Madrid (AFP) – Sevilla moved to within two points of La Liga leaders Barcelona as Vicente Iborra's first-half winner earned a hard-fought 1-0 win over Athletic Bilbao. In a battle between the two principal candidates to take over at Barca next season after Luis Enrique announced his decision to step down at the end of […]

Madrid (AFP) – Concern for Fernando Torres overshadowed Atletico Madrid's 1-1 draw at Deportivo la Coruna on Thursday as the former Liverpool suffered a "traumatic brain injury" after being knocked unconscious. Torres was hit from behind by Deportivo's Alex Bergantinos in a clash of heads five minutes from time and hit the ground hard as […]

London (AFP) – Ivory Coast international striker Wilfried Bony says his prolonged omission from the Stoke team is "painful" as he continues to be overlooked for selection by manager Mark Hughes. The 28-year-old — who has scored just twice in 11 games since his loan move from Manchester City last August — added he had […]

NBC Sports' popular Behind The Badge documentary returns this weekend with the first of a four-part series about Premier League club West Bromwich Albion. Previously, NBC Sports has featured Crystal Palace and Watford. Both were critically received and featured plenty of fly-on-the-wall footage to give soccer fans a unique perspective on what it's like to […]

Rostov-on-Don (Russia) (AFP) – A mystery fan offered Russian side Rostov a bribe of nearly $3,000 to allow his son to lead Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic onto the pitch as a mascot in next week's Europa League clash. "Yesterday a man called the club and offered 170,000 rubles for his son to lead out […]

Abuja (AFP) – Ahmad Ahmad insisted Thursday he can bring widespread, meaningful change to African football if he unseats Issa Hayatou as president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF). Ahmad, a CAF executive committee member and head of the Madagascar football federation, made a whistle-stop visit to Nigeria to canvas for support in the […]

London (AFP) – Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick admits he doesn't know if his future lies at Old Trafford despite being awarded a testimonial. Carrick's contract expires at the end of the season but his continued importance to United was emphasised by a composed display as a second-half substitute in last weekend's League Cup final […]

Paris (AFP) – With three goals in seven league games, including a brace against Metz last weekend, former Manchester United outcast Memphis Depay is striving to reignite his career in France with Lyon. "He's making good progress and is proving that we did well to recruit him," said coach Bruno Genesio, after Lyon stumped up […]

Berlin (AFP) – Nearly 100 Borussia Dortmund fans have been banned from Bundesliga stadiums nationwide for up to two years after police stopped them in possession of combat equipment, the German FA (DFB) said Thursday. The gang of 88 were stopped en route to a game at Darmstadt on February 11 and sent back to […]

London (AFP) – Pablo Zabaleta insists error-prone goalkeeper Claudio Bravo still retains the support of his Manchester City team-mates. Bravo suffered another dispiriting night on Wednesday as his mistake gifted second tier Huddersfield the lead in an FA Cup fifth round replay at Eastlands. The former Barcelona star, who was controversially signed by City boss […]

Tokyo (AFP) – German World Cup winner Lukas Podolski has formally joined Japan's Vissel Kobe, the J-League club said Thursday, bucking a trend of big-name players moving to cash-rich China. The 31-year-old forward, who has played for Turkey's Galatasaray since 2015, is expected to arrive in Japan in June. Kobe did not give immediate details […]

London (AFP) – Leicester City made a pre-tax profit of £16.4 million ($20.1 million, 19.1 million euros) in the season of their fairytale Premier League title win, the club announced on Thursday. Prize money from winning the 2015-16 title saw the Thai-owned club's turnover swell by over £24 million from the previous financial year, when […]

London (AFP) – Arsene Wenger said he had no interest in succeeding Luis Enrique as Barcelona coach on Thursday, but admitted his future as Arsenal manager remains up in the air. Luis Enrique announced after Barcelona's 6-1 win over Sporting Gijon on Wednesday that he will step down from his role at the end of […]

London (AFP) – Celtic great Tommy Gemmell, who inspired the club to glory in the 1967 European Cup, has died aged 73 after a long illness, the Scottish giants announced on Thursday. Gemmell scored Celtic's equaliser and played a part in Stevie Chalmers's 84th-minute winner as Celtic came from behind to beat Inter Milan 2-1 […]

Barcelona (AFP) – Barcelona coach Luis Enrique's decision to remove any suspense over his future by confirming he will step down as coach after three trophy-filled but turbulent seasons at the Camp Nou at the end of the campaign was met with surprise on Thursday. "Goodbye leader," said the front page of Barcelona sport daily Mundo Deportivo […]