Liga: Ademola Lookman, the new breath of fresh air — and more

Ademola Lookman, the new energy with Atletico

Ademola Lookman/@Atletico Madrid

Ademola Lookman has just reached a major milestone in his career by leaving Atalanta Bergamo for Atlético Madrid. The Nigerian wasted no time adapting to Spanish football, quickly establishing himself as a key player for the capital club.

In just five matches with Los Colchoneros, the Super Eagle has scored 3 goals and provided 2 assists—matching the stats he recorded for Atalanta Bergamo in 19 appearances earlier this season.

The club change has clearly unleashed the 28-year-old, whose impact is delighting both Diego Simeone and Atlético Madrid fans. His first goal in the Champions League against Club Brugge is proof he’ll be a real asset for his team in the competition.

Let’s not forget, Lookman was close to signing with Inter Milan last summer, but Atalanta Bergamo blocked the transfer.

Vincent Kompany has issued strong criticism of Jose Mourinho over his reaction to Vinicius Jr’s accusation of alleged racist abuse in a Champions League play-off between Benfica and Real Madrid on Wednesday.

Kompany, the Bayern Munich manager, used a press conference to give an impassioned speech which drew on his own experiences of racism in football, and said Mourinho had made a “huge mistake” by “attacking the character” of Vinicius in the aftermath.

Vinicius accused Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni, a 20-year-old Argentina international, of calling him a “monkey” in the wake of the Brazilian’s second-half goal for Madrid. The claims were backed up by his teammate Kylian Mbappe, who said he heard the abuse by Prestianni, who could be seen holding his shirt over his mouth during an exchange with Madrid players.

Vinicius reacted furiously to something said by Prestianni and alerted the match officials. The French referee, Francois Letexier, paused the game for 11 minutes after activating Fifa’s anti-racism protocols, although the action later continued with Prestianni on the field.

Fans inside the Estadio Da Luz loudly booed and jeered Vinicius throughout the remainder of the game, as Real Madrid saw out a 1-0 victory.

Prestianni now faces an investigation by Uefa. He has denied racially abusing Vinicius and claimed to have been misheard.

After the match, Benfica manager Mourinho blamed Vinicius for the confrontation and said the Brazilian had incited his players because he did not celebrate in a “respectful way”. Mourinho also claimed Benfica could not be considered guilty of racism because the club’s greatest player, Eusebio, was Black.

“I told him that when you score a goal like that you just celebrate and walk back,” Mourinho said, of his conversation with Vinicius after the game. “And then when he was arguing about racism I told him the biggest person in the history of this club [Eusebio] was Black. This club, the last thing it is is racist, so if in his mind it was something in relation to that, this is Benfica.

“There is something wrong because it happens in every stadium. Every stadium that Vinicius plays, something happens. Always.”

Bayern Munich manager Kompany was asked for his take on the incident ahead of his team’s weekend game in the Bundesliga, and he responded with a long answer in which he defended Vinicius and tore into Mourinho’s response.

“When you watch the action itself and how Vini reacted, that reaction cannot be faked,” Kompany said. “You can see it was an emotional reaction. I don’t see any benefit for him to go to the referee and put all this misery on his shoulders. In that moment he saw that it was the right thing to do.

“Kylian Mbappe normally always stays diplomatic, but he was very clear about what he saw and heard. Then there’s the Benfica player who was hiding what he was saying in his shirt. In the stadium you can see there were people [Benfica fans] doing monkey signs, it’s in the video.

“And for me, what happened after the game is even worse. Jose Mourinho has basically attacked the character of Vini Jr by bringing in the type of Vini’s celebration to discredit what he was doing at that moment. It was a huge mistake in terms of leadership.

“On top of that, Mourinho mentioned the name of Eusebio. He said Benfica cannot be racist because their best ever player was Eusebio. Do you know what Black players had to go through in the 60s? Was he there to travel with Eusebio every away game and see what he went through?”

Kompany said Mourinho has a positive reputation in the game and is “deep down a good person”, but suggested the Benfica manager had made a serious misjudgement with his reaction.

“I met 100 people who worked with Jose Mourinho. I’ve never heard someone say something bad about Jose. All his players love him. I understand the person he is, I understand he fights for his club. I know deep down he’s a good person. I don’t need to judge him on that. But I also know what I’ve heard. I understand what he’s done, but he made a mistake. Hopefully it won’t happen again in the future, and we can move on together.”

Inter Milan may be without captain and talismanic forward Lautaro Martinez for over a month, after the club confirmed the extent of his injury.

According to what has been reported by Sky Sport, via FCInterNews, Lautaro will miss over a month and not be back before the end of the March.

Therefore, not only will the Argentine miss Saturday’s trip to Lecce, but the second leg of their UEFA Champions League play-off.

Additionally, the Argentine forward will miss a number of other key games across the next month.

Inter Milan Fresh Blow As Lautaro Martinez Misses A Month

MILAN, ITALY – JANUARY 23: Lautaro Martinez of FC Internazionale Milano looks on during the Serie A match between FC Internazionale and Pisa SC at Giuseppe Meazza Stadium on January 23, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Inter would have wanted their star man leading the attack in their upcoming midweek clash.

After losing 3-1 in Norway to Bodo/Glimt, Inter must overturn their two-goal deficit if they want to qualify for the Round of 16 in the Champions League.

Instead of Lautaro, head coach Cristian Chivu will have to turn to his other talented attackers instead.

Fortunately, the Romanian has the likes of Marcus Thuram, Ange-Yoan Bonny and Francesco Pio Esposito in his ranks to replace the injured Argentine.

Several sources in Italy claim that Luciano Spalletti will switch to a three-man defence following Gleison Bremer’s injury and a poor defensive record that has seen the Bianconeri concede 13 goals in the last four games.

Juventus coach Spalletti will return to a three-man defence in the next Serie A match against Como, according to several Italian sources, including Gazzetta, Sky Sport and Corriere della Sera.

Juventus switch to three-man defence

PARMA, ITALY – FEBRUARY 01: Bremer of Juventus celebrates scoring his team’s first goal with teammate Francisco Conceicao during the Serie A match between Parma Calcio 1913 and Juventus FC at Stadio Ennio Tardini on February 01, 2026 in Parma, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

The Bianconeri host Cesc Fabregas’ side at the Allianz Stadium on Saturday, and they’ll be forced to cope without Bremer, who suffered a minor muscle injury against Galatasaray on Tuesday.

The Brazilian setback adds further pressure on a Bianconeri defence that conceded 13 goals in the last four games across all competitions.

Juventus have won just one of their last five games, losing three and drawing once.

Federico Gatti already replaced Bremer against Galatasaray and is expected to feature in the Bianconeri XI against Como as well.

MILAN, ITALY – FEBRUARY 14: Luciano Spalletti, Head Coach of Juventus, reacts during the Serie A match between FC Internazionale and Juventus FC at Giuseppe Meazza Stadium on February 14, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

According to Gazzetta, Teun Koopmeiners and Lloyd Kelly will complete the Old Lady’s backline against Como.

Spalletti is also short of options in attack, with both Dusan Vlahovic and Jonathan David injured.

The only other centre-forward in the team, Lois Openda, started on the bench against Galatasaray and Weston McKennie was used as a false nine.

TURIN, ITALY – JANUARY 12: Weston McKennie of Juventus FC celebrates a goal during the Serie A match between Juventus FC and US Cremonese at Allianz Stadium on January 12, 2026 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images)

According to reports, Openda and McKennie both have a chance to start in attack against Como, even if Kenan Yildiz is also an option for Spalletti.

The Italian tactician will provide the latest team news on the eve of the game today as he’ll hold a pre-match press conference at 16:00 CET.

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