London (AFP) – Thomas Tuchel revealed Friday he had apologised personally to Conor Gallagher after Chelsea blocked the England midfielder playing for Crystal Palace against the Blues in Sunday's FA Cup semi-final. Palace made an official request for Chelsea loanee Gallagher to be given permission to play against his parent club in the last-four clash […]

London (AFP) – Relegation-threatened Premier League club Burnley announced on Friday they had sacked long-serving manager Sean Dyche. The Clarets are 18th in the Premier League, four points adrift of safety having won only four matches all season. "Results this season have been disappointing and, while this was an incredibly difficult decision, with eight crucial […]

Paris (AFP) – Marseille travel to face bitter rivals Paris Saint-Germain this weekend in buoyant mood as they target Champions League qualification and a European trophy to finish the season. PSG these days dominate French football and are closing in on an eighth Ligue 1 title in 10 seasons, but Marseille can still claim to […]

Madrid (AFP) – Real Madrid against Sevilla on Sunday could have been a key game in La Liga's title race but instead it will decide the extent of Madrid's lead and how worried Sevilla should be about finishing in the top four. A Real Madrid win at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan would send them 15 […]

Istanbul (AFP) – They had already fled their home in eastern Ukraine for Kyiv when their shiny new stadium was battered by shelling in the first weeks of a Russian-backed insurgency in 2014. Now the players of Ukraine's perennial football champions Shakhtar Donetsk are training in Turkey because of the all-out invasion by Russia of […]

Tokyo (AFP) – He is known as the "Thai Messi" and grew up idolising Diego Maradona — now Chanathip Songkrasin is making his own name after joining one of Asia's top clubs. The 159-centimetre (five foot two) attacking midfielder is a hero in Thailand, where he captains the national team and advertises everything from credit […]

London (AFP) – Liverpool will put their unprecedented quadruple bid on the line against treble-chasing Manchester City on Saturday in an FA Cup semi-final that will make or break one club's dream of football immortality. Jurgen Klopp's men are in contention to become the first English team to win all four major trophies in one […]

Barcelona (AFP) – Barcelona were dumped out of the Europa League on Thursday as Eintracht Frankfurt pulled off a shock 3-2 victory at Camp Nou to progress to the semi-finals. After the first leg finished 1-1 in Germany last week, Barca were strong favourites to win at home against a side sitting ninth in the […]

Paris (AFP) – Favourites Barcelona were dumped out of the Europa League by Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-finals on Thursday, while West Ham United and Rangers joined RB Leipzig in qualifying for the last four. Serbian international Filip Kostic scored twice either side of a Rafael Santos Borre strike at the Camp Nou for Frankfurt, […]

Paris (AFP) – Favourites Barcelona were dumped out of the Europa League by Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-finals on Thursday while West Ham United joined RB Leipzig in qualifying for the last four. Serbian international Filip Kostic scored twice either side of a Rafael Santos Borre strike at the Camp Nou for Frankfurt, who survived […]

Barcelona (AFP) – Barcelona were dumped out of the Europa League on Thursday as Eintracht Frankfurt pulled off a shock 3-2 victory at Camp Nou to progress to the semi-finals. After the first leg finished 1-1 in Germany last week, Barca were strong favourites to win at home against a side sitting ninth in the […]

Paris (AFP) – Leicester battled back to beat PSV Eindhoven 2-1 on Thursday in the Europa Conference League to reach a European semi-final for the first time in their history, where they will face Jose Mourinho's Roma. After a goalless draw in the first leg in England last week, PSV took the lead in the […]

Paris (AFP) – Christopher Nkunku scored both goals as RB Leipzig beat Atalanta 2-0 in Italy on Thursday to qualify for the Europa League semi-finals, winning their last-eight tie 3-1 on aggregate. The German side had come from behind to draw 1-1 at home in the first leg last week and they went in front […]

Paris (AFP) – Leicester battled back to beat PSV Eindhoven 2-1 on Thursday in the Europa Conference League to reach a European semi-final for the first time in their history. After a goalless draw in the first leg in England last week, PSV took the lead in the quarter-final tie through Eran Zahavi. But late […]

Madrid (AFP) – Diego Simeone aimed a thinly-veiled dig at Pep Guardiola after a feisty and bad-tempered night at the Wanda Metropolitano on Wednesday, where Manchester City's advance to the Champions League semi-finals was overshadowed by a brawl on the pitch and in the tunnel. Simeone was asked after the match if he felt Guardiola […]