Augsburg have named Martin Schmidt as their new head coach after sacking predecessor Manuel Baum, assistant coach Jens Lehmann and technical director Stephan Schwarz.

The Bundesliga club have taken drastic action after Sunday s 4-0 home defeat to Hoffenheim left them 15th in the table, just four points above the relegation play-off spot.

Over the last few weeks and months, we have done everything to take control of our difficult situation together, the club s managing director Stefan Reuter said in a statement.

We have decided to make a clean cut at the current time in order to set course for a successful sporting end to the season, and for the future of FC Augsburg.

Former Arsenal and Germany goalkeeper Lehmann was appointed by Baum in January, but th…

Vinicius Junior has revealed some Real Madrid players still get nervous when speaking to head coach Zinedine Zidane.

Former France international Zidane, who returned to Madrid in March after resigning in the wake of leading the club to a third straight Champions League title in 2018, is widely considered to be one of the best players of his generation.

He won the Ballon d Or in 1998 after spearheading France s World Cup triumph in the same year, scoring twice in the final against Brazil, and won the Champions League with Madrid in 2002 after crashing home a stunning volley in the final against Bayer Leverkusen.

Despite the Madrid squad containing multiple high-profile stars, Vinicius says there are times when they are in still in awe of their boss.

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Chile s preparations for its Copa America title defense went from bad to worse on Wednesday after substitute Javier Hernandez led Mexico to a 1-0 victory.

Hernandez came off the bench to score an 86th-minute winner as defending Copa champion Chile crashed to back-to-back defeats following last week s shock loss to Jamaica.

With the game seemingly petering out for a draw in the final warm-up fixture for both teams at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, Hernandez sprung the offside trap and headed powerfully past Cristopher Toselli as Mexico s unbeaten run extended to 19 matches.

Mexico recorded an eighth consecutive clean sheet in the process, with the Mexicans last tasting defeat in the 2015 edition of the Copa America.

Both Mexico and Chile made numerous ch…

Valencia have spoken out against proposed changes to the Supercopa de Espana format and warned Spanish football authorities not to implement the plans.

The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has suggested changing the one-off tie between the winners of LaLiga and the Copa del Rey into a four-team tournament, which would involve the league s top two and the domestic cup finalists.

The first revamped competition has been earmarked for January 2020 and there are reports of negotiations with Saudi Arabia over hosting rights worth €150million.

LaLiga has already confirmed its opposition to the plans as the feud between Spain s top flight and its national governing body continues, and Valencia have now expressed their own deep concerns.

In a statement …

Marseille midfielder Andre Ayew claimed he can sleep easy despite his team s defeats on the road at their main Ligue 1 rivals.

Ahead of their last match before Ligue 1 s mid-season break, Ayew played down the importance of Marseille potentially finishing first across the first half of the season.

Instead, the Ghana international was more interested in discussing Marseille s losses at third-placed Lyon, second-placed Paris Saint-Germain and sixth-placed Monaco.

Monaco, who finished second in 2013-14, trumped Marseille 1-0 last week but Ayew insists his team can improve against Ligue 1 s powerhouses in the second half of the season.

We went there [Paris, Lyon and Monaco] and even if we dominated all three games, we had more opportunities, but we lost, Aye…

Italian giants Juventus and Roma appear to be locked in the battle for Tottenham Hotspur defender Vlad Chiriches, .

The Giallorossi were the first high-profile side to express their interest in the Romanian stopper, as they plan to add another player to the rotation due to Leandro Castan s unavailability.

However, Juventus seem to be stepping up their efforts as well, with club officials flying to London for talks with their Tottenham counterparts.

Despite struggling for playing time at White Hart Lane, Chiriches is held in high regard by Italy s top sides, and he could be moving to Italian Serie A in January.

The 25-year-old joined Spurs from Steaua in the summer of 2013 and has since featured in 23 Premier League matches.

Tottenham Hotspur mana…

Christophe Galtier has no reservations over Lionel Messi s commitment to Paris Saint-Germain after their Champions League exit, despite the Argentine entering the final four months of his contract.

Messi is yet to agree fresh terms with PSG ahead of his deal expiring at the end of June, while former Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos is in a similar situation.

Wednesday s Champions League last-16 elimination at the hands of Bayern Munich has led to suggestions PSG s star-studded forward line of Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar may be broken up as part of a rebuild.

Despite PSG s early European exit, Galtier does not expect the likes of Messi and Ramos – both of whom have been linked with a move to MLS – to lower their standards in the coming weeks.

The…

Adam Idah will head into Euro 2024 qualifier battle with Greece and Gibraltar grateful for both the help and competition provided by two strikers at opposite ends of their careers.

The 22-year-old Republic of Ireland frontman has spent much of the last four seasons fighting Teemu Pukki for a place in the Norwich starting line-up, and now faces a major challenge from Brighton’s teenage sensation Evan Ferguson on the international front.

However Idah, who made his Canaries debut as an 18-year-old and won his first senior cap for Ireland a little more than a year later, has not been daunted by either battle.

Asked about Pukki’s influence on his fledgling career as the 33-year-old Finland international prepares to leave Norwich this summer, he said: “Teemu was …

Wolfsburg have secured the services of Josuha Guilavogui from Atletico Madrid on a permanent deal after spending the past two seasons on loan at the Bundesliga side.

Guilavogui has developed into a key figure at Wolfsburg since joining the club in August 2014 and following the end of the campaign they have acted quickly to exercise their option to buy the France international.

The 25-year-old has signed a contract until June 2019 with the German outfit, much to the delight of chief executive Klaus Allofs.

We are very happy to have signed Josuha on a permanent deal, Allofs said.

He has shown over the past two seasons that he is a perfect fit for Wolfsburg. He still has room for improvement and we want to enjoy more successes on the pitch with him.

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Walter Mazzarri has been named Watford s new head coach.

The former Napoli and Inter boss has signed a three-year deal at Vicarage Road and will take over from Quique Sanchez Flores on July 1.

OFFICIAL: Walter Mazzarri has signed a three-year contract to become Head Coach from 1st July 2016.

— Watford FC (@WatfordFC)

Watford chief executive Scott Duxbury commented: Walter has been the target of a number of approaches for his services, so we re delighted to secure him as head coach here at Watford.

We re thoroughly looking forward to working with such a highly-regarded coach, with the progress and development of the club always remaining the highest priority.

Mazzarri has been out of work since getting the sack after a spe…