Former Manchester United striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer overjoyed with leading Molde to historic Norwegian first division title

The 38-year-old is jubilant after winning MFK the first championship in their history on Sunday and believes that it was a “well deserved” success for the club

Molde coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has expressed his delight at leading the Norwegian club to their first ever Tippeligaen title during his debut season at the club.
The club, established in 1911, accomplished their triumph on Sunday following their 2-2 draw with Stromsgodset, a result which was enough to hand them the title after Norwegian giants and second-placed Rosenborg suffered a 6-3 home loss to Brann.


The results mean that Molde are now eight points clear at the top of the first division table with two more rounds of matches remaining, leaving Solskjaer overjoyed with his team’s achievement in his first season in charge.
"The club has waited 100 years for this," the 38-year-old told VG. "We have been close several times so this was well deserved.
"When Brann went 4-1 up, I realised we had done it. It was a good atmosphere in the dressing room and we will enjoy ourselves tonight."
Solskjaer became Molde coach in January 2011 after two and a half years as manager of Manchester United's Reserves.

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Villarreal's Marcos Senna ruled out of Champions League clash against Manchester City - report

The veteran midfielder won't take part in this week's European encounter at El Madrigal after having picked up a hamstring injury against Rayo Vallecano

Villarreal coach Juan Carlos Garrido will have to make do without the services of experienced midfielder Marcos Senna in Wednesday's Champions League game at home against Manchester City after the former Spain international picked up an injury.
 
The 35-year-old picked up a hamstring injury in his side's 2-0 La Liga win over Rayo Vallecano on Saturday and was forced to leave the pitch after 49 minutes of play due to the knock.

Senna underwent further examination on Sunday and uefa.com reports that the hamstring problem will keep the midfielder out of his side's fourth Group A game.

The first meeting between Villarreal and City ended in a 2-1 win for the English side. Wednesday's match at El Madrigal kicks off at 19.45GMT.

Villarreal have yet to pick up their first point of the group stage, while Roberto Mancini's side have so far collected four points from three games.

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Manchester City's Edin Dzeko believes Manchester United are still Premier League title favourites

The Bosnian insists that "United are United" despite the Blues being five points clear at the top and attempted to clear up his negative reaction to being substituted in Germany

Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko believes that Manchester United are still favourites for the Premier League title despite Roberto Mancini's side holding a five-point advantage over the Red Devils after 10 games.
 
Following City's 6-1 demolition of United at Old Trafford last weekend, the Blues preserved their five-point cushion with a 3-1 victory over Wolves at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

Despite their position at the top of the table, former Wolfsburg attacker Dzeko admits "United are United" and that they are still favourites to retain their crown.

"I still don't think we are favourites," the Bosnian said, as quoted by the Guardian.

"There are still a lot of games to play. We have played 10 matches and are five points clear of Manchester United but for me they are still favourites for the title. We are first and want to stay there but United are United, although we are growing up with every game."

Dzeko was embroiled in controversy last month after his negative reaction to being substituted against Bayern Munich in the Champions League but the 25-year-old insists that he apologised after the game and that it was normal for him to be angry after failing to score.

"I apologised afterwards," he added. "Sometimes, it is hard when you play badly and don't score goals. Sometimes, you are angry and that is normal. I played for two and a half years in Germany. I wanted to win and maybe score a goal. In Munich we played well for the first 30 minutes and then nothing." 

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Pele celebrates 71st birthday: Premier League is best in Europe, Sylvester Stallone was my toughest opponent & Lionel Messi is an incomplete player

'The King' was in the English capital to launch his new sports lifestyle collection, bringing out the stars and a number of eye-catching quotes in the process

Brazil and Santos legend Pele celebrated his 71st birthday in London in typical outspoken style this week, hailing the Premier League as Europe's top division and branding Lionel Messi an "incomplete" player.
 
The three-time World Cup winner, who is in the UK for the global launch of his new sports lifestyle collection The Beautiful Revolution, told Goal.com: "I would love to play with Lionel Messi. But Messi is an incomplete player because he can't use his head. Also I played football for 20 years, Messi has only played for several years."

He added: "If there is one player in the world today I would love to play with it is Neymar."

Pele was speaking at a special drinks reception held in London's Covent Garden to mark his 71st birthday, with guests including Rio Ferdinand, brother Anton, ex-Bayern Munich and Barcelona defender Patrick Andersson and Pele's 1970 World Cup opponent Terry Cooper, formerly of England and Leeds United.

Brazil's leading all-time goalscorer said he was delighted to be in England and hailed the country's top-flight division: "The English Premier League is the best league in Europe, better than La Liga."

When asked about who his toughest opponent was, Pele, who faced the likes of Bobby Moore and Giacinto Facchetti in his playing days, joked: "Sylvester Stallone during the filming of Escape to Victory. He was very strong."

The Rocky star played an American POW-turned-goalkeeper in the World War Two film in which he co-starred with Michael Caine and Pele amongst others.

As a birthday present, Pele was presented by PFA deputy chief executive Bobby Barnes and Arsenal youngster Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain with a special lifetime award: a glittering 18-carat gold-plated football boot.

Barnes said: "Alex is one of the best young players in the English Premier League. He made his debut at 16, and if he achieves a fraction of what Pele did he will have a fantastic career.

"Everyone remembers Pele's Brazil teams from 1957-70, and the World Cup victories of '58, '62 and '70.

"Only a few things are memorable from my childhood: the Apollo moon landings, Muhammad Ali's boxing fights... and Pele. On behalf of the PFA, we are delighted to present this award as a symbol of our esteem."

Guests at the London event were then shown the Pele sport brand's Spring Summer '12 collection, featuring the launch of three distinct ranges - Pelé Story, Pelada and Performance.

The most heralded and eagerly-anticipated from these collections is the "revolutionary, ground-breaking, ultra-light" Trinity 3E football boot, which promises to "maximise a player's game and speed potential by training your muscles as you play."

Check out all of Pele's new sports lifestyle collection at www.pele-sports.com

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AC Milan's Daniele Bonera: Our position in Serie A now better reflects our quality

The defender feels the Rossoneri are on the right track again after a sluggish start and is eagerly anticipating this weekend's game against Roma at the Stadio Olimpico

AC Milan defender Daniele Bonera has voiced his opinion that the reigning Italian champions are closer to where they belong after moving up to fifth position in Serie A following three consecutive wins.
 
The 30-year-old is pleased to see his side in the top half of the league table again after wins over Palermo, Lecce and Parma.

And he says he and his team-mates are now looking forward to attempting to extend their winning streak in this weekend's away game versus Roma.

"The league table is now a better reflection of our quality. It simply wasn’t right that we sat in the lower half of the table," Bonera is quoted as saying on the Milan website. "Now we have to stay focused because the game against Roma will be tough.

"I think Roma are still looking for their identity and we’re going there with lots of motivation."

Bonera realises that it will not be an easy game, though, as Roma will be keen to secure a positive result after their defeat in midweek.

He added: "However, they’ll be determined to put in a good performance, especially after the loss against Genoa on Wednesday evening. It’s always tough at the Stadio Olimpico."

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William Hill open market on Manchester City to win everything this season at 250/1

Rampant Citizens are favourites for the Premier League title with the bookies offering generous odds on the amount of silverware they will end the campaign with.

Manchester City's stunning start to the season has prompted British bookmaker William Hill to open a market on the unbeaten club to scoop all before them.

Hill's are offering a price of 250/1 that Roberto Mancini's team will win the Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Champions League. The big spenders went top of the league after thumping Manchester United 6-1 at Old Trafford and are now favourites to end their title drought at 11/10 with the Red Devils at 15/8.  
 

City ended their trophy famine last season with an FA Cup triumph and they are 6/1 to scoop the domestic double. A treble of Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup is trading at 22/1. Emulating their city rivals' treble of 1999 of the Premier League crown, FA Cup and Champions League is priced at 80/1.

"City's current form is red hot and many punters have backed them to make a strong bid to win all four major trophies," said Hill's spokesman Graham Sharpe.

No English club has ever won the domestic treble or an historic quadruple. Manchester United came close to landing an English treble in 1993/94 but were denied by Aston Villa in the League Cup final before going on to win the Premier League and FA Cup.

In more recent years, Chelsea were in contention for all four trophies in 2006/07 but fell short after lifting the League Cup and FA Cup. The Blues exited the Champions League at the semi-final stage and finished second behind Manchester United in the title race.

Manchester City trophy specials (William Hill)
No trophies @ 13/10
Premier League/Carling Cup @ 7/2
Premier League/FA Cup @ 6/1
FA Cup/Carling Cup @ 10/1
Premier League/Champions League @ 16/1
Premier League/FA Cup/Carling Cup @ 22/1
Carling Cup/Champions League @ 25/1
FA Cup/Champions League @ 40/1
Premier League/Carling Cup/Champions League @ 66/1
Premier League/FA Cup/Champions League @ 80/1
FA Cup/Carling Cup/Champions League @ 150/1
Premier League/FA Cup/Carling Cup/Champions League @ 250/1

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Real Madrid's Angel di Maria determined to maintain impressive form

The Argentine winger says he is confident again and that he hopes things continue to go well for him after scoring in his side's victory against Villarreal

Angel di Maria was delighted to score in Real Madrid's 3-0 La Liga win over Villarreal on Wednesday - and says he is hopeful of maintaining the level of performance he demonstrated in the game.
 
The Argentine winger scored his first league goal of the season, and Madrid's third of the night, on the half-hour mark after previously providing assists for his side's first two goals.

And he has stressed that he is full of confidence again following his recent impressive showings.

"I'm happy with the victory and also with my goal because I hadn't scored for a long time. I had a chance to score tonight and it was a beautiful thing for me," Di Maria was quoted as saying on the official Madrid website.

"I'm very happy because things are going well for me. I'm confident again, which is important to me. I hope things continue to go well for me."

Di Maria has already set up seven La Liga goals in the 2011-12 campaign and tops the assist chart after nine games.

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