Lyon coach Bruno Genesio said it would be "an honour" to be succeeded by Jose Mourinho, with reports in France linking the former Manchester United manager with the Ligue 1 side. Mourinho was sacked by Man Utd in December following a 3-1 defeat to bitter rivals Liverpool, leaving the club's top-four prospects looking bleak. For a while he looked set to secure a return to Real Madrid, flirting with them at almost every given opportunity during a series of media appearances. But after Madrid opted to re-hire Zinedine Zidane following the sacking of Santiago Solari, Mourinho is having to reassess his options. French publication L'Equipe linked him with Lyon on Wednesday, and the incumbent Genesio – whose contract expires at the end of the season – was welcoming of such speculation. "We can only respect Mourinho," he told reporters. "He's a coach who has won everywhere he's been. "He is maybe not the one I identify with personality wise, but I respect him a lot regarding his records and achievements in football. He's won everything. "Everywhere he's been he's won a trophy. He's won Champions Leagues. Obviously, he's a great coach, so, if he succeeds me it would be an honour." Midfielder Lucas Tousart was more reserved on the matter, though he does rate Mourinho among the world's best coaches. "It is not something that we are listening to," he added. "A lot of things are 'revealed' and then appear at the end to be wrong, but I don't know. We'll see what happens. "He was, and I think he still is, a great head coach. He accomplished great things in the biggest clubs. "His last experience [at Man Utd] went badly. I don't know him personally, so there's not a lot I can say about him, but it's true that he's currently among the best coaches. "He's among the ones who have done amazing stuff with their clubs."

The first Madrid derby to be played outside of Europe has been confirmed for this year's International Champions Cup. Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid is one of 18 matches that will take place across North America, Europe and Asia in July and August.  Joining the Madrid clubs in the seventh edition of the competition are reigning champions Tottenham, Manchester United, Arsenal, Roma, Juventus, AC Milan, Inter, Bayern Munich, Benfica and Chivas. Madrid's clash with their city rivals will take place on July 26 at MetLife Stadium, the home of the New York Giants and Jets, while other eye-catching fixtures include Bayern vs AC Milan, Tottenham vs Man Utd and Juventus vs Inter. In addition to New Jersey, the United States will play host to games in Los Angeles, Landover, Chicago, Charlotte, Santa Clara, Houston, Arlington, Kansas City and Foxborough. Cardiff, London, Stockholm, Singapore and Shanghai will serve as the venues for the Europe and Asia matches. Each team will play three matches and the club with the most points at the end of the tournament will lift the trophy. Games that end in a draw go straight to penalties with the winner receiving two points and the loser one. Fixtures: table.tableizer-table { font-size: 14px; border: 1px solid #CCC; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; } .tableizer-table td { padding: 4px; margin: 3px; border: 1px solid #CCC; } .tableizer-table th { background-color: #00a9ce; color: #FFF; font-weight: bold; } Date Match Time (local / BST) Venue Jul 16 Roma vs Chivas TBC SeatGeek Stadium, Bridgeview, IL Jul 17 Arsenal vs Bayern Munich TBC Dignity Health Sports Park, Carson, CA Jul 20 Manchester United vs Inter TBC National Stadium, Singapore Jul 20 Arsenal vs Roma TBC Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC Jul 20 Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid TBC NRG Stadium, Houston, TX Jul 20 Benfica vs Chivas TBC Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, CA Jul 21 Juventus vs Tottenham TBC National Stadium, Singapore Jul 23 Real Madrid vs Arsenal TBC FedExField, Landover, MD Jul 23 Bayern Munich vs AC Milan TBC Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, KS Jul 23 Chivas vs Atletico Madrid TBC Globe Life Park, Arlington, VA Jul 24 Juventus vs Inter TBC China venue TBC Jul 24 Roma vs Benfica TBC Red Bull Arena, Harrison, NJ Jul 25 Tottenham vs Manchester United TBC Hongkou Football Stadium, Shanghai Jul 26 Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid TBC MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ Jul 28 AC Milan vs Benfica TBC Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA Aug 3 Manchester United vs AC Milan TBC Principality Stadium, Cardiff Aug 4 Tottenham vs Inter TBC Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London Aug 10 Atletico Madrid vs Juventus TBC Friends Arena, Stockholm

Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur will have sealed Champions League places come the end of the season, predicts former Spurs and England midfielder Darren Anderton. The race for the top four is tightly contested at the moment with Spurs, Chelsea, Arsenal and United all battling it out.  Despite United being two points off the pace, and Spurs losing three of their last four, Anderton believes that those two sides will occupy third and fourth position ahead of Arsenal and Chelsea. “It’s always all about the run you’re on because results breed confidence. Spurs have definitely had a wobble and lost some games that really they shouldn’t have – the Southampton game, the Burnley game," said Anderton, speaking exclusively to  888Sport . "These are games where if you want to be in the top four or challenge for the title you can’t lose and especially in the manner that they did. "So that was disappointing and then, of course, the immediate reaction is to start looking down and start worrying. It would be quite a negative to not finish in the top four, especially with the new stadium coming next week. “I still fancy Spurs though to join Liverpool and Manchester City. Then I’d go for United.” Although his former team have been through a run of poor form lately, Anderton still believes they are just as good as Premier League leaders Liverpool, with the two sides due to clash in what will be a huge game in the title race on Sunday. He added: "When I look at Liverpool I don’t see them being a better team than Spurs to be honest but they’ve done the business and got the points. They’re the one who is still up there. “It’s a tough one to call. I went to watch the game at Wembley earlier this season and Liverpool were by far the better team, no doubt about it they were different class and Spurs struggled to keep with them. "But are they still at that level? Now, this weekend it could go either way with so much talent on display. There’s a great work ethic across both teams and it will be some battle. I’m looking forward to watching it, that’s for sure.”

European giants Manchester United, Juventus, Inter Milan and Tottenham Hotspur are all set to feature in the third edition of the International Champions Cup (ICC) in Singapore this summer. A new format of the ICC will see just two matches taking place over a weekend on July 20th and July 21st. In the first match, Manchester United will take on Inter Milan. On the following day, Juventus play Tottenham Hotspur. Speaking about the event, Executive Chairman of Relevent Sports Group Charlie Stillitano said, “We are very pleased to bring the International Champions Cup to Singapore again. The event is the only platform for fans in the region to get up close to their favourite teams. Manchester United, Inter, Juventus and Tottenham Hotspur are clubs with strong support in the region, and we believe the fans will be happy to see them in action.”    The International Champions Cup Singapore has roped in AIA as their first ever presenting partner. Incidentally AIA is also the global principal partner of Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur. AIA Group Chief Executive and President, Ng Keng Hooi said, “AIA is proud to be the Presenting Partner of the 2019 International Champions Cup Singapore, especially during our Centennial year. It is a wonderful opportunity for our customers, agents, partners and staff to witness Tottenham Hotspur, with their many international stars, compete in Asia.” Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United had earlier visited Singapore in 1995 and 2001 respectively. They will play at the new National Stadium of Singapore. While the English giants will play their first match at the National Stadium, both the Italian clubs had played at the venue back in 2014 and 2017. Juventus had played against Singapore Select in 2014 and Inter Milan had won the 2017 International Champions Cup beating Bayern Munich and Chelsea respectively.

Louis van Gaal has hit back at Angel Di Maria after the Argentina winger blamed him for failing to live up to expectations at Old Trafford.  Di Maria joined Manchester United from Real Madrid in the summer of 2014 for a then-British record fee of £59.7 million ($75m). Expectations were high for the forward, but he did not live up to his potential in just one season with United.  The 31-year-old started out well but slowed down as the season progressed, ending with four goals and 12 assists in 32 appearances. After a single campaign, the Argentina international then left United and joined Paris Saint-Germain, where he still plays currently.  Ahead of Man Utd and PSG meeting in the Champions League, he made it clear where he placed the blame for his failed stint at United.  "There were complications with the coach at the time," Di Maria said in January. However, Van Gaal insisted the forward's struggles in England were nobody's fault but his own. "Di Maria says it was my problem. I played him in every attacking position. You can check that," Van Gaal told the BBC. "He never convinced me in any of those positions. He could not deal with the continuous pressure on the ball in the Premier League. That was his problem." Before his stint at United, Di Maria managed 36 goals in 190 games for Real Madrid before transferring to England. After his spell at Old Trafford, Di Maria has since gone on to shine in Ligue 1, where he is on the verge of winning his third league title in his fourth season with the Paris club. He has also scored 66 goals in his time at the club so far, including 16 during the current campaign. Di Maria, however, has not been able to help PSG get over the hump in Europe, with the club going out in the quarter-finals in his first season and the last 16 in each of the past three campaigns.  This year, they were eliminated by Manchester United despite holding a 2-0 aggregate lead heading into the home leg.