The Chiefs rallied from 10-0 down after 20 minutes to beat the defending champion Crusaders 31-10 Friday and pull off the first upset of the Super Rugby Pacific season in the opening match.Center David Havili scored the first try of the season in the 20th minute and the conversion which followed a penalty by Richie Mo’unga gave the Crusaders a 10-0 lead in front of a large home crowd.The Chiefs were able to stay in a mostly scrappy match and had cut the lead to 10-7 at halftime with a try to lock Brodie Retallick.Second-half tries to captain Sam Cane, center Alex Nankivell and replacement Cortez Ratima put the Chiefs…

Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Keylor Navas missed the club’s UEFA Champions League clash against Maccabi Haifa. A report from L’Équipe suggests that the former Real Madrid custodian is available for the defending Ligue 1 champions’ trip to Lyon on Sunday. Navas has reportedly recovered from the injury that kept him on the sideline in PSG’s 3-1 victory against the Israeli side. As reported previously, Olympiacos made a last-minute attempt to sign the Costa Rica international just before the deadline day in the Greek transfer window. But with the prospect of playing for them failing to excite Navas, the deal never went through. While the custodian is ready to be back for…

It has been over a year since Lionel Messi made that astounding move from Barcelona to Paris Sain-Germain. Nevertheless, Messi, one of the greats of the game, has seen enough in his limited time in the French capital to claim that his PSG teammate Kylian Mbappé will join the elusive group of the best players in the world. Speaking to TUDN Mexico, Messi marked Mbappé as a “beast” and a “different” player. He also heaped praise on his pace and his strength to beat defenders in one-v-one situations. The 35-year-old Argentinian said: “Kylian is a different player, a beast who is very strong in one-on-one, who goes into space, who…

Paris Saint-Germain earned a hard-fought 2-1 win against OGC Nice, with Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé registering their names on the scoresheet for the home side. On the other hand, Renato Sanches’ misery in the PSG shirt continued on Saturday as the midfielder had to be withdrawn after coming onto the field as a second-half substitute. According to what is reported by L’Équipe, Sanches replaced Fabián Ruiz in the 72nd minute of the game. However, the 25-year-old midfielder’s sixth league appearance for his new club did not live longer, with a muscle injury to the Portuguese leading manager Christophe Galtier to take Sanches off the field. Sanches, who had previously…

This is the latest feature in our series counting down French football’s 20 hottest properties, those most likely to feature in elite clubs’ 2023 transfer plans. Look out for the next player tomorrow and follow the run down in full here on GFFN. Strasbourg’s 6’6 man up top was the subject of much interest this summer. Despite two years left on his current contract with the Alsatian club, it seemed almost certain for much of the transfer window that the 28-year-old French centre forward would be leaving La Meinau. Yet, despite interest from within France, the Bundesliga and even a handful of Premier League sides, Ajorque started the 2022/23 season as…

Le Parisien have confirmed reports from RMC Sport that Kylian Mbappé wants to leave Paris Saint-Germain in January, with the forward said to be feeling “betrayed” by the club’s upper management. The World Cup winner believes that PSG have not kept the promises that were made when he put pen to paper on a new deal back in May, notably with regard to his position on the pitch and as part of the overall project. His new contract, which Paris Saint-Germain fended off Real Madrid to secure, consists of a two-year extension along with an option for an additional one season, which can only be triggered by Mbappé’s decision alone. He…

Speaking ahead of Paris Saint-Germain’s home match against Marseille in Ligue 1, manager Christophe Galtier confirmed that Lionel Messi should be available for the game after training with the squad this morning, he will be further assessed after training tomorrow, as transcribed by GFFN. “Leo Messi trained this morning with the group. We’ll see how he reacted in tomorrow’s session. At the moment he is ready for the match against Marseille.” Messi suffered a calf-injury after the first match against Benfica in Lisbon on October 5 (1-1), and also had to withdraw for the trip to Reims (0-0) and for the return against Benfica at the Parc des Princes (1-1).…

Loïc Tanzi is reporting that AS Monaco have offered academy goalkeeper Lisandru Olmeta (17), son of former Marseille goalkeeper Pascal, a first professional contract.  It has previously been reported by Le10Sport that Spanish and English sides were interested in the young French goalkeeper. Olmeta was a stand-out player at last summer’s Euro U17 championship, proving the hero during a penalty shoot-out in the final.  Monaco are now looking to tie the young goalkeeper down to a professional deal, and according to Tanzi, an offer has already been made by the Principality club. Olmeta is yet to appear for the Monaco first team. As witnessed by Get French Football News, Olmeta has participated in first-team training on several…

Amidst tensions over Paris Saint-Germain ultras’ support for the Palestinian cause, the club have reminded fans attending tonight’s match against Maccabi Haifa of the requirements for entry.  In a tweet, the club have told fans not to wear the shirt of the opposing team (aka Maccabi Haifa), adding that fans shouldn’t wear scarves or any other accessories of the Israeli club. The third measure states that it is “flags of countries not represented by PSG” are banned from the Parc des Princes for Tuesday’s Champions League tie.  Whilst there is no explicit mention of the Palestine flag, the reminder comes amidst a perceived security threat that arises from the PSG ultras’…

Paris Saint-Germain get the job done against Juventus thanks to goals from Kylian Mbappé and Nuno Mendes, yet they finish second in group H after Benfica scored six goals against Maccabi Haifa to top the group – Bonucci scored for Juventus to equalise for the Italian side in the first half in what was one of their better performances of the season.  JUVENTUS – (1 – Bonucci) Szczesny, 6 Gatti, 5 Bonucci, 7 – The fox in the box. Bonucci still does what he does best in defence, but vitally chipped in with the finishing touch to a Juventus attack which was the culmination of a build up of pressure in…