Speculation continues to link Franck Ribery with a move to Real Madrid after the France international made public his wish to play at the Santiago Bernabeu, however, current employers Bayern Munich are to offer the winger a new deal in the hope he remains at the club.

However, with Bayern Munich firm over their €80 million price-tag of Ribery, Real Madrid general director Jorge Valdano claimed on Tuesday that the club’s efforts to sign the midfielder may not produce a favourable outcome.

Valdano also claimed that a new offensive for Ribery could be launched next summer if he is to stay at the Allianz Arena.

Bayern Munich executive chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has now made it clear that, to prevent further speculation on Ribery’s future, the club want to offer him a new deal.

“Our wish is not only that he stays, but also that he signs an extension,” Rummenigge told Bild.

Ribery, who joined Bayern from Olympique de Marseille in 2007, has a contract valid with the German giants until 2011.

This morning Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti attempted to put an end to speculation linking John Terry with a move to Manchester City by telling them that he is not available at any price, but it appears City have a contingency plan in the form of Bayern Munich star Lucio.

According to The Daily Mail, Lucio is willing to listen to offers due to fears he is not in trainer Louis van Gaal’s plans for next season. As a result, the 31-year-old has attracted the attention of Manchester City, who could bring him to Eastlands for just €7 million.

The Brazilian is also being followed by Inter Milan, who are also in the market for a centre-back. Negotiations have been ongoing with Chelsea for Ricardo Carvalho, but they appear to have broken down after a fee could not be agreed, and the English tabloid reports that the Nerazzurri have turned their attentions to Lucio.

The central defender made his name in Europe with Bayer Leverkusen, before joining Bayern Munich in 2004. He has made 84 appearances for the national side, and won the World Cup in 2002. His latest triumph, achieved as captain, was leading his side to the Confederations Cup in South Africa in June.

NEW YORK (AP)—Midfielder Jermaine Jones could join the U.S. national team later this year, possibly with defender Edgar Castillo.

The 27-year-old Jones, who has appeared in the European Champions League for Schalke of the Bundesliga, has played three times for Germany’s national team in exhibitions. He holds dual citizenship and has petitioned FIFA for a switch of nationality.

“We’ve had pretty regular communications with Jermaine’s representatives and his advisers,” U.S. Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati said Thursday. “I think that paperwork for that has probably now been submitted to FIFA. And the earliest he would be eligible to move would be the 2nd of August, which would be 60 days after the rule change came into effect.”

Jones, the son of a U.S. soldier, was Eintracht Frankfurt’s captain before signing a four-year contract with Schalke in April 2007.

He made his German national team debut against Austria on Feb. 6 last year as an 82nd minute reserve, played the second half against Belarus on May 27 and was among the final roster cuts by coach Joachim Loew for last year’s European Championship. He played the first half against England in November but has not appeared for Germany since.

Jones agreed in March to a three-year contract extension with Schalke through the 2013-14 season. Last month he told the governing body of German soccer he wanted to switch national teams.

“I certainly have had a lot of opportunities to see him play,” U.S. coach Bob Bradley said. “I would just like to wait until everything is taken care of on the paperwork side and we have the chance to bring him in before getting too much into detail. But, you know, he’s been an important player at Schalke. He’s played in a lot of big games and that type of experience can always be very, very helpful.”

Plans aren’t as far along with Castillo, a 22-year-old from New Mexico with Mexico’s Tigres UANL. He made his debut for Mexico’s national team against Colombia on Aug. 22, 2007, and has played in four matches for El Tri.

“We’ve had some discussions with Edgar’s representatives in the last few days,” Gulati said. “Everything is open. I don’t think Bob is ready to say that he’s coming into the team or not coming into the team, but from our perspective we’ve had some preliminary discussions with Edgar.”

Two players who could have helped the U.S. chose other countries in the past year. Villarreal forward Giuseppe Rossi, who was born in New Jersey, made his debut for Italy in October and scored twice against the Americans at the Confederations Cup. Defender Neven Subotic, who grew up partly in Salt Lake City and Bradenton, Fla., made his debut for Serbia in March.

Gulati and Bradley spoke four days after the U.S. lost to Brazil 3-2 at Johannesburg in the final of the Confederations Cup, the first FIFA final for a U.S. men’s team, and two days before the Americans’ CONCACAF Gold Cup opener against Grenada in Seattle.

The U.S., seeking its third straight title in the regional championship, initially included just two regular starters on its Gold Cup roster—forward Brian Ching and defender Steve Cherundolo—was allowed to expand its roster from 23 to 30 because of the short turnaround.

Added Thursday were forwards Jozy Altidore and Conor Casey; backup goalkeeper Brad Guzan; midfielder Ricardo Clark, Benny Feilhaber and Sacha Kljestan; and defender Jonathan Bornstein.

Landon Donovan was bypassed because his time with the national team has kept him away from the Los Angeles Galaxy.

The U.S. is ranked 12th in the world heading into the Gold Cup, its highest level since FIFA revised its system three years ago.

“Certainly all of us have heard from people, friends, fans, in the United States over these past days,” Bradley said. “And it’s a tremendous feeling to think that so many people tuned in and were excited about the Confederations Cup. And the responsibility in that regard continues to always be there, and the Gold Cup is a chance to follow up the success of the Confederations Cup with hopefully defending our title.”

After opening the Confederations Cup with terrible performances against world champion Italy (3-1 loss) and South American champion Brazil (3-0 defeat), the United States beat African champion Egypt 3-0, then upset European champion Spain 2-0. It took a two-goal halftime lead against Brazil in the final before allowing three second-half goals.

“Do I consider it a miracle? No. Just a great performance and players playing at the level that, you know, we’d all love to see them playing at every game,” Gulati said. “No one plays at their top level every game, not Spain, not Brazil and not the U.S. So it was a great performance in that respect, but not a miracle.”

ISTANBUL (AP)—Shakhtar Donetsk wants to keep the UEFA Cup, and perhaps it can.

Jadson scored from about 12 yards in the seventh minute of overtime, and the Ukrainian team beat Germany’s Werder Bremen 2-1 Wednesday night to win the final edition of the tournament.

“It is bigger because it is the last, and maybe we can keep the trophy,” Shakhtar coach Mirea Lucescu said. “We don’t have to make a copy of it.”

Luiz Adriano had put Shakhtar ahead in the 25th minute of regulation, but Naldo tied the score 10 minutes later. Goalkeeper Tim Wiese got to the shot by Jadson, among five Brazilians in Shakhtar’s lineup, but let the ball slip over his own goal line.

The tournament, Europe’s No. 2 club competition behind the Champions League, is being renamed the Europa League for next season. There were stretches of empty seats as the finalists struggled to sell their ticket allocations.

“We have bigger aims. We now want to do things in the Champions League: reach the quarterfinals, maybe the semifinals,” Lucescu said.

Bremen was missing Brazilian playmaker Diego, suspended after a yellow card in the semifinal win over Hamburg. It also was without injured defender Per Mertesacker.

“We knew they were very fast, and we knew we had to deny them space but it didn’t really work out,” Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf said. “We ceded time to our opponent and gave our opponent time to prepare its attacks.”

Bremen defender Sebastian Proedl, starting only because of an injury to Per Mertesacker, failed to stop a pass by Razvan Rat’s to Luiz Adriano, who cut inside and lifted a shot over Wiese.

Shakhtar created more openings during the next 10 minutes and goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov had little to do until Naldo sent a free kick over a defensive wall following a foul on Markus Rosenberg by Fernandinho.

The ball was firmly struck almost right at Pyatov and he got both hands to it, but inexplicably punched it straight into his own net.

“We weren’t able to attack as much as we usually are able to do,” Schaaf said. “Our ball control wasn’t good enough.”

Shakhtar Donetsk:    

Pyatov- 5.5:  Produced a howler for Naldo’s free kick and looked unsure for the minutes that followed, but fortunately he was not put under too much pressure from Werder.   

Srna- 7.5:  The Croatian captain enjoyed an energetic game down the right and was more often than not seen inside the opposition half. Went down too theatrically at times, but a good overall performance.   

Kucher-  7.0:  Alongside partner Chygrynskiy, he played well and provided a solid screen in front of keeper Pyatov. The win was very much based on a solid back line.   

Chygrynskiy- 7.0:  The centre-back did all the simple things well and kept both Claudio Pizarro and Markus Rosenberg at bay. A solid display.      

Rat- 6.5:  Less impressive than Srna on the opposite flank but nonetheless a good overall display.     

Lewandowski- 7.0:  The Pole put in a good night’s work in his holding role. He had a good chance to score in the first half, but failed to capitalise.   

Fernandinho- 6.5:  Solid enough, but was eclipsed by the rather more dynamic trio of Jadson, Ilsinho and Luiz Adriano. He did though play well alongside Lewandowski.   

Ilsinho- 7.5: Highly impressive in the first 45 minutes, but faded somewhat in the second-half as the game as a whole lost some of its sparkle.   

Willian- 7.0:  A surprise inclusion, but the Brazilian played well cutting in from the flanks and didn’t disappoint coach Mircea Lucescu.

Jadson- 7.0: The match-winner with his extra-time goal. His overall performance was good and he gave the Werder defence plenty to worry about.   

Luiz Adriano- 7.0: He missed an early chance, but didn’t let it get him down and he responded excellently with a well taken opening goal.   

Substitutes:  

Gladkiy- n/a  

Gay- n/a  

Duljaj- n/a  

Werder Bremen:  

Wiese- 6.5:  The Werder keeper had a good game up until his mistake for Jadson’s winner. He pulled off a number of super saves before allowing the Brazilians extra-time effort to squirm in.   

Fritz- 6.5:  The full-back was lively although the final ball always seemed to disappoint.   

Naldo- 6.5:  The lanky centre-back was solid enough without his regular partner Per Mertesacker and got Werder back into the game with a typical Naldo free kick.      

Proedl- 6.0:  He played well enough alongside Naldo, but the Austrian lacked the dominance that Per Mertesacker enjoys.   

Boenisch- 6.0:  Boenisch was given a tough time in the first-half by Dario Srna and Ilsinho in particular.   

Niemeyer- 5.5:  Only playing because of injuries and suspensions, Niedermeyer did well enough without ever taking anyone’s breath away.      

Baumann- 6.0:  Captain Baumann did well enough in the centre of the park for Werder, but was left to watch Dario Srna lift the trophy.   

Frings- 6.0:  The engine of the Werder midfield was combative enough, but with his competitive edge will be devastated at the loss in the final.  

Oezil- 6.5:  Was a bit out of it in the first-half, but came more into the game in the second period. He was meant to take on the mantle of Diego, but was stuck out wide for large periods.   

Pizarro- 7.0:  The Peruvian led the line well, but never really received the service he desired. He certainly missed the delivery from the absent Diego.   

Rosenberg- 5.0:  Not a good game from the Swede. No chances, little of merit and easily forgettable. Substituted in the second-half.   

Substitutes:  

Hunt- n/a  

Pasanen- n/a  

Tziolis- n/a    

Mathew Burt, Goal.com

The last UEFA Cup final will be a clash of German brawn and Ukrainian technique, Shakhtar Donetsk coach Mircea Lucescu said ahead of their clash with Werder Bremen in Istanbul on Wednesday.

“We’ll watch a game performed in two very different styles. Bremen are an attacking side with very good physique. They have some very strong athletes on the team,” he said.

“Shakhtar Donetsk’s style is based on the good technique of our players and we will try and control the game,” the Romanian told a news conference on Tuesday.

The Ukrainian side, who have reached their first European final, have no injury worries but will be without suspended midfielder Tomas Huebschman.

By contrast Werder Bremen, Cup Winners’ Cup winners in 1992, have been hit with a host of suspension and injury problems.

Playmaker Diego is banned but would have probably missed the final anyway having torn his thigh muscle in training. Fellow Brazilian Naldo faces a race to be fit after a groin injury.

“I would like to have seen how the Brazilian players would have faced each other,” said Lucescu, whose squad features five Brazilians.

Lucescu said he would wait until after a training session later on Tuesday before deciding his final lineup.

Shakhtar, who beat Barcelona 3-2 at the Nou Camp in the Champions League last December, have helped boost the level of Ukrainian football, he added, building on the country’s profile before it co-hosts Euro 2012 with Poland.

This will be the 38th and last UEFA Cup final, having been first contested in 1971-72 after replacing the Fairs Cup.

From next season UEFA’s second-tier competition becomes the Europa League, a rebranded and expanded affair that European soccer’s governing body hopes will give it renewed impetus.

The final will be staged at the Sukru Saracoglu stadium (capacity 53,586), which is home to Fenerbahce.

The venue is familiar to Lucescu who had spells in charge of Fenerbahce’s Istanbul rivals Galatasaray and Besiktas.

“This is a city I love a lot,” he said. “I was here for four years and those years brought me a lot of happiness. They were good years in my professional career.”

Meanwhile, Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf has warned his side they have achieved nothing yet this season despite reaching the finals of both the UEFA Cup and DFB-Pokal.

Success on the European stage would greatly improve what has been a disappointing Bundesliga campaign for Bremen - they will finish in 10th place - but Schaaf has warned against complacency.

”We don’t have anything in our hands yet, apart from the tickets to Istanbul,” he said before departure.

However, director of sport Klaus Allofs believes his side have what it takes to win, having proven their cup pedigree this season.

”For finals like this, you need to have a special mentality,” he said. ”The team have shown that they have this recently against Hamburg.”

ESPN

BERLIN (AFP) - German giants Bayern Munich confirmed on Wednesday that Dutch coach Louis van Gaal will take over as head coach on July 1 having signed a two-year contract to replace the fired Jurgen Klinsmann.

Having led AZ Alkmaar to the Dutch title this season, the 57-year-old has signed a deal with the Bundesliga champions, ending weeks of speculation over whether or not he would succeed Klinsmann, who was fired on April 27.

“We are happy to have signed an experienced and successful football coach for Bayern Munich such as Louis van Gaal,” said Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in a statement.

Having steered Ajax to the Champions League title in 1995, the fiery Van Gaal has a wealth of experience having led the giants from Amsterdam to consecutive Dutch titles between 1994, 1995 and 1996.

In 1998 and 1999, he also won La Liga with Barcelona before taking charge of the Dutch national side in 2000, but failure to lead them to the World Cup finals in 2002 meant he was replaced by Dick Advocaat.

Then followed brief spells at Ajax and Barcelona, before he joined AZ in 2005 which culminated in Alkmaar winning the Dutch title on April 19 this year just after their decisive 28-game undefeated run was brought to an end.

Not lacking in self-confidence, Van Gaal boldly stated: “I am the best” after winning the Dutch title and Bayern’s bosses seem to agree.

The Dutchman inherits a squad who are still bidding for the Bundesliga title and are level on points with leaders Wolfsburg with two games league remaining having beaten neighbours Bayern Leverkusen 3-0 on Tuesday.

He replaces Klinsmann who was sacked as Bayern coach after only ten months in charge following a poor run of results.

The writing was on the wall for the ex-Germany coach in early April when the German giants were hammered 5-1 at Wolfsburg before being beaten 4-0 at Barcelona as they made an early exit from the Champions League.

While Klinsmann took an innovative approach, Van Gaal is not afraid to make waves or speak his mind.

Bayern captain Mark van Bommel insisted recently: “You won’t find a player who has anything negative to say about him.”

Not everyone would agree and Bulgaria striker Hristo Stoichkov contradicted Van Bommel when he once famously remarked: “Van Gaal is a total fool” after the pair worked together at Barcelona.

But Bayern boss Rummenigge has said he wants to bring in a no-nonsense football man to forge Munich into a powerful side to challenge for their first Champions League title since 2001.

“If we had wanted someone who is everyone’s darling, we would have signed George Clooney,” Rummenigge commented only a few days ago.

BERLIN (AFP) - Wolfsburg’s strikers Edin Dzeko and Grafite both netted in the German league leader’s 3-0 win over Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday while title rivals Hertha Berlin and Bayern Munich also picked up wins.

With Hertha winning 2-0 at Cologne and Bayern enjoying a 3-0 victory over Bavaria neighbours Bayer Leverkusen, Wolfsburg stay top of the Bundesliga only by virtue of a better goal difference.

“Although Dortmund were very strong, we kept up the pressure and got the reward,” said Wolfsburg coach Felix Magath.

“And amongst our strikers we have natural high qualities.”

Bayern’s win also puts them on 63 points and they are two behind Wolfsburg on goal difference, while Hertha are third on 62 points with two games left.

Fourth-placed Stuttgart now need to win at Schalke on Wednesday if they want to stay in the title race.

Wolfsburg’s Dzeko hit his 21st goal of the season when he latched onto a through ball in Dortmund’s penalty area after only 14 minutes.

And Grafite moved one clear of Stuttgart’s Mario Gomez as the league’s top scorer with his 24th goal in 23 league games when he accepted Dzeko’s simple tap in on 47 minutes.

To add insult to injury, Dortmund had Kevin-Prince Boateng sent off for a dangerous tackle before Dzeko added his second with five minutes remaining as Dortmund finally had their seven-game winning streak broken.

“We did not lose here undeservedly, yet we do not have the feeling that we failed,” said Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp.

“Wolfsburg simply have outstanding quality in their strikers, we did what we could, but it wasn’t enough.”

Defending champions Bayern Munich ran riot against Leverkusen as Luca Toni opened the scoring just after the half-time break when Bayern’s caretaker coach Jupp Heynckes read his side the riot act at half-time.

“We played okay in the first-half, but we were too jerky in our movement,” said Heynckes.

“In the half-time break, I made it clear to the players that they must play differently and not be so defensively and the result was there for all to see.”

Then French midfielder Franck Ribery added a second on 59 minutes with a clever flick over Bayer goalkeeper Rene Adler.

And Bayern striker Lukas Podolski - who is heading back to his former club Cologen at the end of the season - was set up by his Germany team-mate Bastian Schweinsteiger to hit Munich’s third on 71 minutes.

Hertha Berlin are still in the title race after their 2-1 win at Cologne thanks to Brazilian Cicero and midfielder Patrick Ebert while the home side pulled back a late consolation goal.

Bottom side Karlsruhe look almost certain to be relegated as they squandered a 2-0 lead to slump to a 3-2 defeat at home to Hanover and the league’s last team are four points from safety with two games left.

On Wednesday night, UEFA Cup finalists Werder Bremen are at Eintracht Frankfurt, while Stuttgart must win at Schalke to keep their title dreams alive.

Hamburg are at home to Bochum while relegation candidates Energie Cottbus are at home to Borussia Moenchengladbach and Arminia Bielefeld are at home to Hoffenheim.

Manchester United are reported to have tabled a £62.5m bid to Bayern Munich to secure the services of French midfielder Franck Ribery as a contingency should Cristiano Ronaldo leave for Real Madrid this summer.

The Guardian report that United made the offer some weeks ago after club scouts repeatedly watched the 26-year-old in action.

The offer, which would smash the current world record transfer of £44m set in 2001 when Real Madrid signed Zinedine Zidane from Juventus, would only come into effect if Ronaldo leaves for the Bernabeu.

While the paper contends that the Portuguese star is almost certain to leave, earlier this week the World Player of the Year said: “I’m no longer thinking of Madrid. That dream is dead,” but despite the 24-year-old’s comments speculation over his future and links with Madrid are inevitable given his standing in the game.

Although Bayern are understood to have turned down United’s offer it could regarded as an opening gambit in negotiations for an increasingly unsettled player who has no shortage of suitors, with Barcelona and Manchester City already linked with summer bids.

Ribery has grown increasingly discontented at the Bundesliga club this season and last week said that he might have to leave unless the club can secure Champions League football next season.

Only Germany’s top two teams are guaranteed places in the Champions League and while Bayern are currently second three points off behind leaders VfL Wolfsburg Hertha Berlin, Vfb Stuttgart and Hamburg are keeping the pressure on Bayern.

The former Marseille player, who moved to Munich in 2007 and is contracted to Bayern until 2011, has so far rejected the chance to begin talks over a new contract.

Over the weekend Bayern were linked a move for Werder Bremen’s Brazilian playmaker Diego, with general manager Uli Hoeness quoted in the Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper saying Diego “becomes an issue for us if Ribery actually leaves.” In response Werder director of sport Klaus Allofs admitted: “I cannot say that we will not be selling any player because somebody may come in with a gigantic offer,” said Allofs. “If Bayern were to call, then I would not hang up.”

Italian giants Juventus have already made contact with Bremen about Diego, while Serie A rivals Inter Milan are also thought to be keen on the attacking midfielder.

ESPN Soccernet

MADRID (AP)—Thierry Henry and Lionel Messi each scored twice to help Barcelona dismantle archrival Real Madrid 6-2, putting it on the verge of a first Spanish league title in three years.

Barcelona leads Madrid by seven points with four games to play after a victory that may well have decided the title race.

“We’re very proud, we took a big step, enormous,” said Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola after his club matched the previous highest total of 85 points in a season. “We wanted to kill it, to kill the league here.”

Madrid’s 18-match unbeaten run—which included 16 victories—was snapped after its first defeat since a 2-0 loss to Barcelona at Camp Nou in December.

“We’ve lost a lot of hope in the league chase,” Madrid coach Juande Ramos said.

Gonzalo Higuain headed Madrid into the lead after 14 minutes, but it was all Barcelona from then on.

Henry equalized four minute later, and Carles Puyol gave Barcelona the lead with a header in the 20th. Messi added the third, beating Iker Casillas in the 36th from a Madrid turnover.

Sergio Ramos gave the two-time defending champions hope in the 56th, but Henry, Messi and Gerard Pique sealed the “clasico” to give Barcelona the most goals it has ever scored at Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

“We showed we deserve to be champions,” Messi said. “We were superior.”

Barcelona, whose last silverware was a Champions League-league double in 2006, was also likely to have boosted its confidence ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League semifinal at Chelsea. The teams drew 0-0 in the first leg.

Elsewhere, Luis Fabiano and Fredreric Kanoute scored in the second half as Sevilla snapped a four-game losing streak with a 2-0 win at Villarreal.

Sevilla is third with 60 points, Valencia has 56 and Villarreal 55.

Numancia moved out of last place thanks to a 2-0 victory over Malaga, whose European qualification hopes took a hit thanks to goals from Juan Carlos Moreno and Javier Del Pino.

STUTTGART, Germany (AP)—Edin Dzeko scored three times to lead Bundesliga leader Wolfsburg to a 4-0 win over Hoffenheim on Saturday, and Bayern Munich edged Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-1 in the first game since firing Juergen Klinsmann.

Wolfsburg stayed three points ahead of Bayern when Grafite converted a late penalty for his league-high 23rd goal to complete the win over Hoffenheim, a promoted team that led halfway into the season but is now winless in 12 games.

Hamit Altintop scored Bayern’s winning goal shortly before halftime in the first game since the club fired former national team coach Klinsmann on Monday and brought in Jupp Heynckes for the last five games of the season.

Wolfsburg leads with 60 points and Bayern has 57.

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP)—Scott McDonald scored twice in Celtic’s come-from-behind 3-1 victory at Aberdeen on Saturday to keep the Hoops atop the Scottish Premier League.

Although Chris Maguire gave Aberdeen a 22nd minute lead at Pittodrie, Celtic defender Gary Caldwell leveled a minute before halftime. McDonald put defending champion Celtic 2-1 up in the 72nd minute and the Australian scored again in the final minute.

Celtic is four points ahead of Rangers which hosts Hearts on Sunday. Saturday’s victory also means that Gordon Strachan’s team will be ahead of its traditional Glasgow rival before they meet next weekend.