Final will be played

Barca goes into the game with the favourites tag to claim their fourth Champions League title in the last decade while Juventus will be looking for their third European Title and first since 1996. Barcelona coach Luis Enrique is looking to emulate a feat that was achieved by former Barcelona manager pep Guardiola of winning the treble in his first season in charge at Camp Nou-2008-09 season.

“Winning the Champions League would signify a treble for us and it’s something that excites everyone. It’s happened just once in the club’s history, and this tells you how difficult it is to achieve,” Enrique said.

Chiellini out of final

Juve defender Giorgio Chiellini will miss out with a calf problem sustained in training.it was expected that Luis Suarez would come against Chielini whom he bit during last year’s world cup.

Andrea Barzagli who returned to training on Wednesday from a recent injury knock is expected to replace Chiellini.

Iniesta included in Barca squad

Andres Iniesta had been a doubt for the Spanish champions because of a calf injury but the midfielder was named in Barca’s squad after returning to training on Thursday.

Barcelona will look to a trio of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis  Suarez who have scored 120 goals this season compared to 103 for the entire Juventus team.

Barcelona attacking trio of Messi Neymar and Suarez

Messi who has scored 58 goals this season – 43 in the Liga, ten in the UEFA Champions League and five in the Copa del Rey will look to guide his team to win the champions league trophy.

Juventus have got a big task of stopping Messi after witnessing him destroying Guardiola’s Bayern Munich with two goals in the first leg of their semi-final before setting up Neymar for the third at the Camp Nou.

Juventus will be keen to avoid Messi’s magic and also prevent him from becoming the first player to score in three Champions League finals.

Juventus goalkeeoper Gianluigi Buffon will be on alert against Barcelona in the champions league final

“This is the game of our lives,” said Juve goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, “I would always want to be starting off as a favourite, but we have our weapons to try and make Barcelona’s job more difficult,” added Buffon, who along with Pirlo won the World Cup at the same stadium with Italy in 2006.

With four consecutive Serie A titles behind them, Allegri’s side carry a wealth of experience.

“They have that Italian competitive edge. It is always difficult to overcome that because they are very, very competitive,” said Barcelona’s Javier Mascherano.

“They are very tactical. They understand football and on top of that they have a lot of talent.”

Barcelona Possible lineup
Ter Stegen; Alves, Piqué, Mascherano, Alba; Rakitić, Busquets, Iniesta; Messi, Suárez, Neymar.

Juventus Possible lineup
Buffon; Lichtsteiner, Bonucci, Barzagli, Evra; Marchisio, Pirlo, Pogba; Vidal; Tévez, Morata.

Out: Chiellini (calf), Cáceres (ankle)

Four of their squad have already won the Champions League with other clubs — Andrea Pirlo with Milan in 2003 and 2007; Patrice Evra and Carlos Tevez with Manchester United in 2008 and Alvaro Morata with Real Madrid last year.

Pirlo remains a threat in midfield and his potential battle with Xavi Hernandez, on his final appearance for Barcelona, promises nothing but master class from the two veteran midfielders.

“We already have a historic double and we want more,” Xavi said.

We hope for the best in the final with the each side gunning for the trophy.

Read more on uefa.com

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The FA CUP

Holders Arsenal won the FA Cup for a record 12th time on Saturday 30^th may, outclassing Aston Villa 4-0 at Wembley with stunning goals from Theo Walcott and Alexis Sanchez setting up victory.

Theo walcott-celebrates after scoring Arsenal’s first goal against Aston Villa

Per Mertesacker and Olivier Giroud were also on target as the Londoners sealed their biggest winning margin in a final of the world’s oldest knockout competition.

Arsene Wenger also became the most successful FA Cup manager of modern times, guiding his side to a sixth triumph in their 19th final.

The Coupe de France.

The only team from outside the top divisions, Auxerre, came up against Qatar-backed Paris Saint-Germain in the Coupe de France final.

The Ligue 2 side defended for their life and had some good attacks; though they were not good enough as they were eventually beaten  1-0 by PSG.

PSG celebrate winning the Coupe de France

Auxerre had not played any big side and it was a tough call to beat up the Ligue 1 champions in the final.

Paris Saint-Germain has been dominant in French football; particularly since Qatar Sports Investments bought the club in 2011going on to lift three Ligue 1 Titles to date.

Laurent Blanc’s side were not exactly  dominant against Auxerre having had a poor start in the first half but went to win thanks to Edinson Cavani’s second half goal.

DFB-Pokal Final sends Kloop out with a loss.

The German Cup final in Berlin saw two of the best attacking sides in Bundesliga coming up against each other.

Wolfsburg who finished in second-place in the Bundesliga played against Borussia Dortmund who were in seventh place.

With Jurgen Klopp’s last match in charge, Borussia Dortmund was expected to win the cup for their manager against Wolfsburg.

The BVB team had a perfectly start after they took the lead over Wolfsburg in the first five minutes through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Wolfsburg however had other ideas as it took them only 17 minutes to equalize,then score two more goals going into halftime to give the DFB-Pokal final its 3–1 full-time score.

Wolfsburg celebrate winning DFB-Pokal Final

Dortmund experienced the same showings which have been ever present in their Bundesliga games of not killing off games.

They failed to contain Kevin De Bruyne and Bas Dost handing Wolfsburg the trophy and a sore sending off of their manager Jorgen Klopp.

Dortmund had hoped for a positive ending for Klopp, the manager that has brought much success and improved style of play, but things did not go as planned. Klopp earlier stated that this was his last season with Dortmund and that the time was right for him to leave.

Dieter Hecking’s Wolfsburg deserved the win with his side being one of the best attacking sides in Europe.

It’s the only trophy he has won as a manager since taking the Regionalliga Nord (German fourth tier) in 2002 with VfB Lübeck, it’s Wolfsburg’s first DFB-Pokal triumph and it’s the first time since 2011 a team other than Dortmund and Bayern Munich has won a domestic trophy.

Barcelona’s Treble chase still on in Luis Enrique’s first season

Barcelona outgunned Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey final 3–1 in a battle of the Catalans against the Basques. Lionel Messi produced one of the individualistic goals this season and a good team goal capped by Neymar tap-in put Barça chances of a treble to just one game away from the treble in Luis Enrique’s debut season.

Barça played their full strength team and got a well-deserved 2-0 lead in halftime against a highly motivated Bilbao side.

Barcelona celebrate beating Athletic Bilbao 3-1 in the Copa del Rey final

The second half saw Barcelona containing the game but Bilbao tried to play their way back

Messi ensured Barcelona got a win after he scored a third goal and Bilbao could just master a consolation goal from Inaki Williams.

With the attacking trio of Messi, Neymar and Luis Suárez all fit for the Champions League final against Juventus on 6th June in Berlin,we wait to see who which team will take the trophy.

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