Madrid (AFP) – Barcelona started life without Lionel Messi by defeating Real Sociedad 4-2 in their La Liga opener at the Camp Nou on Sunday even if fans admitted it felt like "a leap into the unknown". Captain Gerard Pique gave them a 19th minute lead with his 50th goal for the club. Martin Braithwaite […]

London (AFP) – Tottenham manager Nuno Espirito Santo told Harry Kane to get fit and be ready to help Spurs after beating defending champions Manchester City 1-0 to open their Premier League season on Sunday. Kane was absent from the Spurs squad with his future at the club still in doubt over interest from City. […]

Madrid (AFP) – Defending champions Atletico Madrid got their Spanish Liga season underway with a 2-1 win at Celta Vigo on Sunday as Barcelona braced for "a leap into the unknown" without Lionel Messi. Angel Correa gave Atletico the lead after 23 minutes after being set up by Thomas Lemar. Correa added a second goal […]

London (AFP) – Tottenham shrugged off the absence of Harry Kane to give Nuno Espirito Santo a dream start as manager as Son Heung-min's strike beat Premier League champions Manchester City 1-0 on Sunday. Nuno left Kane out his squad with the England captain closely linked with a move to City, who showed why they […]

Paris (AFP) – Seko Fofana clinched a point for Lens after Saint-Etienne's Wahbi Khazri had opened the scoring early on in Sunday's 2-2 draw on the weekend that Lionel Messi was unveiled to the Paris Saint-Germain crowd. A capacity crowd of 38,000 at Stade Bollaert-Delelis were stunned into silence after just 20 seconds as Khazri tapped home […]

Berlin (AFP) – American Jesse Marsch lost his first Bundesliga game as head coach of RB Leipzig on Sunday after his side suffered a surprise 1-0 defeat at Mainz, whose preparations had been badly hit by an outbreak of Covid-19. After winning back-to-back Austrian league and cup titles with Red Bull Salzburg, Marsch moved to […]

Newcastle (United Kingdom) (AFP) – West Ham twice came from behind to get their Premier League season off to a flying start with a 4-2 win at Newcastle in front of over 50,000 fans at St James' Park on Sunday. Roared on by the Magpies' first capacity home crowd for 17 months, Newcastle started brightly […]

Berlin (AFP) – Legendary German striker Gerd Mueller died in the early hours of Sunday at the age of 75, his former club Bayern Munich has confirmed. During a glittering career, Mueller scored a record 365 goals for Bayern in the Bundesliga during the 1960s and 70s, as well as scoring 68 times for West […]

Berlin (AFP) – Gerd Mueller's record of 68 international goals in 62 games for West Germany earned him the nickname 'The Bomber' for his ability to destroy countless defences. It took Miroslav Klose more than double the amount of games to finally reach the tally of 71 goals, in 137 internationals, to better Mueller's mark. […]

Johannesburg (AFP) – Riyad Mahrez-led record-setters Algeria will be the team to avoid when the draw for a 2021 Africa Cup of Nations seriously disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic is made in Yaounde on Tuesday. The defending champions created an African record for an unbeaten run by a senior national team in June when […]

Sao Paulo (AFP) – Former Atletico Madrid and Chelsea striker Diego Costa has signed for Brazilian league leaders Atletico Mineiro, the Belo Horizonte-based club announced on Sunday. The 32-year-old arrives as a free agent after his contract with Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid ended last June. Costa made just seven appearances last season, scoring twice. His […]

Madrid (AFP) – A brace from French veteran striker Karim Benzema got Real Madrid off to a flier in La Liga Saturday, his double laying the foundation for a 4-1 victory at Alaves to leave Carlo Ancelotti celebrating the start of his second spell in charge. Eternal rivals Barcelona may have lost Lionel Messi but […]

Paris (AFP) – Lionel Messi got a first proper taste of his new home on Saturday as he was presented to a full stadium of Paris Saint-Germain fans before watching his team-mates beat Strasbourg 4-2 in Ligue 1 with Kylian Mbappe playing a starring role. Messi received a rapturous reception as he ran out onto […]

London (AFP) – Fulham gave an early indication of their determination to return to the Premier League as they whipped hapless Huddersfield 5-1 despite being reduced to 10 men in the Championship on Saturday. The Cottagers are top the table after two matches although nine other teams are also on four points. An Ivan Cavaleiro […]

Milan (AFP) – Italian champions Inter Milan on Saturday signed 35-year-old striker Edin Dzeko from Serie A rivals Roma, just a day after selling Romelu Lukaku to Chelsea for a reported fee of £97 million ($135 million). In a quickfire double swoop, Inter also announced they had signed Dutch defender Denzel Dumfries from PSV Eindhoven. […]