Barcelona (AFP) – Barca boss Luis Enrique admitted he must take responsibility for the Spanish champions' shock home defeat to newly promoted Alaves after starting Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez on the bench. Enrique made seven changes on Saturday after many of his squad returned to club duty after taking part in World Cup qualifiers […]

Liverpool (AFP) – Manager Jurgen Klopp urged Liverpool supporters not to sing his name after an impressive 4-1 victory over defending Premier League champions Leicester marked the opening of a new-look Anfield in impressive fashion. The extrovert German was seen remonstrating with home fans at one point in the second half of Saturday's match as […]

Glasgow (AFP) – Celtic striker Moussa Dembele described his Old Firm debut hat-trick as a dream come true as he helped the Hoops hammer rivals Rangers 5-1 at Parkhead on Saturday. The 20-year-old became the first player to score a hat-trick in the fixture since Ally McCoist's treble in the 1984 League Cup final and […]

London (AFP) – It was deep into injury time and Arsene Wenger and his Arsenal side were facing the ignominy of being booed from their Emirates pitch for the second time in this nascent Premier League season. And then up popped Santi Cazorla to score a controversial spot-kick in the fourth minute of added-on time […]

Stoke-on-Trent (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Mauricio Pochettino believes Tottenham have shaken off the hangover of last season's meltdown in the Premier League title race as they prepare to challenge on multiple fronts. Pochettino's side host Monaco in their opening Champions League fixture on Wednesday in the second of seven games in 22 games. And after […]

Madrid (AFP) – Newly promoted Alaves stunned Spanish champions Barcelona by winning 2-1 at the Camp Nou on Saturday as boss Luis Enrique paid a heavy price for starting Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez on the bench. Barca now trail Real Madrid by three points at the top of the table after Cristiano Ronaldo took […]

Paris (AFP) – Ten-man Lyon crashed to a "nightmarish" first home defeat at Parc OL as Bordeaux came from behind to claim a 3-1 victory, while Monaco are the early season pacesetters after crushing Lille 4-1. Aldo Kalulu marked his first appearance of the season for Lyon with the opening goal inside two minutes, but […]

Madrid (AFP) – Cristiano Ronaldo hit back at Barcelona legend Xavi Hernandez by mocking the Spaniard's inability to the win the Ballon d'Or and claiming he is the most in-demand player on the planet. Xavi, who now plays for Al Sadd in Qatar, told Spanish radio station La SER earlier this week that despite his […]

Prague (AFP) – Tomas Rosicky on Saturday played his first game since leaving Arsenal in the summer and since stumbling off the pitch in the Czech Republic's draw with Croatia at Euro 2016. The 35-year-old midfielder last month signed up with Sparta Prague, the team where he had grown up. On Saturday he came onto […]

Berlin (AFP) – RB Leipzig stunned Bundesliga title hopefuls Borussia Dortmund 1-0 on Saturday to claim the club's first win in the German top flight, while Joel Pohjanpalo scored a stunning hat-trick in Bayer Leverkusen's 3-1 defeat of Hamburg. Guinea international Naby Keita struck a minute from time as Leipzig, founded just seven years ago, […]

Liverpool (AFP) – Liverpool turned on the style to mark the opening of the new-look Anfield with an imperious 4-1 rout of Premier League champions Leicester on Saturday. Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane put Jurgen Klopp's side two goals ahead as they played at home for the first time this season and for the first […]

Milan (AFP) – Gonzalo Higuain hit a first-half brace including a spectacular volley as Juventus warmed up for their Champions League opener against Sevilla with a comprehensive 3-1 win over Sassuolo. Sassuolo travelled to Turin hoping to build some confidence of their own ahead of their maiden campaign in the Europa League next week. But […]

London (AFP) – Pep Guardiola rocked old foe Jose Mourinho as Premier League leaders Manchester City extended their perfect start with a 2-1 win at Manchester United, while Liverpool crushed champions Leicester 4-1 on Saturday. City manager Guardiola inflicted the first defeat of Mourinho's United reign and collected his eighth win in 17 encounters with […]

Barcelona (AFP) – Barcelona boss Luis Enrique left Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez on the bench for the visit of Alaves on Saturday as he made seven changes, but Neymar starts for the first time this season. Messi had been an injury doubt due to a groin injury aggravated in Argentina's 1-0 win over Uruguay […]

Paris (AFP) – Ten-man Lyon crashed to a first home defeat at Parc OL as Bordeaux provisionally moved top of Ligue 1 on Saturday by coming from behind to claim a 3-1 victory. Aldo Kalulu marked his first appearance of the season for Lyon with the opening goal inside two minutes, but Brazilian teenager Malcom […]