Eintracht Frankfurt head coach Adi Hutter hailed the "greatness" of Luka Jovic following his stunning start to life back in the Bundesliga.
Jovic scored two goals in his return for Eintracht last week after re-joining the German club on loan until the end of the season, having endured a difficult period at LaLiga champions Real Madrid.
The Serbia international only scored twice in 32 appearances under Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane in the Spanish capital, where he arrived for €60million in 2019.
But Jovic came off the bench and scored twice in 28 minutes as Eintracht defeated Schalke 3-1 in the Bundesliga on Sunday.
Jovic matched his Madrid tally in the stunning cameo for Eintracht, where the 23-year-old netted 27 goals in 2018-19 before making the move to the Santiago Bernabeu.
Previewing Wednesday's showdown with Freiburg, Hutter discussed Jovic and his partnership with Eintracht star Andre Silva.
"Strikers are always a bit egotistical, but when it is about the team or Eintracht Frankfurt, everyone puts their ego aside," Hutter told reporters.
"Luka [Jovic] does that sovereignly. When you bring back someone who had his best time here and scored 27 goals in a year, then gets loaned out and scores two goals in 32 games, and then comes back and scores two goals in about 25 minutes, it's logical that the attention is more on that than on Andre Silva's 12th goal of the season.
"But when you hear Luka's statements that it is an honour for him to play in a team with Andre, it shows the greatness and character of Luka and it shows the respect he has for Andre Silva. I have spoken to Andre before and he said that competition is very important for him and that quality in the team is important. That doesn't bother him at all.
"I also can't imagine that Andre Silva, who has previously played for Milan and Sevilla, can't handle competition. I think he has also seen that Luka is another striker with whom he can harmonise.
"As always, I'm keeping a low profile. He [Luka Jovic] has shown in this short season that he is an absolute world-class striker with a high calibre. We'll leave it open as to whether he'll play from the start [against Freiburg]."
Silva's goal to open the scoring against Schalke was his 12th of the season, taking him level with Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland – only Bayern Munich star Robert Lewandowski (21) has more in 2020-21.
Eintracht – eighth in the standings – are the only team to win all three of their Bundesliga games in 2021 and have now won four on the bounce in the league for the first time since early 2019.
T&T Women defeat Curacao 3-1 to move to two wins from two in Caribbean Queen’s Friendly Tournament
Trinidad & Tobago’s National Women’s Football Team defeated hosts Curacao 3-1 to remain unbeaten in the Caribbean Queen's Friendly Tournament which continued at the Stadion Rignaal ‘Jean’ Francisca, Willemstad on Thursday.
The Trinidadians were given a positive start through goals from senior team debutants Sonia Lamarre and Cherina Steele in the ninth and 14th minutes, respectively, before Curacao pulled one back in the 45th off a corner kick to cut the lead in half heading into the break.
Lille full-back Kedie Johnson restored the visitors' two-goal lead twenty minutes into the second half.
“Very happy with the result, not so much the football,” said T&T Head coach Richard Hood said after Thursday’s win.
Important to note, this game came just a day after they secured a 2-1 win over Aruba at the same venue.
“I thought it was really important that we pulled off a victory tonight given the physical conditioning of the girls. We saw tonight all our senior players struggled, having played 90 minutes last evening (Wednesday night) as well and again on turf which adds to the difficulty,” Hood said.
“The effort from the girls was tremendous and I am really happy with that. They showed a lot of resilience although they were very much dead on their legs. I thought it was really important that we were able to score three quality goals tonight, given our fatigued state,” he added.
Curacao's tactics forced the Trinidadians to play a style they weren't expecting and Hood gave his team credit for adjusting well.
“They forced us to run more than we would have liked and they played a lot of long balls...but all in all, I am really happy with the effort from the girls tonight and I’m happy with their determination to really win,” he said.
Hood expressed satisfaction with what he’s seeing from the next generation after using a number of younger players throughout the first two encounters of the tournament.
“The future is really bright for the youngsters once we do the right things in terms of nurturing them and assisting with their development and getting them involved in more tournaments such as these so all in all, very happy,” he added.
T&T will face Aruba again on Sunday before facing Curacao on Monday.
Dykes ruled out of Euro 2024 for Scotland
Scotland striker Lyndon Dykes has been ruled out of Euro 2024 after picking up an injury in training on Friday.
While preparing for their upcoming friendly against Gibraltar, Dykes left the training pitch on a stretcher with an apparent knee injury.
On Saturday, Scotland confirmed that the 28-year-old will miss the tournament, though the injury has not been specified.
Dykes has scored nine goals for Scotland in 36 appearances, and played in all eight of their Euro 2024 qualifiers, scoring once.
Steve Clarke's side will begin the tournament against hosts Germany in the opening match on June 14.
Atlanta United v Charlotte FC: Five Stripes looking to build on impressive Miami win
Gonzalo Pineda is hoping Atlanta United can use their win over high-flying Inter Miami as a turning point ahead of Charlotte FC's visit on Sunday.
The Five Stripes beat Lionel Messi's Miami 3-1 in midweek, snapping a nine-match winless streak in the MLS in the process.
It means they move closer to the playoff places in the Eastern Conference, and Pineda is confident they can positively build on this result.
"I really want to [use the Miami win as a turning point]," Pineda said.
"I want to find the right words and connection with them individually, collectively, so we can make that big, big victory our turning point in our season and in three or four months, we can look to Miami and say it was the important one.
"That's when we came back to who we are. I hope that happens, but we have to focus on the next one.
"It's massively important [to win at home] because we haven't won there in a while. I think our fans deserve to have some joy on Sunday and I hope we can give them that."
Charlotte's five-match unbeaten run came to an end against New York Red Bulls on Wednesday, with their 3-1 defeat also the first time they have conceded since the start of that run.
Dean Smith is aware of the rivalry between the two clubs' supporters and wants to use it to give his players an added incentive.
"Derbies are really important because bragging rights are everything," said Smith.
"We're a young club still, we'll build up those rivalries, but the players will be aware of it - I'll make them aware of it - because it's important to our supporters."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Atlanta – Saba Lobjanidze
Lobjanidze scored his first career MLS brace in Atlanta's win over Miami on Wednesday. It was the 48th multi-goal game by an Atlanta player in a regular-season league match, more than any other team since they joined the league in 2017.
Charlotte – Ben Bender
Bender scored his first goal of the 2024 season on Wednesday after scoring three times in 2022 and 2023 for Charlotte. The American is the first player to score in all three MLS seasons for Charlotte FC.
MATCH PREDICTION: ATLANTA UNITED WIN
Atlanta ended a nine-match regular-season winless run (D4 L5) with a 3-1 win at Miami on Wednesday. The Five Stripes return home, where they have lost four consecutive league matches after having never previously lost three in a row at home.
Meanwhile, Charlotte saw their five-match unbeaten run come to an end with a 3-1 loss to the Red Bulls on Wednesday. Still, Charlotte's 22 points through 16 games are their most at this stage of a season in club history.
The four all-time meetings between Atlanta and Charlotte have been split with each team winning twice, once at home and once on the road. Both teams won at home in the 2022 season before winning on each other's field in the 2023 season.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Atlanta – 48.2%
Draw – 25.9%
Charlotte – 25.9%
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