London (AFP) – Highly rated Ivory Coast international defender Lamine Kone gave struggling Premier League side Sunderland a welcome boost on Wednesday by signing a new five-year contract. The 27-year-old — who only joined the club in January for £6 million (7m euros, $7.9m) — agreed to the deal just weeks after he pushed for […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney will be rested along with several other stars for the club's Europa League group match with Dutch side Feyenoord in Rotterdam on Thursday. The 30-year-old England skipper has been omitted by Jose Mourinho from the squad along with fellow first team regulars, defensive duo Luke […]

For viewers in the United States, Tottenham's opening match in the UEFA Champions League scheduled for today has been moved at the last minute from FOX Sports Net to FOX Soccer Plus. The reason for the change is two-fold. First, yesterday's postponed match between Manchester City and Borussia Monchengladbach has been rescheduled for 2:45pm ET […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Manchester City and Borussia Moenchengladbach will play their opening Champions League group game on Wednesday after Tuesday's match was postponed due to heavy rain at City's Etihad Stadium. The two clubs announced that the game would take place at 7:45 pm local time (1845 GMT). Gladbach wanted the rescheduled game […]

Liverpool (AFP) – Croatian international Dejan Lovren is set to reclaim his place in the Liverpool starting line-up for Friday's Premier League clash with Chelsea after being give a clean bill of health by manager Jurgen Klopp. The 27-year-old central defender suffering a head injury in training which obliged him to miss the 4-1 trouncing […]

Berlin (AFP) – Lawyers for football legend Franz Beckenbauer on Wednesday rejected claims he was paid millions as chairman of Germany's World Cup organising committee and sought to hide the sum from tax authorities. News website Spiegel Online had reported that Beckenbauer drew a fee of more than five million euros ($5.6 million) and that […]

Athens (AFP) – Disgraced football leader Michel Platini said in a farewell speech to UEFA on Wednesday that he felt no guilt over a $2 million payment from FIFA that has seen him suspended for four years. "Just simply know that my conscience is clear, that I am certain that I committed not the slightest […]

Paris (AFP) – Fresh from giving his players a rollicking Jose Mourinho's focus turns from Manchester United's derby defeat to European action with a tricky Europa League opener at in-form Feyenoord on Thursday. It will be the Portuguese manager's first game in the second-tier European competition since winning its predecessor the UEFA Cup with Porto […]

Paris (AFP) – Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger described David Ospina as "world-class" after the Colombian goalkeeper justified his selection in Tuesday's Champions League draw with Paris Saint-Germain with several decisive saves. Ospina was beaten by Edinson Cavani's header inside the opening minute at the Parc des Princes but foiled the French champions on several other […]

Barcelona (AFP) – Brendan Rodgers admitted Celtic have a lot to learn after a 7-0 humbling at the hands of Barcelona on their first match back in the Champions League after a three-year absence. Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick, Luis Suarez twice and Neymar added a fine free-kick to his four assists as Barca's stellar […]

Soccer commentators JP Dellacamera and Shep Messing have teamed up to launch a brand-new soccer podcast on One World Sports entitled JP & Shep Soccer’s Pod Couple. Released every Tuesday, the weekly 40-minute podcast features Dellacamera and Messing in familiar roles. Both men have worked together on many games from the commentary booth. And now […]

beIN SPORTS' Canadian feed has now gone live in Canada, where soccer fans can watch matches from the UEFA Champions League, Europa League, La Liga, Serie A, Ligue Un and the English Championship. With fuboTV, Canadian soccer fans can access beIN SPORTS Canada, beIN SPORTS en Español, Benfica TV, fuboTV Network, Football Report TV, Fight […]

Paris (AFP) – Barcelona's lethal MSN — Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar — dissected Celtic 7-0 while a deluge washed out Pep Guardiola's eagerly awaited first Champions League game in charge of Manchester City on Tuesday. There was no rain but there was a flood of goals at the Camp Nou, where a sparkling […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Manchester City and Borussia Moenchengladbach will play their opening Champions League group game on Wednesday after Tuesday's match was postponed due to heavy rain at City's Etihad Stadium. "CONFIRMED: #MCFCBMG has been rearranged for 20:45 CEST (1845 GMT) tomorrow (Wednesday) night," Gladbach announced on their official Twitter account. It is […]

Munich (Germany) (AFP) – Joshua Kimmich grabbed a second-half double and birthday boy Thomas Mueller was on target as Bayern Munich hammered the Russian side Rostov 5-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday. It was an ominous warning of intent from the Germans in their Group D opener, after prolific Robert Lewandowski scored midway through […]