Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Pep Guardiola has admitted he would abandon his 'yellow ribbon' protest if requested to do so by his employers, Manchester City, or if he thought the issue was negatively impacting upon his players. The Catalan manager has been charged by the Football Association over displaying the political symbol on the […]

Madrid (AFP) – Antoine Griezmann delivered a resounding message to Barcelona by scoring four goals against Leganes ahead of Atletico Madrid's crunch match at the Nou Camp on Sunday. Atletico and their French maestro will head to Catalonia brimming with confidence after subjecting lowly Leganes to a 4-0 demolition, with Griezmann again the star of […]

Paris (AFP) – Angel Di Maria grabbed two goals as Paris Saint-Germain downed fierce rivals Marseille 3-0 on Wednesday to reach the French Cup semi-finals, hours after the club confirmed Neymar will undergo surgery on his fractured foot. The Argentina international replaced the injured Neymar in the starting line-up at the Parc des Princes and […]

Athens (AFP) – Fifty-eight people were sentenced to jail terms ranging from 30 months to 10 years on Wednesday for their involvement in the 2011 match-fixing scandal which rocked Greek football. Several of the sentences were suspended for three years, while a number of other individuals can avoid jail by paying five euros per day […]

London (AFP) – Fernando Llorente scored a second-half hat-trick as Tottenham Hotspur advanced into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup with a 6-1 win over lowly Rochdale at a snowy Wembley on Wednesday in a fifth-round replay. The match had threatened to be overshadowed by fresh controversy involving the Video Assistant Referee, who was repeatedly […]

Paris (AFP) – Brazilian superstar Neymar will undergo surgery on his fractured foot in Brazil at the end of this week, ruling the world's most expensive footballer out of Paris Saint-Germain's do-or-die Champions League clash with Real Madrid. The 26-year-old suffered a hairline fracture of the fifth metatarsal in his right foot as well as […]

Turin (Italy) (AFP) – Juventus's progress in the Champions League will be vital for the Italian champions' coffers after a 40 percent drop in profits for the first half of the season was announced on Wednesday. The six-time successive Serie A winners recorded a profit of 43.3 million euros ($52.8m) for the first half of […]

Turin (Italy) (AFP) – Holders Juventus booked their ticket to the Italian Cup final for the fourth year in a row after a 1-0 win over Atalanta in a semi-final second leg tie played in the snow in Turin on Wednesday. The first leg ended 1-0 in Bergamo thanks to an early Gonzalo Higuain goal, […]

Basra (Iraq) (AFP) – The Asian Football Confederation head on Wednesday called for Iraq to be allowed to host competitive international matches, as FIFA gears up to decide on whether to lift a ban on the strife-torn nation. "The time has come" to end the three-decade-long ban, AFC chief Salman bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa told a […]

Rio de Janeiro (AFP) – In Brazil, the land where football is king, Neymar's foot injury has unleashed sharp emotions and concern, rumors and speculation about the star player upon whom so many hopes rest for World Cup victory in Russia. "We just might have lost the World Cup last Sunday," one radio commentator, Milton […]

Berlin (AFP) – Mats Hummels accused his Bayern Munich team-mate Robert Lewandowski of an 'attitude' problem in a training ground bust-up on Wednesday, according to reports. Bayern are 19 points clear in the Bundesliga table, but tensions often run high in the star-studded squad for starting places. Temperatures in Munich were well below freezing at […]

Berlin (AFP) – Germany's civil servants fired back on Wednesday after Borussia Dortmund boss Michael Zorc accused his team of playing like a bunch of bureaucrats. "You played like civil servants!" Zorc told the Dortmund squad which passively threw away the lead in Monday's 1-1 league draw at home to Augsburg. Dortmund striker Michy Batshuayi, […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has insisted the Premier League title is the most important trophy for his team to win this season, ahead of even potential Champions League success. The runaway Premier League leaders already have one piece of silverware in the bag, after winning the English League Cup […]

Milan (AFP) – China coach Marcello Lippi said Wednesday that nothing compares to lifting the World Cup as Italy coach in 2006. "Champions League or World Cup? I won every cup going with Juventus, but none of them compare to a World Cup in Azzurro," Lippi told Corriere della Sera. Lippi, who turns 70 years […]

Sochi (Russia) (AFP) – World Cup coaches expressed a quiet confidence on Wednesday about Video Assistant Referee technology ahead of its likely adoption for this year's showpiece event in Russia. Representatives from the 32 teams to have qualified for the World Cup gathered in the Black Sea resort of Sochi for a briefing on how […]