Portuguese Jose Mourinho, Real Madrid's Spanish coach, said on Tuesday, on the eve of facing German Leipzig in the third round of the unified group of the Champions League competition, that there is no player above accountability in the royal team.
When he was asked about his Brazilian star, Vinicius Junior, who was suspended for three matches in the Spanish League, and who is threatened by the brilliance of the young Ivorian, Yann Dumande (19 years old), the Portuguese coach sent a clear message in a press conference: “Here, the only thing above accountability is the club badge. No player is above accountability. It's not about the status, the captaincy or the amount paid to sign him. What makes a player above accountability is his level on the field.”
However, Mourinho confirmed that Vinicius will start on Wednesday against Leipzig, without specifying whether he will replace Diomande, who is facing his former team, or not.
The 63-year-old coach said: “I cannot disclose the details. Vinicius is a left winger. I may be able to employ him in other positions, in some cases, but this is his position. That's all I can confirm. "Diomande doesn't need to know whether he will play or not, so you will see tomorrow."
Mourinho, nicknamed “Distinguished,” acknowledged that his team lacks “a lot” to reach the level he wants, but he is not “one of those stubborn coaches who are ready to sacrifice their ideas.”
He concluded his speech by saying: “I am fully aware of the high expectations at Real Madrid. I've been here for 3 years, and we still have a lot of work to do to improve. But I am open to analysis, understanding things, and searching for solutions.”
A few days before the “El Clásico” match against traditional rival Barcelona, the leader of “La Liga” and which has not yet tasted defeat, the Royal Club has the opportunity to come closer to qualifying for the knockout rounds of the main continental competition by achieving its third successive victory against Leipzig.
Vincent Kompany, coach of the German football team Bayern Munich, missed training, and he will also miss the press conference preceding his team’s match against its English guest, Arsenal, in the Champions League.
Despite this, the Belgian coach is planning to return in time to lead Bayern against the London team, tomorrow (Wednesday), in the third round of the league stage of the continental competition.
Kompany suffered from a viral infection and thigh problems, as he watched Bayern's landslide victory over Leipzig, 6-1, last Saturday, in the German League (Bundesliga) championship, while sitting on the bench, while his assistant, Aaron Danks, directed the players.
Bayern said in a statement today, Tuesday: “Vincent Kompany has been advised to rest due to a viral infection, and therefore he will miss the training session and press conference today.”
Danks supervised the training and will manage the press conference, a role he previously played last season when Kompany was suspended in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain, who later won the title.
Bayern will miss the efforts of its influential French winger Michael Oliseh against Arsenal, while veteran English striker Harry Kane called on the rest of the players to take advantage of this opportunity.
“When one of the key players is missing, you definitely feel the difference,” Kane said. But in such moments, other players must take responsibility and seize the opportunity. Others can participate, and we hope they will do the job well.”
It is noteworthy that Arsenal's last victory in Munich dates back to 2013, but the English team was able to defeat Bayern with a score of 3-1 in their last confrontation about a year ago in the British capital, London.
The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) announced, on its official website, the new world rankings for women’s national teams, today, Tuesday.
FIFA issued its new classification after 183 international matches were held during the last period on the international agenda, which included a large number of friendly confrontations, in addition to another group of matches within the qualifiers for the 2027 World Cup in Brazil in both Europe and Africa.
Spain strengthened its position at the top after playing two matches outside its home country against the United States, which is ranked second in the new classification, where it won the first match and tied the second, increasing the lead difference by about 80 points, while Germany comes in third place behind them, after winning its two friendly matches on its soil and reducing the gap that separates it from second place.
England, Japan, France, Brazil, Sweden and Canada ranked fourth through ninth, respectively, while Denmark broke into the list of top ten teams, after being in tenth place.
Denmark achieved a win and a draw in its two matches away from home against Canada, giving it a narrow lead over the Netherlands and North Korea, which fell to 11th and 12th places, respectively.
Thanks to this progress, the Scandinavian team returned to the top ten in the rankings for the first time since 2010.
The 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations, which was held last July and August, accounted for a large part of the activity influencing this classification update.
An African team in particular stood out, namely the Malawi team, which rose 49 places at once, to become ranked 104th in the world, achieving the largest rise in terms of positions and the largest gain in terms of points, after reaching the final of the African Nations, achieving a historic rise to the Women’s World Cup, and recording an amazing series of victories in this tournament and the Olympic Games qualifiers, where it gained 158.44 points, achieving an unprecedented record.
Other teams from the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the European Union (UEFA) and the Oceania Confederation also made remarkable progress, as Cameroon, the new African champion, advanced to 62nd place in the world, jumping nine places, as did Tanzania, which advanced 11 places to be in 111th place, and Burkina Faso, which is now in 109th place, rising 9 places.
The same also applies to the Vanuatu national team, which advanced 8 places to rank 100th in the world, while Slovenia achieved the best ranking in its history, similar to Malawi, after it became ranked 36th in the world.
The rankings also witnessed a significant decline for a number of CAF teams, led by three teams, the most prominent of which was the Egyptian team, which now ranked 113th in the world, falling 14 places, after it exited the Women’s African Cup of Nations after losing in its three matches in the group stage, achieving the largest decline in terms of positions in this latest update.
The Zimbabwe national team also dropped nine places to rank 136th in the world, while the Democratic Republic of the Congo national team was ranked 114th, after falling 8 places.
