Madrid (AFP) – Zinedine Zidane brought Real Madrid's outcasts in from the cold and they repaid him with a win over Celta Vigo on Saturday but La Liga's title race could well be over after Atletico Madrid were beaten by Athletic Bilbao. Isco and Gareth Bale each scored in Madrid's 2-0 victory over Celta before […]

Swansea (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Sergio Aguero kept alive Manchester City's hopes of an unprecedented quadruple as they survived a major FA Cup scare in a thrilling fightback from two goals down to win 3-2 at Swansea in Saturday's quarter-finals. Aguero had watched from the substitutes' bench as second-tier Swansea roared into a stunning first […]

Twickenham (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Scotland came from 31-0 down only to see their hopes of a first win over England at Twickenham in 36 years dashed in stoppage time as a remarkable Calcutta Cup clash ended in 38-38 draw on Saturday. The final match of the 2019 Six Nations Championship, the latest edition of […]

Berlin (AFP) – The president of the German Football Association (DFB) Reinhard Grindel has criticised national team coach Joachim Loew for how he dropped 2014 World Cup winners Jerome Boateng, Mats Hummels and Thomas Mueller. Loew flew to Munich on March 5 to personally tell the trio they were not in his plans, then put […]

Dhaka (AFP) – Bangladesh authorities jailed a senior member of football's world governing body on Saturday, hours after she was arrested for allegedly defaming the country's leader. Mahfuza Akhter, a FIFA council member since 2017 and national chief of women's soccer, had told a TV talk show last month that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had […]

Madrid (AFP) – Zinedine Zidane brought Real Madrid's outcasts in from the cold and they repaid him with a win in his first game back as Isco and Gareth Bale each scored in a 2-0 victory over Celta Vigo on Saturday. Isco had not started a single La Liga game under Santiago Solari but opened […]

Berlin (AFP) – Schalke's miserable run of results continued on Saturday as they lost 1-0 at home to RB Leipzig in Huub Stevens' first game back as head coach. New leaders and defending champions Bayern Munich are at home to Mainz on Sunday, while second-placed Borussia Dortmund, who are level with the Bavarians on 57 […]

London (AFP) – Huddersfield slipped closer to Premier League relegation as the bottom club blew a two-goal lead in their 4-3 defeat at West Ham, while Burnley are in deep trouble after losing 2-1 against 10-man Leicester on Saturday. Jan Siewert's side looked to have kept alive their faint hopes of beating the drop as […]

Brive-la-Gaillarde (France) (AFP) – A football-mad couple in south-west France have been barred from naming their son "Griezmann Mbappe" after two of the stars of France's World Cup-winning team. A family judge in the central town of Brive-la-Gaillarde stripped the infant of his two first names, nearly five months after his birth, the local town […]

Berlin (AFP) – Bayern Munich's under-fire coach Niko Kovac is urging his side to take their Champions League frustrations out on Sunday's opponents Mainz to stay ahead in the Bundesliga title race. Bayern are smarting from Wednesday's Champions League exit when Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool earned a 3-1 win at the Allianz Arena to dump the […]

Paris (AFP) – Paris Saint-Germain coach Thomas Tuchel has called for the club's angry fans to rally behind the club as they try to put the pain of Champions League humiliation behind them. Frustrated fans turned on the players, booing them at training and organising strikes, after PSG gave up a 2-0 lead against Manchester […]

Shanghai (AFP) – Brazilian forward Alexandre Pato on Saturday bid an emotional farewell to Chinese football after reportedly buying himself out of his contract at Tianjin Tianhai. The 29-year-old former AC Milan starlet failed to appear in Tianjin's first two games of the new Chinese Super League (CSL) season and had used social media to […]

London (AFP) – Andre Gray came off the bench to fire Watford into the FA Cup semi-finals with the late winner in their 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace on Saturday. Javi Gracia's side took the lead through Etienne Capoue's first half strike before Michy Batshuayi equalised for Palace after the interval. That was the signal […]

London (AFP) – Fresh from a momentous Champions League night, Liverpool can continue their feel-good factor into the international break by retaking top spot in the Premier League from Manchester City at Championship-bound Fulham on Sunday. Jurgen Klopp's men delighted their manager with a 3-1 win at Bayern Munich on Wednesday and will be heavy […]

Liverpool (AFP) – Olivier Giroud's hat-trick at Dynamo Kiev moved Chelsea one step closer towards Europa League success and posed a test of Maurizio Sarri's conviction that Gonzalo Higuain is the best man to lead his attack. Giroud voiced his frustration after the comprehensive 5-0 victory over Dynamo at his lack of involvement in the […]