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Galatasaray said they would “initiate criminal proceedings” against Fenerbahce manager Jose Mourinho after claiming he made “racist statements” following the teams’ 0-0 draw on Monday.

It was not clear which statements Galatasaray were referring to.

Speaking in the news conference after the Istanbul derby, Mourinho said the home bench had been “jumping like monkeys” and also repeated his criticism of Turkish referees, saying it would have been a “disaster” to use an official from the country.

Monday’s match was refereed by Slovenian Slavko Vincic after both clubs requested a foreign official take charge of the fixture.

As well as the threat of legal action, Galatasaray said they would submit “official complaints” to football’s governing bodies.

Mourinho – a former Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham manager – and Fenerbahce are yet to responded to the accusations.

After the game Mourinho was asked about the performance of 19-year-old defender Yusuf Akcicek and said: “I have to thank the referee. After the big dive in the first minute and their bench jumping like monkeys on the top of the kid… with a Turkish referee you would have a yellow card after one minute and after five minutes I would have to change him.”

He added: “I went to the referee’s dressing room after the game, of course the fourth official was there, a Turkish referee. I told him ‘thank you for coming here, you come for a big match’ and I turned myself to the fourth official and I said ‘if you were a referee this match would be a disaster’.”

In a statement, Galatasaray said: “Since the commencement of his managerial duties in Turkey, Fenerbahce manager Jose Mourinho has persistently issued derogatory statements directed towards the Turkish people. Today, his discourse has escalated beyond merely immoral comments into unequivocally inhumane rhetoric.

“We hereby formally declare our intention to initiate criminal proceedings concerning the racist statements made by Jose Mourinho, and shall accordingly submit official complaints to Uefa and Fifa.

“Furthermore, we shall diligently observe the stance adopted by Fenerbahce – an institution professing to uphold ‘exemplary moral values’ – in response to the reprehensible conduct exhibited by their manager.”

Two-time Champions League winner Mourinho, 62, was appointed Fenerbahce manager last summer and was banned and fined earlier this season for condemning refereeing standards in Turkey.

Before Monday’s game he had welcomed the decision to use a foreign official after previously describing the environment in the country as “toxic”.

“I think it’s important for the credibility, for the image of the match,” Mourinho said.

BBC Sport has contacted Fenerbahce for comment

Two leagues will be rewarded with an extra spot in the Champions League next term based on performance in Europe this season.

At present the Premier League is in the driving seat with six of its seven teams reaching the last 16 across all three Uefa competitions.

Manchester City’s defeat to Real Madrid is the only blot on the landscape for England, with Spain in second narrowly closing the gap.

However, Italy, who are third, endured a pretty dismal time in February with AC Milan, Atalanta and Juventus all losing in the knockout play-off round – limiting Serie A’s opportunity to gather more points.

Germany’s prospects appear difficult with Bayern Munich and Dortmund in the same half of the Champions League draw.

Likewise France. Paris St-Germain and Lille are the representatives remaining in the Champions League, with Monaco and Brest exiting at the play-off stage. Lyon, in the Europa League, are the only other French side left in European competition.

Meanwhile, Portugal has four of its five teams remaining but lost Sporting who were defeated by Borussia Dortmund. They could do with Porto edging past Roma in the Europa League play-offs to boost their hopes of making up ground on the top five.

Trying to call this is a bit like a game I used to play with my kids, poker dice, where you roll five dice and it is completely random what you end up with.

This is the first time I have so little idea of what to expect from both sides that I actually think I need to make two predictions, rather than one.

I can guarantee you this, though. Whatever result I go for, it will end up being the opposite of what actually happens.

Tottenham demolished Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford in September but that does not really have any bearing here.

Spurs are getting players back from injury and Timo Werner, James Maddison and Guglielmo Vicario are among those training again, but how fit are they going to be for this game?

Ange Postecoglou says his players are out on their feet and we could see that in their FA Cup defeat at Aston Villa, so a lot depends on how much they have left in the tank.

As for Manchester United, well I’ve been reading reports this week that some of their players are unhappy with Ruben Amorim’s style of play.

There is lots going on off the pitch too, with stories that more redundancies are planned at the club, following controversy over a rise in ticket prices., external

Who would have thought when Ineos completed their deal to take a stake in United 12 months ago that, within a year, they could possibly be as unpopular with fans as co-owners the Glazers are.

In regards to Amorim, I just think he needs time. He arrived in mid-season, he has his way of playing and United will have to give him the players who fit that system, so it might take a window or two before we see him with the team he wants.

There needs to be patience there, but we also know football fans are impatient. They want to see some improvement in the short-term, and it is hard to argue they have made any progress since Amorim took charge.

I still have a sneaky feeling they might edge this game but I cannot really tell you what I am basing that on.

This is a big game for Ange too, now his side are out of both domestic cups, but I am going with United, just.

Sutton’s prediction: 1-2 or 4-0 [only 1-2 will count as Chris’s score]

Dan’s prediction: These two are both having a shocker – it looks like the league table is upside down when you see them down in 13th and 14th, and hopefully we will be above both of them by the time this game is played. They both need a win pretty badly, so I can see this being a draw. 2-2

Arsenal and Spurs interested in Moise Kean, Manchester United and Aston Villa miss out on Fermin Lopez, Barcelona decline offer to sign Joao Felix.

Arsenal and Tottenham are both considering making a move for 24-year-old Fiorentina and Italy striker Moise Kean. (Nicolo Schira), external

Manchester United and Aston Villa were both ready to offer 70m euros (£58.3m) for Barcelona’s Fermin Lopez in January, but the 21-year-old Spain forward was not interested in a move. (Sport – in Spanish) , external

Barcelona declined an offer to sign Chelsea’s Portugal forward Joao Felix in the January transfer window before the 25-year-old sealed a loan move to AC Milan until the end of the season. (Sport – in Spanish), external

Arsenal are interested in signing Portugal forward Diogo Jota, with Liverpool willing to sell the 28-year-old for the right fee because of the number of games he has missed with injury. (Anfield Watch), external

Atletico Madrid are interested in signing Crystal Palace’s 27-year-old France striker Jean-Philippe Mateta, whose deal with the Eagles runs out in 2026. (Teamtalk), external

However, Lyon’s American owner John Textor, who is a major shareholder at Crystal Palace, wants his Ligue 1 side to bid for £50m-rated Mateta. (Sun), external

Crystal Palace have earmarked Burnley’s French defender Maxime Esteve, 22, and Middlesbrough’s Netherlands youth international Rav van den Berg, 20, as potential replacements for 24-year-old England centre-back Marc Guehi (Sun), external

Everton are aiming to sign young, British stars as part of a new recruitment focus. (Football Insider), external

EPA

Julia Quenzler

Reuters

Brighton have rejected a significant offer from Saudi Pro-League club Al-Nassr for Japan winger Kaoru Mitoma.

The bid was believed to be worth €65m (£54.42m) but sources with an understanding of the situation say Brighton have no need to sell and dismissed the offer out of hand.

However, it is anticipated Al-Nassr will return with a higher bid.

While Brighton are confident in their position and believe Mitoma has no desire to leave, the sums involved are bound to at least be considered seriously by the 27-year-old and it cannot be completely ruled out that a deal will go through.

Mitoma signed a contract extension in October 2023 that runs to June 2027.

He is one of the most popular players in Brighton’s squad and club officials are acutely aware of the commercial impact he generates in Japan given they toured the country before the start of the current campaign.

Mitoma joined Brighton from J League side Kawasaki Frontale in 2021.

He has made 92 appearances and scored 18 goals in all competitions and is the only Brighton player to have featured in all 23 Premier League games so far this season.

Al-Nassr, whose players include Cristiano Ronaldo, Sadio Mane and Aymeric Laporte, are close to signing Aston Villa forward Jhon Duran for a reported £65m.

The Saudi Pro-League transfer deadline is on Friday evening.

Miedema herself admits that she is still seeking her very best form following the ACL injury in December 2022. She has played only 16 club games since for Arsenal and City, whom she joined last summer.

A winter training camp in Saudi Arabia, Miedema says, has proved helpful.

“For me, I just want to take responsibility to put us back on top again and I am really happy to have been able to do that today,” she told Sky Sports after being named player of the match versus Villa.

“In Riyadh during the training camp we did a lot of shooting and I just feel really good today. For the second goal I did a scan and knew there was someone behind me, but I was in a good position to just hit it.

“I am actually just happy to be back out there and I am taking all of the small wins. I felt this sharp probably before this all (ACL injury) happened. I gave myself the time to come back properly and I hope we can see the benefits in the rest of the season.

“With my rehab I feel strong, I feel good and I feel like I have done the right things this time around. I hope I can keep building on minutes and get back to my level.”

To say City are back would be a stretch. Avoiding three successive defeats for the first time since October 2021 is great, but they are still six points off the top and have games against their fellow top three sides on the horizon.

Former England defender Fern Whelan told BBC 5 Sports Extra: “What we are seeing is a City side slowly getting back to themselves. The one thing is that they need to sure up defensively. There are still question marks there and they have games against Arsenal and Chelsea to come.”

The injuries still don’t stop for City and Taylor. After Kelly was added to the list, Laura Coombs exacerbated a thigh injury in the warm-up at Villa Park and had to pull out of the starting XI.

But, with Shaw and particularly Miedema returning, Taylor had reasons to be cheerful following his 100th WSL match in charge of City.

“We still have to be mindful with Khadija. We were strict with 15 minutes today and no more,” he said. “Same with Viv. We were stretching her to 90 minutes.

“Getting both on pitch at the same time, that’s the next task.”

Top-flight sides Heart of Midlothian, Hibernian and St Mirren all beat lower league opposition, but Ross County came a cropper against Championship visitors Livingston.

Hearts fan responses to the win away to Brechin City…

Derek: Dodgy pitch was a real leveller, but it was a good performance in the end. Yan Dhanda looked like a man with a point to prove and got a deserved goal – and Elton Kabangu looks a good shout for the rest of the season. Jorge Grant was unlucky, James Wilson was class, but Cammy Devlin and James Penrice outshone everyone. Not a finished article, but signs that we’re improving.

Jim: Brilliant opener from Brechin and equaliser from Dhanda. Fitness told in the end and Hearts ran out comfortable winners. However, even this game still showed that Hearts lack a creative midfielder who can run with the ball and that they are severely weak up front. For me, Kenneth Vargas can get on the first plane back to Costa Rica – he’s useless!

Alan: A real Jekyll and Hyde performance. The first half an hour, we were absolutely awful, the second half we played some good stuff, good attacking play, especially down the left side. This team shows they can turn it on when they want to. Big Elton knows the game and knows the way to goal. His physicality will cause teams a lot of problems.

Jimbo: At last, something seems to be slowly happening with the team. They’re not leaking goals. This team now needs time to play together and, with more possible additions, belief and confidence from the players will come. The league is tight, but I’m hopeful we can climb the table into the top six. Silly points dropped previously could hurt us though.

Steve: First half was a blood and guts cup tie – narrow heavy pitch didn’t help. Craig Halkett and Kabangu were standouts. Good to see Wilson coming on as substitute, as at this point he’s not a 90-minute player. Big question marks about our midfield, that’s where we need new faces. Just relieved we got through this round.

John: Not the best performance, but job done on a poor pitch against a physical side. Excellent goal from Dhanda, showing hunger. Hopefully the floodgates will open for Kabangu. Vargas trying to claim that goal is embarrassing. He’s an imposter and needs moved on.

Thoughts of Hibs supporters after easing aside sixth-tier visitors Clydebank…

Danny: Hibs were decidedly average. The Bankies were obviously aiming to defend and didn’t have a shot on target.

Kenny: A professional performance. We looked like a very good Premiership side. The team are working hard in all departments and the effort everyone’s putting in is great to see. Our season starts here. Hopefully, we can go on a good cup run, but qualifying for Europe must be the priority. We can’t afford now to take the foot off the gas.

John: The early goal got rid of any banana skin fears. Good to see Rudi Molotnikov get a start. He contributed to all good things on the park. The defence was solid as usual, Dylan Levitt’s performance was excellent and Martin Boyle is unplayable at the moment.

The St Mirren faithful were also pleased with their win away to Queen of the South…

Eddie: Job done. Winning in cup games is all that matters. It looks like a new star has emerged – young Callum Penman was impressive. Let’s not forget he is only 17 and it is about managing his development. Now we just have to beat Aberdeen in our next game – let’s get new signings in and get points on the board.

Dougie: In the end, a comfortable win, but we were put under pressure when Queen of the South scored. Good performances from Marcus Fraser, Scott Tanser, Penman and Toyosi Olusanya. Mikael Mandron was the weak link again. Play young Evan Mooney – at least he is a goalscorer and shows great potential.

But it was a disappoint day for County…

Jamie: Livi deserved their win. Too many players just miles off it. How Don Cowie can’t see this squad needs a bit of pace and width to mix things up is beyond me.

Rick: Didn’t deserve to win. Only started playing when we went behind for each goal. As for the final goal, the entire defence and goalkeeper were just ball watching and, finally, what on earth was Akil Wright doing for that handball? I couldn’t believe my eyes!

John: That’s the worst performance I’ve seen by County. They allowed Livingston to bully them and failed to attempt to control the game. Connor Randall not starting was a mistake for me. Apart from his tap in, Jordan White had very little, if any, influence.

The move may be considered controversial given Palace had to withdraw Chalobah at short notice from their 1-0 FA Cup win over Stockport County on Sunday.

Palace manager Oliver Glasner initially described the situation as a “contractual issue” before further explaining on Tuesday: “He wants to stay here but it’s a decision Chelsea can take.”

Chalobah was a regular starter at Selhurst Park, making 14 appearances over his four-and-a-half-month spell in south London.

The central defender was previously considered surplus to requirements at Chelsea and trained away from the first team in a group nicknamed ‘the bomb squad’, a group of a dozen players unwanted by Chelsea, which included England internationals Raheem Sterling and Ben Chilwell.

Chelsea wanted about £25m to sell Chalobah in the previous three transfer windows.

The artwork was created to honour Rashford’s 2020 child poverty campaign, when he spearheaded efforts to support children and families struggling with food and bills amid the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The forward, who has scored 17 times in 60 caps for England, was awarded a MBE for his efforts.

Around the corner from the mural is a busy side road lined by cafes and shops that flow into the heart of Withington. Among them stands the ‘Mega Pound Store’, its entrance lined with an assortment of footballs.

In 2020, Rashford reflected on BBC Breakfast about how his family once depended on places such as this.

He said: “I remember we used to go to a shop called Poundworld, we would schedule out the week.

“We would get seven yoghurts and you can have one a day. My mum did the best she could within the circumstances.”

Rashford’s connection to his roots and the values instilled during those challenging times resonate deeply with the people in the area.

“He is all about the community, he’s loved here. He represents so much more than football, he represents a better world,” said United fan and Withington local Nusaybah Rwifa.

“My mate used to be one of his coaches and every time I go round to his house and see the signed Rashford shirt he has, we always laugh. Rashford is a star here.”