London (AFP) – Pep Guardiola has urged his Manchester City side to cut out individual errors or risk finishing the season with a whimper. City lost their Premier League crown to Liverpool last month but can still add the FA Cup and the Champions League to their League Cup win in March. The dethroned champions, […]

Madrid (AFP) – Forever condemned to live in the shadow of Barcelona, Espanyol's worst nightmare will come true on Wednesday if they are doomed to relegation from La Liga by their city neighbours. It is a likely scenario. With four games remaining, Chinese-owned Espanyol are rock bottom, 11 points from safety. Even a win at […]

Madrid (AFP) – Sevilla's Czech goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik, who was carried off on a stretcher late in the victory over Eibar, has suffered a knee ligament sprain his club said on Tuesday. Sevilla said that Vaclik "suffered a sprain of the internal lateral ligament in his left knee" on Monday night and that it was […]

London (AFP) – Championship side Wigan have appealed against a 12-point penalty for going into administration, claiming "force majeure", it was reported on Tuesday. The English Football League has said the punishment will apply this season if the 2013 FA Cup winners avoid finishing in the bottom three of the second tier of English football. […]

Berlin (AFP) – Werder Bremen coach Florian Kohfeldt says he apologised to Claudio Pizarro, 41, after keeping the veteran striker on the bench for his final match of a career which has spanned three decades. Having made his Bremen debut in 1999, Pizzaro had spells at Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Cologne before returning to Werder […]

Barcelona (AFP) – Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu responded to a storm of speculation by saying on Tuesday that the club had "an obligation to re-sign" Lionel Messi, calling him "the best player in history". "Normally we do not explain the discussions with players but it is evident that we have the obligation to re-sign […]

Shanghai (AFP) – Football clubs and players have voiced concern about their mental well-being when the Chinese Super League (CSL) starts because they will spend at least two months cut off from their families to stop the spread of coronavirus. The CSL will kick off on July 25 — five months later than scheduled — […]

Sao Paulo (AFP) – The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) has set August 9 as the date for the resumption of the national championship, drawing opposition from regional authorities in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. It said on Monday the 20-team second division would resume the day before. Only one state championship, in Rio de […]

Sydney (AFP) – Australia's planned A-League restart next week was thrown into chaos after three Melbourne teams failed to leave Victoria state when their dramatic airport dash to beat a border closure was scuppered by fog. Nine days from the scheduled opening game, the A-League was left seeking a New South Wales government exemption for […]

London (AFP) – Tension is mounting at the bottom of the Premier League as the fight to avoid relegation heads towards a dramatic conclusion. With just five games left, rock bottom Norwich are seven points from safety and are sliding towards the Championship. Bournemouth and Aston Villa, who currently fill the remaining two places in […]

Madrid (AFP) – "Barcelona haven't thrown in the towel", read the front page of Mundo Deportivo after a night that offered hope to the team and a lifeline for their coach Quique Setien. Setien has been in charge for only three months of competitive football but looked likely to be out in the cold by […]

Los Angeles (AFP) – FC Dallas were withdrawn from Major League Soccer's restart tournament on Monday after 11 members of the franchise tested positive for COVID-19, another blow for an event that had already lost LAFC star Carlos Vela. Vela announced his decision on Monday, saying he would skip the "MLS is Back" tournament due […]

Bogota (AFP) – Colombia's football federation has been fined over a scam involving the resale of 2018 World Cup qualifying tickets, authorities said on Monday. The Federation, its executives and two private companies formed "a cartel to detour tickets with the aim of reselling them" to "generate excessively high prices," said Andres Barreto, head of […]

Madrid (AFP) – Sevilla beat Eibar 1-0 in Spain's La Liga on Monday and look a good bet to qualify for the Champions League with four matches to play. The victory lifts fourth placed Sevilla six points clear of the team below them Villarreal, who were thumped by Barcelona on Sunday. Earlier in the evening […]

Los Angeles (AFP) – FC Dallas were withdrawn from Major League Soccer's restart tournament on Monday after 11 members of the franchise tested positive for COVID-19, the league said. An MLS statement said 10 players and one member of Dallas' technical staff had tested positive for the coronavirus since arriving in Orlando, Florida, which is […]