Borussia Dortmund have opened talks with Bayern Munich over the return of Mario Gotze, Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has confirmed.

“If you look at games like Atletico Madrid against PSV Eindhoven, you can see the difference in quality with Juventus, who are knocked out already,” lamented Bayern Munich president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge last month, after his club had eliminated fellow European giants Juve in the Champions League last 16.

Rangers boss Mark Warburton has hit out at plans which could transform the Champions League into a closed shop accessible only to Europe’s biggest clubs.

Pep Guardiola could be poised to manage in the Premier League next season after Bayern Munich announced yesterday that he would stand down as their head coach at the end of the current campaign.

Bayern Munich’s honorary president Franz Beckenbauer has warned Pep Guardiola not to keep the club waiting over signing a new contract.

Manchester United’s transfers aspirations suffered a double blow yesterday as Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge declared Thomas Muller priceless while Rafael Benitez claimed he is “100%” sure Sergio Ramos will stay at Real Madrid.

Manchester United have been dealt a double setback in their transfer dealings after being told Bayern Munich forward Thomas Muller and Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos are not for sale.

Manchester United appear poised to sign Germany international Bastian Schweinsteiger after Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge confirmed an agreement was in place between the two clubs.

Bayern Munich 6 Porto 1 (Bayern win 7-4 on aggregate): Pep Guardiola’s reputation as the world’s greatest football coach, under threat this week amid rumours could be jettisoned by Bayern Munich in the summer, has been spectacularly and emphatically revived by a breathtaking 6-1 victory over Porto in the Champions League that sends his side into the semi-finals and keeps the Treble dream alive.

Apart from Sunday’s crunch game in Dublin, football fans might be forgiven a small yawn at this week’s European Championship qualifiers.

FIFA’s general secretary Jerome Valcke claimed Uefa and most of the confederations want December 23 as the date for the Qatar 2022 World Cup final — but no decision has been made and no compensation will be paid.

Germany’s general manager Oliver Bierhoff believes Marco Reus may well ignore the advances of Bayern Munich and Manchester City by staying with Borussia Dortmund next season.

Bayern Munich chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has urged FIFA to hold the Qatar World Cup in April 2022.

The crisis in Italian football is a bit like climate change.

Pep Guardiola and members of his Bayern team followed up last night’s seven-one thrashing of Roma with a private audience with Pope Francis.

Bayern Munich midfielder Thiago Alcantara has suffered a second knee ligament tear and will have to undergo another operation.

Manchester City’s huge fine for breaching UEFA’s financial fair play rules is to be distributed betweeen the other clubs in the Champions League, it was announced today.

Bayern Munich midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger is set to miss the start of the Bundesliga season and Germany’s next two international fixtures, according to his club’s chairman.

Borussia Dortmund’s general manager Hans-Joachim Watzke has criticised Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge for repeatedly interfering with his own club’s affairs.

Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola has rubbished speculation linking defender Jerome Boateng with a transfer to Barcelona.

Pep Guardiola has been told he has a job for life at Bayern Munich.

Schalke and Borussia Monchengladbach have hit back at Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge for suggesting the rest of the Bundesliga are plotting against his side.

Germany’s World Cup winner Toni Kroos has joined Real Madrid from Bayern Munich for an undisclosed fee.

WORLD CUP QUARTER-FINAL:

The stories about Louis van Gaal are many, and some of them are even true.

Bayern Munich captain Philipp Lahm admitted his side got their tactics horribly wrong in the first half of their Champions League humiliation at home to Real Madrid.

As Manchester United’s players yesterday jogged through their first training session in the aftermath of David Moyes’ sacking under the tuition of some familiar faces, the sceptre of another — one Roy Maurice Keane — was hovering over the Carrington training ground.

Chelsea’s own goalkeeper is poised to stand between them and a place in the Champions League final after the 2012 winners were drawn to play Thibaut Courtois’ Atletico Madrid.

Bayern Munich star Arjen Robben has labelled Manchester United’s defensive display in the Champions League quarter-final as being “like handball”.

Bayern Munich star Arjen Robben has labelled Manchester United’s defensive display in the Champions League quarter-final as being “like handball”.

Manchester United might have snapped up Pep Guardiola last summer had it not been for Alex Ferguson’s thick Glaswegian accent.

El City — No! was the headline in El Mundo Deportivo before the Champions League draw yesterday.

Bayern Munich have confirmed the signing of Barcelona midfielder Thiago Alcantara, subject to a medical.

Manchester United’s transfer ambitions suffered a significant setback last night after Barcelona and Bayern Munich reached a deal for the transfer of Thiago Alcantara.

Pep Guardiola spoke of his “honour” at joining “one of the biggest clubs in the world” after being officially unveiled as Bayern Munich’s new head coach yesterday.

Newly-crowned German champions Bayern Munich will face fellow four-time European champions Barcelona in the semi-finals of the Champions League.

No disrespect to the Premier League but there has been a distinct lack of wailing and gnashing of teeth elsewhere in Europe at the absence of English clubs from the Champions League quarter-finals.

When news broke last week that Pep Guardiola had agreed to become the next coach of Bayern Munich, much of the reaction focused on how wise Guardiola had been to choose a ‘real club’ with proper football values over the kind of plastic pop-up projects on offer at Chelsea or Manchester City.

Alex Ferguson has admitted Pep Guardiola’s decision to join Bayern Munich has caught him by surprise.