Seville (Spain) (AFP) – David de Gea deflected the attention away from Paul Pogba with another spectacular display of goalkeeping as Manchester United came away from their Champions League last 16, first leg against Sevilla in Spain with a 0-0 draw on Wednesday. De Gea made two breathtaking saves to deny Steven N'Zonzi and Luis […]

Lisbon (AFP) – You've heard of the old cliche that football is a game of two halves? On Wednesday, the Portuguese league staged a game of one half. After the Estoril v Porto game on January 15 was abandoned at half-time due to fears over an unsafe stadium at Estoril, the second 45 minutes was […]

Madrid (AFP) – Cristiano Ronaldo was rested as Real Madrid came from behind to win 3-1 at Leganes on Wednesday and move back up to third place in La Liga. Unai Bustinza had put Leganes in front at Butarque, raising hopes that the home side could record another famous victory just weeks after they ousted […]

London (AFP) – Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino will face no disciplinary action following his clash with Everton's Mason Holgate in the FA Cup third-round tie at Anfield last month. Officials announced on Wednesday there was insufficient evidence to uphold an allegation of "discriminatory conduct". Firmino and Holgate were involved in an angry exchange after the […]

Milan (AFP) – French midfielder Blaise Matuidi is back training with Juventus but full-back Mattia De Sciglio is sidelined with a thigh injury, the Serie A champions said on Wednesday. Juventus said that De Sciglio was having problems with the left thigh injury he picked up in Sunday's 1-0 derby win against Torino and "further […]

London (AFP) – Leicester City have paid the English Football League £3.1 million ($4.3 million, 3.51 million euros) to settle a Financial Fair Play dispute, it was announced Wednesday. The EFL governs the three divisions below the Premier League and Leicester were deemed to have breached their FFP rules when they won the 2013/14 second-tier […]

Berlin (AFP) – The German Football League (DFL) suffered a legal blow on Wednesday when a court in Bremen ruled that Bundesliga clubs should pay police costs for high-risk matches. The issue of who pays for policing bad-tempered league games is under the spotlight before Saturday's north German derby when Werder Bremen host Hamburg. An […]

Barcelona (AFP) – Barcelona have a reached an agreement in principle with Brazilian club Gremio to sign midfielder Arthur next year in a deal worth up to 40 million euros ($49.2 million), according to reports in Spain on Wednesday. "FC Barcelona have taken an almost definitive step to seal the recruitment of Arthur," wrote Catalan […]

Berlin (AFP) – Runaway Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich are waiting to discover the extent of James Rodriguez's calf injury amid grumblings of unrest in their star-studded squad. The Colombian international limped off after 44 minutes of Tuesday night's 5-0 mauling of Besiktas in the Champions League last 16, first-leg tie. Bayern hope for good news […]

Milan (AFP) – Former Liverpool defender Gabriel Paletta is set to sign a two-year contract with Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Suning, it was reported in Italy on Wednesday. The 32-year-old Argentina-born Italy international is a free agent after terminating his contract with Serie A side AC Milan by mutual consent last month. Paletta visited […]

Milan (AFP) – AC Milan owner Li Yonghong has dismissed reports that he has been declared bankrupt in China as "fake news". Chinese businessman Li — who purchased the Italian club for 740 million euros ($911 million) in April 2017 — was responding to reports that he has been ordered to auction off his assets […]

London (AFP) – Chelsea's Willian is confident Antonio Conte's side can pull off a shock win in Barcelona after he came close to upstaging Argentine superstar Lionel Messi in their Champions League clash at Stamford Bridge. Nine years on from a hugely controversial semi-final between the clubs, Andres Iniesta and Messi combined once more to […]

Milan (AFP) – Claudio Ranieri, who led Leicester City to an unlikely English Premier League title, has revealed he is ready to quit French Ligue 1 club Nantes if he is asked to become Italy coach. The 66-year-old has been one of the names touted as a possible replacements for Gian Piero Ventura who was […]

London (AFP) – Chelsea manager Antonio Conte believes the English champions can do "something incredible" by knocking Barcelona out of the Champions League at the Camp Nou on March 14, despite blowing a lead to draw the first leg of their last-16 tie 1-1. Willian gave reason to a bold team selection from Conte on […]

Johannesburg (AFP) – Williamsville Athletic Club, whose board members include Ivory Coast football legend Didier Drogba, became the first surprise winners of the 2018 CAF Champions League on Tuesday. The Ivorian outfit edged former CAF title winners Stade Malien of Mali 1-0 to set up a last-32 showdown with defending champions Wydad Casablanca of […]