Barcelona (AFP) – PSG coach Unai Emery was fighting for survival on Thursday after his side were swept away 6-1 by Barcelona in a Champions League rout described as a "nightmare" and a "humiliation". The Spaniard had been hailed as a tactical genius last month when his French champions stunned mighty Barca 4-0 in Paris […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Pep Guardiola has refused to concede the Premier League title to Chelsea despite a disappointing 0-0 home draw with Stoke City which left Antonio Conte's league leaders with a 10-point lead at the top of the table. The Manchester City manager gambled by resting key players John Stones, David Silva […]

Dortmund (Germany) (AFP) – A hat-trick by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and teenager Christian Pulisic's dazzling display fired Borussia Dortmund into the Champions League quarter-finals with a 4-0 thrashing of Benfica on Wednesday. The result saw Dortmund win the round-of-16 tie 4-1 on aggregate after Aubameyang's early goal cancelled out Borussia's 1-0 defeat in Lisbon last month. […]

Barcelona (AFP) – Sergi Roberto scored in the fifth minute of stoppage time as Barcelona capped a sensational Champions League fightback to thrash Paris Saint-Germain 6-1 and reach the quarter-finals on Wednesday. Despite Luis Suarez's early opener, a Layvin Kurzawa own goal and Lionel Messi's penalty, Barca, who lost the first leg 4-0, looked down […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Pep Guardiola saw his team squander the opportunity to gain ground on Premier League leaders Chelsea in a disappointing 0-0 draw with Stoke City at the Etihad on Wednesday. It was a strangely subdued performance by City, the result perhaps of Guardiola having opted to rest David Silva and Raheem […]

Barcelona (AFP) – A goal in the fifth-minute of injury time from Sergi Roberto gave Barcelona a miracle 6-1 win over Paris Saint Germain to reach the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday in breathtaking style. Barca scored three times in the last few minutes to go through 6-5 on aggregate having lost 4-0 in Paris […]

Los Angeles (AFP) – The Los Angeles Galaxy have made a bid to lure Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Major League Soccer in a record deal, Sports Illustrated reported on its website Wednesday. The magazine's soccer correspondent, Grant Wahl, reported that "multiple sources" had confirmed the Galaxy's move to pry the striker away from Manchester United. Ibrahimovic […]

Dortmund (Germany) (AFP) – Portugal midfielder Raphael Guerreiro was ruled out for Borussia Dortmund's crunch last 16, second-leg tie at home to Benfica on Wednesday as Christian Pulisic replaced injured Germany star Marco Reus. Dortmund are looking to overturn a 1-0 defeat from the first-leg when Kostas Mitroglou scored Benfica's winner. Borussia's star striker Pierre-Emerick […]

Barcelona (AFP) – Barcelona boss Luis Enrique put his faith in Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar to produce a historic Champions League comeback against Paris Saint-Germain in what could be his last European game in charge on Wednesday. Barca need to do what no side has ever done in the Champions League by overturning […]

Berlin (AFP) – Werder Bremen were dealt a blow Wednesday in their battle to avoid relegation from the Bundesliga as club captain Clemens Fritz was ruled out injured for the rest of the season. The 36-year-old ex-Germany international has undergone surgery on his right ankle after being injured in Saturday's 2-0 win over Darmstadt. Fritz, […]

London (AFP) – Bournemouth defender Tyrone Mings has been given a five-match ban for stamping on the head of Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the Football Association said on Wednesday. Bournemouth said they were "extremely disappointed" with the decision, which they described as "extraordinary". Mings, 23, trod on Ibrahimovic's head during the first half of […]

London (AFP) – Arsenal forward Theo Walcott has acknowledged the disharmony within the club's ranks by declaring it is time for Arsene Wenger's players to stop "fighting each other". Reports emerged last week that star player Alexis Sanchez had become involved in a blazing training-ground row with some of his team-mates. Wenger said the reports […]

Angers (France) (AFP) – Club president Florentino Perez led a Real Madrid delegation paying their last respects at the funeral of former French great Raymond Kopa on Wednesday. Kopa died aged 85 last Friday. He won the European Cup with Madrid in 1957, 1958 and 1959. Perez was accompanied by two of Kopa's former teammates […]

Rostov-on-Don (Russia) (AFP) – Coach Jose Mourinho slammed the state of the Rostov pitch on Wednesday ahead of Manchester United's Europa League tie in Russia, questioning whether the game should go ahead. "It's still hard for me to believe that we are going to play," Mourinho said at a press conference in Rostov ahead of […]

London (AFP) – Arsene Wenger is under unprecedented pressure to end his storied 21-year tenure as Arsenal manager following their humiliating 10-2 aggregate defeat by Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Tuesday's abject 5-1 defeat in the second leg was preceded by a fan protest and ended in front of swathes of empty red seats […]