London (AFP) – Rampant Manchester City will relish a shot at revenge against Jose Mourinho's Tottenham on Saturday while fading Liverpool face a tricky trip to Leicester hoping to benefit from a rare week off. City hammered Liverpool 4-1 at Anfield last weekend to open up a five-point lead over second-placed Manchester United at the […]

Wolverhampton (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Chelsea's impressive start to Thomas Tuchel's reign continued with a 1-0 win at Barnsley to move into the FA Cup quarter-finals on Thursday, while Southampton put their miserable Premier League form behind them to reach the last eight by beating Wolves. Tuchel has won four and drawn one of his […]

Al-Rayyan (Qatar) (AFP) – Bayern Munich won the Club World Cup final in Qatar on Thursday as Benjamin Pavard's second-half winner sealed a 1-0 victory over Mexico's Tigres, the Germans claiming a "six pack" of titles within 12 months. Pavard's close-range tap-in was enough to give European champions Bayern their sixth title in quick succession. […]

Al-Rayyan (Qatar) (AFP) – Bayern Munich won the Club World Cup final in Qatar on Thursday as Benjamin Pavard's second-half winner sealed a 1-0 victory over Mexico's Tigres. Pavard's close-range tap-in was enough to give European champions Bayern their sixth title within the last 12 months. This is the eighth year in a row that […]

Wolverhampton (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Southampton put their miserable Premier League form behind them to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 2-0 win at Wolves on Thursday. Goals from Danny Ings four minutes into the second-half and Stuart Armstrong in stoppage time offered some relief for Ralph Hasenhuttl's men after four consecutive league defeats, […]

Rome (AFP) – Spezia became the fifth Serie A club to be under American ownership after announcing on Thursday a takeover by businessman Robert Platek and his family. The Italian outfit, declared bankrupt in 2008, join Roma, Fiorentina, AC Milan and Parma in being owned or part-owned by American firms or individuals. They were relegated […]

Al-Rayyan (Qatar) (AFP) – African champions Al Ahly shocked Brazilian giants Palmeiras to win the third-place play-off of the Club World Cup in a penalty shoot-out on Thursday. After a goalless 90 minutes, the game went straight to penalties and Al Ahly captain Mohamed El-Shenawy saved the final spot-kick from former Juventus midfielder Felipe Melo […]

London (AFP) – Scottish football clubs should make an "unreserved" public apology to those who suffered historical child sex abuse, a report urged on Thursday. The Scottish Football Association (SFA) commissioned a review in 2016 following an "unprecedented" number of allegations of sexual abuse, related mainly to the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s. The review […]

Berlin (AFP) – Having used the club's training ground to practise his skiing in midweek, RB Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann wants to freeze out Augsburg on Friday in their final match before facing Liverpool. Nagelsmann's side face the English club in the Champions League last 16, first-leg tie in Budapest on Tuesday as they are […]

Berlin (AFP) – Bayern Munich forward Thomas Mueller will miss Thursday's Club World Cup final in Qatar after testing positive for Covid-19, FIFA said just hours before kick-off. Mueller has been isolated from the rest of the Bayern team, FIFA said in a statement, and will miss the final against Mexican club Tigres in Al […]

Paris (AFP) – Neymar will miss Paris Saint-Germain's Champions League last 16, first leg match against his former club Barcelona due to a groin injury, the French club said Thursday. The Brazilian forward suffered the injury in PSG's 1-0 win against Caen in the French Cup on Wednesday, ruling him out of the game in […]

London (AFP) – Pep Guardiola on Thursday hailed the growing influence of Gabriel Jesus on and off the pitch as Manchester City fight for trophies on four fronts. Jesus, 23, has not been an automatic starter in the Premier League this season, even in the absence of Sergio Aguero through injury and illness. But the […]

Doha (AFP) – FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in an interview with AFP on Thursday that he strongly backed an expanded Club World Cup tournament as a way of boosting international competition between clubs. "We are focusing on world competition in the Club World Cup, for example, to have not only one club present from […]

London (AFP) – The English Football Association is commissioning new research into what causes an increased risk of dementia among professional players, it announced on Thursday. A 2019 study carried out in Scotland found that professional footballers were three-and-a-half times more likely to die from neurodegenerative disease compared with members of the general population. That […]

London (AFP) – Football chiefs in England have written to the bosses of Twitter and Facebook calling for action to tackle "havens of abuse" after a spate of online racist incidents. An open letter to the platforms' chief executives Jack Dorsey and Mark Zuckerberg asks them "for reasons of basic human decency" to address the […]