Turin (Italy) (AFP) – Lyon coach Rudi Garcia hailed his team for seeing off Juventus and the "extraterrestial" Cristiano Ronaldo to reach the Champions League quarter-finals on Friday. Captain Memphis Depay's early penalty sealed Lyon's berth in the last-eight despite losing 2-1 on the night in Turin. A goal up after winning February's first leg, […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Pep Guardiola came out on top in his duel with Zinedine Zidane on Friday and then reminded his Manchester City players that their 2-1 win over Real Madrid that took them into the Champions League quarter-finals was just "one step" in their quest for European success. City capitalised on two […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said he remained "proud" of his team for their achievements this season despite the Spanish giants going out of the Champions League to Manchester City in the last 16 on Friday. Trailing 2-1 from the first leg at home back in February, before the coronavirus […]

Turin (Italy) (AFP) – Lyon qualified for the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Friday despite losing 2-1 to Juventus in Turin. A goal up after winning February's first leg, French side Lyon will face Manchester City at the final tournament in Lisbon after drawing 2-2 on aggregate and going through on away goals. Lyon […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Manchester City took advantage of two shocking mistakes by Raphael Varane to beat Real Madrid 2-1 in their Champions League last 16 second leg on Friday and advance to the quarter-finals as Pep Guardiola came out on top in his duel with Zinedine Zidane. The Frenchman had never been knocked […]

Berlin (AFP) – Frank Lampard said on Friday that his Chelsea team must believe they can pull off an unlikely shock at Bayern Munich and overturn a 3-0 deficit to keep their Champions League dreams alive. "I believe we can, otherwise I shouldn't be here, more importantly the players have to believe," Lampard said Friday […]

Turin (Italy) (AFP) – Cristiano Ronaldo will spearhead the Juventus attack as Paulo Dybala starts on the bench for the Italian champions' bid to overturn a 1-0 deficit in Friday's second leg of their Champions League last 16 clash with Lyon. Gonzalo Higuain and Federico Bernardeschi will support Portuguese star Ronaldo in a 4-3-3 lineup with […]

Lausanne (AFP) – Gianni Infantino has insisted that he had "nothing to hide" in a letter to member federations of football's global governing body FIFA despite Swiss prosecutors launching a criminal probe against him. In the letter, sent on Thursday and seen by AFP, FIFA chief Infantino tells the body's 211 members that there were […]

Milan (AFP) – Former AC Milan coach Marco Giampaolo has signed a two-year contract with Torino, the Italian top-flight club announced on Friday. Giampaolo, 53, was sacked after just seven games at AC Milan last season. He takes over from Moreno Longo at the Turin side who finished last season in 16th position. A former […]

Berlin (AFP) – Bundesliga side Union Berlin pulled off a transfer coup on Friday by recruiting former Germany striker Max Kruse, an accomplished poker player and singer, on a free transfer. Having quit Turkish side Fenerbahce in June, Kruse, who has scored 74 goals in 250 Bundesliga appearances, has returned to Germany, where he had […]

Berlin (AFP) – Either Ivan Perisic or Philippe Coutinho is set to start for Bayern Munich in Saturday's Champions League clash against injury-hit Chelsea with the Germans' head coach Hansi Flick demanding full focus despite a comfortable cushion. Bayern host Frank Lampard's Chelsea at the Allianz Arena in the last 16, return leg holding a 3-0 […]

London (AFP) – Clubs in League One and Two have voted in favour of squad salary caps, the English Football League announced on Friday. The cap will be set at £2.5 million ($3.2 million) in League One, the third tier, and £1.5 million in League Two and has been introduced with immediate effect, the EFL […]

Berlin (AFP) – Bayern Munich captain Manuel Neuer says he hopes the Bavarians giants can convince Liverpool target Thiago Alcantara to stay beyond the end of this season's Champions League title. Having won the Bundesliga title in each of his seven seasons at Bayern since joining from Barcelona in 2013, Alcantara, 29, is stalling over […]

Brussels (AFP) – Many Belgian clubs were unhappy when last season came to a premature halt, and many are disgruntled as the reformatted league starts a new season. In March, Belgium was one of the first European countries to end its 2019-20 season due to the coronavirus crisis. On Saturday, it will be one of […]

Berlin (AFP) – Defending champions Bayern Munich will start the 2020/21 Bundesliga season at home to Schalke in mid-September, but the exact date depends on whether the Bavarians reach the Champions League final, the German league said Friday. Bayern are pencilled to host Schalke at Munich's Allianz Arena on Friday September 18. However, the match […]