Paris (AFP) – AFP Sports looks ahead to Wednesday's Champions League action as Real Madrid begin their defence of the trophy and Leicester City make their debut in the competition (all kick-offs 1945 GMT): Group E At Leverkusen, Germany Bayer Leverkusen (GER) v CSKA Moscow (RUS) Third in the Bundesliga last season, Leverkusen go into […]

London (AFP) – Harry Kane is confident Tottenham's England stars will ensure Wembley becomes a successful second home in their Champions League opener against Monaco on Wednesday. Mauricio Pochettino's side return to the Champions League for the first time in five years in unfamiliar surroundings after deciding to stage their European matches at Wembley rather […]

Madrid (AFP) – Ahead of the start of their 2016-17 Champions League campaign against Sporting Lisbon on Wednesday, AFP Sports takes a look at five reasons defending champions Real Madrid can conquer Europe for the 12th time: – It is "their" competition Understandably given Madrid are by a distance the most successful team in the […]

Paris (AFP) – Arsene Wenger is looking for Arsenal to show greater consistency in the Champions League, starting with a positive result when they begin their campaign at Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday. A year ago the Gunners lost their opening two group games before scraping through to the last 16 behind Bayern Munich, only to […]

London (AFP) – The leading English clubs can become "the Barcelonas and Real Madrids of tomorrow" according to BT Sport presenter Gary Lineker. The former England and Barcelona striker believes that the financial power of the Premier League will persuade the next generation of the world's leading players to follow top coaches such as Pep […]

Sunderland (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Belgian international striker Romelu Lukaku's longest goal drought in English football came to an end in dramatic fashion on Monday as a hat-trick saw Everton defeat Sunderland 3-0 in their Premier League clash. The 23-year-old — who hadn't scored for his club in 13 matches dating back to March — […]

Barcelona (AFP) – Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers labelled Barcelona's Luis Suarez as the best striker in the world ahead of the Scottish champions' daunting task of stopping Suarez, Lionel Messi and Neymar in their Champions League opener on Tuesday. Rodgers worked with Suarez for two years at Liverpool as the Uruguayan's 31 goals nearly carried […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola warned on Monday that his players have not yet met his expectations ahead of their opening Champions League group game at home to Borussia Moenchengladbach. City have won all six of their matches in all competitions this season and moved clear at the top of […]

Sunderland (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Five-year-old match mascot Bradley Lowery, who is battling cancer, had his name chanted and received a minute's applause in the fifth minute of the Premier League game between Sunderland and Everton on Monday. The youngster is presently undergoing chemotherapy after his cancer returned and his parents have launched an appeal […]

Paris (AFP) – Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admits that he has turned down several approaches from Paris Saint-Germain down the years out of loyalty to the London club. Wenger will this month celebrate 20 years at the helm of Arsenal, although if PSG had their way he could have been in the home dugout at […]

Ajaccio (France) (AFP) – Former Burkina Faso international Ben Idrissa Derme suffered a massive heart attack and died during a French third round Cup tie in Corsica at the weekend. The 34-year-old central defender dropped to the floor just after the second half had kicked off and despite the swift arrival of medical services, they […]

London (AFP) – Manchester United have written off Bastian Schweinsteiger as an "exceptional" multi-million item in their latest published accounts, even though the Germany international has been sidelined by manager Jose Mourinho. The 32-year-old joined United from Bayern Munich before the start of last season when former manager Louis van Gaal was still in charge […]

London (AFP) – Manchester United became the first British football club to earn more than half a billion pounds in a single year after announcing Monday total revenue of £515.3 million ($683.5 million, 608.9 million euros) for the year ending June 30, 2016. The Premier League giants also declared a record operating profit of £68.9 […]

Paris (AFP) – World football's governing body FIFA has given the green light for disgraced former UEFA president Michel Platini to address Wednesday's UEFA Congress in Athens, triggering anger in Germany. A source close to Platini, currently serving a four-year ban, said last week he would attend the meeting of European football's governing body, when the […]

Paris (AFP) – Paris Saint-Germain's Italian midfielder Marco Verratti has challenged troubled Ligue 1 new boy Mario Balotelli to concentrate on his football all week long and not just on matchdays. The former AC Milan, Manchester City and Liverpool striker scored twice on his debut for French outfit Nice on Sunday, where he is trying […]