Football in the World

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Jose Mourinho has admitted an improper conduct charge following his dismissal against Cardiff but questioned Anthony Taylor's decision to send him off, according to ESPN.

The Chelsea manager was quoted as saying:

As Mourinho suggests, his admission of wrongdoing should leave the Chelsea boss with a fine and allow him to return to his dugout duties for Saturday's crunch Premier League game against City.

The incident arose after Taylor warned Branislav Ivanovic against time-wasting at a throw-in.

This provoked a fiery response from Mourinho, who felt Cardiff's players had been guilty of persistent time-wasting themselves, prior to Chelsea's lead.

He was critical of the Welsh side's approach, as Dominic Fifield outlined in The Guardian, insisting their delaying tactics were a waste of money to fans.

Mourinho claimed it took Cardiff "a median of 21.5 seconds" to put the ball back in play, which he felt is breaking the rules.

Mourinho's sending-off forced him to watch the closing stages among the fans, which only endeared him further to the Stamford Bridge faithful.

Such an episode is certainly not uncommon for the Special One, who will often deliberately steal the attention in an attempt to reduce the pressure on his team.

His side faced a tough trip away to Schalke on Tuesday, in their third Champions League tie, but went into it without the usual levels scrutiny.

Having already lost at home to FC Basel, another defeat would have complicated their hopes of qualification, putting them six points behind the Germans.

However, Chelsea ran out comfortable 3-0 winners, perhaps helped by the media glare being focused on Mourinho and well away from the team.

The much-maligned Fernando Torres registered a brace, and Eden Hazard scored what was surprisingly his first Champions League goal, as Chelsea re-established themselves in Group E.

While he may seem distinctly unimpressed by this whole process, increased adoration from fans while his side quietly record two key wins will leave Mourinho quietly satisfied with recent events.

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Portugal head into familiar territory as they prepare for a two-legged playoff against Sweden for a spot in the 2014 World Cup.

In qualifying for both the 2010 World Cup and 2012 European Championship, they had to get past Bosnia and Herzegovina in a playoff. While Portugal were able to do so, you can't be happy to see this happen for a third time in a row if you're a supporter.

They finished second in Group F in UEFA qualifying. Russia were just a point ahead and already have their place in Brazil booked.

Portugal aren't one of the best teams in the world, but they have far too much talent to have this scenario rear its ugly head again. They drew at home with Northern Ireland and drew home and away to Israel. Turn any one of those draws into a win and Portugal are top of the group.

Instead, their hopes rely on stopping Zlatan Ibrahimovic and breaking down a tough Sweden side. It's far from a guarantee that Portugal will do so.

Paulo Bento's fate as national team coach hangs in the balance. Should he get through, he may stay on, as it's far too late to try to integrate a new coach's style and have him decide on a final lineup. For better or worse, the Portuguese Football Federation has hitched its wagons to Bento.

Only time will tell if that was the right move.

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Both enjoy astonishing overall records for Barcelona and Real Madrid, respectively, but how do Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo fare when the rival clubs meet in El Clasico?

The Argentine has played Real Madrid twice in the Champions League: 14 times in La Liga, five times in the Copa Del Rey and on four occasions in the Spanish Supercopa.

Ronaldo, meanwhile, has met Barcelona twice in the Champions League (not including the three times he played them in Manchester United colors), eight times in the league, five times in the Copa Del Rey and four times in the Supercopa.

Based on the numbers, Messi's record is clearly superior to that of the Portuguese, as he enjoys a winning percentage of 44 percent and an average of 0.72 goals per game, compared to Ronaldo's winning percentage of 25 percent and strike rate of 0.6.

The Barcelona No. 10 has also been far more prolific in assisting his teammates, setting up 10 more goals than his Madrid counterpart.

Ronaldo could (and probably would) argue that he has closed the gap somewhat in recent times, however, as in the last six games between the Spanish giants (including both legs of the Supercopa), he has scored six times to Messi's five.

The Argentina captain is currently tied with Alfredo Di Stefano as the all-time top scorer in El Clasico, while in October, 2012, Cristiano became the first player to score in six consecutive Barcelona-Real Madrid matches.

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Fernando Llorente is 28 years old.

Muscular and an imposing figure at 6'5", he has been remarkably durable throughout a professional career now in the early days of its 12th season.

Nicknamed El Rey Leon—“The Lion King” in Spanish—during his time with Basque giants Athletic Bilbao, the bearded, floppy-haired striker should be enjoying his prime years and positioning himself for a starting berth in the Spanish national team as the 2014 World Cup approaches.

But Llorente has never been much concerned with the present.

No, his focus has typically been somewhere else—some place off in the distance or, as he divulged in a Tuesday interview with Marca, even in his past.

“There was a real interest,” revealed the now-Juventus forward regarding Real Madrid’s supposed approaches for him several years ago.

“[Madrid] tried to sign me a couple of times, but Athletic wouldn’t let me leave so it was impossible.”

By the summer of 2012 it was clear Llorente was angling for a move away from SanMames. With only a year remaining on his contract he assumed—ultimately incorrectly—that the club would cash in on him rather than let him leave for nothing the following July.

Juventus had turned his head and were thought to be mulling a €20 million bid for his signature. But instead of negotiating with the Serie A winners, Athletic offered Llorentea new pact, although as soon as it became clear he had no intention of remaining at the club a once-fruitful relationship shrivelled quickly.

On October 1, 2012—two days after a 2-0 defeat at home to Basque rivals RealSociedad—Llorente, already training with the reserves at Athletic’s Lezama complex, had an altercation with manager Marcelo Bielsa and stormed off the pitch during the middle of a session. (ESPN FC)

Having been used exclusively as a substitute to that point due to a perceived lack of commitment,Llorente would have to wait a further seven weeks before finally playing from the beginning in a Primera Division match againstDeportivo.

It was one of just four La Liga starts he would make in a season that yielded just five goals in all competitions—a far cry from the 29 he had posted the previous campaign.

Having spent nine months as a bench player at Bilbao, and bitter from the experience of it, Llorente could have hardly been expected to hit the ground running when he finally joined Juventus during the summer. And while expectations for his adaptation to the squad were modest, he has so far failed to reach even those.

Coming into Sunday’s match away to Fiorentina he had played just over 30 minutes from four Serie A appearances, and while he was given the full 90 in which to make an impression at Stadio Artemio Franchi he managed only a single shot at goal and was largely unimpressive as Juventus suffered their first loss of the season.

“The training is more demanding [atJuventus],” he told Spanish outlet ASon Tuesday, via Football-Espana. “It is barbaric...The workouts are brutal.”

Arriving in a team in which ingratiating himself to manager Antonio Conte was always going to be difficult (Conte, more than most managers, picks his teams from a small group of players he trusts within the squad), so far it seems as though Llorente has been doing anything but.

Although he took part in a full pre-season with the Bianconeri he has nevertheless played fewer minutes than each of Carlos Tevez, Mirko Vucinic, Fabio Quagliarella and Sebastian Giovinco. And when he has been given a chance he has done nothing to convince Conte he deserves another—underachieving to the point where a loan move away from the club, possibly to Arsenal, has been bandied about, as per the Mirror:

But instead of buckling down and making a case for himself, Llorente has merely revisited those old Madrid rumours while complaining about the training regimen atJuventus.

His story, quite unfortunately, is fast becoming one of what might have been—the accomplishments, both at club and international levels, that might have been realized had he been as bothered with the here and now as the past and future.