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Guardiola Returns to Man City After Recovering from Back Operation 

21 February 2023, Saxony, Leipzig: Manchester coach Pep Guardiola speaks at the press conference. (dpa)
21 February 2023, Saxony, Leipzig: Manchester coach Pep Guardiola speaks at the press conference. (dpa)
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Guardiola Returns to Man City After Recovering from Back Operation 

21 February 2023, Saxony, Leipzig: Manchester coach Pep Guardiola speaks at the press conference. (dpa)
21 February 2023, Saxony, Leipzig: Manchester coach Pep Guardiola speaks at the press conference. (dpa)

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has returned to the club after recovering from his recent back operation.

Guardiola is resuming his duties after three weeks away, with City confirming his return on Wednesday.

Assistant coach Juanma Lillo has been in charge since the 52-year-old Guardiola traveled to Spain for the procedure.

In Guardiola’s absence, City beat Sheffield United and Fulham to maintain the 100% start to its Premier League title defense. City’s squad is beginning to gather following the international break.

City returns to Premier League action Saturday at West Ham before its defense of the Champions League begins at home against Red Star Belgrade on Tuesday.

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Israeli Soccer Team Prepares for Closed-door Match in Hungary

Clashes erupt in Amsterdam after a soccer match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax near Amsterdam Central station, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, November 8, 2024, in this still image obtained from a social media video. X/iAnnet/via REUTERS
Clashes erupt in Amsterdam after a soccer match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax near Amsterdam Central station, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, November 8, 2024, in this still image obtained from a social media video. X/iAnnet/via REUTERS
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Israeli Soccer Team Prepares for Closed-door Match in Hungary

Clashes erupt in Amsterdam after a soccer match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax near Amsterdam Central station, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, November 8, 2024, in this still image obtained from a social media video. X/iAnnet/via REUTERS
Clashes erupt in Amsterdam after a soccer match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax near Amsterdam Central station, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, November 8, 2024, in this still image obtained from a social media video. X/iAnnet/via REUTERS

Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer team returned to Europe on Wednesday for the first time since its fans were assaulted in the Netherlands earlier this month in attacks that were condemned as antisemitic by authorities in Israel and across Europe.
The team will face off Thursday against Türkiye’s Besiktas in an Europa League match that was relocated to Hungary. The contest at Nagyerdei Stadium in the city of Debrecen will be played without fans due to security concerns following the violence in Amsterdam on Nov. 7 that resulted in five people being treated in hospitals and dozens of detentions.

Maccabi Tel Aviv head coach Zarko Lazetic told a news conference on Wednesday that his team was focused on its game, regardless of what tensions may exist elsewhere, The Associated Press reported.
“It’s not a question for me what happened outside of the stadium. We saw some videos and everything, but we really try to focus on football,” he said. “We’ll see tomorrow what is the effect.”
The violence in Amsterdam came after local authorities banned pro-Palestinian demonstrators from gathering outside the stadium where Maccabi was playing Dutch team Ajax.
A large crowd of Israeli fans chanted anti-Arab slogans on their way to the match, video showed. Afterward, youths on scooters and on foot crisscrossed the city in search of Israeli fans, punching and kicking them, according to Amsterdam’s mayor.
The city's police commander said the incidents had “an antisemitic character."
Maccabi press officer Ofer Ronen-Abels said Wednesday the events in Amsterdam “had nothing to do with football."
Before the assaults, Besiktas had requested its home game against Maccabi, originally scheduled for Istanbul, to be moved to “neutral ground” over security concerns.
The club later said on social media that Hungary was the only country willing to host the match and that Hungarian authorities requested it be played behind closed doors.
Hungary has hosted several home games for Israel's national team for security reasons since the war in Gaza began.
Maccabi held its final practice session at the Kiryat Shalom training complex in Tel Aviv on Wednesday before departing for Hungary, the team said on its website.