Inter Milan winger Xherdan Shaqiri says that he is convinced that the Italian outfit are a much better team than Celtic, who are their opponents in the knockout stages of the Europa League.

Inter will be travelling to Celtic Park for the first leg of the knockout stages with the second leg at the San Siro. They will be hoping to get a decisive advantage from the first leg in order to be comfortable about progress. Celtic have not been a major European force for several years now. However, Inter Milan’s recent troubles with form could help Celtic with hope of reaching the next round.

Switzerland continued their impressive form under new manager Vladimir Petkovic after managing the second consecutive victory in the Euro 2016 qualifiers.

Switzerland had started the campaign with defeats against England in Slovenia. However, they appear to have recovered from these setbacks after managing to consecutive 4-0 wins over San Marino and Lithuania. Both these teams are considered as minnows and Switzerland were the overwhelming favourites to get three points. Many even expected the Swiss to score more than five past Lithuania. Midfielder Gelson Fernandes says that they were not able to score more since the opposition were extremely good and compact.

Slovenia secured a great win against Switzerland and according to midfielder Kevin Kampl, it’s their great fighting spirit which played the best influence in snatching the victory from the Swiss grasp.

However, the Slovenia national football team coach has pointed to “high-level” goalkeeping prowess as a much bigger influence in Slovenia’s recent win, in comparison to Kampl’s fighting spirit.

Kampl was naturally delighted to secure the win against the Swiss team.

Thibaut Courtois, that’s the name of a 22 years old goalkeeper who is making headlines all over the world with consistent performances in every single match he performs and is already being hailed to be as one of the best shot-stoppers in the world despite being so young. It takes a truly special player to push Petr Cech out of the starting lineup and into the sidelines of Chelsea but Courtois has somehow managed to do it.

Ever since Cech signed with Chelsea back in 2004, he established himself as the undisputed goalkeeper of Stamford Bridge but his time is reaching its inevitable end with Courtois being the man to begin and follow the path that Cech left off.

Spain boss Vicente del Bosque has launched the praise on midfielder Xavi, who announced his retirement from international football after more than a decade of trophies. The Barcelona midfielder has been an integral part of the Spanish success in the last six years. The national team has won the likes of the European Championship and the World Cup during this period after having previously gone 44 years without a major trophy. Much of the success has been down to the possession-based football that Spain been able to play due to the presence of players like Xavi.

Switzerland national team boss Ottmar Hitzfeld has stated that he is happy with preparation made by the Swiss national team players for the World Cup 2014. Switzerland will be taking part in the World Cup 2014 after a stunning qualification campaign. However, this tournament will also see the end of Hitzfeld as manager after he has announced that he will be retiring from football. After having played a key role in the development of Switzerland as an important team, Hitzfeld will be looking to go out on a high.

The World Cup 2014 will be the curtain call for Swiss national team manager Ottmar Hitzfeld, who will be stepping down from his post. He has already announced that this will be his last job as a manager. Hitzfeld has been one of most respected coaches in the last 45 years of his managerial reign. He has led big clubs like Bayern Munich to incredible success over the years. The German has lifted several league titles apart from two Champions League titles in his stellar career. He could have won three Champions League titles had it not been for the extraordinary defeat suffered at the hands of Manchester United in 1999.

Switzerland manager Ottmar Hitzfeld has been heavily speculated to become the next Ghana manager, but the former Bayern Munich coach says that he is unlikely to take the job because he feels that he will not be able to handle the stars of the African country.

Ghana are one of the top African nations and they have been dominating African football for almost a decade. However, they have lacked a top coach necessary to win a tournament like the African cup of nations.

Ottmar Hitzfeld as well as being the coach of Switzerland, the German manager also has experience being in charge of high profile clubs such as Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.

The 65 years old tactician has suggested Xherdan Shaqiri of Bayern Munich on not to leave the club despite not being a consistent starter for the German club which has already been crowned as the champions of the Bundesliga.

"I am always a fan of players staying firm to ongoing deals and bite through tough times. Xherdan Shaqiri is playing for the best club in the world and has the quality to be a first-team regular. The only thing he needs is to be patient." Hitzfeld told reporters during a press conference.

Bayern Munich prepared to take on Arsenal in the last 16 stage of the Champions league just as they did in en route to the cup win last season.

The bad news for Arsenal comes in the form of Bayern Munich's manager Guardiola, who has transformed the club since taking over in the summer. He has made an already strong Bayern Munich team into one of the feared opposition in the world. The first leg will take place at the Emirates, while it will be followed by the match at the Allianz arena a few weeks later.