Lyon (AFP) – Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola warned the Premier League leaders still have work to do as they attempt to seal a place in the last 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday. City will clinch a place in the knockout phase for the sixth year running with a draw at Lyon, while […]

Turin (Italy) (AFP) – Cristiano Ronaldo's sending off against Valencia in September's Champions League group stage match will have no impact on how the Juventus star plays in Tuesday's return fixture in Turin, the Spanish side's coach Marcelino García said. Garcia described the game as being an "all or nothing" tie for the Spaniards at […]

Buenos Aires (AFP) – River Plate president Rodolfo D'Onofrio hit out at his Boca Juniors counterpart on Monday accusing his rival of "betrayal" following the postponement of the weekend's Copa Libertadores final due to an attack on the Boca team bus by River fans. In a humiliating weekend for South American football, the second leg […]

Munich (Germany) (AFP) – Under-fire Bayern Munich coach Niko Kovac is staring down the barrel as his team look to bag a place in the Champions League last 16 just as their domestic title bid appears to be crumbling. The Bundesliga champions need just a point against Benfica in the Allianz Arena on Tuesday to […]

Lyon (AFP) – Lyon coach Bruno Genesio has urged his players to believe they can defeat Manchester City for a second time in this season's Champions League group stage in Tuesday's encounter in France. Goals from Maxwel Cornet and Nabil Fekir gave Lyon a shock 2-1 win over the Premier League champions in September, and […]

London (AFP) – Barcelona are the best-paid team in global sport and the first to have average basic annual pay of more than £10 million ($12.8 million) according to a global survey published on Monday. The Spanish giants return to the top of the pay rankings in the ninth edition of Sporting Intelligence's Global Sports Salaries […]

Paris (AFP) – Mohamed Salah and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang grabbed the headlines for African players in Europe at the weekend, the pair scoring in wins for Premier League rivals Liverpool and Arsenal. Egyptian Salah opened the scoring in second-placed Liverpool's 3-0 win at Watford while Gabonese Aubameyang netted the winner as fifth-placed Arsenal edged Bournemouth 2-1. […]

Barcelona (AFP) – A Spanish court on Monday slapped Barcelona centre-back Gerard Pique with a fine of 48,000 euros ($54,000) for driving without a valid licence. The 31-year-old, who arrived at the Barcelona court dressed in a grey sweatshirt and wearing a wool cap in the company of his lawyer, accepted the sentence for breaching […]

Paris (AFP) – Paris Saint-Germain's teenage superstar Kylian Mbappe has told AFP that, for all the Qatar-owned club's huge investments in recent years, they will need the breaks to fall their way if they are to finally fulfil their dream of winning the Champions League. The French giants face Liverpool in a crunch group game […]

Milan (AFP) – Genoa offered River Plate and Boca Juniors on Monday the opportunity to play the second leg of the postponed Copa Libertadores final in the Italian city after it was postponed for a second time on Sunday. The clash between the Buenos Aires arch-rivals was due to be played on Sunday after initially […]

Barcelona (AFP) – Luis Suarez faces a fight to be fit for Barcelona's last Champions League group game against Tottenham after the club confirmed on Monday he had sustained a knee injury. Barca have already qualified for the knock-out stages but their match against Spurs on December 11 could help decide who finishes second in […]

Milan (AFP) – Former Juventus and Chelsea striker Gianluca Vialli on Monday revealed that he has been battling cancer for the past year. Vialli, 54, who also scored 16 goals in 59 games for Italy and is now a popular TV pundit, told Italian daily Corriere della Sera that he hoped that his story would […]

London (AFP) – Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has praised "unbelievably valuable" Roberto Firmino after the Brazil forward ended his two-month Premier League goal drought in the 3-0 victory against Watford. He also had a hand in Mohamed Salah's opener on Saturday and won the free-kick for Trent Alexander-Arnold to make it 2-0. Firmino, who is […]

London (AFP) – Dele Alli hailed Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino's tactical nous after he masterminded the 3-1 win over Chelsea which enabled Spurs to leapfrog their London rivals into third place in the Premier League. Spurs were at their rampant best as goals from Alli, Harry Kane and Son Heung-min ended Chelsea's unbeaten start to […]

Turin (Italy) (AFP) – Cristiano Ronaldo is in hot form and gunning for revenge going into Tuesday's Champions League clash against Valencia after seeing red against the Spaniards in the away leg, with Juventus needing a draw in Turin to book their ticket to the knockout rounds of the European competition. "Happy to have helped […]