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Super Stuttgart sweep Leverkusen aside with in-demand Leweling to the fore | Andy Brassell

Super Stuttgart sweep Leverkusen aside with in-demand Leweling to the fore | Andy Brassell

Plenty of prospective candidates for Germany’s World Cup squad caught the eye in a 4-1 cruise at the BayArena If ever there was a weekend to show up on your best form, then this was it. Stuttgart travelled to Bayer Leverkusen for Saturday night’s Topspiel not just facing a team with whom they have had a healthy sporting rivalry with over recent years, but with an audience to perform to. Starting with an XI containing seven current national team players they were – of course – under the gaze of Rudi Völler, who served Leverkusen as player and sporting director over two spells amounting to almost 25 years and, though now the sporting director of the DFB, still lives locally and is a frequent visitor to the BayArena. So if he enjoyed this early-year shockwave to the Bundesliga’s established order, it would have been in a professional rather than a personal capacity. Games between these two have tended to be among the highlights of recent Bundesliga seasons; intriguing, edge-of-the-seat, push-pull affairs between a team that took the express elevator to the very top under Xabi Alonso and one which never blinked for a second when faced by them, emboldened by an inspiring coach of their own in Sebastian Hoeness. “Even in their top year two years ago when Leverkusen dominated everyone,” noted Völler as a Sunday guest on Sport1’s celebrated Doppelpass, “Stuttgart were the only team that played on equal terms in both games.” Continue reading...

Former Tory Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi Defects To Reform In Major Win For Nigel Farage

Former Tory Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi Defects To Reform In Major Win For Nigel Farage

Nadhim Zahawi defected from the Conservatives to Reform UK today. Former Conservative chancellor Nadhim Zahawi has defected to Reform UK, in a major win for Nigel Farage. The ex-MP for Stratford-on-Avon held multiple ministerial positions under the last four Conservative prime ministers and sat in parliament between 2010 and 2024. He was sacked as Tory chairman by Rishi Sunak in 2023 after he was found to have broken the ministerial code over his tax affairs. Speaking at a Reform conference on Monday, Zahawi said: “Britain needs Nigel Farage as prime minister.” He added: “We can all see that our beautiful, ancient, kind, magical island story has reached a dark and dangerous chapter.” He claimed: “Britain needs Reform. “My own party, and by definition to some extent me personally, should share some blame for the continuation of the Blairite constitutional vandalism and our failure, to coin a phrase, to take back control from the rich powers of the unelected bureaucracy. “Now, Conservatives did some important work stabilising the economy in the early years after Tony Blair’s and Gordon Brown’s destructive reign, reforming education and welfare. “But failures on mass migration, failure to strengthen our armed forces or even protect special forces from insane government lawyers, and bad virtue signalling legislation that has made us less competitive and less prosperous, to name but a few – these have provided me with painful lessons learnt that will, I hope, benefit this great new team.” Zahawi joins the 22 former Conservative MPs who are now part of Reform. A former businessman, Zahawi first became a minister in 2018 during Theresa May’s government. He went on to take a role in the business department, and was appointed as education secretary in 2021, before briefly taking on a role as chancellor during Boris Johnson’s final days in office. During Liz Truss’s time in No.10, he served as the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and was then appointed to be the Tory Party chair under Rishi Sunak. However, he was found guilty of breaching the ministerial code in 2023 after he failed to disclose that HMRC was investigating his tax affairs. He stood down from parliament in 2024 and his seat went to the Liberal Democrats’ Manuela Perteghella. Related... Rishi Sunak Gets Snappy With Journalists As He Faces Nadhim Zahawi Questions Rishi Sunak Says 'Integrity' Is 'Really Important' As He Defends Handling Of Nadhim Zahawi Scandal 13 Key Questions Rishi Sunak Still Needs To Answer Over The Nadhim Zahawi Scandal

Huge Tottenham blow as Rodrigo Bentancur facing THREE MONTHS on sidelines as injury crisis ravages Thomas Frank’s squad

Huge Tottenham blow as Rodrigo Bentancur facing THREE MONTHS on sidelines as injury crisis ravages Thomas Frank’s squad

TOTTENHAM will be without Rodrigo Bentancur for three months in another stinging injury setback for under-fire manager Thomas Frank. Bentancur, 28, was subbed off late in the game against Bournemouth last Wednesday. And as if Antoine Semenyo's 95th-minute Cherries winner wasn't bitter enough for Spurs, they are now set to be without one of their...