Real Madrid's Isco will consider future before the summer

Real Madrid playmaker Isco has admitted he is still considering his future with the Spanish giants. The 24-year-old impressed when given an opportunity on Saturday, providing two assists as Real beat Espanyol 2-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu. A series of Premier League clubs have been linked with moves for the Spaniard, although none firmed up their interest in January. Spurs were understood to be keen on signing him on a loan deal last summer. And Isco himself believes that he might have to quit if he does not get more first-team action.  'I'm calm. What worries me is to have minutes,' he told beIN Sports. 'A player's career is small. 'I'm happy here and would stay many more years. 'From now until the end of the season, we will make a decision. It is my future at stake.'  The former Malaga man has only made 11 starts in La Liga this campaign and played in the Champions League just once. Real top the Spanish top flight after 21 games and look likely to advance into the quarter-finals stage of the Champions League after beating Napoli 3-1 at home in mid-week.

Sutton United v Arsenal: How do the teams match up?

Giant-killers Sutton United are preparing to play Premier League side Arsenal on Monday in an eye-catching FA Cup fifth-round tie. The hosts, 17th in the National League, are 105 places below the 12-time FA Cup winners and are playing at this stage of the competition for the first time, beating Championship side Leeds to get here. Here, we compare the two teams' most recent line-ups - Sutton a league trip to Guiseley, Arsenal a Champions League humiliation by Bayern Munich - in terms of cost and international experience: SUTTON UNITED Ross Worner - Goalkeeper Signed: Free transfer, AFC Wimbledon Nationality: English Caps: 0  Roarie Deacon - Striker Signed: Free transfer, Crawley Nationality: England Caps: England Under-19s, 3 Simon Downer - Defender Signed: Free transfer, Maidenhead Nationality: English Caps: 0 Louis John - Defender Signed: Free transfer, Crawley Nationality: English Caps: England C, 1 Nicky Bailey - Defender/Midfielder Signed: Free transfer, Barnet Nationality: English Caps: England C, 4 Jamie Collins - Defender Signed: Free transfer, Eastleigh Nationality: English Caps: 0 Bedsente Gomis - Midfielder Signed: Free transfer, Southend Nationality: French/Senegalese Caps: 0 Jack Jebb - Midfielder Signed: Free transfer, Newport Nationality: English Caps: England Under-17s, 5 Craig Dundas - Striker Signed: Free, Hampton and Richmond Nationality: English Caps: 0  Adam May - Midfielder Signed: Loan, Portsmouth Nationality: English Caps: 0 Matt Tubbs - Striker Signed: Undisclosed, Forest Green Nationality: English Caps: England C, 2 Total cost: no fees disclosed Senior international caps: 0 ARSENAL David Ospina - Goalkeeper Signed: £3million, Nice Nationality: Colombian Caps: 75  Shkodran Mustafi - Defender Signed: £35million, Valencia Nationality: German Caps: 15 Kieran Gibbs - Defender Signed: Free, Wimbledon (now MK Dons) Nationality: English Caps: 11 Hector Bellerin - Defender Signed: £425,000, Barcelona Nationality: Spanish Caps: 3 Laurent Koscielny - Defender Signed: £10million, Lorient Nationality: French Caps: 42 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain - Midfielder Signed: £12million, Southampton Nationality: English Caps: 24 Francis Coquelin - Midfielder Signed: Stade Laval, £850,000 Nationality: French Caps: France Under-21s, 7 Alex Iwobi - Midfielder Signed: Youth team Nationality: Nigeria Caps: 8 Granit Xhaka - Midfielder Signed: £35million, Monchengladbach Nationality: Swiss Caps: 50 Mesut Ozil - Midfielder Signed: £42.5million, Real Madrid Nationality: German Caps: 83 Alexis Sanchez - Midfielder/Striker Signed: £35million, Barcelona Nationality: Chilean Caps: 106 Total cost: £173.775million Senior international caps: 417

Vincent Janssen promises to fight to save his Spurs career

Vincent Janssen has vowed to prove his worth at Tottenham after his tough start to life in England. The former AZ Alkmaar striker has struggled to make an impact since his £17million summer move, scoring just four times in a Spurs shirt since the start of the campaign. He last started in the FA Cup win against Aston Villa at the beginning of January and his manager Mauricio Pochettino has even admitted the 22-year-old is not doing enough to earn a place in the side. But after missing out on a place in the squad for the game against Gent, Janssen has said he is not ready to give up on his White Hart Lane dream just yet. He told the Mirror: 'I have given myself 12 months to succeed in the Premier League with Tottenham. And those 12 months are not over yet. The level is really high here. Up until last week we were second in the league. 'Don't forget I had only played one season at the highest level in Holland when Spurs bought me from AZ Alkmaar. In a short period of time I have made some big steps forward in my career. 'I'm not going to throw the towel in just because things are not going great for the first time in my career. I am jumping to put the Spurs shirt on, but I will have to prove to the coach that I deserve to play. 'I was only told one hour before the game on Thursday that I had to sit in the stand, I was the 19th man. Obviously that message made me sad. But the manager makes the choices.' Spurs are third in the Premier League and take on Stoke City next weekend.

Nir Bitton wary of threat posed by Motherwell

Celtic midfielder Nir Bitton is expecting a more challenging game than usual on Saturday as his side look to make it 30 wins from 31 domestic games against Motherwell. Motherwell posed one of the biggest threats to Celtic's unbeaten domestic record under Brendan Rodgers in December when they led 2-0 against the runaway Ladbrokes Premiership leaders at Fir Park. However, Celtic came back in the second half before Tom Rogic snatched a last-gasp winner. Motherwell suffered two heavy defeats at Celtic Park last year, shipping 12 goals in the process, but were more competitive on their third visit as the hosts made it 2-0 late on. Bitton told the Celtic View: 'Motherwell are one of the few teams who try and play football and create something. 'Games are always good against them at Fir Park. They are tough opponents to play against but every match in Scotland is tough and we will need to be at our best to get the result.'

Man United will be in trouble come April, insists Mourinho

Jose Mourinho has confirmed that Luke Shaw will not play against St Etienne in the Europa League on Thursday — while he also acknowledged that success in cup competitions will lead to 'trouble' with fixture congestion near the end of the season. Shaw has not appeared for Manchester United since the end of January after falling out of favour with Mourinho, casting doubt over his future at Old Trafford. Three of his last seven starts have come in the Europa League and he could have expected to earn a recall in the last 32 tie at home to Saint-Etienne. But when asked if the 21-year-old might play in the first leg against United's French opponents, Mourinho quickly shut the door on that possibility. 'He's not playing tomorrow,' he said emphatically. Asked why, the United boss replied: 'Because my team is playing well and I am happy with my back four. I'm going to repeat (Antonio) Valencia, (Eric) Bailly, (Chris) Smalling, (Daley) Blind.' The news is another setback for Shaw who was publicly blamed by Mourinho for Watford's second goal when United lost 3-1 at Vicarage Road in September, and was then criticised by the manager for declaring himself unfit to play at Swansea in November. Mourinho is known to have reservations about Shaw's defensive discipline and is also understood to feel that the youngster, who cost £27million when he signed for Louis van Gaal in the summer of 2014, has been given too much too soon in his career. Shaw missed two months through injury at the end of last year but had to wait another four weeks for his comeback game against Wigan in the FA Cup at the end of January and has not played since. Mourinho also confirmed that Wayne Rooney, Michael Carrick and Phil Jones will miss the Saint-Etienne game.  He added: 'Phil is still recovering from the injury from the Wigan match. Wayne and Carrick... I don't want to say injuries because I don't think we are speaking about injuries.  'We're speaking about little muscular problems and protection of these problems. All three are out tomorrow.' Mourinho will again put out a strong team to try and progress in a competition that offers a back-door route to the Champions League for the winners. But with United through to the EFL Cup final a week on Sunday and facing a FA Cup fifth round tie at Blackburn on Sunday, he again acknowledged that success in the cup competitions will lead to 'trouble' with fixture congestion towards the end of the season. United have already had to postpone the Manchester derby against City and will face more disruption if they aren't knocked out at Ewood Park this weekend, in addition to the complications already thrown up by playing Europa League football on Thursday nights. 'If we progress in the competitions we will be in trouble in May,' said Mourinho. 'The accumulation of FA Cup and League Cup and the match postponements makes it really hard for us. 'But we will go seriously tomorrow and seriously against Blackburn on Sunday. I always try even in cup competitions to play with a team with some structure, experience and balance so you cannot expect from me in any cup match that I play a team completely unexpected. 'If we lose we lose because the other team is better or we don't play well, not because I open the door with my choices. 'The Europa League is not a competition we want to play, but it's a competition we play and we respect it. The plus is another opportunity to qualify for the Champions League. 'We have two doors still open. One is the Europa League but we know we are in the last 32 not even the last eight or four, so there is a long way to go. In the Premier League the door is also open but we still have a long way to go. 'It's a fact that the Europa League is normally played on Thursdays even though next week (in France) it's Wednesday. We never got a Monday fixture (in the Premier League) to have an extra day's rest so I know already that matches away for example at Middlesbrough will be played on a Sunday at 12 o'clock. 'But if you ask me if I want to beat Saint-Etienne and continue in the competition, I tell you yes. We know it can be really difficult but we also know we don't throw away competitions. 'We know it's going to be difficult and can have an impact in the Premier League because we compete against teams in other circumstances. Liverpool play only in the Premier League, Chelsea in the Premier League and the FA Cup. Tottenham are in the same situation as us. But we prefer difficult and progressing to easy and being out of the competition. 'We cannot choose competitions at Manchester United, we know that our situation is really complicated. We know that the Europa League is also a competition where we pay on Thursdays and that makes it even more difficult for us. 'The problem for us is the postponed match. The match against Man City is postponed. If we win against Blackburn, the Southampton game will be postponed. If we draw against Blackburn we will have another match against them at Old Trafford and then I think April and May will be very very hard – so hopefully it is very very very hard.'

Mark Warburton demands answers from Rangers

Mark Warburton has called on Rangers to answer questions put to them by the League Managers Association as he reiterated his position that he did not resign from the club. In a joint statement with David Weir and Frank McParland, the deposed Rangers management team expressed their surprise that the club had not addressed the questions posed to them. Rangers announced on Friday they had accepted the trio's resignations and Graeme Murty took the team during Sunday's William Hill Scottish Cup win over Morton. The statement, released by the LMA, read: 'Much has been said over the last few days relating to our departure from Rangers Football Club. 'At this stage, for legal reasons, it is inappropriate for us to comment in any great detail on our departure from the club. 'However, given that the club has seen fit to make detailed public statements, it is important that we should clarify certain matters and as such we would like to formally place on record, that at no stage did we resign from our positions at Rangers. 'It is a matter of surprise to us, and to the League Managers Association (LMA), which is advising all three of us, that despite its detailed public statements, the club has not answered key questions put to it by the LMA, in writing, requesting an explanation of why it suggested that we resigned from our positions.' Rangers released a statement on Friday that claimed manager Warburton, assistant Weir and head of recruitment McParland had come to an agreement to leave the club via their joint representative. Chairman Dave King followed that up on Saturday with a lengthy update which criticised Warburton for his response to boardroom scrutiny and accused him of a lack of commitment to the club. King claimed that after a meeting, their agent 'subsequently offered that Mark, David and Frank would resign with immediate effect without compensation as long as the club, in turn, agreed to waive compensation from any new club that they signed for. 'After discussion the board accepted this offer and employment was immediately terminated. In order for us to achieve our ambitions we need employees that, like your board members, will always put Rangers first. 'While we were dealing with the admin and press releases relating to the resignation the agent again contacted us and asked to defer the resignation until the management had secured a new club. 'I assume that the new deal had somehow collapsed at the last minute. 'The board met to consider this request but resolved to hold them to the original agreement.' The issue looks set to run and run and could end up in the courts given the distance between both versions of events. In the meantime, Rangers are searching for a new management team, which could include a director of football, while Warburton, Weir and McParland could be in limbo until the legal issues are settled. They took the opportunity to thank players and fans for their support during their time with the club. Their statement added: 'For all three of us, it was an absolute privilege to be given the opportunity to work at a club that is so rich in tradition and history. 'It was an honour to be given the responsibility of returning the club to the top tier of Scottish football and we are very proud to have played our part in successfully securing promotion back to the Scottish Premiership. 'Winning the Petrofac Scottish Challenge Cup and beating Celtic, in a memorable semi-final to reach the Scottish Cup Final, are experiences we will never forget. 'We sincerely thank the Rangers fans for their unwavering passion and dedication. We had the good fortune to meet so many outstanding individuals and supporters of the club and we will always value their words of encouragement. We wish them great success for the seasons ahead. 'The current group of players, together with the staff at the training ground and Ibrox, have borne the huge weight of responsibility of taking a massive club back to the top flight. They should be proud of their togetherness and their work ethic. 'It has been a pleasure to work with them, and we would like to thank each and every one of them for their commitment and contribution.' 

USA launch 2017 kit and it's similar to England's strip

Fans cheering on the USA at their World Cup qualifier against Honduras next month could be forgiven for confusing their team with England.  The US announced on Wednesday their team's new men's and women's kit for the 2017 season, with Nike opting for an all-red strip. Problem is, the design is almost identical to the away strip currently worn by Harry Kane and Co across the pond.  The new kits are a bold red colour palette made from recycled polyester, and also features Nike's AeroSwift technology. USA's shirt also feature the words '1 Nation' and '1 Team' on the inside cuffs of the sleeve, with 'USA' displayed on the neckline. The shorts are also red with black elastic side tape with the socks featuring red and orange on the calf.  Their kit is very similar to England's second kit, with the notable difference being the badge and the Three Lions' choice of blue around the neckline.  England's strip sets fans back nearly £140, with the shirt retailing at £90 and shorts costing £27.99 and socks priced at £20. The USA team will debut their new kit on March 24 in their crucial World Cup qualifying match against Honduras in San Jose, California.

Dean Henderson and Axel Tuanzebe train with Man United

There were some unfamiliar faces in Manchester United's training session ahead of their UEFA Europa League tie with French side Saint-Etienne. One was 19-year-old goalkeeper Dean Henderson, who was recently recalled from his loan spell at League Two club Grimsby Town to offer cover for the injured Joel Pereira. The England under 20 international was enjoying his time with the Mariners and had extended his loan until the end of the season. But when third-choice keeper Pereira, who'd just made his first-team debut in the FA Cup against Wigan, suffered an injury, Henderson was recalled and joined the first-team for training. Henderson had played regularly for United's youth and under 23 sides before being sent out on loan first to National League North Stockport County and then Grimsby on loan. Another promising United youngster to train alongside the likes of Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Carrington was 19-year-old defender Axel Tuanzebe. The Congolese-born defender is part of United's Europa League squad and could feature in Jose Mourinho's plans for the last 32, first leg tie at Old Trafford on Thursday night. Premier League unless stated  Thursday Saint-Etienne (H)  Europa Sunday Blackburn Rovers (A) FA Cup  Feb 22 Saint-Etienne (A) Europa  Feb 26 Southampton (N) EFL Cup final March 4 Bournemouth (H) March 12 Southampton (A) Tuanzebe also made his debut in the 4-0 FA Cup win over Wigan last month and a few days later extended his United contract until 2020, with the option of a further year. United have never won the Europa League, or its forerunner the UEFA Cup, and with the team positioned stubbornly in sixth in the Premier League, Mourinho could go for glory in the competition. After the home leg against Saint-Etienne, United travel to Blackburn Rovers in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Sunday, before the return leg in France takes place next Wednesday. United will then hope to win the first major trophy of the Mourinho era when they take on Southampton in the EFL Cup final a week on Sunday.

Cristiano Ronaldo breaks Champions League assist record

Cristiano Ronaldo may not be on fire in front of goal in the Champions League this season but he's more than making up for it with his assists. Ronaldo is enduring an uncharacteristic European goal drought this campaign having gone 523 minutes without a goal. But the Real Madrid star notched his fifth assist of the season during his side's first leg Champions League last-16 win over Napoli, as he played in Toni Kroos for his side's second of the night.  Scroll down for video It also edged him ahead of former Manchester United team-mate Ryan Giggs to the top of the all-time Champions League assist charts with 31 in total. Lionel Messi is a way behind in third with 24 while Mesut Ozil and Zlatan Ibrahimovic have 22 assists each in Europe's elite competition. Ronaldo is also top of the scoring charts in the competition with 95 goals in 134 appearances in the competition. Messi is just behind him with 93 strikes though the Barcelona star has a better ratio, having featured in 112 Champions League matches.  Ronaldo showed a clever change of pace to skip past Napoli's highly-rated centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly, before playing in Kroos. Madrid had to come back from behind at the Bernabeu after falling behind to an early strike from Lorenzo Insigne. Karim Benzema levelled for Madrid before Kroos's strike edged Madrid in front.  Midfielder Casemiro's stunning volley then put daylight between the sides ahead of the second leg due to be played at the Stadio San Paolo on 7 March.
1st - Cristiano Ronaldo - 31 assists
2nd - Ryan Giggs - 30 assists
3rd - Lionel Messi - 24 assists
4th - Mesut Ozil - 22 assists
= - Zlatan Ibrahimovic - 22 assists
5th - Thierry Henry - 18 assists
= - Franck Ribery - 18 assists
= - Frank Lampard 18 assists
= - Karim Benzema 18 assists  
 1st - Cristiano Ronaldo - 95 goals
2nd - Lionel Messi - 93 goals
3rd - Raul - 71 goals
4th - Ruud van Nistelrooy - 56 goals
5th - Karim Benzema - 51 goals
6th - Thierry Henry - 50 goals
7th - Zlatan Ibrahimovic - 48 goals
8th - Andriy Shevchenko - 48 goals
9th - Filippo Inzaghi - 45 goals

Roy Keane blasts Arsenal after Bayern Munich loss

Roy Keane has given yet another withering assessment of Arsenal's continued troubles in the Champions League after their 5-1 capitulation against Bayern Munich put them on the brink of another last 16 exit. Alexis Sanchez cancelled out Arjen Robben's superb opener, but Robert Lewandowski's header restored the hosts' lead before two Thiago Alcantara strikes put the contest to bed. Thomas Muller's late fifth rubbed salt into the wounds to send the Gunners tumbling to a seventh consecutive exit at this stage of the competition, and Keane was not surprised the scoreline reflected the gulf in class between the two sides.  'When I see Gibbs with the captain's armband at the end of the game you're in big trouble,' Keane said in his role as a pundit on ITV.  'If he's your captain or your leader, if he's the guy who's going to bring everyone together, you're in huge trouble.' 'Bayern didn't have to be at their very best tonight. The goals Arsenal gave away were schoolboy stuff.'  Back in September, Keane told Arsenal fans to 'calm down' after Theo Walcott's spike in form culminated in him scoring both goals in a routine 2-0 win over Basel at the Emirates Stadium. The stony-faced pundit warned viewers that Arsenal players will be wearing gloves when 'the cold nights come in' and with temperatures in Bavaria a little over freezing, Keane's sense of foreboding was vindicated. 'I don't know what you were expecting,' the Republic of Ireland assistant added. 'There was a lack of leadership, character, hunger, desire. I have to say tonight at this level and this stage they're not good enough. 'There's no point being too critical because they're just not up to it. They have two decent players and the rest are average.'  Wenger has successfully guided the club into the Champions League group stages ever since winning the double in his first season in 1998, but two FA Cup winners' medals since their last league title in 2004 has divided supporters. Back-to-back Premier League defeats by Watford and leaders Chelsea have left them 10 points off the top sparking growing unrest among fans unsatisfied by modest achievements. Lee Dixon believes the current squad has proven not to be up to the necessary standards in order to achieve major success both domestically and in Europe, and the former Arsenal full-back feels it was 'men against boys' at the Allianz Arena.  'There's a niceness about the whole club at the moment, but it's not that ruthless want to win the league. You don't win anything being nice.  'It saddens me to see Arsene like that, I know how much he is hurting, what a winner he is, how his teams have always responded. That level isn't good enough. 'He always prides himself on getting a result and turning things around, but he's realising with this team he's getting no response. It was men against boys. 'The players are not good enough and he owes it to himself to change it. It'll be him who pulls rug from under his own feet. Perhaps he thinks it's now time. I've never seen him like that before.'

Arsenal slammed by German press after Bayern Munich rout

North London may be waking up to a nasty hangover, but Munich is still delirious after Bayern's 5-1 hammering of Arsenal. Few in Germany expected Bayern to lose on Wednesday night. But very few indeed expected them to win so convincingly. This was, by some distance, the most impressive performance that Bayern have managed this season. In a year in which they have at times looked clunky, this was the first time the team had been so ruthless, so irresistible. 'I'm a little surprised myself at how good we were,' admitted Arjen Robben after the match. 'But it just shows that we always turn up when it really matters.' Some, like Arturo Vidal, had promised before the match that fans would see the 'true Bayern' against Arsenal. Having delivered on that promise, the team's praises are now being sung from the rooftops. 'Bayern were unchained,' wrote the Munich Abendzeitung. 'Against their favourite opponent Arsenal, they put in their best performance of the season, and can now dream of winning the treble.' For many, the performance was proof that coach Carlo Ancelotti has the capacity to deliver in the big games.  The perfectionism of Pep Guardiola may be gone, but the pragmatism of Ancelotti seems suddenly to be working. 'This game proves it: the Champions League is Ancelotti's competition,' wrote Bild.  The sneaking suspicion that Ancelotti would lead Bayern to European glory is a now no longer sneaking. It is transforming into an expectation. Yet there was not just praise for Bayern's revitalising performance. Many in Germany were also left scratching their heads at Arsenal's capitulation. 'Arsenal were simply overrun in the second half,' said Bild, while TZ remarked that the Gunners had 'retreated very quickly into their shells.' On the live ticker of popular magazine 11 Freunde, the headline by the end of the night simply read: 'cannon fodder'. 'We are not sure whether to laugh or cry,' the 11 Freunde writers wrote of Arsenal's abject performance. Mesut Ozil came in for particular criticism from the German press, with almost every single publication giving him the lowest popular rating and tearing into his apparent lack of motivation. 'Ozil was excessively disappointing,' wrote Abendzeitung. 'He has faced a lot of criticism in England recently, and he was a shadow of his usual self.' Arsenal, in general, were a shadow of what most of the Germans had expected them to be. As Mats Hummels remarked after the game: 'they just seemed to lose all their belief after we made it 3-1.' Above all, though, this was a night for celebration in Munich. In the midst of what has been a curious, at times sleepy season for Germany's biggest club, Wednesday night may have been the long expected awakening of the beast in Bayern's belly.

Dyche vows 'humble' Burnley won't take Lincoln lightly

Burnley may be used to playing the underdog this season but manager Sean Dyche is convinced his 'humble' side will be just as ready for the challenge of non-league Lincoln. The Clarets know all about upsetting the odds, having defied gloomy expectations to sit 12th in the Premier League with eye-catching results against Liverpool, Everton and Southampton not to mention last week's draw against table-topping Chelsea. But Saturday will see them kick-off against as heavy favourites in their FA Cup fifth-round clash against National League leaders Lincoln, who sit 81 places lower in the food chain. Yet Dyche's squad has plenty of individuals who know about life away from the top flight, not least the likes of George Boyd, Andre Gray, Ashley Barnes and Tendayi Darikwa, who have first-hand experience of life outside the Football League. Complacency, therefore, is no concern despite a big season of cup upsets. 'We approach it the same way we do any team. There's a nice humble feel about the group here,' said Dyche, whose spent the majority of his own career in the lower leagues. 'They've had to earn everything. There's players here who've had to earn the right to be where they are. 'A few here have had a few knocks, a few have had to go backwards to come forward again. They have some good markers in their own minds from when they've been in smaller situations. 'I don't think many have lost sight of that, they know they have to be ready to perform. 'You have to be mentally prepared for the fact there's 11 out there trying to beat you and not take it for granted because they're that many places below you. There's not a divine right to win football matches, you have to earn everything you get.' Dyche typically operates with a compact first-team squad and rarely rotates in the league. He has taken the chance to freshen up his team in cup action this term but does so now from a stronger base than before. Where in previous campaigns Burnley's squad men may have been significantly less experienced or represented a sizeable downgrade, he now believes he can make changes without compromising on quality. Wales striker Sam Vokes, Liverpool loanee Jon Flanagan and Iceland winger Johann Berg Gudmundsson are among those who can expect to see action at the weekend. 'Our changes are different this time around, we're not using kids who have never played or only a handful of times, we're not giving debuts, it's mostly rounded players who are doing well in their careers,' he said. 'The thing I've been pleased about is when we do mix the side it still looks like what we're about, there's still an identity to what we do. That means every player knows how we operate and that's a really important thing.' 

Arsenal news: Sutton boss 'no sympathy' for Arsene Wenger

Sutton United manager Paul Doswell has no sympathy for Arsene Wenger following Arsenal's spectacular collapse against Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Wenger is facing growing calls from the club's disgruntled supporters not to extend his contract which expires at the end of the season following a dismal second-half display in Germany. Sutton will be the next opponents for Arsenal when they travel to the non-league club for the fifth round of the Emirates FA Cup on Monday night. And while Doswell feels Wenger, who has been in charge at Arsenal since 1996, is being unfairly criticised, he does not feel sorry for the 67-year-old Frenchman. 'Do I feel sympathy for him? No,' said Doswell, who watched Wednesday night's Champions League match at home with his wife and son. 'He is well schooled, and he has been in the job for 20 years. 'Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola, Wenger... I don't feel sorry for them at all because they are in the mad world that is football.' Arsenal headed into the interval in Munich on level terms, but now face an almost impossible task of qualifying for the quarter-finals after Carlo Ancelotti's side ran out emphatic 5-1 winners. 'I thought for the first 47 minutes they looked like, if not the better team, certainly on a par with Bayern,' Doswell added. 'Then Bayern Munich went into Bayern Munich mode and in fairness I think they would have beaten any Premier League team. 'It is not a disgrace. I know the result is going to sound poor and there is going to be an overreaction but when Bayern, Barcelona and Real Madrid fancy it, you are in real trouble. 'In sport it is about levels and none of the top six English clubs can get near Bayern, Barcelona or Real Madrid. That is a fact.' Doswell has guided Sutton, 17th in the National League, to the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time in their history. He will present Wenger with a £300 bottle of red wine, hand-picked by his brother, when the two teams meet on Monday night. 'Wenger is getting criticised - and I think wrongly - that he doesn't have enough leaders in the dressing room, but he has still managed to qualify for the Champions League for the last 15 years,' Doswell added. 'I would rather be in Arsenal's position than Manchester United's, who are playing in the Europa League. 'It is an open forum to criticise Arsenal and Arsene Wenger, but from our perspective we are just over the moon that they are coming here.'