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• Christensen expected to miss El Clasico after Barcelona confirm injury

  Andreas Christensen is expected to miss the final Clasico of the season after Barcelona confirmed he sustained a calf injury on international duty.

  The centre-back started Denmark's opening Euro 2024 qualifier against Finland on Thursday but lasted only 18 minutes before being forced off.

  Barcelona revealed it to be a problem with his left calf on Saturday following widespread media reports of him facing a period on the sidelines.

  While the club have not given a timeframe for Christensen's return, simply saying he is "unavailable for selection and his recovery will determine his return", they are reportedly expecting him to be out for up to a month.

  As such, he could miss as many as six games – among those, crucially, is the Copa del Rey semi-final second leg against Real Madrid on April 5, when Barca host Los Blancos having beaten them 1-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu in the first leg.

  The other five matches he could be a doubt for are in LaLiga, though Barca will likely feel their 12-point lead at the summit is sufficient to cope without him for the time being.

  Christensen has become a prominent figure at Camp Nou in recent times, however.

  After joining on a free transfer from Chelsea in pre-season, the 26-year-old was initially a bit-part figure, making only five LaLiga appearances before the World Cup partly due to injury.

  But he missed just one of their 10 games across all competitions prior to this international window – that being the first leg against Madrid.

   

• Ibrahimovic: Conte being made to pay by Spurs for being himself

  Zlatan Ibrahimovic believes Antonio Conte is being made to pay by Tottenham for "being himself".

  Conte is widely expected to be sacked in the coming days following his outburst after Spurs let a two-goal lead slip in last weekend's 3-3 Premier League draw at Southampton.

  The Italian accused his players of being "selfish" and playing with "no heart", with that draw following swiftly on from Tottenham's FA Cup and Champions League exits.

  But Ibrahimovic, who has never previously played under Conte, has defended the multi-title-winning coach for speaking his mind in public.

  "Every single person works in his own way. Somebody tries to be an actor, pretend. Somebody is being himself, somebody is trying to be perfect," he told Sky Sports.

  "I believe in being yourself, and sometimes you pay for it because that's not what the people want to hear. 

  "I prefer to be myself and express myself like I think and the way I want. We all work in our own way."

  Conte has spent the past week in Italy, and his future is likely to be decided by the middle of next week at the latest when Tottenham's international players return to training.

  Milan veteran Ibrahimovic is himself away on international duty with Sweden and was introduced as a second-half substitute in Friday's 3-0 Euro 2024 qualifying loss to Belgium.

  Sweden's oldest player at the age of 41 years and five months, Ibrahimovic has no plans to call time on his career just yet.

  "I want to continue playing football," said Ibrahimovic, who has played four times for Milan since returning from a long-term injury lay-off last month. 

  "If I feel good, this is my priority, and I feel very good at Milan. If they want me to keep me then I'm happy. I'm available."

• Tuchel eyes Dortmund scalp as new Bayern boss relishes Klassiker with 'different dynamic'

  Thomas Tuchel is determined to set the tone for his reign at Bayern Munich by knocking his old team Borussia Dortmund off their perch at the top of the Bundesliga.

  The new Bayern head coach is braced for "a different dynamic" in next Saturday's Klassiker, which could be the defining game of the German league season.

  Dortmund hold a one-point lead after Bayern were beaten last weekend by Bayer Leverkusen, and there are only nine rounds of games remaining, ramping up the fixture's significance.

  Tuchel, whose appointment as successor to the sacked Julian Nagelsmann was made official on Friday, has already begun to receive messages from within the Dortmund camp.

  He was boss at Dortmund from 2015 to 2017 and grew his reputation before being sacked amid behind-the-scenes disharmony.

  After a year out, Tuchel was snapped up by Paris Saint-Germain, and he went on to win the Champions League with Chelsea before being fired last September, a decision the Stamford Bridge hierarchy might have reason to regret.

  On Tuesday, Tuchel was called by Bayern and asked to be the man to save their season, with CEO Oliver Kahn and sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic fearing the campaign was coming off the rails.

  Tuchel said at his introductory press conference on Saturday: "I was a bit naive in the first discussion. The ball dropped that this would start with a game against Borussia Dortmund. The expectation level couldn't be higher."

  He said the game was "not about me", but inevitably his presence adds spice to the Allianz Arena occasion.

  "I got lots of messages and calls from staff at Borussia Dortmund saying they were looking forward to seeing me," Tuchel added. "There will be a different dynamic because of how the table now stands.

  "I'm proud to have BVB on my CV, but it's not going to stop me dealing with the situation."

  Dortmund have been long-time chasers of Bayern, so to be ahead of them at this stage of the season is unusual.

  Bayern have won the last 10 Bundesliga titles and are fearful of that running coming to an end. They could still finish with a treble, given they have reached the quarter-final stage of the DFB-Pokal and Champions League, so if all goes swimmingly Tuchel could have plenty to celebrate in May and June.

  The 49-year-old has pledged to "go in with open eyes and try to do everything we can to win all three titles".

  He believes Bayern are suitably equipped to go after such silverware too.

  "It's only on Tuesday I started really thinking about the squad," he said. "No one wants to play against a club like Bayern. It really got me excited for the job straightaway."

  Due to the international break, Tuchel will not see some of his squad until Friday, the day before Bayern tackle Borussia Dortmund in a top-of-the-table Klassiker.

  He considered it "a surprising time" for Bayern to change coach and said he would not be making radical changes over the coming weeks, promising a "deeper analysis" would take place in good time.

  He expects some players may consider his arrival "a new chance" and said he would prioritise "forming some faith on the pitch".

  "The fact is, I'm going to get feedback from players, but I don't want to overload anyone," Tuchel said. "The game that's coming up is a very exciting proposition, how everyone wanted it. It's my job to create a bit of anticipation as well."

  He is determined not to look back and instead only focus on what Bayern have ahead of them, labelling the Dortmund game "a chance to put the first exclamation mark out there".

  Asked about Nagelsmann, Tuchel spoke from experience when he said being sacked was "never nice", having lost his jobs at Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea in frustrating circumstances.

  "I think everyone knows that when you take over a job at a club like Bayern, things like this can happen," Tuchel said. "I know it could be difficult for Julian Nagelsmann right now."

  He stressed though, that the sacking was "not my responsibility" and hopes to have convivial discussions with Nagelsmann somewhere down the line.

  Tuchel has not yet picked up the phone to sound out Nagelsmann about the players he is inheriting.

  "I don't want to be disrespectful," he said. "I start things on Monday, and I'm sure we'll cross paths at some point and talk about things. My relationship with Julian, from my perspective, is impacted not one per cent."