Football

The club confirmed the injury in a communique on Monday, explaining his recovery would determine when he returns to action. The injury means Lewandowski will at best miss Thursday's game against bitter rivals Real Madrid, as well as next weekend's home game against Valencia, and the visit to play Athletic Bilbao seven days later, a Xinhua report said.

In the Champions League, Manchester United, the dominant force in England a couple of decades back, have met Spanish giants Barcelona 10 times, of which the Red Devils have won just once. That win came way back in 2008 when a Paul Scholes goal in the second leg of the Champions League semifinal put the English club in the final. United went on to win that final.

The two know each other perfectly, and taking into account the Italian coach's two spells at Real Madrid, they've met on seven different occasions in La Liga Santander. The balance is in favour of the Argentine. With El Cholo at the helm, Atleti have managed to win four of the seven Madrid Derbies against the Italian. The first time these two iconic coaches faced each.

The round of matches kicks off on Friday night with Fulham at home to Wolves. The home side has the chance to move level on points with Newcastle in fifth place if they win, while Wolves are looking to recover after last weekend's surprise defeat at home to Bournemouth, reports Xinhua. That defeat highlighted the Wolves' problem in attack, with Julen Lopetegui's side.

Going into the encounter, despite occupying different halves of the table, the form guide suggested the home side would have the edge. In the early going, that proved to be right, Mohammedan not just dominating the ball but also creating meaningful attacks into the final third that kept the visitors defence on edge.

''In tribute to Pele, Premier League clubs will remember his contribution to football at matches taking place from Friday 30 December-Sunday 1 January (Matchweek 18) by holding a minute's applause prior to kick-offs. Players and match officials will wear black armbands," the league said in a statement.

"When he came to our team, I think he was 13-14. It was not easy for him because he came all the way from Argentina," said Valiente. "He couldn't play the first season. It was not easy for him to get used to our play, but after that, he was not shy anymore, and you could see from the first minute that he was so different."

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