RASMUS HOJLUND REVEALS HIS EMOTIONAL PLAN FOR COPENHAGEN RETURN IN UCL CLASH
Rasmus Hojlund returns to Copenhagen! Discover why Napoli’s star forward is confident despite Politano and Neres being sidelined.
Napoli’s coach, Antonio Conte, is dealing with injuries left and right before their Champions League game against FC Copenhagen. Still, he’s not letting anyone feel sorry for themselves. “We’re not going out there with our heads down. We’ll hold them high and fight for our shot,” he said.
Conte’s message to his players was pretty clear. “We play with whoever we’ve got. That’s it. We’ve been working on new solutions for two days—now it’s time to bring them onto the pitch.” The squad’s missing a bunch of key guys, but Conte’s not making excuses.
“You have to change things up,” he said. “We’ve lost Matteo Politano and Amir Rrahmani, and David Neres is still out with that ankle. So, we focus on what we can do, not what we can’t. There’s no point worrying about stuff we can’t control. I actually feel good about tomorrow.”
Conte kept going. “This group knows how to respond, especially when things get tough. I hoped the injuries would let up, but they’re only getting worse. Still, the team knows I trust them. We’ve studied Copenhagen, we’ve got a plan, and we’re going for something big. If they play better, we’ll give them credit—but we’re not showing up to lose. We’ll walk out there proud, and we’ll play to win.”
Hojlund’s coming home for this one. “It’s special to be back here,” he said, thinking about all the memories in that stadium, with the fans and the energy. “But we’re here to win.”
Hojlund knows what’s at stake. “We need the win tomorrow. We’re even on points with Copenhagen, and we’ve got another home game against Chelsea. A win puts us in a better spot. Yeah, we’ve had some bad luck with injuries, but we’re still strong, and we’ve got the mentality to push up the table.”
He also talked about Romelu Lukaku possibly coming back soon. “He’s a great player, a real goal scorer. I used to watch him play here in Copenhagen, and I hope I get the chance to play with him now. He’s a big presence. We can work together; he’s proven that. I grew up playing with two strikers, so that suits me.”
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SNUB: FABRIZIO ROMANO REVEALS MATHYS TEL IS "FUMING" AT THOMAS FRANK.
Thomas Frank excludes Mathys Tel from Spurs' UCL squad as Roma submit loan offers for the striker and Radu Dragusin this January.
Tottenham have offers on the table from Roma for both Radu Dragusin and Mathys Tel, and at the same time, Spurs are trying to find a way out for Alejo Veliz, if you believe the latest reports.
Things aren’t going well in north London. Tottenham are stuck in 14th place in the Premier League. Thomas Frank’s team has only managed seven wins out of 22 league matches this season and just one victory in their last eight games across all competitions. The pressure is piling up on Frank. He needs results, and fast. No wonder he’s hoping the January transfer window brings some much-needed changes.
There’s a lot of movement happening. Frank has upset Mathys Tel, who only just joined permanently from Bayern Munich in the summer, by leaving him out of the Champions League squad for the Borussia Dortmund clash. That didn’t go over well.
Transfer insider Fabrizio Romano posted on X: “Tottenham manager Thomas Frank excludes Mathys Tel from Champions League squad list. Frank makes space for Dominic Solanke, and the only way was to remove Tel. The French striker and his camp are not happy at all with the decision.”
Now, Gazzetta dello Sport (via Football Italia) says Roma are officially talking to Spurs about signing both Tel and Dragusin in January. Roma’s been after Dragusin for a while, but now they’ve also put in an offer for Tel. Both deals would be loans, since both players are frustrated at Tottenham and want more minutes in the second half of the season.
Apparently, Dragusin has already agreed to join Roma on loan this month, but Spurs want Roma to commit to buying him at the end of the deal.
Meanwhile, Alejo Veliz is turning into a real headache for Tottenham. He’s on loan at Rosario Central in Argentina, but according to Cadena 3, Spurs are seriously thinking about paying compensation just to cut the loan short. After that, they could send Veliz to the Brazilian club Bahia. Tottenham see him as a “problem” and is apparently willing to pay just to “fix the broken-down car,” as one source put it. That pretty much says it all.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DEBUT: ALVARO ARBELOA FACES MONACO TEST AMIDST SIX KEY DEFENSIVE ABSENCES
Alvaro Arbeloa makes his Champions League debut as Real Madrid hosts Monaco. Get the latest injury news and predicted 2026 lineups.
Alvaro Arbeloa is about to step into his first European match as a manager on Tuesday night, with Real Madrid hosting AS Monaco at 21:00 CEST. It’s the second-to-last game in the group, and things are tight. Real Madrid sits in seventh place right now—just three points off second, but also only three ahead of Monaco, who is down in 19th and fighting to keep their Champions League hopes alive.
Arbeloa has a headache when it comes to his squad list. Alvaro Carreras joins Eder Militao, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Antonio Rudiger, Ferland Mendy, and Brahim Diaz on the list of players missing through suspension. Brahim’s still on his way back from the African Cup of Nations. Monaco’s boss, Sebastien Pocognoli, has his own problems: Lamine Camara and Krepin Diatta are away at AFCON, and Takumi Minamino, Lukas Hradecky, Paul Pogba, Mohammed Salisu, and Christian Mawissa are all injured.
Looks like Arda Guler is set to start for Real Madrid. Both Diario AS and Marca say his spark off the bench against Levante earned him a spot in the midfield, likely taking Eduardo Camavinga’s place. Fran Garcia should fill in for Carreras. The only real question is about Gonzalo Garcia—Marca thinks Franco Mastantuono will take his spot, but AS says Gonzalo stays.
As for Monaco, expect Alexander Golovin and Folarin Balogun to lead the line, with Magnes Akliouche causing trouble on the right. Ansu Fati, on loan from Barcelona, is probably starting too.
Monaco really needs to turn things around. They’ve lost four in a row in Ligue 1, including a 3-1 defeat to Lorient last time out. Real Madrid have had their own drama after losing to Albacete last week, but they got within a point of Barcelona over the weekend. A win against Monaco could flip the mood in Madrid and give the Bernabeu something to cheer about.