Kiev (AFP) – Alvaro Morata struck twice on Tuesday as Juventus made light of Cristiano Ronaldo's absence to get their Champions League campaign off the mark with a 2-0 win at Dynamo Kiev. Spain's Morata opened the scoring just after the break when he tapped in off a rebound and nodded in a second with […]

Rome (AFP) – Ciro Immobile scored early against his former club as Lazio marked their return to the Champions League after a 13-year absence with a 3-1 Group F win over Borussia Dortmund. Italy's Immobile beat Marwin Hitz in the Dortmund goal after six minutes in Rome, with a deflection off the Germans' keeper responsible […]

Barcelona (AFP) – Barcelona exorcised some of their Champions League demons by thrashing Hungarian minnows Ferencvaros 5-1 on Tuesday, in their first European game since last season's humiliation by Bayern Munich. Lionel Messi won and then scored a penalty before the 17-year-old Ansu Fati contributed to two brilliant goals, volleying in one for himself and […]

London (AFP) – Chelsea are still waiting for a £220 million ($284 million) spending spree to pay off as Frank Lampard's men began their Champions League campaign with an uninspiring 0-0 draw against Sevilla at Stamford Bridge. The Blues have now won just two of their opening six games of the season and the only […]

Paris (AFP) – Marcus Rashford produced another late strike to sink Paris Saint-Germain as Manchester United beat last season's runners-up 2-1 at the Parc des Princes in their Champions League group-stage opener on Tuesday. The England striker, whose last-gasp penalty gave United a stunning victory over PSG here in the last 16 in 2019, smashed […]

Leipzig (Germany) (AFP) – Manchester City loanee Angelino continued his excellent early-season form with two first-half goals as RB Leipzig strolled to a 2-0 win in their Champions League opener against Istanbul Basaksehir on Tuesday. The Spaniard found the net for the third game in a row as Leipzig, unbeaten table toppers after four games […]

London (AFP) – Mesut Ozil has been left out of Arsenal's Premier League squad to cast even further doubt on whether he will play for the club again. The 32-year-old is the highest-paid player in Arsenal's history on a reported £350,000 ($450,000) a week, but has also been omitted from the Gunners' Europa League squad. […]

London (AFP) – Chelsea have registered the club's technical director Petr Cech in their Premier League squad as a precaution in case coronavirus restrictions hit coach Frank Lampard's goalkeeper options. Cech's final game before retiring was against Chelsea for Arsenal in the Europa League final in May 2019 before returning to Stamford Bridge in an […]

Kiev (AFP) – Alvaro Morata struck twice on Tuesday as Juventus made light of Cristiano Ronaldo's absence to get their Champions League campaign off the mark with a 2-0 win at Dynamo Kiev. Spaniard Morata opened the scoring just after the break when he tapped in off a rebound and nodded in a second with […]

Amsterdam (AFP) – Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum branded the challenge from Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford that injured Virgil van Dijk as "stupid" and called for the England number one to be punished. Van Dijk looks set to miss the rest of the season after suffering cruciate ligament damage in a contentious 2-2 draw in the […]

Berlin (AFP) – European champions Bayern Munich on Tuesday announced their first case of the coronavirus as Germany winger Serge Gnabry tested positive for Covid-19. The 25-year-old is "doing well" and is in quarantine at home, the German giants said in a brief statement. He will miss Wednesday's Champions League group game against Atletico Madrid […]

Berlin (AFP) – Bundesliga leaders RB Leipzig said on Tuesday Mali midfielder Amadou Haidara had tested positive for coronavirus after a previous test returned an ambiguous result, hours before their Champions League match with Istanbul Basaksehir. Leipzig said the rest of their squad all tested negative for Covid-19 ahead of hosting the Turkish side in […]

London (AFP) – Speculative proposals for a "European Premier League" comprised of the continent's top clubs and reportedly backed by FIFA were criticised on Tuesday by La Liga and supporter groups. A Sky report on Tuesday claimed that negotiations were nearing conclusion on an 18-team league with end of season playoffs including the likes of […]

Berlin (AFP) – Germany defender Lukas Klostermann needs knee surgery, Bundesliga leaders RB Leipzig said Tuesday. The 24-year-old defender will undergo keyhole surgery on his left knee on Wednesday to determine how long he will be out for. Klostermann went down in Saturday's 2-0 away win at Augsburg, which kept Leipzig top of the German […]

Munich (Germany) (AFP) – Lucas Hernandez says Bayern Munich want to show "typical German mentality" and repeat last season's treble, as they prepare to start their Champions League title defence against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday. "You can speak of the typical German mentality: We want to win, win, win," said the French defender, who cost […]