Manchester City coach, Pep Guardiola has revealed the club’s current form has left him unable to eat properly and struggling to sleep at night.

City slumped to their seventh defeat in 10 games in all competitions as they were beaten 2-0 at Juventus in their latest European outing on Wednesday, December 11.

Guardiola recently met with a former team-mate from his playing days, Luca Toni, to discuss the club situation.

‘Sometimes you don’t need to have a great team to be happy,’ Guardiola told Toni on Prime Video. ‘There are no players or coaches who don’t play for months because the results aren’t good. All that is normal and can happen.’

Toni then revealed that the recent comments surrounding Guardiola’s health had left him concerned.

Guardiola admitted that he is suffering as a result of the accumulation of stress.

He said: ‘I am a person who sometimes gets nervous, I have bad days, I make a lot of mistakes and rudeness makes me nervous. ‘Do I sometimes lose my head? Yes. I sleep worse and I don’t digest food properly now. I always have to eat light. Only soup at night. But I am the same coach as five months ago, the one who won the Premier League title.

If I’m in a bad mood, it’s bad. But I know it will pass. The same when I’m very happy. I know it will pass’

‘I sincerely believe that it will be a year of great difficulties. We have to find continuity. But if we manage to get through to the Champions League, it will not be easy for anyone to face us.’

Victor Osimhen’s meteoric rise continues to attract accolades from football legends, with former Galatasaray forward Burak Yılmaz sharing his thoughts on why the Nigerian striker is a class above the Turkish Süper Lig.

Speaking with TRT Spor, Yılmaz didn’t hold back in his praise for the 25-year-old forward, emphasizing Osimhen’s exceptional qualities. “Victor Osimhen is a very high-level football player with his athletic structure and physical genetics. He is a European centre forward and one of the top 5-6 centre forwards in the world,” Yılmaz stated.

Since his arrival, Osimhen has taken the league by storm. With two goals and two assists in just three games, he has proven to be a game-changer. This record makes him the first Galatasaray player since Bafetimbi Gomis in 2017 to achieve three goal involvements in his opening three matches, cementing his place as a player to watch.

Burak Yılmaz further highlighted how Osimhen’s talents exceed the expectations of the Süper Lig, suggesting that he belongs in one of Europe’s elite leagues. “There are many top-level teams following Osimhen closely. Victor Osimhen is currently a player above the Turkish League in terms of physical appearance, he should not be harmed,” Yılmaz remarked.

Osimhen’s ability to combine physical dominance with clinical finishing has set him apart, not just in Turkey but across the global football stage. His performances have made him a target for several elite European clubs, further proving Yılmaz’s point.

The Nigerian forward has not only raised the standards of Galatasaray but also elevated the competitiveness of the Süper Lig. His journey continues to inspire young players across Africa and the world, demonstrating that talent, hard work, and determination can lead to greatness.

Victor Osimhen is not just a striker for Galatasaray; he is a force that demands the attention of football’s biggest stages.

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An investigation into alleged rape and sexual assault in Stockholm which Swedish media said targeted Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe has been closed due to insufficient evidence, the Swedish prosecutor said Thursday.

Mbappe, the 25-year-old Frenchman who is one of the highest-profile players in world football, visited the Swedish capital October 9-11 with a group of people after he was left out of his country’s squad for a Nations League match.

Sweden’s prosecution authority announced on October 15 that it was investigating an alleged incident that occurred at an upscale Stockholm hotel on October 10, without mentioning the suspect by name.

Several Swedish media outlets, including newspapers Aftonbladet and Expressen and public broadcaster SVT, identified Mbappe as the suspect.

“My assessment is that the evidence is not sufficient to proceed and the investigation is therefore closed,” prosecutor Marina Chirakova said in a statement that also did not mention Mbappe by name.

Chirakova said the person in question had not been interrogated and “not been notified of suspicion of a crime”.

“I have concluded, based on what has emerged in the case, that new evidence, including interrogations of the person in question, would not change the evidence situation right now,” she told AFP.

She said her team had nonetheless “conducted a large number of interviews in the investigation”.

Petra Eklund, the lawyer for the plaintiff, whose name has not been disclosed, told AFP she had “no comment” to the news that the case had been closed.

Mbappe’s lawyer said in October that he was “shocked” to see his name linked to the investigation.

Speaking for the first time about the case on Sunday, he told French television show Clique he was “not involved”.

“I haven’t received anything, no summons… I’m not involved,” he said.

According to Aftonbladet, Mbappe and his entourage dined at a restaurant one evening before going on to a nightclub.

The complaint was filed on October 12 after the alleged victim had sought medical attention, according to the newspaper.

Expressen reported that police had seized some clothing as evidence, saying it consisted of women’s underwear, a pair of black trousers and a black top. Photographs showed police officers leaving the hotel with brown bags.

Difficult season

Mbappe joined Madrid this summer after seven years at Paris Saint-Germain and has stayed clear of scandal in his private life.

The forward, who is known for carefully managing his image through a close network of family, lawyers and spokespeople, has become one of the world’s highest paid players after a stellar career that began when he was barely into his teens.

He has had a difficult season since moving to reigning European champions Real Madrid from PSG in the summer, failing to find his top form.

However the Frenchman scored in Madrid’s 3-2 win against Italian side Atalanta on Tuesday which revived Real’s flagging bid to regain their Champions League title.

Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham were all on the scoresheet in Bergamo as Madrid moved up to 20th place in the Champions League table, on nine points from six matches.

The Spanish giants would have been at risk of dropping out of the Champions League play-off places if they had lost.

Mbappe won the World Cup as a teenager in 2018 in Russia and scored a hat-trick in the 2022 final in Qatar which France lost on penalties to Lionel Messi’s Argentina.

At PSG he was part of a superstar trio with Messi and Brazilian forward Neymar, but the Qatar-owned club were unable to win the Champions League.

AFP