Real boss Ancelotti understands Modric’s frustration over lack of playing time

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti said he would understand if midfielder Luka Modric felt upset after sitting on the bench for much of the season, adding that the veteran midfielder’s contract situation is “complicated”.

Modric came off the bench to net a stunning strike from the edge of the box late in the second half to secure a 1-0 home win over Sevilla in a LaLiga clash on Sunday.

The 38-year-old, who is out of contract this summer, has made 21 league appearances for Real this season, starting just 11 of those games.

“He scored a great goal that allowed us to have another 3 points on the table. He shows everyone how hard it is for me to leave him on the bench,” Ancelotti told reporters.

“Not just for the goal he scored, but how he trains. He is an example to the whole squad. It’s very complicated to leave him on the bench.”

Asked about the Modric’s contract, Ancelotti said: “It’s complicated. It’s hard to manage. I was once a player and went through it in my last year as a professional player.

“I would understand if Modric was a little bit upset if he is not playing. Everyone thinks he is at the end of his career, but I think he doesn’t agree with that. He looks to be well, fresh. He’s got legs. He doesn’t seem like he is 38.”

League-leaders Real next travel to ninth-placed Valencia for a league game on Saturday.

Weston McKennie dislocates shoulder in Juventus match

United States men’s national team midfielder Weston McKennie dislocated his left shoulder while playing for his club team, Juventus, on Sunday.

Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri confirmed the injury while speaking after Juventus’ 3-2 in over Frosinone, in which McKennie had two assists.

“Every now and then he has this issue,” Allegri told DAZN, referring to a similar injury McKennie sustained in 2022.

McKennie, 25, has scored 11 goals with five assists in 49 appearances with the USMNT since making his first-team debut in 2017.

The injury could force McKennie to miss the CONCACAF Nations League semifinal against Jamaica on March 21 in Arlington, Texas.

Former England, QPR forward Stan Bowles dies aged 75

Former England and Queens Park Rangers forward Stan Bowles has died at the age of 75, his daughter and the Championship club said on Saturday.

Bowles, who had been battling Alzheimer’s disease since 2015, made 315 appearances for QPR, scoring 97 goals. He was capped by England five times.

“Sad to be writing this but dad has passed away,” daughter Tracey Bowles wrote on Facebook. “He was with all the family and went peacefully.”

Bowles started his professional career at Manchester City before playing for QPR, Nottingham Forest and Brentford, among others.

“All our thoughts are with his family and friends at this incredibly difficult time. May he rest in peace,” QPR said in a statement.

“The club will be confirming how we will be paying a fitting tribute to Stan in due course.”

Klopp puts faith in kids to win ‘most special’ trophy of his career

The old saying that you can’t win anything with kids was thrown out of the window on Sunday as Juergen Klopp put his trust in a host of youngsters who repaid his faith in spades as Liverpool beat Chelsea 1-0 after extra time to lift the League Cup.

Klopp, facing an injury crisis so severe it threatened to derail Sunday’s plans at Wembley, turned to a group of young players with barely a handful of first team appearances between them to dig him out of a hole.

As the game edged towards extra time with Chelsea on top, a flagging Liverpool were in need of an injection of energy to wrestle momentum back in their favour.

The Liverpool manager brought on 19-year-olds James McConnell and Bobby Clark and Jayden Danns, 18, before also throwing on 21-year-old Jarell Quansah off the bench.

All four looked calm on the ball and unruffled by the occasion as Liverpool found the decisive breakthrough in extra time when Virgil van Dijk headed the winner in the 118th minute.

The League Cup may be the least important of England’s domestic trophies but Klopp, a Champions League and Premier League winner with Liverpool and double Bundesliga champion with Borussia Dortmund, said Sunday’s victory was something special.

“I got told outside that you don’t win trophies with kids. Write it new. In my more than 20 years (as a manager), this is easily the most special trophy I have ever won,” he told reporters.

“Sometimes I get asked if I am proud of this or that, I wish I could feel pride more often, but I was proud of absolutely everything today.

“Seeing the faces of the kids after the game, Jayden Danns, can you create stories in football that nobody would ever forget – this tonight if you find the same story with academy players coming on against a top, top side, and winning it, that’s how we do it.”

The Liverpool manager had already started the game with 20-year-olds Conor Bradley and Harvey Elliott in a lineup that was largely dictated by the players they had missing.

He will rarely have been so depleted in his managerial career with the likes of Diogo Jota, Trent Alexander-Arnold, goalkeeper Alisson and Curtis Jones, key forwards Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez and midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai recently joining a number of longer term absentees on the sidelines.

The loss of Ryan Gravenberch to a nasty looking ankle injury after 28 minutes also did not help the cause, forcing Klopp into a reshuffle that resulted in right back Bradley playing up front.

Yet against a Chelsea side assembled at an eye-watering cost, Liverpool’s youngsters did not wilt.

“This was so special,” added the Liverpool manager, who said age was not in his thought process when he chose his squad.

“You saw the circumstances, we had problems before the game. They became bigger during the game. Tonight is a night I will never forget and if nobody else sees it like that no problem. For me it’s a really nice memory forever.”

Bayern bounce-back hinges on winning streak, says Kane

Bayern Munich must follow their 2-1 victory over RB Leipzig with a winning run to get their season back on track, forward Harry Kane said.

Kane scored twice against Leipzig on Saturday, including a late winner that broke Bayern’s three-game losing streak across all competitions, bringing hope back to the club after a turbulent week marked by the announcement of coach Thomas Tuchel’s imminent departure at the end of season.

“We need to keep doing what we’re doing. It was good to win this game but we need to go on a run until the end of the year,” Kane told reporters.

“We had to show a reaction after last week. We have a responsibility to the club and our manager, we can’t just sit there and sulk about it.”

The 30-year-old added that he had practiced Saturday’s opening goal with forward Jamal Musiala during training and he hopes to build better connections with his team mates after Tuchel said Kane was unhappy with the service at Bayern last week.

“We need more connections with each other, the last few weeks we have not had it but we can build on (what we achieved) today,” Kane said.

Kane leads with 27 goals in the Bundesliga and 31 in all competitions this season. Bayern trail the unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen by eight points, who are currently at the top on 61 points after their 2-1 win over Mainz 05 on Friday.

“The season isn’t going like we wanted it to go, credit to Leverkusen,” Kane said of the gap between the teams on top. “We need to keep fighting and we need to push them.”

Bayern host Lazio in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on March 5 and visit Freiburg in the Bundesliga on Friday.