Berlin (AFP) – Schalke climbed from sixth to third in the Bundesliga on Sunday as Nabil Bentaleb scored on his comeback to seal their 2-0 victory at 10-man Bayer Leverkusen. It was a sweet return for the ex-Tottenham Hotspur midfielder, who was dropped from Schalke's squad a fortnight ago and told to improve his attitude. […]

Milan (AFP) – Ciro Immobile and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic continued their goal scoring sprees to lift Lazio to third in Serie A with a 3-0 win over Sassuolo on Sunday. Both sides finished a bad-tempered clash with 10 men as Serb Milinkovic-Savic scored a brace, opening the score with a curler after seven minutes and adding […]

London (AFP) – Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola defied English football authorities on Sunday, arriving at Wembley for the League Cup final against Arsenal wearing a yellow ribbon in support of jailed Catalan independence leaders. The Football Association on Friday charged Guardiola, saying the symbol sported by the former Barcelona boss on his jacket broke […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Romelu Lukaku broke his barren run against top six Premier League opposition and provided the winner for Jesse Lingard as Manchester United came from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 at Old Trafford. Victory against his former club was particularly sweet for Jose Mourinho as he got one over on Chelsea […]

Rome (AFP) – Lazio director Igli Tare said Sunday the Serie A club were not interested in selling Serbian midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic having turned down a 70 million euro ($86 million) bid last summer. The 22-year-old has attracted the interest of top European clubs including Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain. "Over the […]

London (AFP) – Harry Kane struck late to secure Tottenham Hotspur’s 1-0 victory at Crystal Palace on Sunday that moved Mauricio Pochettino's side into the top four immediately ahead of Chelsea’s visit to Manchester United. Spurs appeared set for disappointment after struggling to break down a Crystal Palace fighting to move clear of the relegation […]

Barcelona (AFP) – Barcelona said on Sunday that Portuguese defender Nelson Semedo will be out for five weeks with an injury he picked up in Saturday's 6-1 win over Girona. The club said the player had damaged a muscle in his left thigh. If Semedo is out until the end of March, he will miss […]

Marseille (AFP) – His famous namesake was the "King of Football", but Marseille backup goalkeeper Yohann Pele will take a reputation as the "Prince of the clean sheet" into his encounter with the potent Paris Saint-Germain attack. Steve Mandanda has not recovered from his thigh injury so the "Albatross," as Pele is known, will start […]

Milan (AFP) – Milan Skriniar and Andrea Ranocchia nodded crisis-hit Inter Milan back up into third place in Serie A on Saturday with a hard-fought 2-0 win over bottom club Benevento. It was only Luciano Spalletti's side's second win in two months and moves them up one point ahead of AS Roma who take on […]

Barcelona (AFP) – Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde admitted Saturday that Lionel Messi never fails to surprise him as the Argentine maestro scored twice, including a cheeky free-kick, in the 6-1 comeback win over Girona. The La Liga leaders overcame going a goal down to cruise to a victory which gave them a 10-point advantage at […]

Madrid (AFP) – Luis Suarez hit a hat-trick and Philippe Coutinho scored a brilliant first league goal for Barcelona as the La Liga leaders thrashed Girona 6-1 on Saturday to open up a 10-point lead at the top of the table. Lionel Messi continued his return to goalscoring form with a double to reach 30 […]

Barcelona (AFP) – Philippe Coutinho scored his first La Liga goal for Barcelona on Saturday in their game against Girona at the Camp Nou. The 25-year-old Brazilian, who joined from Liverpool for 160 million euros ($192 million euros) last month, cut inside in the 66th minute before bending a magnificent shot into the far corner […]

London (AFP) – Jurgen Klopp described a near perfect Liverpool performance as a "joy to watch" as Mohamed Salah scored for the sixth straight game in a 4-1 thrashing of West Ham at Anfield on Saturday. Klopp's men moved up into second in the Premier League by edging a point ahead of bitter rivals Manchester […]

Paris (AFP) – Frustrated Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim demanded VAR video assistance be introduced in French Ligue 1 after a controversial penalty saw his team squander two points in a 3-3 draw at struggling Toulouse on Saturday. Monaco could find themselves 14 points behind runaway leaders Paris Saint-Germain by the end of the weekend and […]

Florence (Italy) (AFP) – Italian football federation commissioner Roberto Fabbricini said Saturday to expect "some surprise names" to emerge for the vacant job of Italy coach. "No one is now in pole position, some surprise names could emerge. We are not ruling anyone out," Fabbricini said at the Italian national team's training camp at Coverciano […]