Paris (AFP) – Florian Thauvin scored his team-leading ninth goal of the season but also missed a penalty as Marseille cruised to a 3-0 victory at Rennes on Saturday that kept them firmly in the Champions League race. The former Newcastle winger saw a first-half spot-kick saved by Rennes goalkeeper Tomas Koubek but redeemed himself […]

Madrid (AFP) – Struggling Real Madrid risk falling further behind in La Liga after a cheeky late chip from Pablo Fornals saw Villarreal escape with a 1-0 win on Saturday, their first ever victory at the Santiago Bernabeu. Fornals struck with three minutes left to leave Zinedine Zidane's wasteful side fourth and a whopping 16 […]

Madrid (AFP) – Struggling Real Madrid risk falling further behind in La Liga after a cheeky late chip from Pablo Fornals saw Villarreal escape with a 1-0 win on Saturday, their first ever victory at the Santiago Bernabeu. Fornals struck with three minutes left to leave Zinedine Zidane's wasteful side fourth and a whopping 16 […]

London (AFP) – Chelsea did little to take the spotlight away from manager Antonio Conte, linked with a post-season move to French giants Paris Saint-Germain this week, in a goalless draw with Leicester City on Saturday. Alan Pardew oversaw his first Premier League victory as West Brom manager thanks to a 2-0 win over Brighton, […]

Moscow (AFP) – Russian champions Spartak Moscow, already sanctioned by UEFA this season for racist behaviour, sparked further condemnation on Saturday after a club tweet that likened its black players to "chocolates". Spartak tweeted a video of Brazilian players Fernando, Luiz Adriano and Pedro Rocha training in sunny conditions at a team camp in Dubai […]

Berlin (AFP) – World Cup finalist Nigel de Jong made an unhappy return to the Bundesliga on Saturday, conceding a first-half penalty as Mainz threw away the lead in a 3-2 defeat at Hanover. Former Dutch international midfielder De Jong, who played in the 2010 World Cup final defeat by Spain and won the 2012 […]

Madrid (AFP) – Real Madrid risk falling further behind in La Liga after a cheeky late chip from Pablo Fornals saw Villarreal escape the Santiago Bernabeu with a shock 1-0 win on Saturday. Fornals struck with three minutes left to leave Zinedine Zidane's side fourth and a whopping 16 points behind runaway league leaders Barcelona, […]

Berlin (AFP) – Borussia Dortmund's CEO has defended their under-fire star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who has been the target of negative headlines in the German media recently. Dortmund resume their Bundesliga campaign after the winter break on Sunday at home to Wolfsburg with star striker Aubameyang hoping to add to his tally of 13 goals […]

London (AFP) – Antonio Conte's problems mounted as spluttering Chelsea were held to a dour 0-0 draw by 10-man Leicester City at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. Conte's side produced a limp display that could easily have seen them beaten by a Leicester team who missed a host of first-half chances. Even when Leicester left-back Ben […]

Rome (AFP) – Italian prosecutors have denied media reports that they have opened an investigation into whether the deal to sell AC Milan to Chinese investors last year was inflated for money-laundering purposes. "As it stands no criminal proceedings have been opened regarding the sale of AC Milan," said Francesco Greco, the chief prosecutor of […]

Madrid (AFP) – Spanish tax authorities are investigating whether payments from FC Barcelona to Lionel Messi's foundation were used to help the player evade taxes, Spanish daily El Mundo reported on Saturday. The newspaper, which has acquired Football Leaks documents, reported that the club gave the foundation "at least 12.7 million euros ($15.5 million) between […]

Madrid (AFP) – Struggling La Liga side Malaga sacked coach Michel on Saturday with the team languishing in the relegation zone. The club announced the departure of the 54-year-old in the wake of their 1-0 defeat at Getafe on Friday, a result that left them five points from safety. "Since the start (of the season), […]

Madrid (AFP) – Kenyan striker Michael Olunga had a day to remember on Saturday as he came off the bench to score a hat-trick in Girona's historic 6-0 win over struggling Las Palmas in La Liga. Olunga played a starring role as the Catalan side, in their debut season in Spain's top flight, recorded their […]

Rome (AFP) – Italian prosecutors have denied media reports that they have opened an investigation into whether the deal to sell AC Milan to Chinese investors last year was inflated for money-laundering purposes. "As it stands no criminal proceedings have been opened regarding the sale of AC Milan," said Francesco Greco, the chief prosecutor of […]

Berlin (AFP) – World Cup winner Kevin Grosskreutz has thrown his support behind a group of Borussia Dortmund fans who plan to boycott their club's first Monday night Bundesliga game. For the first time, the German Football League (DFL) is experimenting this season by staging five Monday night games in the Bundesliga. Grosskreutz, 29, who […]