Paris (AFP) – Real Madrid centre-back Sergio Ramos has been handed a two-game suspension by UEFA for deliberately getting himself booked during his team's Champions League last 16, first leg against Ajax. The Spaniard was booked for a tackle on Kasper Dolberg in Real's 2-1 victory in Amsterdam on February 13, two minutes after Marco […]

Berlin (AFP) – While Bayern Munich battle leaders Borussia Dortmund in a tense Bundesliga title race, down in the relegation zone, those fighting to stay up have hit an all-time low. Not since the Bundesliga began back in 1963 have the bottom four teams in Germany's top flight earned so few points between them. "It's […]

London (AFP) – Claudio Ranieri's short, unsuccessful spell as manager of Premier League strugglers Fulham came to an end on Thursday, the club announced. The 67-year-old Italian, who memorably guided Leicester City to the 2016 Premier League title, failed to ignite a revival in the club after he replaced the sacked Slavisa Jokanovic in November. […]

Berlin (AFP) – Head coach Niko Kovac says defender Rafinha has apologised to the Bayern Munich team for his outburst at a lack of playing time for the defending Bundesliga champions. The Brazilian has started just six league games this season, but Kovac insisted that there was no excuse for the 33-year-old right-back — out […]

Rio de Janeiro (AFP) – Real Madrid's teenage attacking sensation Vinicius Junior was called up to Tite's Brazil squad for the first time on Thursday in the last national team gathering ahead of the Copa America. The 18-year-old has made a huge impact at the Santiago Bernabeu since moving from home town club Flamengo at […]

Berlin (AFP) – Bayern Munich coach Niko Kovac has mounting personnel problems ahead of Saturday's crunch Bundesliga clash at Borussia Moenchengladbach. The defending champions start the weekend in second, trailing leaders Borussia Dortmund by three points and face a tricky tie at Gladbach, who inflicted a shock 3-0 defeat on Bayern at Munich's Allianz Arena […]

Berlin (AFP) – German sports equipment and clothing company Puma scored a significant goal on Thursday by announcing a global partnership deal with City Football Group, who own Premier League champions Manchester City. Puma will kit out the men's, women's and youth football teams of Pep Guardiola's giants Man City. Sister clubs Melbourne City FC […]

London (AFP) – Prince William has launched a withering broadside at football clubs, lambasting them for a "dereliction of duty" in their lack of care for players mental health. Prince William, who along with younger brother Prince Harry have spoken openly about their own mental health issues, said clubs appeared to only see the players […]

Shanghai (AFP) – Spending may have slowed in the Chinese Super League, which kicks off a new season on Friday, but clubs are still splashing out on salaries to lure big-name players. AFP Sport picks the five most significant imports during the close season: – Marouane Fellaini (Shandong Luneng) – The most eye-catching move of […]

Shanghai (AFP) – The departure of goal machine Wu Lei puts extra pressure on the broad shoulders of Brazilian striker Hulk as Shanghai SIPG kick off their Chinese Super League title defence on Friday. The champions lost the league's top-scorer to Espanyol in Spain during the off-season and have failed to replace him, despite being […]

Chester (United States) (AFP) – Arsenal forward Beth Mead scored a thunderous winner as England came from behind to defeat Brazil 2-1 in the opening game of the SheBelieves Cup friendly international tournament on Wednesday. Second-half substitute Mead crashed in a spectacular angled shot on 75 minutes at Chester's Talen Energy Stadium to ensure the […]

Berlin (AFP) – Lucien Favre says his Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund must learn from Bayern Munich's stumble against Friday's opponents Augsburg to stay ahead in the tense title race. With just under a third of the season left, recent poor results have slashed Dortmund's lead from nine to just three points before Friday's trip south […]

Rome (AFP) – Juventus travel to Napoli on Sunday looking to close the book on a Serie A title race that has hardly looked in doubt since the opening day of the season. Under previous coach Maurizio Sarri, Napoli had become Juve's biggest rivals and last season even managed to take the title race down […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola accepted his side "can be better" after a 1-0 win over West Ham at the Etihad on Wednesday kept them in the hunt to retain their Premier League title and a remarkable quadruple of trophies. Just days after a penalty shoot-out win over Chelsea at […]

London (AFP) – Unai Emery urged Arsenal to take the chance to chase down Tottenham in the north London derby on Saturday after sweeping aside Bournemouth 5-1 on Wednesday to close to within four points of Spurs. Mesut Ozil made the most of being handed a rare start by Emery as the German and Henrikh […]