Madrid (AFP) – The first Clasico stalemate in 17 years means Barcelona will likely finish 2019 top of La Liga if they beat Alaves on Saturday, despite a distinctly underwhelming opening half of the season. Barca have lacked purpose and clarity in recent months and three defeats in the league is already more than they […]

Verona (Italy) (AFP) – Liam Henderson is one of a rare bred, a Scotsman playing football in Italy's top flight Serie A. The 23-year-old is following Scottish greats Graeme Souness (Sampdoria), Denis Law (Torino) and Joe Jordan (AC Milan and Hellas Verona) in Italy. Henderson helped Hellas Verona return to the top flight last season, […]

Doha (AFP) – Jurgen Klopp's impact on Liverpool during four years in charge has been transformative, but the man in the opposing dugout in Saturday's Club World Cup final has needed just a few short months to make history at Flamengo. Jorge Jesus was only appointed by the Rio de Janeiro giants in June, the […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Leicester may never again scale the heights of shocking the world to win the Premier League four seasons ago, but the Foxes are upsetting the odds once more as the closest challengers to Liverpool at the top of the table. Brendan Rodgers's men travel to Manchester City on Saturday four […]

Naples (Italy) (AFP) – For some Diego Maradona is the greatest footballer of the 20th century, for others – mainly English – he is the cheating possessor of the hand of God. In Italy, however, he is and always will be the patron saint of Naples. And just as saints have their altars so Maradona […]

Paris (AFP) – Leonardo Jardim finds himself again facing mounting scrutiny in his second spell as Monaco boss after a humbling home defeat by Lille in the French League Cup in midweek. Jardim, the mastermind of Monaco's run to the 2017 Ligue 1 title, heads into the final game of the year with his side […]

London (AFP) – Frank Lampard will lock horns with former boss Jose Mourinho in a Premier League London derby this weekend as second-placed Leicester seek to take advantage of Liverpool's absence at Manchester City. Elsewhere, out-of-form Arsenal travel to Everton and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer takes his Manchester United side to bottom club Watford. League leaders […]

Milan (AFP) – Scotland's Liam Henderson on Thursday blasted a Serie A anti-racism campaign featuring monkeys as "stupid and inappropriate" after the Verona midfielder experienced racism first hand earlier this season aimed at Brescia's Mario Balotelli. The former Celtic and Hibernian midfielder, who joined Verona last year, was present when Italy forward Balotelli was subjected […]

London (AFP) – Duncan Ferguson will remain in charge of Everton for their Premier League clash with Arsenal on Saturday, the club has confirmed, with Carlo Ancelotti strongly tipped to be named the permanent boss. The Scot has been in the hotseat at Goodison Park for the past three matches following the sacking of Marco […]

London (AFP) – Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy says sacking Mauricio Pochettino was the hardest managerial change he has had to make, opening the door to a return to the club for the Argentine one day. Levy fired Pochettino in November after a poor start to the season, less than six months after he led Spurs […]

Rome (AFP) – Juventus on Friday applauded Cristiano Ronaldo after his incredible leap to score the winner against Sampdoria pushed the Italian champions top of Serie A. Ronaldo, 34, defied his age and seemingly gravity on Wednesday when he met Alex Sandro's looping cross with what the club called "no ordinary header". "As he rose […]

Malmö (Sweden) (AFP) – In Malmo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic's hometown, his supporters felt the iconic footballer could do no wrong, but his decision to invest in a rival club was an unforgivable sin to many. Since announcing a month ago that he was buying a stake in the football club Hammarby IF, based in Sweden's capital […]

Milan (AFP) – Inter Milan will have to rely on Romelu Lukaku for their goal threat on Saturday as the Serie A title challengers aim to move level with Juventus without striking revelation Lautaro Martinez. The pair have struck 18 of Inter's 32 league goals this season as Antonio Conte has led them into their […]

Paris (AFP) – French midfielder Damien Le Tallec said in an interview published on Thursday he hopes to become a Russian citizen in time to play for the country in next year's Euros. "A few months ago, I started the procedure to receive the Russian passport," the 29-year-old Montpellier player told Russian newspaper Izvestia. "It should […]

Belgrade (AFP) – Vladan Milojevic announced on Thursday that he was quitting as manager of Red Star Belgrade even though the team is 11 points clear in the Serbian league. "I've decided I'm no longer the coach of the Red Star. I would like to thank my staff, my family and above all the fans," […]