Barcelona (AFP) – Thousands of fans held up blue banners with the words 'Spain, sit and talk' as Barcelona and Real Madrid kicked off the first Clasico of the season at the Camp Nou on Wednesday. The banners were given to supporters outside the ground and carried the words, 'Freedom, rights, self-determination', as well as […]

Doha (AFP) – Roberto Firmino came off the bench to score a stoppage-time winner as a below-par Liverpool edged out Mexican side Monterrey 2-1 at the Club World Cup in Doha on Wednesday and set up a final against Flamengo. The game had started very well for Jurgen Klopp's team, with Naby Keita firing them […]

Barcelona (AFP) – Hundreds of protestors blocked traffic outside Camp Nou on Wednesday as Barcelona and Real Madrid prepared to play a Clasico overshadowed by calls for Catalan independence. Lionel Messi and his Barca team-mates arrived in their team bus just before 1800 GMT while bitter rivals Real pulled through the gates around five minutes […]

Genoa (Italy) (AFP) – Gianluigi Buffon drew level with Paolo Maldini in the all-time Serie A appearances chart on Wednesday after starting at Sampdoria and arriving at 647 games in the Italian top flight. Veteran Buffon, 41, started in place of the injured Wojciech Szczesny as Juve aim to move top of Serie A with […]

Madrid (AFP) – Hundreds of protestors blocked traffic outside Camp Nou on Wednesday as Barcelona and Real Madrid prepared to play a Clasico overshadowed by calls for Catalan independence. Supporters of Democratic Tsunami, the protest group advocating Catalan self-determination, gathered at the four corners of the stadium from 1500 GMT, four hours before kick-off. Many […]

Doha (AFP) – "We've got the cheapest beer in Qatar," boasts a seller of vouchers for $6.90 pints at the Club World Cup fan zone in Doha. Several bars in Doha charge in excess of $16 (14.39 euros) for a bottle of beer and the Qatari World Cup organisers have said they are "looking into" […]

London (AFP) – Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy says the club are not frightened by the spending power of their Premier League rivals and are unafraid to sell Christian Eriksen to an English team. New boss Jose Mourinho replaced Mauricio Pochettino last month and has guided Spurs back up into fifth place in the league and […]

Rome (AFP) – An anti-racism campaign by Serie A featuring monkeys was "too provocative", Lazio president Claudio Lotito said Wednesday, stressing however that the league was not racist. Monday's launch of the campaign was aimed at promoting "integration, multiculturalism and fraternity" but immediately drew widespread criticism and ridicule. "The spirit was not to accentuate the […]

Madrid (AFP) – Barcelona and Real Madrid will tussle for top spot in La Liga on Wednesday as protestors threatened to use the most famous football match in the world to advance claims for Catalan independence. From the early hours of Wednesday morning, a heavy deployment of police was visible around Camp Nou, where Barca […]

London (AFP) – Liverpool's 16-year-old midfielder Harvey Elliott is "not too far" away from making his mark on the first team, according to under-23s coach Neil Critchley. Elliott showed why Liverpool signed him from Fulham in July, despite being on the receiving end of a 5-0 League Cup quarter-final hiding from Aston Villa on Tuesday […]

Doha (AFP) – Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has defended Mesut Ozil after comments made by the Gunners midfielder condemning treatment of Uighur Muslims led to a stinging backlash in China. "Mesut Ozil has the freedom of speech like everybody else and he uses his notoriety to express his opinions which are not necessarily shared […]

Madrid (AFP) – Barcelona and Real Madrid will travel to the Clasico on Wednesday from the same hotel as part of a large-scale security operation aimed at reducing the impact of Catalan independence protests. The fixture had to be postponed in October due to violent demonstrations and there are renewed fears of unrest breaking out […]

Xiamen (China) (AFP) – Dong Fangzhuo smiles at the memory. It was Christmas, he was far from home and legendary Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson took pity on him by arranging a holiday get-together. The one-time Chinese star told the story to AFP in the coastal city of Xiamen, where the 34-year-old former United striker […]

Berlin (AFP) – Patrik Schick snatched a draw for RB Leipzig in a pulsating 3-3 draw at title rivals Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday that moved them three points clear at the top of the Bundesliga. Timo Werner also struck twice as Leipzig twice came from behind twice in a fiery encounter played out in torrential […]

Birmingham (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Liverpool's youngest ever team suffered a harsh lesson on Tuesday as Aston Villa ran out 5-0 winners to reach the League Cup semi-finals, with Jonathan Kodjia scoring twice. An unrecognisable Liverpool line-up contained five debutants and an average age of 19 years, six months and three days with the European […]